Tag: Space
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After six decades, ‘Gagarin’s Start’ will meet its end as a launch pad
Because it lacks the funding to modernize its most historic launch pad, Russia now instead plans to turn “Gagarin’s Start” into a museum. The pad is known as Gagarin’s Start because it hosted the world’s first human spaceflight in 1961, when the Vostok 1 mission carrying Yuri Gagarin blasted into orbit. Between 1961 and 2019,…
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Amazon’s Project Kuiper prototype satellites are ‘stable in orbit’ and collecting key data
A member of Amazon’s Project Kuiper mission management team in Redmond, Wash., helps monitor the satellites’ activity in space. (Amazon Photo) Amazon said two prototype satellites launched on Friday on a test mission of the company’s Project Kuiper broadband internet constellation are stable in orbit and already collecting important data. In a blog post on Monday,…
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Oops—It looks like the Ariane 6 rocket may not offer Europe any launch savings
Nearly a decade ago, the European Space Agency announced plans to develop the next generation of its Ariane rocket, the Ariane 6 booster. The goal was to bring a less costly workhorse rocket to market that could compete with the likes of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 booster and begin flying by 2020. It has been well…
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For the third time in a year, Russian hardware on the space station is leaking
NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli looked out of the large windows on the International Space Station on Monday afternoon and saw that it was snowing in space. Well, not really snowing. But there were flakes flying by that looked a lot like flurries. They emanated from one of two radiators that service the “Nauka” science module…
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Spanish company’s success comes at a critical time for Europe’s launch industry
A Spanish launch company claimed success on Saturday after its suborbital Miura 1 rocket lifted off and achieved an altitude of 46 km before plummeting into the Atlantic Ocean. Saturday’s launch from Southern Spain is exciting for several reasons, but most notably because PLD Space is the first of Europe’s new space launch companies to…
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Atlas V rocket launches prototype Amazon satellites to test Project Kuiper network
United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket launches Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites. (ULA via YouTube) Amazon’s first satellites were launched today on a mission aimed at testing out the hardware and software for the Seattle company’s worldwide Project Kuiper broadband internet constellation. Two prototype satellites — known as KuiperSat 1 and 2 — rode a United…
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Russia talks a big future in space while its overall budget is quietly cut
The leader of Russia’s space corporation, Yuri Borisov, discussed his country’s future ambitions in space on Tuesday at the International Astronautical Congress. He spoke expansively about Russia’s plans to build a new space station in low-Earth orbit, the Russian Orbital Station, as well as other initiatives. “We are expecting to design, manufacture, and launch several…
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Departing Amazon exec Dave Limp will become CEO at Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture
Blue Origin’s next CEO, Dave Limp, speaks at 2019’s GeekWire Summit. (GeekWire Photo / Kevin Lisota) Blue Origin has confirmed that Dave Limp, who is leaving his post as Amazon’s senior vice president of devices and services, will take over as the CEO of Jeff Bezos’ privately held space venture. The current CEO, longtime aerospace…
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Independent reviewers find NASA Mars Sample Return plans are seriously flawed
An independent review of NASA’s ambitious mission to return about half a kilogram of rocks and soil from the surface of Mars has found that the program is unworkable in its current form. NASA had been planning to launch the critical elements of its Mars Sample Return mission, or MSR, as soon as 2028, with…
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SpaceX breaks another booster reuse record, but did anyone see it?
SpaceX launched its 67th rocket of the year on Tuesday night, a staggering total for the company and its workhorse booster, the Falcon 9. At this pace, a clip of one launch every four days, the company is likely to launch 90 or more rockets during this calendar year. This Starlink satellite launch was notable…