Tag: Space
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Stoke Space hops its upper stage, leaping toward a fully reusable rocket
At an airfield in Eastern Washington on Sunday, the small launch company Stoke Space flew its upper stage for the first time. The flight was, admittedly, rather modest. The second-stage rocket only ascended to about 30 feet (9 meters) and traveled just several feet down range. The entire flight was over in 15 seconds. And…
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The US military just proved it can get satellites into space super fast
As part of its efforts to be more nimble in space, the US military has been pushing satellite and launch companies to become more “responsive” in their ability to put spacecraft into space. Essentially, the military is concerned about other nations damaging or destroying its assets in orbit during a conflict. Military officials believe one…
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Rocket Report: New Shepard may fly soon; ULA changes mind on DoD competition
Welcome to Edition 6.11 of the Rocket Report! There’s a lot going on this week, including the completion of pre-flight tests by two companies developing reusable small launch vehicles. On the larger end of the spectrum, NASA is installing engines onto its second Space Launch System rocket, and SpaceX appears to be on track to…
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A NASA astronaut will finally spend a full year in space
Eleven days before Christmas last year, a micrometeoroid struck a Soyuz spacecraft docked to the International Space Station. This ruptured the vehicle’s cooling system, creating a dramatic spray of coolant for hours into space before there was none left. Prior to this accidental strike, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio had been planning to come home by…
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NASA finally admits what everyone already knows: SLS is unaffordable
In a new report, the federal department charged with analyzing how efficiently US taxpayer dollars are spent, the Government Accountability Office, says NASA lacks transparency on the true costs of its Space Launch System rocket program. Published on Thursday, the new report (see .pdf) examines the billions of dollars spent by NASA on the development…
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European official on Ariane 6 debut: “Please allow me to not speculate at this time”
Europe’s new Ariane 6 rocket is reaching its decisive phase of testing, officials said this week. This includes a short- and long-duration firing of the rocket’s first stage at European launch facilities in French Guiana, tests that could occur today and about one month from now. “They are really the decisive moments when we see…
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Starship is stacked and ready to make its second launch attempt
On Tuesday, SpaceX stacked its Starship rocket on top of a Super Heavy booster in South Texas, beginning final preparations for a second launch attempt of the massive vehicle. After the stacking operations were complete, SpaceX founder Elon Musk posted on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, that “Starship is ready to launch, awaiting…
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Pension fund sues Jeff Bezos and Amazon for not using Falcon 9 rockets
Shareholders of a pension fund that includes Amazon stock have sued the company, its founder Jeff Bezos, and its board of directors for “breaching their fiduciary duty” as part of a contract to acquire launch services for the Project Kuiper megaconstellation. The lawsuit, filed on Thursday and first reported by the Delaware Business Court Insider,…
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Why did SpaceX give up on “catching” falling fairings? Its VP of launch explains
Amid much fanfare, SpaceX started landing its Falcon 9 rockets in 2015, and it began reusing them less than two years later. The first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket, with nine engines and the bulk of the mass, accounts for about half of the cost of manufacturing a rocket, so this represents a considerable…
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Virgin Galactic’s president explains how VSS Unity is now flying frequently
On Monday, Virgin Galactic announced that it will conduct its next commercial spaceflight, Galactic 03, as early as September 8. This will be the company’s third commercial spaceflight, and it will carry three as-yet-unnamed passengers who bought their tickets on the company’s space plane back in the early 2000s. Should the flight occur in early…