Tag: Space
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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…
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SpaceX completes successful hot fire test of its massive Starship rocket
SpaceX conducted a second hot fire test of its Super Heavy booster on Friday afternoon, likely taking a key step toward the next launch of its massive new rocket. A few minutes after the test firing, SpaceX founder Elon Musk characterized it as “successful” on the social media network formerly known as Twitter. SpaceX later…
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SpaceX completes successful hot fire test of its massive Starship rocket
SpaceX conducted a second hot fire test of its Super Heavy booster on Friday afternoon, likely taking a key step toward the next launch of its massive new rocket. A few minutes after the test firing, SpaceX founder Elon Musk characterized it as “successful” on the social media network formerly known as Twitter. SpaceX later…
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SpaceX completes successful hot fire test of its massive Starship rocket
SpaceX conducted a second hot fire test of its Super Heavy booster on Friday afternoon, likely taking a key step toward the next launch of its massive new rocket. A few minutes after the test firing, SpaceX founder Elon Musk characterized it as “successful” on the social media network formerly known as Twitter. SpaceX later…
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The re-flight of a Rutherford engine demonstrates rocket reuse is here to stay
Rocket Lab launched its 40th Electron mission this week and achieved an important milestone in its quest to reuse orbital rockets. As part of the mission, the launch company reused a previously flown Rutherford engine on its first stage for the first time. In terms of orbital rockets, only NASA’s space shuttle and SpaceX’s Falcon…