Stories about the companies building a ride to space.
Astra ($ASTR) reported earnings for Q1, revealing significant cutbacks in spending as the company pushes ahead on Rocket 4 development. By the numbers $ASTR stock was trading at $0.39 at EOD Monday. Closing contracts: Astra is continuing its Launch System 2 development and progressing toward a Rocket 4 launch as it chases down deals. The […]
ULA rolled its Vulcan rocket to the pad Friday and completed tank testing ahead of its expected first flight readiness firing test for the rocket’s BE-4 engine later this week. “With success here, and a resolution of the Centaur V ground test anomaly, we are projecting for a Vulcan Cert-1 Launch this summer,” said ULA […]
Stratolaunch successfully completed a key step on the way to flying its hypersonic vehicle on Saturday with the separation and landing of its Talon-A test vehicle from the Roc carrier aircraft. Stratolaunch 101 The Mojave, CA-based company was founded in 2011 by late Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen with ambitions to build hypersonic test vehicles. Its […]
Virgin Galactic ($SPCE) is returning to space after a nearly two-year hiatus. The company provided further details on the upcoming crewed test flight yesterday, along with its Q1 financial results. By the numbers: Virgin Galactic burned through $136M of operating cash in Q1 as it prepares for its first commercial flight and invests heavily in […]
Two NASA storm-tracking satellites lifted off aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle last night in New Zealand, putting the first half of the planned four-satellite constellation into orbit. The “Rocket Like A Hurricane” mission was the first of two launches that will build the Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation […]
The University of Texas Rocket Engineering Lab is set to hot fire test its engine today as it ramps up to a Kármán Line launch attempt in 2024. UT is one of 20+ schools racing to be the first collegiate group to launch a liquid-fueled rocket to space. Although the Kármán Line has been achieved […]
Relativity is adding two new 3D printing technologies to its repertoire to build the larger, heavy-lift Terran-R, CEO Tim Ellis told Payload. “Aeon R is a pretty giant engine. Not just thrust, but I think the size of it,” Ellis said. “So the two new printing technologies are necessary to start doing some hybrid additive […]
China unveiled plans for a fully-reusable Long March 9 rocket configuration Sunday at its 2023 Space Day ceremony in Hefei, China. The CNSA aims to begin testing the vehicle, which looks a lot like Starship, by the late 2030s. The fully reusable configuration is noteworthy given China has still yet to nail a partially reusable […]
Cubesats may soon be able to find their way in space at a lower cost thanks to a new star sensor developed by Indian researchers, which launched to space on Saturday. Starberry-Sense hopes to help small satellites determine their orientation in space in relation to surrounding stars for just 10 percent of the cost of […]
SpaceX’s Starship made history yesterday with its first-ever orbital launch attempt that notched a lot of successes and one very fiery failure. With tens of thousands of launch enthusiasts watching from South Texas and millions more tuning in virtually worldwide, the rocket cleared the pad, reached Max Q, and soared to an altitude of 39 […]
The space industry is preparing to send tens of thousands of satellites to orbit in the coming decade, building out large constellations across the spectrum of possible capabilities. They may run into a bottleneck, however, when it comes to booking tickets to space. This morning, McKinsey released its analysis of the demand for launch services […]
Happy belated Transporter launch day to all who celebrate. At 2:48am Saturday, SpaceX launched the Transporter-7 mission on a Falcon 9, carrying 51 customer payloads to new homes in orbit. These rideshare missions are big days for small satellite companies that rely on the comparatively low cost to send their birds to orbit. On this […]
