Stories about the companies building a ride to space.
Ukraine’s space agency has questioned the findings of an independent inquiry formed to investigate the failure of a Vega C launch vehicle last December. The failure resulted in the loss of two Airbus Pléiades Neo Earth observation satellites. The independent inquiry’s findings Following a successful first stage separation and second stage ignition, a progressive decrease […]
The European Space Agency announced on Friday that an eroded engine nozzle component caused the Vega C rocket failure in December. Yuzhnoye, the Ukrainian nozzle component supplier, will now need to be replaced. The supplier swap will push back the next Vega-C launch attempt to late 2023. A mishap with high stakes: “I would claim […]
United Launch Alliance, a joint venture formed in 2006, may soon have a new corporate home. That’s because co-owners Boeing ($BA) and Lockheed Martin ($LMT) are reportedly putting ULA up for sale, according to a blockbuster story last week from Ars Technica’s Eric Berger. Morgan Stanley and Bain were hired to facilitate the transaction, which […]
Virgin Galactic ($SPCE) released its Q4 and FY 2022 results Tuesday after the bell. The numbers show significant losses compared to 2021, but roughly in line with expectations. Virgin Galactic’s Q4, by the numbers: Virgin Galactic lost roughly half a billion dollars in 2022, up from 2021’s net loss of $353M. As of market close […]
The European launch industry is going through changes. Ariane 5 is set to be retired in a few months and launch startups are racing to debut the continent’s newest vehicles. The first two months of 2023 offer a glimpse into what could very well be a bustling year for the industry. January French launch startup […]
Japan has been working to build its new H3 rocket for the past decade. Last night, JAXA attempted to launch it for the first time, but aborted the flight at T-0. The road to launch: JAXA originally greenlit the H3 rocket in 2013 as a more cost-effective successor of the H2-A, which the Japanese space […]
Last week, Georgia’s Supreme Court upheld a referendum in which residents voted to block Camden county from building a spaceport. The legal challenge by Camden County Commissioners, who sought to have the referendum declared invalid, was rejected unanimously. The backstory: Spaceport Camden has been a contentious issue in the county for over a decade, with […]
SpaceRyde appears to be shutting its doors. The Canadian launch company building an inexpensive small-lift rocket with a balloon first stage filed for bankruptcy on Friday. The story so far: Over the last few years, SpaceRyde has been building a system that would use a stratospheric balloon to lift the vacuum-optimized Ryder rocket above 99% of […]
On Thursday, SpaceX conducted a full-duration static fire test of 31 Raptors on Starship’s massive first-stage booster. It was SpaceX’s first attempt at simultaneously firing all 33 engines on Super Heavy, said booster, from the Orbital Launch Mount in Starbase, TX. The test set a new world record for thrust, as noted by NASASpaceFlight’s Chris Bergin. Why […]
Later today, two trailblazing American astronauts will receive the Congressional Space Medal of Honor at the White House. The details: Vice President Kamala Harris will award former NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken the medal at 4:15pm ET today. The medal was last awarded to Robert Crippen, the pilot of the first space shuttle […]
French launch startup Latitude has completed the first hot fire test campaign of its Navier engine. The engine will power the company’s two-stage Zephyr launch vehicle. Zephyr is designed to be capable of deploying 100 kg payloads to SSO at an altitude of 700 km. The vehicle’s first stage features nine Navier engines and the […]
German launch startup Isar Aerospace has signed its first US customer, winning a multi-launch contract from Spaceflight, Inc. The deal will see Isar launch a single dedicated Spectrum flight from Norway’s Andøya Spaceport in 2026. There is also a provision for a second Spectrum flight in 2025. “We’ve seen an increased demand for flexible and […]
