Launch
Stories about the companies building a ride to space.
Europe Has Launched into 2023…Figuratively
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…
H3 Launch Aborts at T-0
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…
The State of US Spaceports
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 Files for Bankruptcy
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…
SpaceX Completes Key Starship Static Fire Test
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…
Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken to Receive Congressional Space Medal of Honor
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…
Latitude fires up its engine for the first time
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…
Isar Aerospace Signs its First US Customer
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…
Canada Looks to Allow Space Launches
Canada is opening the doors to commercial launch. On Friday, Canadian Transport Minister Omar Alghabra announced that within the next three years, the country will set up the regulatory framework and licensing processes necessary to greenlight domestic launches. “For many years, Canadian satellites have launched from sites in other countries,” Alghabra said. “It’s time for…
Uncertain Future Hangs over Esrange Inauguration
The Swedish Space Corporation completed the inauguration of its Esrange orbital launch facility today with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The ceremony was attended by Swedish and European dignitaries, including the King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf; President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen; and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. The trio concluded the short…
2022 Orbital Launches, by Country
Here’s our official graphs of launches by country in 2022, along with a look back at activity for the seven years prior. These visualization stands on the shoulders of a giant, Jonathan McDowell, who did great work in cataloging space activities in 2022. The increase in the US’ number of launches can primarily be attributed…
Historic Virgin Orbit UK Launch Ends in Failure
Virgin Orbit’s historic first launch from the Spaceport Cornwall in the United Kingdom, Start Me Up, failed to reach orbit on Monday evening. Shares of Virgin Orbit ($VORB) were off by as much as 22% in pre-market trading on Tuesday morning. What happened? Virgin Orbit reported that LauncherOne had reached space, but the webcast’s mission…
SpaceX Launches Transporter-6 Mission with Stacked Manifest
For the first orbital launch of 2023, SpaceX’s Transporter-6 mission launched 114 small satellites into orbit. The spacecraft on the manifest ranged from cubesats to hosted payloads to orbital transfer vehicles (OTVs). The Transporter satellite rideshare missions increasingly remind us of nesting dolls, as they launch space vehicles that in turn deploy even more space…
