Stories about rockets, and the companies that build them.
Firefly Aerospace successfully reached orbit early in the morning on Saturday, October 1. The Cedar Park, TX company’s Alpha FLT002 mission lifted off from Vandenberg’s Space Launch Complex 2 shortly after midnight Pacific. Stage separation occurred roughly 2.5 minutes after lift off, and Alpha reached orbit shortly before T+8 minutes. Firefly deemed the orbital journey […]
We’ll be waiting a few more days for NASA’s return to the moon. This morning, SLS’ debut flight was scrubbed at T-40 minutes after a handful of weather- and engine-related delays. Artemis I: The first mission in NASA’s Moon-to-Mars program will be an uncrewed test flight, sending the Orion crew capsule on a 42-day trip […]
Last week, Relativity Space and Impulse Space announced a partnership to launch the first private mission to Mars. To much fanfare, the two startups say they’ll try to launch a Red Planet lander as early as 2024. Under the agreement, Relativity will launch Impulse’s Mars Cruise Vehicle and Mars Lander on the 3D-printed Terran R […]
The wait is almost over. Yesterday NASA finally announced a target launch date for the debut flight of SLS, aka Artemis I. The agency’s giant moon rocket is set to roll out to the pad on Aug. 18 and could launch on either Aug. 29, Sep. 2, or Sep. 5. The story so far: It’s […]
Virgin Galactic ($SPCE) has selected Aurora Flight Sciences to build its next generation of motherships. The Boeing ($BA) subsidiary will build two motherships for Virgin, the human spaceflight company said Wednesday. $SPCE rose over 5% in after-hours trading. Terminology first: The mothership carries and air-launches Virgin’s spaceship at a release altitude of ~50,000 feet. The […]
This weekend, Virgin Orbit launched its fourth successful mission. Straight Up launched from Mojave under the cover of night for the first time. That name may sound familiar as the mission was named after a 1988 Paula Abdul song and included a prep visit from the pop legend herself. Cosmic Girl and Launcher One delivered […]
We’ve made it halfway through 2022. The year has flown by, but it’s been filled with big news and firsts for the space industry. Here’s our recap of the off-Earth goings-on during these last six months. Q1 The year started off with a bang as JWST unfolded successfully, reached its new home a million miles […]
Virgin Orbit has established a Brazilian subsidiary and created a catchy acronym for the entity by rearranging the order of its stock ticker ($VORB) and tacking on one letter. VOBRA, or Virgin Orbit Brasil Ltda., is its name, and launching from the equator is its game. Brazil has also formally granted Virgin Orbit an operator’s […]
After a long and arduous review process, the FAA has finally released its environmental assessment of SpaceX’s Starship/Super Heavy launch site in Boca Chica. The agency found that the site would have no significant impact on the local environment—and that SpaceX is essentially cleared to proceed, but with some caveats. SpaceX will need to take […]
The NASA Office of Inspector General (OIG) published its report on the agency’s management of a second mobile launch tower for the SLS mega-moon rocket—and the forecast isn’t looking good. Right now, the OIG anticipates that the project will cost more than twice what was originally budgeted and will be completed ~2.5 years behind schedule. […]
Arianespace’s head of sales for the Asia-Pacific region Vivian Quenet said last week that the debut of the Avio Vega C would occur in the first week of July. The announcement came during Asia Satellite Business Week in Singapore. During the chat, Quenet also revealed that the maiden flight of Ariane 6 would occur towards […]
On Sunday, Elon Musk shared the deck from an all-hands SpaceX update he gave to employees last week. SpaceX is averaging one launch a week. In late April, the company notched its fastest booster turnaround time to date (just 21 days). To date, SpaceX has successfully launched 160 times, with 122 landings and 98 reflights. […]
