Rockets
Stories about rockets, and the companies that build them.
Recapping the First Six Months of 2022 in Space
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 Forms Brazilian Subsidiary, Receives Launch License
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…
FAA Releases Starship Environmental Assessment Finding of No Significant Impact
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…
NASA OIG Releases Second Mobile Launcher Report
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.…
Vega C debut set for first week of July
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…
Elon Musk Shares All-Hands Deck
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. …
Avio Vega-E M10 roars to life in Sardinia
Italian rocket builder Avio announced late last week that it had successfully tested its M10 methalox upper stage engine at its test facility in Sardinia. The engine will power the third stage of the company’s Vega-E rocket, which it expects to debut in 2026. The M10 at a glance: Vehicle: Vega-E Thrust: 98 kN Specific…
SpaceX Notches New Turnaround Record
On Friday, SpaceX flew its 17th mission of the year. Launching from Cape Canaveral, the Starlink 4-16 mission delivered 53 new broadband satellites to space. The mission’s booster (tail name B1062) was previously flown just three weeks prior on the Ax-1 mission. B1062 has also previously launched two GPS spacecraft, Inspiration4, and another Starlink mission. …
RFA Wins €11M in DLR Microlauncher Competition
Graphic: Andrew Parsonson German launch startup Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) has won the second and final round of the German Aerospace Center’s (DLR) microlauncher competition. The award comes with a €11M ($11.7M) check and a requirement to carry 150 kgs of institutional payloads free of charge aboard the RFA One’s first two flights. “We are…
SpaceRyde Tests Gimbaling Rocket Engine
Canadian launch startup SpaceRyde has conducted a test fire of what it says is the world’s first gimbaling hybrid rocket engine. The Toronto company is building what it hopes will be Canada’s first orbital rocket. How the system works: A balloon will bring the small-lift rocket above 99% of the atmosphere, where the latter will…
Launcher Test Fires E-2 Engine
Launcher has completed testing of its E-2 liquid rocket engine at NASA Stennis Space Center, the Hawthorne rocket startup announced this morning. The 3-D printed engine reached full thrust capacity during a Thursday test fire. E-2: Launcher is building a closed-cycle, staged-combustion E-2 engine to loft a small-lift rocket currently in development. The engine runs…
The crew program you’ve never heard of
Today, there is currently only one initiative developing crewed launch capabilities in Europe. It’s not ESA, CNES, or a private startup. It’s a moonshot venture from a group of enthusiasts working in their spare time, funded by donations. Their north star: develop a single-person suborbital vehicle. The scrappy underdogs Founded in 2011, Denmark-based Copenhagen Suborbitals…
A Convo with Rocket Lab’s Peter Beck on Reusability, Launch Demand, and More
Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) will attempt to pluck a booster from the skies via helicopter later this month. The effort, if successful, would represent the first time that a small launch vehicle’s booster is recovered. “It’s actually, by far, the hardest thing to do,” Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck told Payload Friday. The company…
