November 2, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- Retired Air Force general joins Rocket Lab’s board of directors
Without question this hire is to help Rocket Lab get military contracts.
- New rocket startup Veng in Argentina announces its proposed orbital rocket
The story is in Spanish, but based on Jay’s translation it is targeting a 2029 launch, with suborbital tests of a smaller version first in 2026. All launches will take place in Argentina.
- Rocket startup Keka Aerospace in the Congo touts its own rocket
The video is in French. Images of the company’s test suborbital rocket can be seen at the 5 minute mark. It certainly does not look much like a real rocket when looked at closely.
- A Chinese university touts its proposed lunar rover
The artist’s rendering looks cool, but that isn’t how one builds real engineering.
- Chinese pseudo-company Ispace releases video of hop test today of its small scale test vehicle
This is essentially its version of SpaceX’s Grasshopper. Ispace appears to be making good progress towards developing a reusable first stage for its Hyperbola rocket. More information here.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either. IMPORTANT! If you donate enough to get a book, please email me separately to tell me which book you want and the address to mail it to.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
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3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
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You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- Retired Air Force general joins Rocket Lab’s board of directors
Without question this hire is to help Rocket Lab get military contracts.
- New rocket startup Veng in Argentina announces its proposed orbital rocket
The story is in Spanish, but based on Jay’s translation it is targeting a 2029 launch, with suborbital tests of a smaller version first in 2026. All launches will take place in Argentina.
- Rocket startup Keka Aerospace in the Congo touts its own rocket
The video is in French. Images of the company’s test suborbital rocket can be seen at the 5 minute mark. It certainly does not look much like a real rocket when looked at closely.
- A Chinese university touts its proposed lunar rover
The artist’s rendering looks cool, but that isn’t how one builds real engineering.
- Chinese pseudo-company Ispace releases video of hop test today of its small scale test vehicle
This is essentially its version of SpaceX’s Grasshopper. Ispace appears to be making good progress towards developing a reusable first stage for its Hyperbola rocket. More information here.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either. IMPORTANT! If you donate enough to get a book, please email me separately to tell me which book you want and the address to mail it to.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
_Japanese_ company Ispace. This is close to home.
“Without question this hire is to help Rocket Lab get military contracts.”
In third world countries it’s called “bribing”.
In America it’s called “lobbying”.
Dave: No, this is a Chinese operation, even thous the names are the same.
Dave,
There are two companies with the same name iSpace. This one is in China, it is known by two names “iSpace” and “Interstellar Glory”. You can look it up.
On the Keka Aerospace article:
First, they seem to be taking SpaceX’s construction techniques to an extreme, working in a dirt parking lot and holding up the structure with garbage cans. They sure are going the cheap route.
Second, did I see them use the word “Galaxionautes” for their astronauts? My French is poor (read: nonexistent), so I’m not sure what they meant by that word, but it came with drawings of space-suited hippies in space.
Climate news
https://phys.org/news/2023-11-scientist-global-experts-overheated.html