Category: Behind The Black

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.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• ULA during Vulcan’s Christmas Eve launch will coordinate with NORAD to avoid Santa collision

Silly stuff for a slow day in space news.

 

• New Indian smallsat rocket startup, Spantrik, touts itself at conference

So far no webpage launched yet, and almost no information about the company or its rocket, but as Jay says, “Always good to see a new small sat rocket launcher company.”

 

• Video of test of prototype aerospike engine from Indian rocket engine company, Spacefields

These are preliminary tests, which appear to show that the design works.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• At Boeing’s request the FCC withdraws its license for a low-Earth-orbit satellite constellation, approved less than two years ago

The forfeiture cost Boeing $2.2 million, but is likely necessary because of the company’s many other problems that make building this constellation impossible.

 

• Sierra Space shows of image of its Tenacity Dream Chaser reusable mini-shuttle

The spacecraft does appear almost finished, making the present ready date for launch the end of this year increasingly likely.

 

• Rocket Lab now targets the end of 2024 for launch of its privately funded Venus mission

Now called Venus Life Finder, this new target date firms up the mission’s schedule, as the last word from the company was that it had delayed it to 2025.

 

• FAA announces it has completed its safety review of SpaceX’s proposed next Starship/Superheavy test launch

A somewhat meaningless announcement, as no license was rewarded because Fish & Wildlife is still doing its own investigation.

 

• PLD touts its Miura-5 orbital rocket, ready to launch in 2025

The only other detail provided is that the rocket will have a thrust of 1 MN and lift at least 500kg to orbit.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• New startup, Interlune, focused on in situ technology for lunar mining and manned operations

Two of the company’s founders come from Blue Origin, while the third is Apollo astronaut Jack Schmidt, the only actual geologist to walk on the Moon.

 

• Visual maps showing who has put the most satellites in orbit in 2023, here and here

Not surprisingly, the maps make it obvious how much SpaceX now dominates the space industry.

 

• An image showing three different next generation Russian manned capsules, all under development

For an assembly production floor, the image shows remarkably little activity, with no workers and very little on the floor itself. Russia might be building these, but I bet the work is going more slowly than anything Blue Origin has done, and that is very slow indeed.

 

• A map of the lunar surface material displaced by the engine thrust of India’s Vikram lander at touchdown

Good information for calculating the work that must be done to reduce the consequences of take off and landing when near a future base.