Tag: quick space links

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Russian official claims first flights of its new manned Oryol capsule will take place in 2028

Wanna bet? Oryol was first proposed in 2009, fourteen years ago. To take another five years to get it in space means the engineers working on it spent almost their entire careers flying nothing.

 

• The Chinese delegation to the launch of Russia’s Luna-25 poses for a picture

The delegation included the chief designer of China’s deep space projects. He probably wanted to get a better idea of the fantasy component of all of the Russia’s space projects.

 

• NASA is developing a larger cubesat adapter for SLS

It will allow SLS to carry more cubesats that are bigger. Whether any commercial cubesat company will want to fly on it remains unknown, considering the uncertainty of any SLS launch. Jay also notes many comments on X about “cubesats dying while waiting for [an SLS] launch.”

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Safran, Terran Orbital to explore joint production of satellite propulsion systems
• BWXT to begin work on cislunar nuclear rocket engine and fuel

These two stories are from June and July. Though I thought I had covered them, I can’t find them on BtB. They both illustrate the growing diversification occurring within the new commercial space industry.

 

• Australian company Hypersonix wins contract to build 20 scramjet test vehicles for hypersonic test flights

The vehicles are for a U.S. company, Kratos, which is doing hypersonic test flights for the Pentagon.

 

• Sierra Space wins $22 million Pentagon contract to develop upper stage rocket engine

The new engine is based on Sierra’s Vortex engine that has already been successfully tested, and uses hydrogen as its fuel.

 

• Luna-25 successfully completed its last mid-course correction burn today

It will enter lunar orbit in two days, with the landing tentatively planned for August 21.

 

• First photos from Luna-25 released

Taken yesterday, the images confirm the camera and spacecraft are functioning as planned.

 

• Another image from China’s Tianwen-1 Mars orbiter

The region of fissures shown, Sacra Sulci, is part of Kasei Valles, one the long valleys draining Mars’ giant volcanoes. See this post from May 2021 for more information.

 

• Rocket Lab will use the facility it obtained from the Virgin Orbit bankruptcy for scaling up production of its new Neutron rocket

The facility will mainly be used to build Neutron’s Archimedes engines. The target date for first launch of Neutron remains 2024.

 

• A list of the major meteor showers each year

Also includes an interesting animation showing the debris trail and orbit of the Perseid meteor shower, which comes from Comet Swift-Tuttle.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Exolaunch gets new deal from smallsat company Muon to broker its launches

Exolaunch finds and manages launch services for satellite companies. With this deal Muon agrees to let it manage launches for at least another three satellites.

 

• Russia says by ’30 it will launch a nuclear-powered orbital tug to clean up space junk

This is simply another paper proposal by Roscosmos. The odds of it actually getting built are from slim to none.

 

• Firefly will donate any excess capacity on its rocket launches to student cubesat projects

The company is now accepting student or university proposals, contingent of course on when its Alpha rocket finally becomes operational. It has attempted two launches, the first a failure and the second reaching orbit but underperforming. Its next orbital launch attempt is presently scheduled for later this month.

 

• JPL touts its Mars sample return lander

As Jay notes, “The damn thing is not even assembled and it is still over budget.”

 

• New Horizons will look back at Uranus and Neptune in September, in conjunction with simultaneous Hubble observations

The science team is asking amateur astronomers to help by making their own observations of these two planets, at the same time.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Virgin Galactic completes its first commercial tourist flight

This suborbital hop no longer rates more than a mention here in quick links. Compared to the growing orbital manned tourism, who cares that Branson’s con job has finally begin flying passengers, two decades late?

 

• Japanese startup Interstellar aims for orbital launch in 2025

Japan desperately needs some new independent launch companies, as the big space launch systems provided by JAXA and Mitsubishi have certainly not served that country’s private aerospace industry well.

 

• Viasat not ready to declare Viasat-3 Americas a total loss

The antenna turned out to be defective. There were stories that the company made an insurance claim, but I suspect this story reflects some pushback from that insurance company.

 

• Ingenuity’s next flight, its 55th, has been scheduled for some time today

The plan is to fly 820 feet for 134 seconds.

 

• JPL touts Curiosity images of mud polygons in Gale Crater

The full press release is here. Such features have been seen many times before on Mars, and this press release is merely rehashing a 2017 report.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Firefly unveils its own proposed space tug

The call it Elytra, and it comes in three versions designed to service satellites flying anywhere from low Earth orbit to other planets

 

• Rocket Lab signs contracts for ten Electron launches plus one suborbital HASTE launch

Black Sky bought five launches, Synspective bought two, and the other three were government purchases. In other words, private enterprise is beginning to dominate the smallsat rocket market.

 

• Chandrayaan-3 completes second burn to lower lunar orbit

All things continue to look good for a August 23, 2023 touchdown on the Moon.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• ULA’s CEO touts reinforcements being added to Vulcan upper stage

These changes are for the first Vulcan launch, dubbed Cert1 and delayed until late this year. The name refers to the military’s requirement that ULA complete two flights of Vulcan before it will certify it to launch military satellites.

 

• China touts an educational facility in the Gobi desert that roughly simulates a Mars base

As Jay correctly notes, “Looks more like a tourist destination than a research facility.” It appears to me to be mostly designed as a facility to educate high school students, not to do real space research.

 

• Tianwen-1 image of Schiaparelli Crater on Mars

For more information about this crater, see this February 2023 cool image post.

 

• According to NASA the investigation into the Soyuz/Progress coolant leaks continues

It appears Russia still favors micrometeorite impacts as the cause, but no possibilities have been dismissed. If Russia concludes it was sabotage or some failure in the coolant system design, do not expect any public information release, though Russian officials might tell NASA officials, under an agreement that NASA will help Russia keep this info secret.

 

• SpaceX releases some additional snapshots of its Superheavy static fire test on August 6, 2023

Nothing very revealing however.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• InSight archival data suggests Mars’ rotation is increasing four milliarcseconds per year

If confirmed, this equals a shortening in time of about a fraction of one thousands of a second each year.

 

• Amazon confirms its first two Kuiper test satellites will launch on an Atlas-5 rocket, not on the first Vulcan

This change was first revealed in mid-July, but not confirmed by Amazon. The delays at ULA with Vulcan have put Amazon under real pressure, as its FCC license requires it to place in orbit about 1,600 satellites by July 2026.

 

• Tianwen-1 image of Martian southern cratered highlands, showing evidence of prevailing winds from the west

 

• Another Tianwen-1 orbital image of Mars, this time looking down the giant volcano Arsia Mons

 

• Chinese pseudo-company Orienspace says it has completed testing of its Gravity-1 solid-fueled rocket

The company is now targeting December ’24 for its first orbital test launch, lifting off from a sea platform.

 

• For Dropbox members, a translated press kit of Russia’s Luna-25 mission

The key takeaways: The lander is just that. It will operate for a year, excavating and analyzing soil samples, but it has no roving capabilities. The kit also includes thumbnail descriptions of Russia’s next three lunar missions, one orbiter and two more landers, all of which by the way are delayed.

 

• JAXA PR magazine publishes article showing a mini-shuttle launched by an H-IIA variant with four solid-fueled boosters

Pure fantasy, very typical for a government agency that has utterly failed to give Japan a thriving space industry. Instead, it can’t develop a competitive rocket, forcing all of the country’s space business to go elsewhere.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• The second stage of ABL’s RS1 rocket has completed “acceptance testing”

The company attempted to launch this rocket late last year, but had two launch aborts at T-0. Since then there has been no word about when it would try again.

 

• Video of the berthing of the Cygnus freighter to ISS yesterday

 

• A video outlining China’s plan to land humans on the Moon

For transparancy we must note that this show, called Dongfang Hour, is state-sponsored by China.

 

• Four Indian startup satellite companies plan to put their first satellites into orbit by next year

One hopes to do it before the end of this year, with the other three targeting ’24. All illustrate the transition in India from government-built space to privately-built.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Northrop Grumman to upgrade Cygnus freighter

The changes will increase its payload capacity, allow it to dock directly to a port rather than being berthed by a robot arm, and — most importantly — refine is ability to raise ISS’s orbit using its engines. This last capability replaces the Russians, and will be a need that future commercial stations will require.

 

• Rumors suggest Blue Origin is considering buying Ball Aerospace

Considering the other rumors that suggest it also is interested in buying ULA, it increasingly appears Blue Origin needs to buy other companies to get anything built.

 

• ESA will not live stream the long duration static fire engine test of Ariane-6 on the launchpad

The reporter is disappointed because he says NASA, SpaceX, and ULA “have live-streamed comparable tests.” It think he is overstating the number of such tests that have been aired live.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• The Nautilus Array, a proposed space telescope designed to be cheap, easy to launch, and conceived for launch on Starship

This project is still in its early concept stage, but it clearly wants to harness the capabilities that an operational Starship will provide.

 

• Video of a new Falcon 9 booster being readied for testing at SpaceX’s MacGregor facility

It is believed this booster will be the next Falcon Heavy core stage.

 

• Russia’s Luna-25 Moon lander integrated with its Fregat space tug

Launch is presently scheduled for August 11th on a Soyuz-2 rocket, lifting off from Vostochny.

 

• Luna-25’s mission profile

Based on this profile, the spacecraft will head to the Moon on its first orbit after launch, and get there only a few days later. This means it will be attempting its landing only days before India’s already launched Chandrayaan-3, which is targeting an August 23rd landing date.

Courtesy of BtB’s stinger Jay.

• Paper outlining the China’s Chang’e-6 sample return mission to the Moon’s far side

The launch is scheduled for 2024. The paper not only details the mission, it discusses the geology to be studied.

 

• China outlines Chang’e-7 mission to get in situ data of possible ice in the Moon’s permanently shadowed craters at the south pole

The launch is scheduled for 2026, and will include a hopper to access the interiors of those craters.

 

• Launch of last Antares rocket using Russian engines and a Ukrainian first stage to occur shortly

The live stream can be viewed here, and is scheduled to go live at 8 pm Eastern.

For the next three Cygnus cargo missions to ISS Northrop Grumman has hired SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket as its launch vehicle while it awaits a new first stage from Firefly.
 

• NASA and Boeing will hold update on Starliner status on August 7, 2023

Hopefully they will reveal a time frame for fixing the parachute issue as well as replacing the flammable electric tape installed throughout the capsule. No manned mission to ISS can proceed before these issues are resolved.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Video of booster separation test by Chinese pseudo-company Orienspace

The subtitles are all in Chinese, but still the countdown audio narration is in English. How strange.

 

• China unveils plan for 13,000 satellite constellation, what he calls “China’s Starlink”

This is one of several different proposed big constellations in China, none of which have begun launching.

 

• Overview video of test of launchpad water system to be used to deflect shockwaves during Superheavy launch

Quite impressive indeed.

 

• ULA’s CEO Tory Bruno whines about the military decision to allow more competition for launch contracts

The military is considering letting a third as yet unnamed rocket company compete for contracts against SpaceX and ULA. Not surprisingly, Bruno opposes this, probably because he knows ULS is having enough difficulty winning contracts now just against SpaceX. A third company would likely cut its market share in half.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Rocket lab touts its next launch, the 40th overall

Presently scheduled for July 30th (New Zealand time), or 10 pm (Pacific) on July 29, 2023.

 

• ISRO touts it next launch, a PSLV rocket carrying seven satellites

Presently scheduled for July 30th (in India), or 6 pm (Pacific) on July 29th. This will be first time India will have launched twice in a month since it panicked and shut down over the Wuhan flu.

 

• Europe’s Space Rider reusable unmanned capsule gets okay to enter next phase of development

The spacecraft is designed as a variation of Boeing’s X-37B. It will fly in orbit for two months and return to Earth for reuse.

 

• Russia’s first methane-fuel rocket with a reusable first stage, dubbed AmurSPG, is now targeting a 2028-2030 launch

This announcement actually reveals a delay in the program, from a 2026 planned launch. Want to bet it won’t launch in this decade at all?

 

• The first stage of Relativity’s Terran-1 orbital rocket successfully completes static fire test of all nine engines

The company hopes to begin launches by 2026.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Space Force at Cape Canaveral touts the possibility tonight of SpaceX setting a new record for the shortest interval between two launches

Unfortunately, it ain’t gonna happen. The Falcon 9 Starlink launch is still scheduled for 10:20 pm (Eastern) (live stream here), but the Falcon Heavy launch on an adjacent launchpad of a commercial communications satellite at 11:04 pm (Eastern) has now been postponed until tomorrow.

 

• Impulse Space says it has raised $45 million in investment capital in funding round

The company was founded by Tom Mueller, one of SpaceX’s original employees who developed the Merlin engine. You can listen to an hour long interview with him here.

 

• ISRO completes another static fire test of the full propulsion system for the service module of its Gaganyaan manned capsule

This test simulated the de-orbit burn. It has two more static fire burns left in this test program.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Intuitive Machines gets $15 million NASA contractor to help develop radioisotobe power for lunar bases

This award was one of the eleven NASA contracts announced yesterday, and is in partnership with Zeno Power Systems

 

• Redwire touts its contract award to develop construction technology for lunar bases

Another one of the eleven NAS contracts awarded yesterday.

 

• Boeing: Starliner lost $257 million in 2nd quarter of 2023, part of a total $527 million loss

Other analysis says the total write-offs Boeing has had from Starliner now exceeds $1 billion, numbers that match reports over the last few years here at BtB.

 

• Chinese pseudo-company Orienspace completes testing of various engines and parts of its solid-fueled Gravitation-1 rocket

The company claims it will launch before the end of the year.

 

• Video of vertical landing test by Chinese pseudo-company Galactic Energy, using a jet engine

The company claims the flight allowed it to test its landing software.

 

• NASA and DARPA select Lockheed Martin to build spacecraft to test nuclear thermal propulsion in space

More PR info here. Jay notes that he has seen many comments expressing doubt this will ever be built.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Ispace has begun assembly of Hakuto-R2 lunar lander

 

• Sierra Space used gold composite aluminum foil on interior of first Dream Chaser, Tenacity

The foil acts to prevent oxygen from leaking out.

 

• ULA CEO outlines planned schedule for first three Vulcan launches

He says, the first in the fourth quarter 2023, the second in the first half of 2024, and the third in second half of 2024. The first two flights are necessary before the military will certify Vulcan for its launches. Since the military is ULA’s biggest customer, it desperately needs those very delayed launches to fly as soon as possible.

 

• SpaceX has recently completed propellant load tests on Superheavy boosters #9 and #10

#9 is planned for the orbital test, targeting August but likely delayed by the FAA.

 

• Falcon Heavy passes launch readiness review, now targeting July 26th launch

Lift-off is set for 11:04 pm (Eastern).

 

• Kazakhstan delays any Russian Soyuz-5 launches from proposed Baiterek launchpad two years until ’25

The paperwork suggests the delay is due to “a difficult geopolitical situation in the world.” Without the launchpad Russia has no place to launch its proposed Soyuz-5, intended as a replacement for its Proton rocket.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Photos of GalaxySpace’s Starlink copy-cat satellites

As Jay says, “Talk about lazy.”

 

• A graphic comparison of the different rockets launching in the U.S. vs China

Eric Berger notes the greater variety in China, but fails to note that it is all government-built or controlled. In the U.S. everything is privately owned and built. While the variety in the U.S. is not yet there, give a few more years.

 

• Details on recently awarded NASA unfunded agreements with seven companies

Jay notes, “Only two of the seven companies have anything physical: SpaceX and Northup-Grumman.” I must add however that Northrop Grumman’s proposal has to do with things it hasn’t built yet. SpaceX as usual has the most compelling idea: reconfiguring Starship as an orbital space station.

Since NASA is providing no funds, I am not sure what the companies are getting from the agency in winning these contracts. Its engineers can provide some technical advice for sure, but in the end all they really can do is provide a second pair of eyes to review the work. Or to put it another way, someone whose only job will be to say “no.”

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who is more awake than I on this Friday afternoon.

• Amazon to build $120 million Kuiper satellite facility in Florida

The plan is to have this facility pumping out satellites for launch by early 2025. This will give Amazon less than two years to get 1,600 satellites in orbit, as required by its FCC licence.

 

• NASA Powerpoint presentation touting the two Artemis manned lunar landers

The link downloads the pdf. Lots of empty blather, but the side-to-side comparison of SpaceX’s Starship with Blue Origin’s Blue Moon is quite educational.

 

• ISRO announces July 30th as next PSLV launch date

The rocket is carrying a radar Earth observation satellite and six smallsat second payloads

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, helps make sure nothing gets missed.

• A reminder that today is the anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing

Just remember, Americans made it point to “come in peace for all mankind.”

 

• ESA touts its proposed Argonaut lunar lander, to be launched by its Ariane-6 rocket

No launch date revealed, and in fact, few hard details. This is PR. Jay has doubts it will ever launch, and I tend to agree.

 

• Video of the Kuaizhou-1A launch today

For some reason the tweet includes a picture of cars parked near the rocket, as if it is also a car commercial. Jay also adds this interesting drone photo of the launch, taken from above.

 

• Video of ISRO’s static fire test of Gaganyaan’s service module propulsion system

 

• NASA project to develop lunar fission power systems faces uncertain future

The politics at NASA and in Congress make funding this project difficult, if not impossible. As Jay notes, “They are gun shy politically on this subject. How many times have they started a ‘NERVA Study’ and just moved the money over to another project?”

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who acts as a second pair of eyes to make sure we don’t miss anything.

• Insurance rep says Viasat’s $420 million claim for satellite failure will impact other customers

In plain English, insurance companies might have to raise rates to satellite companies to cover Viasat’s claim, an entirely ordinary situation when it comes to satellite insurance.

 

• Video of NASA press conference in advance of the last Antares/Cygnus launch using Russian engines

The launch date is presently August 1, 2023 at 8:30 pm (Eastern). After this launch Northrop Grumman will not be able to launch an Antares rocket until it gets new engines and first stage from Firefly. In the meantime it will use SpaceX’s Falcon 9 to launch three Cygnus capsules to ISS.

 

• Another Chinese pseudo-company, Nayuta Space, proposes a methane rocket dubbed “Space Chaser-1”

The company also claims it will have a reusable suborbital launcher that sounds awfully like New Shepard, with variations.

 

• A new “ultra-high-speed” wind tunnel in China

It appears designed above all to simulate conditions needed for the hypersonic testing.

 

• Analysis suggests private investment in the past year has shifted to smaller space firms

 

• Video of first test of SpaceX’s Superheavy launchpad deluge system

It was a partial test, but indicates again that SpaceX will be ready for another Starship/Superheavy orbital test launch in August, as promised. Will the FAA? I remain doubtful.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• ULA’s CEO says Blue Origin is manufacturing two BE-4 engines per quarter

8 engines a year, eh? New Glenn requires seven to launch. ULA will need two for each Vulcan launch. I don’t see this working as planned. If true ULA has a serious problem, and New Glenn will not fly for years.

Jay adds this link for comparison: SpaceX produces one Raptor-2 engine every two days, and was previously manufacturing 400 Merlin engines per year (before the reuse of the Falcon 9 first stage reduced the need for so many engines).

 

• The extra steel being added to Vulcan Centaur upper stage to prevent a recurrence of the another failure equals 300 pounds

Since the rocket is designed to take 60,000 pounds into orbit, this extra weight is not significant. The real question is why this issue was not discovered until now, after decades of using that Centaur upper stage.

 

• Roscosmos introduces an official mascot for its Luna-25 probe

It is asking for name suggestions. Submit yours here! (though it appears you’ll have to do it in Russian.

 

• Orbital Composite gets $1.7 million Space Force contract to test 3D printing antennas in orbit

This work, in partnership with Axiom, will also aid the development of Axiom’s station.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay

• Russia’s Luna-25 lander delivered to launchpad in Vostochny

The official launch date has not been released, but it is now expected to be in mid-August.

 

• Vast hires former NASA astronaut as “advisor”

The job description implies retired astronaut Garrett Reisman is only a consultant.

 

• Japan announces August 26, 2023 launch date for next H2A rocket launch

Though the payload includes a Japanese lunar lander as well as an X-ray space telescope, the real importance of this announcement is that it tells us that Japan’s investigation into its H3 rocket failure has learned enough to no longer block H2A launches as well.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• DARPA’s Blackjack smallsat test constellation reduced from 20 to 4 satellites

The project, started in 2017, was to prove smallsat could provide the military what it needed faster and cheaper. It appears DARPA has concluded, after launching four satellites, that such a technology test program was no longer needed. Commercial space has proved the point, hands down, far faster than the government.

 

• China’s Tianwen-1 Mars Orbiter snaps another picture of itself over the Mars north pole

Not particular interesting, but it allows China to tout its work.

 

• Rumors suggest Dish and Echostar are considering a merger

From Jay: “Both companies are owned by the same guy. They originally split in 2008.” Since the sources are anonymous, we must treat this story with some skepticism.

Your host is under the weather today, so no political column. Hopefully I’ll feel better later tonight or tomorrow.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Firefly gives sneak peek at its Miranda engine, being developed to replace the Russian engines in Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket

Not much there but an out-of-focus view partly blocked by a workman wearing a t-shirt with the engine’s schematic on its back.

 

• Blue Origin to launch Iranian satellite?

The article, unfortunately behind a paywall, is about Iran getting an extension from regulators to launch a long delayed communications satellite. Its headline adds “Blue Origin launch in 2024,” which is the real story. As Jay correctly notes, “What on Earth are they talking about? Using Blue Origin to launch an Iranian satellite? Are they out of their minds? Iran is our enemy.” In searching the web, I could only find one hint (which I can no longer find) that Blue Origin offered to do the launch (though it still lacks a rocket to do so), but no indication that any deal with Iran was ever signed.

 

• China predicts it will reach 70 launches in 2023, a new record

With only 24 launches in the first half of the year, China would almost have to do that number twice over in the second half to meet this target. Since it historically has launched at a much higher pace in November and December, this is not impossible, though still difficult.

 

• Rumors that Chinese pseudo-company Landspace has financial difficulties

Next week the pseudo-company will attempt for the second time the first orbital launch of a methane-fueled rocket, dubbed Zhuque-2. It sounds like a failure could shut the company down.

 

• Europe shifting more launches to SpaceX due to Ariane-6 delays

The article lists six payloads that have or will likely switch to the Falcon 9. That’s a lot of money suddenly flowing to SpaceX, from $200 million to $500 million, depending on price per launch. And it is all happening because Europe first denied the importance of reuseability and second moved too slowly in trying to compete. As Jay notes, “SpaceX did not choose to become a monopoly.”

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Seattle press goes ga-ga over Blue Origin pr event

The article touts the “thousands of jobs” Blue Origin will bring the city. It seems unaware the company’s accomplishments so far have been remarkably disappointing.

 

• Another Vega-C engine failure during static fire test

The test was part of the investigation following a failure of an identical engine during a Vega-C December 2022 launch. This new failure was on an engine that had been upgraded, so the European Space Agency has now begun an independent review. Vega-C will thus not resume launches this year.

 

• At international conference Russia offers other nations participation in its proposed Russian Orbital Station

A diagram of that station can be found here. As Jay quite correctly notes, “China does not want them, we don’t want them, and India signed the Artemis Accords. This new station is made up of leftovers from the ISS and one module that was never launched. Their program has become a side-show.”

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who trolls Twitter so I don’t have to. For the past few days Twitter links were unavailable to anyone who did not register there. I won’t link to such sites, so we held off doing the daily quick links. It seems that Twitter has reopened access to everyone, though Jay indicates there might still be some issues. If you have difficulty accessing any one of these links, please comment below.

• Rocket Lab plans back-to-back launches of its Electron rocket

The launch window for the first opens on July 14th, and they will attempt recovery of the first stage.

 

• PLD Space wins government contract from Spain to develop its smallsat rocket

The initial award is for 1.5 million Euros. The next phase could provide up to 40.5 million Euros more.

 

• India private rocket startup Skyroot completes carbon-fiber winding and curing of its first stage “motor case.”

This is for Skyroot’s orbital rocket, dubbed Vikram-1. The company has already successfully completed a suborbital test launch.

 

• The New York Times discovers, decades late, that India is no longer communist, and has a thriving private and competitive aerospace industry

I love it when these partisan Democratic Party news outlets suddenly peek outside their leftist bubble to report “scoops” on stories that have been evident for years.

 

• Chinese pseudo-company Landspace sets July 12th as its next orbital launch attempt for its Zhuque-2 rocket

If successful, it would be the first methane-fueled rocket to reach orbit. This launch will be the company’s second attempt

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Virgin Galactic completes its first commercial manned suborbital flight

My heart be still. Only two decades late, long after the big market has faded for suborbital tourism and shifted entirely to orbital flights.

 

• Firefly gets a launch contract from Lockheed Martin

This contract continues Lockheed Martin’s strong support for startup rocket companies, on top of its previous investments in Rocket Lab and ABL

 

• Europe’s Euclid cosmology space telescope ready for launch July 1, 2023 on SpaceX rocket

This is an example of a launch that SpaceX grabbed because Europe’s Ariane-6 rocket was delayed.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Virgin Galactic announces the passengers on its first commercial suborbital flight scheduled for June 29, 2023

This flight is only about two decades later than promised by the company’s founder Richard Branson, who very successfully pumped and dumped his stock before the price crashed. It certainly doesn’t rate a full post, since suborbital flights so relatively boring compared to the increasing number of orbital passenger flights taking place these days.

 

• The modifications to Vulcan’s upper stage due to the test explosion in March

They will have to destack the first Vulcan to make the changes, which will delay the first Vulcan launch an undisclosed amount, possibly months.

 

• Egypt and China partnership delivers first jointly built satellites

The two satellites, built in China, will be assembled, integrated, and tested in Egypt, using facilities built with Chinese funding. More here.

 

• ESA and European companies endorse “zero debris” policy for satellites and orbital spacecraft

According to this commitment, by 2030 no European satellites or spacecraft will launch without a plan to de-orbit or be removed by an orbital removal company.

 

• Astronomers think they have discovered the heaviest black hole ever, 30 billion times the mass of the Sun

All together now: “The uncertainty of science!”

 

• PLD delays its next suborbital launch attempt until the fall to avoid the risk of forest fires at its Spanish launch site

The last launch aborted less than a second before launch because the umblical lines did not detach as planned.

 

• India names its Chandrayaan-3 lander and rover Vikram and Pragyan, due to launch in mid-July

These are the same names given to the lander and rover on the failed Chandrayaan-2 mission.