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SpaceX 'rideshare' program launches satellites for just $2.5 million
For space tech startups and other small companies doing research, one of the biggest hurdles is actually getting to space. SpaceX is looking to change that. Today, it announced a SmallSat Rideshare Program, which will allow small satellite operators to book a spot on regularly scheduled Falcon 9 launches.
Virgin Orbit's first rocket drop test was a success
Virgin Orbit's first rocket drop test has gone off without a hitch. The company's Boeing 747 launch aircraft (Cosmic Girl) successfully dropped a dummy LauncherOne rocket from its wing above the Mojave Desert, bringing it one step closer to launching real payloads into space. The focus after this is on launching a real rocket, according to Virgin -- and it might come soon.
Watch SpaceX launch Earth observation satellites at 10:17AM ET
SpaceX is about to get your morning started in dramatic fashion (if you're in the Americas, that is). The private spaceflight outfit plans to launch Canada's RADARSAT Constellation Mission as soon as 10:17AM Eastern, with the satellites deploying in earnest 54 minutes after blastoff. The company is using the same Falcon 9 first stage that put the Crew Dragon demonstration mission into orbit back in March, and it expects to land the rocket at Vandenberg Air Force Base.
NASA spacecraft will use fuel that's safer for humans
Many spacecraft depend on hydrazine in their fuel, but it's extremely hazardous -- and that means very careful fueling processes that slow things down. NASA will soon have a safer option, however. It's about to test-fly the Green Propellant Infusion Mission, a spacecraft that ditches hydrazine in favor of a namesake "green" mix of hydroxyl ammonium nitrate with an oxidizer that lets it burn. It's safe enough that you could fuel a spacecraft while you're still building it, speeding up the launch process.
China launches a rocket from a ship for the first time
China has joined the US and Russia as the only nations to have successfully launched a rocket at sea. The National Space Administration's Long March 11 took off from a launchpad on a ship in the Yellow Sea today. The rocket carried five commercial satellites (including two for a company that plans to set up a global network of internet satellites) and two research-focused experimental ones.
Jeff Bezos reveals his 'Blue Moon' lunar lander
Blue Origin is building a lunar lander aptly called the Blue Moon. Jeff Bezos has announced his space company's shared goal with NASA to go back to our planet's fateful companion in the next few years at an event for media and space industry executives. There, the tech exec has also revealed that Blue Origin is developing a new engine called BE-7 with a 10,000 lbf thrust, strong enough to power the rocket that's ferrying the lander and its large payloads to space. Its first test fire could happen as soon as this summer.
First private Japanese rocket reaches space
Japan can finally include itself among the ranks of countries with successful private spaceflight outfits. Interstellar Technologies has successfully launched its MOMO-3 sounding rocket into space, with the vehicle easily crossing the Kármán line (62 miles in altitude) before splashing into the Pacific. It's a modest start -- the rocket only stayed aloft for 8 minutes and 35 seconds -- but it's also a relief after Interstellar's previous two attempts ended in failure.
Virgin Galactic donates SpaceShipTwo rocket motor to the Smithsonian
You might see a piece of private spaceflight history on display when you visit Washington, DC in the future. Virgin Galactic has donated SpaceShipTwo's (VSS Unity) historic rocket motor to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. This is the powerplant that took the craft into space for the first time this past December, and represents both "technical achievement" as well as proof of what you can do through "entrepreneurial innovation," according to museum director Ellen Stofan.
Take a look at the world's largest 3D-printed rocket engine
It's a long way from taking on Blue Origin or SpaceX, but UK startup Orbex is confident enough to show off its Prime Rocket's second stage. Inside the engineering prototype's shell is what it claims is the "world's largest" 3D printed rocket engine, which is also designed to run on bio-propane, a renewable fuel source. The rocket itself is made of a carbon fiber and aluminum composite that's supposed to be 30 percent lighter than any other vehicle in its category.
The rise and fall of rocket mail
As you read this, countless cards, letters and packages are en route to delivery destinations across the globe. We rarely think about the logistics involved in international mail crossing land and sea, country borders and continents, because we don't have to. We simply take our item to the nearest postal service branch, pay an acceptable conveyance fee, and within a week or sooner, that item can end up on the other side of the world. But some two hundred years ago, eccentric minds were devising ways of cutting international delivery times to hours or even minutes. Their method? Rockets.
Blue Origin starts building the factory for New Glenn's engines
Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket just became more tangible. The company has officially started construction on a factory in Huntsville, Alabama that will produce the BE-4 engines powering both New Glenn and United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur. It'll also make the BE-3U engines used for New Glenn's second stage. While it's not clear when the factory will start making rockets, Blue Origin expects to complete development later in 2019.
Blue Origin's latest New Shepard test flight hauled NASA experiments
Private aerospace company Blue Origin successfully carried out an uncrewed test flight today, marking the tenth time the Jeff Bezos-backed company has managed to send its reusable New Shepard rocket to space and recover it. This test was particularly noteworthy as the capsule carried eight research and development experiments from NASA.
Elon Musk teases final look of SpaceX's Starship test vehicle
It's no secret that SpaceX has been constructing its Starship test vehicle -- it's easy for curious onlookers to snap photos. But what will it look like when it's finished? You don't have to wonder. Elon Musk has posted concept artwork showing what the completed vehicle will look like. It's surprisingly pretty for a prototype, if borrowing more than a few cues from 1950s sci-fi with its gleaming stainless steel body.
SpaceX completes its first US national security mission
SpaceX managed to squeak in one more milestone before the end of 2018. The private spaceflight company successfully launched its first-ever US national security mission, carrying the US Air Force's equally new GPS III satellite into orbit. The effort was comparatively messy as far as recent SpaceX launches go. The company delayed the launch multiple times over the past several days, and the Air Force's performance margin requirements ruled out a landing for the Falcon 9 rocket's first stage.
Rocket Lab launches NASA's first dedicated cubesat mission
Rocket Lab isn't quite done establishing firsts. The company has successfully launched ElaNa-19 (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites), NASA's first cubesat mission to get a dedicated ride to space. Until now, the agency's tiny satellites have piggybacked on missions carrying larger payloads. It's also the first Venture Class Launch Services mission for the company, and the first time Rocket Lab has conducted two launches that are relatively close together. Its initial commercial flight, "It's Business Time," lifted off five weeks ago.
China’s Chang’e-4 lander and rover head to the far side of the moon
China launched its Chang'e-4 rover and lander today, which if all goes well, will land on the far side of the moon in the coming weeks. It will be the first surface mission to land on that side of the moon, which can't be seen from Earth. While China hasn't shared a lot of information about the mission, a study published earlier this year has given us a look at what's likely in store, and if successful, the mission will help us understand this little-studied side of the moon and provide insight into some of the differences known to exist between the two sides.
Falcon 9 misses landing after latest SpaceX mission to the ISS (update)
SpaceX has made sure it's got its money's worth out of the Falcon 9. On Wednesday, the rocket successfully launched for a resupply mission to the International Space Station. Unfortunately, though, the milestone was marred by a missed landing of the booster's first stage.
Astronauts aboard Soyuz spacecraft arrive safely at the ISS
The three crew members aboard the Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft have safely arrived at the International Space Station after launching from Kazakhstan earlier today. Anne McClain of NASA, David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency and Oleg Kononenko of Roscosmos are all getting settled on board the ISS following a six-hour journey. This was the first crewed launch of a Soyuz rocket since an equipment malfunction caused astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin to abort their launch and engage an emergency landing in October.
Watch SpaceX launch a twice-used rocket (update: postponed)
SpaceX is no stranger to reusing rockets at this point, but no Falcon 9 has flown more than twice... well, until now. The private spaceflight firm is launching the Spaceflight SSO-A: SmallSat Express mission on December 2nd at 1:31PM Eastern with a rocket that has already completed two launches (and, of course, returns) in 2018. This time, though, it's launching from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California instead of from the East coast, like it did in May and August.
SpaceX BFR has a new name: Starship
We're still a bit away from anyone taking the first tourist trip on SpaceX's next-generation rocket and spacecraft platform, but CEO Elon Musk has just announced a new name for the craft formerly known as BFR: Starship. As he explained in a follow-up tweet, "Starship" specifically refers to the "spaceship/upper stage" while its rocket booster is simply the Super Heavy. Everyone clear? Whatever you call it, SpaceX has big plans for the new vehicle. When Musk revealed details on the Big Falcon Rocket a little over a year ago, he talked about establishing bases on the moon and Mars, as well as using the vehicle for quick point-to-point trips on Earth. Just a few days ago, Musk tweeted that plans for BFR Starship are accelerating, as SpaceX dropped a quest to make its Falcon 9 second stage reusable.
