Provided the weather is acceptable, and the various government agencies give their final approvals, SpaceX will launch its massive Starship ‘super heavy’ rocket on March 14th from its Boca Chica site in south Texas. The mission manifest – officially IFT3 – opens at launch minus 1 hour, 15 minutes when the launch director approved the […]
NASA has ended its $2 billion OSAM-1 project, under development and construction by Maxar Technologies. NASA is unhappy with Maxar’s “poor performance” and delays. OSAM-1 has been in development since 2015, with the intention of orbital docking with the Landsat 7 imagery satellite in orbit, to repair, refuel and extend the life of the aging […]
The FAA has detailed and listed the 17 technical corrections that need to be carried out of the giant SpaceX Starship rocket before the third test flight can take place. The FAA says that its investigation into the rocket’s November 17th 2023 explosion has concluded. All updates are underway. SpaceX issued its own comments and […]
Rocket Lab is a major supplier of launch and space systems. Its Electron launch vehicle is the second most frequently launched US rocket annually and has delivered more than 176 satellites to orbit for commercial and Government partners, including NASA, the US Air Force and other governmental agencies. Long Beach-based Rocket Lab, founded in 2006, […]
Italy-based aerospace company Argotec is opening a new facility in Maryland, USA. Argotec already has a busy R&D unit in Turin and operates climatic rooms and a thermal vacuum chamber in order to recreate the extreme conditions of temperature and to validate its satellite projects. Argotec also has its own Mission Control Centre directly connected […]
Axiom Space has raised $350 million (€322.9m) in its most recent funding round as it continues to develop a private orbiting space station in a partnership with NASA. The cash, from an array of diverse backers that include deep-tech venture capital funds and strategic brand partners have positioned Axiom Space as second to SpaceX for […]
Europe’s giant Ariane 6, already much delayed, is to be further postponed into 2024 says the European Space Agency (ESA). The delay, perhaps as long as six more months, comes amid considerable criticism of ESA, and the rocket’s other build and launch contractors. One recent comment described the ESA and its partners in the project […]
Madison Square Garden’s Sphere Studios has worked with Nanoraks and the International Space Station’s ISS National Lab to send an ultra-special camera up to the ISS. On this mission, MSG Sphere Studios sent the highest-resolution camera system ever launched to the ISS to establish critical baseline knowledge in microgravity conditions and the harsh environment of […]
Rocket Lab USA, a launch and space systems company, has been selected by Inmarsat Government as partner to develop and manufacture an L-band radio in support of NASA’s Communications Services Project (CSP). CSP seeks to accelerate the development of commercial near-Earth communications services by partnering with satellite communications (satcom) providers. Rocket Lab will help enable […]
SpaceX launched four NASA astronauts to the international space station on October 5th from Cape Canaveral. A few hours later, from the Vandenberg Space Force base in California, another Falcon 9 rocket lofted 52 Starlink satellites into orbit. Both rocket boosters made pinpoint landings on their floating barges a few minutes after launch. The Starlink […]