falcon 9

Reusability is the key to 21st century spaceflight, with many launch providers now working to make their rockets as recyclable as possible. California-based Rocket Lab is ready to take an important next step in this direction by fitting a previously flown 3D-printed engine onto its Electron rocket.Astronomers Could Soon Get Warnings When SpaceX Satellites Threaten Their ViewTo date, some 350 Rutherford engines built by Rocket Lab have gone to space, yet nonehave returned for a second stint in low Earth orbit. That could…

A Falcon 9 rocket launched on April 19, 2023 to deliver 21 Starlink V2 satellites.Photo: SpaceXSpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket delivered 21 Starlink V2 Minis to orbit on Wednesday, launching the company’s second batch of next-generation satellites shortly after the inaugural batch ran into some trouble.Astronomers Could Soon Get Warnings When SpaceX Satellites Threaten Their ViewFalcon 9 launched at 10:31 a.m. ET from Space Launch Complex 40 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The rocket was originally scheduled to…

Everything was looking so good today, until it wasn’t. Ground controllers announced the scrub with roughly 11 minutes left in the countdown clock, with a pressurization issue associated with the SpaceX Super Heavy booster to blame. The company says it will likely re-attempt a launch of its Starship megarocketlater this week.Astronomers Could Soon Get Warnings When SpaceX Satellites Threaten Their ViewA frozen pressurant valve in the booster was all that came between SpaceX and the first launch of its fully integrated…

Elon’s gigantic Starship rocket is expected to dominate the news this week, but there will be other spaceflight happenings vying for our attention.Astronomers Could Soon Get Warnings When SpaceX Satellites Threaten Their ViewA pair of cosmonauts are in the midst of preparing for the first of several scheduled spacewalks outside the ISS, and that’s not the only thing happening in low Earth orbit this week. SpaceX is aiming for Starship’s firstflightSpaceX finally logged its first Starship launch attempt on the morning of…

This week’s Twitter kerfuffle is all about public funding. Elon Musk decided to label National Public Radio’s account first as “government-influenced media,” which it previously applied to state-operated media outlets that shade into propaganda. Later, the label was changed to “government-funded media.”Tesla Investors Not Happy With Mr. Tweet's TweetsNPR, which maintains that its editorial content is independent and has a history of running stories critical of the US government, decided to leave the platform rather than…

Guangzhou-based company CAS Space recently flew a small rocket outside a Chinese coastal city before landing it upright on a sea-based platform. The successful test flight and landing could eventually change the game for the Chinese rocket industry.Astronomers Could Soon Get Warnings When SpaceX Satellites Threaten Their ViewCAS Space, which is partly owned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, launched a small rocket prototype in Haiyang, east China, according to China’s Global Times. The rocket prototype weighs around 205…

HEO Robotics captured this view of a Starlink V2 Mini satellite in orbit shortly after it launched. Image: HEO RoboticsIt’s been a little over a month since SpaceX launched 21 mini versions of its next-generation Starlink satellites, but it appears that one of those little guys just couldn’t cling to orbit any longer.Astronomers Could Soon Get Warnings When SpaceX Satellites Threaten Their ViewThe Starlink satellite designated as 30062 reentered Earth’s atmosphere on Monday at 4:50 a.m. ET off the coast of California,…

SpaceX’s partially reusable Falcon 9 is currently in a class by itself, but rival companies are hoping to end the rocket’s near-monopolistic hold on the spaceflight industry. One such company is Rocket Lab, with its chief financial officer now taking direct aim at the Elon Musk-owned firm.Speaking at a Bank of America event on March 21, Rocket Lab CFO Adam Spice said, “We are positioning Neutron to compete directly with the Falcon 9,” CNBC reported. The projected cost of flying with Neutron, a fully reusable medium-lift…

The newly launched Starlink V2 Mini satellites appear to be in trouble, Elon Musk confirmed yesterday. The SpaceX CEO said some units will likely have to be deorbited and destroyed in the Earth’s atmosphere, while the remaining units stay in space for further testing.On Wednesday, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on twitter, “Lot of new technology in Starlink V2, so we’re experiencing some issues, as expected.” He added that some satellites “will be deorbited, others will be tested thoroughly.” Musk was responding to ongoing…

Screenshot: Relativity SpaceIn addition to passing Max-Q, the mission managed to complete main engine cut-off (MECO), stage separation, and the ignition of the lone second-stage Aeon vacuum engine. Roughly three minutes into the flight, however, the second stage engine appeared to sputter and then completely shut off, effectively ending the mission. The upper stage got no higher than around 81 miles (130 kilometers) above the surface and traveled no faster than about 4,600 miles per hour (7,400 km/hr), according to…