Rocket Lab

Blue Origin, the aerospace company founded by Jeff Bezos, is finally setting some ambitious timelines, saying it plans to conduct an uncrewed Moon landing in as little as a year from now, deploying a demonstration version of its Blue Moon Mark 1 (MK1) cargo lander. This ramps up the space rivalry big time, putting Bezos head-to-head with Musk in a potential lunar showdown.China's Plan to Land Astronauts on the MoonJohn Couluris, senior vice president for lunar permanence at Blue Origin, discussed these plans during an…

Rocket Lab kicked off the year with the launch and recovery of its Electron rocket as part of the company’s continued efforts to reuse its small launch vehicle’s first stage.Alex Winter on the Most Important Modern Horror Movie Electron lifted off on Wednesday at 1:34 a.m. ET from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula, carrying the first four Space Situational Awareness (SSA) satellites for NorthStar. The rocket deployed the satellites to a 329 mile (530 kilometer) circular Earth orbit, from which…

Earth’s orbit will be monitored by a watchful set of robotic eyes, the first commercial constellation of satellites with the ability to keep track of objects in space to avoid collisions between spacecraft.Astronomers Could Soon Get Warnings When SpaceX Satellites Threaten Their ViewCanadian startup NorthStar is getting ready to launch the first four of its Space Situational Awareness (SSA) satellites equipped with advanced optical devices for detecting space objects and star trackers for accurate positioning. The…

It was a jaw-dropping year for the space industry, and while we all know by now that progress isn’t linear, we feel pretty confident that 2024 will be even more astonishing. This year was tough for many space companies, and we aren’t trying to paper that over with our optimism. The world of zero-interest-rate policy, or ZIRP, officially ended; cash got more expensive and fundraising became more challenging. Nevertheless, 2023 also produced a number of tailwinds that we think will make next year one of the most…

With just 11 days left in the year, it’s clear that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk will not reach his stated goal of achieving 100 Falcon 9 launches in 2023. Nonetheless, the company’s achievements during the calendar year are damn impressive, with 2024 poised to be even more remarkable.Tesla Investors Not Happy With Mr. Tweet's TweetsOn Monday, December 18, a Falcon 9 launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with 23 Starlink V2-mini satellites on board. The mission represented SpaceX’s 88th Falcon 9 launch for 2023, and it also…

Despite an unfortunate anomaly nearly three months ago, Rocket Lab is ready to see its Electron rocket fly once again with a new mission slated for launch on Friday.Google’s AI Isn’t a Gimmick, It’s the Future | AI UnlockedThe California-based company announced that it will launch a new Electron mission no earlier than December 14 during a daily two-hour launch window that opens at 11:00 p.m. ET (December 15 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. NZDT). The rocket is set for liftoff from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New…

A Martian moons mission, a plethora of private lunar landers, probes to Venus and Jupiter, and reusable heavy-lift rocket tests are among the many highlights we’ll be watching in the coming 12 months, in what looks to be an extraordinary year in spaceflight. Here’s your 2024 calendar.Zillow Says You’ll Buy Your Next House With… AI? | AI UnlockedThe Moon takes center stage in 2024An unprecedented number of missions to the Moon, both private and public, are set to take place in the coming year, capped by NASA’s crewed…

In a paradigm-shifting move, Rocket Lab, a private aerospace company, is breaking new ground in planetary exploration. Departing from traditional government-led endeavours through NASA and other agencies, Rocket Lab is set to launch the first private mission to study Venus in search of microbial life, challenging the notion that interplanetary exploration requires astronomical budgets and government backing.CEO Peter Beck envisions a departure from the norm, stating, “A private company going to another planet for some…

Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket launched seven satellites to orbit for its latest mission before its booster gently glidedits way back down for a parachute-assisted ocean splashdown to test its reusability.Astronomers Could Soon Get Warnings When SpaceX Satellites Threaten Their ViewElectron lifted off at 9:27 p.m. ET on Monday from the company’s Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula. The launch had been delayed by a few days due to unfavorable weather but when it did finally take off, it all went swimmingly.…

A private space company in China made aerospace history by launching its methane-fueled rocket to orbit, ushering in a new era of cleaner, safer rocket fuel that’s better suited for reusability. Twitter Investor Sues Elon Musk Over Sneaky Stock PurchasesLandspace’s Zhuque-2 launched at 9:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert, the company announced. This was the rocket’s second attempt to reach orbit after an unfortunate mission failure in December 2022, which destroyed 14…