Welcome to the Launch Roundup! This week, Russia will send a new crew to the International Space Station (ISS), and a NASA astronaut prepares to return home after setting a new American endurance record he never intended to set. Axiom Space named the crew for the company’s next private mission to the station. And Japan launched a spacecraft to land on the Moon last week.
(more…)Welcome to the Launch Roundup! In this edition, a new crew arrived at the International Space Station (ISS), SpaceX has now launched more than 5,000 Starlink satellites, Rocket Lab reused an engine, weather delayed the launch of Japan’s Moon mission and an American military satellite, and there was no joy in North Korea following a recent launch failure.
(more…)Welcome to the Launch Roundup! In this week’s edition, crew and cargo ships are heading for the International Space Station, a Japanese spacecraft will be launched to the moon, and SpaceX reached one milestone in deploying its Starlink constellation and should reach another one later today (August 22). But, first some Flight Bytes about Virgin Galactic’s next launch, skepticism about Spaceport America, India’s new spaceport, and Rocket Lab’s latest contract.
(more…)The rise of SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic is opening up the thrills of riding rockets, floating in microgravity, and staring open-mouthed at spectacular views of Earth to those wealthy or lucky enough to book a flight. But while more private companies are flying individuals into space, governments around the world remain key to the success of commercial flight providers and future private space stations.
(more…)Virgin Galactic (NYSE: SPCE) capped off nearly 19 years of effort by flying its first commercial mission with paying customers from Spaceport American in New Mexico on Thursday (June 29). However, while the VSS Unity rocket plane soared into the heavens on a research flight, the company’s stock declined by almost 11 percent.
(more…)Welcome to S-SPACi! In this week’s edition, shares of AST SpaceMobile plunged on a stock sale and questions about the company’s future, Virgin Galactic prepares for its first commercial crewed flight, Intuitive Machines filed to sell more stock, and the latest news about BlackSky, Intuitive Machines, Planet Labs, Redwire, Rocket Lab, Spire Global, and Terran Orbital.
(more…)Virgin Galactic will launch its first ever suborbital flight with paying customers on Thursday, June 29, when it launches three Italian researchers on the Galactic 01 mission.
(more…)In this week’s Launch Roundup, a new crew led by a veteran astronaut on his fourth spaceflight arrived at China’s Tiangong space station for a six-month mission on Tuesday (May 30).
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