Virgin Orbit releases a rocket from airborne 747 for the first time

For around four years, Virgin Orbit has been busy developing a launch system to carry satellites into space using a rocket mounted to the wing of a modified 747. The team has today ticked off what it calls a significant milestone, carrying sa… Continue reading Virgin Orbit releases a rocket from airborne 747 for the first time

Mary Sherman Morgan, Rocket Fuel Mixologist

In the fall of 1957, it seemed as though the United States’ space program would never get off the ground. The USSR had launched Sputnik in October, and this cemented their place in history as the first nation in space. If that weren’t bad enough, they put Sputnik 2 into …read more

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Falcon Heavy carries 24 satellites into orbit in SpaceX's "most difficult launch ever"

Falcon Heavy in flight during an earlier mission

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket has lifted off again, this time embarking on what the company calls one of the most challenging launches in its history. With a slew of government satellites and important spacecraft onboard, the world’s most powerful operational vehicle took off into the night sky for the first time, on a mission to deliver payloads into three different orbits.

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ESA's reusable Space Rider capsule would carry equipment to orbit and back

The ESA has outlined Space Rider, a reusable capsule for experiments in low-Earth orbit

Space flight requires quite a lot of single-use machinery, and when you’re talking about multi-million dollar rockets that are used once, that gets pretty expensive and wasteful. Companies like SpaceX have made in-roads towards reusable rockets, and now ESA has outlined its own reusable Space Rider capsule, which would carry scientific equipment to the edge of space and back several times over.

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Storm Chasers Score Bullseye On Tornado With Instrument-Packed Rocket

Model rockets are a heck of a lot of fun, and not a few careers in science and engineering were jump-started by the thrilling woosh and rotten-egg stench of an Estes rocket launch. Adding simple instrumentation to the rocket doubles the fun by allowing telemetry to be sent back, or …read more

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Core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System Moon rocket moves closer to completion

Engineers at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans have now joined together four fifths of the Space Launch System’s (SLS) core stage. The upcoming super heavy rocket is slated to make its maiden flight in 2020, and will provide the… Continue reading Core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System Moon rocket moves closer to completion

Rocket engine for the Dream Chaser space plane undergoes first public test-fire

There’s a lot riding on the development of Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser space plane, with agreements in place to deliver cargo to the International Space Station for NASA, while other parties have expressed an interest in its services, too. T… Continue reading Rocket engine for the Dream Chaser space plane undergoes first public test-fire