Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images) The world will mark the 60th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is known to Russians as the Caribbean Crisis, in October. The incredibly tense confrontation brought the United States and the Soviet Union the closest they would come to nuclear war during the Cold War. The […]
Enlarge / Amazon is counting on the Vulcan rocket, a pathfinder for which is shown here, to deliver a large number of satellites into space. (credit: United Launch Alliance) Amazon on Tuesday announced the largest commercial launch deal ever. The company said it has finalized agreements with three different rocket companies for a total of […]
Enlarge / NASA’s large rocket will undergo a dress rehearsal this weekend. (credit: NASA) After two weeks of preparatory work on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center, NASA is ready to put its large new rocket and its complex plumbing system to the test. This will be the final major rehearsal before the space […]
Enlarge / The crew of NS-20 view the New Shepard spacecraft and rocket prior to launch. (credit: Blue Origin) Welcome to Edition 4.37 of the Rocket Report! The big event this weekend is a wet dress rehearsal for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket, which begins on Friday and is presently scheduled to conclude on Sunday. […]
Enlarge / NASA Astronaut Mark Vande Hei flashes a thumbs-up shortly after landing on Wednesday. (credit: NASA) After more than a month of speculation, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei did in fact return to Earth inside a Russian Soyuz spacecraft Wednesday, on the dusty steppes of Kazakhstan. The landing of the small descent module was […]
Enlarge / Impulse Space seeks to provide last-mile service for spacecraft launched into orbit. (credit: Impulse Space) Impulse Space announced Tuesday that it has raised $20 million in seed funding, led by the venture capital firm Founders Fund. The in-space propulsion company, started by noted rocket scientist Tom Mueller, plans to use the funding to […]
Enlarge / NASA’s SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft are at the launch site in Florida, ready for a wet dress rehearsal in early April. (credit: NASA) President Joe Biden on Monday released his budget request for the coming fiscal year, and NASA is a big winner. The administration is asking Congress to fund $25.9 billion […]
Welcome to the Elite Eight of the Fictional Hoopers Tournament. All the particular fat and sinew (Sandy Lyle and Steve Urkel) have been trimmed, and the characters left are all from powerhouse pictures. No one has been able to knock off either of White Men Can’t Jump’s main characters (celebrated last night at the Oscars, […]
Enlarge / Astra’s LV0009 takes off from Kodiak Island, Alaska, on March 15. (credit: Brady Kenniston/Astra) Welcome to Edition 4.36 of the Rocket Report! As I took last week off for Spring Break, there is quite a bit of news to get to this week, including positive steps forward for some US small launch companies […]
Enlarge / Hot fire of Ursa Major’s oxygen-rich, staged combustion Hadley engine at the company’s Berthoud, Colorado, headquarters. (credit: Ursa Major) Startup Ursa Major announced Wednesday that it had completed qualification of its Hadley rocket engine for use by both a space launch vehicle and a hypersonic launch system. The Colorado-based company said it has […]