Category: Space Flight

Rocket Lab is scheduled to launch its Virginia Is For Launches mission later this evening. It will be the company’s first launch from Launch Complex 2 at Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport within NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility.

by Tim Sweezy 

While this will not be the first launch of Rocket Lab’s Electron booster, it will be the first time it will launch in the United States. Previously, the company launched 32 Electron missions from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. The company touts the fact that Electron is “the most frequently launched small orbital rocket globally, and now with two launch complexes combined, Rocket Lab can support more than 130 launch opportunities every year.”

Launch Complex 2 was designed to support up to 12 missions per year. Rocket Lab operates an Integration and Control Facility within NASA’s Wallops Research Park, which includes state-of-the-art payload integration cleanrooms, vehicle processing facilities, and a mission control center. The upcoming launch pad and production complex for the company’s large reusable Neutron launch vehicle will also be located at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport.

The rocket will reach supersonic speed within a minute of launch, with its main engine cutting off on the first stage around the two-and-a-half-minute mark. A few seconds later Stage 1 will separate from Stage 2, with Electron’s Stage 2 Rutherford engines igniting shortly after. The fairing will separate approximately three minutes post-launch, with the payload being deployed near the one-hour mark.

Continue reading… “Rocket Lab’s Electron Booster Makes Its First US Liftoff And You Can Watch Live Here”

Concept art of the Bimodal Nuclear Thermal Rocket.

By MATT WILLIAMS

We live in an era of renewed space exploration, where multiple agencies are planning to send astronauts to the Moon in the coming years. This will be followed in the next decade with crewed missions to Mars by NASA and China, who may be joined by other nations before long.

These and other missions that will take astronauts beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and the Earth-Moon system require new technologies, ranging from life support and radiation shielding to power and propulsion.

And when it comes to the latter, Nuclear Thermal and Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NTP/NEP) is a top contender!

NASA and the Soviet space program spent decades researching nuclear propulsion during the Space Race.

A few years ago, NASA reignited its nuclear program for the purpose of developing bimodal nuclear propulsion – a two-part system consisting of an NTP and NEP element – that could enable transits to Mars in 100 days.

Continue reading… “New NASA Nuclear Rocket Plan Aims to Get to Mars in Just 45 Days”

This chip is the size of a fingernail and is made on a thin film of lithium niobate. It can be used in a range of applications, including in telecommunications to make our internet faster. Credit: RMIT University

Super-thin chips made from lithium niobate are set to overtake silicon chips in light-based technologies, according to world-leading scientists in the field, with potential applications ranging from remote ripening-fruit detection on Earth to navigation on the moon.

They say the artificial crystal offers the platform of choice for these technologies due to its superior performance and recent advances in manufacturing capabilities.

RMIT University’s Distinguished Professor Arnan Mitchell and University of Adelaide’s Dr. Andy Boes led this team of global experts to review lithium niobate’s capabilities and potential applications in the journal Science.

The international team, including scientists from Peking University in China and Harvard University in the United States, is working with industry to make navigation systems that are planned to help rovers drive on the moon later this decade.

As it is impossible to use global positioning system (GPS) technology on the moon, navigation systems in lunar rovers will need to use an alternative system, which is where the team’s innovation comes in.

By detecting tiny changes in laser light, the lithium-niobate chip can be used to measure movement without needing external signals, according to Mitchell.

“This is not science fiction—this artificial crystal is being used to develop a range of exciting applications. And competition to harness the potential of this versatile technology is heating up,” said Mitchell, Director of the Integrated Photonics and Applications Centre.

He said while the lunar navigation device was in the early stages of development, the lithium niobate chip technology was “mature enough to be used in space applications.”

“Our lithium niobate chip technology is also flexible enough to be rapidly adapted to almost any application that uses light,” Mitchell said.

“We are focused on navigation now, but the same technology could also be used for linking internet on the moon to the internet on Earth.”

Continue reading… “Light-based tech could inspire moon navigation and next-gen farming”

Image: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (KBRwyle)

By Joshua Hawkins

NASA’s manned mission to Mars would take seven months with the current technology we have for rockets. However, a nuclear-powered spacecraft could make that trek in just 45 days, according to news shared by the space agency. The design, which has been in the works in some fashion for the past few decades, uses a nuclear reactor to provide energy to the rocket.

Nuclear Thermal and Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NTP/NEP) is a top contender for the job, too. The original design is part of research completed by the NASA and Soviet space program, which happened during the Space Race all those years ago. A few years ago, NASA reignited the program for the explicit purpose of creating a bimodal nuclear propulsion device that would consist of NTP and NEP elements.

The idea is to create a nuclear-powered spacecraft capable of cutting down the transit time to Mars and other planets exponentially. NASA shared an updated page on the topic this month, detailing how the system would look and how it would take advantage of a wave rotor topping cycle. This new class of propulsion system would cut the Mars trip down by literal months.

Continue reading… “A nuclear-powered rocket could take astronauts to Mars in just 45 days”

The robot craft – which has now clocked up over 1.3 billion miles in orbit across its six missions – was carrying experiments for the US Air Force, Navy and also NASA.

By IAN RANDALL

United States Space Force: ULA launch X-37B spaceplane.

An unmanned, solar-powered US military space plane returned from its sixth mission on Saturday, having spent a record-breaking 908 days in orbit. Built by Boeing, the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle — which resembles a miniature space shuttle — was developed to test space technologies. It was launched on top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida back in May 2020. The craft landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the same complex from which the Artemis I Moon rocket will hopefully be blasting off early tomorrow morning.

For the first time, the space plane carried a so-called service module designed to increase the total number of payloads it could carry. This carried scientific experiments for partners including the Naval Research Laboratory and the US Air Force Academy.

To ensure a safe landing, the module was jettisoned from the vehicle before it left orbit. The space plane and the module then returned to Earth separately.

Boeing Space and Launch senior vice president Jim Chilton said: “Since the X-37B’s first launch in 2010, it has shattered records and provided our nation with an unrivalled capability to rapidly test and integrate new space technologies.

“With the service module added, this was the most we’ve ever carried to orbit on the X-37B and we’re proud to have been able to prove out this new and flexible capability for the government and its industry partners.”

Continue reading… “Unmanned, solar-powered US military space plane returns from record 908-day flight”

MS Voyager will be the waterborne launchpad for Spaceship Neptune. 

Spaceship Neptune’s inspiring journey from MS Voyager to the edge of space.

By MICHAEL VERDON 

Talk about a new kind of pleasure vessel. Space Perspective plans to launch the first-ever Marine Spaceport named, appropriately, MS Voyager, for test flights in early 2023. The Cape Canaveral-based firm plans to start testing its Spaceship Neptune—a cockpit tethered to a giant space balloon—next year for six-hour civilian journeys in 2024 that will go high into the stratosphere. Unlike competitors Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, the space balloon won’t involve rockets or ten-minute spaceflights.

The 292-foot Voyager is designed to be a floating “spaceport,” which gives Space Perspective the option of launching Spaceship Neptune from either land or water. The company has a land-based launch site on Florida’s Space Coast for its initial flights in 2024, but its long-term plans include other destinations around the world.

Continue reading… “The World’s First Floating Spaceport Will Launch Travelers Into the Stratosphere in 2024”

Lunar soil collected from China’s Chang’e-5 moon mission display during an exhibition at the National Museum of China in Beijing on March 4, 2021.

By Margaret Davis

A team of researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China, Nanjing University, and China Academy of Space Technology said that they managed to convert actual lunar soil samples or regolith from the Chang’e mission into a source of rocket fuel and oxygen.

Futurism reports that the team found that the regolith samples can act as a catalyst to convert carbon dioxide and water from the bodies of astronauts and the environment into methane and oxygen. The discovery is a potential game-changer for future space exploration, ensuring the success of the mission by providing in-situ resources to fuel up their spacecraft for the return journey.

Continue reading… “Chinese Scientists Converted Lunar Soil Samples Into Rocket Fuel, Oxygen”

By Amelia Podder

The race to be the first one in space, and then the Moon was a contest between mainly the USA and the Soviet Union. Today though, the race to be the first one to completely commercialise space travel and make it feasible for tourists is practically anybody’s race, including private players.

Thanks to a Japanese aeronautical research company, people on Earth can now send parcels and couriers to space. Image Credit: ISpace.

We have heard about space agencies and aeronautical firms partnering up to make the world’s first space hotel. Now, we have an up-and-coming startup from Japan that wants to establish a courier service in space. Want to send a parcel or an urgent document to someone in space? Well, in a few years, you can.

ISpace Inc., a Tokyo-based company, plans to launch a lunar lander by the end of this month, that will carry a variety of commercial and governmental payloads, including 2 rovers.

The goal of this firm is to establish a human population on the moon by 2040, but before then it wants to transform one of its modules on the moon as a courier and logistical lunar hub. The aim is to make money by transporting commercial products and research equipment up in space, on behalf of research institutes, private players, and certain government agencies.

ISpace’s first trip will test both the technological capabilities it has developed since its creation in 2010 and the trust of its investors. The Japan Times reported that a lot depends on its success, including the possibility of an IPO as early as this fiscal year and a chance to take a larger piece of space tourism and commercial logistics industry, which, Morgan Stanley predicts would triple to $1 trillion in two decades from 2020.

Continue reading… “Want To Send A Parcel To The Moon? A Japanese Startup Is Working To Establish A Courier Service For Space- Technology News, Firstpost”

About 10 minutes into the launch, an official of the China Manned Space Agency announced that the mission was successful and the spacecraft reached its intended orbit.

China’s space station lab module Mengtian and the rocket Long March-5B Y4 being transported to the launch area

HIGHLIGHTS

• The lab module called Mengtian was launched using a Long March-5B Y4 rocket 
• It was launched from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site 
• Long March-5B Y4 rocket is one of China’s biggest rockets 

China on Monday successfully launched a second lab module to be part of its ambitious space station currently under construction.

The lab module called Mengtian was launched using a Long March-5B Y4 rocket, one of China’s biggest rockets, from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on the coast of the southern island province of Hainan.

The launch was telecast live by the news channels here. About 10 minutes into the launch, an official of the China Manned Space Agency announced that the mission was successful and the spacecraft reached its intended orbit.

Later, it will dock with the orbiting core module of the space station.

Continue reading… “China successfully launches second lab module for its space station”

By Anthony Wright

A new state-of-the-art cryogenic engine manufacturing facility is set to be inaugurated by the President of India, Droupadi Murmu in Bengaluru today (27^th September).

Commissioned by Indian aerospace company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the 4500m² Integrated Cryogenic Engine Manufacturing Facility (ICMF) will be used to manufacture and test cryogenic (CE20) and semi-cryogenic (SE2000) engines for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). 

The most widely used engines for launch vehicles designed to send rockets into space, cryogenic engines are highly complex and only a handful of countries are involved in their manufacture. 

In 2014, India successfully flew the GSLV-D5 launch vehicle with a cryogenic engine built by ISRO, which led to it becoming just the sixth country to develop cryogenic engines. 

ISRO and HAL signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2013 to enable HAL’s Aerospace Division to manufacture cryogenic engine modules. 

Continue reading… “HAL to advance India’s space race with launch of new cryogenic engine facility”

A Long March 5 launches the Chang’e-5 lunar sample return mission Nov. 23, 2020.

By Andrew Jones

PARIS — A major arm of China’s state-owned space contractor is looking at developing a series of partially and fully-reusable launch vehicles apparently in response to SpaceX’s Starship.

A paper published in the journal Aerospace Technology outlines plans under consideration by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) for a number of launch vehicles with varying diameters and clusters of methalox engines.

A first generation of three launch vehicles with reusable first stages would have diameters of 3.35, 4.0 and 7.0 meters, powered by clusters of five, seven-to-nine and 9-22 “Longyun” 70-ton-thrust engines. Second stages would use vacuum-optimized versions of the engine.

The 3.35m version is to be capable of lifting 2,500 kilograms to a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), while the 4.0m variant—a size chosen to meet the maximum which can be transported to China’s inland launch sites—could launch up to 6,500 kg of payload to a similar orbit. 

The 7.0 meter version is planned to be able to launch more than 20,000 kg to 700 km SSO, while requiring new launch facilities and an offshore platform for recovering the first stage. 

Continue reading… “Shanghai rocket maker considering developing huge methane-fueled rockets”

Artist’s conception of SUSIE performing a vertical landing

By Passant Rabie

CALLED SUSIE, THE REUSABLE SPACECRAFT WOULD BE CAPABLE OF DELIVERING CREWS AND CARGO TO SPACE, AND PERFORM VERTICAL LANDINGS WHEN RETURNING HOME.

French aerospace company ArianeGroup has revealed a concept for a reusable upper stage spacecraft that would be capable of delivering heavy payloads to space and carry out crewed missions before landing vertically back on Earth. 

SUSIE, short for Smart Upper Stage for Innovative Exploration, was introducedto the world at the International Astronautical Congress held in Paris from September 18 to 22. The fully reusable upper stage could eventually serve as an automated freighter and payload transporter, as well as a spacecraft for crewed missions carrying a crew of up to five astronauts. SUSIE remains a concept for now, but if realized, the spacecraft would support various European space endeavours for years to come. 

Reusability is fast becoming a necessity in modern spaceflight, as launch providers work to keep costs down. “It is our industrial duty to contribute to this ambition and offer European decision-makers smart and ambitious technological solutions capable of contributing to independent access to space, and also to open the door to European space exploration and address commercial and institutional needs for services in space over the coming decades,” Morena Bernardini, head of strategy and innovation at ArianeGroup, said in a statement.

Europe’s private space industry has fallen a bit behind its American counterparts in terms of developing reusable vehicles. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is a reusable two-stage rocket that has flown to space nearly 200 times, while the company’s reusable Dragon capsules, whether for cargo or crews, are now in steady circulation. Boeing’s Starliner, a reusable crew capsule, recently completed its first uncrewed end-to-end test flight (although it was a less-than-perfect mission). Reusable launchers and vehicles aren’t so much the future as they are the present.

Continue reading… “This Reusable Space Freighter Would ‘Open the Door’ to European Space Exploration”