Rocketry

Why NASA Will Be Keeping Many Details of This Weekend’s Megarocket Test Secret

Concerns have been raised that NASA might inadvertently disclose information that helps an adversary build ballistic missiles.

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky Mar 29

NASA’s Megarocket Gets Closer to First Launch After Successful Engine Tests

NASA replaced an engine controller aboard the gigantic Space Launch System rocket after a glitch late last year.

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky Feb 22

Watch Live: ULA Attempts Launch of Asymmetrical ‘Super Slider’ Atlas 5 Rocket

The Space Force mission seeks to deliver a pair of surveillance satellites to geosynchronous Earth orbit.

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky Jan 21

Watch ULA Try to Finally Launch an NRO Spy Satellite on a Delta IV Heavy Rocket Tonight

A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office will take off from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex-37 in Florida shortly before midnight on Wednesday. Assuming, that is, there isn’t another one of the last-minute delays that have hounded the mission for months. The rocket and its…

Space & Spaceflight Tom McKay Sep 30

First Private Chinese Attempt to Launch Satellite Into Orbit Suffers Unspecified Failure

The craft that would have been the first private Chinese rocket to deliver a satellite into orbit around the Earth failed on Saturday, the Guardian reported, with something going wrong with the Landspace Zhuque-1’s third-stage deployment. It’s not clear exactly what went wrong, though videos of the incident make clear that its payload—a satellite called…

Space & Spaceflight Tom McKay Oct 28

Watch Rivals SpaceX and Arianespace Both Launch Rockets Within 15 Minutes on Wednesday Morning

Early risers on Wednesday are eligible to observe a rocket launch double header, with multinational company Arianespace planning to launch an Ariane 5 rocket carrying four Galileo GPS satellites for European customers at 7:25am ET and a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch carrying 10 Iridium satellites 15 minutes later at 7:39am ET. Per Space.com, the Arianespace…

Space & Spaceflight Tom McKay Jul 25

Well, This Japanese Private Rocket Launch Certainly Could Have Gone Better

Saturday’s test of the MOMO-2 unmanned rocket, which was scheduled to be the first privately funded Japanese rocket to reach space, went very poorly for Interstellar Technologies’ Takafumi Horie, a convicted securities fraudster who a 2014 Financial Times profile dubbed “Japan’s enfant terrible.” Footage of the event showed the one-and-a-quarter-ton rocket disastrously failing mere seconds…

Space & Spaceflight Tom McKay Jun 30

China’s First Private Space Rocket Launch Ever Was This Week

OneSpace Technologies conducted the first private rocket launch in Chinese history this week, firing off the 30-foot (9 meter) OS-X from a platform in northwest China on Thursday, according to CNN. The rocket reportedly reached an altitude of 25 miles (40 kilometers) and traveled some 170 miles (273 km) from the launch pad. The end…

Space & Spaceflight Tom McKay May 19

At Long Last, Flat Earth Rocketeer Finally Manages to Blast Himself Into Sky at God Knows What Speed

Self-declared Flat Earth researcher and DIY steam rocket enthusiast “Mad” Mike Hughes has finally managed to prove the haters wrong about his ability to blast himself some 1,875 feet into the sky without being crushed or scalded to death, the Associated Press reported on Sunday. After the failure of two previous attempts to launch his…

Gadgets Tom McKay Mar 25

SpaceX Delays Next Falcon 9 Launch, Said to Carry Starlink Prototypes, to At Least February 21st

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has delayed the next scheduled launch of its Falcon 9 rocket to at least Wednesday, February 21st for further testing of the rocket’s fairing, the $5 million section at its tip that deploys the rocket’s payload, Space.com reported. The latest test of SpaceX’s line of partially reusable rockets, the launch was supposed…

Space & Spaceflight Tom McKay Feb 18

SpaceX Landed the Falcon Heavy’s Two Boosters, But Its Core Clipped Its Drone Ship at 300 MPH

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launch went pretty well this afternoon, with the rocket’s two partially reusable Falcon 9 strap-on boosters making successful landings at Kennedy Air Force Station after jettisoning from the craft three minutes post-launch. However, the rocket’s center core did not function as founder Elon Musk and team intended, and appears to have later…

Space & Spaceflight Tom McKay Feb 6

Flat Earth Rocketeer Once Again Fails to Launch Himself Into the Sky at 500 MPH

We’ve all been playing a waiting game with “Mad” Mike Hughes, the DIY enthusiast and Flat Earth theory advocate who planned to launch himself in a steam-powered rocket some 1,800 feet into the sky at 500 miles per hour as some kind of confusing statement on the curvature of the planet. Hughes, who has one…

Gadgets Tom McKay Feb 5

Watch the Japanese Space Agency Set a Record for Smallest Rocket Used to Launch a Satellite

The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency has set a record for the smallest-ever rocket to launch a satellite into orbit, using a SS-520 sounding rocket modified to include a third stage carrying a 13.6-inch TRICOM-1R cubesat as its payload. Per Engadget, JAXA’s original SS-520 launch with the same objective ended in failure in January 2017 when…

Space & Spaceflight Tom McKay Feb 3

Elon Musk Says SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Will Be Ready for Launch on February 6th

SpaceX founder Elon Musk says that the Falcon Heavy, the launch vehicle being billed as the most powerful rocket in the world, will be ready for its first launch on February 6th. The Falcon Heavy is the rocket Musk says could eventually carry astronauts or other equipment to Mars as part of SpaceX’s dubiously safe…

Space & Spaceflight Tom McKay Jan 28

Rebuffed Flat Earth Rocketeer Says He Will Actually Launch Himself Into the Sky at 500 MPH This Time

When last we heard of “Mad Mike” Hughes, the 61-year-old limo driver and stuntman who planned on launching a $20,000 steam-fueled rocket with “RESEARCH FLAT EARTH” painted on the side some 1,800 feet into the air at 500 miles per hour, the gosh darn government had intervened to tell him he couldn’t conduct any such…

Gadgets Tom McKay Jan 24

Flat Earth Researcher Told He Can’t Blast Himself Into the Sky at 500 MPH on Public Lands

61-year-old stuntman and amateur Flat Earth theory researcher “Mad” Mike Hughes, who planned to launch himself some 1,800 feet up at 500 miles per hour in an untested homemade steam-powered rocket over the Mojave Desert ghost town of Amboy, California on Saturday in some sort of gambit to prove the Earth is flat (spoilers: it’s not),…

Gadgets Tom McKay Nov 25

Watching a Rocket Plug Explode Is Very Satisfying

NASA fits foam plugs inside of booster rockets to protect the innards ahead of ignition. And boy, they sure do put on a show, when they’re blown out with 9.2 million pounds of thrust. This video, taken on June 28 at Orbital ATK’s test facilities in Promontory, Utah, shows a test of NASA’s new booster,…

Sploid George Dvorsky Sep 16

The Unlikely Quest to Build a Tower Tall Enough to Take Astronauts to Space

The space elevator is a glorious science fiction idea that’s never gotten past the concept stage, mostly because it’s impossible to build one right now. Recognizing this, a Canadian space firm is hoping to test the waters with a slightly scaled-down version — a space tower, if you will, that only rises into the stratosphere.…

Tech News Maddie Stone Aug 18

Watch How Close SpaceX’s Falcon9 Rocket Came To A Successful Landing

Yesterday’s failed attempt by SpaceX to land Falcon9 on a sea barge marked another setback in the company’s attempt to build a reusable rocket. But a newly released video shows just how close the rocket came to making a successful landing. They’re definitely getting closer. https://gizmodo.com/watch-live-as-spacex-tries-once-more-to-land-a-rocket-o-1697725749 The video shows the rocket descending quite quickly, and…

io9 George Dvorsky Apr 15

Falcon9 Reached The Barge But Did Not Survive The Landing [Updated]

Today’s launch of Falcon9 and Dragon was a rousing success as essential supplies are now making their way to the ISS. As for the Falcon9 rocket, it reportedly “landed” on the droneship, but with considerable force. Image: SpaceX Today’s launch happened at 4:10 PM ET/1:10 PM PT. The attempting landing occurred about eight minutes later.…

io9 George Dvorsky Apr 14

Why NASA Will Be Keeping Many Details of This Weekend’s Megarocket Test Secret

NASA’s Megarocket Gets Closer to First Launch After Successful Engine Tests

Watch Live: ULA Attempts Launch of Asymmetrical ‘Super Slider’ Atlas 5 Rocket

Watch ULA Try to Finally Launch an NRO Spy Satellite on a Delta IV Heavy Rocket Tonight

First Private Chinese Attempt to Launch Satellite Into Orbit Suffers Unspecified Failure

Watch Rivals SpaceX and Arianespace Both Launch Rockets Within 15 Minutes on Wednesday Morning

Well, This Japanese Private Rocket Launch Certainly Could Have Gone Better

China’s First Private Space Rocket Launch Ever Was This Week

At Long Last, Flat Earth Rocketeer Finally Manages to Blast Himself Into Sky at God Knows What Speed

SpaceX Delays Next Falcon 9 Launch, Said to Carry Starlink Prototypes, to At Least February 21st

SpaceX Landed the Falcon Heavy’s Two Boosters, But Its Core Clipped Its Drone Ship at 300 MPH

Flat Earth Rocketeer Once Again Fails to Launch Himself Into the Sky at 500 MPH

Watch the Japanese Space Agency Set a Record for Smallest Rocket Used to Launch a Satellite

Elon Musk Says SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Will Be Ready for Launch on February 6th

Rebuffed Flat Earth Rocketeer Says He Will Actually Launch Himself Into the Sky at 500 MPH This Time

Flat Earth Researcher Told He Can’t Blast Himself Into the Sky at 500 MPH on Public Lands

Watching a Rocket Plug Explode Is Very Satisfying

The Unlikely Quest to Build a Tower Tall Enough to Take Astronauts to Space

Watch How Close SpaceX’s Falcon9 Rocket Came To A Successful Landing

Falcon9 Reached The Barge But Did Not Survive The Landing [Updated]

Amazon Is Sticking With ‘Rings of Power’ to the End

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