Astra Space Inc’s first attempt to launch a rocket into orbit came to a disappointing end as it veered off course and catapulted to the ground. The California start-up conducted launch from the Pacific Spaceport Complex in Kodiak, Alaska, on Friday evening. Video showed the 38-foot-tall rocket taking off at 7.19pm local time and flying … Read more
Two UK-built nanosatellites no heavier than a piece of cabin luggage will be launched into orbit this month to track global ship movements thanks to £6 million government grant A UK Space Agency £6 million grant helped fund the nanosatellite development Two sets nanosatellites will be launched into orbit by Scottish-form Spire Global The first … Read more
SpaceX‘s Starlink satellite constellation grew a little larger Thursday morning, as the firm added 60 more devices to the network. The Falcon 9 rocket took off at 8:46am ET from Launch Complex 39-A at Kennedy Space Center carrying the new batch of broadband satellites. The mission was originally set for Sunday, but was unable to … Read more
Liftoff! SpaceX successfully launches US Space Force GPS satellite into orbit aboard its Falcon 9 rocket SpaceX launched a GPS satellite for US Space Force aboard the Falcon 9 rocket The launch took off at 4:10pm ET at Kennedy Space Center in Florida This is Falcon 9’s 11th launch this year, but this time it … Read more
There are an estimated 170 million pieces of so-called ‘space junk’ – left behind after missions that can be as big as spent rocket stages or as small as paint flakes – in orbit alongside some US$700 billion (£555bn) of space infrastructure. But only 22,000 are tracked, and with the fragments able to travel at … Read more
Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit has failed on its first attempt to launch a rocket attached to the wing of a Boeing 747 due to an ‘anomaly’. The company confirmed Monday that the rocket’s debut flight over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California was unsuccessful. The inaugural launch had appeared to be going well … Read more
Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit is poised to make history today as it sends satellite-launching craft on first test flight to space LauncherOne, used to deliver small satellites into orbit, will take off on Sunday If successful it will be the first time this system launches something into space Virgin Orbit’s vice-president is confident his team’s … Read more
Russian rocket disintegrates in Earth’s orbit leaving behind 65 pieces of dangerous space debris that could damage other satellites The upper stage of a Russian rocket broke apart over the Indian ocean on May 8 The rocket was used to launch the Spektr-R radio telescope into orbit in 2011 Fregat-SB is a type of space … Read more