German launch startup Rocket Factory Augsburg has taken a step towards a first launch by gaining a first-ever license to vertically launch an orbital rocket from mainland Europe. Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) is working towards a first launch of its RFA ONE rocket from SaxaVord Spaceport on the Shetland Islands off the coast of Scotland. …
UK Approves 1st Vertical Rocket Launch From Saxavord Spaceport. Read More »
An international group of researchers is calling on the United Nations to include the protection of Earth’s orbit in the U.N.’s sustainable development goals. The researchers — led by experts from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the University of Plymouth in the U.K. and the University of Texas at Austin — think that adding space to …
Scientists Call On UN To Help Solve Earth’s Space Junk Problem. Read More »
One of the most photographed objects in the night sky is the Ring Nebula, wreckage of a bygone sun-like star about 2,000 light-years from Earth. Its striking, smoke-ring-like appearance has both awed and puzzled astronomers, who have long debated whether this remnant truly takes on a ring shape or if its appearance is merely an …
Astronomers are sounding alarm bells as the world’s most precious sky-observing location faces a risk of being blinded by light pollution due to a planned renewable energy project. The U.S. energy company AES Energy wants to build a large renewable hydrogen manufacturing complex in Chile, only a few kilometers from the summit of Mount Paranal, …
World’s Largest Telescope Threatened By Light Pollution From Renewable Energy Project. Read More »
SpaceX is set to launch another batch of its Starlink internet satellites Monday (Jan. 20), four days after a test flight of the company’s Starship megarocket ended in an explosion. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 27 Starlink craft is scheduled to lift off from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base Sunday, during a four-hour window that …
SpaceX Launching 27 Starlink Satellites Jan. 20 In 1st Flight Since Starship Explosion. Read More »
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) will soon start getting back to normal operations after weathering the raging L.A. fires. JPL lies at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains just north of Los Angeles and was threatened by the Eaton Fire, which has devastated neighboring communities such as Altadena. The center — NASA’s lead facility …
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab To Open Next Week After LA Fires. Read More »
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is requiring an investigation into what went wrong during the seventh-ever test flight of SpaceX’s Starship megarocket yesterday (Jan. 16). The launch, from SpaceX‘s Starbase site in South Texas, went well at first. Starship got off the pad successfully, and its two stages — the Super Heavy booster and …
FAA Requiring Investigation Into SpaceX Starship’s Flight 7 Explosion. Read More »
Europe is moving towards the second launch of its new Ariane 6 launcher after finding and addressing anomalies following its debut flight. Josef Aschbacher, Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA), presented plans and updates on the agency’s work during an annual press briefing on Jan. 9. The event also drew questions on the …
Europe’s New Ariane 6 Heavy-Lift Rocket Set For 2nd Launch In February. Read More »
The seventh test flight of SpaceX’s Starship had some serious highs and lows. The company launched its Starship megarocket for the seventh time ever today (Jan. 16), sending the 403.5-foot-tall (123 meters) reusable vehicle aloft from its Starbase site in South Texas at 5:37 p.m. EST (2237 GMT; 4:37 p.m. local time). One of the …
SpaceX Watches Super Heavy Booster On Starship Flight 7 Test But Loses Upper Stage. Read More »
India has become the fourth country in the world to successfully achieve an unmanned docking in space following the US, Russia and China, as two small spacecraft completed the docking maneuver in low-Earth orbit on Thursday, which the Indian space agency described as “a historic moment” for the nation. The successful SpaDeX mission “is a …
India Becomes 4th Country To Achieve Unmanned Space Docking. Read More »
