Astrobotic’s Chakram rotating-detonation rocket engine during a test at the Marshall Space Flight Center. Credit: Astrobotic WASHINGTON — Astrobotic, a developer of lunar landers and suborbital rockets, has successfully tested an advanced rocket engine that could power those vehicles. The Pittsburgh-based company announced April 23 it has completed a series of tests of Chakram, a rotating-detonation rocket engine, or RDRE, at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. In those tests, two engine...

The first Ariane 64 lifts off Feb. 12 carrying 32 Amazon Leo satellites. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/ArianeGroup/Optique video du CSG–P. Piron MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — The more powerful version of Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket successfully placed a group of Amazon Leo broadband satellites into orbit on the vehicle’s inaugural launch Feb. 12. The Ariane 64 lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana at 11:45 a.m. Eastern on Arianespace’s VA267 mission. The vehicle’s upper stage completed its dep...

Rendering of Rocket Lab’s Neutron medium-lift rocket. Credit: Rocket Lab WASHINGTON — A tank built for Rocket Lab’s Neutron rocket was damaged during qualification testing, threatening to further delay the vehicle’s first flight. In a Jan. 21 statement, Rocket Lab said a tank built for Neutron’s first stage ruptured during a hydrostatic pressure test. In such tests, a tank is filled with water and pressurized, typically above its rated performance, to check for leaks and verify str...

Booster 18, the first Super Heavy booster for Starship V3, before it was damaged in testing Nov. 21. Credit: SpaceX MUNICH — The first booster in the new generation of Starship vehicles suffered significant damage during a Nov. 21 test, adding to doubts about the vehicle’s development schedule. The Super Heavy booster, designated Booster 18, was at a test site near SpaceX’s Starbase, Texas, facilities in the early morning hours when the lower section of the booster appeared to burst, accor...

Blue Origin announced plans Nov. 20 for New Glenn 9×4, an upgraded version with increased payload performance. MUNICH — A week after successfully launching and landing the current version of New Glenn, Blue Origin announced a series of upgrades to the vehicle. The company said Nov. 20 it plans to increase the thrust of the engines used on New Glenn and make other improvements. The upgrades include increasing the thrust of the seven BE-4 engines on the rocket’s first stage from a combine...

Updated 7:10 p.m. Eastern with post-launch comments. WASHINGTON — Blue Origin successfully launched a NASA Mars mission on the second flight of its New Glenn booster Nov. 13, landing the vehicle’s first stage in the process. New Glenn lifted off on the NG-2 mission at 3:55 p.m. Eastern from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The liftoff took place after a first attempt nearly an hour earlier was halted 20 seconds before liftoff for an undisclosed technical re...

New Shepard lifts off Oct. 8 on the NS-36 suborbital flight. Credit: Bloe Origin webcast CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Blue Origin launched its sixth crewed New Shepard flight so far this year Oct. 8 as the company works to increase the vehicle’s flight rate. New Shepard lifted off from the company’s Launch Site One in West Texas at 9:40 a.m. Eastern. The crew capsule, RSS First Step, reached a peak altitude of 106 kilometers before landing under parachutes a little more than 10 minutes afte...

An aerial view of Launch Complex 3, Rocket Lab’s Neutron launch pad at Wallops Island, Virginia. Credit: Rocket Lab WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. — Rocket Lab moved a step closer to the first launch of its Neutron rocket Aug. 28 with the formal opening of the vehicle’s launch site. To continue reading this article: Register now and get3 free articles every month. You’ll also receive our weekly SpaceNews This Week newsletter every Friday. Opt-out at any time. Sign in to an existing account Get unli...

SpaceX’s Starship/Super Heavy vehicle lifts off Aug. 26 on its tenth test flight. Credit: SpaceX WASHINGTON — SpaceX completed a largely successful test flight of its Starship vehicle Aug. 26, putting the vehicle’s development program back on track after a series of failures earlier this year. To continue reading this article: Register now and get3 free articles every month. You’ll also receive our weekly SpaceNews This Week newsletter every Friday. Opt-out at any time. Sign in to an exi...

A camera on the second stage of Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket shows debris falling away and a damaged or missing nozzle shortly after stage separation April 29. Credit: Firefly Aerospace/NASASpaceFlight.com WASHINGTON — Firefly Aerospace said its most recent Alpha launch four months ago was lost because of structural failure linked to higher-than-normal heating during the vehicle’s ascent. To continue reading this article: Register now and get3 free articles every month. You’ll al...