Space News reports, “China’s Chang’e-6 spacecraft is on its way to Earth to deliver samples collected from the far side of the moon. The Chang’e-6 service module likely fired its engines for a trans-Earth injection around June 21. The spacecraft is now on the final leg of its complex, 53-day voyage involving a lunar landing, sampling, ascent and docking. A reentry capsule containing the unique samples will be released from the service module shortly before arrival at Earth early June 25.”
Full Story (Space News)
Tag: engineering
Rocket Lab Marks Milestone with 50th Electron Rocket Launch
Spaceflight Now reports, “Rocket Lab successfully reached a milestone that few commercial rockets achieved and at a pace that outperformed its competition. The company launched its 50th Electron rocket to date just seven years after the vehicle’s debut in May 2017 … Onboard the rocket were five satellites on behalf of France-based internet of things company, Kinéis … All five on this flight were successfully deployed.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
Videos
RocketLab 50th Electron Launch
(The Launch Pad; YouTube)
AeroVironment Successfully Flight Tests Heavy Fuel VTOL UAS
Unmanned Systems Technology reports, “AeroVironment (AV) has successfully demonstrated its JUMP® 20 uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) with a heavy fuel engine. The higher horsepower and lower fuel burn rate provided by the heavy fuel engine expands the capabilities of AV’s proven JUMP 20 platform.”
Full Story (Unmanned Systems Techology)
FAA Approves Joby Aviation’s Use of In-House Software for Air-Taxi Operations
Reuters reports, “Joby Aviation said on Thursday the FAA has authorized the use of the air-taxi maker’s in-house software to perform tasks such as managing pilot workload and matching passengers with aircraft similar to ride-hailing apps. The nod for the operating system, known as ElevateOS, comes as Joby gears up to launch its commercial air-taxi operations as early as 2025.”
Full Story (Reuters)
ESA’s Ariane 6 Moved to Launch Pad for First Flight
SpaceWatch.Global reports, “The ESA has transferred Ariane 6’s upper composite with the payloads it will launch to Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The upper part of the rocket journeyed from the encapsulation hall in Europe’s Spaceport to the launch pad in the morning and placed on top of the rocket … Ariane 6 is on schedule to launch on July 9”
Full Story (SpaceWatch.Global)
Starliner Return Delayed a Few More Days as NASA and Boeing Study Data
Ars Technica reports, “NASA and Boeing will take an additional four days to review all available data about the performance of the Starliner spacecraft before clearing the vehicle to return to Earth, officials said Tuesday. Based on the new pending schedule, Starliner would undock at 10:10 pm ET on Tuesday, June 25, from the ISS. This would set up a landing at 4:51 ET on June 26 at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)
Will the Air Force Proceed with a Next-Gen Fighter Jet?
Defense One reports, “Delays in Lockheed Martin’s F-35 program and Boeing’s lackluster performance on its own defense efforts could be driving recent—and unexpected—comments from Air Force leaders that it might not build a next-gen fighter jet. Aviation observers were thrown for a loop last week when service chief Gen. David Allvin declined to commit to building the future Next Generation Air Dominance aircraft…”
Full Story (Defense One)
Airborne Lasers Offer New Hope for Missile Defense Agency
Breaking Defense reports, “Airborne lasers are back in the sights of the Missile Defense Agency — a decade after the first attempt to build a system collapsed, having swallowed 16 years and $5 billion in research and development.” Mark Lewis, formerly “the Pentagon’s senior scientist now CEO of the Purdue Applied Research Institute (PARI), gave MDA a thumbs up for taking a new look at the concept, noting that the technology has come a long way since 2014.”
Full Story (Breaking Defense)
Perseverance Rover Finds Mysterious Boulder “Never Observed Before” on Mars
CBS News reports, “While exploring a crater on Mars that may give scientists insights into life that potentially once existed there, NASA said its Perseverance rover made an unprecedented discovery. The rover, which landed on the Red Planet in 2021 specifically to probe the ancient Jezero crater, found a mysterious light-toned boulder earlier this month that was the first of its kind seen on Martian land.”
Full Story (CBS News)
Blue Origin Permitted to Bid on National-Security Launches
Defense One reports, “The Pentagon has picked three companies—Blue Origin, SpaceX, and United Launch Alliance—for its new satellite launch competition that was built to usher new entrants into the market … This marks a big win for Blue Origin, which has yet to fly a national security mission.”
Full Story (Defense One)