Tag: rockets

ESA Targeting Wednesday Night for Final Launch of its First-Generation Vega Rocket

Spaceflight Now reports, “Update 7:05 a.m. EDT: Arianespace announced that the mission is scrubbed for a Tuesday night launch attempt due to “electrical issues” and is working towards an opportunity on Wednesday, Sept. 4. The European Space Agency (ESA) is preparing to complete its transition to its Vega-C rocket with the final launch of its first-generation Vega rocket. The mission, dubbed VV24, will carry an Earth-imaging satellite to a sun-synchronous orbit.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)

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)

Ariane 6 Inaugural Flight Attempt Scheduled for July 2024

SpaceWatch.Global reports, “The Ariane 6 Launcher Task Force has announced that Ariane 6’s first launch attempt will happen within the first two weeks of July 2024, on track with the launch period it communicated in November. Furthermore, the task force will give the tentative date for the first launch attempt at the ILA airshow in Berlin, Germany, which will hold from 5 June to 9 June, where all the task force members will be present.”
Full Story (SpaceWatch.Global)

India’s Chandrayaan-3 Moon Landing Mission Set to Launch

SPACE reports that India’s second attempt “at a daring, homegrown moon landing will kick off this week.” The nation’s Chandrayaan-3 mission, whose name means “moon vehicle” in Sanskrit, is “scheduled to launch toward the moon on Friday (July 14) at 5:05 a.m. EDT (0905 GMT, or 2:35 p.m. local time on July 14) from the island of Sriharikota, on India’s east coast.” A three-stage rocket “called the Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3) will ferry the robotic moon lander and rover duo that make up the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into an Earth parking orbit, a stable circular path around Earth that allows the mission team to ensure all instruments are working well post launch.” Soon after, the spacecraft “will be placed on a lunar transfer trajectory, beginning its deep-space journey.”
Full Story (SPACE)

Ariane 5 Retirement Leaves Europe With a Launch Crisis

Spaceflight Now reports that Europe is “facing months without its own independent access to space for large satellites following the retirement of its heavy-lift Ariane 5 rocket this week after notching up its 117th and final mission over 27 years of operations.” Ariane 6 is still “undergoing final development and testing.” It is behind schedule “and is unlikely to fly until the very end of this year, with some industry experts suggesting it may not make its maiden flight until later in 2024.” The situation for Europe “is compounded by its smaller vehicle, the Vega-C, remaining out of action following an in-flight failure last December and Russian Soyuz rockets no longer being available for European launches.” An older version of the Vega “is scheduled to fly in September.” European Space Agency (ESA) Director General Josef Aschbacher stated recently “that the continent finds itself in the midst of ‘an acute launcher crisis’ because of the ‘unavailability of home-grown rockets.’”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)

Olivier L. de Weck Appointed Editor-in-Chief of AIAA’s Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets

December 21, 2021 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has selected Olivier L. de Weck, Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics and Engineering Systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and an AIAA Fellow, as its new editor-in-chief for the Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets (JSR). He succeeds Professor Hanspeter Schaub of the University of Colorado Boulder, who has served as editor-in-chief for JSR since 2017. De Weck, the 11th editor-in-chief for JSR, will begin this new role in January 2022.

The AIAA Publications Committee oversees the search and selection effort for new editors-in-chief. This year’s search committee was led by Dr. Jacqueline A. O’Connor, Pennsylvania State University, Publications Committee member. De Weck was chosen from among a group of highly qualified candidates.

“The field of spacecraft engineering and astronautics is more dynamic today than it has ever been with novel technologies, methods, launches, and mission concepts emerging daily. JSR is a trusted source of truth for the industry. It is a great honor to have been chosen as its next editor,” said de Weck.

De Weck holds a Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics and a Ph.D. in Aerospace Systems from MIT. As a professor at MIT, he serves as co-director of the MIT Small Satellite Center and faculty co-director of the Bernard M. Gordon-MIT Engineering Leadership (MIT GEL) Program and the Undergraduate Practice Opportunities Program (MIT UPOP). His research interests include systems engineering, astronautics and space logistics, and multidisciplinary design optimization. He studies how new technologies and designs enable the creation of complex systems such as vehicles, missions, and industrial ecosystems, how they evolve, and how they can be optimized over time. He also is the co-founder of Intelligent Action, Inc., and was also senior vice president for Technology Planning and Roadmapping at Airbus (2017-2018).

De Weck previously held positions as an associate editor of JSR (2007-2012) and as the editor-in-chief of Wiley’s INCOSE journal Systems Engineering (2013-2018). He has authored or co-authored four books and over 400 scholarly publications, and won 13 best paper awards since 2004. His book Engineering Systems: Meeting Human Needs in a Complex Technological World was the 2012 bestseller at the MIT Press. De Weck’s past honors include the Capers and Marion McDonald Award for Excellence in Mentoring and Advising and the MIT Teaching with Digital Technology Award.

JSR is devoted to reporting advancements in the science and technology associated with spacecraft and tactical and strategic missile systems, including subsystems, applications, missions, environmental interactions, and space sciences.

Media Contact: Rebecca B. Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Starship, SLS Could Supercharge Space Science

Scientific American reports that NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS)’s massive size “could ultimately be a boon for scientists seeking to send larger, more ambitious spacecraft and telescopes throughout the solar system – and even beyond.” The article also reports that SpaceX’s Starship is even more promising. Southwest Research Institute’s Alan Stern said, “Starship holds the promise of transforming the solar system in a way we can’t really appreciate. It completely changes the game.” Stern noted about the SLS and Starship, “These rockets can enable whole new classes of missions – to all the giant planets and the Kuiper belt objects, to the ocean world satellites and the dwarf planets of the solar system.”
Full Story (Scientific American)

U.S. Space Force Forecasts 25% Increase in Launches in Next Two Years

Aviation Week reports, “The U.S. Space Force anticipates launches from its two continental spaceports to increase by 25% to 30% over the next couple of years, continuing a trend as greater numbers of military, civil and commercial payloads are being sent into space. The service has supported a steady growth in its launch cadence and does not see it slowing down in the near future.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)

Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 3 Opens in Virginia

Via Satellite reports, “Rocket Lab hosted the opening of its Launch Complex 3 in Virginia on Thursday. The site at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport will serve as the test, launch, and landing facility for its Neutron rocket in development. Rocket Lab built the site in less than two years after starting construction in late 2023. It is the company’s fourth launch site — the launcher has two pads at Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand, and also operates Launch Complex 2 at the Virginia spaceport.”
Full Story (Via Satellite)

Video

Rocket Lab hosts the opening of its Launch Complex 3
Rocket Lab; YouTube

Amazon’s Project Kuiper Constellation Reaches 129 Satellites with ULA Launch

Via Satellite reports, “Amazon’s Project Kuiper constellation reaches 129 satellites after United Launch Alliance (ULA) launched another batch on Thursday morning from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This was Kuiper’s fifth launch overall, and the third mission with ULA on an Atlas V rocket. Amazon confirmed post-launch the mission was successful. The launch deployed 27 Kuiper satellites to an altitude of 465 kilometers, and they will orbit-raise to their final altitude.”
Full Story (Via Satellite)

 Video

ULA Atlas V Launches Project Kuiper (Launch takes place at the 54:45 mark)
NASASpaceflight; YouTube

Blue Origin to Grow New Shepard Fleet

Aviation Week reports, “Blue Origin is developing three new suborbital New Shepard launch systems and mulling expanding flight services beyond West Texas, the company said Sept. 28. The current two-ship fleet will be retired by the end of 2027, with the first of three new spacecraft expected to debut next year, Senior Vice President Phil Joyce said during the Global Spaceport Alliance forum ahead of the International Astronautical Congress being held in Sydney this week.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)

Firefly Alpha Rocket Destroyed During Preflight Testing

Aviation Week reports, “The first stage of a Firefly Aerospace Alpha rocket being prepared for launch on a commercial mission for Lockheed Martin was destroyed Sept. 29 during preflight testing at the company’s Briggs, Texas, facility. ‘During testing at Firefly’s facility in Briggs Texas, the first stage of Firefly’s Alpha Flight 7 rocket experienced an event that resulted in a loss of the stage,’ the company said in a statement.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)

Blue Origin Performs its 15th Space Tourism Launch

SPACE reports, “Blue Origin launched its 15th space tourism flight” yesterday (Oct. 8), “sending six people on a brief trip to the final frontier, including a mystery passenger who only revealed his identity after the flight. The company’s New Shepard vehicle lifted off from Blue Origin’s West Texas launch site [Wednesday] at 9:40 a.m. EDT (1340 GMT; 8:40 a.m. local Texas time), kicking off a suborbital flight known as NS-36.”
Full Story (SPACE)

Space Force Announces SpaceX, ULA Assigned to First Set of Key Launches Beyond FY27

Breaking Defense reports, “The Space Force announced today that it has assigned the first seven future launches under its National Security Space Launch Program (NSSL) program for critical missions: five to SpaceX and two to United Launch Alliance (ULA). NSSL Phase 3 Lane 2 launches carry high-value, must-go payloads and/or those headed to orbits that are more difficult to achieve. The Space Force is using firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery contracts for these types of launches.”
Full Story (Breaking Defense)

NASA to Launch Dual Missions on SpaceX Falcon 9 from California This Weekend

SPACE reports, “Sunday (March 2) is shaping up to be a delightful day for space explorers, as not one but two major NASA missions are expected to take to the skies — and interestingly, though the spacecraft associated with these missions are pretty different from one another, you might say they all have the same profession: cosmic cartography. Cartographer one, named PUNCH, will map the sun’s dynamics, while cartographer two, named SPHEREx, will kind of map the rest of the universe.”
Full Story (SPACE)

SpaceX Performs Most Successful Starship Test Flight to Date

Ars Technica reports, “SpaceX closed a troubled but instructive chapter in its Starship rocket program Monday with a near-perfect test flight that carried the stainless steel spacecraft halfway around the world from South Texas to the Indian Ocean. The rocket’s 33 methane-fueled Raptor engines roared to life at 6:23 pm CDT (7:23 pm EDT; 23:23 UTC), throttling up to generate some 16.7 million pounds of thrust, by large measure more powerful than any rocket before Starship. Moments later, the 404-foot-tall (123.1-meter) rocket began a vertical climb away from SpaceX’s test site in Starbase, Texas, near the US-Mexico border.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)

Video

SpaceX Starship 11th Flight Test (Launch occurs at 0:10 mark)
TheLaunchPad; YouTube

SpaceX Falcon 9 Launches with 21 Communications Satellites for Space Development Agency

SPACE reports SpaceX launched 21 satellites for an advanced new U.S. military constellation this evening (Oct. 15). A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base “today at 7:06 p.m. EDT (2306 GMT; 4:06 p.m. local California time), on a mission for the Space Development Agency (SDA).”
Full Story (SPACE)

Video

Falcon 9 Launches with 21 Communications Satellites (Launch occurs at the 17:13 mark)
Space Affairs; YouTube