Who said science can't be pretty?A new study finds pollution from satellite megaconstellations could account for 42% of the space sector’s climate impact by 2029.Muon Space announced a Starship-class satellite platform June 3 designed from the ground up to meet the demands of the emerging orbital data center market, with an initial launch slated for 2028 after securing customers.
The post Muon Space unveils Starship-class satellite platform for orbital data centers appeared first on SpaceNews.
A spectacular spiral galaxy known as M88 is traveling toward the crowded heart of the Virgo Cluster, where powerful forces are already beginning to reshape its future. A striking new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope highlights Messier 88 (M88), a spiral galaxy that is in the midst of a cosmic journey spanning hundreds [...]Researchers discovered a closely orbiting pair of supermassive black holes in Markarian 501 by tracking two jets of particles. The binary system could merge within 100 years and may produce detectable gravitational waves. Current evidence indicates that nearly every large galaxy contains a supermassive black hole at its center, with a mass ranging from millions [...]A former NASA engineer named John Muratore sat on console as launch director in early September 2016 as propellant flowed onto a Falcon 9 rocket in Florida. Ahead of a planned launch two days later, SpaceX was preparing for a static fire test of the vehicle.
Then, all of a sudden, the rocket exploded. "It came out of nowhere, and it was really violent," Muratore said. This fireball resulted in the destruction of the rocket, much of its launch site, and the AMOS-6 satellite already attached to the vehicle.
Nearly a decade later, on May 28, Blue Origin conducted a static fire test of a new rocket, with its larger New Glenn vehicle a few miles down the Florida coast. The company had gotten further into its test, reaching engine ignition, before its rocket also exploded.
© USLaunchReport
NASA’s Fermi telescope may have finally uncovered the magnetic powerhouse behind the universe’s brightest supernovae. An international team of astronomers analyzing observations from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has found what appears to be the first convincing detection of gamma rays from a rare type of extraordinarily bright stellar explosion known as a superluminous supernova. [...]
The race to field China's first reusable launch vehicle is far less predictable than a similar competition that played out in the United States a decade ago.
There was never any real question of which company would develop and demonstrate the first reusable orbital-class rocket in the United States. SpaceX landed a Falcon 9 booster for the first time in 2015, and a little more than a year later, it launched it back into space. It took nearly 10 years for anyone else to do the same. Blue Origin celebrated its first orbital-class booster landing last November with the successful recovery of one of its New Glenn boosters, followed by a relaunch of the same rocket in April.
In China, several companies and state-owned enterprises have a realistic shot at landing an orbital-class booster stage this year. For a time, it seemed like China's new crop of privately funded launch companies might have the advantage in accomplishing the first landing of an orbital-class booster. But Monday's launch of China's Long March 12B rocket, backed by the nearly unrestricted resources of the country's vast state-owned aerospace enterprise, suggests the industry's legacy players may now have a leg up.
© VCG/VCG via Getty Images
The race to field China's first reusable launch vehicle is far less predictable than a similar competition that played out in the United States a decade ago.
There was never any real question of which company would develop and demonstrate the first reusable orbital-class rocket in the United States. SpaceX landed a Falcon 9 booster for the first time in 2015, and a little more than a year later, it launched it back into space. It took nearly 10 years for anyone else to do the same. Blue Origin celebrated its first orbital-class booster landing last November with the successful recovery of one of its New Glenn boosters, followed by a relaunch of the same rocket in April.
In China, several companies and state-owned enterprises have a realistic shot at landing an orbital-class booster stage this year. For a time, it seemed like China's new crop of privately funded launch companies might have the advantage in accomplishing the first landing of an orbital-class booster. But Monday's launch of China's Long March 12B rocket, backed by the nearly unrestricted resources of the country's vast state-owned aerospace enterprise, suggests the industry's legacy players may now have a leg up.
© VCG/VCG via Getty Images
The chief executive of Blue Origin, whose large New Glenn rocket exploded spectacularly less than a week ago at the company's launch site in Florida, vowed Monday night that the company would launch again before the end of 2026.
Writing on the social media site X, Blue Origin's Dave Limp said the company had been able to complete a preliminary survey of the LC-36A launch site.
"Now that we’ve had access to the pad and integration facility, we can share a bit of good news," Limp said. "The propellant farm, oxygen, liquid hydrogen and LNG tanks are all in good shape. This is good luck because these are very long lead items. The water tower is also good."
© Blue Origin
Login