Launch vehicles

Blog about launch vehicles: rockets or aircraft

The Zhuque-3 Y2 rocket blasting off. (Photo courtesy of Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua)

0

A few hours ago, the Chinese Zhuque-3 Y2 rocket blasted off from the Dongfeng commercial area, carrying the Honghu-03 satellite. The second stage successfully reached orbit with payload separation, achieving a successful primary mission on this rocket’s second flight, the first to deploy a real satellite into orbit. A goal for LandSpace, the company that developed the rocket, was to land the first stage, which was successful on this second attempt.

Starship 40 lifts off atop the Super Heavy 20 (Image courtesy of SpaceX)

0

It was the afternoon in the USA when SpaceX conducted a new flight test of its Super Heavy rocket and Starship prototypes, launched from its base in Boca Chica, Texas. This is the 13th test involving the entire system of Elon Musk’s company, which is supposed to revolutionize space travel with an unprecedented transport capacity and be totally reusable. They are advanced prototypes with the Super Heavy identified as Booster 20 and the Starship identified as Starship 40 or Ship40 or simply S40. It was the second test of the vehicles in their Block 3 version.

The first stage of the Long March 10B rocket during landing at the end of its maiden flight (Image courtesy of New China)

0

A few hours ago, the Long March 10B rocket performed its maiden flight, which started with its launch from the Wenchang launch site. The rocket’s first stage also performed a controlled landing on a sea platform, as part of the development of a reusable launch system. This is a significant achievement because it’s a rocket that will be used for China’s crewed Moon missions.

Super Heavy 19 and Starship 39 at liftoff (Image courtesy SpaceX)

0

It was the afternoon in the USA when SpaceX conducted a new flight test of its Super Heavy rocket and Starship prototypes, launched from its base in Boca Chica, Texas. This is the 12th test involving the entire system of Elon Musk’s company, which is supposed to revolutionize space travel with an unprecedented transport capacity and being totally reusable. They are advanced prototypes with the Super Heavy identified as Booster 19 and the Starship identified as Starship 39 or Ship39 or simply S39. It was the first test of the vehicles in their Block 3 version.

The Bluebird 7 satellite blasts off on a New Glenn rocket (Image courtesy Blue Origin)

0

Confirmation has been received that AST SpaceMobile’s Bluebird 7 satellite will fall back to Earth after entering an orbit too low to reach the required level for direct cell phone communications. The problem emerged on Sunday, shortly after separation from Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket’s second stage. Initial investigations quickly identified the mishap as a consequence of a malfunction of the second stage.