Launches

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

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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)

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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)

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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.

The Starfall Demo capsule blasting off atop a Falcon 9 rocket (Image courtesy SpaceX)

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A little while ago, SpaceX’s Starfall Demo mission began with the launch of a capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral. The mission has a classified profile, meaning the launch broadcast ended after the first stage landed. Subsequently, the capsule successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage and embarked on its course, which should take it into low Earth orbit for a period that wasn’t revealed and then splash down in the Pacific Ocean. This mission aims to demonstrate the feasibility of returning cargo weighing up to 1,000 kilograms produced in orbit to Earth, or even transporting payloads very quickly to other continents.