Page 2 - Rocket

Japan to launch upgraded observation satellites on new rocket's flight

Japan's space agency announced Friday a plan to launch a major upgrade to its satellite imaging system, as a new flagship rocket is put to the test for a third time. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency that an H3 rocket will be launched from the Tanegashima Space Center, on a southwestern Japanese island, early afternoon on June 30, with a launch window that runs through the end of July. The rocket will be carrying an Advanced Land Observation Satellite, ALOS-4, tasked primarily with Earth observation and data collection for disaster response and mapmaking, as well as with monitoring military activity, such as missile launches, with an infrared sensor developed by the Defense Ministry. The ALOS-4 is a successor to the current ALOS-2 and can observe a much wider area. The launch will be the H3's third, coming after a failed debut in March 2023 and a successful launch on Feb. 17. During the first attempt, the rocket's second stage engine did not ignite and the rocket had to be ...

Skyroot Aerospace successfully test fires Stage-2 of Vikram-1 rocket

Skyroot Aerospace, a space-tech company, has successfully test-fired the Stage-2 of Vikram-1 space launch vehicle, called Kalam-250, at the propulsion testbed of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), at its Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The city-based firm in a press release on Thursday said Vikram-1 launch is slated to be a landmark event for the Indian space sector as its first private orbital rocket launch, and follows the remarkable suborbital space launch of India's first private rocket - the Vikram-S by Skyroot in November 2022. The test, done on Wednesday, which lasted 85 seconds, recorded a peak sea-level thrust of 186 kilonewtons (kN), which will translate to a fully expanded vacuum thrust of around 235 kN in flight, it said. The Kalam-250 is a high-strength carbon composite rocket motor, which uses solid fuel and a high-performance Ethylene-Propylene-Diene terpolymers (EPDM) thermal protection system (TPS). Pawan Chandana, ..

SpaceX's Starship successfully lifts off, but crashes before last stage

SpaceX came close to completing an hourlong test flight of its mega rocket on its third try on Thursday, but the spacecraft was lost as it descended back to Earth. The company said it lost contact with Starship as it neared its goal, a splashdown in the Indian Ocean. Until then, most everything had gone well following liftoff from the southern tip of Texas near the Mexican border. The ship has been lost. So no splashdown today, said SpaceX's Dan Huot. But again, it's incredible to see how much further we got this time around. Two test flights last year both ended in explosions minutes after liftoff. By surviving for close to 50 minutes this time, Thursday's effort was considered a win by not only SpaceX's Elon Musk, but NASA as well as Starship soared higher and farther than ever before. The space agency is counting on Starship to land its astronauts on the moon in another few years. The nearly 400-foot (121-meter) Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, headed o

Ananth Technologies claims crucial role in 55 modules for launch system

For the satellite INSAT-3DS, ATL has supplied complete power control system, solar array generation system, power distribution system, DC-DC power converters, star sensors

After new rocket's successful launch, US moon lander faces malfunction

"The team is responding in real time as the situation unfolds and will be providing updates as data is obtained and analysed," Astrobotic posted on the social media service X

China's LandSpace Technology pulls off 2nd methane-fueled rocket launch

The rocket, ZQ-2, took off at 7:39 a.m. Saturday Beijing time from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern Gobi Desert, the company said in a statement

China launches Long March rocket with spy satellite over Taiwan zone

In order to enable a suitable response, it continued, it had deployed its joint intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance system to track the ballistic dynamics, trajectories, and other data

SpaceX can't launch its giant rocket again until fixes are made: FAA

SpaceX must take a series of steps before it can launch its mega rocket again after its debut ended in an explosion, federal regulators said Friday. The Federal Aviation Administration said it closed its investigation into SpaceX's failed debut of Starship, the world's biggest rocket. The agency is requiring SpaceX to take 63 corrective actions and to apply for a modified FAA license before launching again. FAA official said multiple problems led to the April launch explosion, which sent pieces of concrete and metal hurtling for thousands of feet (meters) and created a plume of pulverized concrete that spread for miles (kilometers) around. SpaceX founder Elon Musk said in the accident's aftermath that he improved the 394-foot (120-meter) rocket and strengthened the launch pad. A new Starship is on the redesigned pad, awaiting liftoff. It will fly empty, as before. During the initial test flight, the rocketship had to be destroyed after it tumbled out of control shortly after liftof

L&T, HAL vetted to potentially bid on India's rocket privatisation

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Larsen & Toubro and Hindustan Aeronautics are among companies vetted to potentially bid in India's efforts to privatise its small satellite launch rocket, a source told Reuters, as the government seeks more investment in the booming space market.

India's attempt to privatise part of space programme, finds 20 bidders

India's Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) was developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation, the national space agency, and had its first successful satellite launch in February

Consider rockets like baby: Isro chief Somanath after Chandrayaan-3 launch

Expressing his deep love and association with rockets, ISRO chairman S Somanath on Saturday said he considers the launch vehicles as babies. Somanath said he enjoyed the launch of Phase-I of Chandrayaan-3 on Friday, while adding that he had gone through the entire data and marvelled at "how beautiful the rocket was". ISRO on Friday successfully launched its third moon mission, this time a far more complicated 41-day voyage to reach the lunar south pole where no other country has gone before. The space agency said the technically challenging soft landing on lunar surface, which Chandrayaan-2 could not achieve, has been planned for 5.47 pm on August 23. Delivering his address at the 12th Convocation of IIT Hyderabad in neighbouring Sangareddy district, Somanath said "As an engineer and scientist, I have a love for rockets. I consider the rocket like a baby, seeing its birth, its growth, its problems of growth, its emotions and developing a deep understanding of its mechanics and ...

Indo-German JV launches its first satellite on SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket

Azista BST aims to mass manufacture satellites in India for the global market

Richard Branson's rocket company Virgin Orbit sold for $36 mn, shuts biz

Launcher, a subsidiary of Vast Space, bought the company's facility in Mojave, California for $2.7 million

Isro to send up uncrewed rocket in 2024 as part of Gaganyaan Mission

Isro Chairman S Somanath said prior that there will a test of Gagayaan Mission in June this year where the rocket will go up to 12-14 km and test its safety systems

Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit files for bankruptcy, lays off 85% workforce

Virgin Orbit, the rocket company founded by British billionaire Richard Branson, has filed for bankruptcy after announcing to lay off 85 per cent of its employees.

Launch of 3D-printed rocket ends in vain as it fails to reach orbit

3D-printed rocket: Relativity Space, the aerospace company behind the launch, said that the launch was a 'huge win'

Last-minute problem keeps SpaceX rocket, astronauts grounded: Report

Last-minute technical trouble forced SpaceX to call off Monday's attempt to launch four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA. The countdown was halted with just two minutes remaining until lift-off from Kennedy Space Centre. With just a split second to blast off, there was no time to deal with the problem, which involved the engine ignition system. SpaceX did not immediately say when it would try again. The next attempt could come as early as Tuesday, although poor weather was forecast. Strapped into the capsule atop the Falcon rocket were two NASA astronauts, one Russian cosmonaut and one astronaut from the United Arab Emirates. When informed by SpaceX that the fuel would start to be drained from the rocket, commander Stephen Bowen replied: We'll be sitting here waiting. It was expected to take nearly an hour. Bowen and his crew including the first astronaut from the United Arab Emirates assigned to a months long mission, Sultan al-Neyadi will replace another

Rocket intercepted in south Israel, airstrikes staged in Gaza: Military

Militants fired a rocket into Israel's south Wednesday, the army said, setting off sirens and raising already heightened tensions under the country's new ultranationalist government. Early Thursday, the Israeli military said it started attacking targets in the Gaza Strip in response to rockets. According to local media, Israeli fighter jets struck a militant site in the central Gaza Strip. There were no immediate reports of casualties. The rocket from the Gaza Strip was intercepted, according to the military. Israel usually responds to rocket fire with airstrikes, raising the possibility of further escalation. Local residents reported hearing explosions. Israel's rescue service said it received no reports of injuries except for a 50-year-old woman who slipped and fell while running to a shelter. The action in Israel's skies Wednesday comes after Gaza's ruling Hamas militant group has threatened Israel over the combative stance of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has

UK's Cornwall rocket launch ends in failure after suffering 'anomaly'

We appear to have an anomaly that has prevented us from reaching orbit. We are evaluating the information, tweeted Virgin Orbit

Can India launch space firms like Skyroot into higher orbit?

India's first privately-developed rocket, Vikram-S, blasted off towards the sky this month. Find out how India's commercial space industry may become a tech powerhouse and taste commercial success