ESA-M. Pédoussaut
Welcome to Version 6.41 of the Rocket Report! As I end up this version I am listening to the post-Flight Readiness Overview information convention for Boeing’s Crew Flight Take a look at. It appears like all the things stays on observe for a launch try on Could 6, at 10:34 pm ET. It is thrilling to see this vital milestone for Boeing and the US human spaceflight program so close to at hand.
As all the time, we welcome reader submissions, and if you happen to do not need to miss a difficulty, please subscribe utilizing the field beneath (the shape won’t seem on AMP-enabled variations of the location). Every report will embody info on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets in addition to a fast look forward on the subsequent three launches on the calendar.
Shetland spaceport advancing towards launch. SaxaVord Spaceport in Scotland is on observe to launch the UK’s first vertical rocket into orbit, the BBC stories. The Civil Aviation Authority has granted a spread license to the Scottish spaceport, which can permit the corporate to regulate the ocean and airspace throughout launch. Beforehand, the location acquired a spaceport license in December 2023. Ambitiously, the power goals to launch as much as 30 rockets yearly.
From Germany to Scotland with love … “This can be a very important element in our preparations for launch,” mentioned Frank Strang, chief govt of SaxaVord Spaceport. “As Western Europe’s solely absolutely licensed vertical launch spaceport, we at the moment are getting ready to make more room historical past with the start of orbital launch operations properly underway.” Germany-based rocket producer Rocket Manufacturing facility Augsburg may very well be the primary to launch an orbital mission from Shetland later this yr. (submitted by Ken the Bin)
Rocket Lab launches fifth Electron this yr. Rocket Lab launched a South Korean smallsat and a NASA photo voltaic sail experiment on the corporate’s fifth flight of the yr on Tuesday, Area Information stories. NEONSAT-1, the first payload of the mission, is an imaging satellite tv for pc with a mass of about 100 kilograms. The spacecraft is a part of a constellation of 11 spacecraft known as New-space Earth Statement Satellite tv for pc Constellation for Nationwide Security, with the opposite 10 to be launched by South Korea’s Nuri rocket in 2026 and 2027.
Higher get busy … This was the primary Electron launch in additional than a month after a mission for the Nationwide Reconnaissance Workplace on March 21 from Rocket Lab’s Launch Advanced 2 in Virginia. Firm executives mentioned in an earnings name in February that the corporate has 22 Electron launches deliberate for the yr, two of that are of its HASTE suborbital model. That will be a powerful complete if Rocket Lab can obtain it. (submitted by Jay500001)
PLD Area has raised 120 million euros. The Spanish launch startup revealed this week that it has raised 120 million euros so far, offering the funding wanted to launch its orbital Miura 5 rocket by the top of 2025. Final October the corporate’s smaller, suborbital Miura 1 rocket made what the corporate characterised as a “profitable” take a look at flight, reaching an altitude of 46 km. By my very tough rule of thumb, a launch firm should have no less than $100 million in funding to have a preventing likelihood to achieve orbit.
Constructing new buildings … The Miura 5 car is meant to have a capability of as much as 250 kg in low-Earth orbit. The brand new funding will primarily be used for the growth of PLD Area’s infrastructure, rising the scale of its services from 169,000 to 834,000 sq. meters. The corporate additionally plans to start constructing a launch website for the Miura 5 rocket in Kourou, French Guiana, later this yr. (submitted by Ken the Bin and EllPeaTea)
SpaceX lands three hundredth Falcon booster. With the launch of a Starlink mission on Tuesday night and subsequent return of the Falcon 9 first stage, SpaceX recorded its three hundredth profitable booster touchdown. Within the Falcon fleet’s lifetime, SpaceX has now landed about 85 p.c of the Falcon rockets it has launched, Ars stories. Today, greater than 90 p.c of all its missions launch on beforehand flown boosters. So, rocket recycling is completely a factor.
Saving a variety of steel … Touchdown 300 rockets means SpaceX has preserved 2,700 Merlin rocket engines. In spherical numbers, the dry mass of a Falcon 9 first stage is about 50 metric tons, so the touchdown of all these rockets has prevented 15,000 metric tons of steel and different supplies from being dumped into the oceans. To place this quantity additional into perspective, solely a handful of rockets have ever launched greater than 300 instances, and they’re all Russian.
China launches astronaut mission. A Lengthy March 2F rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite tv for pc Launch Heart within the Gobi Desert on Thursday, carrying the Shenzhou 18 spacecraft and its three-person crew into orbit, Area.com stories. Shenzhou 18 is commanded by Ye Guangfu, 43, who was a part of the Shenzhou 13 mission three years in the past. Fighter pilots Li Cong, 34, and Li Guangsu, 36, each spaceflight rookies, make up the remainder of the crew.
A change in management … The three will spend round six months in house. Their spacecraft is scheduled to achieve the Tiangong house station 6.5 hours after launch. The trio can be greeted aboard the orbital outpost by Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie, and Jiang Xinlin, who make up the Shenzhou 17 crew. The latter three will quickly full their six months in orbit. (submitted by Ken the Bin and EllPeaTea)
