Category: Spaceship

SpaceX Crew Dragon

SpaceX Crew Dragon: first successful launch

– News of June 2, 2020 – SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule sends two astronauts into space After a long wait, the Americans are once again able to conduct independent manned space flights. On Saturday, May 30, during a high-profile event, astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley took off aboard SpaceX Crew Dragon space capsule. On…
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SpaceX Dragon XL

Dragon XL, the SpaceX spacecraft that will deliver the LOP-G

– News of March 31, 2020 – We know that the LOP-G, the space station in lunar orbit designed by NASA, will not be part of the program for the return of humanity to the Moon in 2024, named Artemis. The space station is not canceled, it is simply deemed non-essential for the first manned…
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spacex starship super heavy

The Starship wants to join the Artemis program

– News of October 29, 2019 – During her lecture at the 70th International Astronautics Congress (IAC) in Washington DC, Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s COO, talked about how the Starship could help the Artemis program. SpaceX hopes the Starship will reach orbit next year. Then it will be able to conduct missions towards the Moon from…
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space tug

Space Tug : Astroscale and Clearspace lead the way

– News of October 15, 2019 – 62 years after the launch of Sputnik, the Earth’s orbit is congested. Defective satellites, space rocket stages and space debris of all kinds are piling up at all altitudes, representing a risk of collision that increases each year. There has already been a spectacular accident between satellites in…
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Ariane 6 european launcher

The development of Ariane 6 continues

– News of 1st October 2019 – Ariane 6, the new launcher of Arianespace, continues the tests for its first flight scheduled for next year. The Vulcain 2.1 engine, which is to propel the first stage of the launcher, has just finished its qualification tests after two static firing campaigns that have been spread over…
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solar sail

Solar sails : all you need to know and news

Millions of solar sails to bring down the temperature on Earth ? – News of September 15, 2019 – Imagine that in a few decades or perhaps a hundred years, global warming makes the Earth almost unbearable. Humanity is unable to recapture all the carbon emitted during centuries of industrialization. We can then imagine that…
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vega

All about the Vega space rocket and news

The commission of inquiry found the anomaly responsible for the Vega launcher incident – News of September 10, 2019 – On 11 July, an ESA’s Vega rocket was lost during the launch of a United Arab Emirates satellite. The commission of inquiry has now reached an official conclusion that allows us to shed light on…
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spacex falcon heavy

SpaceX Falcon Heavy news

Falcon Heavy achieves a difficult mission for the US Army – News of June 25, 2019 – The Falcon Heavy has just flown for the third time, less than three months after its previous flight. The mission seems to have gone well. The two side boosters that had already been retrieved during the previous launch…
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long march 5

Long March 5 (Chang Zheng-5) : all you need to know and news

Still no date for a second launch of Long March 5 – News of May 28, 2019 – China has an ambitious lunar program. In recent years, the Chinese Space Agency has implemented an impressive robotic program. But like everyone else, China is facing failures. Last Thursday, a Long March 4C rocket and its payload…
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blue origin new shepard

All about Blue Origin’s New Shepard and news

New Shepard is a fully reusable rocket system consisting of a capsule and a booster. The booster returns to land thanks to its rocket engine while the capsule is equipped with a parachute. The vehicle’s capabilities make it possible to place the capsule in a state of microgravity for three minutes, which should seduce not…
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falcon 9

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 : all you need to know and news

NASA will use a Falcon 9 booster for three missions – News of May 7, 2019 – Slowly but surely, SpaceX seems to convince NASA with its reuse approach. The US space agency has already used several reused Falcon 9 launchers, but for the first time it could use the same booster for three missions.…
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space rider

All about the ESA Space Rider shuttle and news

Focus on the history, current challenges and perspectives of the Space Rider – News of April 25, 2019 – The development of space shuttles to transport cargo is trendy Although very secretive, the American autonomous shuttle X-37B seems to be used regularly by the American army for long stays in space. Being able to send…
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omega orbital atk

All about Northrop Grumman’s OmegA rocket (Orbital ATK) and news

Northrop Grumman’s OmegA launcher wants to meet the needs of the US military – News of March 24, 2019 Many new launchers will arrive in the early 2020s. Last year, Northrop Grumman acquired Orbital ATK, the US specialist in solid propellant propulsion. And Orbital ATK, now Northrop Grumman Innovation System, has a new launcher project…
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federatsiya

All about Federatsiya (Federation) spacecraft and news

Launch of Federatsiya spacecraft will bring Soyuz to retirement – News of March 17, 2019 – The Soyuz space capsule has been used for more than 50 years to send men into space. In the last 12 years, it was the only space vehicle that could do this, with its Chinese copy, Shenzhou. This will…
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space launch system sls

SLS (Space Launch System), NASA’s giant rocket | News

The usefulness of the SLS is more and more challenged – News of March 17, 2019 – Currently, every day there is a new announcement about the Space Launch System (SLS). NASA’s 2020 budget proposal contemplates deleting many missions of the SLS. The SLS will not be used to assemble the LOP-G, nor to launch…
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roscosmos russian space agency

All about the Yenisei super-heavy launcher and news

Yenisei, the new super-heavy launcher by Roscosmos – News of February 12, 2019 – On February 4, 2019, Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Rogozin, the director of Roscosmos, spoke of a super-heavy launcher to go to the Moon, called Yenisei. It will use elements of Soyuz 5 and Angara to limit development costs. Yenisei could be…
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ssto single stage to orbit

SSTO (Single Stage To Orbit) space vehicles : all you need to know and news

Access to space is very expensive and it is one of the main reasons that keeps us from further exploring the solar system. With the arrival of partially reusable launchers, it may start to move. However, we are very far from the dream of a space vehicle that is as easy to use as a…
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skylon space plane

Skylon, the space plane of Reaction Engines Limited | News

Skylon is an 83-meter long space plane concept — Actualités du 7 février 2019 — – News of February 7, 2019 – Skylon is a space plane developed by Reaction Engines Limited. We can trace the origin of its development in the early 1980s. To solve the difficult equation of a single-stage orbital vehicle (SSTO),…
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blue origin new glenn

All about Blue Origin’s New Glenn and news

New Glenn will fly to low orbit and beyond – News from February 3, 2019 – In 2016, Blue Origin unveiled its first orbital rocket. Some details of the space rocket continue to evolve. The launcher has the same name as the first American astronaut who reached Earth’s orbit, John Glenn. New Glenn brings together…
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Soyuz

All about the Soyuz spaceship and news

A valve would be at the origin of the Soyuz incident on October 11 – News of October 28, 2018 – We have a little more information about what happened on October 11 aboard the Soyuz spacecraft. We can even be optimistic about a quick return of manned flights. The findings of the investigation will…
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ariane 5

All about the Ariane 5 space rocket and news

Ariane 5 will celebrate its hundredth flight tonight – News of September 25, 2018 – Ariane 5, one of the most emblematic launchers on the planet will pass the milestone of its hundredth flight. Ariane 5 will fly from the Kourou base shortly before midnight. Once again, Ariane 5 will demonstrate its great specialty, the…
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Delta 2

All about the Delta 2 launcher and news

Goodbye Delta 2 ! – News of September 23, 2018 – A mythical rocket has just retired. The Delta 2 rocket completed its last flight on September 15 by putting into orbit an Earth observation satellite. It was also its hundredth success in a row. Made by ULA, Delta 2 is not a particularly powerful…
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virgin galactic spaceships

All about the Virgin Galactic spaceships (SpaceShipTwo, WhiteKnightTwo) and news

The suborbital spaceship VSS Unity breaks an altitude record – News of July 31, 2018 – Virgin Galactic is coming back from a failed 2014 test that cost the life of a pilot. The suborbital spaceship VSS Unity has just broken an altitude record after being dropped by its carrier aircraft. The carrier aircraft ignited…
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buran energia

Buran Energia : All you have to know

The US space shuttle program was a serious threat to the USSR The US space shuttle program, stopped in 2011, has entered popular culture. Nowadays, the concept of space shuttle is partly taken over by space vehicles like the Boeing X-37B or the ESA Space Rider, but without crew. In the past, a space shuttle…
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long march 5

All about the Long March 9 rocket (Chang Zheng-9) and news

Long March 9 will fly to the Moon in the 2030s – News of March 27, 2018 – Since the mid-2010s, the Chinese government has been deploying its second generation of launchers, called Long March. These launchers are able to place between 700 kg and 23 tons in low orbit. For now, the heaviest launcher…
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orion

All about the Orion spacecraft and news

Orion, Apollo lookalike One of the main missions of the SLS, NASA’s future monster launcher, is to launch the Orion spacecraft, a little different from the capsules that Microsoft Boeing and SpaceX have created for NASA. Indeed, Orion is primarily thought for the missions beyond the low orbit, which is new since the Apollo program.…
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its spaceship

All about SpaceX’s Interplanetary Transport System (ITS) and news

1000 ITS to colonize Mars – News of June 20, 2017 – SpaceX has just posted a fairly complete overview of the ITS and its mission plan. SpaceX wants to offer a delivery to Mars at a cost of $ 140,000 per ton. The ticket to Mars would probably be less than $ 100,000. The…
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x-37b

The US Air Force’s Boeing X-37B drone

News: – May 10, 2017 – The US Air Force and its huge budget is responsible for developing the potential military applications of space on behalf of the US government. We had the example this week with the return of the X-37B robotic space shuttle on Earth. The vehicle built by Boeing and operated by…
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dream chaser

All about the Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser space shuttle and news

Dream Chaser space shuttle will transport cargo to the ISS – News of February 14, 2018 – SpaceX and Boeing should be able to offer manned flights to the ISS this year. For Sierra Nevada, the projects are also advancing because the company has just received official authorization to carry out its first cargo mission…
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callisto launcher

All about the Callisto reusable launcher demonstrator and news

Europe continues to study the reuse of space rockets with the Callisto demonstrator – News of January 9, 2018 – Prometheus is a new engine in development. It could be a turning point for reusable space rockets of ArianeGroup. But Prometheus is not the only project in Europe to prepare for reuse. CNES and its…
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