Welcome to Edition 6.31 of the Rocket Report! Photographers at Cape Canaveral, Florida, seen a change to the spaceport’s skyline this week. Blue Origin has erected a full-size simulator of its New Glenn rocket vertically on its launch pad for a sequence of match checks and exams. Late final yr, we reported Blue Origin was severe about getting the oft-delayed New Glenn rocket off the bottom by the top of 2024. This is an effective signal of progress towards that aim, however there is a lengthy, lengthy approach to go. It was enjoyable to observe preparations for the inaugural flights of some different heavy-lift rockets within the final couple of years (Starship, SLS, and Vulcan). This yr, it is New Glenn.
As at all times, we welcome reader submissions, and in the event you do not need to miss an problem, please subscribe utilizing the field under (the shape is not going to seem on AMP-enabled variations of the positioning). Each 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.
Russia launches a categorised satellite tv for pc. On February 9, Russia launched its first orbital mission of the yr with the liftoff of a Soyuz-2-1v rocket from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome within the far north of the nation. The two-stage rocket delivered a categorised satellite tv for pc into orbit for the Russian navy, Anatoly Zak of RussianSpaceInternet.com reviews. In retaining with the Russian navy’s naming conference, the satellite tv for pc is understood merely as Kosmos 2575, and there is little indication about what it’ll do in house, besides for one key truth.
But wait, there’s extra … It seems the launch of Kosmos 2575 occurred at precisely the identical time of day as one other Soyuz-2-1v rocket launched on December 27 with a Russian navy satellite tv for pc named Kosmos 2574. The newer spacecraft launched into the identical orbital airplane as Kosmos 2574, a powerful indication that the 2 satellites have a shared mission. In current years, Russia has examined rendezvous, proximity operations, and, not less than in a single occasion, a projectile that might have purposes for an anti-satellite weapon. You may be certain the US navy and a worldwide neighborhood of hobbyist satellite tv for pc trackers will watch intently to see if these two satellites strategy each other. If they do, they might proceed expertise demonstrations for an anti-satellite system. It’s unclear if the current revelations relating to US officers’ considerations about Russian anti-satellite capabilities are associated to those current launches.
European startup testing methane-fueled rocket engine. Space transportation startup The Exploration Company has continued testing its methane-fueled Huracán engine, which is able to energy an in-space and lunar transportation car beneath growth, European Spaceflight reviews. Most just lately, the Huracán engine accomplished one other spherical of thrust chamber testing utilizing liquid methane gasoline as a coolant and examined a brand new thermal barrier coating. The methane/liquid oxygen engine is present process testing at a facility in Lampoldshausen, Germany, forward of use on The Exploration Company’s Nyx Moon spacecraft, a switch car designed for transportation to and from cislunar house and in addition able to Moon landings. The Nyx Moon is an evolution of a switch car the European startup is creating to ferry satellites between totally different orbits round Earth.
Other makes use of for Huracán… The Exploration Company seems to be positioning itself not solely as a builder and operator of orbital and lunar switch automobiles but additionally as a propulsion provider to different house corporations. In 2022, The Exploration Company obtained funding for the Huracán engine from the French authorities. At the time, the corporate described the engine as serving the wants of “the higher phases of small launchers and people of orbital automobiles.” (submitted by Ken the Bin)