Yesterday, Google Lunar X Prize competitor Moon Express announced that it has received approval for what will be the first purely commercial mission to go beyond Earth’s immediate orbit. If all goes according to plan, and that is a pretty big if considering the variables involved, ME’s MX-1 lander will launch out of New Zealand […]
There is a small, but potentially significant battle brewing between would-be launch providers in one segment of the rocket industry which has seen little development in recent years. How it plays out may say quite a bit about the degree to which the aerospace establishment is seeking to maintain its base wherever it can, and […]
Cue Dennis DeYoung and the rest of 1980’s mega band Styx, because for those who just love rockets, this may really be “The Best of Times.” Besides the ongoing phenomenon that is SpaceX, and as well as Blue Origin, which suddenly seems a bit restless proceeding at the pace of a tortoise as its motto […]
Cubesat manufacturers and operators are beginning to align with the emerging class of new small launch vehicles which were designed to service the booming market for tiny spacecraft. New Zealand based Rocket Lab, which introduced on-line booking late last year, has announced that it has signed a launch contract with San Francisco based Spire, which […]
Yesterday, NASA held a press conference to formally announce the winners of its initial Venture Class Launch Services competition. Given that notice of the awards, which went to Virgin Galactic, Rocket Lab and Firefly Space Systems was posted over two weeks ago, the event was somewhat redundant, but did shed new light on the agency’s […]
One of the great things about the emerging cubesat launch market is that NASA is able to help no less than three different companies get off the ground by booking a launch for less than $18 million. On June 12th, NASA’s Launch Services Program announced that it was establishing a new class of launch vehicles, […]
On October 3rd, Google Lunar XPrize competitor Moon Express announced that it had signed a launch agreement with Rocket Lab for at least two 2017 launches aboard that company’s Electron launch vehicle. The notice was remarkable for several reasons, not the least of which being it appeared to cement Moon Express as being the first […]
Yesterday, InnerSpace focused on air-launched solutions to the growing demand for small satellite launches. And while winged rockets may conjure up fond memories for those who grew up reading classic science fiction from the golden era, an announcement from New Zealand born but LA based NewsSpace company Rocket Lab suggests that conventional vertically launched two-stage […]
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