Launch Vehicles

Looking to make its mark in the world of space launches is US-based firm Aevum, which has just unveiled a massive drone called the Ravn X that is designed to act as an autonomous, airborne launch system for small satellites.

Virgin Orbit is preparing its pilots, Cosmic Girl mothership and LauncherOne rocket for a second attempt at orbital flight, today announcing that its Launch Demo 2 mission will take place a week before Christmas.

Rocket Lab is set to take an important step forward in its mission to reuse parts of its Electron booster, announcing that it will make its first attempt to recover the rocket’s first stage during a mission scheduled for later this month.

Rocket Lab experienced a notable hiccup in early July, when one of its Electron boosters was lost on its way to orbit, along with the seven satellites onboard. The company now claims to have pinpointed the source of the problem.

The United Arab Emirates has successfully launched its first interplanetary mission. This morning, Al Amal, or the Hope Probe, took off from Japan at 6:58 am Monday 20th July (local time), and is currently headed towards Mars.

Virgin Orbit has come up short on its first attempt to reach orbit today after the mission was terminated soon after ignition of its LauncherOne rocket, with the team now working through the data and gearing up for its next attempt.

Rocket Lab is looking to join the rocket recycling party by collecting the first stage of its Electron launch vehicle in midair using a helicopter, a method that it has now successfully demonstrated over the open ocean in New Zealand.

Engineers have mated the fourth and final Space Shuttle-era engine to the core stage of NASA’s first Space Launch System Moon rocket. NASA hopes to use the super heavy launch vehicle to return astronauts to the Moon before striking out for Mars.

NASA has integrated the first RS-25 engine with the core stage of its upcoming super heavy Moon rocket – the Space Launch System (SLS). The engines are refurbished units that were built to power the now defunct Space Shuttle program.

The world's largest aircraft by wingspan and largest all-composite took to the air for the first time on Saturday as the Stratolaunch completed its maiden flight. At 6:58 am PDT, the twin-hulled space-launcher platform took off from the Mojave Air and Space Port for a two and a half hour flight.

​​Historically, space launches are anything but cheap, but reusable rocket programs like those from SpaceX and Blue Origin promise to significantly reduce costs (if they’re not already). In a similar vein, the EU is looking to develop a "rocket catcher" that snaffles boosters in mid-air for reuse.

Combustion experts from the University of Sydney are working on a revolutionary new rocket engine that can not only breath air while in the atmosphere, but can burn incoming air at supersonic speeds, promising to make space launches cheaper and more efficient.