Launch Vehicles

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.

The Stratolaunch aircraft has been slowly but surely edging towards takeoff with a series of increasingly rapid taxi tests. Its latest outing has seen the team clock the gargantuan dual-fuselage plane at speeds fast approaching those typically needed for regular aircraft to lift-off on the runway.

December 19 marks the 60th anniversary of the first-ever voice transmission relayed from space. The Christmas address was given by then-president Dwight D. Eisenhower, via a top-secret satellite launched atop a converted Atlas intercontinental missile.

After successfully completing low-speed taxi testing earlier this year, the giant Stratolaunch aircraft successfully hit a new milestone recently, reaching 90 mph during its latest stage of runway testing. The announcement comes days after co-founder of the company Paul Allen passed away.

NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin were forced to make an unplanned descent through Earth's atmosphere today following a malfunction of their Soyuz launch vehicle. The crew has now touched down in Kazakhstan, where they are being attended by rescue personnel.

The gargantuan Stratolaunch dual-fuselage aircraft, with a wingspan of 385 ft (117 m), is one step closer to reaching the skies after it recently completed a second taxi test that saw it hit a speed of 46 mph (74 km/h) as it stormed down a runway in Mojave, California.

Rocket Lab has announced a launch date for its next Electron rocket test. The 10-day launch window opens on December 8 in what will be the first flight of the commercial booster since its not entirely successful inaugural launch in May.

​Back in June, the world’s largest plane emerged from its hangar for the first time. Now the team has crossed another milestone by completing the first round of engine testing, continuing the groundwork needed to get the beast into the air in 2019.