Rocket

The US Air Force has successfully tested a component that promises a new generation of high-performance American rocket engines. Called a preburner, the unit allows rockets to operate at a higher pressure and achieve greater levels of thrust.

The Vulcain 2.1 liquid-fueled engine, the rocket that will power the first stage of ESA's Ariane 6 launcher, has passed its qualification tests.

Researchers are studying how to use salt-based propellants that can be used to power dual-mode rockets that work as both combustion and ion engines.

SpaceX singlehandedly changed the game when it comes to rocket recycling, but it might soon have some company with competitor Rocket Lab today announcing a reusability program of its own.​

Last week the European Space Agency (ESA) completed the first rollout test of its 90 meter (295 ft) tall mobile gantry, where the next generation of Ariane rockets will be assembled and protected at the launch zone prior to blasting off.

Virgin Orbit is developing a launch system to carry satellites into space using a rocket mounted to the wing of a modified 747. The team has today ticked off what it calls a significant milestone, carrying said rocket into the air and releasing it over the Californian desert for the first time.

​SpaceX is on a mission to reuse as much of its launch systems as possible. Part of this strategy involves catching pieces of rocket as they plummet back toward Earth, something the company managed to pull off for the first time following yesterday’s landmark Falcon Heavy launch. ​​

​​SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket is off again. With a slew of government satellites and important spacecraft onboard, the world’s most powerful operational vehicle lifted off into the night sky for the first time in what the company calls one of the most challenging launches in its history.

Space flight requires quite a lot of single-use machinery, and that gets expensive and wasteful. Now ESA has outlined its reusable Space Rider capsule, which would carry scientific equipment to the edge of space and back several times over.

​China has joined the US and Russia as nations with proven capability to launch rockets from sea. It was the 306th flight for the China National Space Administration’s line of Long March carrier rockets, but the first time one has taken off away from solid ground.

Engineers at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans have now joined together four fifths of the Space Launch System’s core stage. The upcoming super heavy rocket is slated to make its maiden flight in 2020, and will provide the lifting capabilities for America’s return to the Moon.

​​There's a lot riding on the development of Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser space plane. The company has now offered the public the first fiery look at the engine that will propel it through space, with missions for NASA slated to kick off the year after next.​