Rocket

Northrop Grumman has successfully completed the first full-scale static test fire of the first-stage solid-rocket motor for the LGM-35A Sentinel that will replace the US Air Force's Minuteman III nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Explosions get you much more bang from your fuel buck than combustion – if your engine can withstand them. NASA believes the rotating detonation engine could be the future of deep space travel, and it's getting strong results in prototype testing.

NASA and DARPA have agreed to develop and test a nuclear rocket engine in space as soon as 2027. Using a nuclear reactor as its power source, it would outperform chemical rockets and greatly reduce the time for the first crewed Mars mission.

The mystery of why the first orbital mission launched from the UK fell into the sea on January 9 had some light shed on it today as Virgin Orbital announced that telemetry indicated that the second stage engine shut down prematurely.

Equipmake says it's got the lightest and most power-dense electric motor on the market, and if there's one place where weight is critical, it's on a launch pad. The company has developed an ultra-lightweight motor for Australia's first rocket launch.

Texan startup Firefly Aerospace has joined the growing group of orbit-capable space startups, with the successful launch of its Alpha rocket over the weekend, which saw a set of satellites deployed into low-Earth orbit.

Rocket Lab captured one of its rockets for the first time in May, and has since been busy refurbishing it and working towards another notable milestone, proving it can work again just like a brand new one.

Today's planned launch of the Artemis 1 mission, which incorporates NASA's most powerful rocket ever, has been cancelled. According to NASA, there was a problem with the engines which couldn't be fixed within the two-hour launch window.

Northrop Grumman announces that the war in Ukraine is forcing it to develop a US-designed and manufactured replacement for the first stage of its Antares rocket, which was previously made in Ukraine using Russian engines.

Orbex has publicly unveiled the full-scale prototype of its reusable Prime rocket on its pad at Space Hub Sutherland in northern Scotland, where the first-ever vertical launch of a satellite from UK soil is set to be carried out in the coming months.

Rocket Lab has taken an important step forward in its efforts to recover its boosters for re-flight, today capturing its Electron first stage with a helicopter as it hurtled back toward Earth for the first time.

Rocket Lab has some bold rocket reusability aspirations, and all going to plan will soon achieve a key milestone by collecting the first stage of its Electron booster in midair with a customized Sikorsky S-92 helicopter.