reusable launch vehicles
Rocket Lab launches Swedish satellite, fails to catch booster
Rocket Lab successfully launched a Swedish atmospheric science satellite on an Electron rocket Nov. 4, but a telemetry problem kept the company from attempting a mid-air recovery of the rocket’s booster.
Rocket Lab to attempt booster recovery on upcoming Electron launch
Rocket Lab says it will make a second mid-air recovery attempt of an Electron booster during the launch later this week of a Swedish scientific satellite.
Rocket Lab launches Japanese radar imaging satellite on 30th Electron mission
Rocket Lab successfully launched a Japanese radar imaging satellite Sept. 15 as the company prepares for another attempt to recover and reuse a booster.
China plans to make aging Long March rocket reusable and non-toxic
China’s main space contractor plans to revamp a highly successful, 30-year-old Long March rocket model to adapt to the trend towards reusability in the launch sector.
Deep Blue Aerospace completes kilometer-level rocket launch and landing test
A Chinese launch startup sent a small rocket test stage up to an altitude of one kilometer Friday before a performing a powered descent and vertical landing.
Radian Aerospace raises seed round to fund work on spaceplane
A startup has raised a seed round of funding to pursue development of what’s long been considered the holy grail of space transportation: a single-stage-to-orbit reusable spaceplane.
Stoke Space raises $65 million for reusable launch vehicle development
Stoke Space raised $65 million in a Series A round announced Dec. 15, funding development and testing of the upper stage of a reusable launch vehicle.
Rocket Lab ready to attempt midair recovery of Electron booster
Rocket Lab says it’s ready to move to the next step in its efforts to recover and reuse Electron first stages by attempting to catch a booster in midair on an upcoming launch.
South Korea to develop reusable rocket with 100-ton thrust engines
The plan to develop a reusable rocket came as a surprise because “reusability” was nowhere to be seen in the government’s budget request for 2022 — in which South Korea’s next-generation rocket was supposed to be an expendable rocket.
Japanese carmaker Honda developing reusable rocket for LEO satellites
Honda says its core automotive technologies for combustion, fluid, remote control and guidance will be applied to a rocket it aims to test launch by 2030.
Stoke raises seed round to work on fully reusable rockets
A startup founded by a group of former Blue Origin and SpaceX employees has raised a seed round of funding to support their effort to make a fully reusable launch vehicle.
Op-ed | A Space Force needs spaceships
The U.S. Space Force must acquire responsive, routine, and reliable access to space — starting with launch systems optimize for reaching low Earth orbit (LEO).
Rocket Lab Electron launches four smallsats
Rocket Lab launched four small satellites Aug. 19 on a mission that also brings the company one step closer to reusing the first stage of its Electron rockets.
Germany begins reusability study to capture rockets in midair and land them with a plane
The Germany space agency DLR is beginning a study this month on a reusable launcher concept that would use a winged first-stage booster captured on descent by an aircraft and towed back to land.
SpaceX to modify Falcon 9 upper stage to test BFR technologies
SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk said Nov. 7 that his company will attempt an orbital flight of a reusable version of a Falcon 9 upper stage by the middle of next year to test technologies for the company’s next-generation launch vehicle.
Op-ed | Reuse and sustainability in deep space exploration
Recent SpaceX and Blue Origin booster landings have reignited hopes that reusability can change the economics of space activity simply by switching from expendable to reusable launch vehicles.
X-33’s death signals shift in NASA’s goals
NASA's surprise termination of the X-33 experimental rocket program signals a significant technological shift in the agency's approach to reducing the cost of launching people and payloads to orbit.
