space
Rocket Report: Lightning strikes in China; Starship launch on deck
Relativity Space announced plans to build a second rocket factory near Cape Canaveral, Florida.
TL;DR
- SpaceX's 13th Starship test flight is scheduled for Friday evening after an earlier engine issue required repairs.
- India's first private rocket, Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1, successfully reached orbit.
- The US Interior Department is considering offshore oil platforms as potential rocket launch sites.
- Lockheed Martin is partnering with Venus Aerospace to evaluate rotating detonation rocket engine technology.
- Russia's Amur-LNG reusable rocket project has been delayed, with flight tests now expected in 2031.
- The US Space Force is significantly increasing the value of its National Security Space Launch contracts.
- A robotic servicing mission using Northrop Grumman's Mission Robotic Vehicle launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9.
- Relativity Space plans to expand its operations and build a new factory in Florida.
- A Chinese Long March 3B rocket successfully launched despite being struck by lightning shortly after liftoff.
- The stacking of the Space Launch System rocket for NASA's Artemis III mission has begun at Kennedy Space Center.