Rocket Report: SpaceX’s next-gen booster fails; Pegasus will fly again
In the latest edition of the Rocket Report, Blue Origin continues to capture attention with its New Glenn rocket, following a successful launch and landing on November 13. This week, the company unveiled an ambitious roadmap aimed at enhancing the rocket’s performance by adding more engines, a move that could significantly increase its payload capacity and operational efficiency. The New Glenn, designed to compete in the heavy-lift launch market, represents a critical component of Jeff Bezos’ vision for space exploration and commercial endeavors. As Blue Origin pushes forward with its development, the company is positioning itself as a key player in the increasingly competitive landscape of aerospace.
Meanwhile, SpaceX is making strides in its own right, moving closer to the inaugural flight of its next-generation Starship rocket in South Texas. This marks an exciting period for SpaceX as the Starship is designed for missions beyond Earth, including potential crewed missions to Mars. The combination of Blue Origin’s advancements with New Glenn and SpaceX’s ongoing developments with Starship highlights a dynamic era in space exploration, where innovation and competition are likely to drive significant technological advancements and lower costs for satellite launches and beyond.
In other news, Katalyst Space Technologies has secured a $30 million contract from NASA to develop a robotic rescue mission for the aging Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which has been operational since 2004. The observatory, known for its groundbreaking studies of gamma-ray bursts, is facing challenges due to its lack of a propulsion system and the effects of atmospheric drag on its orbit. To address this, Katalyst has chosen Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus XL rocket to launch the rescue craft next year, showcasing the importance of innovative solutions in extending the life of critical scientific instruments. As the space industry continues to evolve, these developments underscore the collaborative efforts between government agencies and private companies to push the boundaries of space exploration.
Welcome to Edition 8.20 of the Rocket Report! For the second week in a row, Blue Origin dominated the headlines with news about its New Glenn rocket. After a stunning success November 13 with the launch and landing of the second New Glenn rocket, Jeff Bezos’ space company revealed a roadmap this week showing how engineers will supercharge the vehicle with more engines. Meanwhile, in South Texas, SpaceX took a step toward the first flight of the next-generation Starship rocket. There will be no Rocket Report next week due to the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. We look forward to resuming delivery of all the news in space lift the first week of December.
As always, we
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. If you don’t want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets, as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.
Northrop’s Pegasus rocket wins a rare contract.
A startup named Katalyst Space Technologies won a $30 million contract from NASA in August to build a robotic rescue mission for the agency’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory in low-Earth orbit. Swift, in space since 2004, is a unique instrument designed to study gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the Universe. The spacecraft lacks a propulsion system and its orbit is subject to atmospheric drag, and NASA says it is “racing against the clock” to boost Swift’s orbit and extend its lifetime before it falls back to Earth. On Wednesday, Katalyst announced it
selected Northrop Grumman’s air-launched Pegasus XL rocket
to send the rescue craft into orbit next year.
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