NASA & World Space Exploration...News, Views, Photos & videos
- Thread starter bd popeye
- Start date
SpaceX surpasses 100 successful launches this year. Falcon 9 rockets have carried out 96 of SpaceX's 101 launches in 2024 so far. Two-thirds of Falcon 9 flights have been dedicated to building Starlink.
BO just passed on ULA. Last report was SierraNevada was in negotiations.
That could work I guess. But Sierra Nevada's finances are kind of obscure. The whole thing seems to be a government jobs program.
Not to diss them too much since their Dream Chaser shuttle is a cool project. And necessary for a long term space station program.
New Glenn booster being rolled out to the launch pad for testing (October 29th) ahead of potential before year end first launch.
Really excited to see how this launch goes. If they can land the booster on the first attempt that would be a massive achievement!
Just so people can understand the scale here: The Starship booster is 233 ft long, 30 ft wide and has an empty mass of 550,000 lb (probably slight more during the landing because of fuel).
That 233 ft long, 30 ft wide and 550,000 lb object was just falling through the atmosphere at near hypersonic speeds before it had to slowed down, precisely aimed and caught by two robotic arms!
Regardless of what happens with Starship, this catch was an incredible engineering achievement across multiple disciplines. Oh, and they also did that on the first try!!!