Mojave CA (SPX) Dec 27, 2021
Yesterday, Virgin Orbit, which has announced a planned business combination with NextGen Acquisition Corp. II ("NextGen") (NASDAQ: NGCA), completed a full wet dress rehearsal of its air-launched LauncherOne satellite delivery service, taking the integrated system through a full run of procedures to verify the health of the system and the preparedness of the team. "The successful completion

Plainsboro NJ (SPX) Dec 27, 2021
The growing interest in deep-space exploration has sparked the need for powerful long-lived rocket systems to drive spacecraft through the cosmos. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have now developed a tiny modified version of a plasma-based propulsion system called a Hall thruster that both increases the lifetime of the rocket and pro

Orlando FL (UPI) Dec 27, 2021
Space exploration may shatter records in 2022 with the launch of the most powerful rocket ever in a flight beyond the moon, a space telescope that will peer into the dawn of the universe and groundbreaking science on Mars. The New Year also may see SpaceX's deep space Starship rocket fly above the atmosphere, expansion of space tourism and new rocket launches from companies such as United

Broomfield CO (SPX) Dec 27, 2021
Ball Aerospace is celebrating the launch of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) from French Guiana. The Colorado-based company designed and built the advanced optical technology and lightweight mirror system that will enable Webb to detect light from the first stars and galaxies. "It is truly an honor to be such an integral part of the next great space observatory," said Dr. Makenzie

Melbourne FL (SPX) Dec 21, 2021
L3Harris Technologies has completed the final major design milestone on the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) program Phase IIb On-orbit Prototype Demonstration and has already begun building the demonstration satellite. Completing the CDR is the final design milestone ensuring performance, cost and schedule requirements can be met b

Zurich, Switzerland (SPX) Dec 27, 2021
Technology from RUAG Space protected the James Webb Space Telescope during launch and flight into space. A payload adapter placed the observatory into orbit. The launch happened on December 25. The James Webb Space Telescope - or short "Webb" - is the largest and most powerful space telescope ever built. The successor of the Hubble space telescope will be able to peer into the oldest, most

Boston MA (SPX) Dec 27, 2021
Aerospace engineers at MIT are testing a new concept for a hovering rover that levitates by harnessing the moon's natural charge. Because they lack an atmosphere, the moon and other airless bodies such as asteroids can build up an electric field through direct exposure to the sun and surrounding plasma. On the moon, this surface charge is strong enough to levitate dust more than 1 meter ab

Kourou (AFP) Dec 25, 2021
The world's most powerful space telescope on Saturday blasted off into orbit, headed to an outpost 1.5 million kilometres (930,000 miles) from Earth, after several delays caused by technical hitches. The James Webb Space Telescope, some three decades and billions of dollars in the making, left Earth enclosed in its Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou Space Centre in French Guiana. "What an amazi

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope launched at 7:20 a.m. EST Saturday on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport.

The James Webb Space Telescope lifted off on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, at 13:20 CET on 25 December on its exciting mission to unlock the secrets of the Universe.