North America

Firefly’s Alpha rocket launched on 2nd September suffered a fatal problem, exploding in the California sky. The company’s first ever orbital test flight lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 9:59 p.m. EDT. The final launch was nearly an hour after an initial try had to be aborted during countdown.

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. announced the construction of a new production facility capable of supplying up to 2,000 reaction wheels per year. The news comes after the company signed contracts to supply major satellite constellations. The new production facility will add to Rocket Lab’s existing 35,303 square metres of manufacturing competence.

As part of the partnership between SpaceWatch.Global and Orbital Gateway Consulting we have been granted permission to publish selected articles and texts. We are pleased to present “Dongfang Hour China Aerospace News Roundup 23 - 29 August 2021”. A special shout-out to our friends at SpaceWatch.Global

The test flight of Launch Vehicle 0006 took place on 28th August when the rocket suffered an anomaly. Lifting off from the Pacific Spaceport Complex on Alaska's Kodiak Island at 6:35 p.m. EDT, this was the California Bay Area start-up’s third orbital test flight attempt.

SpaceX Dragon resupply spacecraft launched at 3:14 a.m. EDT Sunday on a recycled Falcon 9 rocket to go to the ISS, NASA said. Carrying more than 2170 kg of cargo, it lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX’s 23rd Commercial Resupply Services mission is scheduled to dock at the station around 11 a.m. today.

The giant James Webb Space Telescope is ready to be shipped to its launch site at Europe´s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, the European Space Agency (ESA) said. The telescope has successfully completed its final tests and is being prepared for its shipment. The final tests were carried out at Northrop Grumman’s facilities in California, U.S.

Blue Origin moved its first stainless steel test tank to Launch Complex 36 in Florida by modular transport to prepare it for testing. The prototype is part of Project Jarvis aiming to develop a fully reusable upper stage for the New Glenn rocket. The tank will undergo a series of tests to determine its strength and capability to hold pressurised propellants, Ars Technica reports.

ispace, inc. unveiled its next generation lunar lander, Series 2, which the company will first use for its third lunar mission. The lander is 2.7 m tall and 4.2 m wide, including its legs. The new series is therefore larger in both size and customer payload capacity than the first-generation model, Series 1.

Rocket Lab will build two Photon spacecraft for NASA´s Escapade science mission to Mars, the launch company that will start trading on Nasdaq today said. Escapade stands for Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers; the mission will orbit two Rocket Lab-built Photon spacecraft around Mars

Virgin Orbit is to become publicly traded on Nasdaq through a merger with SPAC NextGen Acquisition Corp. II valuing the company at US $3.2 billion. The SPAC trades on the Nasdaq under ticker “NGCA” until the end of the year. The shares will then convert to “VORB”, as the combined company will keep the Virgin Orbit name. The agreement is to raise US $483 million for the combined company.