NASA and other global space programs (excluding Indian) news, Updates and Discussions

[skywatcher]

Happy International Women's Day! All the women in space!

 

[skywatcher]

Relativity Terran-1 first orbital launch delayed to 23 Mar 2023

 

[skywatcher]

Methane fueled launchers that are almost ready for their first orbital launch attmepts
14 Dec 2022 Land Space Zhuque-2 launch failure
23 Mar 2023 Relativity Terran-1 launch failure
Apr 2023 SpaceX Starship
May 2023 ULA Vulcan Centaur
Q3 2024 Blue Origin New Glenn
Q4 2024 Rocket Lab Neutron

 

[skywatcher]

What's up for April?

13 April 2023 ESA Ariane 5 Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE)
21 April 2023 NG Antares Cygnus NG-19 ISS cargo resupply
?? April 2023 iSpace Hakuto-R lunar soft landing & UAE Rashid lunar rover
?? April 2023 SpaceX Starship first orbital test flight
?? April 2023 ULA Atlas 5 Boeing CST 100 Starliner crew flight test

 

[skywatcher]

Europe yearns for an independent human space flight program

 

[skywatcher]

What's up for April?

13 April 2023 ESA Ariane 5 Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE)
21 April 2023 NG Antares Cygnus NG-19 ISS cargo resupply
?? April 2023 iSpace Hakuto-R lunar soft landing & UAE Rashid lunar rover
?? April 2023 SpaceX Starship first orbital test flight
?? April 2023 ULA Atlas 5 Boeing CST 100 Starliner crew flight test

What's up for May?

1 May 2023 SpaceX Falcon 9 Crew Dragon to ISS
4 May 2023 ULA Vulcan Centaur Peregrine Lunar lander
10 May 2023 CMSA Long March 7 Tianzhou-6 cargo resupply to CSS
24 May 2023 Roscosmos Soyuz Progress M-23 cargo resupply to ISS
25 May 2023 CMSA Long March 2F Shenzhou-16 crew spacecraft to CSS
?? May 2023 ULA Atlas 5 Starliner crew flight test(Delayed from April)
?? May 2023 Rocket Lab Electron Venus Life Finder probe

 

[skywatcher]

What's up for May?

1 May 2023 SpaceX Falcon 9 Crew Dragon to ISS
4 May 2023 ULA Vulcan Centaur Peregrine Lunar lander
10 May 2023 CMSA Long March 7 Tianzhou-6 cargo resupply to CSS
24 May 2023 Roscosmos Soyuz Progress M-23 cargo resupply to ISS
25 May 2023 CMSA Long March 2F Shenzhou-16 crew spacecraft to CSS
?? May 2023 ULA Atlas 5 Starliner crew flight test(Delayed from April)
?? May 2023 Rocket Lab Electron Venus Life Finder probe

What's up for June?

?? June 2023 SpaceX Falcon 9 IM-1 Lunar lander & Moon Mark rovers & UK Spacebit Lunar rover
?? June 2023 SpaceX Falcon 9 Cargo Dragon to ISS
?? June 2023 ISRO PSLV Aditya-L1 solar observatory
?? June 2023 JAXA H-IIA SLIM Lunar lander & LEV-1 Lunar rover
?? June 2023 ISRO LVM III Chandrayaan-3 Lunar lander & Lunar rover

*Launch dates are for your reference only

 

[Blademaster]

Any news on the ESA front or Russia? rarely hear from those 2.

 

[skywatcher]

 

[Blademaster]

And yet India does more for the bang on a per dollar basis.

 

[skywatcher]

Relativity Terran-1 first orbital launch delayed to 23 Mar 2023View attachment 196888
View attachment 196889

Relativity CEO: It's huge win.

 

[skywatcher]

 

[skywatcher]

Virgin Orbit lays off most employees

Virgin Orbit announced late March 30 it was laying off the vast majority of its employees after failing to raise additional funding.

spacenews.com

Virgin Orbit lays off most employees

WASHINGTON — Virgin Orbit announced late March 30 it was laying off the vast majority of its employees after failing to raise additional funding, putting the launch company’s future in jeopardy.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Virgin Orbit announced it was laying off approximately 675 employees, or 85% of its workforce. The company said the layoff was necessary “to reduce expenses in light of the Company’s inability to secure meaningful funding.”

The company, which operates the LauncherOne air-launch system, had furloughed most employees March 15 as part of a pause in operations as it sought to raise money. A week later it brought back a small number of employees to continue preparations for the next LauncherOne mission from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California.

At the time Virgin Orbit brought back those employees, it was in discussions with Matthew Brown, a Texas venture capital investor who claimed to have invested in more than 13 space-related companies, although he was not a familiar name in the industry. Brown said in an interview with CNBC March 23 he was in “final discussions” with Virgin Orbit that he expected to close within a day. That investment was reported to be worth up to $200 million.

However, the deal fell through several days later. Virgin Orbit worked to find another investor but, as of March 30, no deals were imminent.

Virgin Orbit had been heading towards a cash flow crisis for months as it burned through its remaining cash reserves. The company, in its most recent earnings call Nov. 7, ended the third quarter with $71 million in cash on hand and an operating loss of $50.5 million in the quarter.

The company subsequently raised $60 million in four separate debt financings from Virgin Investments Limited (VIL), the investment arm of Virgin Group. Those deals came with interest rates as high as 12% and gave VIL “first-priority security interest” to Virgin Orbit’s assets, including its Boeing 747 aircraft.

Virgin Orbit’s financial problems were exacerbated by the failure of its most recent LauncherOne mission Jan. 9, which the company ultimately blamed on a fuel filter that came loose in the rocket’s upper stage, leading to a premature shutdown of the engine. When the company announced the employee furloughs, it said it was nearly done with the investigation and had its next rocket in the final stages of integration and testing.

In the latest SEC filing, Virgin Orbit said it raised an additional $10.7 million from VIL, again at a 12% interest rate. While the company said the proceeds of previous loans would go to working capital, it said in this filing that the money would go towards employee severance and other layoff-related expenses, which it estimated to be $15 million.

 

[skywatcher]

Prominent US rocket companies with at least one orbital launch attempt

1.SpaceX Falcon 9/Falcon Heavy/Starship
2.Rocket Lab Electron/Neutron
3.Firefly Alpha
4.Relativity Terran-1
5.ABL RS-1
6.Astra Rocket 4.0
7.Virgin Orbit Launcherone
*ULA & NG & other national institutions etc are not included.

ULA: Atlas V/Delta IV Heavy/Vulcan
NG: Antares/Minotaur-C/Pegasus

 

[skywatcher]

Seriously?

 

[skywatcher]

Global orbital launches in Q1 2023

It is noteworthy that
1.Israel launched their own rocket Shavit-2.
2.US will probably conduct more orbital flights than any other country in 2023.
3.Failure of H3 is huge blow to JAXA and will cause further delay of H2A & SLIM lunar lander & rover
4.Russian space activities are on the track of steady decline due to price advantage of SpaceX and western sanctions.

 

[skywatcher]

SpaceX Starship orbital launch date confirmed!
6 April 2023-12 April 2023

 

[skywatcher]

Global orbital launches in Q1 2023
View attachment 198599
It is noteworthy that
1.Israel launched their own rocket Shavit-2.
2.US will probably conduct more orbital flights than any other country in 2023.
3.Failure of H3 is huge blow to JAXA and will cause further delay of H2A & SLIM lunar lander & rover
4.Russian space activities are on the track of steady decline due to price advantage of SpaceX and western sanctions.
View attachment 198600

 

[skywatcher]

New player joins the game.

Space Pioneer Tianlong-2 rocket made it to orbit on its maiden flight from Gobi desert, Inner Monglia, UTC+8 16:48 2 Apr 2023.

Tianlong-2 is a LOX/RP-1 fueled rocket with a payload capacity of 2 tons to LEO.
Space Pioneer is a private space launch startup founded in 2015.

 

[skywatcher]

New player joins the game.View attachment 198784
Space Pioneer Tianlong-2 rocket made it to orbit on its maiden flight from Gobi desert, Inner Monglia, UTC+8 16:48 2 Apr 2023.
View attachment 198789

Tianlong-2 is a kerolox fueled rocket with a payload capacity of 2 tons of LEO.
Space Pioneer is a private space launch startup founded in 2015.