Aerospace

This tag is used to mark content that is related to aerospace engineering. A substantive collection of articles can be found here, that discuss the design, development, testing, and operation of aircraft, spacecraft, and other aerospace vehicles.

New Shepard lifting off from its launch pad. ©Blue Origin New Shepard returns to flight with the NS-24 Mission

On the 19th of December, Blue Origin's New Shepard vehicle returned to flight after a fifteen-month hiatus from flight. This flight flew without a crew but did carry research payloads and science experiments. According the Blue Origin, the payloads from the failed NS-23 mission were reflown on this

Dec 21, 2023 4 mins

What are China's Long March rockets? What are China's Long March rockets?

Disclaimer: This article was written on the 20th of December so some information may be outdated. Additional disclaimer: This article may take a while to load as where possible a relevant image is used. This article is intended as a general explainer of China's state-owned and operated Long

Dec 20, 2023 20 mins

The Long March 5 lifting off for its sixth launch. ©CMG What were the two 'secret' launches from China?

On the 14th and 15th of December 2023, China launched a Long March 2F/G and a Long March 5 for two largely secretive missions. The Long March 2F/G launched from Launch Area 4 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, in northern China, on the 14th at 14:11

Dec 19, 2023 5 mins

Electron lifting off from its launch pad. ©Rocket Lab Rocket Lab returns to flight with 'The Moon God Awakens'

On the 15th of December 2023 at 04:05 am (UTC), Electron lifted off from Launch Complex 1 on the Mahia peninsula in New Zealand. The return-to-flight launch carried a satellite from iQPS, called TSUKUYOMI-I, to low Earth orbit for the forty-second launch attempt of Electron. The TSUKUYOMI-I satellite is

Dec 16, 2023 2 mins

A render of Zhuque-3 on a launch pad. ©LandSpace What is the Zhuque-3 rocket?

After the third launch of LandSpace's Zhuque-2 rocket, the company revealed more information regarding its Zhuque-3 launch vehicle. Zhuque-3 is LandSpace's in-development partially re-usable medium to heavy lift launch vehicle. LandSpace plans for Zhuque-3 to burn liquid methane and liquid oxygen fuels in its engines, the

Dec 13, 2023 3 mins

Long March 2D lifting off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center via Xinhua News. China completes its 500th Long March rocket launch!

On the 10th of December, a Long March 2D lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southern China. The payload for the launch was a Yaogan reconnaissance satellite heading to low Earth orbit. While a regular launch at first glance, this was the 500th launch of a Long

Dec 12, 2023 3 mins

Zhuque-2 lifting off from its launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Zhuque-2 delivers its first payloads to space!

On the 8th of December, Greenwich Mean Time, or the 9th of December, China Standard Time, LandSpace launched its Zhuque-2 rocket for the third time. This launch was the first time the rocket delivered a payload to orbit, and the first time a rocket burning liquid methane successfully placed payloads

Dec 11, 2023 3 mins

SpaceX's Super Heavy booser (left) and the N1 rocket (right). Why SpaceX's Super Heavy booster works where the N1 failed

Disclaimer: This article may contain the opinion of the writer and not Cosmic Nxws as a whole in some parts of the article. With the recent success of Super Heavy booster 9 during Starship-Super Heavy's second integrated flight test, the conversation around the Soviet N1 rocket has begun

Dec 9, 2023 6 mins

Chŏllima-1 lifting off from its launch pad at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station.  North Korea successfully launches its first military reconnaissance satellite

Early on the morning of November 21st, a Chŏllima-1 launch vehicle lifted off from the Sohae Satellite Launching Station in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea carrying the Malligyong-1c satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit. The Malligyong-1c is the third military reconnaissance satellite attempted to be launched by the

Nov 22, 2023 2 mins

Starship-Super Heavy during first stage flight with Ship 25 and Booster 9. ©SpaceX SpaceX provides post-flight update on Starship's second flight

Recently, SpaceX quietly updated the webpage for Starship-Super Heavy's second integrated flight test clarifying the following information; * All 33 Raptor engines on the Super Heavy Booster started up successfully and, for the first time, completed a full-duration burn during ascent. * Starship executed a successful hot-stage separation, powering down

Nov 21, 2023 4 mins

Starship-Super Heavy during first stage flight with Ship 25 and Booster 9. ©SpaceX SpaceX successfully launches Starship for a second time!

Today, the 18th of November 2023, SpaceX launched its Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle for the second time ever! Starship-Super Heavy launched at the start of its window lifting off at 07:02 am Central Standard Time and continuing powered flight for a little over eight minutes! The Super Heavy booster

Nov 18, 2023 4 mins

Tory Bruno, ULA CEO and President. ©Denver Business Journal Tory Bruno answers questions about Vulcan and ULA

United Launch Alliance's Tory Bruno recently hosted an 'ask me anything' on the subreddit r/ula! This article has picked out the more interesting questions that were answered by Bruno. A table has also been attached below to explain any acronyms or terms used. ULA United

Nov 17, 2023 3 mins

Ship 25 being stacked atop of Booster 9 in Starbase, Texas. ©SpaceX Starship to launch as early as Friday!

Very recently, the Federal Aviation Administration granted SpaceX a launch license for its Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle. This comes almost seven months after the first launch attempt of SpaceX's currently in development fully reusable orbital launch system. The issuing of the launch license also comes a few hours

Nov 15, 2023 3 mins