SSI News
Firefly reveals cause of Alpha launch failure: a strange aerothermodynamic heating effect
Firefly Aerospace has revealed the cause of the launch failure of its Alpha rocket that took place four months ago. On its sixth launch, Alpha lifted off from the Vandenberg launch site in California, at 1337 GMT on 28 April. At first all seemed to go well with the...
Landspace’s Zhuque-2 rocket self-destructs after power failure
Chinese startup Landspace suffered a launch failure after its Zhuque-2E rocket experienced an electrical anomaly during its sixth test flight, ending its run of successes. Zhuque-2E took off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre, China at 01:17 GMT on 15 August....
Starship’s triumphant 10th test flight comes just in time for SpaceX
After three consecutive flight failures plus an on-land test explosion, there was a lot riding on the 10th suborbital test flight (IFT-10) of the Starship/Super Heavy. Success was needed for both SpaceX and for NASA's Artemis lunar programme – and it was achieved. ...
The Great Space Race: cutbacks, confusion, and dismay at NASA sees the US fall away in human lunar return race
Every year, Seradata reviews the ‘runners and riders’ in the Great Space Race, or rather the two races: to return humans to the Moon and to land humans on the surface of Mars for the first time. In this we judge each of the leading contender nations’ space programmes...
The UK Space Conference 2025: the health of the industry
The UK hosted its biennial Space Conference in Manchester in July. Once the industrial capital of the country, Manchester also happens to be the birthplace of radio astronomy after Sir Bernard Lovell established the science in 1945. Organisations and space industry...
Launches in July 2025
Graphene: the supermaterial and space
“Stronger than steel” “Stiffer than diamonds” “Capable of sitting on the surface on the sun” No, it’s not superman: It’s graphene. These were just some of the superlatives claimed to describe the “frontier material” in a workshop held during the UK Space Conference....
Satellite and Launch Orders – July 2025
Here are the latest launch and spacecraft orders which were announced or became revealed in July 2025: Construction Orders Boeing won a US$2.8 billion contract to build the first two key nuclear defence communications satellites under Evolved Strategic Satellite (ESS)...
Gilmour Space’s Eris rocket succumbs to the curse of maiden flights
Eris, a 25m tall rocket, slowly lifted itself into the air on its maiden flight from Bowen, Abbot Point, in Queensland Australia at 2035 GMT on 29 July. The rocket, built by Australian startup Gilmour space, cleared its launch pad but then its climb stopped abruptly....
Invictus hypersonic rocket plane rises from the ashes of defunct Reaction Engines plan
Frazer-Nash has announced that it is leading a new spaceplane programme called INVICTUS, with the help of the European Space Agency (ESA). Funded by €7 million from ESA, the plan is to use air-breathing rocket technology to build a test aircraft capable of Mach 5 by...
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