A test stand at SpaceX’s Starbase facility was severely damaged in an explosion, marking a potentially major setback to the SpaceX Starship programme. A refuelled Starship upper stage (Ship 36) was awaiting the start of an engine test at Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas...
A Japanese lunar lander crashed on the Moon after it failed to sufficiently slow its descent. Hakuto-R M2’s collision, at 1915 GMT on 5 June, created a 16-metre-wide crater in the Mare Frigoris region of the Moon. The collateral of the crash included a mini rover,...
Australia’s Eris Block 1 rocket, made by Gilmour Space Technologies, had a rough start to its career with a pre-launch failure delaying the vehicle’s maiden flight. The nose cone/fairing, triggered by an electrical fault, “pinged” off the rocket prematurely while it...
SpaceX has suffered another Integrated Flight Test failure and lost both Starship and its Super Heavy booster. The IFT-9 test flight of the Super Heavy/Starship combination took place from the Boca Chica base in West Texas at 2336 GMT on 27 May. All seemed to go well...
Two military Synthetic Aperture Radar satellites have been rescued in orbit after being out of action for nearly 18 months. A series of complex manoeuvres has freed the antennas, which were jammed on SARah-Passiv 1 and SARah-Passiv 2. Non-deployment of the passive...
India’s space agency was left a little shaken after its dependable PSLV launch vehicle sustained a rare failure. The launch took place from the Satish Dhawan Launch Center in Sriharikota, India at 0029 GMT on 18 May. On board was the EOS-09 satellite (also known as...