A Japanese H-2A rocket flying in its 202 configuration has carried two satellites, a space telescope and a Lunar lander, into orbit. The mission lifted-off from the Tanegashima Space Center, southern Japan, at 2342 GMT on 6 September. The larger payload...
A PSLV-XL launch vehicle carrying India’s first solar research spacecraft was conducted to mark the country’s first launch to the L1 position. The Aditya L1 solar research probe for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was launched from Satish Dhawan Space...
India has become the first nation ever to land a spacecraft near the South Pole of the Moon, as well as only the fourth nation in the world to successfully land a spacecraft on the Moon, after the US, the former Soviet Union and China. After a 19-minute descent from...
A Soyuz 2-1b/Fregat M rocket sent Russia’s Luna 25 lander, also known as the Luna-Glob, into orbit from Vostochny cosmodrome in far eastern Russia, at 2310 GMT on 10 August. The lander and the Fregat M stage were placed into an initial parking orbit of 280 x 267 km at...
A Long March 4C (CZ-4C) rocket successfully launched the 2.8 metric ton Feng Yun-3F (sometimes written as Fengyun-3F) meteorological satellite into an 828 km sun-synchronous orbit from Jiuquan at 0347 GMT on 3 August 2023. The launch on behalf of the China State...
While Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTR) concepts (e.g. the NERVA project) have been considered for space missions since the 1960s, their lack of suitable application combined with their technical risk has held back their actual use – until now. Seeing that a...
