spaceflight
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See a Kairos Rocket Explode Seconds After Liftoff
The inaugural launch of Space One’s Kairos rocket ended in failure, with the launch vehicle exploding mere seconds after clearing the tower in Wakayama prefecture. It’s a setback for Japan’s space sector, which is striving for competitiveness in the burgeoning aerospace industry, but commercial ventures rarely achieve success on their first attempts. Tokyo-based Space One…
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NASA Is Still Fighting to Save Its Historic Voyager 1 Spacecraft
For more than 45 years, the Voyager 1 spacecraft has been cruising through the cosmos, crossing the boundary of our solar system to become the first human-made object to venture to interstellar space. Iconic in every regard, Voyager 1 has delivered groundbreaking data on Jupiter and Saturn, and captured the loneliest image of Earth. But…
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NASA’s Fire-in-Space Experiment Ends in Flames
After eight years of experimenting with flames in space, NASA lit a fire inside a cargo spacecraft for the last time and sent its Saffire experiment toward a burning reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. NASA’s Spacecraft Fire Safety Experiments, also known as Saffire, came to a fitting end on January 9, flying aboard a Northrop Grumman…
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SpaceX’s Giant Starship Tapped to Launch Starlab’s Giant Steel Space Station
Starlab Space’s forthcoming space station is so big and heavy that only the formidable SpaceX Starship megarocket can launch it into orbit, but the one-time delivery option comes with distinct benefits. Starlab Space, like several other commercial ventures, is racing to deliver a commercial space station to orbit in anticipation of the International Space Station’s…