AstroAccess is a winner of the 2023 Gizmodo Science Fair for pushing for universal accessibility in the space environment and for running pathfinding tests in zero-gravity with help from disabled individuals.
Balloons are so hot right now, and not just the ones getting shot down by military jets. A startup in Japan wants to send people to the edge of space using a helium-filled balloon, and to do so affordably, but the chosen passenger cabin leaves much to be desired.
A Virgin Galactic stockholder is taking the company’s execs to task, saying their penchant for covering up major failures encountered during tests of its Unity spaceplane have tanked investors’ chances of winning big in the commercial space race.
Virgin Galactic’s carrier aircraft VMS Eve took to the California skies yesterday for an important two-and-a-half-hour flight test. It’s the latest sign that the Richard Branson-founded company is preparing to resume suborbital flights.
Last month, Virgin Orbit ran into trouble when its LauncherOne rocket crashed, destroying seven payloads on board in an attempt to deploy satellites in low Earth orbit. Now, the company suspects that the cause of the anomaly could have been a pesky filter that only cost around $100.
Virgin Investments Limited has pumped $55 million into Virgin Orbit since November of last year, in what is a troubling sign for the fledgling satellite launch company.