Getty Images, AAIB
Arianespace’s latest Vega mission failed to deploy two of its payloads to orbit, likely due to a failure with the release mechanism with the rocket’s upper stage.
REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko
Breaking up is hard to do, especially when there’s a commercial space station on the line. Northrop Grumman is abandoning its plans as a solo contractor to develop a replacement for NASA’s International Space Station, and is instead partnering with Voyager Space to work on Starlab.
NASA’s plans to retire the International Space Station and replace it with commercial projects are not kaput, they’re just changing. Wrinkles are now appearing in Blue Origin’s plans for Orbital Reef, while Northrop Grumman’s unnamed space station project might not even happen.
After a disheartening failure in December 2022, the return flight of Europe’s Vega-C rocket has been pushed to late 2024. The delay, just revealed by the European Space Agency, stems from a required redesign of the rocket’s motor nozzle.
What’s a plane without an engine? After aerospace company Pratt & Whitney issued a recall on some of its engine models, airline companies in the U.S. and Europe are scrounging for parts, and doing anything they can to prevent canceled flights.
Colorado-based company Voyager Space is collaborating with Europe’s Airbus to build a commercial space station in low Earth orbit that will succeed the International Space Station (ISS) following its retirement.