News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
China is planning for its next-generation crew launch vehicle for missions to its space station and the moon to have a reusable first stage. The new rocket would allow a reusable launch option for sending astronauts or cargo to China’s new Tiangong space station, while a larger version would allow China to send crew on … Read more
Scientists will soon have a powerful new set of eyes in the sky to study Earth’s weather and climate. The GOES-T satellite lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today (March 1) at 4:38 p.m. EST (2138 GMT), riding a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket into the final frontier. If all goes … Read more
Pad B’s debut mission went off without a hitch. Rocket Lab lofted a private Earth-observation satellite today (Feb. 28) from the newly finished second pad at its Launch Complex 1, on New Zealand’s North Island. An Electron rocket topped with Strix-β, which will be operated by the Japanese company Synspective, lifted off from Pad B … Read more
The Russian space agency Roscosmos is stopping all Soyuz rocket launches from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana due to European Union sanctions on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “In response to EU sanctions against our enterprises, Roscosmos is suspending cooperation with European partners in organizing space launches from the Kourou cosmodrome and withdrawing its personnel, including … Read more
Blue Origin wants to double the number of people it flew to space in its first year of operations, a plan that can be accomplished “easily” by bringing in a second rocket, a media report indicates. So far, the space tourism company has flown 14 people to space across three flights in July, October and … Read more
Coca-Cola is returning to space, in a new and different way. The iconic soft drink, which was one of the first carbonated beverages to be taste-tested by astronauts in orbit, is now attempting to bring the taste of space down to Earth as a first-of-its-kind, limited edition. “Coca-Cola Starlight,” as revealed on Thursday (Feb. 17), … Read more
An Arianespace Soyuz rocket launched 34 new broadband satellites for the OneWeb constellation to space today (Feb. 10). In its first mission of 2022, the European launch provider Arianespace launched Soyuz Flight VS27 from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana at 1:09 p.m. EST (3:09 p.m. local time, or 1809 GMT). “There we … Read more
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has launched a new center to fight the threat of satellite megaconstellations, which it now describes as worse than urban light pollution. The Center for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference will be run jointly by the U.K.-headquartered Square Kilometer Array Observatory organization and … Read more
SpaceX just added another 49 satellites to its growing Starlink internet megaconstellation. A Falcon 9 rocket launched 49 new Starlink satellites to orbit today (Feb. 3), lifting off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on the east coast of Florida at 1:13 p.m. EST (1813 GMT). About nine minutes after launch, the Falcon 9 rocket’s … Read more
SpaceX is ready to send another batch of its Starlink internet satellites into orbit, and you can watch the action live. A Falcon 9 rocket is poised to launch 49 Starlink spacecraft from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida at 1:13 p.m. EST (1813 GMT). You can watch it here at Space.com, courtesy of … Read more