Author: starpathwp-production
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Varda Space Industries Launches W-2 Capsule with AFRL Payloads for Hypersonic Reentry Tests
Varda Space Industries, Inc. announced the successful launch of its second orbital processing and reentry capsule, W-2, which lifted off aboard the Transporter-12 rideshare mission with SpaceX from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The W-2 capsule carries payloads from Varda partners, including a spectrometer from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), and employs a…
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China conducts drone-assisted artificial snow-enhancement experiment in Xinjiang’s Kunlun Mountains
China used drones for the first time on Friday to carry out an artificial snow-enhancement experiment in the Kunlun Mountains in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The drone was equipped with ultra-long-duration water-increasing smoke flares, and successfully conducted the full combustion ignition experiment of the smoke flares at an altitude of 4,200 meters. The TL-120…
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China’s space station to conduct over 1,000 research projects
China’s space station will conduct more than 1,000 research projects, promote science popularization and enhance international cooperation over the next 10 to 15 years, according to the Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Serving as a national space laboratory, China’s space station will organize in-depth interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary…
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There was a straight shot from Earth to the Moon and Mars last night
I almost missed it. Amid a bout of prime-time doomscrolling, a social media post reminded me there was something worth seeing in the sky. Mars disappeared behind the full Moon for a little more than an hour Monday night, an event visible across most of North America and parts of Africa. So I grabbed my…
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Space Startups Need Bridges, Not Barriers, to Work With the DoD
It’s hard to believe it’s been over three years since I retired from active duty after 34 years in the U.S. Air Force. In that time, I had the privilege of working with the best talent our nation, our allies, and our partners had to offer. I flew airplanes, commanded at multiple levels, worked in…
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Stoke Space brings in $260M for further development of its fully reusable rocket
Stoke Space’s rocket engine test lights up a vertical test stand in Moses Lake, Wash. (Stoke Space Photo) Kent, Wash.-based Stoke Space says it’s raised $260 million in a new founding round to finish the development of its fully reusable Nova rocket and complete construction of a launch complex in Florida. Investors in the Series…
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Firefly Aerospace and ispace Lunar Landers Are On the Way to the Moon
Two separate lunar landers built by commercial companies are now on the way to the Moon after a SpaceX launch early Wednesday morning. SpaceX launched the Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost Mission 1 along with ispace’s Resilience lunar lander on a Falcon 9 mission. The mission launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1:11…
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American, Japanese robotic landers share rocket launch to the Moon
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander pictured atop a bespoke payload canister, which encased ispace’s Resilience lunar lander prior to encapsulation inside SpaceX’s Falcon 9 payload fairings. Image: SpaceX For the first time in lunar exploration, two robotic landers, from two different nations launched to the Moon on one rocket. But despite Texas-based Firefly Aerospace…
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20th Anniversary of Huygens Probe Landing on Titan Marks Space Exploration Milestone
On January 14, 2005, the Huygens probe made history by becoming the first spacecraft to land on Titan, Saturn’s largest and most mysterious moon. This spectacular achievement, the result of exemplary international collaboration, pushed back the frontiers of interplanetary exploration and stands today as an unprecedented feat of engineering and science. A Historic Journey to…