Launch Vehicles & Propulsion

The service has supported a steady growth in its launch cadence and does not see it slowing down in the near future.

Shifting geopolitical realities are driving European space leaders to push defense and security up the space agenda.

Europe aims to resume flying the Ariane 6 heavy-lift rocket on Feb. 26, with the launch set to be the first managed by Arianespace.

France plans to demonstrate a higher-thrust rocket engine roughly on par with SpaceX's Raptor and Blue Origin’s BE-4 to avoid Europe falling further behind.

ESA scientists say liquid water may not yet have been discovered on another planet because observation has not focused long enough on a given star.

The third stage was lost about 3 sec. after ignition, triggering the rocket's self-destruct mechanism.

China has disclosed plans to ramp up the pace of Long March 6 flights in 2025 in conjunction with the rocket’s first launch this year.

“It’s time to be able to move through space at will and to be able to defend ourselves when we are attacked,” ULA CEO Tory Bruno says.

The world is headed for a period of launcher abundance as the New Glenn expands rocket choice in the heavy-lift segment.

“We are at an inflection point,” says Kelli Kedis Ogborn, vice president of Space Commerce and Entrepreneurship at the Space Foundation.

Callisto is a joint program with German aerospace research center DLR and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

SpaceX is pressing ahead with plans for another Starship test flight as it investigates the loss of the upper stage during the most recent development mission.

DARPA and NASA’s nuclear thermal propulsion project will miss its scheduled 2027 testing time frame, as its development has proven trickier than anticipated.

SpaceX’s Starship program saw mixed results on Jan. 16: tthe second recovery of the booster.but the loss of the first upgraded Block 2 upper-stage variant.

India plans to build a third launchpad at its Satish Dhawan Space Center to accommodate the ISRO's Next-Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV).

The rocket company plans to fly its launcher from the SaxaVord Spaceport in Scotland.

Blue Origin has achieved its goal of becoming an orbital launch player, even as it failed to recover its first-stage booster in the ambitious inaugural flight of its New Glenn rocket.

Funds are also to be used to accelerate the development of Nova, as well as enhancements to private testing and manufacturing facilities, the company said.

To make up ground it is losing to SpaceX, China and others, Europe is looking to infuse greater competition into its space launch industry.

Qantas has had to incur significant delays on some of its flights across the Indian Ocean due to the re-entry of SpaceX rocket launches in the area.

An undisclosed vehicle subsystem issue on the New Glenn heavy-lift rocket prompted Blue Origin to scrub the launch shortly after 3 a.m. EST.

The details of the European Launcher Challenge are still in the works.

The contract with D-Orbit includes two launch opportunities and operations, in June and October, on D-Orbit’s Ion spacecraft.

The European Space Agency expects five Ariane 6 launches and four Vega-C liftoffs in 2025 as it heads into a busy year, with the agency's three-year-plan in the balance.

The 2024 launch rate surpassed the 223 orbital launch attempts in 2023, the previous record.