Listed here are a few of the stories you will have missed previously week. The second week of August 2023 featured updates to Boeing’s delayed Starliner capsule, the Artemis II crew getting a take a look at their ride across the moon to SpaceX making more progress with the Starship program.
Boeing’s Starliner Delayed Further – More testing is in store for the long-delayed spacecraft as the corporate must confirm the parachute system works as intended and finish removing a flammable tape that was inadvertently used on the capsule.
SpaceX continues Starlink launches – SpaceX launched 15 V2 mini Starlink satellites from California. The webcast featured beautiful views of Orbital Sunset as seen from the 2nd stage of the Falcon 9 because it accomplished its journey to space.
Booster 9 heads back to the production site – Following the primary static fire test for the reason that Integrated Test Flight, Booster 9 was faraway from the Orbital Launch Mount and transported back to the production site for inspections and almost definitely engine swaps as 4 shut down early in the course of the test.
Rocket Lab shares positive Q2 results – The corporate had a great Q2 and shared updates moving into Q3 and beyond, including additional launch contracts and updates on their latest medium-lift rocket Neutron that will likely be a competitor with the Falcon 9 in the longer term.
We solved small launch with Electron. Now Neutron is taking shape to unravel medium lift. #OpeningAccessToSpace pic.twitter.com/Pw9fn7v59j
— Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) August 10, 2023
Artemis II crew try their ride across the Moon – The primary crew to fly across the Moon in 50 years got a view of their ride, the Orion capsule, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The capsule is currently still being tested and assembled. Their trip is currently planned for no sooner than November 2024.
Virgin Galactic completes first all-civilian flight – The VSS Unity carried three civilians to 88.5 km on a visit to space, depending on which definition you follow. The passengers were capable of enjoy a number of minutes of weightlessness before returning to their seats for the glide back to the bottom.
Amazon to fly Kuiper prototypes on Atlas V – Originally meant to launch on the brand new United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket, delays to that program have forced Amazon to modify to the Atlas V. Amazon had already bought multiple Atlas V launches. Nonetheless, those were intended to fly many more satellites than simply two prototypes.
SpaceX caps off week with one other Starlink launch – SpaceX launched 22 V2 mini Starlinks from Cape Canaveral just after midnight, with Booster 1069 completing its ninth flight. This launch marked 4 launches in 8 days for the corporate before taking a small break.
Falcon 9 launches 22 @Starlink satellites to orbit from Florida pic.twitter.com/m8Y4p3VSoQ
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 11, 2023
This past week included a combination of fine news and bad news, depending on which way you take a look at it. Hopefully, Boeing can get their program heading in the right direction, as having two providers to send astronauts to the ISS may be very vital.
What do you think that of the news that broke last week? Waiting for this week, SpaceX is at it again with more Starlink launches.
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