May 2022 – Spaceflight Now

UK-launched rocket promises to transform microsatellite launch business

May 30, 2022 Clive Simpson

The first launch of the Orbex Prime ‘eco-rocket’ from a remote launch pad in the Highlands of Scotland is expected at the end of the year or in early 2023. A full-scale prototype of Prime, billed as the world’s most environmentally-friendly rocket, was unveiled to the public for the first time this month.

NASA plans Artemis 1 moon rocket retest around June 19

May 27, 2022 William Harwood

NASA plans to haul its huge Space Launch System moon rocket back to the launch pad June 5-6 for a fourth attempt to load it with 730,000 gallons of supercold propellants in a dress-rehearsal countdown to clear the way for a maiden test flight later this summer, officials said Friday.

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft lands in New Mexico after successful test flight

May 25, 2022 Stephen Clark

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft parachuted to a “picture perfect” landing in southern New Mexico Wednesday, capping a six-day test flight to the International Space Station that NASA’s commercial crew program manager said paves the way for the next Starliner mission to carry astronauts.

SpaceX launches fifth Transporter rideshare mission

May 25, 2022 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday packed with 59 small satellites and research experiments, including an innovative commercial water-propelled orbital transfer vehicle from Momentus and a pair of NASA tech demos testing laser communications and proximity operations.

Live coverage: Boeing’s Starliner capsule returns to Earth

May 25, 2022 Stephen Clark

Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule closed out a six-day unpiloted test flight Wednesday with undocking from the International Space Station, followed by return to Earth about four hours later. Undocking occurred at 2:36 p.m. EDT (1836 GMT), and the capsule parachuted to a successful landing at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico at 6:49 p.m. EDT (4:49 p.m. MDT; 2249 GMT).

Live coverage: SpaceX launches rideshare mission, lands another Falcon booster

May 25, 2022 Stephen Clark

Fifty-nine small satellites and hosted experiments launched Wednesday at 2:35 p.m. EDT (1835 GMT) from Cape Canaveral aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The reusable Falcon booster returned to Florida’s Space Coast for landing about eight-and-a-half minutes later. The mission is the fifth for SpaceX’s Transporter smallsat rideshare program.

Starliner spacecraft cleared for undocking and re-entry

May 24, 2022 Stephen Clark

Astronauts on the International Space Station closed the hatch to Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft Tuesday, and ground teams used the lab’s robotic arm to inspect the capsule’s heat shield to clear the test vehicle for undocking Wednesday and return to Earth for a late afternoon landing in New Mexico.

Nanoracks experiment poised to demonstrate metal cutting in orbit

May 24, 2022 Stephen Clark

Nanoracks will fly an experiment with a small articulating robot arm on SpaceX’s Transporter 5 rideshare mission this week to demonstrate metal cutting in orbit, a test lasting just minutes that could advance in-space manufacturing technology to help convert used rocket stages into space habitats.

SpaceX swapping heat shield for next crew flight due to ‘manufacturing defect’

May 24, 2022 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s next crew mission to the International Space Station, set for launch in September, will fly with a different heat shield structure than originally planned after a composite substrate failed in acceptance testing due to a “manufacturing defect,” NASA said Tuesday.

China launches three communications test satellites

May 23, 2022 Stephen Clark

A two-stage Chinese Long March 2C rocket launched Friday and delivered three communications test satellites into an orbit about 550 miles above Earth.