News

One of China’s newest rockets, the Long March 7A, launched Tuesday with a military communications satellite, potentially signaling the start of a transition of launches for the country’s armed forces from aging booster designs with toxic propellants to newer rockets with more environmentally friendly fuels.

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has collected and stored samples of rocks at the base of an ancient river delta fanning out from the rim of Jezero Crater made up of minerals and organic compounds that, on Earth, would likely preserve traces of past microbial life, researchers said Sept. 15.

Rocket Lab’s 30th mission delivered the StriX 1 radar imaging satellite into orbit for the Japanese Earth observation company Synspective, beginning the deployment of a constellation of 30 commercial radar satellites planned over the next four years.

Rocket Lab launched its 30th mission at 4:38 p.m. EDT (2038 GMT) Thursday from New Zealand. The payload on-board Rocket Lab’s small-class Electron launcher was the StriX 1 radar remote sensing satellite for the Japanese company Synspective.

Rocket Lab is set to launch its 30th mission from New Zealand Thursday with a commercial Japanese radar remote sensing satellite. While the company does not plan to retrieve the Electron rocket on this mission, engineers recently test-fired an engine recovered from a flight earlier this year, another step toward Rocket Lab’s goal of reusing first stage boosters.

Firefly Aerospace says teams will try again Sept. 29 to launch its second Alpha rocket from California after scrubbing back-to-back launch attempts due to a helium pressure issue and unfavorable wind conditions.