spaceport
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Crucial Rocket Parts End Up Crushed in a Landfill, Imperilling Satellite Mission
The final mission of the European Space Agency’s Vega rocket has encountered a bizarre setback. Key propellant tanks required for its last flight were found damaged in a landfill, jeopardizing the scheduled 2024 launch. It’s common for wallets to go missing. Same for car keys and mobile phones. It happens. But for two propellant tanks…
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Bronze Age Cemetery Found on Future Site of U.K. Launch Pad
Workers preparing land for a future rocket launch site in the United Kingdom’s Shetland Islands were surprised when they stumbled on a relic of the Bronze Age: an arrangement of stones, pits and burnt bones that suggest the site was once a cremation cemetery. SaxaVord Spaceport is on Unst, Shetland, the most northerly inhabited island…
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As U.S. Launch Sites Reach Capacity, Sea Platforms Could Ease the Pressure
The Spaceport Company recently pulled off a series of rocket launches from a floating launch pad in the Gulf of Mexico, in its effort to create more options for rocket companies needing to reach space.
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3D-Printed Rocket Didn’t Reach Orbit, but Terran Space Is Already Building Its Successor
The company says it learned much from Terran-1’s debut flight and is choosing to go bigger for its successor.