China Rocket Struck by Lightning; Starship Launch Imminent
▼ Summary
– SpaceX’s 13th Starship test flight, delayed by a last-second abort on July 16, is now set for a Friday evening liftoff after engine swaps.
– A successful Starship launch and reentry would put SpaceX close to achieving an orbital flight later this year.
– India’s first private rocket, the Vikram-1 by Skyroot Aerospace, successfully reached a 280-mile-high orbit on its debut flight.
– The Vikram-1 rocket stands 72 feet tall and can carry up to 770 pounds to low-Earth orbit, making it larger than Rocket Lab’s Electron.
– The Vikram-1 flight used three solid-fueled stages and a liquid-fueled fourth stage to reach orbital velocity with no major issues.
Welcome to Edition 9.04 of the Rocket Report. SpaceX’s 13th Starship test flight faced an unexpected delay when a last-second abort on July 16 forced engineers to roll the booster back to its hangar in South Texas for engine swaps. Now back on the launch pad, liftoff is set for Friday evening. A clean launch and reentry would put SpaceX on the verge of an orbital flight later this year. Ars will publish a full recap after the test flight concludes.
As always, we welcome reader submissions. To avoid missing an issue, subscribe using the box below (the form won’t appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report covers small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets, plus a quick look at the next three launches on the calendar.
India’s first private rocket reaches orbit. Indian space officials hailed the debut of Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1 rocket as a “grand success” Saturday after it climbed on target into a 280-mile-high orbit following liftoff from an island spaceport in the Bay of Bengal, Ars reports. The launch from India’s primary spaceport on Sriharikota Island occurred around midday local time, delayed more than a half-hour to resolve a last-minute technical issue. The countdown resumed, culminating in the command to ignite Vikram-1’s solid-fueled first stage booster and propel the rocket off the pad.
Right on the money. Vikram-1 is modest compared to India’s larger workhorse rockets. Standing about 72 feet (22 meters) tall, it can place payloads of up to 770 pounds (350 kilograms) into low-Earth orbit. This makes it somewhat larger than Rocket Lab’s Electron, the world’s most successful dedicated small satellite launcher. Saturday’s flight went off without major problems. Three solid-fueled rocket motors fired in succession to reach space, then a small liquid-fueled fourth stage ignited and accelerated to orbital velocity, roughly 17,000 mph. The rocket reached an orbit approximately 280 miles (450 kilometers) high at a 60-degree inclination to the equator, very close to preflight predictions. (Submitted by Astroman)
(Source: Ars Technica)
