Topic: commercial spaceflight
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Spacecraft Firm Releases Otters Into Wild After 7 Years
Founded in 2019 by former Blue Origin engineers, Starfish Space aims to address orbital sustainability by extending satellite lifespans and managing debris fields. The company is preparing to launch its first spacecraft, Otter, weighing approximately 350 kg, aboard a Falcon 9 Transporter mission ...
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Toyohiro Akiyama, First Japanese in Space, Dies at 84
Toyohiro Akiyama, the world’s first commercially sponsored cosmonaut and Japan’s first citizen in space, has died at age 84. His historic mission was selected by Tokyo Broadcasting System to celebrate its 40th anniversary, marking a unique milestone in aerospace history. Launched in December 1990...
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VinSpace taps SpaceX to launch Vietnam's first home-built satellites
VinSpace, a Vietnamese startup under Vingroup, has partnered with SpaceX to launch its first domestically built satellites via a rideshare mission in 2027, marking a major step for Vietnam's private space industry. The rideshare approach reduces costs and wait times, allowing VinSpace to bypass t...
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Chinese Rocket Disintegrates Near Starlink Satellite Cluster
A Chinese Zhuque-2E rocket's upper stage disintegrated in low-Earth orbit shortly after launching on June 9, scattering 100-150 pieces of debris in a congested region containing the International Space Station and Starlink satellites. The U.S. Space Force confirmed the breakup, stating no current...
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Blue Origin’s launch pad rebuild timeline, according to SpaceX vets
A former NASA engineer recalled the violent 2016 explosion of a Falcon 9 rocket during a static fire test, which destroyed the rocket, launch pad, and satellite, drawing parallels to a similar catastrophic New Glenn explosion on May 28 of this year. Both the Falcon 9 and New Glenn failures occurr...
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Rocket Launches: A Hidden Source of Atmospheric Pollution
The uncontrolled re-entry of a SpaceX Falcon rocket in 2025 provided the first direct evidence that rocket debris and specific elements, like lithium, can be tracked and measured as pollution in the upper atmosphere. This pollution, accumulating in previously pristine atmospheric regions, raises ...
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Varda's Space Manufacturing Breakthrough: The Next Step is Routine
Varda Space Industries is pioneering space-based pharmaceutical manufacturing, using microgravity to produce drug crystals with purities and structures impossible on Earth, such as ritonavir for HIV treatment. The company leverages reusable rockets and commercial satellite infrastructure to make ...
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Commercial Space Station Startup Reaches Orbit
Vast's Haven Demo mission successfully reached orbit, marking a key step toward privately owned space stations and validating the company's spacecraft design under actual spaceflight conditions. The company is pursuing an iterative development strategy, with plans to advance from the Haven Demo t...
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