Lifeboat Foundation

Remark: This article is from The Conversation “En Anglais” written by Victor DOS SANTOS PAULINO & Nonthapat PULSIRI (V&N) — Experts from Toulouse Business School and The SIRIUS Chair (France)

When talking about space, one might think about the stars one sees at night or a good sci-fi film. But space is also crowded with satellites, spacecrafts and astronauts, whose missions can last anywhere from several days to months. Meanwhile, 8,216 unmanned satellites revolve around Earth’s orbits to improve our daily lives. Communication satellites contribute to enhancing Internet access in regions deprived of infrastructure (so-called “white areas”); meteorology satellites have become essential for weather forecasts, while navigation satellites (including GPS) are crucial for current and future transportation needs such as automatic driving vehicles.

Technological advances in the sector have unlocked many new business opportunities. The industry can now launch constellations of thousand satellites to reach corners of the earth as it had never before (e.g., Starlink), while new markets such as space mining and space tourism are steadily growing. National champions (including the United States and France) have also framed the space sector as a top economic priority. It is thought the technological benefits accrued by companies such as SpaceX, Blue Origin or OneWeb, launched by billionaires such as Elon Musk, will also be able to trickle down to non-space sectors such as the energy or freight industries.

Continue reading “How can we make the space sector more sustainable?” »

SpaceX is preparing to carry out a launch rehearsal of its next-generation Starship rocket as early as next week.

China’s future rocket models will make use of the technology developed for recovering rockets, claims report.

China has successfully tested a rocket’s vertical landing in the ocean, laying the groundwork for upcoming space travel and recycling technology.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) confirmed that its commercial spaceflight firm, CAS Space, conducted the successful testing on Thursday in Haiyang, East China’s Shandong Province, according to the State-run media Global Times.

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The humble EVA suit needed to fit the mission profiles — and the regular launches of the Space Shuttle meant it had to fit all stripe of folks.

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Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (LLNL) scientists designed and built a telescope that, as of March 14, was out of this world.

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The device was sent aboard a SpaceX rocket out of Cape Canaveral in Florida last month to the International Space Station (ISS).

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has confirmed that the Starship is fully stacked and ready to launch on its maiden orbital flight.

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After years of prototype testing, crash landings, and explosions, the Super Heavy booster and Starship second stage are ready for the inaugural flight. This test flight will pave way for future missions to the Moon and Mars, but first, SpaceX must get Starship off the ground.

Due to the nature of this test flight, the launch date and time are fickle and subject to great change as SpaceX will take all precautions necessary to ensure Starship/SuperHeavy collects as much data as possible during its flight.

The vehicles set to perform this inaugural test flight are Booster 7 and Ship 24. The last ship to complete a test flight was SN15, which survived its short suborbital test hop. All of the prior ships and boosters are detailed in the History section of this article. For a comprehensive log of all testing done on Ship 24 and Booster 7, check out our Starship Orbital Launch Timeline Checklist [S24 and B7] | Live Updates article!