reentry

Gadgets, Transportation

October Launch to Determine Success of Inversion Space’s Space Delivery Technology

Inversion Space is aptly named. Inversion has developed a pathfinder vehicle, called Ray, that’s a technical precursor to a larger platform that will debut in 2026. Impressively, the company has designed and built almost all of the Ray vehicle in-house, from the propulsion system to the structure to the parachutes. “The purpose of our Ray vehicle is to develop technology for our next-gen vehicle. As such, we’ve built basically the entire vehicle in-house,” Fiaschetti said.

Ava Patel
April 17, 2024

Enterprise

First-of-its-Kind: Varda Space and Rocket Lab Successfully Execute Historic Spacecraft Landing in Utah

A spacecraft containing pharmaceutical drugs that were grown on orbit has finally returned to Earth today after more than eight months in space. Varda Space Industries’ in-space manufacturing capsule, called Winnebago-1, landed in the Utah desert at around 4:40 p.m. EST. The first-of-its-kind reentry and landing is also a major win for Rocket Lab, which partnered with Varda on the mission. Rocket Lab hosted Varda’s manufacturing capsule inside its Photon satellite bus; through the course of the mission, Photon provided power, communications, attitude control and other essential operations. Varda’s mission launched on June 12 and was supposed to be just a month long, but it was extended after the company encountered regulatory issues.

Max Chen
February 21, 2024

Enterprise

Tomorrow, Earth’s Atmosphere Will Incinerate Astrobotic’s Lunar Lander

Astrobotic’s lunar lander will be reentering Earth’s atmosphere over a remote part of the South Pacific Ocean tomorrow afternoon, bringing to a close the failed moon landing mission. Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic has been providing frequent updates on the Peregrine lunar lander since it launched on United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur on January 8. The source of the anomaly was an ongoing propellant leak, which were preventing Peregrine from pointing its solar arrays at the sun. But by the time it reenters the atmosphere tomorrow, Peregrine will have operated in space for over ten days. Due to the propellant leak, Astrobotic said it had devised a two-step process to maneuver the spacecraft to the projected trajectory for reentry.

Kira Kim
January 17, 2024

Enterprise

“Revolutionizing the Aerospace Industry: In Orbit’s Mission as the Preferred Third-Party Logistics Partner for Science and Beyond”

In Orbit Aerospace wants to be the third party logistics provider for science and industryTwo year old space startup In Orbit Aerospace wants to be the third party logistics provider for Earth to space commerce – and to get there, the company just closed a new agreement to validate key technical capabilities on the International Space Station. The El Segundo, California-based company is developing orbital platforms and re-entry vehicles to enable mass manufacturing and research in space. “Automation and robotics is the backbone of industrial manufacturing on Earth,” CEO Ryan Elliott said in a statement. On a slightly longer scale, In Orbit is aiming to launch a second mission in 2026 and then partner with a spacecraft provider to host a manufacturing lab on orbit. In Orbit is expecting that its core customers will be manufacturers, who will want to outsource on orbit hosting.