Rocket Report: SpaceX makes its mark on the Moon; ULA names new boss

Key Highlights

• The researchers estimate that the average cost of sending a kilogram of payload to orbit in the United States is now $3,225, compared to higher costs elsewhere: Japan ($5,287), China ($5,809), Russia ($6,682), and Europe ($9,897).
• India is higher still at nearly $15,000 a kilogram.
• 6 miles, according to NASA.
• This is because the high rims of the crater create permanently shadowed regions known as “cold traps,” where it’s thought that water (in the form of ice, of course) and other useful materials may have accumulated over billions of years.
• Tightening the screws... The first public indication of the death of Ariane 6 Block 3 came from SpaceScout, which reported earlier this month on a presentation from ESA scientists on a proposed robotic mission to orbit and land on Saturn’s moon Enceladus.

Making the most Taiwan’s effort to develop its own satellite launcher hit a setback this week.

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this view of a fresh crater created August 5 by the impact of a Falcon 9 upper stage on the Moon.

Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Intuitive Machines Welcome to Edition 9.

07 of the Rocket Report!

China’s workhorse Long March rocket family appears to be rebounding quickly from a rare launch failure August 10.

Chinese officials have not publicly released any information on what may have caused the Long March 7A rocket to break apart less than 90 seconds after liftoff, but the rocket’s use of YF-100 engines initially raised questions about the failure’s impact on other Chinese rockets that use the same type of engines.

But no biggie.

YF-100 engines returned to flight six days later with the successful flight of a Long March 12 rocket, and the heavy-lift Long March 5--also with YF-100 engines--is set to launch in a few days with one of China’s most important space missions of the decade: the Chang’e 7 lunar lander en route to the Moon’s south pole.

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Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets, as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

Trouble in Taiwan.

A prototype for a future satellite launch vehicle developed by Taiwan’s top weapons manufacturer veered off course shortly after liftoff Wednesday, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reports.

The “trajectory anomaly” prompted the activation of the rocket’s self-destruct mechanism.

The government agency responsible for the test flight, the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST), reported no injuries or property damage.

Debris from the rocket fell into a planned safety control zone near the southern tip of Taiwan.

Parallel paths... Details about Wednesday’s rocket test are scarce, but the flight likely involved a sub-scale suborbital version of NCSIST’s planned military satellite launcher.

The launch was the first test flight for the military’s satellite launch program, which focuses on developing a solid-fueled rocket to place small payloads into low-Earth orbit.

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Second failure for South Korea’s Innospace. A small suborbital rocket owned by South Korean startup Innospace lost control Thursday seconds into a test flight from Brazil’s Alcântara Space Center, the company said in a statement. The Brazilian Air Force, which runs the spaceport, activated the Sebit rocket’s flight termination system after it deviated from the planned trajectory. Innospace said there were no injuries or property damage. “While we regret that the planned flight could not be fully completed, the test flight provided valuable flight data from key systems, including the launch pad, propulsion system, and guidance, navigation and control (GNC),” Innospace said.