Relativity Space/John Krause
Welcome to the 5.31st edition of the Rocket Report! As we head into April, all signs continue to point to a possible orbital launch of a Starship this month. We’ve heard all sorts of dates, but these days, SpaceX seems to be working internally for her April 10th. This roughly coincides with the expected launch license from the Federal Aviation Administration.
It probably won’t happen anytime soon, but we are cute Damn you guys.
As always, we look forward to reading your contributions. If you don’t want to miss an issue, use the box below to subscribe (the form is not visible in his AMP-enabled version of the site). Each report includes information on small, medium and heavy rockets and a summary of his next three launches on the calendar.
Isar Aerospace Wins Major Funding RoundAs of this week, the Munich-based company has raised about $165 million. On Tuesday, Isar announced that he doubled that total with a new $165 million Series C round, Ars reports. Isar CEO Daniel Metzler said:
Full-fledged fundraising for startups … Isar says the company’s Spectrum rocket, capable of lifting about a ton into low-Earth orbit, is set to launch for the first time from Andøya, Norway, in late 2023. ambitious, but given the capital increase announced this week, it looks like Isar has the funding it needs to get its Spectrum vehicle off the ground. It is clearly out in front of a dozen smaller European launch companies in the region. (Posted by Ken the Bin and EllPeaTea)
Virgin Orbit faces a dire situationA deal that could have raised $200 million from Texas-based investor Matthew Brown fell through last weekend, CNBC reports. The company was forced to extend an unpaid furlough for the majority of its employees this week as it continues to seek other sources of funding. At an all-hands meeting Thursday afternoon, the company told employees it was laying off his 85% of its workforce.
Savings for me, not for you … Also this week, the company’s board announced a “golden parachute” retirement plan for its chief executives, including CEO Dan Hart, should they be fired following a change in control of the company. approved. None of this looks good, and the Golden Parachute Clause stinks. It is to carry out similar financial operations as they did. Even this seems unlikely. (Posted by Ken the Bin)
Blue Origin details launch failureA little more than six months after the failure of the New Shepard rocket, Blue Origin released a summary of the findings of its accident investigation team. Ars reported that the rocket’s main engine nozzle maintained a higher than expected temperature, causing the rocket to explode. Blue Origin led the investigation with support from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
Return to flight “soon” …The accident team found a “hot streak” in the nozzle and determined it was operating at a higher temperature than it was designed for. Although not explicitly stated in the synopsis, it appears that at some point during this booster’s flight campaign, a design change was made that allowed these higher temperatures to exist. -23 It said it intended to return to flight “soon” with its unmanned aircraft to give the three dozen payloads it had flown on the mission another shot in zero gravity. He said he plans to resume manned flights on a sub-orbital spacecraft in the second half.
Rocket Lab Recovers Another BoosterAfter launching two BlackSky satellites last Friday, the first stage of the Electron has been recovered from the Pacific Ocean as Rocket Lab continues to study reuse options, Spaceflight Now reports. After two attempts at aerial recovery, the company is considering abandoning the use of helicopters and simply retrofitting boosters that land in the ocean. Michael Daly said his team on the recovery boat cleans the rocket’s delicate parts to prevent corrosion.
helicopter is hard … the engineers and technicians of the recovery team said that “operations such as desalinating the engine, trying to remove all the bad salt water, basically making the rocket withstand the experience in the water. Once the boosters are back at Rocket Lab’s Oakland plant, the company will dismantle and inspect the nine main engines and remove the avionics for inspection and retesting.Rocket Lab is salvaged from the Electron flight. Already hotfired the Rutherford engine (posted by Ken the Bin and EllPeaTea)
