By Joey Roulette, Published by The Verge, 3 September 2021 The rocket nailed its liftoff, but started cartwheeling mid-air before perishing in an explosive fireball Small launch company Firefly’s Alpha rocket exploded mid-flight Thursday night, minutes after a clean liftoff during its first attempt to reach space. The rocket was
By Mike Wall, Published by Space.com, 28 August 2021 Astra aimed to reach orbit for the first time ever today (Aug. 27), but the company's Rocket 3.3 aborted the liftoff at the last second. The 43-foot-tall (13 meters) Rocket 3.3, also known as Launch Vehicle 006, was poised to lift
Published by Stuff, 16 May 2021 Rocket Lab says a launch of satellites from its facility on Māhia Peninsula failed on Saturday. The problem occurred during ignition of the Electron rocket’s second stage, the company said in a statement. The rocket was carrying two Earth-observation satellites for BlackSky, a global
By Stephen Clark, Published by Spaceflight Now, 19 May 2021 A Rocket Lab Electron launcher malfunctioned about two-and-a-half minutes after liftoff from New Zealand Saturday, destroying two BlackSky Earth-imaging satellites in the launch company’s second failed flight in less than a year. Rocket Lab, a small satellite launch company headquartered
