GoKawiilWelcome to Edition 8.36 of the Rocket Report! Thank you for your indulgence of our missing the report last week, as we focused on the launch and progress of the Artemis II mission. And we are so thrilled it has been going smoothly, with brilliant imagery of the far side of the Moon. Of course, arguably the most difficult part of the flight remains ahead of the crew and Orion spacecraft: atmospheric reentry on Friday evening. We will, of course, have full and continuing coverage for you.
As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don’t want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). 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.
Alpha rocket may launch offshore. Seagate Space Corporation announced on Monday a “memorandum of understanding” with Firefly Aerospace to explore the development of an offshore launch platform that enables a sea-based launch capability for the Alpha rocket. Seagate Space said it will work closely with Firefly to mature the design of an integrated offshore launch system capable of supporting Alpha.
A clean break … “Partnering with Firefly to align our Gateway platform with their Alpha vehicle is a major step toward making offshore launch a practical reality for the industry,” said Sean Fortener, president and COO at Seagate Space. The company said its Gateway technology represents a “clean break” from legacy barge conversions and repurposed vessels. The launch platform would open up additional orbits and inclinations for Alpha.
Isar Aerospace stands down from Thursday launch attempt. The Germany-based launch company had said its latest launch window for the second launch of the Spectrum rocket would open at 20:00 UTC on Thursday, April 9. However, about an hour before the opening of the window, the company said it was standing down to “evaluate a suspected leak in a composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV). The teams are assessing and will determine next steps.”