Science

An uncrewed Chinese spacecraft on Wednesday successfully entered orbit around Mars after a 6-1/2-month journey from Earth, China’s space agency said, in the country’s first independent mission to the red planet. The robotic probe carried out a 15-minute burn of its thrusters at 7:52pm Beijing time (5:22pm IST), the China National Space Administration said in a

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unveiled an ambitious 10-year space programme for his country Tuesday that includes missions to the moon, sending Turkish astronauts into space and developing internationally viable satellite systems. Erdogan announced the programme, seen as part of his vision for placing Turkey in expanded regional and global role, during a live televised

A Maine company that’s developing a rocket to propel small satellites into space passed its first major test on Sunday. Brunswick-based bluShift Aerospace launched a 20-foot (6-metre) prototype rocket, hitting an altitude of a little more than 4,000 feet (1,219 metres) in a first run designed to test the rocket’s propulsion and control systems. It

A prototype of SpaceX’s Starship rocket exploded during a landing attempt minutes after a high-altitude experimental launch from Boca Chica, Texas, on Tuesday, in a repeat of an accident that destroyed a previous test rocket. The Starship SN9 that blew up on its final descent, like the SN8 before it, was a test model of

SpaceX announced Monday it’s aiming to launch this year the first all-civilian mission into Earth’s orbit, led by a tech billionaire who plans to raffle off one of the spots aboard the craft. Entrepreneur Jared Isaacman is to be joined by three other novice astronauts for a multi-day journey into space, including one lucky winner

Space tourism company Virgin Galactic said Monday it planned a new test flight for its SpaceShipTwo craft this month after an aborted test in early December. “The flight window will open on February 13 with opportunities to fly throughout February, pending good weather conditions and technical readiness,” Richard Branson’s company said. “Pre-flight preparations are already

SpaceX’s first high-altitude test flight of its Starship rocket, which exploded last month while attempting to land after an otherwise successful test launch, violated the terms of its Federal Aviation Administration test license, the Verge reported on Friday, citing sources. An investigation was opened that week focusing on the explosive landing and on SpaceX’s refusal

A new supercomputer in Wyoming will rank among the world’s fastest and help study phenomena including climate change, severe weather, wildfires and solar flares. Houston-based Hewlett Packard Enterprise won a bid to provide the $35 million (roughly Rs. 255 crores) to $40 million (roughly Rs. 300 crores) machine for a supercomputing centre in Cheyenne, the

A veteran rocket from billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX aerospace company launched 143 spacecraft into space on Sunday, a new record for the most spaceships deployed on a single mission, according to the company. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 10am EST (8:30pm IST) from the Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space

NASA is considering a second firing of its Moon rocket engines after a critical test came up short over the weekend, a move that could bump the first flight in the Artemis lunar-landing programme into next year. The space agency had aimed to launch its new Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket and an empty

Lunar rocks retrieved by a historic Chinese mission to the Moon weighed less than initially targeted, but China is still willing to study the samples with foreign scientists, the mission’s spokesman said on Monday. China became the third country ever to secure lunar samples when its unmanned Chang’e-5 probe, named after the mythical Moon goddess,

Billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit reached space for the first time on Sunday with a successful test of its air-launched rocket, delivering ten NASA satellites to orbit and achieving a key milestone after aborting the rocket’s first test launch last year. The Long Beach, California-based company’s LauncherOne rocket was dropped mid-air from the underside of

NASA’s deep space exploration rocket built by Boeing briefly ignited all four engines of its behemoth core stage for the first time on Saturday, cutting short a crucial test to advance a years-delayed US government programme to return humans to the moon in the next few years. Mounted in a test facility at NASA’s Stennis

NASA declared the Mars digger dead Thursday after failing to burrow deep into the red planet to take its temperature. Scientists in Germany spent two years trying to get their heat probe, dubbed the mole, to drill into the Martian crust. But the 16-inch-long (40-centimetre) device that is part of NASA’s InSight lander couldn’t gain

Billionaire Jeff Bezos-owned space company Blue Origin aims to carry the first passengers on its New Shepard space vehicle as early as April, CNBC reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. Blue Origin completed the fourteenth test flight of its New Shepard rocket booster and capsule on Thursday, marking one of the last