News 2023
Here one can find the E news of 2023
Need a quick summary? Read our 2023 review here!
23-12-2023 - SpaceX loses Booster 1058 at sea
After a successful landing booster, 1058 fell over in rough seas. The booster had just completed its 19th flight and was known for launching the Demo-2 mission, returning US astronauts to space from US soil.
22-12-2023 - MMX postponed
The launch of JAXA’s Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission, which aims to gather samples from Phobos, has been postponed to the fiscal year 2026. Originally slated for a September 2024 launch, complications with the newly developed H3 rocket, which experienced failure during its inaugural flight this year, have necessitated the rescheduling.
18-12-2023 - ESA launches competition for LEO cargo return capabilities
ESA is launching a competition
that initiates a first phase of activities for European companies to
demonstrate a complete cargo delivery service to and from space stations in low-Earth orbit by 2028.
18-12-2023 - DEAR 1 launches
The Hyperbola-1 rocket was launched from the Jiuquan launch site located in Inner Mongolia. The payload included the Dear-1 prototype, a returnable spacecraft designed for conducting microgravity experiments. The spacecraft successfully achieved a sun-synchronous low Earth orbit with an inclination of 97.4 degrees and an approximate altitude of 505 x 490 km.
08-12-2023 - NASA identifies cause of failure for OSIRIS-REx
NASA has identified the cause of the parachute problem that occurred during the return of the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample capsule on Sept.24, 2023. The issue was likely caused by crossed wires in the parachute release system, which resulted in the drogue chute deploying out of order and detaching from the capsule. However, the main chute was able to stabilise and slow down the capsule, ensuring a safe landing and preserving the precious sample of asteroid Bennu. The sample is now being processed at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where scientists hope to learn more about the origin and evolution of the solar system and the potential for life on other worlds. The OSIRIS-REx mission was the first U.S. mission to collect and return a sample from an asteroid.
05-12-2023 - Airborne announces new T-11 parachute
A new version of the T-11 parachute, the T-11 Gen 2 has been announced by Airborne Systems. The new parachutes incorporate new vents removing the need for a slider. This reduces the opening time from 6 to 4 seconds and improves the full open drag coefficient.
04-12-2023 - Iran announces new bio capsule and future human space flight
After some time of silence, Iran has announced it will continue the development of a bio capsule and a capsule for human space flight. Earlier Iran experimented with animals onboard sounding rockets.
03-12-2023 - SpaceX buys parachute engineering company Pioneer
SpaceX has bought Pioneer, known for its parachutes for planetary and human missions. Currently, Pioneer is building the drogue parachutes for the SpaceX Dragon capsule.
14-11-2023 - Telescope largely destroyed after parachute failed to release
NASA’s SuperBIT telescope, studying dark matter, suffered damage after landing in Argentina when its parachute failed to detach. Despite the destruction, scientists successfully retrieved 200GB of data, dropped via"mini" parachutes. This incident underscores the importance of parachute systems in scientific missions and data recovery. The scientists say this was a “worst-case scenario” that proved the value of their parachute system for data recovery. They also plan to rebuild the telescope and launch it again in 2024.
26-10-2023 - SUSIE spotted during testing with Arianespace
Images have surfaced of the SUSIE reusable upper stage during testing. It seems to be a subscale model of the future reusable upper stage for the Ariane 6 rocket.
24-10-2023 - Varda space to land in Australia
After their first orbital test flight, Varda Space will most likely land in Australia on the Southern Launch Koonibba Test Range. Originally the capsule was to land in the US. However, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Varda could not reach an agreement.
21-10-2023 - ISRO completes Gaganyaan inflight abort test
ISRO has completed a successful suborbital test flight of Gaganyaan. During this test, the inflight abort system was activated at supersonic conditions.
08-10-2023 - PLD completes first flight, but Miura 1 cannot be recovered
After a previous delay PLD's sounding rocket, Miura 1 has finally taken flight! This achievement has shown the capabilities of the Spanish company to design, build and launch their own sounding rocket. According to PLD, the mission was a success including the entry and parachute phases. However, the rocket cannot be retrieved. At this time it is unclear why this is the case.
05-10-2023 - ISRO announces date for the inflight launch escape test of Gaganyaan
On the 26th of October, a modified GSLV L40 stage will launch the Gaganyaan spacecraft after which it will demonstrate the inflight aborty capabilities. The flight is a major step in the direction of launching Indian astronauts from Indian soil.
01-10-2023 - Osiris-REX returns to earth
After a long journey to and from asteroid Bennu, Osiris-Rex has returned to Earth safely.
07-09-2023 - JAXA launches small moon lander
The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon or SLIM has been launched on top of an H-IIA rocket from Japan. The primary payload of the rocket is the XRISM telescope. The goal of the mission is to demonstrate the recession landing capabilities of Japan. The lander has a dry mass of only 120 kg but carries two small rovers.
23-08-2023 - ISRO lands safely on the moon
The ISRO Chandrayaan-3 lander has safely landed on the lunar south pole. India is now the fourth nation to soft land on the moon and the first to do so on the lunar south pole.
20-08-2023 - Luna 25 crashes during moon landing
The Luna 25 mission seems to have crashed during its attempt to land on the moon.
10-08-2023 - Luna 25 launches to the moon
Luna 25 marks the first moon mission of Russia since the fall of the soviet union. The lander is expected to land at the end of August.
14-07-2023 - Chandrayaan-3 launches to the moon
The Chandrayaan-3 mission launched by ISRO is a follow-up of the ill-fated Chandrayaan-2 moon mission which crashed in 2019. the lander has been updated based on the learnings from this mission and is set to land on the lunar south pole at the end of August.
28-07-2023 - Space rider gets the green light for phase D
The space rider uncrewed capsule has received the green light to continue with the testing of actual hardware. This includes drop testing of the 70 m2 parafoil main parachute.
24-07-2023 - NASA practices for the return of Osiris-REX
The NASA sample return Osiris REX is scheduled to return on September 24th from the Astroid Bennu. This small capsule will land using a parachute in the Utah desert where it must be quickly returned to prevent contamination. These procedures have been practised last week in preparation for the landing operations.
03-07-2023 - First batch of Gaganyaan crew recovery teams completed phase 1 training
Leading up to the first crewed flights of ISRO's Gaganyaan, the navy retrieval teams have completed their operational training in the water survival test facility in Kochi.
13-06-2023 - VARDA launches it's first capsule
VARDA just launched on top of a Falcon 9 rocket. The goal of VARDA is to perform inflight manufacturing for customers. They launch on top of a third-party rocket.
25-05-2023 - Spaceship Two returns to flight
After a period of about two years, Virgin's SpaceShipTwo has returned to flight with a crew of four passengers and two pilots. This follows the test flight on the 26th of April with only pilots.
20-05-2023 - Blue Origin to be the second supplier of Artemis moon lander
The Blue Origin moon lander has been selected as the second addition to the crewed moon lander, the first being the SpaceX Starship. The contract includes a single uncrewed demonstration lander and a crewed landing during the Artemis V mission set around 2029. Both moon landers have distinctly different architectures reducing the overall risk of the mission.
17-05-2023 - Space Forge shows their new origami heat shield
Space Forge in Cardiff, UK has developed an origami-based heat shield named Pridwen that will be tested with an actual atmospheric reentry from space. The shuttlecock-style Pridwen shield relies on radiation instead of ablation to remove unwanted heat. The company plans to capture satellites with a hover net and has developed Pridwen as part of a larger vision of in-orbit manufacturing of high-value goods. The first Pridwen heat shield is planned for flight aboard the company’s inaugural ForgeStar-1A mission later this year.
15-05-2023 - ASPIRE2 announced
In a paper published today (https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/10115818) a follow-up on the ASPIRE flights. These sounding rocket missions help push the boundaries of parachutes for Martian exploration and further the general understanding of parachutes.
15-05-2023 - Flight parachutes for Gagayaan to be fitted soon
The parachute pack for Gaganyaan has been approved by ADRDE and is now handed over to ISRO for installation on the uncrewed test article..
25-04-2023 - HAKUTO-R lander suffers anomaly
The Ispace HAKUTO-R lander has not yet responded after the landing attempt. The team lost contact just before it reached the ground.
12-04-2023 - HAKUTO-R lander announces landing date
The landing date of the commercial HAKUTO-R lander has been announced to be the 25th of April this year. This will mark the first landing of a commercial lander and includes the first UAE lander.
12-04-2023 - Relativity scraps upper-stage reusability on Terran-R launcher
The US company Relativly Space, known for their 3D printed rockets, has announced that their launcher Terran-R will not have a reusable upper stage. This increases the payload mass of the rocket with 3500 kg.
02-04-2023 - ISRO completes landing tests for RLV
ISRO's reusable space plane has successfully completed landing tests. The small plane was dropped by a Chinook helicopter and touched down at 350 km/h after which a parachute slowed it down.
30-03-2023 - Starliner crewed test flight slips due to parachute certification
The Boeing Starliner Crewed Test Flight (CTF) has slipped to July 2023 due to delays in the certification of the parachute system. Boeing engineers have stressed that there is no issue with the parachute system, but they want to ensure the high reliability of the parachute system.
21-03-2023 - ISpace announces that HAKUTO-R has entered lunar orbit
The commercial moon lander made by ISpace has safely entered Lunar orbit after a 100-day-long flight. The moon landing is now scheduled for April 2023. The lander includes the first UAE moon rover called the Emirates Lunar Mission.
18-03-2023 - ISRO completes essential test for Chandrayaan 3
The ISRO moon lander, Chandrayaan 3 has completed vibration and acoustic testing in preparation for the launch scheduled for June 2023. Chandrayaan 3 is the follow-up of the ill-fated Chandrayaan 2 mission which crashed in 2019
14-03-2023 - ESA announces new date for ExoMars
The Europan mars rover Rosalind Franklin has a new landing date. With a 30 million contribution from NASA, the project seems to have recovered and is now scheduled to land in 2028.
07-03-2023 - ISRO completes rocket sled testing of the Gaganyaan pilot chutes
ISRO has completed rocket sled testing of the pilot chutes for the crewed Gaganyaan capsule These parachutes will ensure the safe extraction of the main parachutes. The tests were performed at the Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory. During these tests, the pilot chutes were deployed using a mortar system under high angles of attack. No information regarding the outcome of the tests was communicated.
08-02-2023 - ISRO completes water retrieval trials for Gaganyaan
ISRO, together with the Indian Navy has tested the procedures for the retrieval of Gaganyaan in the Navy's Water Survival Test Facility.
26-01-2023 - ISRO announces RLV-TD's Landing Experiment (LEX)
The Indian space agency ISRO announces the landing experiments of the Reusable Launch Vehicle - Technology Demonstrator. During this experiment, the winged reusable launch vehicle will be released from a helicopter at about 2.4 km after which it will glide back to the landing site.
