RFA first stage destroyed in static-fire test
20 Aug
Top Stories

RFA first stage destroyed in static-fire test

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Top Stories Tamfitronics Rocket Factory Augsburg, which performed a four-engine static-fire test at SaxaVord Spaceport in May, had planned additional tests ahead of its first launch there. Credit: RFAORLANDO, Fla. The first stage of the inaugural Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) rocket was destroyed in a static-fire test Aug. 19, dealing a setback to the German company just as it was nearing its first launch.RFA confirmed in a statement posted on social media that the first stage of their RFA ONE rocket was destroyed in a test-firing at SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands. No personnel affiliated with either RFA or the spaceport were injured.A BBC video of the test shows what appears to be an explosion, perhaps of one of the Helix engines in the base of the stage, with flames soon shooting out...
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Artemis II Core Stage Arrives at Kennedy
03 Aug
Science & Technology

Artemis II Core Stage Arrives at Kennedy

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NASA Space Technology Monika LuabeyaAug 02, 2024Teams transport NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) core stage into the Vehicle Assembly Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 24, 2024. Tugboats and towing vessels moved the Pegasus barge and 212-foot-long core stage 900-miles to the Florida spaceport from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facilityin New Orleans, where it was manufactured and assembled.In the coming months, teams will integrate the rocket core stage atop the mobile launcher with the additional Artemis II flight hardware, including the twin solid rocket boosters, launch vehicle stage adapter, and the Orion spacecraft.The Artemis II test flight will be NASA’s first mission with crew under the Artemis campaign, sending NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Reid Wiseman, as well as CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a 10-day journey...
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