The Soviet Buran program developed reusable orbital spacecraft comparable... to the U.S. Space Shuttle, but with far more advanced automation. Its lone 1988 mission showcased a fully unmanned launch, orbit, and autonomous landing—an unprecedented achievement at the time. Lifted by the Energia rocket rather than onboard engines, the orbiter relied on sophisticated avionics and a unique engine-less design. Despite its technical success, the Buran program was canceled after the Cold War, and the only flown orbiter was later destroyed in a 2002 hangar collapse.show more

Dragon Launch Escape Initiated During the launch escape test,... where SpaceX intentionally destroyed an entire rocket to prove its safety, Dragon was fed the normal launch sequence for an ISS mission. Dragon wasn’t told to escape, but its onboard autonomous flight computers noticed the loss of thrust on Falcon before the Merlin engines could even fully shut down. Once Dragon realized there was a mission critical anomaly, it instantly initiated the launch escape sequence firing all 8 SuperDraco thrusters, separating explosive bolts on the second stage, and took autonomous control of the mission, in less time than any human reaction on the ground or in the capsule could of realized. Falcon, the crew, Dragon, and the ground can all initiate an escape if required. Although this test was uncrewed (meaning nobody was on the rocket during the test), if there was a life threatening emergency that would put the mission at risk, Dragon could leave and get out of the situation immediately.show more

China's first reusable rocket, Zhuque-3, sadly failed its maiden... flight. The first stage failed to recover during the landing, but the actual landing point was very close to the expected location. The second stage successfully entered the predetermined orbit. Failure is the mother of success. This is a brand new area for China's space program. Learn from this failure and wish for success next time!show more

The Buran-class Soviet Space Shuttle at Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan 🇰🇿

China achieved its first controlled recovery of an orbital-class... reusable rocket booster after the maiden launch of its Long March-10B carrier rocket, marking a major milestone in the country's reusable space technology. 📹Reutersshow more

🚀 CHINA JUST TOOK A MAJOR STEP TOWARD REUSABLE... ROCKETS China successfully launched the Zhuque-3 reusable rocket on August 19, and, for the first time, successfully landed an orbital-class first-stage booster on land using landing legs. The rocket was developed by Chinese private space company LandSpace, whose previous Zhuque-3 recovery attempt in December 2025 failed during landing.show more

India has successfully launched the Vikram-1 orbital-class rocket, developed... by a private company, for the first time The rocket delivered its payload into an orbit approximately 450 km above Earth. With this launch, India became the third country to achieve privately operated orbital launches.show more

ISRO supported the testing of the Raman-II engine developed... by Skyroot Aerospace at its rocket-engine testing facility at ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri, demonstrating its commitment to fostering the space ecosystem in India. The engine test was successful. The test was enabled by IN-SPACeshow more

An SU-34 closes in, hot on the tail of... a Saab JAS 39 Gripen. The Sukhoi SU-35 stands as one of Russia’s most formidable fighter jets, renowned for its sheer size and striking presence in the sky. Its twin engines, broad wingspan, and aggressive silhouette make it tower over lighter fighters like the Saab JAS 39 Gripen, projecting dominance both on the ground and in flight. The SU-35’s design balances raw power with refined aerodynamics, creating a jet that is as agile as it is visually imposing. Developed in the late 2000s as an advanced evolution of the SU-27, the SU-35 features thrust-vectoring engines that enable maneuvers beyond the capabilities of most aircraft. It can exceed Mach 2.25 and fly nearly 2,200 miles without refueling. Its sophisticated radar can track up to 30 targets simultaneously and engage multiple threats at once, making the SU-35 not just a giant of the skies, but a precision predator in combat.show more

This video shows a static fire test of the... Archimedes rocket engine, developed by Rocket Lab. Archimedes uses liquid methane (LCH.) as fuel and liquid oxygen (LOX) as the oxidizer, a combination known as methalox. During combustion, these cryogenic propellants produce extremely high temperatures (over 3,000°C), hotter than lava. To survive this, the engine circulates cold fuel through its walls before burning it, a technique called regenerative cooling. Multiple Archimedes engines will power Rocket Lab's upcoming Neutron rocket, which is being built to launch satellites and cargo to orbit with lower cost and higher reliability. Rocket Lab is best known for its Electron rocket and is now expanding into larger, reusable launch vehicles with Neutron.show more

62 years ago and still going viral from time... to time September 21, 1964 - North American XB-70, a prototype Mach 3 bomber, has an incident in California. On landing at Edwards AFB after its maiden flight, a landing gear malfunction caused a fire on touchdown. Damage to the aircraft was repaired shortly after, and the test program continued. Despite impressive performance, the XB-70 Valkyrie program was cancelled in 1969 due to factors such as high costs and the introduction of intercontinental ballistic missiles limiting its intended role. The jet involved in this mishap [62-001] was one of only two XB-70s built and is currently on display at Wright-Patterson AFB. The other jet [62-002] was lost in a fatal accident during a photo shoot in 1966.show more

From the Moon, a lunar eclipse looks like a... total solar eclipse, but it lasts a LOT longer. For NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, that means the team has to plan carefully for the 4 hours that the spacecraft — and its solar panels — will be in the dark and the cold. 🌑🛰 1/3show more

This is not AI. On January 19, 2025, during... Starship Flight 7, SpaceX's Super Heavy booster made a flawless return to the launch pad, caught by its massive mechanical arms. This reusable rocket milestone demonstrates how close we are to rapid, fully reusable spaceflight-boosters landing safely, ready to be refueled and flown again, paving the way for more frequent and affordable space missions. ( 🎥 Space Agency )show more

NEWS: SpaceX has released a statement after today's successful... 11th Starship test flight. "Every major objective of the flight test was achieved, providing valuable data as we prepare the next generation of Starship and Super Heavy. The flight test began with Super Heavy igniting all 33 Raptor engines and ascending over the Gulf. The successful first-stage ascent was followed by a hot-staging maneuver, with Starship’s upper stage igniting its six Raptor engines to continue its flight to space. Following stage separation, the Super Heavy booster completed its boostback burn to put it on a course to a pre-planned splashdown zone off the coast of Texas using 12 of the 13 planned engines. Under the same angle of attack tested on the previous flight, the booster descended until successfully igniting all 13 planned engines (including one that did not relight during the boostback burn) for the high-thrust portion of the landing burn. The booster successfully executed a unique landing burn planned for use on the next generation booster. Super Heavy hovered above the water before shutting down its engines and splashing down. After completing a full-duration ascent burn, Starship achieved its planned velocity and trajectory. During flight, Starship successfully deployed eight Starlink simulators and executed the third in-space relight of a Raptor engine, demonstrating a critical capability for future deorbit burns. Starship re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere and was able to gather extensive data on the performance of its heatshield as it was intentionally stressed to test the limits of the vehicle’s capabilities. In the final minutes of flight, Starship performed a dynamic banking maneuver to mimic the trajectory that future missions returning to Starbase will fly. Starship then guided itself using its four flaps to the pre-planned splashdown zone in the Indian Ocean, successfully executing a landing flip, landing burn, and soft splashdown. Focus now turns to the next generation of Starship and Super Heavy, with multiple vehicles currently in active build and preparing for tests. This next iteration will be used for the first Starship orbital flights, operational payload missions, propellant transfer, and more as we iterate to a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle with service to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond."show more

Space used to be one‑and‑done: launch a satellite and... make the most of its capabilities. Our Mission Robotic Vehicle (MRV) is like a multi-tool in orbit, inspecting, repairing, upgrading and extending the life of existing spacecraft.show more

Planet-engulfing auroras on Mars? 🤯 In May, the Red... Planet was hit by a massive solar flare and subsequent coronal mass ejection, and the MAVEN orbiter captured this data with its ultraviolet instrument.show more