HomeTechnologyRocket Report: Starship V3 test-fired; ESA's tentative step toward crew launch

Rocket Report: Starship V3 test-fired; ESA's tentative step toward crew launch

TechnologyApril 17, 2026
2 min read
Rocket Report: Starship V3 test-fired; ESA's tentative step toward crew launch
Blue Origin will soon launch the third flight of its New Glenn rocket, this time with a reused booster.

Welcome to Edition 8.37 of the Rocket Report! NASA is still climbing down from the high of the Artemis II mission, the first flight by humans to the Moon since 1972. What a mission it was! Now, attention turns to completing development of a lander to get astronauts down to the Moon's surface. Among other things, we chronicle the latest progress of NASA's two lunar lander contractors, SpaceX and Blue Origin, in this week's Rocket Report.

As always, we welcome reader submissions. 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.

Moonshot from the last frontier. Israel-based space launch company Moonshot Space will site its first electromagnetic accelerator in Fairbanks, Alaska, under a memorandum of understanding signed at Space Symposium with spaceport operator Alaska Aerospace Corporation (AAC), Aviation Week & Space Technology reports. Moonshot, which emerged from stealth mode in December with $12 million in fundraising, is developing a high-power electromagnetic launcher system to propel payloads and enable cargo deliveries into space at hypersonic speed using electricity rather than chemical fuels, The Times of Israel reports.

Read full article

Comments

Source: Ars Technica

Share this article

Related Articles

The South Korean president is doing quote-post diplomacy
2026Apr 17

The South Korean president is doing quote-post diplomacy

"This is no different from Comfort Women or the Holocaust," wrote South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on X last week, quoting a post with a video of Israeli Defense Forces soldiers throwing a body of

Article1 min read
Read More
Dairy Queen is putting an AI chatbot in its drive-thrus
2026Apr 17

Dairy Queen is putting an AI chatbot in its drive-thrus

Dairy Queen is becoming the latest fast food chain to get in on AI, as it's bringing a chatbot to dozens of its drive-thrus across the US and Canada. It aims to help speed up drive-thru service and "e

Article1 min read
Read More