Rocket Lab launches 5 satellites on landmark 50th mission | Pentagon picks SpaceX, Blue Origin and ULA for $5.6b deal | Strawberry Moon to rise with an Antares encounter
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Rocket Lab reached the milestone 50th launch of its Electron rocket in record time. An Electron lifted off from Pad B at Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand, at 2:13 p.m. EDT on June 20 (1813 GMT; 6:13 a.m. local New Zealand time on June 21). The rocket was operating with an instantaneous launch window but lifted off at the first opportunity in a 14-day launch window.
SpaceX, Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance (ULA) have been chosen to provide launch services for the U.S. Space Force. The three companies will compete for National Security Space Launch (NSSL) contracts worth up to $5.6 billion across fiscal years 2025 through 2029, the U.S. Department of Defense announced.
In New York City, moonrise will occur at 8:49 p.m. EDT on June 21. The sun will set at 8:31 p.m. EDT on that day. This full moon happens on the day after the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year; full moons occur within a day of the solstices about every 19 to 20 years. There's some dispute about what counts as a full moon falling "on the solstice" - it depends on how close in time one wants the two phenomena to be. For example, the Summer Solstice in 2024 is counted as occurring at 4:05 p.m. EDT on June 20, and the full moon is a little more than 30 hours later.
Virgin Galactic shared an awe-inspiring video from the final flight of its VSS Unity spaceplane. The space plane's final commercial mission, called Galactic 07, took off from Spaceport America in southern New Mexico at 10:31 a.m. EDT (1431 GMT) on June 8. The suborbital flight carried a Turkish researcher and three private astronauts to an altitude of 44,562 feet (13,582 meters) before the plane dropped and ignited its rocket engine to carry the four passengers and two pilots to space and back.
The Hubble Space Telescope is back in action, having returned to science operations but now with just one operating gyroscope. And to prove it's still got what it takes, the venerable observatory snapped a striking photo of the dusty spiral galaxy NGC 1546.
SpaceX successfully launched a European TV satellite into orbit and then achieved its 250th landing on an ocean-based droneship. A Falcon 9 rocket launched Luxembourg-based telecom company SES' Astra 1P satellite from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Thursday (June 20) at 5:35 p.m. EDT (2135 GMT). The liftoff had originally been scheduled for Tuesday, but weather concerns at the launch site forced SpaceX to stand down two days.
Researchers are developing a new, military-grade "quantum laser" that can cut through fog and operate across long distances. The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded a $1 million grant to scientists building a prototype "quantum photonic-dimer laser" that uses quantum entanglement to "glue" light particles together and generate a highly concentrated laser beam.
The talented folks at Archetype Entertainment, formerly the architects of "Mass Effect," have released a new cinematic trailer for their upcoming hardcore science fiction RPG project, "Exodus," and it reminds us all that space exploration can be a dangerous occupation rife with a multitude of perils.
