Chosen for impact to humanity … The Falcon 9 team was chosen from a long list of impressive nominees. “In the end, the deciding factor was what we felt like was the team’s impact to humanity,” said Dan Dumbacher, chair of the Neil Armstrong Space Prize selection committee. “Their work has had a very clear impact and a very visible impact.” Hard to disagree with that.
Chinese firm pursues aerodynamic recovery. Chinese commercial launch startup Nayuta Space has completed consecutive Pre-A financing rounds to support development of its unconventional Xuanniao-R rocket concept, Space News reports. The two-stage, 70-meter-long, 3.8m-diameter Xuanniao-R launcher features an aerodynamic deceleration and horizontal landing approach to reusability, with Nayuta targeting a debut test flight of the Xuanniao-R in the first half of 2027.
Probably not going to meet that target … While Nayuta Space claims its aerodynamic deceleration approach can reduce the dependence on a launcher engines’ reignition, propulsive braking, and high-precision control capabilities for vertical recovery, the approach will demand new aerodynamic structures, bringing challenges including increased weight and complexity. The size of the launcher, the novel and unproven approach, and uncertain funding levels suggest that the 2027 timeline for a debut flight is very ambitious.
New record set for safe booster landings. On Tuesday, SpaceX launched another routine Falcon 9 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, putting yet another batch of Starlink v2-mini satellites into orbit. It was the 611th successful recovery overall of a Falcon recovery.
That’s a lot of landings … However, a writer at NASASpaceflight.com, Alex Alcantarilla Romera, noted that this actually represents a significant milestone. With this landing, SpaceX has set a record for consecutive successful booster landings at 268. This matters because with its Starship program, SpaceX ultimately aims to land humans back on Earth via vertical landing, and demonstrating a sustained record of success with this method builds confidence in this technology.
Starship nearing Flight 12. SpaceX on Thursday conducted a 15-second test firing of the Super Heavy booster stage for its Starship launch vehicle, and it appeared to go well based on independent videos of the test. This was a critical test in the campaign to ready the newest iteration of Starship, V3, for its debut launch. SpaceX has not announced a launch date, but mid-May appears possible.