#BBC 📆 19th May 2023 There were 40 more #RocketLaunches 🚀 in 2022 than in 2021 and double the number five years earlier in 2017. "Last year, we saw more #failures 💥 than in some years, because we're starting to go through a phase where we're seeing quite a few new #LaunchVehicles being introduced. It's very difficult to really pinpoint exactly why some fail, some don't. Typically, two in the first 10 flights fail, and the first and second typically have a failure rate of something like 30%" https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230518-what-are-the-odds-of-a-successful-space-launch

Fox (the #photographer) got started shooting #rocketlaunches. This #ULA / #UnitedLaunchAlliance #AtlasV 401 #rocket with no #SRBs, a single RL-10 engine on the #Centaur upper stage, and a 4 meters is carrying the mission designated OA-7, the seventh #Cygnus #spacecraft to launch to the #InternationalSpaceStation / #ISS. The previous rocket, the #OrbitalSciences #Antares, failed after a refurbished #Soviet-era NK-33 #rocketengine exploded shortly after launch and the resulting explosion badly damaged the #launchpad.
#Orbital selected a ULA Atlas V to launch the next resupply mission while they sourced new engines and redesigned their #rocket.

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/atlas-v-with-oa-7-clearing-the-tower-heron-and-fox.html

@LM_Steve over at Birdsite shared a fragment of this video which I saw many moons ago at a planetarium.

It's an IMAX film called "Hail Columbia" and it's a tribute to #SpaceShuttle Columbia's maiden flight and the first STS mission

Click and VOLUME UP at 3' 48":
https://vimeo.com/16297892/recommended

It's a collage of launch and landing footage. For those of you old enough to remember when all Americans were united behind our space program under #NASA

#engineering #rocketlaunches #space 🇺🇸

Interesting interactive chart on space launches by this week’s The Economist. Also cool, you can get the data used to generate the chart.

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2018/10/18/the-space-race-is-dominated-by-new-contenders

#TheEconomist #Graphics #OpenData #Space #Rocket #RocketLaunches

Data on Github at [ https://github.com/TheEconomist/graphic-detail-data/tree/master/data/2018-10-20_space-launches ]