Rocket Report: Blue Origin explosion still making headlines; Impulse raises money

火箭报告：蓝色起源爆炸持续占据头条；Impulse 完成融资

Welcome to Edition 8.44 of the Rocket Report! The news this week is decidedly weighted in favor of heavy-lift rockets, largely due to the fallout from last Thursday’s explosion of Blue Origin’s New Glenn on its launch pad in Florida. Blue Origin aims to resume launches at the badly damaged launch facility by the end of the year, but there’s good reason to be skeptical of this timeline. With New Glenn grounded, will Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos approach Elon Musk’s SpaceX to launch his Blue Moon lander to the lunar south pole? It sure sounds like NASA is pushing for that. 欢迎阅读第 8.44 期《火箭报告》！本周的新闻明显偏向重型运载火箭，这主要归因于上周四蓝色起源（Blue Origin）的“新格伦”（New Glenn）火箭在佛罗里达州发射台爆炸所引发的后续影响。蓝色起源计划在今年年底前恢复该受损严重的发射设施的发射工作，但有充分的理由对这一时间表持怀疑态度。随着“新格伦”停飞，蓝色起源创始人杰夫·贝索斯（Jeff Bezos）是否会寻求埃隆·马斯克（Elon Musk）的 SpaceX 帮助，以发射其“蓝月”（Blue Moon）着陆器前往月球南极？听起来美国国家航空航天局（NASA）确实在推动此事。

Spaceport development moves forward in Canada

加拿大航天港建设稳步推进

There’s been a lot of talk about the Canadian government’s recent commitment to invest in a sovereign launch capability. There was the announcement last year of a federal budget of 182.6 million Canadian dollars ($131 million) over three years to establish a sovereign launch program. In March, the government said it would lease a dedicated launch pad at a commercially developed spaceport in Nova Scotia for national defense purposes, committing 200 million Canadian dollars ($144 million) to the deal. The agreement is a boon for Maritime Launch Services, which is developing Spaceport Nova Scotia after years of slow progress at the coastal site, SpaceQ reports. 关于加拿大政府近期承诺投资建立主权发射能力的讨论非常多。去年，政府宣布在三年内投入 1.826 亿加元（约合 1.31 亿美元）的联邦预算，用于建立主权发射计划。今年 3 月，政府表示将出于国防目的，租赁新斯科舍省一个商业开发的航天港的专用发射台，并为此投入 2 亿加元（约合 1.44 亿美元）。据 SpaceQ 报道，该协议对“海事发射服务公司”（Maritime Launch Services）来说是一大利好，该公司在这一沿海基地经历了多年的缓慢进展后，目前正在开发新斯科舍航天港。

A new Chinese rocket designed for reuse

中国研发的新型可重复使用火箭

The race to field China’s first reusable launch vehicle is far less predictable than a similar competition that played out in the United States a decade ago. A new rocket entered the field Monday with the first successful launch of China’s Long March 12B rocket, Ars reports. Engineers did not attempt to recover the Long March 12B’s booster stage, but the rocket flew with grid fins and landing legs, and Chinese officials touted plans to eventually land and reuse the first stage. The Long March 12B’s debut follows China’s first two attempts to recover an orbital-class booster with the Zhuque-3 and Long March 12A rockets in December. Neither landed successfully, but both rockets reached orbit. 中国首款可重复使用运载火箭的竞争，远比十年前美国类似的竞争更具不可预测性。据 Ars 报道，周一，中国“长征十二号乙”（Long March 12B）火箭首次发射成功，标志着一款新火箭进入了该领域。工程师们并未尝试回收“长征十二号乙”的助推级，但该火箭在飞行时配备了栅格舵和着陆支架，中国官方也宣称计划最终实现第一级的着陆与重复使用。“长征十二号乙”的首飞，继去年 12 月中国首次尝试通过“朱雀三号”和“长征十二号甲”火箭回收轨道级助推器之后。虽然那两次尝试均未成功着陆，但两枚火箭都成功进入了轨道。

Impulse Space’s wallet just got a lot heavier

Impulse Space 资金实力大增

On Tuesday, Impulse Space, a company dedicated to improving space mobility, announced it has raised $500 million in Series D funding, Ars reports. Since it was founded five years ago by SpaceX veteran Tom Mueller, the company has now raised more than $1 billion. “Timing is everything,” Mueller said in an interview about the new round of funding. By this, he means the company has found its way into many markets. The company has already flown three missions with a small spacecraft, Mira, which was first launched in 2023 with a novel propulsion system powered by non-toxic propellants, nitrous oxide and ethane. 据 Ars 报道，周二，致力于改善太空机动性的公司 Impulse Space 宣布完成 5 亿美元的 D 轮融资。自五年前由 SpaceX 元老汤姆·穆勒（Tom Mueller）创立以来，该公司目前已累计融资超过 10 亿美元。“时机就是一切，”穆勒在谈到新一轮融资时表示。他的意思是，公司已经成功切入了多个市场。该公司已利用小型航天器“Mira”执行了三次任务，该航天器于 2023 年首次发射，配备了由无毒推进剂（一氧化二氮和乙烷）驱动的新型推进系统。

Amazon is running out of Atlas Vs

亚马逊的“宇宙神 5 号”库存告急

United Launch Alliance overcame adverse weather conditions to launch a batch of Amazon Leo’s broadband internet satellites on its Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on May 29, Spaceflight Now reports. This was the seventh batch of production satellites that ULA launched on behalf of Amazon and the penultimate mission for the tech giant using an Atlas V rocket. There were 29 satellites aboard the Atlas V. One more to go… Amazon purchased a total of 47 launches from ULA: 38 Vulcan rockets and nine Atlas Vs. 据 Spaceflight Now 报道，5 月 29 日，联合发射联盟（ULA）克服了恶劣天气条件，在卡纳维拉尔角太空军基地利用“宇宙神 5 号”（Atlas V）火箭发射了一批亚马逊 Leo 宽带互联网卫星。这是 ULA 代表亚马逊发射的第七批生产型卫星，也是这家科技巨头使用“宇宙神 5 号”火箭执行的倒数第二次任务。此次“宇宙神 5 号”搭载了 29 颗卫星。还剩最后一次……亚马逊总共向 ULA 购买了 47 次发射服务：包括 38 枚“火神”（Vulcan）火箭和 9 枚“宇宙神 5 号”。