Browse Resources by Year

Featured Stories

Volunteer space operators who take over old NASA spacecraft; robots on faraway planets impacting the technologies of Earth’s inhabitants; space agencies finding alternative uses for technologies and processes originally designed for space operations and exploration–each one of these topics and others are worth exploring in more detail. This is the purpose of The Space Report’s “Featured Stories.” Years of featured stories are gathered here, some short, some long, but all interesting.

2015 – Russia Launch, Payload

Russia remained the world’s leader in number of launches provided during 2015, taking slightly more than 30% of the global orbital launch market for the year. This position was earned even though the nation’s launch rate fell by 19% to 26 launches in 2015, down from 32 launches during both 2013 and 2014. While Russia’s launch rate fell in 2015, Russia’s space launch system reliability fell slightly as well. Nearly 12% of Russia’s 26 launch attempts for the year were partial or total failures.

2015 – Chinese Spaceports – Snapshot

China’s orbital space launch activities are conducted through three spaceports: Xichang, Jiuquan, and Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centers. Nearly 50% of the country’s 2015 space launches originated from Xichang. A fourth launch site, Wenchang Satellite Launch Center, was completed in October 2014 and will be used to launch China’s new Long March 5 space launch vehicle sometime in 2016.

2015 – Russian Spaceports – Snapshot

There are three active or planned orbital space launch sites in Russia: Dombarovskiy, Plesetsk, and Vostochny. But in 2015, the site the Russians launched 69% of their space launch vehicles was from Baikonur Cosmodrome, located in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Of the 26 Russian launches conducted, 18 originated in Baikonur. The other eight were launched from the Russian spaceports of Plesetsk and Dombarovskiy.

2015 – Suborbital Payload Launch – Snapshot

The traditional suborbital launch vehicle, the sounding rocket, is uncrewed and launched in assorted configurations. From the very small to the extremely large, sounding rockets are used as an inexpensive and more accessible means for conducting experiments and observing space phenomena. During 2015, other types of suborbital vehicles moved into the suborbital launch domain.

2015 – U.S. Spaceports – Snapshot

In the United States and its territories, 42% of the spaceports have active launch site operator licenses granted by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The remaining 58% of U.S. spaceports are either proposed, in development, or government-operated. Of the 24 current and future spaceports, 14 were used to conduct orbital or suborbital launches in 2015.

2015 – Sounding Rockets – Snapshot

NASA’s Sounding Rockets Program Office (SRPO) launches sounding rockets from locations such as Andøya, Norway; Esrange, Sweden; Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands; Poker Flats, Alaska; White Sands, New Mexico; and Wallops Island, Virginia. The suborbital nature of the sounding rockets makes them ideal platforms to conduct short near-Earth space science, astrophysics, and heliophysics experiments, as well as for testing new sensors and other burgeoning space technologies. SRPO arranges workshops with primary and secondary school teachers and provides internships to university students to familiarize them with engineering and science disciplines.

2015 – U.S. Suborbital – Snapshot

NASA’s efforts with its Commercial Crew Program and Space Launch System primarily focus on launching humans into Earth orbit and beyond. However, other organizations and companies are pursuing the goal of reusable suborbital launch vehicles for humans.

2015 – Earth Observation and Remote Sensing – Snapshot

Learning about the Earth, its climate, and the impacts of human activities upon it continued to drive launches of Earth observation and remote sensing satellites in 2015. Earth observation/remote sensing satellites accounted for 40% of all spacecraft launched or deployed during 2015.

2015 – Japanese Space Industry Employment – Snapshot

The Japanese space workforce increased by 3.2% from 2013 to 2014, reaching 8,232 workers. This is nearly 30% larger than the size of the space workforce five years prior, in 2009.