Rocket Report: SpinLaunch spins up, Falcon Heavy to return big time in 2022

Enlarge / As the Crew-3 mission ascends, a Falcon 9 rocket with a Starlink payload awaits its turn on a nearby launch pad in Florida. (credit: SpaceX)

Welcome to Edition 4.23 of the Rocket Report! After a one-week hiatus, this report returns with a superfluity of news. There's a lot to cover, from exciting news in the New Mexico desert to busy times for the Space Coast in Florida as SpaceX gets busy with crewed missions.

As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

SpinLaunch completes first test flight. The California-based startup uses kinetic energy to launch payloads, and its test projectile reached "tens of thousands" of feet during its first launch, CNBC reports. The company's method uses a vacuum-sealed centrifuge to spin the rocket to a velocity several times the speed of sound before it is released. "It's a radically different way to accelerate projectiles and launch vehicles to hypersonic speeds using a ground-based system," SpinLaunch CEO Jonathan Yaney said.

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