Rocket Report: NASA scrubs third SLS fueling test, Pythom Space strikes back

Enlarge / A United Launch Alliance Atlas V booster is delivered to Cape Canaveral by NASA's Pegasus barge this week. (credit: United Launch Alliance)

Welcome to Edition 4.39 of the Rocket Report! As usual there is plenty to discuss in the world of launch this week, from a successful hot fire test in Spain to a not-so-successful fueling test at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. So without further delay, read away.

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.

Pythom Space tests Eiger rocket, receives blowback. On March 19, the California-based small launch company conducted a hold-down test of the first stage of its Eiger rocket with a single engine. (The complete first stage will have nine small engines.) The company uploaded a video containing this footage about three weeks ago. Lasting about 2 minutes and 40 seconds, the video shows instances where Pythom employees appear to be handling the Eiger rocket and its hypergolic propellants with less than industry-standard care. At one point in the company's promotional video, a handful of employees can be seen running from an expanding cloud of dust and exhaust.

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