Rocket Report: Russia plans a mini Falcon 9; Shotwell takes aim at Blue

Enlarge / The Electron launch vehicle is ready to soar. (credit: Rocket Lab)

Welcome to Edition 2.21 of the Rocket Report! As always, there are intriguing developments in the world of lift this week. We particularly liked the Russian plans to develop a low-cost, reusable small rocket ... seven years from now. Around that same time, Japan says it is mulling an impressive, heavy version of its H3 rocket with three cores. Now that's something we'd like to see take flight.

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.

Fourth SARGE rocket launch fails. EXOS Aerospace's Suborbital Autonomous Rocket with GuidancE, or SARGE rocket, was scheduled to fly to an altitude of 80km this past weekend from a New Mexico spaceport. Unfortunately, the vehicle stopped well short of that altitude after a wobbly ascent and an as-yet undetermined in-flight mechanical failure, NASASpaceFlight.com reports.

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