Rocket Report: NASA installs SLS software, India’s GSLV fails to reach orbit

Enlarge / A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus resupply spacecraft launches from Pad-0A of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. (credit: NASA)

Welcome to Edition 4.11 of the Rocket Report! Another week down in 2021, and another week closer to the end of the year. I'm eager to see which companies that have talked about debut launches in 2021-including Firefly, ABL Space, and Relativity-actually succeed. Only a little more than four months remain to reach that goal.

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.

Rocket Lab to launch Moon mission from New Zealand. The company will launch the CAPSTONE mission to the Moon from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand during the fourth quarter of 2021, Radio New Zealand reports. This will be Rocket Lab's first lunar mission, and the 20 kg satellite will validate innovative navigation technologies and verify the dynamics of a halo-shaped orbit around the Moon.

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