Rocket Report: SpaceX lands rocket cargo funding, Virgin Galactic’s stock crash

Enlarge / SpaceX launched its third mission of 2022 on January 18. The rocket carried 49 Starlink satellites. (credit: SpaceX)

Welcome to Edition 4.29 of the Rocket Report! There is plenty to discuss this week, including an accident in the Mojave (oh no!) and flights by two different rocket-carrying aircraft within days of each other (oh yes!).

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.

ABL loses second stage during test firing. Observers at Mojave Air and Space Port in California reported hearing a boom around 1:30 pm local time on Wednesday. A plume of black smoke followed. A few hours later, ABL Space Systems confirmed that the second stage of the RS1 rocket that it's developing was destroyed in an accident, SpaceNews reports. ABL is well-capitalized and has dozens of launch contracts for RS1 with Lockheed Martin, Amazon, and other companies.

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