Astra Aims for a Comeback with $44M Pentagon Deal to Develop Rapid-Delivery Rocket

After a dramatic fall from its high-flying days as a publicly traded rocket startup, Astra is charting a comeback with a $44 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to develop its next-generation launch vehicle, Rocket 4. The mobile, two-stage rocket is designed to deliver military cargo across the globe in under an hour—an ambitious goal that, if realized, could transform rapid-response logistics.

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Amazon’s Project Kuiper Set to Launch First Operational Satellites on April 28

After a series of delays and months of anticipation, Amazon is finally set to take a major step toward building its own satellite-powered internet network. The first 27 operational satellites of Project Kuiper, Amazon’s answer to Starlink, are now scheduled to launch on April 28 at 7:00 p.m. EDT (2300 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The announcement was made over the weekend by United Launch Alliance (ULA), the aerospace company responsible for carrying out the mission.

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ISRO’s Axiom-4 Mission to Study Tardigrades in Microgravity

As India prepares to send astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the Axiom-4 mission, he won’t be travelling alone. Joining him on this historic journey will be a group of nearly indestructible micro-animals—tardigrades, also affectionately known as ‘water bears’.

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NASA’s Oldest Active Astronaut Don Pettit Returns to Earth on His 70th Birthday After Record-Breaking Space Mission

NASA astronaut Don Pettit, along with Russian cosmonauts Aleksey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, safely landed in the steppes of Kazakhstan early Saturday morning, concluding a seven-month stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The landing took place at 6:20 a.m. local time on April 20 (9:20 p.m. EDT April 19), which also marked a personal milestone — Pettit’s 70th birthday.

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