The Columbia accident grounded the Space Shuttle fleet for 29 months and contributed to the program's retirement a few years later.

The NASA Space Shuttle program operated from the first flight of Columbia on 12 April 1981 to the landing of Atlantis on 21 July 2011.

The Challenger accident led to a 32-month stand-down of the Space Shuttle program following the Rogers Commission investigation into organizational and safety failures at NASA.

The Columbia orbiter suffered a catastrophic breakup during reentry on 1 February 2003 at the end of mission STS-107 after foam from the external tank struck the left wing 81.7 seconds after launch, damaging thermal protection tiles and causing loss of all seven crew members including Ilan Ramón.

The Space Shuttle program deployed 180 satellites and recovered 52 satellites.

The ESA public call encourages exploration of innovative propulsion approaches including detonation-based systems and air-breathing engines that use atmospheric oxygen.

Polaris Spaceplanes, founded in Germany in 2019, is developing vehicles for hypersonic testing and space transport that use conventional jet engines for takeoff and landing plus aerospike rocket engines for space acceleration.

The Vortex spaceplane is a European project developed by French company Dassault Aviation.

FAST Aerospace describes HyperDart as partially reusable with the mothership returning to base for refueling and reconditioning and claims a payload capacity of 250 kilograms to low Earth orbit.

The European Space Agency (ESA) opened a public call on 27 February for SMEs and startups in Europe to submit designs for a fully reusable launch system based on spaceplanes.

AndroMach, founded in France in 2023, is developing the small spaceplane Envol designed to reach 200 kilometers altitude and return in a controlled glide phase.

The Space Shuttle program completed 135 missions over its operational lifetime.

REV1 is a commercial derivative of Space Rider developed by Space Cargo Unlimited and Thales Alenia Space that is not fully reusable in its current form.

The wheel’s outer rim features flexible tread elements that allow the wheel to conform to the lunar surface, improving traction while reducing wear over time.

Thales Alenia Space awarded a contract to Astrobotic to develop the wheels for the Multi-Purpose Habitation module.

The wheel Astrobotic is developing uses lightweight tensioned cables that connect the central hub to the outer rim to maintain strength while reducing overall mass.

The Multi-Purpose Habitation module is designed to accommodate two astronauts for a mission lasting between seven and 30 days once a year.

Thales Alenia Space added wheels to the Multi-Purpose Habitation module to allow the module to move to locations better suited to surviving the lunar night.

The Multi-Purpose Habitation module will be capable of supporting larger crews for shorter durations in emergency situations.

In 2020, the Italian Space Agency and NASA signed a joint statement of intent to cooperate on the development of a lunar habitat for crewed missions as part of the Artemis programme.

The first public indication that wheels had been added to the Multi-Purpose Habitation module came in July 2024 following completion of the project’s mission definition review.

Astrobotic is a US-based company.

The Italian Space Agency awarded Thales Alenia Space Italia a contract on 25 July 2025 to complete the Multi-Purpose Habitation module’s preliminary design phase, which includes development of critical enabling technologies.

Thales Alenia Space is exploring using the mobility system to move the Multi-Purpose Habitation module to different points of interest to support crewed Artemis missions to the lunar surface.

The preliminary design phase of the Multi-Purpose Habitation project is expected to last approximately two years, after which a decision on the project’s future will be made.

In June 2022, the Italian Space Agency and NASA signed a bilateral cooperation agreement under which the Italian Space Agency would conduct the preliminary design of the Multi-Purpose Habitation module.

Initial designs of the Multi-Purpose Habitation module did not include a mobility element.

If built, the Multi-Purpose Habitation module will be three metres wide and six metres long and will have an operational lifespan of around ten years.

Astrobotic is developing a wheel for the Multi-Purpose Habitation module based on the wheels developed for its Astrobotic Mobility Platform rover and scaled for the module’s size, loading, reliability, and service life requirements.

Firefly Aerospace is the only commercial provider to have demonstrated the ability to launch a satellite to orbit with approximately 24-hour notice, a capability known as Responsive Space.

Jason Kim is the CEO of Firefly Aerospace.

Alpha Flight 7 marked Firefly Aerospace's return to flight following a five-month stand-down.

Firefly Aerospace and Lockheed Martin have a multi-launch agreement for which the LM400 demonstrator deployment further solidifies the partnership.

The five-month stand-down followed a September 2025 ground-test anomaly in Briggs, Texas that was traced to minute hydrocarbon contamination in a fluid system.

Alpha Flight 8 will be the first Alpha vehicle to fly in the full Block II configuration and is targeted for the late second quarter of 2026.

Firefly Aerospace's co-located engineering and manufacturing facilities in Texas are operating at a projected cadence of one Alpha vehicle per month.

Flight 7 used the existing Alpha configuration while flying several Block II subsystems in shadow mode to gain flight heritage for a new in-house avionics suite and an enhanced thermal protection system.

Firefly Aerospace deployed a demonstrator for Lockheed Martin's LM400 satellite bus on Alpha Flight 7.

Following the September 2025 incident, Firefly Aerospace conducted a comprehensive quality review of its engineering, production, and test integration processes.

The Block II upgrade is designed to streamline manufacturability and increase vehicle performance.

Alpha Flight 7's success validates Firefly Aerospace's improved reliability protocols and paves the way for the full Block II upgrade.

Alpha Flight 7 achieved nominal orbital insertion and deployed a technology demonstrator payload for Lockheed Martin.

The successful re-engagement of the Alpha program is expected to stabilize investor confidence after developmental setbacks in late 2025.

Firefly Aerospace launched Alpha Flight 7, titled "Stairway to Seven," from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base on March 11, 2026 at 5:50 p.m. PDT.

Daria Stepanova is the CEO of AIRMO.

AIRMO’s first satellite launch was set for the end of 2024 based on its 2023 funding plan.

AIRMO’s 2023 €5.2 million pre-seed funding was intended to help fund the company’s first satellite launch.

AIRMO aims to monitor 12 million energy assets worldwide.

Existing investors Antler, FINDUS Venture, E2MC, and Pi Labs also participated in AIRMO’s seed round.

AIRMO claims its combination of short-wave infrared imaging and micro-LIDAR is twice as accurate as competing technologies on the market.