Month: December 2018

Enlarge (credit: Shal Farley)

I try not to write about optics too often because, well, I love optics, but no one else does. Unfortunately for you, I can’t resist the subject.

If you turn over your cell phone, you will find the lens on your camera. This is what lets the camera create a nice image. But for light in the wavelength range of 1-100nm (called the extreme ultraviolet), lenses don’t work. Or, rather, that was the accepted wisdom until now. But that wisdom will change, as researchers have shown how to make a lens for extreme ultraviolet radiation.

Lenses don’t work? You need your eyes checked

Lenses are basically a curved surface of a material in which light moves at a different speed. When light hits the material of a glass lens, for example, it slows down (by about 30 percent)—this is the effect of the refractive index of the material. Since the lens is curved, the light at the edge of the lens gets to travel that little bit further before it slows down, putting it ahead of light that is near the center of the lens.

Enlarge / A Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-2A rocket is seen at Tanegashima Space Center in October 2018. (credit: JAXA)

Japan's largest rocket company, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), has received a vote of confidence as it seeks to compete for commercial launches in an increasingly crowded market. Earlier this month, the company announced an agreement with satellite operator Inmarsat for a launch in 2022 or later.

Significantly, the flight will take place on Mitsubishi's new H3 rocket, which was designed and developed to fly at a lower cost in order to attract more commercial business. It was the first commercial contract for the rocket, which is set to debut in 2020 by launching a satellite payload for Japan's space agency, JAXA.

JAXA and MHI want to increase the country's number of orbital launches annually from the current average of four to about eight. The only realistic way to do this is to increase launch orders from commercial companies. And as MHI has sought to do this, it seems to have found a good partner in Inmarsat. Already, in September 2017, Inmarsat selected MHI's H-2A rocket for the launch of its Inmarsat-6 F1 satellite in 2020.

Enlarge / The Rocket Report is published weekly. (credit: Arianespace)

Welcome to Edition 1.30 of the Rocket Report. Thanks to everyone for your support this year! It's amazing how much we've grown, both in terms of subscriptions to the newsletter and readers of this weekly post. To celebrate the holidays, we'll be taking a break, so our next report will arrive on January 11.

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.

Russia to decommission Rokot launcher. According to Russian sources, the Rokot vehicle will make two final launches in 2019 and then be decommissioned, Spacewatch reports. The Rokot vehicle, with a capacity of 2 tons to LEO, has made 29 successful launches since its first flight in 1990.

Enlarge / The Rocket Report is published weekly. (credit: Arianespace)

Welcome to Edition 1.30 of the Rocket Report. Thanks to everyone for your support this year! It's amazing how much we've grown, both in terms of subscriptions to the newsletter and readers of this weekly post. To celebrate the holidays, we'll be taking a break, so our next report will arrive on January 11.

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.

Russia to decommission Rokot launcher. According to Russian sources, the Rokot vehicle will make two final launches in 2019 and then be decommissioned, Spacewatch reports. The Rokot vehicle, with a capacity of 2 tons to LEO, has made 29 successful launches since its first flight in 1990.