Back in 1968, NASA launched the Saturn V, a huge rocket that carried humans to the moon. It remains one of the most powerful rockets ever built, and mysteriously, no other rocket was able to surpass its power for nearly 50 years. Despite leaps in computers, materials and precision, the Saturn V reigned king in terms of raw payload capacity to orbit. Did progress stall? Why was a rocket built in the 1960s dominating records well into the 21st century? What changed?

Before we answer that, let’s take a deep dive into the history of rockets or going by the official term ‘Launch Vehicles’.

The Beginning

Robert Goddard’s rocket (1926)

Going by the loose definition of rockets, the earliest examples would be simple gunpowder-powered weapons like the Chinese fire arrows (13th century) or Tipu Sultan’s Mysorean rockets (18th century). It was only in 1926 that Robert H. Goddard, an American physicist, invented the modern rocket powered by liquid fuel. It introduced many concepts still in use today, like fuel and oxidiser tanks, combustion chambers, nozzles and more. It flew only for a few seconds and reached only 12 meters, but it laid the foundations for future modern rockets.

V-2 Rocket (1944)

If you go by the definition of the first rocket to reach space, the V-2 rocket, built as a weapon by Nazi Germany under Wernher von Braun. It was the first human-made object to cross the Karman line at about 100 km, considered the boundary of space. It introduced the concept of turbopumps to pump fuel at high pressures into the combustion chamber. Nearly every modern rocket is believed to have descended from the V-2.

Redstone (1953)

Wernher von Braun was brought to the USA after World War 2 and worked with the military and later NASA to create the Redstone rocket. It was directly influenced by the V-2 and much later became famous for NASA’s human spaceflights as part of Project Mercury for human suborbital flights like that of Alan Shepard. This rocket was never meant to reach orbit.

The First Space Age

Soviet R-7 (1957)

The R-7 rocket built by the Soviet Union was the first rocket to place a satellite (Sputnik 1) in orbit. Initially built as an ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile), it was later repurposed for space launch, as we have seen for many rockets in the early days of space flight. A variant of the same rocket (Vostok-K) was used to put the first human in space - Yuri Gagarin. Russia's Soyuz rockets today are also derived from the same family. This rocket is considered to have kicked off the first space age, where rockets and space missions began to be viewed as national-level engineering projects. The R-7 was considered highly powerful at the time.

Atlas (1957)

The Atlas rocket family was an ICBM modified for space. It was involved in orbital launches for Project Mercury and launched the first American to orbit Earth, John Glenn, in 1962.

In May 1963, the Atlas Centaur was launched, becoming the first rocket to use highly efficient hydrogen fuel in its upper stages successfully.

A modern descendant of the Atlas rocket, the Atlas V, is still active as of 2026 but is in the process of being retired.

Juno (1958)

While Atlas had already conducted its first launch in 1957 as an ICBM, it was mainly a test launch without any real payload. Meanwhile, NASA launched its first satellite in response to Sputnik, called Explorer 1, on board its Juno rocket. Juno was a descendant of Redstone, but more space-focused. Juno was much less powerful than the R-7.

Titan (1959)

The Titan family was initially designed as a military backup to Atlas. Titan I used liquid oxygen, and unlike Atlas, which used only one stage with 2 additional boosters that detached some time after liftoff, it was a proper two-stage rocket.

Titan II used hypergolic fuels (fuels that ignite on contact) instead. This allowed it to be stored for longer. This was the rocket used for the Gemini missions, a successor to the Mercury missions that supported two astronauts instead of one and focused on extended capabilities like orbital manoeuvring, docking, spacewalks and more.

Proton (1965)

Initially called the UR-500, this giant repurposed ICBM got its name due to a series of satellites called the Proton satellites, and eventually, people started to call it the Proton rocket.

Descendants of this heavy lift rocket were much later used to build the International Space Station and missions to other planets. The Proton-M variant is still in use today, though gradually being phased out.

Saturn (1961)

The Saturn family of rockets saw NASA experimenting with heavy-lift rockets as a precursor to the moon missions.

Saturn I

Saturn I was the first such rocket. Its main purpose was to prove heavy lift launches could work. It was never capable enough or designed to reach the moon. It was built by bundling together 8 engines from the Redstone rockets with 1 central engine from the more powerful Jupiter rocket. Instead of building a new rocket, NASA just quickly reused existing technology. This is also why the Saturn I had 9 separate fuel tanks in total, 1 for each engine, a quirky and inefficient shortcut.

Saturn IB

Saturn IB was twice as powerful as Saturn I in terms of payload capacity. It could now carry an actual crew into Earth orbit instead of just test equipment. The second stage of the rocket is what received the main upgrade, where instead of using six small RL-10 engines, it was replaced with one large J-2 engine.

Saturn V

After the Saturn IB came the real behemoth, nearly worthy enough to be classified as a whole new category. The Saturn V rocket was the official rocket used for the Apollo moon missions. With a 140 ton payload capacity, it could lift nearly 14 times more than the Saturn I and boasted 5 gigantic F-1 engines. Each engine alone could produce more thrust than the entire Saturn I. Unlike the other members of the Saturn family, it also used single massive fuel tanks instead of tank clusters. The rocket was so powerful that it used about 15 tons of fuel per second during liftoff.

N-1 Rocket (1969)

The N-1 rockets were the Soviets’ attempt at a super-heavy lift moon rocket. Since the Soviet Union lagged behind in highly efficient hydrogen fuels, their rockets mostly used Kerosene for all stages. They tried to get around this by using 30 NK-15 engines on their rocket. However, this system was extremely complex and lacked enough testing, and every single launch failed, some catastrophically.

Shuttle and Station Era

STS Space Shuttle (1981)

As the number of satellite launches began to increase, NASA needed a cost-effective way to launch payloads into space. This is when the Space Shuttle was invented. Officially known as the Space Transportation System (STS), this was an aeroplane-like spacecraft that launched on board a rocket but could operate in space and land back on Earth on a runway to be reused multiple times. While NASA hoped reusability would make launches cheaper, it was disappointed to find that the cost of refurbishing the used shuttle was enormous. The Space Shuttle was heavily used to build the ISS and launch the Hubble Space Telescope.

Energia (1987)

Energia was another attempt at a super-heavy launch vehicle by the Soviet Union. It was designed to launch the Soviet space shuttle - Buran. The rocket could almost rival the Saturn V in launch capacity, but was more optimised for injecting payloads into Earth orbit. It could lift multiple times more than the STS Space Shuttle. It flew successfully only twice and was discontinued after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Long March (1970)

China launched its first satellite, the Dong Fang Hong 1, on board its Long March rocket in 1970. Compared to the other rockets at the time, the Long March 1 was no heavy lifter, yet it marked China’s entry into the space sector. The most recent version is the Long March 8A, with Long March 9 under development.

Ariane (1979)

The European Space Agency entered the sector with its Ariane I rocket in 1979. The Ariane family is still in use today, the latest being the Ariane 6.

SLV-3 (1980)

The SLV-3 was ISRO’s first experimental rocket. This tiny, solid-fueled rocket successfully placed the Rohini (RS-1) satellite into orbit, making India the 7th country to achieve independent orbital launch capability.

PSLV (1993)

ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle was first launched in 1993 and remains its workhorse rocket till today. It was highly reliable and cost-efficient. It focused on getting satellites into Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

The Modern Space Age

Falcon (2008)

Falcon 1

The Falcon 1 by SpaceX was the first privately developed liquid-fueled rocket to reach orbit. It was a tiny rocket capable of carrying only a few 100 kg to orbit.

Falcon 9

This rocket, in many ways, revolutionised the space industry. Until now, rockets were mostly single-use and extremely expensive, as a new rocket had to be built for every new launch. In 2015, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 made history by landing its first stage booster vertically back at the launchpad after a launch for reuse. While some vehicles, such as the Space Shuttle, had demonstrated reusability, the Falcon 9 made it economically viable. This rocket launches very frequently today due to its lower cost.

Electron (2018)

This rocket was built by another space startup, Rocket Lab. While much smaller in size compared to SpaceX’s Falcon 9, it prioritised a high frequency of launches for small satellites.

LVM3 (2017)

ISRO’s heavy lift rocket LVM3 (previously known as GSLV MkIII) was built for its Chandrayaan moon missions. It successfully launched Chandrayaan-2 (2019) and Chandrayaan-3 (2023) missions to the moon, and is planned to be used for India’s Gaganyaan missions for crewed orbital flights.

Falcon Heavy (2018)

This rocket by SpaceX was the most powerful rocket ever flown after the Saturn V at the time. It was made of 3 Falcon 9 core stages strapped together, one as a core stage and the other 2 as boosters on the side. Unlike previous heavy lift rockets, the Falcon Heavy’s boosters (and sometimes the core stage itself) could land synchronously back on the ground after launch, making them reusable and the whole rocket launch significantly cheaper.

SLS (2022)

The Space Launch System (SLS) was built by NASA for the Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the Moon 50 years after Apollo. It was the first rocket in decades to surpass the Saturn V in raw liftoff thrust, though it has a much lower payload capacity. The SLS is also more expensive than the Saturn V and is not reusable at all.

In many ways, the SLS may seem like a step backwards compared to the Saturn V. But this is not because NASA forgot how to build powerful rockets. Much of the infrastructure needed to manufacture a rocket like the Saturn V — including the factories and suppliers — no longer exists. Since NASA once again needed a Moon rocket quickly, it chose to reuse Space Shuttle-era hardware instead of rebuilding that entire industrial base.

Upcoming

Starship

At last, we come to the largest and most powerful rocket ever built in history. This colossal rocket by SpaceX is designed to be more than twice as powerful as the Saturn V. Besides its raw power, it is expected to be fully reusable, including the upper stages. Its first stage, called ‘Super Heavy’, has 33 massive Raptor engines that run on liquid oxygen and methane, which is cleaner than kerosene and potentially producible on Mars. Recently, during its 5th test flight, SpaceX managed to catch the rocket’s first stage in mid-air using the chopstick-like arms on the launch tower after a successful launch. Starship is intended for future missions to the Moon, Mars and more.

A single Starship rocket, the size of a 40-storey building (the very same we talked about at the beginning of this article), can produce over 75 Meganewtons of thrust during liftoff and should be able to carry about 150 tons of payload into Low Earth Orbit while being reusable. For comparison, Saturn V, a fully expendable rocket, could produce only 35 Meganewtons of thrust and carry 140 tons to LEO. If reusability isn’t a constraint, Starship could, in theory, launch about 250 tons of payload to LEO.

It is fascinating how the age of rockets began with a tiny rocket that could barely produce 90 newtons of thrust, and how 100 years later, we have rockets that produce thousands of times that amount and have brought everything from interplanetary bases to deep space missions within reach.

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GalaxEye launches world’s first OptoSAR satellite

Last week, Indian space startup GalaxEye launched its Drishti Earth observation satellite. This satellite has both an optical camera that captures visible light and a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) that emits its own radio waves and captures them once they bounce off the Earth’s surface to form an image. Until now, most missions have never had both these features on the same satellite due to various issues like the SAR interfering with the optical camera, vibrations, computing power and more. Drishti has been able to finally achieve this due to advancements in electronics and by using the latest chips.

Russia conducts first test launch of Soyuz-5 rocket

Last week, ROSCOSMOS successfully conducted the first test launch of its Soyuz-5 rocket. The rocket uses the RD-171M engine, which is considered one of the world's most powerful liquid-fuel engines. The Soyuz-5 rocket is designed to be able to carry payloads of up to 18 tons into Low Earth Orbit.

PS: Want some more fun? Check out the space quiz on our Instagram based on a few of our posts from “Beyond the Blaze”. Click here to view.

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NASA shuts down another instrument on Voyager-1

NASA’s Voyager-1 spacecraft, launched in 1977, is the furthest spacecraft from Earth and one of only two to travel past the heliopause (the boundary where charged particles from the Sun can reach) into interstellar space. At more than 25 billion km away and counting, it’s too far to use solar panels for power, so it relies on its onboard RTG (a nuclear battery), which is slowly depleting. To keep communications running as long as possible, NASA has shut down 8 science instruments over the years, with the most recent, the LECP (which studies charged particles from outside the solar system), shut down last week. While Voyager-1 doesn’t need power to keep moving, since there’s no friction in space, it does need power for its instruments and communications.

NASA approves support for ESA’s Mars mission

Recently, NASA announced its support for ESA’s Rosalind Franklin mission to land a rover on Mars. As part of its Rosalind Franklin Support and Augmentation (ROSA) project, NASA will provide hardware, including instruments and landing technology, and will also conduct the launch. The Rosalind Franklin rover will aim to search for signs of life on Mars.

Blue Origin to test reused hardware in upcoming flight

American private firm Blue Origin is gearing up for a launch this Sunday, April 19th. This is the 3rd flight of its ‘New Glenn’ heavy lift rocket that has been under development for the past few years. This 3rd flight has one key difference — it will reuse a previously flown first stage with new engines. This means the fuel tanks, pressurisation systems, flight computer and more are being reused from the previous flight. Reusable rockets can help massively cut down on launch costs.

Scientists find a second hidden black hole in Markarian 501

While the existence of a supermassive black hole in the centre of the distant galaxy Markarian 501, located 500 million light-years from Earth, has long been known, it was only recently that scientists made a groundbreaking discovery. They identified that there was a second equally massive black hole, forming a binary system where the two circle each other and are spiralling closer. The two are so close (about 4000 light minutes apart) that scientists expect them to merge in about 100 years. This is incredibly fast compared to most black hole merger which take aeons to occur. Black hole mergers are so rare that they have only been theorised so far.

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Artemis-II crew returns to Earth

Last week, NASA’s Artemis-II moon mission’s crew of 4 successfully returned to Earth and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. The mission broke the record for being the farthest humans have travelled from Earth in history by travelling over 406,778 km from home. The crew did a single flyby around the Moon, using its gravity to slingshot the spacecraft back to Earth. In the future, Artemis-IV is planned to land humans on the moon.

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NASA launches Artemis-II

Last week, NASA successfully launched its Artemis-II crewed lunar mission. The four astronauts will reach the moon on April 6th for a flyby and will return on April 10th. This paves the way for future Artemis missions. Artemis-III will also be a flyby, while Artemis-IV will land humans on the moon. The last time humans went near the moon was the Apollo-17 mission in 1972.

Saudi Arabia launches its first space weather satellite

Recently, Saudi Arabia successfully launched its SWC-1 (Shams) satellite into space. It was launched on the same rocket as Artemis-II, but is not related to the moon mission. The satellite aims to study space weather like Earth’s magnetic field, solar radiation and more. This is Saudi Arabia’s first dedicated space weather satellite.

SpaceX postpones 12th Starship test flight

Recently, SpaceX postponed the 12th test flight of its powerful Starship rocket from April to mid-May. The Starship rocket is the most powerful ever, over 122 meters tall (40 stories) and aims to be fully reusable. It will be used for interplanetary and moon missions, though it is still currently in development.

Tianlong-3 rocket explodes after launch

Last week, Chineese private firm Space Pioneer’s Tianlong-3 rocket failed during a launch. The exact cause of the failure is being investigated. Like SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket, Tianglong-3 also has landing legs and fins that help its first stage land vertically on the pad, making the rocket partially reusable. The rocket will play a key role in building China’s Qianfan satellite constellation for internet services.

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NASA begins development of nuclear-powered SR-1 Freedom spacecraft

Last week, NASA announced that it has begun development of its revolutionary new Space Reactor-1 Freedom interplanetary spacecraft. Many previous missions, such as Voyager-1, Voyager-2, and Cassini, have used RTGs (Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators), which generate electricity from the natural decay of radioactive isotopes. However, RTGs are not nuclear reactors and function more as passive energy sources.

A few spacecraft—especially several launched by the Soviet Union before the 1980s—did use active nuclear reactors to generate electricity. What makes the proposed SR-1 Freedom unique is that, unlike all the examples above that use nuclear energy only to generate electricity for onboard instruments, it uses a nuclear reactor for interplanetary propulsion.

It does this by using electricity from a nuclear reactor to power ion thrusters, which provide continuous acceleration. While ion thrusters are already widely used, this would be the first time they are powered by a nuclear reactor in space.

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SpaceX launches 10,000th Starlink satellite

Last week, SpaceX launched its 10,000th Starlink satellite as part of its megaconstellation, which provides high-speed internet access around the world. It aims to have a total of 40,000 satellites in the future.

Artemis mission rocket returns to launchpad before launch

NASA’s plans to launch the Artemis-2 crewed moon mission on March 6th were delayed after a helium leak in the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket forced them to cancel the launch and recall the rocket for repairs. The rocket was again rolled back onto the launch pad last week after an issue with the valves was fixed. NASA is targeting 1st April for the launch now. The Artemis 2 mission is intended to send astronauts into an orbit around the moon and return them to Earth, but not land yet. The landing is to be part of later missions.

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NASA begins building Dragonfly Rotorcraft for Titan mission

Recently, NASA has started building its Dragonfly craft that will be used on its mission to explore Saturn’s moon, Titan. Dragonfly is a rotorcraft similar to the Ingenuity Mars helicopter, except it has eight rotors instead of one and is several times larger — about the size of a car. This design will help it easily fly over the oceans of Titan to collect data. While the small Ingenuity helicopter was merely a technology demonstration, it far exceeded expectations, paving the way for future rotorcraft missions.

Recently, ESA lost contact with one of the two satellites part of the Proba-3 mission after an anomaly caused the spacecraft to lose orientation. The mission has two spacecraft — one designed to block most of the Sun’s rays from reaching the second, creating an artificial solar eclipse for the second spacecraft. Thus mimicking a solar eclipse, enabling it to study the sun’s corona. Losing contact with any one satellite would jeopardise the entire mission. Scientists are working to solve this issue.

Scientists find the brightest, most distant megamaser ever

When two galaxies collide violently, a lot of gasses are compressed, which makes some particular molecules called Hydroxyl molecules get excited and release large amounts of microwave radiation. As these microwaves hit other hydroxyl molecules, they in turn release even more radiation. This creates a massive laser-like beam of radiation called a megamaser. Scientists working with the MeerKAT telescope have recently discovered a hydroxyl megamaser originating from a galaxy collision about 9 billion light-years from Earth. It is the farthest and most powerful megamaser observed so far.

Propulsion

Propulsion is anything that helps a rocket (or any other object) move forward. Nearly all rockets use chemical propellants, though a few specific applications use other methods. In chemical propulsion, fuel alone isn’t enough — it needs oxygen to burn, which is scarce at high altitudes. That’s why rockets carry an oxidiser to supply oxygen for combustion. Together, the fuel and oxidiser make up the propulsion system.

Chemical Propulsion

Chemical propulsion is broadly classified into three types: solid, liquid, and hybrid. Many rockets use a combination of two or more of these in different stages.

Solid Propulsion

In solid propulsion, the fuel and oxidiser are mixed with a chemical called a binder, which acts like glue and also serves as fuel. This mixture is cast into a solid cylinder called a grain, with carefully designed gaps in the centre. These gaps control how much fuel is exposed at any given time, allowing the rocket’s thrust to be preprogrammed and, in turn, influencing its motion and direction.

Solid propellants have one major downside: They cannot be controlled or shut off at all after ignition. This is why it is often used for raw power and not for tasks that require high precision or efficiency. This makes them perfect for the lower stages of a rocket (though some still use liquid propulsion) or strap-on boosters. Solid fuels are used because they are relatively simple, last for long periods of storage, are low-cost, and are less sensitive.

Liquid Propulsion

As the name suggests, in such cases, the propellants are stored as liquids in separate tanks and are fed into a combustion chamber where they burn to produce thrust. Liquid propulsion allows scientists to control thrust during the flight using the valves and pumps. They can be shut off and re-ignited as necessary. They are also much more efficient and are used for high-precision tasks in the upper stages of a rocket.

Monopropellant Engines

In such engines, there is only one liquid propellant. It releases energy when it flows out of the tank and touches another chemical called a catalyst. They are very simple and reliable, but are low in efficiency. They are usually used for satellite propulsion and not for rockets

Bipropellant Engines

Such engines have two tanks – one for the fuel and one for the oxidiser. They are both released into the combustion chamber and either ignite on touching or are ignited by the engine to produce thrust.

Tripropellant Engines

Such engines are extremely rare or experimental. They have two fuels and one oxidiser tank. It uses the more powerful fuel first and later switches to the higher efficiency one.

Liquid propellants need to enter the combustion chamber at very high pressures. This is often done using a pump or by storing the fuel in high-pressure tanks. Some of them need to be ignited on entering the chamber, so ignition systems are often needed. Some high-efficiency fuels and oxidisers like liquid hydrogen or liquid oxygen need to be stored at very low temperatures. Such engines are called cryogenic engines. All these features start to increase the complexity of such engines.

Hybrid Propulsion

In hybrid propulsion engines, the oxidiser is stored as a liquid in a tank while the fuel is a solid grain, similar to solid propulsion systems. Cutting off the oxidiser allows the engine to be shut down and provides limited thrust control. Because the fuel and oxidiser are stored separately and avoid very high-performance solid fuels, these engines are safer and less prone to violent burning. They are simpler than full liquid propulsion systems, but are less efficient and cannot produce very high thrust.

Non-Chemical Propulsion

Here we deviate slightly from what most people would call a “rocket.” So far, we’ve only looked at propellants used in launch vehicles, but spacecraft, satellites, and deep-space probes also need propulsion. This is not to stay in orbit or to just move forward on its path, but to change orbits or speeds. Most of them do not use chemical propulsion, as it is expensive and heavy. Non-chemical propulsion greatly reduces spacecraft mass, making them easier to launch.

Electric Propulsion

This kind of propulsion is heavily used by spacecraft today. Nearly all satellites, spacecraft, probes, etc. have solar panels attached to them that help them generate electricity for not just their own functions but also for propulsion.

It works by ionising a propellant gas (usually xenon) – this means the particles become charged. These charged ions are then ejected out the back using electric or magnetic fields, and this moves the craft forward. Instead of shooting hot gases out the back like chemical propellants, they shoot out ionised particles.

Some experimental engines produce plasma (a big mixture of ions, positive particles, etc) which is shot out the back, similar to the ion propulsion.

Solar Sails

On Earth, a sail uses the wind hitting it to move a boat forward. Similarly, in space, some very light experimental satellites currently use solar sails for propulsion. As light particles from the sun hit these thin sails, it pushes the craft forward. This effect is tiny, but it builds up over time. Solar sails are extremely simple and don’t rely too much on complex technology.

Nuclear Propulsion

This was extensively researched in the 1960s but eventually shut down due to political and safety concerns. It applied not only to satellites and probes but also to high-power launch vehicles. It worked by using a nuclear source to heat up liquid hydrogen and make it expand. This gas was then pushed out through nozzles at high speed to propel the craft/rocket. Today this idea is being revisited for future Mars missions.

There are many more theoretical and experimental methods to propel rockets and spacecraft that are being researched today. Some sound like they are straight from sci-fi, like space-tethers or beamed energy propulsion, each of which would have to be given its own article. Considering that humans launched the first satellite only 70 years ago, who knows what the space industry will look like in another few decades?

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PSLV rocket fails during launch

Last week, 16 satellites were lost after ISRO’s PSLV rocket failed during launch. The mission named PSLV-C62 failed because of an anomaly in the third stage, where the rocket went off its path. This is the second consecutive failure of the PSLV rocket, with a launch in May 2025, suffering from similar issues. To know more about rocket staging, click here.

Artemis-2 rocket arrives at launchpad

On Saturday, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket was rolled out to the launchpad at the Kennedy Space Centre in preparation for Artemis Mission 2. This time, the rocket will carry four astronauts on board as they make the first crewed flight around the moon in more than five decades. The goal of this mission will be to verify human capabilities in deep space and pave the way for a future landing on the moon. The mission is expected to launch on February 6th.

Four astronauts return to Earth after medical evacuation

Last week, four astronauts from Crew-11 onboard the ISS were successfully returned to Earth after one of them fell sick with an undisclosed illness. This marks the first-ever medical evacuation from the ISS. Crew-11 includes two NASA astronauts, one from JAXA, and one from ROSCOSMOS. This marks the first time NASA has conducted a space medical evacuation, meaning that, unlike previous, less severe incidents, the agency has stated that the primary reason for the return is a crew member’s medical condition.

NASA to cancel Mars Sample Return mission

Recently, NASA announced that its Mars Sample Return mission will be cancelled due to budget constraints. While the entire concept of returning samples from Mars has not been pushed out, the mission, as it was planned, will no longer continue. NASA may be open to revisiting the idea and redesigning the mission in the future. This means that all the samples the Perseverance rover has been collecting will not be returned to Earth anytime soon. This has left a lot of scientists disappointed.

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NASA prepares first-ever medical evacuation from the ISS

NASA has announced plans to evacuate an astronaut from the International Space Station after a crew member fell seriously ill with an undisclosed condition. The astronaut’s name has not been released. The agency will return all four members of Crew-11 on Wednesday, January 14, cutting their mission short by about a month. Crew-11 includes two NASA astronauts, one from JAXA, and one from ROSCOSMOS. This marks the first time NASA has conducted a space medical evacuation, meaning that, unlike previous, less severe incidents, the agency has stated that the primary reason for the return is a crew member’s medical condition.

Aditya-L1 makes breakthroughs in studying solar storms

ISRO’s solar observation spacecraft Aditya-L1 recently studied a highly powerful solar storm that occurred in October 2025 and made several breakthrough discoveries in how solar storms affect the Earth’s magnetic field. Solar storms are massive clouds of charged particles ejected by the sun. It has two parts – the main core, a big dense cloud of particles and the turbulent sheath, the chaotic front. Until now, the main core was believed to cause the most damage to the Earth’s magnetic field, but ISRO’s study helped conclude that the turbulent sheath is actually more damaging. It also helped link solar storms to long-term atmospheric loss, rather than just short-term disturbances.

Scientists find fastest spinning large asteroid

Recently, scientists discovered an asteroid named “2025 MN45” about 700 metres in length, found to be spinning so fast that it completes one rotation every 5 minutes. This makes it the fastest asteroid among those larger than 300 metres, classified as ‘Large Asteroids’.

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NASA yet to make contact with MAVEN probe

Since December 4 last year, NASA has been attempting to reestablish communication with its Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) probe, which is orbiting Mars after it lost signal from the craft. Even after a month, scientists have been unable to resolve the issue, leading some to believe that the probe might be dead.

In January, ISRO successfully docked (connected) the two spacecraft: ‘Chaser’ and ‘Target’, part of the SpaDeX experiment in space. This puts India along with Russia, China and the USA as the only countries to achieve space docking before; a capability essential for building space stations and lunar sample return missions, both of which ISRO intends to do in the future. After putting SpaDeX in orbit, the fourth stage of the rocket was converted into an orbiting laboratory called POEM-4. Onboard this lab, ISRO also operated its first-ever robotic arm in space.

China launches its first asteroid sample return mission

This May, China launched its first asteroid sample return mission - Tianwen-2. The mission is headed to the asteroid ‘469219 Kamoʻoalewa’, which actually orbits the Sun but appears to orbit the Earth because it is very close to it. The mission aims to collect 100 g of samples and return by November 2027.

Private Moon landings: one success, three familiar failures

The last year saw multiple private companies attempt lunar landing missions. Intuitive Machines sent two landers – the IM-1 (Odyseus) and the IM-2 (Athena), both of which landed sideways on the moon, causing some inconveniences. Japanese company ispace’s lander (Resilience) unfortunately crashed onto the lunar surface, marking the company’s second failed moon landing. However, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander, launched along with Resilience, landed successfully.

Shubhanshu Shukla becomes first Indian on board ISS

In June, Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla became the first Indian to enter the ISS during the Axiom-4 mission, and only the second Indian in space after Rakesh Sharma. The mission prepares him for India’s Gaganyaan launch in 2027.

Scientists capture two black holes orbiting each other for the first time

In October, scientists managed to successfully capture the first-ever radio image of two black holes orbiting each other. This phenomenon had long been theorised, but until then had never been imaged. This was because the black holes’ gravity bends light around them, making it tricky to capture. The two black holes, located in a system named OJ287, were observed using multiple radio telescopes located on Earth and even one in space. While you cannot take an image of the black holes themselves as they trap all light, you can see the disk of glowing gas called an accretion disk around them.

What does it take to reach orbit?

A common way to explain this concept is through Newton’s Cannonball, a thought experiment proposed by Isaac Newton. He imagined firing a cannonball horizontally from a very tall mountain. A slow shot would land nearby, while a faster one would land farther away. If the cannonball were fired fast enough, it would keep falling around the Earth indefinitely, because the Earth is curved and the ground drops away beneath it as it moves forward.

The same idea applies to a rocket. Here we encounter another common misconception that rockets go straight up into space to launch a satellite. If this were the case, it would fall back down the second the engines shut off. This is why rockets mostly go sideways like Newton’s cannonball. Calculations have estimated the required speed (orbital velocity) to be about 7.8 km/s or 28,000 km/ hr to reach Low Earth Orbit. Any rocket that cannot achieve such speeds will not make it to orbit.

To escape Earth’s gravity entirely for missions to other planets or moons, an object needs to go at even higher speeds of 11.2 km/s (escape velocity). Many rockets cannot achieve escape velocity, but can achieve orbital velocity, so they instead initially put their payloads in low orbits and gradually increase the size of the orbit until it escapes completely. This is what missions like Chandrayaan-3 did.

Single Stage (Sounding Rockets)

Sounding Rockets are simple and inexpensive rockets designed to carry science instruments to high altitudes to study the upper atmosphere, space weather and so on. They have a very short flight time – usually just a few minutes, after which they drop back down to the Earth. No single-stage rocket today is capable of putting a satellite in orbit, as they cannot achieve orbital velocity. They can reach areas where weather balloons can’t, while being cheaper than satellites.

Double-Stage Rockets

These are the most common types of rockets used today. They are much more efficient and necessary for putting a payload into orbit.

First Stage:

This stage contains the core rocket engines, a large fuel tank and in some cases additional strap-on boosters. They provide thrust during liftoff and get the rocket through most of the thick atmosphere. Since this requires a massive amount of thrust, the first stage is the most powerful stage of any rocket. The strap-on boosters are optional and quickly detach after providing the initial thrust. However, they are still considered part of the first stage and not as a separate stage.

Second Stage:

This stage is crucial to getting the payload into orbit. While the first stage is optimised for raw power, the second stage is optimised for efficiency and precision since it operates in a near vacuum without much air resistance. It performs precise, controlled burns, shutting down and restarting its engines as required to reach orbit. A small misfire can completely change the payload’s orbit.

Triple-stage rockets

A two-stage rocket can get you into low Earth orbit, but for satellites in Geostationary Orbit (above 35,785 km from Earth) or interplanetary missions, you sometimes need more powerful three-stage rockets.

First stage:

Has the same function in any rocket.

Second stage:

Gets the payload into a temporary orbit or a parking orbit and provides most of the orbital velocity. It has medium thrust, high efficiency and good precision.

Third stage:

This stage has low thrust as most of it was provided by the second stage. It has a very high efficiency as it operates in an almost complete vacuum. It also needs extreme precision to inject the payload into a ‘transfer orbit’ from where the payload will make its way to the final orbit using its own propulsion.

Four or more stage rockets

Rockets with four or more stages are very niche today, but were more commonly used historically when engines were much less efficient and heavy. They would be used to launch payloads into high-energy orbits. The main goal of the extra stages was to provide additional acceleration. Most of these stages were small and fired only for a short period of time, called ‘kick stages’. Such four-stage rockets also have their own issues, like higher chances of failure. They can also only be used to launch small payloads, as a higher mass makes it harder for the kick stages to speed up the craft much. Today, rocket engines have gotten more efficient, and much lighter materials are used to build them, thus largely eliminating the need for more than three stages. No modern heavy-lift launch vehicles use four or more stages, while a few small-to-medium lift rockets, such as PSLV, still do.

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ESCAPADE mission launched to study Mars

Last week, NASA’s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) spacecraft was launched on its path to Mars by a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket. The mission consists of two spacecraft that will orbit the red planet and study the effect of solar eruptions on Mars’ surface. It will also provide valuable data for future missions.

Chandrayaan-3 propulsion module re-enters moon’s influence

The main function of Chandrayaan-3’s propulsion module was to carry the lander to lunar orbit. After completing its main objective, it still had fuel left, so the SHAPE payload was activated and the module was moved to Earth orbit to observe the Earth. Even though the module orbits Earth, its orbit is so large that it crosses the Moon’s path. Recently, it got close enough to enter the Moon’s gravitational influence again as planned. This kind of event is very rare.

CME detected on another star for the first time

Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are large bursts of magnetised plasma from a star. While it is fairly common and well detected from our Sun, it had never been detected on another star until recently. Scientists analysing data from a European network of telescopes called LOFAR, found a CME had been detected from a red dwarf star called StKM 1-1262 in 2016. While there have been signs of CMEs on other stars, this is the first one to be definitively detected.

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3I/ATLAS loses its tail, further baffling scientists

Comet 3I/ATLAS is only the third interstellar object (i.e. an object from outside our solar system) to enter our neighbourhood. It has been of interest lately due to its unusual behaviour. Last week, as the comet approached the sun, it displayed a significant increase in brightness than what was explainable. In recent images, the comet seems to have lost its tail, baffling scientists who predicted a significant increase in outgassing (the process that creates the tail). Some have even pointed out that the comet might be an alien spacecraft.

Chinese astronauts’ return capsule damaged

The return of three Chinese astronauts, part of the Shenzhou-20 crew on the space station Tiangong, has been delayed indefinitely as their return capsule was damaged by space debris hours before departure. Scientists are still analysing the extent of the damage. If the spacecraft is confirmed to be unsafe, it will be ejected and returned to Earth unmanned. In such a case, the astronauts will have to return using the next crew’s module.

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ISRO launches its heaviest satellite

Very recently, ISRO successfully launched its CMS-03 communications satellite, thereby making it the heaviest satellite ever launched from Indian soil. The satellite was put into a GTO (Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit) and will eventually move into geostationary orbit about 36,000 km above the Earth. It is important to keep in mind that the CMS-03, weighing 4,410kg, is not the heaviest satellite ever built by ISRO. That record would go to GSAT-11, which, however, was launched by Arianespace, not ISRO.

Interstellar comet 31/ATLAS’ behaviour stumps scientists

Comet 31/ATLAS has been of interest to scientists and the media recently. It is only the third interstellar object (ie, an object from outside our solar system) to enter our neighbourhood. What made it even more intriguing was its recent behaviour as it approached the sun. The comet seemed to significantly increase in brightness - a phenomenon usually caused by ice subliming into gas due to the Sun’s heat. However, in this case, it seemed to increase in brightness far more rapidly than expected. Scientists are currently unable to explain this. Interestingly enough, an earlier interstellar object, 1I/‘Oumuamua, also remains a mystery because of its strange shape, motion, and lack of a comet tail.

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JAXA launches HTV-X spacecraft to ISS for the first time

Last week, Japan successfully launched its new cargo spacecraft, the HTV-X, to the ISS. The HTV-X is the successor to the HTV spacecraft previously used by JAXA. It now features numerous upgrades, including a smaller size with the same capacity, and can operate independently in space for over a year after separating from the ISS.

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ISRO studies effect of CMEs on moon’s exosphere for the first time

Last week, ISRO’s Chandrayaan-2 lunar orbiter studied the exosphere of the moon (its thin atmosphere) and identified how it is affected by the sun. The spacecraft found that Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) —large bursts of magnetised plasma from the Sun—can dislodge particles from the Moon’s surface, adding them to its atmosphere. This is the first time the effect of CMEs on the lunar exosphere is being studied.

SpaceX launches its 10,000th Starlink satellite

Last week, SpaceX successfully launched its 10,000th Starlink internet constellation satellite. It was launched on its Falcon-9 rocket carrying 28 such satellites.