Two Earth-observation satellites lost in Rocketlab launch failure
CBSN
A Rocketlab Electron booster thundered away from the company's picturesque New Zealand launch site Saturday, but the rocket's two-satellite payload was lost when the vehicle suffered a malfunction just after second stage engine ignition two-and-a-half minutes after liftoff.
Counting an initial test flight in 2017, it was the third failure in 20 launchings of Rocketlab's innovative 60-foot-tall Electron rocket, designed to lift small satellites to orbit that might otherwise have to wait for rides aboard larger, more expensive boosters. It was not immediately known what went wrong, what might be required to fix it or when flights might resume. But the mishap was Rocketlab's second failure in the last eight flights, a disheartening setback in the company's drive to secure a major role in the small satellite launch market.Zhytomyr, Ukraine — Exactly 1,000 days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine, Russia's defense ministry accused Ukrainian forces on Tuesday of firing six U.S.-made and -supplied ATACMS missiles at the Russian region of Bryansk. If confirmed, it could be the first time Ukrainian troops had taken advantage of President Biden easing restrictions over the weekend on Ukraine's use of the U.S.-made missiles to strike targets deeper inside Russian territory.
President Biden's decision to allow Ukraine to fire U.S.-made and supplied missiles deeper into Russia — a major policy shift announced over the weekend after months of intense lobbying by Kyiv — has drawn a furious response from Moscow. While there was no immediate reaction directly from the man who launched the nearly three-year war on his neighboring nation, lawmakers aligned with President Vladimir Putin in Russia said Monday that the move was unacceptable and warned it could lead to a third world war.
Tel Aviv — After more than a year of bombing and homelessness, Gazans are looking to a new administration in Washington for help. President-elect Donald Trump's election victory has raised hopes and fears among the five million residents of the Palestinian territories — the warn-torn Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.