Rocket Report: SpaceX set for second crew launch, Chinese firm reaches orbit

Enlarge / China's new carrier rocket CERES-1, developed by the Beijing-based high-tech company Galactic Energy, blasts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on November 7, 2020. (credit: Chen Xiao/VCG via Getty Images)

Welcome to Edition 3.23 of the Rocket Report! After virtually no vacation during this year of years, the author of this report is going to try to take most of the next two weeks off (Starship hops permitting). Because of this, the Rocket Report will not return until December 3. Thank you for your patience.

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.

Relativity Space conducts full-duration engine test. Relativity Space said Monday that the company has successfully completed a full-duration test-firing of its Aeon 1 rocket engine, running it at full power for 187 seconds. The test at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi took place with all of the engine's key components—including turbopumps, injector, and combustion chamber—operating in a flight-like configuration. Surprisingly, the company met this milestone two months ahead of schedule.