Episode 417: Mind the Launch Gap

Spaceflight News— Au revoir, Ariane 5 (spacenews.com) (nasaspaceflight.com) (Payload User’s Guide PDF: arianespace.com)— Two solids provide ~90% of Ariane 5’s thrust (esa.int)— ESA plans to lean on SpaceX launches (spacenews.com)— New test facility for Ariane 6 was built in 2019 (esa.int)Short & Sweet— Varda completes pharmaceutical manufacturing test on-orbit (arstechnica.com)— Lockheed Martin completes burst test of expandable habitat (spaceref.com)— Starlink interferes with radio astronomy (spacenews.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 20 Jul, 2017: Sale of Apollo 11 bag for $1.8m (collectspace.com) (collectspace.com) (kansascity.com) (sothebys.com)— Next week (7/18 - 7/24) in 2011. Radio parasol.