PLD Space Prepare for Third Attempt at Maiden Miura 1 Flight (suborbital rocket), Russia blames Luna-25 crash on computer glitch
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https://europeanspaceflight.com/pld-space-prepare-for-third-attempt-at-maiden-miura-1-flight/> Spanish launch startup PLD Space has announced that it has kicked off a launch campaign to perform the maiden flight of its suborbital Miura 1 rocket.> The company’s first attempt to launch the maiden flight of Miura 1 on 31 May was abandoned due to high winds. The second on 17 June was automatically aborted just 0.2 seconds before liftoff. According to PLD Space, a delay of 0.1 seconds in the release of one of the rocket’s umbilicals was the cause of the last-second abort.> The flight will be launched from El Arenosillo Experimentation Centre in Huelva, Spain. The company has reserved launch windows in October and November, with the exact date of the launch expected to be announced approximately 24 hours prior to liftoff.---
https://spacenews.com/russia-blames-luna-25-crash-on-computer-glitch/> WASHINGTON — Russia says its first lunar lander mission in nearly half a century crashed in August because of faulty commands in an onboard computer during a maneuver.> Luna-25 was the first mission to the moon by Russia or the former Soviet Union since the Luna-24 sample return mission in 1976. Luna-25 encountered years of development delays, and the European Space Agency dropped out of participating on the mission after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.> Yuri Borisov, head of Roscosmos, said the agency would continue its lunar exploration efforts. “No one is going to fold their arms, and we are determined to continue the lunar program,” he said in a translated statement. “Moreover, we are considering the possibility of shifting the Luna-26 and Luna-27 missions to the left in order to get the results we need as quickly as possible.” He did not offer a revised schedule for those future missions. 