Online: Cubesats and low cost launchers open space to many more users

Cubesats and low cost launchers open space to many more users
New Electronics, 10 January 2012
http://www.newelectronics.co.uk/electronics-technology/cubesats-and-low-cost-launchers-open-space-to-many-more-users/39400/

Speaking at the 2011 Summer CubeSat Workshop earlier in the year, Clyde Space CEO Craig Clark said the rationale behind UKube-1 is to demonstrate the UK's space capability, as well as to encourage students at schools and universities to take part in experiments aboard the probe. The five payloads represent a mix of commercial and academic projects.

Online: Nasa Rocket Equation Training

Beginner's Guide to Rockets
NASA, 8 January 2012
http://exploration.grc.nasa.gov/education/rocket/shortr.html

The Beginner's Guide to Rockets will help you learn the basic math and physics that govern the design and flight of rockets. We'll look at many different kinds of rockets, from stomp rockets, which are a special kind of artillery shell, to bottle rockets, to model rockets, to full scale boosters. We'll look at the similarities and the differences in these rockets and include some instructions for making and flying your own rockets.

Here's the first page of the site:
http://exploration.grc.nasa.gov/education/rocket/bgmr.html

Here's the Index:
http://exploration.grc.nasa.gov/education/rocket/shortr.html

Online: Project Bellerophon

Project Bellerophon
Purdue, 5 January 2012
https://engineering.purdue.edu/AAE/Academics/Courses/aae450/2008/spring

This site has a tremendous amount of detail on a university senior project to develop a small launch vehicle. The stated goal was to "...find the most economical method to launch very small payloads (200 grams to 5 kilograms) into low-Earth orbit." This tremendous resource looks at various aspects of launch vehicle design in very detailed ways.

One can find the final reports as PDFs, the various programs used to perform the analyses and instructions on using the software.

Online: Upper Stage Rocket Motor Reports

Kai L. Gemba's Upper Stage Rocket Motor Reports
Gemba.org, 3 January 2012
http://kai.gemba.org/index.php?page=2

As a student at California State University Long Beach, Kai Gemba was part of a team designing a liquid propellant upper stage motor for the NLV, a joint project between Garvey Spacecraft and CSULB. Several of the development reports are available at his site.

News: Space 2012: What's Blasting Off This Year

Space 2012: What’s Blasting Off This Year
Popular Mechanics, 2 January 2012
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/space/news/space-2012-whats-blasting-off-this-year?src=rss

"After a promising end to 2010, private spaceflight hit a rough patch in 2011. What's on deck for 2012? SpaceX travels to the ISS, and maybe—finally—the private space race hits full stride."

News: Pseudo-moons Orbit Earth

Pseudo-moons Orbit Earth
Sky And Telescope, 30 December 2011
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/Pseudo-moons-Orbit-Earth-136435308.html

Earth may be going steady with the Moon, but it has a bit of a wanderer’s relationship with some other nearby objects. A study by an international trio of scientists suggests that, at any given time, there is at least one meter-sized mini asteroid temporarily orbiting our planet. Caught from the population of near-Earth objects (NEOs), the “satellite” completes on average three whirls around us in less than a year before the planet and meteoroid go their separate ways.

Online: How to Design, Build, and Test Small Liquid-Fuel Rocket Engines

HOW to DESIGN, BUILD and TEST SMALL LIQUID-FUEL ROCKET ENGINES
Risacher.org, 29 December 2011
http://www.risacher.org/rocket/

also

http://www.cientificosaficionados.com/libros/cohetes.pdf [PDF, 6.3M]

This excellent book, written by Leroy J. Krzycki in the 1960's provides a good theoretical and practical overview of developing your own liquid propellant rocket motors. Although dated, it provides timeless theoretical coverage in an understandable fashion. It covers all aspects from the motor to a suitable test system.