According to two sources, SpaceX could be getting its FAA launch license for its Starship launch vehicle. If true, this could lead to Elon Musk’s state of launching in late April actually being accurate (I SAID STOP LAUGHING).
It looked like Boeing would have a fantastic April with the launch of its first crewed flight of the Starliner spacecraft. However, now it seems like we’re going to have to wait until July before we see this milestone launch from the company to the International Space Station.
SpaceX is aiming to launch 100 rockets this year, another big increase from what the company did in 2022. That will mean they will have to launch on average every three to four days. Will SpaceX be able to pull it off? Keep track below of all of SpaceX’s 2023 launches.
The European Space Agency’s High-Level Advisory Group (HLAG) released a report on the current state of Europe’s human exploration program. It calls for the continent to go all in on space, or risk being left in the dust.
Europe has become a key partner in many of NASA’s programs, including the Artemis Program. However, the continent’s space agency seems to have much more ambitious plans, rather than just helping NASA with its goals. The ESA’s HLAG report makes it clear that its objective should be to bolster its commercial market with its own human exploration program, including low Earth orbit and the Moon.
With more people living and working in low Earth orbit, and eventually in deep space at the Moon or beyond, the need for a licensing framework for practicing medicine in space is becoming paramount.
The global space economy is forecast to be a trillion dollar industry by 2040, according to experts. As more people work or travel in space, the likelihood of accidents or other medical situations will increase.
It looks like we will be getting an update on Astra’s progress on its Launch System 2 next month with the company’s second annual “Spacetech Day” event. The event will also cover the company’s electric propulsion system.
In contrast to the last few weeks, this week is relativity quiet in modern space launch terms. However, we do have the possibility of two SpaceX launches within 24 hours of each other again if launch dates hold and the weather is good.
Teams have assembled the main structures of NASA’s Artemis 2 Core Stage at New Orleans Michoud Assembly Facility, another step closer to getting the rocket ready for launch.
Small rocket startup Stoke Space recently received funding from Breakthrough Energy, an investment firm founded by Bill Gates.
Stoke Space was founded by Andy Lapsa and Tom Feldman in 2019 to develop a clean-fueled, fully-reusable two-stage rocket. Lapsa was formerly responsible for the development and operation of Blue Origin’s BE-3 and BE-4 engines.
The engines that are being developed for Stoke Space’s rocket utilize liquid oxygen and liquid natural gas, which burns cleaner than kerosene — one of the more common rocket propellant fuels, today.
Last September, Blue Origin suffered an inflight failure of an uncrewed New Shepard rocket. Friday, the company released its findings from its investigation into the failure.
The leader in smallsat launches, Rocket Lab, is hoping to have its biggest year yet. Last year Rocket Lab launched nine rockets out of New Zealand, and this year we expect them to finally get into double digits. Rocket Lab has yet to confirm a launch date for its next Electron launch.
Unless you’re a night owl, you probably missed that last night Rocket Lab launched its third Electron rocket of the year and carrying its final contracted mission for satellite builder BlackSky. This mission also featured the year’s first recovery mission for Electron’s first stage.
Unlike SpaceX, Rocket Lab doesn’t have a public goal set for the number of launches this year, but a clear one has emerged. For the first time Rocket Lab, with its Electron rocket, could reach double-digit launches in 2023; here’s a list of all of them to help you keep track.
SpaceX has encountered some issues with its brand new “V2 mini” Starlink satellites. Avid watchers of the company’s satellites have spotted many lowering their altitudes over the last week.
Over screams of excitement, Relativity’s livestream hosts continued to update us on Terran 1’s maiden launch and the making of history. While the rocket didn’t end up making it into orbit, it just barely crossed over the boundary of space and far exceeded the mission’s milestones, still bringing joy to the host’s voices, even while announcing the failure.
Tonight, Relativity will have its third attempt at getting its Terran 1 rocket into space for the first time. Right now, Relativity has the Good Luck Have Fun launch window opening at 10:00 p.m. EST and going until 1:00 a.m. EST.
OneWeb is nearing the completion of its broadband internet constellation, a project that’s overcome a number of setbacks over the years, including a global pandemic and Europe’s largest conflict since World War II.
The company’s most recent batch launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on March 9, 2023. A final dedicated launch from India is expected within the next week. However, the original plan was to fly all of the constellation’s satellites atop Russia’s Soyuz rocket.
That was before Russia’s war in Ukraine, which resulted in the suspension of all Soyuz launches for Western customers. That included OneWeb, which now has 36 spacecraft worth an estimated $50 million dollars stuck at Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome launch site with no clear resolution for getting the satellites back.
Last week we saw the first major collapse of a recent commercial space company, with Virgin Orbit furloughing its entire staff except for a handful of employees. However, there are some signs of hope, as tomorrow more employees will return for work with more coming later.
It’s been a turbulent week for Virgin Orbit, headquartered out of Long Beach California. The company suspended all operations and furloughed most of its workforce for a week as it sought relief by raising funds to rescue its rocket-flying business, according to sources close to the matter on March 15.
During a 5 p.m. EDT meeting that day, company higher-ups explained that employees could cash in their paid time off as the furlough would be unpaid with a small team remaining in place continuing to work.
LauncherOne is a two-stage rocket — powered by liquid oxygen and rocket grade kerosene — that can send small payloads into low Earth orbit after being air-launched by a modified 747 aircraft. Credit: Virgin Orbit
During the third quarter of 2022, Virgin Orbit reported a loss of $42.9 million as cash demands continued, with fourth quarter funding coming from an investment arm of its founder Richard Branson’s parent company, Virgin Group.
Notes in the amounts of $25 million, an unsecured convertible note secured in November of 2022, along with another $30 million in senior secured notes in December 2022 and January 2023 gives “first priority” access to assets by Branson’s parent company.
Have these last two weeks flown by for anyone else or just me? I don’t think we have ever been closer to seeing SpaceX’s first Starship orbital launch than we are now. But, according to two SpaceXers, we are just waiting on the FAA’s approval.
Friday, SpaceX launched two missions from both coasts of the United States to bring its rate back up, closer to its goal. With these launches in the books, SpaceX has launched 19 missions with 20 successful booster landings.
Thursday evening Rocket Lab launched once again from its Virginia launch site at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. This was the company’s second launch of the year, both coming from LC-2.
Earlier this week, LockBit, a ransomware gang that operates largely on the dark web, posted to its website claiming to have obtained proprietary designs from a SpaceX contractor. Now the gang has shared evidence of the alleged leak, along with a threatening message to Elon Musk.
NASA is returning humanity to the Moon for the first time in over 50 years, but this time powered by the growing commercial space industry. To walk on the Moon, you need a few essential tools to survive. One of those was unveiled today – a space suit.
According to CNBC’s Michael Sheetz, Virgin Orbit will be shutting down and furloughing its employees for at least one week while it looks for funding to continue operations.
Tuesday, Arianespace announced it signed a new contract for two launches, with an option of a third, from the European Space Agency and the Italian Government. However, no response has been made on the validity of Vega-C’s failure investigation.
SpaceX is set to launch a Falcon 9 from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on March 17, 2023, at 7:38 p.m. EDT. This launch will carry the SES-18 and SES-19 communications satellites to a Geostationary Transfer Orbit.
Aviation experts at NASA are preparing the tools that will be needed for safe and easy navigation of future air taxis and drone services, and to facilitate that work they’ve teamed up with advanced air mobility (AAM) aircraft developer Joby.
Hot on the heels of the splashdown of the Crew-5 mission, SpaceX launched the uncrewed CRS-27 Dragon spacecraft to resupply the International Space Station.
Liftoff atop a Falcon 9 rocket came at 8:30 p.m. EDT March 14, 2023, from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The autonomous spacecraft is set to dock to the ISS about a day later to deliver some 6,000 pounds (2,700 kilograms) of supplies to the seven-person Expedition 68 crew living aboard the orbiting laboratory.
The Falcon 9 first stage that flew in support of this mission, B1073, successfully landed on the SpaceX drone ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas” less than 10 minutes after launch, which was positioned downrange in the Atlantic Ocean. This was the seventh recovery for this booster.
Overall, this was SpaceX’s 17th launch of 2023 — the 16th for a Falcon 9 rocket. The company plans to fly as many as 100 missions this year.
SpaceX is set to deliver thousands of pounds of hardware and science experiments to the International Space Station as part of the uncrewed CRS-27 Dragon resupply mission.
Liftoff atop a Falcon 9 rocket is slated for 8:25 p.m. EDT March 14 (12:25 UTC March 15), 2023, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This will be the 27th resupply mission to the orbiting laboratory under the company’s Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA.
Amazon is now offering the Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 102AZ 102mm Refractor Telescope for $338.84 shipped. Normally going for $399, as it does over at B&H, this 15% discount, or solid $60 price drop marks a new all-time Amazon low price we’ve seen for this telescope model. This is also only the third price cut to date. The StarSense lineup of telescopes from Celestron aims to simplify the experience of observing the night sky with your phone being used to guide you to targets using the StarSense Explorer app and you don’t even need to have service for this to work as it is self-contained. For those who like more specific details, this telescope uses a 102mm refractor optical tube for observing deep-sky objects with the manual alt-azimuth mount supporting the telescope, plus you get a 25mm eyepiece which is best for DSOs, planets, and the moon, and a 10mm eyepiece which is best for detailed views of the Lunar surface and planetary details. The dwarf planet Ceres reaches opposition at the end of March so then will be the best time to try and catch a glimpse of it through this scope. Head below for more.
Last week, the US saw the second biggest bank closure in history, with the FDIC taking over Silicon Valley Bank. While SVB specialized in tech startups, space companies also used the bank, including Astra, Rocket Lab, and more.
With the success of NASA’s Artemis 1 mission, the debut of the agency’s Space Launch System rocket, we are eagerly waiting to see who will fly on Artemis 2, the first crewed flight to the Moon in over 50 years. When will NASA announce Artemis 2’s crew assignments?
SpaceX is set to launch a Falcon 9 from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 14, 2022, at 8:30 p.m. EDT. This launch will carry a Cargo Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station carrying food, science, and other supplies for the Commercial Resupply Services 27 (CRS-27) mission.
The premier spaceport in the world, Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station has everything companies need to start launching its rockets to space. Four new companies will join those already operating there with new launch pad allocations by the Space Force.
Earlier today, SpaceX launched another set of satellites to fill out OneWeb’s internet providing constellation of satellites. Today’s launch saw 40 OneWeb satellites launched by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket out of SLC-40 in Florida.
On Wednesday afternoon, Relativity attempted to launch its first Terran 1 rocket out of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. However, it was not in the cards as the company used up its three-hour window troubleshooting the countdown, but they will be back out there this weekend.
I’ve came across some new details about JAXA’s H3 launch Monday that might change how we look at its failure. We mentioned that inside its payload fairing was the Advanced Land Observing Satellite 3 (ALOS 3), and it turns out that was not a cheap satellite.
Later today, Relativity is planning to launch its first rocket in the company’s history to orbit. The Terran 1 is currently on Space Launch Complex 16 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, awaiting launch.
Last week, SpaceX launched its first set of Starlink V2 Mini satellites, which will help the company build out their internet service to be more financially viable. Now, a company has shared imagery of one of these satellites with its solar panels deployed which they captured using on-orbit assets.
Last night Japan attempted to launch its H3 rocket carrying the Advanced Land Observing Satellites 3 (ALOS 3). However, while the first stage and solid rocket boosters performed nominally, the second stage failed to light.
Friday, Arianespace released its findings from its independent review commission’s investigation into December’s Vega-C failure, blaming a Ukrainian supplier. Now, it looks like Ukraine disagrees with the commission’s findings.
With humanity on the cusp of returning astronauts to deep space, one organization is attempting to garner support to give the Moon a time zone.
Spearheading this is the European Space Agency, which says space organizations agree “a common lunar reference time” for timekeeping is important for all lunar systems to reference, be they robotic missions or human surface stays.
This week is gearing up to be an exciting spectacle of launches. While not the most packed we’ve seen in the past, we could see the debut of two new rockets.
I really hope this isn’t your first time learning about the three Chinese astronauts (taikonauts) currently on orbit Earth at their nation’s space station. However, earlier this week, two taikonauts performed a spacewalk outside the Tiangong space station but to no fan fair from its space agency.
The highly anticipated sequel to one of the most popular space simulation games, Kerbal Space Program 2, is now available in early access after experiencing a few years of delays. While you can pick up this game for $50, the biggest question people have had so far is “should I?” There are a lot of factors that will play into this decision, and we will discuss some of them below. Ultimately, we can’t make the decision for you and it will require work on your end to make the final call.
On December 22, Arianespace launched its second-ever Vega-C rocket from the Guiana Space Centre in South America. However, the launch failed shortly after the second stage ignition, and now we know why.
