Seth Kurkowski

Today, at 12:09 P.M. ET, SpaceX will launch the next rotation of four astronauts to the International Space Station. The mission will be more than just delivering new crew members; the Crew-11 mission will see some differences that show just how the ISS program is changing.

SpaceX has been working towards finishing up its second launch pad for its Starship rocket down in Texas. With all things SpaceX does, the second version of anything sees a large swath of improvements and changes; Starbase Pad B is no different. Here is a list of some of the biggest changes SpaceX is making to it.

For the first time, an instrument on the International Space Station is being used to combat pollution entering the coast of California. Another reason NASA science is increasingly important for use here on Earth.

This week Elon Musk shared his patented vague timeline announcements for future Starship launches, “launching again in ~3 weeks.” Can SpaceX do it after Ship 36’s and Massey’s destruction? When will Starship Flight 10 actually fly?

The SpaceX Falcon 9 just hit a major launch milestone over the weekend with its 500th successful launch. While most companies would have maybe made a bigger deal out of the milestone, it was just another day for SpaceX, and the payload it flew left the mission in a veil of secrecy for a little bit.

Cameron County has approved SpaceX to build an air separator at its Starbase facility to help with liquid oxygen and nitrogen propellant. However, the locals aren’t too pleased with the development, and the county has some stipulations.

Late yesterday, President Donald Trump appointed Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy to be interim Administrator of NASA, a move that was both surprising and unprecedented. Duffy will continue in his current job while also taking on the duties of NASA Administrator.

NASA announced this week that NASA+, the agency’s new streaming service, will be making the leap to another streaming service, Netflix. However, NASA+ will still be available, for free, on the agency’s website.

SpaceX’s final Crew Dragon to roll out of the factory floor has officially arrived at the International Space Station after a successful launch with the crew of Axiom-4. With that, it brings SpaceX’s total to five crew-capable Dragon spacecraft for government and commercial use.

In a last-minute announcement, SpaceX, NASA, and Axiom Space are attempting to launch Axiom-4, the company’s fourth private astronaut mission to the ISS for about two weeks. The launch is set for 2:31 A.M. ET from LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

Earlier this week, SpaceX suffered a major setback again in its Starship development program with the total loss of Ship 36. In good news, the potential failure of the COPV that is in Starship will not affect Falcon 9’s historic launch cadence.

Tuesday, Honda’s Research and Development Company surprised the world with its announcement of a successful low-altitude hop of a test vehicle designed as a reusable rocket testbed. While Honda’s entrance into the space industry is not new, no prior word of this sort of progress in the space launch market was previously known.

Vast is working on what might just be the first commercial space station in low Earth orbit. To get the public excited about the station’s launch as soon as one year from now, the company released a VR fly through, led by Vast’s Lead Astronaut, that is available on Meta, Steam, and yes, Apple’s platforms.

SpaceX’s Starship program has hit another setback as what was expected to be its next flight-ready Starship second stage exploded on the test stand prior to an engine test. The cause of the explosion is unknown, and as of this writing, no injuries have been reported.

ULA is set to attempt its second launch of Amazon Kuiper satellites from SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. This will be Amazon’s second batch of operational satellites to be deployed as well, finally hitting a stride in getting its constellation of internet-providing satellites out there.

SpaceX has begun the process of clearing the launch site once used by its rival, now expected to be used for the company’s Starship rocket. This comes as SpaceX continues the growth of its Starship system on the East Coast but struggles to get its launch rate up at Starbase.

NASA, SpaceX, and Axiom Space have decided to postpone the launch of the Axiom-4 crew to the International Space Station pending the completion of an investigation into a leak on the Russian side of the station. The news came after a single-day delay due to another leak, this time on a Falcon 9 booster, discovered before launch.

NASA has shared that it will be shutting down many of its social accounts in favor of a more streamlined strategy with fewer accounts. The move has stirred controversy, with some thinking the change will make finding engaging content easier, while others are concerned that some NASA information won’t get shared at all.

With Starship Flight 9 in the books, we now start the long road of getting Flight 10 cleared for launch. We’ve been here a few times in the past, so what should we be looking out for?

The US Space Force is not feeling warm feelings towards its longest partner, ULA, after years of delays with the company’s new Vulcan rocket. While the company struggles to get its launch cadence up, the Space Force has been moving its missions to SpaceX for quick and seamless launches.