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The X-59 has been under development for years now. While its first flight is hopefully coming later this year, what do all the program’s test pilots do when there’s no plane to fly? The X-59’s lead test pilot Nils Larson and his partner Jim Less gave a good explanation with what has kept them busy.

We only have two known launches this week and both will be coming from SpaceX within a couple hours of each other. However, there is no word from the FAA if the agency has green-lit the company to return to flight.

Earlier this month, NASA selected SpaceX to be the builder of the vehicle that will be tasked with deorbiting the International Space Station in the 2030s. While no design was shared, it was said to be built on Dragon heritage hardware. In a new render, SpaceX shows off that it’s not just based on it, it’s basically just a long Dragon.

It’s that time of year again where the aviation world descends onto the city of Oshkosh, Wisconsin for the annual EAA AirVenture fly-in convention. It is also our yearly reminder that the second letter of NASA stands for “Aeronautics,” as they will have a pretty serious presence this year surrounding their X-59 supersonic test plane.

On Thursday, Astra announced its deal to be taken private by its founders and long time investors, closed, effectively removing it as a publicly traded company. Its new parent company, Apogee Parent LLC, will purchase all of its outstanding stock and all stock it doesn’t own.

Researchers Lorenzo Bruzzone and Leonardo Carrer, from the University of Trento in Italy, have identified evidence of a significant lunar cave by reanalyzing data from advanced radar technology collected more than a decade ago. Located in Mare Tranquillitatis, the region of the Apollo 11 landing, this discovery reveals critical insights into the Moon‘s subsurface structure. 

This week SpaceX founder and leader Elon Musk has decided to pull SpaceX’s headquarters from Hawthorne, California to Starbase, Texas over a pro-LGBTQ+ law. However, what this actually means is unclear, as this is not the first time Musk has moved its company to Texas over political trouble.

A new approach to spacesuit technology promises to revolutionize astronaut life support systems, ensuring sustainability and self-sufficiency in the harshest environments of space. Scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell University are addressing a significant challenge in space travel: water reclamation. Inspired by the “stillsuits” from Frank Herbert’s “Dune” novels, the new spacesuit system prototype aims to extend spacewalks and improve astronaut hygiene by recycling expelled urine into drinkable water.

Under a blistering Louisiana sun, the Artemis II core stage left the Michoud Assembly Facility this morning in New Orleans. This is the core of the massive SLS rocket that will take four astronauts to orbit the Moon for the first time in over 50 years.

In contrast to weeks past, we only have a single mission scheduled to launch this week, an Electron from New Zealand. Due to SpaceX’s anomaly mid-flight last week, its Falcon 9 rocket has been grounded until an investigation is completed.

Last night SpaceX launched its Starlink Group 9-3 mission from Vandenberg Space Force base, the mission ended in a failure in the Falcon 9’s second stage, leaving the payloads too low to reach orbit. This mark’s SpaceX’s first inflight failure since 2015’s CRS-7 flight.

On Tuesday Arianespace and ESA lifted off the long awaited Ariane 6 rocket from its launch site in French Guiana. Delivering several test satellites for multiple customers, the rocket proved it was capable of getting to orbit, however its second stage suffered an anomaly on a highly requested upgrade.

An internal NASA analysis has surfaced with concerning estimates as the agency advances toward a crewed lunar landing during the Artemis 3 mission, currently set for no earlier than September 2026. The analysis indicated a nearly one-in-three chance the lander, being developed by SpaceX, may be delayed by at least a year and a half.

Today ESA is preparing to launch its first Ariane 6 rocket from French Guiana in South America. The continent has been waiting a long time for this moment after several delays to various parts of the rocket.

Following a double header by SpaceX later today, tomorrow Arianespace and the European Space Agency are ready to attempt its first launch of its Ariane 6 rocket. After years of delays and issues, the rocket has finally made it to the launch pad.

The Canadian Space Agency has awarded MDA Space a $1 billion contract for the next phases of the Canadarm3 program. This robotic system is integral to NASA’s Gateway, a space station that will circle the Moon to support the Artemis program.

In preparation for the safe deorbit of the International Space Station after 2030, NASA has selected SpaceX to build and deliver the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle. The single-award contract, valued at $843 million, is widely regarded as critical to ensure the safe and controlled deorbiting of the decades-old laboratory, minimizing risks to populated areas.

While the launch date was still set, it was getting questionable if Polaris Dawn would actually be launching on July 12. Wednesday, the program announced a new launch date of July 31.

The European Space Agency has embarked on a collective initiative by signing contracts with Airbus Defence and Space, OHB, and Thales Alenia Space to develop large low Earth orbit satellite platforms that adhere to “Zero Debris” standards. This move aligns with ESA’s ambitious commitment to “significantly limit” the production of space debris by 2030 in hopes of making a significant step forward in space sustainability.

After four years of delays, Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket is poised for its first launch next week, aiming to restore the Continent’s independent access to space and counter the intense competition from Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The European Space Agency’s most powerful rocket is scheduled to blast off from its South American spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, at 2:00 p.m. EDT (18:00 UTC) July 9.

It’s been six months into 2024 (literally how?) so it’s time to check in on how well SpaceX is doing in getting to its 148 launch goal. So far SpaceX has had one of its best years yet, but is it enough to reach that hefty goal? We’ll see.

On this quiet holiday week, China will actually be launching more than SpaceX, and even on Fourth of July (how rude). However, we do finally get to see Firefly return to the launch site after December’s partial failure of its Alpha rocket – scheduled for late Monday evening.

Bloomberg reports that SpaceX will sell its privately held shares for a new price of $112 a piece. With a new valuation of $210 billion, it now tops the charts for US unicorns and close to being number one worldwide.

Firefly announced this week that it will expand its launch sites to two new locations, including one international location. This comes as the company is hoping to get another successful launch under its belt to bolster it as a viable competitor to SpaceX, Rocket Lab, and other larger launch companies.