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Space Renaissance International urges U.N. Flag on the Moon

This is a press released shared to Space Explored but written by the company/agency in question, not the Space Explored team. It has been slightly edited for better reading.

Hong Kong – Adriano V. Autino, CEO and Founder of Space Renaissance International (SRI), announced a bold initiative at the Aerospace Innovation Research Summit (AIR Summit) organized by the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong and “OASA”. He urged the Artemis and International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) coalitions to plant a United Nations flag on the Moon alongside their respective national flags. This gesture would signify a united human presence as our species returns to the Earth’s natural satellite after more than 50 years since the Apollo missions. This emblematic act underscores that the Moon, and space in general, is the common heritage of all humankind, not any one nation.

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Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost Mission 1 to the Moon Readies for Launch

This is a press released shared to Space Explored but written by the company/agency in question, not the Space Explored team. It has been slightly edited for better reading.

CEDAR PARK, Texas, Nov. 25, 2024 – Firefly Aerospace, the leader in end-to-end responsive space services, today announced it successfully completed environmental testing on Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander ahead of its first mission to the Moon supporting NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. Firefly is now preparing to ship the lander to Cape Canaveral, Florida, in mid-December for launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket during a six-day window that opens no earlier than mid-January 2025.

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NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for Dragonfly Mission

NASA has selected SpaceX to provide launch services for the Dragonfly mission, a rotorcraft lander mission under NASA’s New Frontiers Program, designed to explore Saturn’s moon Titan. The mission will sample materials and determine surface composition in different geologic settings, advancing our search for the building blocks of life.

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Slingshot Aerospace Awarded NOAA Contract to Develop Presentation Layer for the Traffic Coordination System for Space

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Slingshot Aerospace, Inc., the leader in AI-powered solutions for satellite tracking, space traffic coordination, and space modeling and simulation, today announced it has been awarded a $13.3 million contract by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Space Commerce (OSC) to build the TraCSS user interface. This contract includes a 12-month development period ($5.3M) with four option years.

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We might finally know what destroyed Arecibo’s massive telescope

Nearing four years ago, the Arecibo Telescope’s instrument platform collapsed and destroyed the massive radio telescope’s dish below. What caused it has still remained a massive mystery, but a new study might finally shed some light on what could have caused the loss of one of the National Science Foundation’s most important research tools.

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Starship Flight 6: SpaceX will still have a ‘human-in-the-loop’ decision before catching

Tomorrow afternoon, SpaceX is attempting to repeat the incredible and catch its second Starship booster using the two arms on the launch tower. This is a daring task, as the catch can go wrong if the booster is only a few inches off; also, no one really wants to be that close to what is basically a massive missile. But SpaceX is once again keeping a human-in-the-loop before a catch attempt is given the GO.

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This Week in Space: Starship operations could return to Florida

New photos and planning documents show potential Starship-sized expansions at SpaceX‘s Roberts Road facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The company is also planning four Falcon 9 launches this week. Meanwhile, its closest thing to a near-term competitor, Blue Origin, is gearing up to debut its New Glenn rocket.

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