Known for his contributions to cryptocurrency, Jed McCaleb has shifted his focus to outer space with his company Vast Space. By exploring artificial gravity habitats and commercial space ventures, McCaleb is expanding his reach into industries shaping the future. His journey spans from blockchain innovation to the frontiers of space exploration.
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This is a press released shared to or found by Space Explored but written by the company/agency in question, not the Space Explored team. It has been slightly edited for better reading.
Spaceflight company Orbex is to focus its operations exclusively on developing small and medium sized space rockets after switching its launch operations to SaxaVord Spaceport in Shetland.
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President-elect Trump shared on his social media platform, Truth Social, that he plans to nominate private astronaut and businessman Jared Isaacman as NASA Administrator. While Isaacman has had massive success in the private market and building his own space program, does he have the “Right Stuff” to lead the world’s premier space agency?
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Lunar Outpost, established in 2017 and headquartered in Arvada, Colorado, specializes in space robotics, lunar surface mobility, and space resources. The company is developing a range of advanced robotic systems, including the Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP) rover series, designed for exploration and resource utilization on the Moon, as well as terrestrial applications.
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This is a press released shared to or found by Space Explored but written by the company/agency in question, not the Space Explored team. It has been slightly edited for better reading.
Madrid (Spain), 2 December 2024. PLD Space, a Spanish company specializing in the development of reusable space launchers, has secured an €11 million loan from COFIDES to support the development of the launch site for its MIURA 5 rocket in Kourou, French Guiana. The company will initially invest a total of €16 million in the development, construction, and operation of this launch base, located at the CSG—Europe’s spaceport in Kourou—operated by the French Space Agency (CNES) and the European Space Agency (ESA).
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As part of an official promotion, we are now looking at the first chance we have tracked to save on SpaceX Starlink Mini AC Dual Band Satellite Wi-Fi System at $449.99 shipped via Best Buy. This is a regularly $599 setup that is now seeing sizable $149 price drop – the best we have seen since it became available in the US. The Starlink Mini comes at a bit of a premium over the older standard entry-level setup that carries a regular $350 price tag – one of the differences here is the router is separate on the standard, whereas the mini combines the two into a single unit (but the mini is also newer and has better specs overall).
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We are just a few weeks out from Starship Flight 6, but the buzz is in the air for what SpaceX plans to do next. We are now in December, which likely puts another launch out of the realm of possibility for 2024, but what exactly might we see for Flight 7?
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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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Welcome back to another edition of Terminal Count. Starship has continued to command the news cycle even after its launch last month. That will likely not change for the foreseeable future; however, NASA’s Artemis 2 mission is entering the chat with the start of SLS stacking.
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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 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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We are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for the first flight of Blue Origin‘s New Glenn rocket. It’s faint, but we can at least now see it as the company has a potentially flight-ready rocket sitting at its launch pad in Florida.
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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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The most recent launch of SpaceX’s Starship rocket showed that the company is making serious progress in getting the vehicle ready for prime time. SpaceX COO, Gwynne Shotwell, believes that Falcon and Dragon’s days are numbered, as soon as 2030.
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Over the last four years, one of the many contested decisions made by President Trump was the moving of Space Command‘s headquarters from Colorado to Alabama. While many viewed it as a political move, some viewed it as a right for the state to have.
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SpaceX‘s presence down in Starbase has continued to grow over the years as the company ramps up Starship development and flights. However, there has been a slight change in what could have been a massive expansion of SpaceX land, as the company has pulled out of a land-swap deal with the state.
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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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What do you do when you build the world’s largest and most powerful rocket? Well, you strap a banana in its payload bay and launch it into space. Bananas seemed to be the theme for Starship Flight 6, while the mission was also a major success.
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Later this afternoon, SpaceX is planning to launch its sixth Starship rocket from its facilities at Starbase, Texas. This will be a big moment for the rocket, repeating its awe-inspiring catch and restarting a Raptor engine in space. Here’s the best way to watch Starship Flight 6.
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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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Welcome to Terminal Count, the official weekly rundown of spaceflight news by Space Explored. This week, the story is once again about SpaceX and its Starship rocket. The company is gearing up for not just its sixth flight, but also for three other Falcon 9 launches this week.
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SpaceX is now attempting to fly its Starship Flight 6 mission no earlier than Tuesday, November 18, at 4:00 P.M. CST. All of the vehicle’s rocket components are at the launch site and are stacked and ready for launch.
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One of the more successful Space SPACs of recent years, AST SpaceMobile announced it has secured a multi-launch contract with Blue Origin to use its New Glenn rocket to deploy the Block 2 Bluebird satellites in 2025 and 2026.
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SpaceX has moved out its 31st Starship upper stage to the launch site ahead of Flight 6, expected on November 18. This ship has seen a few changes compared to what came before it but is only the tip of the iceberg for what is to come next.
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