Yesterday, NASA’s Exploration Ground System (EGS) completed stacking the final component for Artemis 2’s SLS boosters, including the nosecone. This marks the completion of stacking the two Solid Rocket Boosters, which will provide most of the thrust to lift the Artemis 2 crew off the pad.

Blue Origin, the aerospace company founded by Jeff Bezos, has announced a 10% reduction in its workforce, affecting approximately 1,400 employees across its Florida, Texas, and Washington facilities. The layoffs, disclosed February 13, signal a strategic shift for the company as it moves away from heavy research and development and focuses on scaling up production of its New Glenn rocket and other key projects. 

SpaceX hasn’t stopped working on getting its Starship Flight 8 hardware ready to fly, but does it have a chance to launch by the end of February? If previous timelines are to be believed, it seems unlikely, and that’s before the FAA releases the rocket from its mishap investigation.

The Artemis program, officially named and accelerated during President Trump’s first term, aims to return astronauts to the Moon and establish a sustainable human presence. Building upon earlier initiatives, including the Constellation program under President George W. Bush, the program has faced significant delays and escalating costs. Estimates suggest that by 2025, the total expenditure could reach $93 billion.

Boeing’s Starliner program has been nearly disastrous for the last few years. With every step forward, it feels like there are two steps backward. Boeing is losing money hand over fist on Starliner, so what have they been doing?

SpaceX hasn’t given up its hope to launch Starship from Kennedy Space Center, and things are starting to pick back up over on the Space Coast. If you thought Starbase was impressive, SpaceX’s Florida version will dwarf it by comparison.

The European Space Agency has officially entered the lunar exploration race with the development of Argonaut, a next-generation lunar lander designed to transport cargo, scientific instruments, and technology to the Moon. This marks a major milestone in Europe’s space ambitions and its role in international lunar exploration efforts. 

SpaceX successfully static-fired the booster to be used for the flight of Starship Flight 8. The booster was rolled out Saturday after spending a few weeks in the MegaBay receiving its 33 Raptor engines.

The Senate committee for Commerce, Science, and Transportation, the one that oversees NASA, is holding a hearing on the potential benefits of purchasing Greenland, while the nation’s space program is in need of leadership from the nominated administrator and private astronaut, Jared Isaacman.

Tuesday morning, Blue Origin launches its 29th New Shepard mission from West Texas. While the missions have become rather mundane, this time the company was able to spin the capsule up to simulate lunar gravity for the payloads it carried.

SpaceX continues to grind away at the work needed to complete its second launch pad for its Starship rocket. The company has learned a lot from its first pad and is now getting closer to having an upgraded pad in almost every way in the near future.

While the White House may or may not be working towards canceling or drastically changing the Artemis Program, NASA is working on keeping it moving. While December’s Artemis 2 delay sounded like a “no earlier than” date, it now sounds like it’s more a “no later than” date.

In just a few months, Axiom-4 will launch on its Falcon 9 rocket to send the fourth private astronaut mission to the ISS. It plans to stay on station for two to three weeks. With it will come the return of human spaceflight from the nations of Poland and Hungary since the 1970s and 1980s.

SpaceX is still working towards a new expanded Starship presence at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Part of that will be a massive new structure that will rival NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building on the space coast horizon, called GigaBay.

You might have thought our discussion of Starliner‘s crew was over, at least until the crew returned home on SpaceX’s Crew-9 Dragon. However, it seems like President Trump and Elon Musk are looking to make Boeing’s issue a political matter by calling for their return “as soon as possible.” Even though they are safe and have had no issues staying up on the station for an extended mission.

A recent Space Capital report states that the massive defense primes of Boeing and Airbus could divest themselves of space entirely. Given the new administration’s wish to potentially sack SLS, could companies like Boeing be out of space entirely?

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SpaceX has begun the process of installing new catch arms on its second Starship launch pad down in Starbase, Texas. The company has made a large number of changes to the previous tower design as it continues to learn more about what is needed for a rapidly usable rocket.

According to Reuters, SpaceX lobbyists might have successfully convinced the newly sworn-in President Trump to shutter the National Space Council. SpaceX seems to believe the council was a “waste of time,” and the White House might think it’s too much bureaucracy.

Last week, SpaceX launched its seventh Starship rocket on a test flight that didn’t go nearly as far as many had hoped. So what’s the progress on Starship Flight 8, and how will 7’s shortcomings affect its timeline?

With President Trump’s swearing-in yesterday at noon, the government has switched hands and will now be run by a completely new list of politicians and political agents who have gained favor in Trump’s eyes. Anyone who was previously in charge is out, and that includes Administrator Bill Nelson and his deputy Pam Melroy. Nelson marked the occasion with a letter, praising those who make NASA what it is and slightly hoping that his replacement keeps Artemis around.

The Australian airliner Qantas has reported that it has had to delay flights between Johannesburg and Sydney when SpaceX launches its rockets. This has caused hours of delays as SpaceX continues to ramp up its launch cadence.

In 2017 President Trump signed Space Policy Directive 1, setting NASA on a mission to return its astronauts to the surface of the Moon using the already in development Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft. It has come a long way, survived one transition of power, but is likely to be taken to battle in Congress.

President Trump, now the 47th President of the United States, mentioned space only once during his address, and it had nothing to do with Artemis and everything to do with a destination a tad bit further away: Mars.

Last week SpaceX launched its seventh flight test of its Starship rocket. The mission was supposed to be an iterative improvement in Starship capabilities, and while the booster saw success, the upper stage ship’s mission concluded early. Now debris is showing up on island shores.