Nigeria just became the first African country to gain SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet. The internet service relies on a constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit that connect with user terminals and stations on the ground to provide low latency and high speed internet.

After about a three-year delay due to multiple reasons, Rocket Lab can now be added to the list of companies that launch out of the US. Yesterday the company lifted off from LC-2, its second launch complex out of Wallops Island, Virginia, a pad it started construction on in 2019.

Wow, it’s been a minute since I remember writing about a major Starship testing milestone out of SpaceX’s Starbase facility. But here we are to throw some more fuel to the excitement over Starship’s first launch attempt, now having a wet dress rehearsal (WDR) under its belt.

Rocket Lab’s Electron launch program is finally starting to take off, with a chance to surpass double-digit launches this year. However, the development of the company’s next launcher, Neutron, is in full swing, with facilities built and hardware being produced.

SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet has continued to expand, and new partnerships will be using the service to provide internet to even more of the general public outside of the home. These latest partnerships, with Carnival Corporation and Thor Industries, will bring Starlink service aboard Carnival Cruise line and Aida Cruise ships, and also integrate the technology into newly built RVs.

Sunday afternoon, this time without any fog, SpaceX launched USSF-67, another Falcon Heavy rocket out of LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. Starting a year that could bring us four more super heavy lift launches from the company.

2022 was another record-breaking year for SpaceX, launching 60 Falcon 9s and one Falcon Heavy, the first since 2019. That’s an average of over one launch per week and double what SpaceX could do in 2021.

That’s right, John Deere, what once was just a tractor company, is now looking at getting into the satellite business by finding a partner to supply geospatial maps to its farmers.

I feel it was just a few days ago we were talking about SpaceX wrapping up 2022 and hitting its 60th launch. With the holiday weekend over, SpaceX is right back at it launching its Falcon 9 rocket.

Back in March, some guy took to Twitter to make the bold prediction that SpaceX would launch 60 rockets this year. And surprise (to probably none of you) that guy was Elon Musk – fast forward to this morning, SpaceX just completed its 60th flight for 2022.

Earlier this week, Arianespace suffered another failure with its Vega rocket, this time with the upgraded Vega-C variant. The launch took place from the Guiana Space Centre in South America and was supposed to carry two French satellites into orbit.

On December 21, NASA reported that the Mars lander InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) missed replying to its second call from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, likely as a result of the power waning.  This led to NASA officially concluding its four-year mission on Mars. There are several elements that led to the lander’s loss of power, leading many to question how the vehicle could have been saved. Followers of the mission have common questions about how the vehicle could’ve been saved. They also ask about the fate of Mars’ other remaining operational vehicles.

Earlier this month, NASA moved the SLS engine section for Artemis 3 into the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This comes as a distinct change from previous SLS core stages like the recently flown Artemis 1 and Artemis 2, which are still being assembled at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana. The biggest questions arising from this change are what NASA’s plan for Artemis 3 is and onwards and what stirred this sudden change.

Over the weekend, we finally got word of who will fly on the mysterious dearMoon mission paid for by Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa. The crew is filled with artists from all mediums and even a media member. Check out who will be flying on dearMoon below.

It’s crazy to think it’s already been 25 days since NASA’s launched its largest and most powerful rocket to the Moon. After a decade of work, everything came together to bring us to this day, with a completed and validated deep space launch system for NASA after a successful Artemis 1 splashdown.

Back in March, NASA announced it would seek to award a contract to purchase a second lunar lander for the Artemis Program. We’re seeing many similar faces return with bids for NASA’s money, including Blue Origin with a revised National Team of other notable aerospace contractors.

At 2:42 pm ET (1:42 pm CT), SpaceX performed another static fire of their Super Heavy booster. This test was performed using 11 of the 33 Raptor 2 engines. These static fire tests are intended to test the booster and ground support equipment to prove the system’s readiness for a planned orbital flight test and many future missions supporting Starlink and eventually NASA’s Artemis Missions.

NASA and SpaceX teams successfully sent another Cargo Dragon spacecraft to the ISS on Saturday (November 26). The spacecraft is expected to remain at the Space Station for 45 days.

For the first time in 13 years, the European Space Agency has chosen a new class of astronauts. This group of 17 was chosen from a group of over 22,500 candidates and brings in five new career astronauts, 11 members of the astronaut reserve, and one astronaut with a disability as a member of the Parastronaut Feasibility Study.

That’s right! While Artemis 1 is an important mission for the return of humanity to the Moon, everyone back here on Earth has the opportunity to participate by sending messages to an iPad that resides within the Orion spacecraft. A camera will capture the message on the iPad within the capsule and share the recording, so while sending your message beyond the Moon you can spread it to other people here on Earth. And sending your message is really simple. Here’s how.

NASA’s SLS rocket is the most powerful rocket the agency has every built. It should be no surprise that the two five-segment SRBs and four RS-25 engines left behind a bit of damage at the pad. Yesterday, NASA shared some of the first photos showing the Mobile Launcher, and the damage it sustained, up close.

After launching last Wednesday, the Orion spacecraft has reached the Moon, with Snoopy as its zero-G indicator on board. This test flight around the Moon and back will prove the systems of the Orion spacecraft and the SLS rocket, allowing humans to step aboard the rocket the next time it launches ahead of our return to the Moon.

NASA’s Space Launch System rocket may have taken flight early Wednesday morning, but as with most missions, the rocket launch is only the start of it! The Orion spacecraft is on a journey to the Moon and back, proving all the systems ahead of humans stepping aboard the spacecraft on Artemis II. Here’s how you can follow with this historic mission and track Orion on its journey.