NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Last month, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a small commercial lunar lander toward the Moon. Among its payloads is a retroreflector designed to enable precise measurements of the distance to Earth’s nearest celestial body while also testing Einstein’s theory of general relativity.

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.

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.

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.

We finally saw the debut launch of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket last week. We also saw the first of many Starship flights of 2025. While both were considered flight data-gathering missions, one seems a little more successful than the other, and spoiler, it wasn’t SpaceX.

Checkout the podcast version of Terminal Count here.

NASA continues to get the rocket that will launch the crew of Artemis 2 to the Moon ready before the end of the year. The Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) is continuing work on stacking the Space Launch System‘s solid rocket boosters. Teams have stacked four segments, two per booster, inside the Vehicle Assembly Building. Next, NASA contractors will stack the center segments, forward-center segments, and forward segments before topping them with nose cones. Nose cones which NASA recently moved into the Vehicle Assembly Building. In all, NASA has eight more booster components to stack before finishing integration.

Last night, or early this morning, Blue Origin scrubbed its first New Glenn launch attempt after about two hours of troubleshooting problems and takes the cake for arguably the worst launch stream ever produced. Also taking place this week, Sierra Space‘s CEO departed the company without any previous announcement or reason, sparking speculation.

Checkout the podcast version of Terminal Count here.

When you think of NASA buildings, you probably think of Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Johnson Space Center in Texas, or the Jet Propulsion Laboratory out in LA. You probably don’t think of its Washington, DC, headquarters. There have been two interesting proposals made for potentially new headquarters for the agency, neither of which is in DC. Is a move even possible?

The countdown to the launch of Artemis 2 has begun. On December 19, NASA’s Exploration Ground System (EGS) team stacked another booster segment. The left aft center booster segment was added to the launch pad. This milestone officially starts the clock for Artemis 2’s launch.

On December 16, NASA hosted a select group of media representatives inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, for an exclusive briefing on the ambitious Artemis program. The event provided updates on mission preparations, challenges, and progress as NASA works toward its goal of returning humans to the Moon and landing at its South Pole.

This week we’re discussing SpaceX’s recent valuation of $350 billion, a staggering higher valuation than what was previously expected. Blue Origin is also still attempting to launch its first New Glenn rocket but is apparently battling regulators to get approval to complete its pre-launch tests.

Next year we will pass the milestone of a quarter century of a continued human presence in space thanks to the International Space Station. Led by NASA’s efforts to lead in LEO, NASA plans to take the lead in the commercial space station market as well. However, NASA’s method might not be what we expect it to be.

It will be a quiet launch week with only two days seeing orbital launches from China, Japan, and of course, SpaceX. The biggest story of the last week was with NASA; it received a nomination for the next NASA Administrator, then the outgoing Administrator announced the delay of the Artemis 2 and 3 missions.

The University of Central Florida in Orlando is launching a pioneering space medicine program, reflecting its commitment to advancing human health in extraterrestrial environments. This initiative is particularly significant for those aspiring to specialize in space medicine, as it offers a comprehensive educational pathway in this emerging field.

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?

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.

Former President Trump came away Tuesday night with a decisive Electoral College victory to return to the White House next year. With this being his second term, how could these next four years look for NASA, the Space Force, and commercial companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin?

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.