Space Explored

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.

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?

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.