Space Explored

This week SpaceX returns with the FAA‘s okay to resume launches, starting with ESA‘s Hera mission to the asteroid Didymos. Late-week weather around the Florida Peninsula will, however, likely delay several missions the company has.

For the next couple months, Earth will have a temporary “mini-moon.” Known as asteroid 2024 PT5, this small celestial body is approximately 33 feet (10 meters) in diameter and was only detected on August 7 by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System in South Africa. It was captured by Earth’s gravity September 29 and is expected to remain bound to the Earth-Moon system until November 25 before continuing on its heliocentric trajectory.

ULA launched its Cert-2 mission on its brand new Vulcan rocket early Friday morning. While there was an obvious anomaly in one of its solid rocket motors, the company states the mission was a success. Now ULA and the Space Force will have to review flight data in order to gain certification for its lucrative National Security Space Launch missions.

SpaceX has run into another issue with its Falcon 9 rocket’s second stage, this time having an “off-nominal” reentry burn after Crew-9‘s orbit insertion. This comes just a short time ahead of two important science missions for both NASA and ESA that have October launch windows.

It will be another quiet week with SpaceX having yet another issue with its second stage. On Friday, SpaceX hopes to return, but the more exciting mission will be Vulcan‘s second flight, also on Friday. This mission will be its second and hopefully final certification flight for NASA and the Space Force.

SpaceX launched the two person crew of Crew-9 for NASA early Saturday afternoon from SLC-40. The mission is sending a NASA astronaut and Russian cosmonaut to the ISS for a six month stay, the two spare seats will be used to bring Starliner’s crew back at the completion of their mission.

The launch of Crew-9 is underway and is set to launch at 1:17 P.M. ET from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Update: Launched!

This week, Blue Origin made another step in the right direction in getting its New Glenn rocket to the pad for launch. On Thursday, the company fueled up its New Glenn second stage and conducted a 15-second risk reduction static fire.

SpaceX is set and prepared to launch the two-person crew of Crew-9 on their Falcon 9 rocket to the ISS for a six-month stay. This marks two historic firsts for SpaceX and the US space program, SLC-40‘s first human spaceflight and the first Russian to be at the controls of an American spacecraft.

One mission concluded, one moved into its next phase, and another is getting ready to launch. Here’s a brief recap of the last few days’ worth of human spaceflight stories.

Agile Space Industries is making strides in the space propulsion sector, securing a new round of investment led by Lockheed Martin Ventures. The funds are set to fuel the expansion and development of Agile’s Mobile Payload Processing Center, with the potential for additional matching support from the Air Force Work Project, which if granted could further accelerate the development of these mobile processing units.

SpaceX is back in the Starship launch testing zone with its Starship rocket down in Starbase, Texas. The company just did its first fully stacked fueling test with the hardware intended for Flight 5. However, SpaceX is still over two months away from getting FAA approval to launch.

SpaceX recovered at least the booster engine section of its most recent Starship flight, per a photo shared by Elon Musk on X. The flight was an overall success for the company, but they are still far away from getting to where they need to be.

ULA finished assembly of its second Vulcan rocket at its Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station last week. The rocket is finishing up final checks before launching an important second certification mission for the U.S. Space Force.

In a detail-packed Forbes report, sources say that Axiom Space is struggling to make payroll, is late on payments to its contractors (including SpaceX), and has begun downsizing some aspects of the company. All this while outside capital has become increasingly difficult to find.

This week the FAA announced new fines against SpaceX for violating its launch license during Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches back in 2023. However, the company states that the FAA was a part of the decision-making for moving forward with one of the violations, and allowed it to continue with its launch.

It’s been over three months since Starship last flew a rather successful mission from South Texas. In what was a big breakthrough in the red tape, SpaceX was granted a multi-launch contract, so where are the launches?

China is leading this week in launches, but SpaceX is set (already has by publishing this) to launch yet another major ESA mission over using domestic options. Rocket Lab will also make a showing this week with a… family-specific mission name.

The Polaris Program, led by billionaire Jared Isaacman, is a series of three private space flights designed to push the boundaries of human space exploration. These missions aim to explore new frontiers while advancing technologies, reaching higher orbits, and preparing for deep space missions to destinations like the Moon and Mars. Central to the program’s vision are values like diversity, sustainability, and inspiration, all of which have become hallmarks of private space exploration.

Early Thursday morning, the crew of the Polaris Dawn mission completed its second major milestone with the completion of SpaceX‘s first commercial spacewalk. This marks another step towards SpaceX’s goal to colonize Mars using their own tech.

Early this morning, the Polaris Dawn mission reached 1,400 km above Earth’s surface. This marks the highest spaceflight since the Apollo missions and beats the records set during NASA’s Gemini program in the 1960s.

This week we’re discussing Polaris Dawn’s return to the launch pad, with a hopeful launch this time, and Blue Origin’s delay in its ESCAPADE mission. But for now, eyes are on Polaris Dawn as it attempts to launch and fight off poor weather forecasts on its historic mission.

NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, set to launch in October, is designed to investigate Jupiter’s moon Europa and its potential to harbor life. Europa is of particular interest to scientists because beneath its thick ice shell lies a massive saltwater ocean, which could contain the necessary ingredients for life: water, chemical elements, and energy sources.

The Wall Street Journal reports that SpaceX emailed employees not to travel to Brazil for business or leisure as it continues to be entangled in an X ban by the nation’s supreme court. Non-Brazilian employees were also reportedly relocated quietly.