Space Explored

As the deadline looms for Congress to decide on the future of commercial human spaceflight regulation, most space related insiders agree the industry is at a pivotal crossroad. The current restrictions encapsulating the “learning period” that limits the Federal Aviation Administration’s ability to regulate the safety of spaceflight participants are under scrutiny. These provisions are set to expire March 8 and United States House of Representatives and Senate negotiators are in the throes of finalizing a new long term FAA reauthorization bill. 

Sunday night into Monday morning SpaceX successfully delivered the next crew rotation for NASA to the International Space Station. This was another flawless human spaceflight mission for SpaceX, its 14th overall and second of 2024.

Japan’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, reestablished communication with Earth, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency announced. Despite the spacecraft not being expected to survive the harsh conditions of the lunar night, contact was made on February 25, offering a glimmer of hope for the mission’s continuation.

In a ceremony at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, the agency introduced its latest class of astronauts, 10 graduates ready to take humanity further into space as part of the Artemis program. Selected from over 12,000 hopefuls in 2021, these astronauts have completed rigorous training and are now poised for missions that could span from stays aboard the International Space Station or trips to the lunar surface and beyond.

In a significant series of events that underscores the volatile nature of the aerospace and defense sectors, Northrop Grumman, a titan in the industry, has issued “WARN notices” to its employees at Space Park in Redondo Beach, California, signaling potential layoffs in the near future. This move comes amid a series of financial and operational challenges, including a high-profile program cancellation by the U.S. Space Force and cost overruns on a critical NASA project.

NASA, in conjunction with the Department of Defense, has successfully completed a pivotal recovery test for the Artemis 2 mission, marking a significant stride for the agency’s endeavor to return humans to the Moon. The exercise, conducted off the San Diego coast aboard the USS San Diego, was not just a routine operation but a crucial step in ensuring the safety and success of future lunar missions.

Over the last few weeks we’ve been following the travels of Intuitive Machine‘s IM-1 mission. The first of its kind lander made several firsts, the biggest being bringing the commercial market to the lunar surface for the first time. While the mission has ended for now, there’s a lot to talk about good old Odysseus.

While it’s a rather slow week for rocket launches, SpaceX makes up for it with one big exciting mission. For the first launch of March, by just a few minutes, SpaceX will be launching Crew-8 for NASA to the ISS for a six month stay in space.

Founded in 2012 by the Gilmour brothers, Adam and James, Gilmour Space aims to position itself as an industry leader with the development of the Eris launch vehicle, a three-stage rocket engineered to transport small to medium payloads into orbit. This initiative underscores the company’s commitment to democratizing space access through innovative technology and strategic investments. 

Varda Space Industries accomplished a significant feat by safely returning a capsule to Earth, marking a pivotal moment in space material production for the company. The successful touchdown occurred at the Utah Test and Training Range, located west of Salt Lake City. 

In an experiment conducted over the weekend, surgeons stationed on Earth achieved a significant milestone by remotely controlling a small robot to perform surgery aboard the International Space Station. This highly anticipated event, involving the cutting of rubber bands as part of a surgical simulation, marks the first surgery of its kind in orbit that plays a giant leap in the development of space surgery capabilities. 

Over the last week there has been a lot going on around SpaceX‘s biggest and baddest rocket in development. While the action has returned down in Starbase for pre-IFT-3 flight tests, action might come in the future to the Space Force side of Florida’s Space Coast, according to the Department of the Air Force.

After a few weeks of featuring at least one big name launch that makes writing these articles easy, we’re back to more standard communication satellites. Two launches from SpaceX are on the schedule with a third possible over the weekend. China, not to be left out is also scheduled for a Long March 5 with an unknown payload on top.

This week Varda Space received the nations first ever Part 450 reentry license from the FAA, green lighting its W-1 mission for touchdown in the Utah desert. After eight months in space the Varda Space built capsule and Rocket Lab built spacecraft bus will finally get its chance to return its crystal experiment to Earth.

On Valentines Day SpaceX showed us its love for lifting rockets off into space with a double header from both LC-39A and SLC-40. The two launches, roughly eight hours apart, were for Intuitive Machines‘ Nova-C lunar lander and a classified payload for the US Space Force.

This week SpaceX is here with three launches, the biggest of the three being on Wednesday. Oh wait, all of SpaceX’s launches this week will be on Wednesday, fun day.

Originally only planned to last 15 days on board, Axiom‘s third mission to the International Space Station undocked after 17 full days in space. The crew will spend today in orbit before making a planned splashdown tomorrow morning off of Florida’s coast.

In a letter to employees and contractors, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced a deduction of 570 personnel between its workforce and contractors. The lab sites concerns over NASA‘s 2024 budget to continue funding the Mars Sample Return (MSR) project it is developing at high enough levels to support its team.

A group of environmentalist won an appeal to sue the Texas government over access to Boca Chica Beach near SpaceX‘s Starbase facility. Something that could make launching Starship out of there even harder than it already is as the company moves to continue expanding its presence.

This week we expect to see three rocket launches and all three will be from SpaceX. While two of those will be Starlink missions, which I guess could be exciting if we knew which boosters were flying, one of the missions will be for a new NASA science mission.

Momentus, a “last mile” in-space delivery service, is looking for a savior to give it enough cash to continue operating. The company has already laid off a large portion of its workforce and has stated it doesn’t yet have a way forward.

Last month John Deere announced a partnership with SpaceX to bring Starlink satellite internet connections to the fleets of equipment at farms around the United States and abroad. This is just one of the many technologies that farmers have adopted to increase effectiveness.