Space Explored

In a rare move, SpaceX has acquired one of its vendors for $2.2 million after the parachute manufacturer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month. Named Pioneer Aerospace, the company built and sold parachute systems to both SpaceX, NASA, and the Department of Defense.

Earth and Mars are now home to flight testing programs to develop better future Martian helicopters for NASA’s Mars Sample Return Mission. NASA now has new blades for a future Martian helicopter while Ingenuity on Mars has been pushing the limits it was designed for.

The historic RL10 rocket engine, built by Aerojet Rocketdyne, is getting a big upgrade after operating for almost six decades. Using additive manufacturing, Aerojet hopes to bring new life and increased production to the engine that helped humans first reach for the stars.

According to a SEC filing, Astra Space has received another short term bridge loan to further solve its long term funding woes. The loan came from the same two providers that bailed out the company at the end of last month.

Spotted up above in a fly over, the first potential flight hardware of Blue Origin‘s New Glenn rocket might have just been seen near the company’s Florida rocket factory. The hardware appears to be a part of New Glenn’s first stage, sporting a clean coat of paint.

Rocket Lab completed payload integration of the Japanese iQPS satellite at its facility in New Zealand. The company now has a wet dress rehearsal to complete ahead of a launch, which has a NET date set for December 13.

This week we are only seeing two launches and both are from SpaceX. The obligatory SLC-40 Starlink launch and a fun little RTLS launch out of Vandenberg. By “fun little” I mean a reconnaissance satellite for the South Korean government. That mission however is also launching the first satellite for the nation of Ireland.

In two posts on his social media platform, X, Elon Musk shared that a version 2 of Starship is around the corner and will bring various improvements to the rocket. However, it sounds like there will still be a few “V1” Starships left to be tested before moving to V2.

On Thanksgiving day here in the US, ESA conducted a simulated launch static fire of the Ariane 6 first stage booster. Powered by a single Vulcain 2.1 engine, the stage burned through almost 150 tons of fuel over a seven minute burn.

A NASA official’s notes during an Advisory Council meeting shares that Blue Origin‘s first New Glenn launch could come no earlier than August 2024. NASA expects its ESCAPADE mission to be on top of that rocket, but is less confident in the launch date.

Through the year we in the media and the public regularly take shots at NASA and criticize them on a number of issues. While that’s our job to keep the agency accountable, sometimes it can sound like continued negativism.

So like what many of you here in the US will be doing tonight around the dinner table, here are three reasons I’m thankful for NASA this year.

For 20 years there has been a human presence in space on board the International Space Station (ISS). In those 20 years plenty of astronauts have made the sacrifice to be away from family and friends during Thanksgiving to continue the world’s push for new scientific discovery. Even though they are in space and remain busy, they still get the chance to celebrate the holiday.

Boeing‘s Starliner spacecraft is currently on track for its April 2024 launch date according to NASA’s Phil McAlister. However, this is all reliant on Starliner performing well during a January parachute drop test on a newly designed soft link on the spacecraft.

Phil McAlister, director of NASA’s commercial space division, said that Axiom Space and SpaceX were in talks to fly Axiom-3 from SLC-40 rather than LC-39A like in the past. This would use the newly constructed crew access tower built to bring redundancy to SpaceX’s human spaceflight operations.

NASA announced its chief civil servant, former astronaut Bob Cabana, plans to retire after this year. Jim Free, the current Associate Administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, will take the post of NASA Associate Administrator.

ULA hit another milestone in getting its first Vulcan rocket ready to launch with stacking a new Centaur V second stage on top of its booster at Cape Canaveral. This stage was rebuilt after one failed during a static fire earlier this year due to an unknown structural fault.

In a reply on his social media site X, Elon Musk shared his timeline for when he wants the next pieces of Starship flight hardware ready. However, we still don’t have any details as to what caused the RUDs of Saturday’s launch.

Over the weekend SpaceX pulled off an amazing feat by launching its Starship rocket and making it into space. While many doubted its label as a success, those that have followed rocket development and Starship’s progress will know for a fact, Starship Flight 2 was a big win and success for SpaceX.

After a rather eventful weekend, SpaceX only has one launch schedule for the week with a private Chinese company making a rare appearance, and Russia’s military launching a Soyuz 2. However, on Thanksgiving day, Arianespace and the ESA are planning a test of its Vulcain 2.1 engine down in French Guiana.

Japanese robotic space company, ispace, announced that it will fly a second Hakuto-R lunar lander to the Moon to reattempt its landing. This time, the mission will feature a micro-rover, developed by ispace, that will capture lunar regolith for NASA.

Earlier today SpaceX launched its second fully integrated Starship rocket. While it didn’t make it to Hawaii, the launch got much further than its previous flight. However, a lot still didn’t go right for the company, here’s a break down of all the bad stuff. (Here’s the good stuff article)