Space Explored

Blue Origin Friday unveiled its Mk1 version of its Blue Moon lander that holds a contract with NASA for crewed Artemis missions. Mk1 is capable of delivering three-metric tons of cargo to anywhere on the lunar surface. However, it is only cable of landing cargo and science payloads, and is not reusable.

In an interview with CNBC, ULA CEO Tory Bruno said that they plan to fly its new Vulcan every other week by the second half of 2025. This is thanks to their new grasp on the commercial launch market that Vulcan is expected to be able to compete with SpaceX on.

After long delays due to engines and the rocket’s Centaur upper stage, ULA finally has given a launch date for when it thinks it can launch its new Vulcan rocket. In an interview with CNBC, ULA CEO Tory Bruno shared the date and a lot of other company updates we’ll expand upon in future articles.

One of the big narratives that we’ve been glued to all 2023 has been SpaceX’s Starship being sidelined by regulators. This week we saw another wet dress rehearsal, as that’s all they can do, while a large number of Fish and Wildlife personnel comb land around Starbase for their review.

One of the more crazy, and extremely exciting, missions NASA is working on for space exploration is the Dragonfly spacecraft. This car-sized drone will explore the alien world of Titan, one of the moons of Saturn, by flying around it instead of driving like its Martian counter-parts. It just received some wind tunnel testing with a half-scale test vehicle.

After years of waiting for money to upgrade the historic launch site, Russia and Kazakhstan have come to an agreement as to what to do with the place humanity began its journey into space. Sadly, it won’t be seeing any more launches in its future.

This week is an exciting week if you follow Chinese human spaceflight as we are set for the next crewed rotation launch for China’s Tiangong Space Station. Russia will also see a launch this week and over the weekend, we’ll see a double header from SpaceX.

On November 2, Virgin Galactic plans to fly its next sub-orbital spaceflight on is SpaceShipTwo spaceplane platform. This mission, like Galactic 01, is a research flight rather than a joy ride for the ultra-wealthy.

On Monday, First Lady Jill Biden and Secretary of the VA Denis McDonough visited the Space Coast as part of her Joining Forces initiative to support military families. The two started with a tour of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station facilities before returning to Patrick Space Force Base to visit a Starbase classroom and hold a round-table with military spouses.

In an era where space has become a fiercely contested domain, the U.S. Space Force faces the formidable challenge of training its personnel to excel in an environment where real-world experience is limited. As such, the military branch is leveraging advanced technologies to revolutionize its training methods, preparing guardians for the intricacies of space operations in the face of evolving threats while their expanding role.

After dodging some harsh weather, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft lifted off from the historic LC-39A launch pad at 10:19 A.M. ET on SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket. After being delayed a year, the spacecraft is finally on its way to an asteroid, of the same name, to do some good old science.

SpaceX is leading the show this week with three rocket launches from Florida’s Space Coast. The one on all of our eyes is of course NASA’s Psyche mission flying on SpaceX Falcon Heavy, a show stopping rocket and science mission all in one week!

P.S. I’m on site for this mission, yay!

Begun, the low Earth orbit satellite internet wars have – Yoda’s line sounded way more epic.

After potential delays pushing the flight of the satellite into next year, Amazon took advantage of one of its Atlas rockets to launch its first two Kuiper internet satellites to begin testing its service. This ended up being the third launch by ULA for 2023 and the 99th flight overall for the Atlas V.

A significant union has taken place in the realm of space exploration as space technology firm SpinLaunch and Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation join hands. This strategic partnership aims to redefine the global space industry, bringing together innovation and investment to pave the way for sustainable and affordable space access, according to insiders. 

A global panel of experts has released a paper outlining a set of ethical guidelines and principles for research conducted aboard commercial spaceflights, marking a significant step in ensuring the safety and inclusivity of human research in space. These guidelines are especially crucial as private companies are poised to send thousands of individuals into space in the coming decades, providing unique opportunities for research. 

In the very early hours of Thursday, SpaceX launched its 71st rocket of the year, a run truly for the record books. Of those 71 50 came from the East Coast, a milestone any company would be happy to reach, SpaceX achieved from just one region.

Tesla’s Cybertruck is gearing up to begin deliveries to customers after years from when pre-orders began. The rather unique looking electric pickup truck showed up at Starbase to film some promotional video using the large Raptor Vacuum engine.

ULA is prepared to launch the first batch of Amazon Kuiper test satellites into orbit on the final Atlas V 501 rocket. The satellites, which were initially intended for Vulcan, have been mated with the rocket and enclosed in its payload fairing. Project Kuiper’s “Protoflight” mission is set to launch Friday with a window opening up at 2:00 P.M.

Over the last week, demolition crews have torn down the old Saturn IB rocket that stood at the Alabama Welcome Center on I-65. After nearly four decades, the rocket deteriorated to the point it was deemed unsafe and efforts by local officials to renovate the rocket failed.

With today marking the first Monday of October it also marks the start of the first week of the final quarter of 2023. Seriously where has the year gone?

So now is the time to catch up with SpaceX’s 100 launch goal for the year and see if they are anywhere close from hitting it or if they even have the chance.

According to a statement given to CNBC, earlier this month the Space Force purchased services on SpaceX’s new Starshield constellation. This is the first contract SpaceX has gotten for its government focused service it has yet to share much about publicly.