Space Explored

Lockheed Martin’s Orion capsule is a spacecraft designed for deep space exploration. Developed in collaboration with NASA, the spacecraft will be used to send astronauts to the vicinity of the Moon under the Artemis program.

SpaceX is diligently working towards achieving another successful launch of its Starship rocket later this year. The previous launch resulted in damages that necessitated repairs to the orbital pad and even led to a lawsuit. Despite these setbacks, SpaceX is making progress towards its next launch campaign.

SpaceX is having an outstanding year with its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket, boasting 49 launches currently on the books. The company is also making remarkable progress in Starship development, and it appears it will generate significant revenue by year-end.

Late last night, Rocket Lab conducted its seventh rocket launch of the year. This mission, named “Baby Come Back,” involved a rideshare of several CubeSats into orbit from New Zealand. The launch concluded with the successful recovery of the booster of the Electron rocket.

Pulsar Fusion, a UK aerospace company, is making significant strides in the development of a groundbreaking nuclear fusion rocket engine, according to those close to the project.

In a surprising move, the Australian government has made the decision to terminate the ambitious National Space Mission for Earth Observation, a billion-dollar project that aimed to establish a state-of-the-art satellite system for a range of monitoring purposes.

Only and little over a month after its first commercial launch, Virgin Galactic, on July 13, 2023, has announced its second commercial launch attempt, called Galactic 02, launching no earlier than August 10. Additionally, this flight will be the first private astronaut mission for the company.

In the early hours here in the United States, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) launched its largest and most powerful rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. Atop the rocket was the nation’s second attempt to land on the Moon, this time with an improved lander.

Europe is currently grappling with a temporary setback with its ability to launch payloads into space, prompting a heightened reliance on SpaceX for launching vital science and navigation spacecraft. 

Houston-based Axiom Space has been granted a significant task order by NASA to modify its Artemis 3 lunar spacesuit design for International Space Station’s spacewalking capabilities.

If you take a drive through Cocoa Beach, Florida and put “900 N Atlantic Ave” in your navigation, you can easily find a bite to eat and a place to stay but you would also be at the starting point for one of the great stories of the Gemini Program. You’d be standing at what used to be the location of Wolfie’s.

NASA’s Artemis program and the preparations for the Artemis 2 mission are in full swing. Flight hardware is arriving at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to construct the giant SLS rocket, and crewed hardware is also being delivered. The Artemis astronauts’ first ride on launch day is now in procession of Canoo’s fully electric crew transport vehicles.

After Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter last year, I wondered if he would utilize the platform to enhance the coverage of his companies. It turns out that my thought was correct. On Friday, during the Starlink launch from Vandenberg, SpaceX introduced multiple streams on Twitter, offering different views of the launch.

The Spaceport Company, a pioneering player in the space industry composed of launch system and maritime experts, has received a significant boost in funding from the Department of Defense to develop mobile sea-based launch platforms.

In a departure from historical precedent, SpaceX and the FAA find themselves in agreement as both parties file motions to have the lawsuit against Starship dismissed. This development comes as SpaceX prepares for additional rounds of pre-launch testing in Boca Chica.

Four volunteers have embarked on a one-year mock mission to Mars at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. This is the first of three-year-long missions, which are part of NASA’s Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog, or CHAPEA. Mission 1 commenced on June 25.

Yesterday marked the end of an era for European space launches with the final flight of the Ariane 5 rocket. With the mission completed, Europe now finds itself in a precarious position without an available launcher in the short term.

Did you know that operators spent a little over two months without communication with the helicopter on the surface of Mars? Its 50th flight, back in April of this year, was a record-breaking flight for the rotorcraft, called Ingenuity.

This week we have a few launches out of the Americas, one that is bittersweet, then two that will feel normal to all of us. The bittersweet one will of course be the Ariane 5’s final flight before retirement.

In a momentous event in the field of astrophysics, SpaceX successfully launched the Euclid mission in collaboration with the European Space Agency. 

On Thursday morning, Virgin Galactic successfully completed its inaugural commercial flight with a crew consisting of four passengers and two pilots. This flight distinguished itself from previous ventures by both Blue Origin and Virgin, as it focused solely on business rather than leisure.