Space Explored

Late Thursday night, an Electron rocket lifted off from LC-1A at Rocket Lab’s private spaceport in New Zealand. On top were the final two TROPICS CubeSats of NASA’s new hurricane hunting constellation.

Yesterday we saw Virgin Galactic complete a final test flight of its whole spaceplane system with the Unity 25 flight. Now, two years after the last “final test flight,” the company is ready to begin commercial flights. Why has it taken so long?

After months of speculation, potential, and disappointments, Virgin Orbit’s fate has been sealed. It will go down in history as a company that revolutionized an industry that it eventually couldn’t keep up with.

Last month, the Japan-based company ispace attempted to land the first-ever privately funded lunar lander on the Moon. Named the HAKUTO-R, it sadly did not land softly, and NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter discovered its impact crater.

In a predictable yet a rather change of events for the company, SpaceX is joining the FAA’s side as a co-defendant on the lawsuit against the license granting Starship’s launch from South Texas. If successful, the case could delay the development of Starship back years.

A new startup called K2 Space is betting that SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket will usher in an era of “mass abundance” for satellites.

The company says that, until recently, the high cost of sending something to space has forced satellite operators to choose to build either large, very expensive spacecraft, or small satellites that are lower performing with low payload mass, but are much lower in cost.

This week is pretty exciting, with lots of activity from multiple companies and nations preparing to launch. However, the bigger story of the week will be Virgin Galactic’s return to powered flight with its VSS Unity spaceplane, its first powered flight since 2021.

Sunday afternoon, SpaceX launched the Axiom-2 mission on a week-long journey to the International Space Station. Like all crewed missions, it featured a zero-g indicator, and you can buy your own.

Sunday afternoon, the second private mission by Axiom to the International Space Station lifted off from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. This marked the first spaceflight of a Saudi female astronaut, the return to space of commander Peggy Whitson, and the start of RTLS landings for crewed Falcon 9 flights.

SpaceX is set to launch its second crewed mission for Axiom Space tomorrow afternoon on a Falcon 9 rocket. This mission will feature a unique Return To Landing Site landing at LZ-1 for the first stage, a first for a crewed mission.

Friday morning, NASA announced that the Blue Origin-led team won NASA’s contract to be the agency’s second Human Landing System for Artemis crewed missions to the Moon. Right now, its first Crewed mission is set to be Artemis 5 in 2029.

According to CNBC, former NASA assistant associate administrator Kathy Lueders is now working for SpaceX. She will now work at the company’s Starbase facility managing something related to SpaceX’s Starship program.

Generally, if you want a 3D mapping of your land, city, or building, you would have to go to solutions with aircraft or drones. However, a new company that came out of stealth mode this month wants to take the power of LiDAR and put it in orbit to 3D map the entire globe.

A company you probably have never heard of before, Vast, is looking to be the first company to launch and operate a private space station in low Earth orbit. The company announced Wednesday plans to leapfrog everyone else in the field in two years.

If you’re ever at Disney’s EPCOT theme park, you might expect to see some NASA-related gear at “Mission: SPACE” or “Spaceship Earth,” but you can actually spot some NASA-developed tech in an unlikely place: The Land Pavilion.

Ten years ago today, Astronaut Chris Hadfield released a cover of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” entirely filmed aboard the International Space Station. He released the song the same day he relinquished command of the International Space Station, and he returned to Earth in a Soyuz capsule the following day.

In an exciting new discovery, NASA’s Perseverance rover has found what appears to be the remains of an ancient riverbed on Mars. Based on evidence seen in the new images, the river could be the deepest and fastest-flowing scientists have seen yet, claims NASA.

The second most prolific US launch provider behind SpaceX has launched four missions so far this year and is set to launch much more with the company ramping up the production of its Electron rocket. The company hasn’t had an official goal like SpaceX going into the year, but after Tuesday’s earnings call, the bar has been set at 15 Electron launches for Rocket Lab.

During Tuesday’s Q1 earnings call, Rocket Lab announced it was getting another NASA launch contract, taking it from another SmallSat launcher due to long delays. That mission is NASA’s first satellite swarm and will test technology for a future constellation.

Sunday evening, on a mission dubbed “Rocket Like a Hurricane,” Rocket Lab lifted off from LC-1B at its private spaceport in New Zealand with two NASA satellites designed to study hurricanes. This is the second launch of NASA’s TROPICS mission but the first with Rocket Lab and the first pair of satellites to reach orbit.

Europe announced a study that would look into building a fully reusable rocket to further compete on the world launch stage — a direct nod to SpaceX’s success developing its Starship rocket and a further move to reusable rockets.