Space Explored

ESA announced Friday that the radar dish on its Jupiter Icey Moon Explorer (JUICE) mission isn’t deploying as fast as it should be. But have no fear. The mission isn’t in jeopardy yet, and teams have some ideas on how to fix it.

China has announced bold plans for a manned lunar base tucked away in a permanently shadowed area on the Moon, which local media says will begin construction as soon as this decade.

Five environmental and cultural-heritage organizations have sued the FAA for allowing SpaceX’s Starship rocket to launch from Boca Chica Beach in South Texas. The concerns point toward the possibility of harming the wildlife home to many endangered wildlife and restricting the cultural lands of the Comecrudo people.

The International Space Station, a feat of world cooperation, is set to live for a few more years with all its partners agreeing to extend their partnership with NASA. While the world looks to the commercial sector for a successor, the public sector will continue to fund its station until at least 2028.

After almost two years since its last powered flight to space, Virgin Galactic is finally back in the “saddle” with its first unpowered glide, post renovations. Next up, the company plans to do a powered test flight before resuming commercial spaceflights.

Space Launch Delta 30, the unit tasked with operating the Western Range, has granted a lease to the historic Space Launch Complex 6 out at Vandenberg Space Force Base to SpaceX. This brings SpaceX’s total launch sites to five, with SLC-6 being the company’s second West Coast pad.

European Space Agency’s (ESA) JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft successfully launched from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana this month. It’s the latest collaboration between ESA, NASA, and other international partners to study Jupiter’s icy moons and determine their potential habitability. Here’s a quick rundown:

ispace’s HAKUTO-R lander, which was launched last December, attempted to land on the Moon today, April 25. The mission was looking likely to be the first commercial company to successfully land a spacecraft on the Moon, but late in the landing phase, ispace lost communication with the uncrewed spacecraft.

We’re back with another busy launch week dominated by SpaceX but with a big NASA mission out of New Zealand this weekend. Check out what is launching below.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Hope spacecraft has gone where no probe has been before. Newly released data and images by the Emirates Mars Mission team on Monday revealed a new side of Mars’ smaller moon, Deimos, and evidence of its mysterious origin.

Since 2011, NASA has been barred from using any government funds (which, as a government-funded agency, is pretty much all of it) to cooperate with China. The agency’s Administrator agrees to continue this. So for an agency whose goal is to explore space and be as apolitical as possible, should they try to begin working with China?

While Thursday’s inaugural flight of Starship brought excitement, incredible images, and a roar to South Texas, it also tossed concrete miles away (and at vans). Numerous leaked images, aerial photos, and ocean-based photos have revealed the extensive damage to Stage 0. Everything you need to see has been compiled into one article.

It was a bold decision by Astra to scrap its flight-proven (ish) Rocket 3.3 vehicle for a brand new “Launch System 2,” which includes a new Rocket 4 vehicle. But it seems to be paying off with the Space Force signing on for a mission in the next few years.

NASA has issued a warning regarding a satellite expected to deorbit on April 19, posing a potential risk of harm on Earth. Here’s what we know.

Update: NASA’s retired RHESSI re-entered Earth’s atmosphere at 8:21 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, April 19, over the Sahara Desert. The agency has received no reports of damage or injury.

Reports claiming the satellite was seen as a bright flash over Kyiv, Ukraine, are false.

Two weeks ago, Virgin Orbit filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and laid off 85% of its workforce after failing to secure funding. However, it seems that doesn’t mean the company is finished, as it says it is working towards a launch later this year.

In a moment of shock and awe, SpaceX’s Starship launch vehicle lifted off from what was just a few years ago a small beach village at the southernmost point of Texas, now referred to as Starbase. While it didn’t make it to Hawaii, it did bring us closer to a new era of spaceflight – one whose launch market will most likely remain dominated by SpaceX’s innovation.

Rocket Lab announced Wednesday that they would take another big step in reusability, one of their most important, to re-fly its first flight-proven engine. The flight is guessed to take place later this year.

While SpaceX continues to ready its massive Starship rocket for flight in South Texas, the company launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida with a batch of upgraded Starlink satellites.

Liftoff atop a Falcon 9 rocket took place at 8:27 a.m. ET Wednesday, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Aboard were 21 upgraded Starlink V2 “mini” satellites bound for low Earth orbit, adding to the ever-increasing internet constellation for SpaceX.

Blue Origin has been silently working on its next launch vehicle New Glenn for years now and we may be close to seeing its first launch in 2024. As it does with its New Shepard rocket, the company plans on recovering the first stage booster for reuse. While this plan has changed some, scrapping the boat Blue initially intended to land on, recovery of the first stage is still a major part of the New Glenn system. We previously noted on Twitter that Blue Origin had acquired a building complex within Port Canaveral, formerly used by SpaceX, and we now understand that it plans to base its recovery operations there. Now, a new permit shows the next area of the port Blue is looking to call home as it inches closer to the first New Glenn launch.

Well, this was unexpected… SpaceX has added two new items to its online store, and I’ve never been more tempted to buy them. For pre-sale only, you can give the company your hard-earned cash for a large torch in the shape of Starship.

This is a great week for those of us that are Starship fans since it could (maybe), possibly, make its maiden launch on its integrated flight test. Meanwhile, SpaceX is also launching its second batch of Gen 2 Starlink satellites later this week.