Space Explored

In a press briefing Tuesday, NASA managers announced that September 3 would be the next launch attempt of the Artemis 1 mission. The managers also discussed what the team is doing to resolve the problems found during Monday morning’s countdown.

On August 29, NASA worked its way through the countdown for the first launch attempt of the SLS rocket with the Artemis 1 mission. A few issues delayed the count, and ultimately led to the teams scrubbing the launch. So when will NASA attempt to launch their most powerful rocket?

While the hype was real for today’s historic launch attempt of Artemis 1, today was just not the day. Unfortunately, we don’t yet know the severity of the issues that eventually put the nail in the coffin for today’s launch, but we should hopefully know soon.

Maxar Technologies (purveyors and publishers of nearly unbelievably detailed satellite photography of earth) has released satellite photos of the NASA Artemis 1 Mission SLS Rocket sitting on the launchpad of Launch Complex 39B ready to go for liftoff early next week (Monday, August 29th as currently scheduled). See the images below they just tweeted out from their Twitter account.

At SpaceX and T-Mobile’s joint event, Elon Musk provided a bit more insight into the upgrades coming to Starlink with the Gen 2 satellites. While the main new information revealed how the companies are working to bring direct satellite connection to cell phones, he also commented on recent information about a smaller Gen 2 Starlink.

Yesterday, SpaceX and T-Mobile announced they would be holding a big event. With Musk hyping up the event as “something special” and “big news,” speculation was rife on Twitter with guesses as to what the big announcement could be. Now, it is clear that the announcement lives up to those expectations, as T-Mobile and Starlink announced Coverage Above & Beyond – a direct Starlink connection to existing phones that will bring cellular connectivity anywhere in the world, regardless of how close you are to any cell tower.

Just over a year ago, Astra went public on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, closing at $12.90 on its first day. Astra’s stock price has since plummeted to less than $1, starting a clock before it could be moved off the Nasdaq.

Hey, remember that giant telescope that launched on Christmas and blew our minds with awesome galaxy photos? Well, it’s back. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope shared its official images of the king of gas giants, Jupiter. The Webb telescope continues to blow our minds with every new picture release.

SpaceX and T-Mobile just announced a press conference that will take place tomorrow evening at 8 p.m. ET from SpaceX’s Texas development site Starbase. SpaceX said the purpose of the conference is to “announce plans to increase connectivity” without providing any other details.

After years of work, SLS sits on LC-39B ahead of its maiden flight on Artemis 1. The launch, set for the morning of August 29, will certainly be beautiful, but the rocket has already provided some brilliant views on its journey to the launch pad.

On Saturday afternoon, one of SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon capsules splashed down off the coast of Florida after a month-long stay at the International Space Station.

Humans have not set foot on the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. In just a few short years, that will change. As the Artemis I mission nears with the first launch of SLS, NASA has announced candidate locations for the human landing on the Moon that will come with Artemis III.

It looks like someone finally took the bite on using Starship to launch its payload into space instead of a lesser, non-fully reusable rocket. A Japanese company announced Friday that SpaceX will launch its communication satellite on Starship as soon as 2024.

Yet another SpaceX Dragon capsule has completed its trip to the International Space Station for CRS-25, and now the autonomous spacecraft is on its way back to Earth.

Isn’t that a nice headline to finally write? Artemis I (knock on wood) took its final rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Complex 39B. With less than two weeks until the launch date, the feeling is real that it might happen.

Today, NASA’s latest Moon rocket, SLS, will be rolling to the launchpad. After the sun sets, the crawler will begin to carry the rocket over out to LC-39B, and the rocket is scheduled to launch for the Artemis I on the morning of August 29 for an uncrewed flight around the Moon.

The launch of Artemis I has been a long-anticipated (and delayed) event. At last, the rocket is nearing its launch. With barely more than two weeks until the planned launch, the rocket is now set to head for the launchpad on Tuesday evening.

Both Booster 7 and Ship 24 were static fired for the first time this week as a second Starbase surge appeared to begin. Over in Florida, the completion of the orbital launch tower grows ever closer. 

On Tuesday, SpaceX conducted two static fires at its Starbase site in South Texas. The spacecraft being tested, Ship 24 and Booster 7, are believed to be the first SpaceX will use to launch Starship’s Orbital Flight Test as soon as this year, if you believe Elon Musk.