Space Explored

Earlier this month, SpaceX launched a Starlink mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base out in California. The mission resulted in a successful deployment of its satellites but a failed deorbit burn of the second stage. That failure has led to debris being found in Poland and farmers wishing for SpaceX to cover the damages.

Drama has once again emerged regarding the Starliner crew. The crew has become the subject of political debate, despite the mission’s apolitical nature. This controversy follows Elon Musk’s insults toward a former ISS commander after comments about an interview between Musk and President Donald Trump.

Yesterday, NASA’s Exploration Ground System (EGS) completed stacking the final component for Artemis 2’s SLS boosters, including the nosecone. This marks the completion of stacking the two Solid Rocket Boosters, which will provide most of the thrust to lift the Artemis 2 crew off the pad.

Blue Origin, the aerospace company founded by Jeff Bezos, has announced a 10% reduction in its workforce, affecting approximately 1,400 employees across its Florida, Texas, and Washington facilities. The layoffs, disclosed February 13, signal a strategic shift for the company as it moves away from heavy research and development and focuses on scaling up production of its New Glenn rocket and other key projects. 

SpaceX hasn’t stopped working on getting its Starship Flight 8 hardware ready to fly, but does it have a chance to launch by the end of February? If previous timelines are to be believed, it seems unlikely, and that’s before the FAA releases the rocket from its mishap investigation.

The Artemis program, officially named and accelerated during President Trump’s first term, aims to return astronauts to the Moon and establish a sustainable human presence. Building upon earlier initiatives, including the Constellation program under President George W. Bush, the program has faced significant delays and escalating costs. Estimates suggest that by 2025, the total expenditure could reach $93 billion.

Building upon recent developments in the United States’ missile defense strategy, two Republican senators have introduced legislation to fund President Donald Trump’s proposed “Iron Dome for America.” This initiative aims to establish a next-generation missile defense shield, leveraging space-based technologies to counter evolving threats from adversaries such as China and Russia. 

Boeing’s Starliner program has been nearly disastrous for the last few years. With every step forward, it feels like there are two steps backward. Boeing is losing money hand over fist on Starliner, so what have they been doing?

SpaceX hasn’t given up its hope to launch Starship from Kennedy Space Center, and things are starting to pick back up over on the Space Coast. If you thought Starbase was impressive, SpaceX’s Florida version will dwarf it by comparison.

The European Space Agency has officially entered the lunar exploration race with the development of Argonaut, a next-generation lunar lander designed to transport cargo, scientific instruments, and technology to the Moon. This marks a major milestone in Europe’s space ambitions and its role in international lunar exploration efforts. 

SpaceX successfully static-fired the booster to be used for the flight of Starship Flight 8. The booster was rolled out Saturday after spending a few weeks in the MegaBay receiving its 33 Raptor engines.

The Senate committee for Commerce, Science, and Transportation, the one that oversees NASA, is holding a hearing on the potential benefits of purchasing Greenland, while the nation’s space program is in need of leadership from the nominated administrator and private astronaut, Jared Isaacman.

Tuesday morning, Blue Origin launches its 29th New Shepard mission from West Texas. While the missions have become rather mundane, this time the company was able to spin the capsule up to simulate lunar gravity for the payloads it carried.

SpaceX continues to grind away at the work needed to complete its second launch pad for its Starship rocket. The company has learned a lot from its first pad and is now getting closer to having an upgraded pad in almost every way in the near future.

President Donald Trump’s recent executive order to develop an advanced missile defense system, referred to as the “Iron Dome for America,” has sparked significant debate. While the initiative aims to protect the United States from a range of missile threats, including ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles, it has elicited both support and criticism.

While the White House may or may not be working towards canceling or drastically changing the Artemis Program, NASA is working on keeping it moving. While December’s Artemis 2 delay sounded like a “no earlier than” date, it now sounds like it’s more a “no later than” date.

One of the crazy ideas that have been floated by President Trump in his second term has been to annex Greenland as the nation’s 51st state. The nation hosts a key Space Force Base that deals with early warning missiles coming from Russia or China.

In just a few months, Axiom-4 will launch on its Falcon 9 rocket to send the fourth private astronaut mission to the ISS. It plans to stay on station for two to three weeks. With it will come the return of human spaceflight from the nations of Poland and Hungary since the 1970s and 1980s.

Last month, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a small commercial lunar lander toward the Moon. Among its payloads is a retroreflector designed to enable precise measurements of the distance to Earth’s nearest celestial body while also testing Einstein’s theory of general relativity.

SpaceX is still working towards a new expanded Starship presence at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Part of that will be a massive new structure that will rival NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building on the space coast horizon, called GigaBay.

Tuesday morning, Boom Supersonic made its supersonic flight debut with its XB-1 test aircraft. The flight featured the first civil supersonic flight from a jet-powered aircraft made in America and was live-streamed for all to see. Using SpaceX’s Starlink and an iPhone, aviation enthusiasts were treated to some of the best in-flight views ever.

You might have thought our discussion of Starliner‘s crew was over, at least until the crew returned home on SpaceX’s Crew-9 Dragon. However, it seems like President Trump and Elon Musk are looking to make Boeing’s issue a political matter by calling for their return “as soon as possible.” Even though they are safe and have had no issues staying up on the station for an extended mission.

Boom Supersonic is working on bringing supersonic commercial air travel back. To do this, they have been working on their subscale XB-1 aircraft to test the systems needed to achieve supersonic flight. Today, the company is attempting its first supersonic flight.