Space Explored

Lockheed Martin won a contract to build Space Force’s brand new constellation of missile warning satellites for $4.9 billion. This comes after another contract in 2018 to start research and development for these new satellites. This constellation of satellites will replace the Space Based Infrared System currently in operation.

We can likely all agree that 2020 will go down as one of the worst years in history for many reasons. Among those was the devastating effects that climate change had on the Earth, including enormous fires, prolonged droughts, etc. And for better or worse, it was all captured in a series of powerful images by NASA.

While SpaceX earns most of the headlines for booster recovery efforts, Blue Origin also plans to launch and recover their orbital rocket New Glenn as early as this year. Blue Origin currently has two rockets in various stages of development, and a sentimental step toward flying the larger of the two rockets was reached this week.

Blue Origin’s sub-orbital rocket New Shepherd currently flies and lands, but it’s still in a stage of testing before it flies paying customers to space and back. They also have been developing the heavy-lift New Glenn rocket that is already competing against SpaceX and ULA for commercial and government launch contracts.

The Federal Aviation Administration has granted a temporary flight restriction (TFR) for Brownsville, Texas, that gives the correct clearance for SpaceX to attempt its second-ever Starship 12.5 km flight. Starship serial number 9 (SN9) is set to fly — and potentially even land in one piece — as soon as Friday, January 8.

A couple of weeks ago, we reported on a mysterious radio signal (BLC-1) that had been detected by researchers at Breakthrough Listen. Originating from Proxima Centauri, the signal was quickly classified as a possible “alien transmission.” Now astronomers are figuring out how they could verify or disprove that possibility.

Ever since NASA has started sending spacecraft to other planetary bodies, we have had a system in place to make sure life here on Earth doesn’t tag along for the trip. This has been left up to NASA historically, but now the National Space Council is working on their own set of guidelines for commercial and governmental agencies to use.

The Space Development Agency under the U.S. Department of Defense has awarded SpaceX a $150 million launch contract for two flights from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The first launch under the newly awarded contract is set for September 2022, and the second flight will take place not later than March 2023. Here’s the full announcement from the SDA:

Buying a ticket to space has long been a dream that will soon become reality for some and a possibility for even more.

We’re very much in the early days of companies competing for customers who want to experience space firsthand, and 2021 is poised to be a pivotal year for companies including Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin for proving their technology is passenger-ready.

A new report published today predicts the size of the space tourism and travel market by 2030 based on the current pace of innovation. The upshot is that the number of space tourists among us could be measured in the tens of thousands by the end of the decade.

SpaceX was in the news a lot this year as it achieved many of its extraordinary goals, including 26 launches and becoming the single largest satellite operator in the world. Gwynne Shotwell, chief operating officer at SpaceX, spoke on some of these successes in a new interview with Ars Technica today.

Axiom Space is currently working on plans to develop what will be the world’s first commercial space station. The company has stated that it plans on setting up its headquarters in Houston, where it will later begin production of the bold project.

NASA tapped Astra, Firefly, and Relativity Space for its Venture Class Launch Services Demo 2 program, giving each company a contract to launch a group of smallsats into orbit to demonstrate the capabilities of their new vehicles. NASA didn’t share their reasoning for the selections or who else submitted proposals in that announcement. This information is found in a source selection statement published later in the month that addresses each company’s strengths and weaknesses.

On November 4, 2018, NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day was titled “Flying Saucer Crash Lands in Utah Desert” and was accompanied by a fitting image. Unfortunately, the image showing a mangled disk in the middle of the desert had nothing to do with extraterrestrials, but it did have quite a fantastic story behind it.

Magnetic storms have the potential to wreak havoc on power grids and communications satellites alike, posing a real danger to civilization. Because of the potential severity of this problem, the Department of Energy (DOE) is rapidly working toward a fix via a new algorithm.

Our solar system was visited by its first known interstellar object called Oumuamua in 2017. Astronomers observed and collected data on the strange object for 11 days, but the scientific community can’t seem to agree on what the object was even now.

For the extraterrestrial minded, Harvard University Professor of Science Abraham “Avi” Loeb has presented his belief of what Oumuamua actually was…

SpaceX is positioned to conduct its first mission in 2021 with a Falcon 9 rocket as early as this week. Originally expected to target today, the 45th Weather Squadron has published a Launch Mission Execution Forecast for the Falcon 9 TurkSat-5A mission.

SpaceX is working hard to get Starship SN9 ready to fly the next 12.5 km flight early this month, but there are still a few tests that need to be done prior to the next milestone.

Production at SpaceX’s Starship facility in Boca Chica, Texas, has increased with SN10 receiving its nose cone and SN11 having all of its fuel tanks stacked. Alongside the progressing next vehicles to fly are scattered ring sections ready to be assembled into SN12 and beyond. SpaceX seems to have no shortage of Starships to continue testing after SN9’s flight — even if it doesn’t survive the landing again.

In an interview with Observer, Nanoracks founder and CEO Jeff Manber dishes on his company’s ambitious plan to change how we treat dead rocket upper stages that make up the graveyard orbit around the planet.

While it only feels like 2020 was the year that refused to end for so many, the men and women aboard the International Space Station really did see 2021 arrive only to slip back into the previous year … 16 times! NASA explains…

CBS News recently had the lucky opportunity to send one of their reporters to China’s Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST). The reporter got an up-close and personal look at the inner workings of the enormous, awe-inspiring telescope.

Researchers at NASA’s Langley Research Center are working with Blue Origin in testing a new, more accurate version of flash lidar. The testing is part of NASA’s suite of lunar lander technologies that will be used as part of the Artemis program.