Space Explored

Yesterday, SpaceX completed a semi-successful high-altitude flight test using a prototype Starship rocket called SN8. The rocket was successfully able to launch and readjust itself in an attempt to slow its speed for landing. However, the landing ended in a fiery explosion that SpaceX says it was expecting.

On November 21, the satellite Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Its purpose is to monitor sea-level changes alongside other satellites, and today NASA received its first recordings.

On December 14, 2020, the Moon will move in front of the Sun, creating the only total eclipse that will take place this year. Unfortunately, most of you reading this article won’t be able to view the eclipse, though, due to it only be visible from Chile and Argentina in South America.

After the failure of Starliner’s first uncrewed test flight back in December 2019, Boeing and NASA are finally ready to give it another go. The aerospace company is now targeting March 29, 2021, to launch Starliner’s second uncrewed flight.

SpaceX just completed its highly anticipated, high-altitude flight test with a prototype version of its Starship rocket. Starship serial number 8 successfully launched, readjusted its position for slowing speed, and again adjusted position for landing. The actual landing itself was a total explosion heard from miles away, but that was expected.

SpaceX describes the test flight while teasing the next to come:

On Wednesday, December 9, Starship serial number 8 (SN8) lifted off from our Cameron County launch pad and successfully ascended, transitioned propellant, and performed its landing flip maneuver with precise flap control to reach its landing point. Low pressure in the fuel header tank during the landing burn led to high touchdown velocity resulting in a hard (and exciting!) landing. Re-watch SN8’s flight here.

Thank you to all the locals supporting our efforts in Cameron County and beyond. Congratulations to the entire Starship and SpaceX teams on today’s test! Serial number 9 (SN9) is up next – Mars, here we come!

This year’s winter solstice will bring something special in regards to the planets in our solar system. Saturn and Jupiter will be appearing closer in the night sky than they have since July 16, 1623.

Bengaluru-based company Pixxel is a new satellite startup formed in 2019 by a couple of 21-year-olds. Now, after lots of hard work and funding, the company has signed a deal to launch its first imaging satellite into orbit.

NASA’s Artemis space program is set to send humans back to the Moon for the first time since 1972. The program’s current goals are to send humans around the Moon in 2023, then land humans on the Moon as soon as 2024. Today, NASA announced the 18 astronauts being considered for the prestigious program.

After a successful launch on Sunday, the booster that lofted the new cargo Dragon capsule to the International Space Station returned to Port Canaveral this morning.

The Space Development Agency announced in October that SpaceX and L3Harris would each build four missile tracking satellites. These satellites would build out the Tranche 0 part of the tracking layer for the National Defense Space Architecture, but both Raytheon and Airbus have filed several protests that have brought finishing the contracts to a halt.

December 8: Raptor engine auto-aborted at T-1 second before liftoff. SpaceX standing down today. Stay tuned for updates.

December 9: SpaceX may be planning to attempt the launch this afternoon. Stay tuned for update-to-date coverage throughout today. We’ll provide our livestream coverage from South Texas shortly before liftoff.

Space Explored is on-site in South Texas to capture and live stream the test flight from the ground:

The moment of truth has arrived for SpaceX’s Starship Serial Number 8 prototype: can the vehicle launch, reach 12.5 kilometers, and complete a landing maneuver? The stakes are low for SN8 as SpaceX already has the next two prototype versions of Starship queued up with improvements. The high-altitude flight test remains a tremendous deal for the development of SpaceX’s next-generation launch vehicle, however. Here’s how SpaceX frames today’s test:

NASA awarded three distinct human landing system proposals from Blue Origin, Dynetics, and SpaceX for further development in April. These 21st-century human landing systems are designed to transfer astronauts from the Orion spacecraft to the surface of the Moon on Artemis missions happening this decade. Blue Origin, which leads the National Team, shared a major update on its HLS progress today.

A new report put out by The Debrief discusses some of what goes on behind the scenes at the Pentagon’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF). The report includes a handful of testimonials made by current senior US officials who have knowledge of or have been a part of the secretive task force.

According to Ars Technica, Vice President Mike Pence will be announcing a group of 18 astronauts who will be considered for NASA’s Artemis Program. Some of which could even be lucky enough to set foot on the moon.

A new deorbit system for satellites created by Tethers Unlimited is being tested by Millennium Space Systems. The deorbit system is called “terminator tape,” and it is designed to induce drag on satellites, causing them to ultimately fall back into Earth’s atmosphere and burn up.

Boeing is currently developing a new spacecraft called Starliner that will be used to send astronauts to the International Space Station from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This week Boeing released footage of its sixth and final parachute test as it progresses toward its next uncrewed test flight using Starliner.

During a presentation to advisory committees, NASA discussed the idea of having a constellation of commercial communications satellites in orbit around Mars. The satellites could then serve as a data relay system for future missions to the Martian planet.