Firefly might be trying to go global. 1957281798981111924 is not a valid tweet id Firefly Aerospace has signed a memorandum of understanding with Space Cotan to build supporting infrastructure to launch the Firefly Alpha rocket from Hokkaido Spaceport. The spaceport is being built near Taiki, a town on the southeast coast of Hokkaido. Currently, the site launches sounding rockets from Pad 1. They have been building Pad 2 with hopes of attracting an orbital rocket. ******** The B-37B spaceplane is looking to launch again. Its last mission, as it turned out, was actually just to a simple GTO, leaving a low perigee of 300 km. As a result, it returned a few months ago. It is preparing for another launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket. It is planned for Thursday evening at 11:40pm EDT. This time, it is anticipated for a circular 500km orbit.
SpaceX is looking to launch the tenth Starship test flight tomorrow evening at 7:30pm EDT. This test flight was delayed when Ship 36 decided not to wait for launch and instead exploded on the test stand during fueling on June 18. Ship 37 hopefully will finally fix the problems of the last four launch attempts. SpaceX is already working on Block 3 of the Starship system. This includes the Raptor 3 engines, which will be self-shielding much better, permitting the removal of a lot of the shielding put into the rockets themselves. The Block 3 Super Heavy booster will also have the vented interstage skirt integrated on the front dome of the rocket.
I reconnected with a friend who was telling me that a relative of his just joined SpaceX. Apparently, when starship blew up during the ground test, the apparent cause was that the company that provides the high tech welding equipment for the tanks did a software update that changed settings on the back end. That messed up the quality of the welds, causing the failure of the tank. I guess the company was reticent to give SpaceX the specs before and after, so SpaceX had to reverse engineer the specs until the company decided to release the info, as losing SpaceX would be disastrous for them. SpaceX will now be programming the welding with the granular specs instead of using the “presets” that can get changed with software updates.
Looks like Starship called off today’s launch because of ground issues - something with the platform?
A Falcon 9 rocket launched Cygnus NG-23 just a bit ago. This will be the debut flight of the Cygnus XL spacecraft. It is 1.5 metres longer, giving it 9 cubic metres additional volume and 1500 kg additional mass capacity than the Enhanced Cygnus. If you're wondering what happened to NG-22, which was an Enhanced Cygnus, it was damaged during transit to Cape Canaveral back in March. It is indefinitely delayed, and it is unknown if it will ever fly. This first Cygnus XL was given the name S.S. Willie McCool. NG-24 is also planned to launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket in the first half of 2026. Northrop Grumman is planning on the debut launch of the Antares 330 later in 2026.
1970168041892614165 is not a valid tweet id Today, NASA announced the selection of Astronaut Group 24. Here are the ten new astronaut candidates: Army helicopter pilot CWO3 Ben Bailey US Geographical Survey geologist Dr. Lauren Edgar Air Force fighter pilot Maj. Adam Fuhrmann Air Force test pilot Maj. Cameron Jones SpaceX launch director Yuri Kubo Commercial test pilot and retired Naval aviator Lt. Cmdr. Rebecca Lawler SpaceX engineer and commercial astronaut Anna Meñon Medical doctor and former Naval underwater surgeon (Lieutenant) Dr. Imelda Muller Naval test pilot Lt. Cmdr. Erin Overcash Private aviation engineer and Marine reserve pilot LtCol Katherine Spies. Anna Meñon will hardly be the first previous astronaut to enter a NASA training group, as French astronaut and cosmonaut Jean-Loup Chretien also entered NASA training in the early 90s after previously training with NPO Energia and CNES. Up to four of the selectees will be the first NASA astronauts born in the 1990s; two are listed at age 34, being Dr. Muller and Cdr. Overcash. Col. Spies, at 43, is the eldest of the group.
Last Wednesday, Juno made its 76th perijove, which would mark the end of its second mission extension. Five perijoves prior, radiation damage finally fogged up Junocam. But JPL spent the previous perijove orbit annealing JunoCam by heating it up to 25 °C. It appears to have considerably improved JunoCam's condition. And it's just in time...for an uncertain future. JPL has not received funding for a third extension for Juno, but it is unknown when or how they will deorbit the probe.
Uh...tonite at 1910 hrs I observed what I assume to be a rocket with a huge contrail overhead in Imperial Beach Ca going from NW to SE.
@Macsen How are you faring? I’m pretty surprised I haven’t seen you comment on the latest (and last?) Starship 2 launch.
*breaks out the Dustbuster* Sorry for the radio silence, but work and other issues have been paralyzing on many fronts. I'm trying to work my way back into it. Thank you for your concerns. ******** The big news is that NASA has reiterated the reopening of the Human Landing System contract. Time is running out on a planned mid-2027 launch for Artemis 3. SpaceX is still closest, especially with Starship development seemingly back on track with consecutive successful launches. Ship 38 passed all its tests in its flight last Monday. It even succeeded at minimizing the burnthrough that its tail fins were experiencing during re-entry on previous successful flights. But for all of Blue Origin's bragging on that front, they are still faced with the truth: They haven't launched New Glenn in nearly a year. They are still more than a decade behind SpaceX just in terms of having an orbital rocket of any kind. There were supposed to be a few launches, including for Project Kuiper and a test for the National Reconnaissance Office. As well as the Blue Moon Pathfinder. But the only launch left on the manifest for New Glenn in 2025 is EscaPADE, currently set for November 9. EscaPADE was originally supposed to be first. Then it was supposed to be third behind BMP. Now it is second. Blue Origin is hoping to recover its booster, GS1-SN002, and immediately re-use it for Blue Moon Pathfinder in January. Blue Moon Pathfinder is Blue Origin's trump card to try to wrest the HLS from SpaceX. But as I said, they have a lot of catching up to do on many fronts. Two months' turnaround on their first reuse seems a bit pie-in-the-sky for a new booster. And that's presuming they even succeed at recovering it; something it took SpaceX twenty launches over five years to do. A failed recovery is likely to set BMP back even further. Sure, Blue Origin can point to New Shepard for "experience". But reversing lateral momentum and returning toward the launch site is far different from lifting something up and putting it down. EscaPADE is currently planned to sit in a Lissajous orbit at Sun-Earth L2 until late 2026. From there, it will knock itself back toward Earth, and do its trans-Mars injection burn at apogee. It will then take a leisurely 11-month journey to Mars, arriving in late 2027.
As I'm sure you are aware that without your posts we'd have no clue as to the space program without digging deep.
On Friday, Innospace got a launch license from Brazil. The Korean private space firm is looking to launch its microrocket, HANBIT-NANO, some time in the next month. The launch window opens today, but they've kept an exact time under wraps. The HANBIT-NANO rocket only has a capacity of 90 kg to SSO. It will use a conventional kerolox first stage (they're calling it paraffin, which can be used for kerosene) and second stage. They are also developing a methalox second stage. The launch will take place from Alcantara Space Center near Sao Luis in the northeast corner of Brazil. It's about 800 miles southeast of Guiana Space Centre, and about 2.34 °S latitude. Innospace has also made arrangements to launch from Arnhem, Australia. That spaceport is located about 250 miles east of Darwin on the north coast of the continent. This launch will carry payloads for Brazil, India, and South Korea.
Last Saturday night, JAXA launched its biggest rocket yet. The seventh flight of the H3 rocket (actually the sixth chronologically...I'll get to that) was in the H3-24W configuration. It was the first launch with four SRMs, and the first with a wider, longer fairing. At 63 metres, it is the tallest rocket Japan has ever launched. The launch occurred at 8pm EDT. It carried HTV-X1, the first of the H-II Transfer Vehicle X series of Japanese cargo carriers. Containing fresh upgrades for the Kibō module, experiments, and a set of passports to be stamped via Japan Air Lines, it was berthed with the International Space Station at Harmony nadir yesterday morning. HTV-X does not have a name. Yet. JAXA materials only refer to it at the successor of Kounotori. But that name was not applied to HTV-1, even retroactively. So it remains to be seen if a new name will be given to the HTV-X series, or if it will resume the old name in some manner. ******** Now, as for why flight 7 went before flight 6. Flight 6 of the H3 rocket was supposed to be the first launch of the H3-30S configuration, with three engines on the first stage. But a test firing this past May discovered some serious engineering issues that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries decided they needed to tackle before it could launch. It is currently shuffled behind HTV-X1 and the next flight, another H3-22S with the Michibiki 5 navigational satellite. JAXA is still hoping to launch it in JFY 2025, which could pull it as late as March 2026.
Yesterday morning, an Indian LVM3 rocket launched the GSAT-7R satellite from Pad 1, Satish Dhawan Space Centre. GSAT-7 was repurposed from INSAT-4F by the Indian Navy for military purposes. GSAT-7R will take over full-time with enhanced capabilities. Following GSAT-7R's release, ISRO demonstrated a reignition of the CE-20 engine of the C25 upper stage for the first time. ******** With the success of the launch of MetOp SG A1 in August, the European Space Agency appears to finally be ready to ramp launches of the Ariane 6 rocket. The next launch is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at 4:03pm EST. It is planned to carry Sentinel-1D, the fourth of the Sentinel-1 series as part of ESA's Copernicus meteorology program. If that goes well, then ESA would like to get Ariane 6's first pair of Galileo navigation satellites launched by the end of 2025. ******** Atlas V actually has a commercial satellite launch planned. Yeah, I know. Crazy, right? An Atlas V 551 rocket is planned to loft the Viasat-3 EMEA comsat at 9:24pm EST Wednesday evening. As suggested by the acronym, the comsat is planned to serve Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
1985846020283265319 is not a valid tweet id Yesterday, President Donald Trump renominated Shift4 CEO and commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman to be Administrator of NASA. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has been acting as NASA Administrator for the past several months, leaving NASA effectively on autopilot. At the very least, progress on Artemis 2 and Artemis 3 has continued, and the next group of NASA astronauts has been appointed. Artemis 2 is currently set with a NET date of February 5, 2026. Artemis 3 is aiming for mid-2027, but is currently dependent on progress with the Starship HLS, which SpaceX is preparing to focus on now that issues with Starship as a whole have been ironed out. For all the bluster about re-opening the HLS contract, I really think Artemis 3 is tied to Starship HLS. Actually re-awarding it to someone else would represent the end of Project Artemis, as landing would essentially be back to square one. The mission is planned to last 10 days. It will be a cislunar free return where the Orion spacecraft will go behind the moon at a distance of 7,400 km, far enough that they will never break communications with Earth. They will be testing laser communications using a 4-inch telescope module which they hope will get bandwidth up to 260 Mbps. But with ground stations only in California and New Mexico, it will only take communications for short periods during the mission. The initial phase will involve the ICPS upper stage placing Artemis 2 in a highly-eccentric 24-hour orbit, with the European Service Module conducting TLI at its perigee. Artemis 1 was propelled to the Moon by the ICPS itself. ******** Meanwhile, ESA succeeded at launching an Ariane 62 rocket yesterday with the Sentinel-1D Earth observation satellite. The Ariane 6 actually had rocketcams to show the launch from the booster's perspective, particularly separation of its SRBs. The satellite was placed in a 700-km polar SSO. The satellite made its first contact with Earth via a ground station in Antarctica during its first orbit.
EscaPADE is currently set to launch Monday afternoon at 2:51pm EST atop the second New Glenn rocket from Pad 36, Cape Canaveral. Recently, it was pushed forward to Friday. But it has since been pushed back to Monday. Given that New Glenn is still a novel launch vehicle, there might be yet more flux in the schedule. The second stage will carry a communications experiment put together by ViaSat to test if its comsats could be used for deep space communication ******** Something I discovered recently was that the personified X accounts for the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers were shut down back on June 23. 1937211613540679843 is not a valid tweet id Someone in NASA PR is a Futurama fan. Both missions are still active. Updates will now come from the unified @nasamars account, along with updates from other NASA Mars missions. Something that slipped my attention is that one of the NASA Astronaut Group 24 candidates, Dr. Lauren Edgar, has been working on the Curiosity mission from its inception. It was during that mission that she got her doctorate in geology from CalTech. Obviously, she also worked on Perseverance and Ingenuity. 1938306451757535271 is not a valid tweet id Meanwhile, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is doing barrel rolls. Weeks before reaching the milestone of 20 years since launch, it started doing large rolls while in orbit. This was an intentional set of maneuvers so JPL could see if they could use different perspectives to try to find water deposits on Mars. It specifically utilizes the probe's Shallow Radar (SHARAD) experiment to try to detect subsurface water, whether solid or liquid. This is a largely unsung part of MRO's compliment of experiments; usually what you hear most about is the HiRISE camera.
The originally planned Atlas V rocket launch for Wednesday night was delayed a day due to valve issues on the rocket. But they persisted last night, so the launch is now on an indefinite hold. The launch is supposed to be the final Atlas V launch that will go beyond LEO. There are only eleven Atlas V rockets left after this one. Five are reserved for Project Kuiper. Six are reserved for Starliner. Of course, with Starliner's future in doubt, that could open more Atlas V rockets for use. There's been little news recently on Starliner. It seems Starliner-1 has been reframed as "Post-Certification Mission 1" (PCM-1). The only astronaut attached to the flight is Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk. But a release back in July suggested things are aiming for the next Starliner flight being uncrewed with cargo. As of that point, they were still having issues with the reaction control system. One has to wonder when NASA will step in and say enough is enough. Personally, I think the writing's been on the wall ever since they told Boeing to return Calypso to Earth without its crew. Maybe that will finally happen once Jared Isaacman is confirmed as NASA Administrator. Let Boeing refocus on the Space Launch System. At least, despite its glacial pace of development and production, it actually works as intended. ******** Things aren't going very well for Sierra Space, either. Back in late September, Sierra and NASA essentially backed Dream Chaser out of active CRS development. This could at least partly be collateral damage from the failures of Starliner. NASA has placed extra scrutiny on propulsion system development, and has not yet certified Dream Chaser's propulsion system for use. Sierra Space is now aiming for a first flight for Tenacity in late 2026. And it will be a free-flying mission. On the bright side, it feels like a more coherent path forward than Starliner.
70 years ago today, North American Aviation enacted a reorganization to gear it toward rocket development. With early successes out of the X-10 Navaho rocket plane, they would create three new divisions. A rocket development division would be opened at North American's headquarters in Downey, south of downtown LA. It would work on converting the Navaho into a ballistic missile, and also develop Hound Dog, a cruise missile derived from the X-10. An Autonetics division would be opened further south in Anaheim to work on guidance systems. Its propulsion division, Rocketdyne, would move to Canoga Park on the west end of the San Fernando Valley. This would place it close to North American's test range in the Santa Susanna Mountains.
NASA seems to be consolidating a lot of its online PR. On July 18, the @nasasun X account was shut down, with alerts split between more general accounts. The personified account for Parker Solar Probe was shut down back in 2018, and folded into @nasasun. That was long before its ongoing perihelion run. Scientists are currently studying whether to extend Parker's mission beyond 2025, and try to get it all the way through an entire solar cycle at their minimum perihelion. That would undoubtedly be a tall order. Its next perihelion will be December 12.
Richard Truly was born on November 12, 1937, in Fayette, Mississippi. An Eagle Scout, he received a bachelor's in aeronautical engineering from the Navy ROTC at Georgia Tech in 1959. By the end of 1960, he had earned Naval aviator status, and was flying Vought F-8 Crusaders off the carrier USS Intrepid. He would later do a cruise with the USS Enterprise, amassing over 300 carrier landings. In the mid-60s, he cross-trained at Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards AFB. On his 28th birthday, he was announced as part of the first astronaut group for the Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory. Only a lieutenant, he would remain the second-youngest pilot ever chosen for the program. And when the program was canceled in 1969, Dick would transfer to NASA as part of Astronaut Group 7. He would serve as CAPCOM during all three Skylab missions and Apollo-Soyuz. He would then be pilot under commander Joe Engle as one of two crews for the Space Shuttle Orbiter Approach and Landing Tests with Enterprise. Engle and Truly would undoubtedly fly one of the early Shuttle missions. It ended up being STS-2 aboard Columbia. And due to launch delays, it ended up lifting off on Dick's 44th birthday. But would not remain in orbit for long due to issues with Columbia's fuel cells. They landed after 2 days instead of the intended five-day mission. They did use Canadarm for the first time, however. He would go on to command STS-8, this time aboard Challenger, with a five-man crew deploying the INSAT-1B comsat and giving TDRS-1 its first shakeout with the longest communication links to a mission since Project Apollo. Following STS-8, Truly left NASA, and became the first commander of Naval Space Command. He was promoted to lower Rear Admiral at the beginning of 1986, at which point he was detailed to NASA to become their Associate Administrator for Spaceflight and oversee the Rogers Commission to investigate the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. In 1989, he retired from the Navy as a Vice Admiral, and was appointed Administrator of NASA, the first astronaut to fill the role. He was asked to resign in May 1992; the believed cause is mishandling of development for Space Station Freedom. He would take executive positions at Georgia Tech through the mid-90s, then spend time working with the Department of Energy. In 2010, he was named to the board of directors for the Colorado School of Mines. Adm. Truly died in Genesee, Colorado, on February 27, 2024, aged 86. He left a wife and three children.
Making it soccer related, I remember a player from there (Craig Thompson?) playing for DC United back in the day.
25 years ago today, QuickBird 1 was launched atop a Kosmos-3M rocket from Site 132-1, Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The second stage failed to reignite for its circularization burn at apogee. The commercial reconnaissance satellite re-entered over Uruguay before finishing its first orbit. Its replacement, QuickBird 2, would launch successfully atop a Delta II rocket the next year, and would operate for 13 years.