Spaceflight
- • 100%spacenews.com NASA selects Intuitive Machines for lunar communications and navigation services
Intuitive Machines has won a NASA contract worth up to $4.8 billion to provide communications and navigation services at the moon to support Artemis.
- • 100%arstechnica.com A key NASA commercial partner faces severe financial challenges
"The business model had to change."
- • 81%spacenews.com War game reveals Chinese attacks on communications could paralyze Taiwan
War games analyze a scenario where China disables Taiwan's communications networks in order to invade the country.
- • 100%spacenews.com Launch companies focus on scaling up flight rates of new vehicles
Companies that are fielding new launch vehicles are now facing the challenge of scaling up operations to meet the continued high demand for them.
- • 100%arstechnica.com Google backs privately funded satellite constellation for wildfire detection
"Authorities will have high-resolution imagery that is updated globally every 20 minutes."
- • 100%spacenews.com Connecting the dots | FCC’s space sustainability authority in question as need grows
Pressure is mounting on the Federal Communications Commission to do more to protect the environment from rising megaconstellations.
- www.nasaspaceflight.com Launch Roundup: Falcon 9 and Electron to extend satellite constellations - NASASpaceFlight.com
This week’s manifest includes the delayed launches of a Falcon 9 with Galileo global positioning…
- • 100%spacenews.com NGSO revenue to overtake geostationary market by 2028
Constellations in non-geostationary orbit are set to overtake geostationary satellites in revenue by 2028, according to Novaspace research published Sept. 15.
- • 100%spacenews.com Software fix planned to correct Ariane 6 upper stage issue
European officials say a software change should fix a problem on the inaugural Ariane 6 launch in July that kept the rocket’s upper stage from restarting.
- arstechnica.com Rocket Report: China leaps into rocket reuse; 19 people are currently in orbit
Launch startups in China and Europe are borrowing ideas and rhetoric from SpaceX.
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- arstechnica.com The future of Boeing’s crewed spaceflight program is muddy after Starliner’s return
"The final chapter on Starliner has not been written yet."
- • 95%spacenews.com The invisible battle for space dominance
How the Space Force is gearing up for the electromagnetic battlefield in space.
- • 90%spacenews.com Foust Forward | Auditing the auditors
NASA pushes back on audit overload, but accountability remains essential
- spacenews.com Second ispace lunar lander planned for launch in December
Japan's ispace expects to launch its second lunar lander as soon as December, one of three companies planning missions to the moon by the end of the year.
- www.nasaspaceflight.com Firefly preparing new launch pads in Virginia, Sweden for Alpha rocket - NASASpaceFlight.com
Firefly Aerospace, the decade-old spaceflight company based in Cedar Park, Texas, is now working on…
- spacenews.com Ice-hunting Lunar Trailblazer and IM-2 nearly ready for January 2025 launch
Lunar Trailblazer and the Intuitive Machines IM-2 are both preparing for a Jan. 2025 launch to hunt for ice on the moon.
- • 96%spacenews.com Report highlights severe infrastructure challenges at NASA
A new report concludes that infrastructure and workforce challenges will soon require NASA to make tough choices about what missions to conduct.
- • 80%arstechnica.com Two private astronauts took a spacewalk Thursday morning—yes, it was historic
"Today’s success represents a giant leap forward for the commercial space industry."
- • 100%spacenews.com Landspace completes 10-kilometer reusable rocket test, eyes 2025 orbital launch
Landspace completes 10-kilometer reusable rocket test, eyes 2025 orbital launch Chinese launch startup Landspace conducted a 10-kilometer vertical liftoff, vertical landing test at Jiuquan spaceport Wednesday as it develops a reusable orbital rocket.
- spacenews.com Why space is the next frontier to accelerate medical research
With the Polaris Dawn launch, private spacewalking citizens are about to revolutionize medical research in space.
Another six months, another crewed Soyuz launch to the ISS!
| Scheduled for (UTC) | 2024-09-11, 16:23 | | --- | --- | | Scheduled for (local) | 2024-03-23, 22:23 (ALMT) | | Docking scheduled for (UTC) | 2024-09-11, 19:33 | | Mission | Soyuz MS-26 | | Launch site | Site 31/6, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. | | Vehicle | Soyuz 2.1a | | Commander | Aleksey Ovchinin 🇷🇺| | Flight Engineer/ Spaceflight Participant | Ivan Vagner 🇷🇺| | Flight Engineer | Donald Pettit 🇺🇸| | Mission success criteria | Successful launch and docking to the ISS |
Livestreams
| Stream | Link | | --- | --- | | Roscosmos | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mav9tticrvs | NASA | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c59N7aHLZx8 | Space Affairs | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYwcygrRklg | The Launch Pad | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtdctWgRZsE
Mission Details 🚀
- • 100%spacenews.com NASA charts path toward commercial services for Mars
The U.S. space agency is looking to the private sector to cut costs and expand scientific missions to the Red Planet.
- • 100%spacenews.com China is taking a keen interest in lava tubes as possible lunar habitats
China is taking a keen interest in lava tubes as possible lunar habitats
- • 90%arstechnica.com SpaceX says regulators will keep Starship grounded until at least November
SpaceX blames the regulatory delay on "issues ranging from the frivolous to the patently absurd."
- • 92%spacenews.com ESA performs targeted reentry of Cluster satellite
ESA successfully deorbited the first of four Cluster space science satellites Sept. 8, performing a first “targeted reentry” over the South Pacific.
- • 100%arstechnica.com NASA will proceed with final preps to launch Europa Clipper next month
After a four-month review, NASA says suspect transistors on Europa Clipper are good to go.
- • 100%spacenews.com NASA reaffirms decision to cancel OSAM-1
NASA is proceeding with plans to shut down a satellite servicing mission at the end of the month after rejecting a proposal to revise it for a 2026 launch.
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TL;DW:
> Does It Make Sense To Put Data Centers In Space?
At some point in the future, yes.
> Can They Really Cost Less To Operate?
In theory, yes.
Scott expresses concerns that current startups have not adequately addressed some of the practical challenges, such as cooling.
- spacenews.com FAA to complete orbital debris upper stage regulations in 2025
The FAA is moving ahead with efforts to develop rules for the disposal of upper stages as another Centaur upper stage breaks apart in orbit.
- spacenews.com Starliner returns to Earth uncrewed
Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft successfully landed in New Mexico early Sept. 7, completing the Crew Flight Test mission but without any crew on board.
- arstechnica.com Leaving behind its crew, Starliner departs space station and returns to Earth
"We will review the data and determine the next steps for the program," says Boeing's Starliner manager.
- arstechnica.com Faced with a tight deadline, NASA and Blue Origin agree to delay New Glenn debut
"We can’t take our foot off the pedal here."
- spacenews.com China’s secretive reusable spaceplane lands after 267 days in orbit
China’s secretive reusable spaceplane lands after 267 days in orbit
- arstechnica.com With NASA’s plan faltering, China knows it can be first with Mars sample return
"China is likely to become the first country to return samples from Mars."
After just over three months, Starliner is finally coming home, but without the crew, who will be returning with Crew-9 on Dragon next year.
| Undocking scheduled for (UTC) | 2024-09-06, 22:04 | | --- | --- | | Mission | Boeing Crewed Flight Test | | Landing scheduled for (UTC) | 2024-09-07, 04:03 | | Landing site | White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, USA | | Starliner | SC3-2 (Calypso) | | Crew | None | | Revised mission success criteria | Successful undocking, deorbit, reentry, and landing of Starliner |
Livestreams (undocking)
| Stream | Link | | --- | --- | | NASA | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_79y0yZs0dc | Boeing | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bZhoHeAimM | Space Affairs | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv5X2yghKhA | NASASpaceflight | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG3eNnzhkpw | The Launch Pad | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueziZxViWCc
Livestreams (landing)
| Stream | Link | | --- | --- | | NASA | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ0T-cZWh78 | Boeing | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mObfa7Gdky4 | Space Affairs | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O55tEycZjiE | NASASpaceflight | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QngdqJ97lis | The Launch Pad | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueziZxViWCc
Mission Details 🚀
- www.nasaspaceflight.com Starliner Calypso set to undock and return to Earth without CFT crew - NASASpaceFlight.com
The Boeing Starliner Calypso, which launched to the International Space Station on June 5 with…
- arstechnica.com Rocket Report: Falcon 9 lifts its 7,000th Starlink; ABL cuts deep
"Branson was determined to be the first billionaire in space."
- www.marssociety.org Mars Society Starts Congressional Campaign to Make NASA Produce a Humans to Mars Plan - The Mars Society
The Mars Society announced today that it is beginning a nationwide grassroots campaign to get Congress to pass legislation compelling the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to produce a plan to get humans to Mars within a decade. As part of the campaign, the Mars Society has drawn up a dr...