SpaceX launched Starship for 5th time on Oct. 13, 2024 from Starbase in south Texas. The Super Heavy booster was caught by the launch tower‘s ‚chopsticks‘ shortly after separation from Starship.
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SpaceX’s Starship rocket completes fifth test flight, lands booster in dramatic catch
The company successfully used the arms of its launch tower to catch the rocket’s booster, a major milestone toward SpaceX’s goal of making Starship a fully reusable rocket system.
Starship continued on into space, traveling halfway around the world before splashing down in the Indian Ocean.
POLARIS DAWN
During their multi-day mission to orbit, Dragon and the crew will endeavor to reach the highest Earth orbit ever flown since the Apollo program and participate in the first-ever extravehicular activity (EVA) by commercial astronauts wearing SpaceX-developed EVA suits. They will also conduct 36 research studies and experiments from 31 partner institutions designed to advance both human health on Earth and during long-duration spaceflight, and test Starlink laser-based communications in space.
LIVE! SpaceX Polaris Dawn Launch
Watch LIVE as SpaceX launches Polaris Dawn on its multi-day mission to orbit, which will see Dragon and its crew fly to the highest Earth orbit ever flown since the Apollo program and participate in the first-ever extravehicular activity (EVA) by commercial astronauts wearing SpaceX-developed EVA suits.
LunaNet: 5G players debate an Internet for the moon
(May 8, 2023)
LunaNet is being developed through NASA‘s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program office, who oversee the operations, maintenance and advancement of NASA‘s current networked operations.“
Blue Origin unveils next flight, TMZ says Captain Kirk to be aboard
Blue Origin, the space company owned by Amazon‘s Jeff Bezos, announced plans on Monday for its next flight and the news and entertainment website TMZ said it may include a celebrity astronaut — William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk on „Star Trek.“
US grounds Virgin Galactic after space flight ‚mishap‘
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Thursday said it was grounding space flights by Virgin Galactic while it investigates why the company‘s July 11 voyage carrying Richard Branson deviated from its planned trajectory.
Dragon launch with cargo for ISS canceled due to weather conditions
The US launch of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle with the Dragon spacecraft, has been cancelled due to weather conditions, the American company SpaceX twitted on Saturday.
LATAM To Install Its Own Outer Space Agency
On Saturday, Mexico‘s Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard welcomed the signing of an agreement establishing the Latin American and Caribbean Space Agency (ALCE).
Blue Origin launch live updates: Jeff Bezos soars to the edge of space in historic flight
Newly minted astronaut Jeff Bezos says spaceflight left him ‘speechless’
Shortly after landing back on Earth, the elated Amazon founder opened up about his experience in a brief interview with ABC News’ Michael Strahan.
“I’m speechless in a way … I don’t have the talent to put into words what we just experienced, maybe we need to send a poet up at some point or something,”
I was once a child with a dream looking up to the stars. Now I‘m an adult in a spaceship looking down to our beautiful Earth. To the next generation of dreamers: if we can do this, just imagine what you can do #Unity22 @virgingalactic
Flying to space onboard Virgin Galactic
I have dreamt about this moment since I was a child, but nothing could have prepared me for the view of Earth from space. It was magical.
Virgin Galactic Completes First-Ever Spaceflight from New Mexico
On May 22, 2021, Virgin Galactic‘s VSS Unity spaceship completed the first-ever human spaceflight from Spaceport America, New Mexico, with two pilots reaching apogee at 55.45 miles above ground. The flight is a meaningful step toward the opening of commercial space travel.
Elon Musk now controls over a quarter of all active satellites as SpaceX prepares to launch 1,000th Starlink
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk now controls a quarter of all active satellites orbiting Earth after launching more than a dozen Starlink missions over the last two years.
A Falcon 9 rocket will deliver the latest batch of 60 Starlink satellites into orbit from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida this week, weather permitting, taking the total number of Starlinks in orbit to over 1,000.
China‘s space programme targets July launch for maiden mission to Mars
The Mars mission is among a number of new space projects China is pursuing, including putting Chinese astronauts on the moon and having a space station by 2022.
NASA to Announce New Discoveries at Annual Astronomy Meeting
NASA researchers will present new findings on a wide range of astrophysics and other space science topics at the 235th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, Saturday, Jan. 4, through Wednesday, Jan. 8, in Honolulu. NASA-related briefings will stream live on the agency’s website.
NASA unveils new goals for Moon, Mars, including space privatization
(1.10.2018) These certainly mean more dollars headed toward research and development; while the original Apollo and other missions were government-funded and ultimately fell under the purview of the military (indeed, one of the primary stated goals of the Gemini and Apollo programs was to lessen the „Missile gap“ between the United States and the Soviet Union), this new concept relies heavily on private investment, corporate involvement and funding, and the eventual mining and financial rewards of „exploration and use“ of the lunar and Mars surfaces.
Space Station May Be Stranded; Here‘s When U.S. Rockets Can Get There
(11.10.2018) Russia grounded all space flights after a Soyuz rocket failure Thursday, putting the International Space Station at risk and adding pressure on Boeing (BA) and SpaceX to get their rockets ready for NASA service.
Soyuz Rocket‘s Launch-Abort Close Call Highlights Poor Space-Policy Decisions (Op-Ed)
(16.10.2018) One of the cornerstones of the current space policy is to somehow „privatize“ or „commercialize“ the ISS by 2024-2025 and to use the „savings“ from that privatization to help fund the program. The idea of operating the ISS profitably is so preposterous that I don‘t feel a need to comment further here. Besides, from where is the funding to come before 2024-2025?
What this look back shows is consistently poor policy decisions going back at least 14 years. What will happen to NASA and U.S. spaceflight in the coming years?
China Fails First Attempt at Privatized Satellite Launch
(30.10.2018) A Beijing-based company called Landspace built the ill-fated three-stage rocket known as the Zhuque-1. The company took to a short blog post to admit the first and second stages of the craft did not reach orbit due to the third stage‘s failure.
“Before Zhuque carrier rocket was launched, its mission was already completed,” the company said in the post on Saturday. However, the company didn‘t give out more details about the mishap.
This circulated at @Boeing @NASA and #USA back when I was on @Space_Station Program. I left #ISS in 2002 and it was well before that – late ‘90’s? – but do not know the source. My recollection is it emerged as “commentary” during discussions re: Shuttle privatization.
(4.9.2018)
NASA’s leader wants to privatize the International Space Station. It’s a remarkably terrible idea.
(9.6.2018) Since taking office as NASA’s administrator in April, Jim Bridenstine (previously a member of Congress from Oklahoma with no scientific background) has pushed this scheme, most recently in an interview this week with the Washington Post.
NASA’s new administrator says he’s talking to companies about taking over operations of the International Space Station
(5.6.2018) “We’re in a position now where there are people out there that can do commercial management of the International Space Station,” Bridenstine said in his first extensive interview since being sworn in as NASA administrator in April. “I’ve talked to many large corporations that are interested in getting involved in that through a consortium, if you will.”
ESA director general argues for more collaboration as EU ramps up investment in own space agency
(6.6.2018) The EU has clashed with the head of the independent European Space Agency (ESA) over the bloc’s plans to take greater control over the continent’s space programmes, in a move that could cut the UK out of key decisions.
As satellites become targets, U.K. military seeks closer ties with space industry
During Air Force Space Command’s recently concluded Schriever Wargame 2018 at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, the U.K. was put in charge of the so-called Special Capabilities Integration Cell. This cell is where commanders simulated how the U.S., U.K., Australia and Canada would combine their space capabilities to fend off attacks in a potential conflict.
“In this game, we had the first ever high-level coalition cell,” Air Force Brig. Gen. DeAnna Burt, director of operations and communications at U.S. Air Force Space Command, said last week in Washington. “Partners brought future capabilities they’d like to build at the SAP [special access program] level,” she said. “Britain ran the cell.”