New tests vs flight 5:
Reigniting a ship Raptor engine while in space
Testing a suite of heatshield experiments and maneuvering changes for ship reentry
Astra still somehow being around is a testament to how good they are at scamming people.
Next we get to see which of the bigger rockets last. Rocket Lab Neutron, Firefly MLV/Antares 330, and Stoke Nova all have reasons to exist. Terran-R and Vaya Dauntless, on the other hand...
The culling continues.
Their responsive launch and mobile infrastructure concepts were neat, but they couldn't get it working fast enough.
At one point it seemed like Lockheed might be ready to buy them outright, but not doing so looks like the right call.
ABL Space exits commercial launch market, shifts focus to missile defense ABL Space exits commercial launch market, shifts focus to missile defense
One of their competitors, ABL, just gave up on their commercial launch ambitions. Another one bites the dust.
So, the same agency that accused a US astronaut of drilling a hole in a Soyuz while on her period, they're saying they trust it? Hmmm.
Someone tell Jared Isaacman to make Polaris 2 a Dragon that docks with a Starship in low lunar orbit
Firefly has had some good news lately between announcing launch contracts and getting their satellite bus into the SDA HALO fray.
They were supposed to launch Blue Ghost this year, but I haven't seen anything about that in a few months and wonder if it isn't slipping because of environmental test delays.
The article also mentioned Alpha being the only 1000kg class rocket doing anything, but it still isn't launching often at all. Hopefully another one flies this year.
And this is one of the parts of the space division that Boeing wants to keep?
Posted: November 12, 2024 10:55 pm ET | Last Updated: November 12, 2024 11:01 pm ET | JPL announced a second round of layoffs today, bringing to 905 the total number of employees who have lost their jobs this year due to budget cutbacks.
There are actually a ton of "space laser" companies at this point. SpaceX above all others, but in the SDA world there's Skyloom, Mynaric, CACI, Tesat.
For legit "space lasers", Aetherflux wants to beam power to the surface.
I'm holding out hope that SpaceX doesn't want to do everything. They don't want to build all the rovers, scientific instruments, one-off or low quantity satellites, space stations, surface habs, etc.
In this case, though, getting crew to and from the lunar surface is right up their alley.
Boeing actually wants to keep SLS despite selling off some parts of their space division. SLS is still a juicy cost plus contract that they can milk no matter how slow and over budget they are.
I'm not going to do the math on these, but Orion on a New Glenn or the "Bridenstine Stack" Falcon Heavy + Centaur would be cool.
There are actually tons of nuclear power systems like this in space:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nuclear_power_systems_in_space
The only surprise is that it didn't happen sooner
VO somehow managed to spend a billion dollars developing their little rocket. Shout-out to their Boeing exec who way overhired.
Virgin Orbituary:
It should be really nice once it's done, but the endless construction gets pretty old and I'll miss the bridge while it's out of service.
Not excusing Doc, but this team probably wasn't going anywhere either way with the old core, Middleton being out, and weak bench. They should at least be in the playoff race, though.
Kenny Atkinson would have been cool. Griffin wasn't the answer, either.
NASA seeks continuity in human spaceflight programs in next administration
A top NASA official urged the next administration to maintain current plans to return humans to the moon.
The rocketmaker has has raised more than $2B since 2015.
Among the options NASA and Boeing are considering: a Starliner cargo flight…
The license was “our last gate to fly."
Posted: October 28, 2024 12:56 pm ET | Last Updated: October 28, 2024 1:07 pm ET | NASA has identified the root cause of the unexpected char loss on the Orion heat shield during the Artemis I uncrewed test flight in 2022. Testing is ongoing to determine a solution for the next mission, Artemis II, s...
America is at risk of high impact GPS jamming and spoofing from space
The United States has made few preparations for such attacks on its homeland and infrastructure, despite mishaps at home that have disrupted air traffic control systems and regular press reports of American weapons systems degraded by jamming and spoofing overseas.
The mission to put AMC’s robot on the lunar surface is intended to prove out the company’s ability to extract resources in deep-space.
Aetherflux is preparing to launch a satellite in late 2025 or early 2026 to generate solar power and beam it back to Earth.
Despite stiff competition from SpaceX rideshare services and some high-profile failures, ventures are still pursuing small launch vehicles.
Launch vehicle developer ABL Space Systems has laid off a significant portion of its workforce, citing the need to reduce costs after a static-fire failure.
NASA Awards Intuitive Machines Lunar South Pole Research Delivery
A new set of NASA science experiments and technology demonstrations will arrive at the lunar South Pole in 2027 following the agency’s latest CLPS (Commercial
Blue Origin LLC sustained failures in recent weeks of testing including a factory mishap that damaged a portion of a future New Glenn rocket, the long-awaited centerpiece of the Jeff Bezos-backed startup’s push to take on SpaceX.
Terran Orbital, York Space win U.S. military satellite contracts
