NASA is developing the latest version of its overarching vision for space exploration: the Moon to Mars Architecture. Amid an environment of questions about the Artemis Program, the agency’s year-long Strategic Analysis Cycle is drawing to a close this November with the 2024 Architecture Concept Review, called ACR24.
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SpaceX’s Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle completed a sixth flight test on Tuesday, November 19th, capping off an eventful year for this unique development program.
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Procurement and acquisition is one of the most important aspects of any space program or project. It’s not glamorous or dramatic, it doesn’t reveal new secrets or transform our understanding of the cosmos. It is, however, responsible for setting the framework for project development.
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NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, a 5 billion dollar Jovian orbiter, will aim to answer questions about one of the most tantalizing candidates for life in the solar system: the gas giant’s icy moon of Europa.
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Falcon 9 currently finds itself in the midst of its third grounding in 2024. Following a successful launch of the Crew-9 mission and crew aboard Crew Dragon Freedom on September 28th, the Falcon 9 second stage experienced an anomaly during its deorbit burn, causing it to fall outside of the designated safe zone.
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SpaceX’s ninth crew rotation to the International Space Station is underway, carrying two crew members uphill to the orbiting laboratory. Crew-9 evaded stormy weather to lift off on September 28th, 2024 at 1:17 PM EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
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In periods of uncertainty, one thing is clear in spaceflight – the show must go on. With this mantra in mind, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are preparing to launch on the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station.
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In an age marked by aggression and deterioration of relationships, it appears that the end of a long standing practice, seat exchange on partner vehicles, is coming to an end – thrusting the station into a period of uncertainty as it faces the twilight years of its operation.
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In a press conference starting at 1:13 PM EST, a panel of NASA program managers officially declared that Starliner astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will be returning aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon at the conclusion of the Crew-9 mission in February of 2025.
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The development of NASA’s Moon to Mars Architecture is a continuous process, one which is always seeking to strengthen our approach to sending humans to Mars and beyond. In June, NASA released a pair of white papers that give a glimpse into this year’s analysis: Lunar Surface Cargo and Lunar Mobility Drivers and Needs.
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Artemis’ stated goal to “prepare for human missions to Mars” is an ambitious undertaking, with visible consequences on its organization. With Artemis entering flight across its various programs, and hardware which will eventually support its primary missions in flow, we have entered a unique era for spaceflight.
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At its core, the Artemis Program represents a new way of thinking in space exploration. NASA’s Moon to Mars objectives incorporate the Artemis Program as part of the roadmap to the Red Planet.
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As the United States prepares to shift from the legacy Landsat program to the next generation Landsat Next constellation, new players in space have been integrated with the program to support broad reaching global observation. Australia has formally joined the United States-led Landsat Next satellite program as a core partner, building on nearly half a century of collaboration in satellite land imaging across the globe.
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Axiom Space’s fourth mission aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft is set to carry astronauts from Poland, Hungary, and India next year, setting the stage for yet another record breaking international segment.
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Boeing’s Crew Flight Test mission is continuing its stay aboard the International Space Station. On July 25, NASA and Boeing held a press conference to provide an update on the mission including ongoing tests, the current status of the spacecraft, and upcoming events.
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VIPER, NASA’s 500 million dollar Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, is one of the latest victims of turbulent times – with NASA announcing that they would be canceling the mission effective August 1, 2024
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In a teleconference on July 17th, NASA and SpaceX provided additional information about the United States Deorbit Vehicle (USDV), the spacecraft which will be tasked with pushing the International Space Station out of orbit at the end of its lifetime.
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The end of the International Space Station will mark a tectonic shift in human spaceflight. The ISS program united the efforts of fifteen nations, including a landmark union between the United States and Russia, and citizens from eight other countries have since visited the orbiting laboratory. Now, approaching retirement, we begin to ask the question of what comes next?
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The second SLS core stage, or CS-2, is now aboard NASA’s Pegasus barge following its rollout from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, paving the way for the first flight of crew to the moon in over 50 years.
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Responsibly disposing of the ISS will be a monumental undertaking all its own. As we prepare to lay to rest one of humanity’s greatest accomplishments, what will it take to give the ISS a graceful exit?
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For Asteroid Day 2024, we’ll be briefly covering updates to various small body missions, and exploring how these vital ambassadors from Earth teach us so much about our origins.
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In a White House press release on Tuesday, June 18, 2024, the governments of both the United States and India laid out a strategic roadmap for future collaboration in space – a goal that has long captivated the imaginations of scientists and diplomats alike.
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NASA and SpaceX have launched GOES-U, the final Earth observation satellite in the GOES-R series. The spacecraft was launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy, dodging inclement weather to lift off from Launch Complex 39A at 5:26 PM EDT on July 25th, 2024.
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Boeing’s Starliner Crew Flight Test (CFT) has once more been extended, but everything remains stable and safe for the station, spacecraft, and crew. A new return date has yet to be determined, but it will be no earlier than early July.
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NASA and NOAA are preparing to launch GOES-U, the last of the four GOES-R series geostationary weather satellites on June 25th, 2024 at 5:16PM, Eastern Time atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy.
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In April of this year, the United States and Japan signed a formal agreement to collaborate on the first of a new kind of spacecraft for the Artemis Program: a pressurized rover. Acting like a camper van for astronauts to live in as they roam across the surface of the Moon, the pressurized rover is a dramatic new capability for the Artemis Program.
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On June 5, 2024 at 10:52 AM, America’s newest crew capable spacecraft lifted off from SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. 61 years, 21 days, 1 hour, 48 minutes and 1 second since Atlas LV-3B 130-D launched Gordon Cooper into orbit aboard Faith 7, the mighty Atlas V continues the dream.
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NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has suspended science operations for the time being. NASA reported that the space observatory entered safe mode on May 24th.
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NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and provider Boeing are targeting Saturday, June 1 2024 for another attempt to launch the Boeing Crew Flight Test mission, the final step in certifying the Starliner spacecraft for regular flights to the International Space Station.
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Sierra Space’s first Dream Chaser spaceplane, Tenacity, arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on May 20th, 2024, entering the next phase of development as the company proceeds towards flight.
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NASA has enlisted the help of commercial partners to respond to two fronts in exploration, aiming to remove some of the technical and financial burden on the agency, so that larger and more ambitious goals can be accomplished in the next 15 to 20 years.
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On May 6th, 2024, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is set to fly for the third time, this time carrying its most important cargo to date: a human crew. Flown by veteran NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams, this mission intends to fully certify the vehicle for human flight.
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If one word can summarize the past five years of human spaceflight, it’s “commercialization.” The early 2020s have been defined by a dramatic shift in the way we think about space exploration, particularly as NASA moves beyond LEO to procure new capabilities for its groundbreaking Artemis program.
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To address a rapidly changing space operating environment and ensure its preservation for generations to come, NASA released the first part of its integrated Space Sustainability Strategy on Tuesday, April 9th at Space Symposium.
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On April 15th 2024, NASA hosted a media teleconference giving updates on the current status of the agency’s Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission. MSR is a vital step in providing high fidelity environmental data which could dramatically inform the technology and methodology for a planned human mission to the Red Planet.
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As NOAA looks to the future of its weather satellite programs in the 2030s and beyond, it is making radical changes to its Low-Earth orbit (LEO) architecture in the face of emerging trends and capabilities.
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On Wednesday, April 3rd, NASA announced the three teams of commercial companies that will develop concepts for the Lunar Terrain Vehicle, an unpressurized rover which will provide mobility for astronauts as part of NASA’s Artemis program.
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If you want to experience the true beauty and awe of the upcoming total solar eclipse, you have to be within the path of totality. There is no compromise. Totality is a unique experience, it is a truly cosmic event where the concept of daytime slips away from you, plunging the world into a momentary 360 degree twilight. It’s a night and day contrast, a captivating reminder of the majesty of the Solar System.
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Apophis is an asteroid that needs little introduction, but it could soon become one of the most well studied small bodies in the history of spaceflight – should plans come to fruition.
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SpaceX has begun the final prep work for a third flight of their Starship heavy lift reusable launch vehicle, with March 14 as the currently projected liftoff date, pending approval from the Federal Aviation Administration.
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After several weather related delays and juggling launch pads, NASA and SpaceX have launched the Crew-8 mission to the International Space Station, setting course for a six month scientific endeavor onboard the orbiting laboratory, and setting the stage for the start of Expedition 71.
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NASA’s next crew to depart for the International Space Station, Crew-8, are nearly ready for launch, set to embark on a voyage of scientific discovery onboard the orbiting laboratory for the benefit of all on Earth.
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On Thursday, February 22nd, Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander Odysseus successfully touched down on the Moon, achieving the “ultimate milestone” for the IM-1 mission and marking the first major victory for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.
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As we prepare to go back to the moon, industry expert Robbie Gitten takes a deep dive on several elements of what makes a moon base in his first Op-Ed for Space Scout.
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On February 15th, at 1:05 AM Eastern Time, Intuitive Machine’s NOVA-C, Odysseus, lifted off in support of the IM-1 mission – with the aim of becoming the first American spacecraft to make it to the lunar surface in over 50 years.
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NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced Feb. 6 it will lay off 530 employees, about 8% of its staff, citing uncertainty about its budget for 2024.
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After nearly nine years of planning, preparation, and even once being slated for cancellation entirely, NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Earth-observation mission lifted off from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on February 8, at 1:33:36 AM.
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Intuitive Machines is targeting February 14th for the launch of IM-1, the first flight of its NOVA-C robotic moon lander as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.
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After nearly nine years of planning, preparation, and even once being slated for cancellation entirely, NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Earth-observation mission is set for launch
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Starlab Space, a joint venture of Voyager Space and Airbus Space and Defense, announced Jan. 31 it reached an agreement with SpaceX to launch the consortium’s Starlab space station on the currently under development Starship system.
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On January 30th, at 12:07:15 PM Eastern Time, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 lofted the Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft as part of the NG-20 mission in a historic first for both Commercial Cargo providers.
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AS NG-20 prepares to fly, Space Scout’s Scarlet Dominik takes a closer look at the current state of the launch industry, and analyzes how a monopoly on launch may be something to avoid.
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Final preparations are underway for the launch of Northrop Grumman’s 20th commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station (NG-20), currently set to launch on January 29th 2024.
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On January 25, 2024, NASA’s Ingenuity mission officially concluded. The small, autonomous helicopter performed 72 flights on Mars, the first time an aircraft has flown on another planet.
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Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere on January 18th, 2024, ending its mission after a 10 day, tumultuous journey through cislunar space.
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On January 18th, 2024 at 4:49 PM, SpaceX and Axiom Space launched their third mission to the International Space Station,
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NASA is planning a flagship-class mission to Uranus, the Uranus Orbiter and Probe (UOP), early in the next decade, and an ongoing study may turn atmospheres into a valuable asset for not just UOP, but many missions yet to come.
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SpaceX and Axiom Space are targeting January 18th, 2024 at 4:49 PM for the launch of their third mission to the International Space Station, Ax-3, carrying a historic all-European crew on a 14-day mission.
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Set for release on January 22nd, these highly-anticipated documents will provide key insights into NASA’s overarching Moon to Mars exploration strategy, including new details in its vision for sending humans to Mars.
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While the Commercial Crew Program seems fairly straightforward, it has already had huge implications on the immediate future of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and beyond.
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In a media teleconference held on January 9th, NASA leadership announced significant delays to the next two missions in its Artemis program.
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On January 8th, 2024, at 2:18:34 AM, United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket flew for the first time, carrying the Astrobotic Peregrine Lunar Lander towards the Moon.
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NASA and the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced Sunday plans for the space centre to provide an airlock for Gateway, humanity’s first space station outside of Low Earth Orbit.
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On Friday, January 5, United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket rolled to the pad for the first time, ahead of its first flight scheduled for January 8, 2024.
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At the National Space Council meeting on December 20, 2023, Vice President Kamala Harris and her advisors announced that the Artemis Program will land an international astronaut on the moon “before the end of the decade.”
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Sierra Space has entered the final test and checkout campaign for their Dream Chaser spaceplane; delivering the first flight article, Tenacity, to NASA’s Armstrong Test Facility in Ohio.
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After completion of a successful Wet Dress Rehearsal this week, United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket is one step closer to its debut – entering a new chapter of American rocketry for both military and civilian space launch.
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One year ago, NASA’s Orion spacecraft concluded its maiden voyage around the Moon, a journey of 1.4 million miles ending with a gentle splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Now, the first crewed Orion is well underway in construction, with more on the way…
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2024 is shaping up to be a year of triumphant lunar return, with several missions planned to welcome in a new age of international exploration of Earth’s nearest neighbor.
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On November 30th, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report detailing the various challenges remaining for SpaceX, Axiom, and NASA as they work towards the first Moon landing in more than 50 years as part of the Artemis III mission.
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The Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gasses, Chemistry, and Imaging, or DAVINCI mission, is a groundbreaking new approach to studying Earth’s sister planet, one which truly embodies its namesake’s ideology of revolutionary new ideas.
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The problem of transporting humans to Mars is a daunting one, yet the slate never stays blank for long. However, if we are to succeed in this boldest of adventures, we must first step away from the whiteboard and take a moment to reflect on our motivations and goals.
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One year ago, In the early hours of November 16th, 2022, the skies of Florida were lit up by the
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On November 13 2023, NASA’s Planetary Science Advisory Committee, which advises all of NASA’s planetary science interests, held a meeting to discuss the state of various programs heading into 2024.
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After weeks of reshuffling, NASA and SpaceX’s CRS-29 mission lifted off from Historic Launch Complex 39A for the International Space
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A next generation optical communications system known as ILLUMA-T is ready for flight onboard the CRS-29 mission to the International Space Station.
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At NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California, work on NASA’s next lunar explorer has begun. The Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) is now in assembly ahead of its projected launch in 2024 onboard a Falcon Heavy.
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On November 1st 2023, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft flew by its first asteroid, just over ten months after the previously unplanned encounter was declared.
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Blue Origin has unveiled their latest, full size mockup of their Blue Moon MK1 Cargo lander at their Huntsville facility, showcasing an updated design of their uncrewed cargo vehicle.
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As NASA prepares to go back to the moon, the CLPS program stands on a dangerous fulcrum – will program structure help or hurt our lunar return?
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Blue Origin’s spaceflight plans have continued to grow, and the latest addition looks to position itself as a “Space Truck”. This dedicated space tug, known as Blue Ring, will be used for a multitude of tasks in Cislunar space.
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Nearly two years after launch, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft prepares to encounter its first asteroid – one of many to come.
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On Friday the 13th, 2023 SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy beat the odds and
lifted off carrying NASA’s Psyche spacecraft on a two billion mile trek to the asteroid of its namesake.
After a technical delay the previous week, NASA’s Psyche mission remains grounded in the face of weather constraints.
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Artemis 2’s Solid Rocket Motors, or RSRMVs, have arrived at the Kennedy Space Center as NASA and their international partners gear up for humanity’s return to the moon.
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In the atmosphere of an exoplanet 120 light years away from Earth, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has detected carbon-bearing molecules, some of which have scientists questioning the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe.
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The solar system contains 8 planets, each possessing incredible uniqueness. Of these, some stand out as being perhaps the least explored. Every planet has had at least one orbiter take incredible amounts of in situ observations for years on end if not decades, except the Ice Giants…
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After 7 years in space, and 3.8 billion miles traveled, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Sample Return Capsule (SRC) completed a picture perfect touchdown on the muddy sands of the Utah Test and Training Range in Dugway, Utah
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This past year saw an unexpected addition to the list of record-setting flights – Frank Rubio and the crew of MS-22’s stay on the International Space Station lasting 371 days.
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Launching at 3:27 AM Eastern Time August 26th, Crew-7 will continue to inspire those on Earth, and conduct important research that will take us higher, further and faster than ever before.
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Blue Origin made some noise in Huntsville, as the former Saturn V test stand, Test Stand 4670, saw its first firing from its new operators. The short test, which took place on August 3rd, lasted between 30 and 40 seconds according to locals who heard the test firing. It has yet to be confirmed if the test was a BE4 or BE3-U. This marked the first test firing on 4670 since 1998.
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Boeing revealed to Business Insider that they were planning to target a March window for their first crewed flight of their Starliner capsule.
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NOV. 15, 2022—The countdown clock has started ahead of NASA’s third launch attempt of the Artemis I mission to the Moon, currently set for 1:04 a.m. ET on November 16.
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The first full-color images and data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be released later today at 10:30 a.m. EDT.
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Crew-2 is set to liftoff April 23 at 5:49 a.m. ET – here’s everything you need to know, including full detailed timelines of the mission.
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NASA’s Perseverance rover successfully landed on Mars today. Here’s what comes next.
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The Perseverance Mars rover will attempt to land today – here’s what to expect for entry, descent, and landing.
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JAN. 23, 2021–SpaceX is set to launch a mission carrying over 140 satellites. We tracked 142 out of 143.
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JAN. 16, 2020–NASA is currently targeting this fall for the launch of Artemis I, the uncrewed first test flight of the agency’s Space Launch System rocket and the Orion Spacecraft together. With less than a year of time remaining until the launch, NASA has already begun launch preparation operations.
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JAN. 12, 2020–SpaceX successfully undocked the CRS-21 Dragon resupply vehicle from the ISS this morning, ahead of splashdown in just over a day.
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NOV. 20, 2020–Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich is launching from Vandenberg in just 12 hours. If “launching from Vandenberg” isn’t a phrase you’ve heard lately – we don’t blame you.
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NOV. 20, 2020– With just twelve hours to go to the launch of Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, here’s everything you need to know to watch the first Vandenberg launch in over a year and a half.
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Things got hot in Utah yesterday with a test firing of the world’s most powerful solid rocket booster.
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Dragon capsule Endeavour and its two-man crew, Bob Behnken, and Doug Hurley, prepare to come home after over two months in space.
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JUNE 17, 2020–Northrop Grumman has delivered ten Space Launch System solid rocket segments for the Artemis I mission, along with two inert OmegA segments for booster training to the Kennedy Space Center after making a long train ride from Utah to Florida.
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JUNE 13, 2020– On June 11th, 2020, NASA announced that Astrobotic, a Pittsburgh robotics company, had been selected to deliver the VIPER rover to the lunar South Pole as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS), part of the Artemis program, which seeks to land humans on the moon by 2024.
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JUNE 2, 2020– Rocket Lab has announced a return to flight of the Electron rocket with a new launch date of Don’t Stop Me Now, Electron’s 12th flight. Electron, will now launch on June 11, 2020.
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MAY 24, 2020–After ten years, we are now less than a week away from seeing two astronauts, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, fly to the International Space Station on SpaceX’s crew-rated Dragon 2 spacecraft.
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MAY 19, 2020–NASA’s head of human spaceflight programs, Doug Loverro, has abruptly resigned within days of Demo Mission 2, the first crewed U.S. space flight within nearly a decade.
Read MoreMAY 14, 2020–In a virtual conference yesterday, NASA HEO released a further breakdown of the Human Lander System, or HLS contracts.
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MAY 7, 2020–The X-37B will launch next week carrying a new satellite built by Air Force students.
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MAY 6, 2020- After temporarily pausing on-site work for the agency’s Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket, NASA is now preparing to reopen the Marshall Spaceflight Center (MSFC), Stennis Space Center, and Michoud Assembly Facility alongside other agency centers and locations which are critical to the Artemis Program.
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MAY 5, 2020–The U.S. government is in the process of drafting what is now known as the ‘Artemis Accords’, an international legal basis for moon mining.
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MAY 4, 2020–Lunar Starship was recently chosen for the Artemis Human Lander System contracts. SpaceX claims they can land on the moon uncrewed by 2022. Can they make it work?
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APR. 30–Dynetics, SpaceX, and Blue Origin’s National Team win contracts to develop Human Lander Systems for the Artemis moon landings.
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A Starlink mission onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 is due to launch from Launchpad 39A at Cape Canaveral tomorrow, 3:37 p.m. EST.
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When SpaceX first unveiled the plan for the Interplanetary Transport System in 2016, the world stood mystified. What seemed like science fiction was now a real concept proposed by a company that had quickly established themselves as a leader in the NewSpace market. ITS would be the dream everyone wanted – a fast, efficient way to transport 450 tons to Mars, and almost a hundred crew, much more than we could ever dream of sending to even Earth orbit.
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FEB. 14, 2020–Five days ago, the cooperative NASA-ESA Solar Orbiter mission took off on an Atlas V 411 from Space Launch Complex-41, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, towards the poles of the sun. Yesterday, United Launch Alliance’s CEO Tory Bruno hinted that it may be the most accurate insertion ever done by ULA.
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JAN. 15, 2020–The second all-female spacewalk by NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir conducted this morning was a great success, with all primary tasks and get-ahead tasks accomplished.
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JAN. 13, 2020–After a successful static fire of Falcon 9 first stage B1046 on Saturday, Jan. 11, SpaceX has declared that they are ready for the Crew Dragon in-flight abort test, now scheduled for January 18.
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