Blue Ghost Makes “Picture Perfect” Moon Landing
Firefly Aerospace scored their first successful Moon landing early Sunday morning. As their Blue Ghost lander touched down on the
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Space
Op-Ed: Contracts are Tools; Not One Size Fits All
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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Hera Beats the Weather – Sets Sights on Dual Asteroid
The European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft has lifted off on a unique mission to the binary asteroid pair Didymos and Dimorphos. The probe will seek new insights into planetary defense techniques that could protect the Earth from asteroid impacts in the future, following up on NASA’s DART mission which intentionally struck Dimorphos in September of 2022.
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Moon to Mars Part II: Evolving to Mars
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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Moon to Mars Part I: Forging the Path
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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NASA, SpaceX Share Updates on ISS Deorbit Vehicle
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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A Graceful Exit, Part 2: What Comes After ISS?
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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Op-Ed: Human Health Research, the Key to the Commercial Space Revolution
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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NASA Gives the Green Light to Lunar Terrain Vehicle Teams
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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Preparing for Totality
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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Axiom Mission 3 Takes Flight
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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Analysis: Earth to the Moon – The Future of Commercial Human Spaceflight
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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Three Lunar Landers Target Arrival in January
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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GAO Highlights Shortcomings for Artemis III
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 Starbase Experience
Space Scout lead photographer David Diebold reflects on his experience travelling to cover SpaceX’s second Integrated Test Flight of Starship
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On Zephyr’s Wings: NASA Restarts Venus Exploration
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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Rocket Lab Eyes their Return to Flight
Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket is once again looking towards the skies, poised to return to flight no earlier than November 28th following a mission failure and loss of payload on September 19th.
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Capturing the Ring of Fire
In 2023, Americans stand at the eve of another total solar eclipse set to occur in 2024, but this time we’ve been given a pre-show: an annular solar eclipse on October 15th 2023.
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Psyche and Starlink Set Records on the Space Coast
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.
Powering Artemis: RSRMVs Arrive at KSC
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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Triumph in Utah: OSIRIS-REx Returns Home
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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Pad 41 Ready to Rumble Once More
With Pad 41 activated for the National Reconnaissance Office’s SILENT BARKER mission, the historic launch complex looks ready to begin a long stretch of continued launch operations with Atlas and Vulcan.
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Crew Dragon lifts off carrying astronauts to the Space Station
MAY 30, 2020–At 3:22 p.m. today, Crew Dragon successfully lifted off aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket carrying astronauts Bob Benkhen and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station. Now at T+ 1 hour 30 minutes, the mission is proceeding smoothly.
Read MoreNASA releases a further breakdown of Artemis HLS vehicle risks and challenges
MAY 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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NASA’s SLS Program prepares for re-start of SLS operations amid COVID-19
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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U.S. government drafts ‘Artemis Accords’ international moon mining pact
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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SpaceX’s Starship Takes Its First Breath
MAY 5, 2020–Things have gotten exciting in the small Texas village of Boca Chica these past few days as a full-scale Starship comes to life for the first time…
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Virgin Orbit set to debut orbital air-launch later this month
MAY 4, 2020–According to an article published today by Spaceflight Now, Virgin Orbit appears to be targeting later this month for their debut of the LauncherOne air-launched satellite launch vehicle from their 747-400 carrier “Cosmic Girl”.
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Starlink 6 launch slated for tomorrow
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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Solar Orbiter launches with impeccable accuracy
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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Starliner has on-orbit anomaly after flawless launch
DEC. 20, 2019–Starliner’s Orbital Flight Test took off flawlessly at 6:36 a.m. this morning from Cape Canaveral’s pad 41. However, after separation from the Atlas V N22, which performed without trouble, Starliner ran into what NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine called a Mission Elapsed Time anomaly, leading Starliner to “believe it was in an orbital insertion burn, when it was not”.
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OmegA first flight confirmed for Spring 2021 from Cape Canaveral
DEC. 13, 2019–In a press release yesterday, Northrop Grumman Corporation announced that Saturn Satellite Networks has chosen their new OmegA launch vehicle to launch up to two satellites on OmegA’s inaugural flight scheduled for spring 2021, from Kennedy Space Center’s Pad 39B.
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Vandenberg AFB tests prototype ballistic missile unannounced
DEC. 12, 2019–Earlier this morning the Department of Defense released a statement confirming that they had successfully tested a “prototype
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SpaceX set to launch JCSat-18 on December 16
DEC. 11, 2019–A Falcon 9 rocket currently awaits vertical integration at SLC-40 with the JCSat-18/KACIFIC-1 satellite, ahead of planned liftoff at 7:10 pm EST on December 16.
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