October 2, 2025 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- Lockheed Martin signs non-profit to study if a commercial mission with Orion, launched on other rockets, would make sense
Very preliminary, but it indicates the company is searching for ways to make money on Orion once SLS is eventually cancelled.
- Ispace to fly two South Korean commercial rovers on its future lunar lander missions
The rovers will be built by a company called UEL. Each are two-wheeled and would fly prior to ’27.
- Intuitive Machines completes acquisition of KinetX
The deal gives Intuitive Machines deep space navigation and communications capabilities.
- Japanese rocket startup Innovative Space Carrier purchases engines from American rocket company Ursa Major
The deal was signed in early July. Jay has doubts about Innovative Space Carrier, which seems to have very big dreams for a startup.
- Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS shows “extreme negative polarization”
Already some of making more into this than justified. It is merely a known aspect of comets, though the number here appears to be an outlier, not surprising as it comes from outside our solar system.
- On this day in 1958, the NACA (the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) officially became NASA
For some reason, while we pronounce “NASA” as a word, “NACA” was always spelled out when named, as in “the EN-A-SEE-A”.
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- Lockheed Martin signs non-profit to study if a commercial mission with Orion, launched on other rockets, would make sense
Very preliminary, but it indicates the company is searching for ways to make money on Orion once SLS is eventually cancelled.
- Ispace to fly two South Korean commercial rovers on its future lunar lander missions
The rovers will be built by a company called UEL. Each are two-wheeled and would fly prior to ’27.
- Intuitive Machines completes acquisition of KinetX
The deal gives Intuitive Machines deep space navigation and communications capabilities.
- Japanese rocket startup Innovative Space Carrier purchases engines from American rocket company Ursa Major
The deal was signed in early July. Jay has doubts about Innovative Space Carrier, which seems to have very big dreams for a startup.
- Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS shows “extreme negative polarization”
Already some of making more into this than justified. It is merely a known aspect of comets, though the number here appears to be an outlier, not surprising as it comes from outside our solar system.
- On this day in 1958, the NACA (the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) officially became NASA
For some reason, while we pronounce “NASA” as a word, “NACA” was always spelled out when named, as in “the EN-A-SEE-A”.