June 25, 2026 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.
- Hitachi signs a deal with Amazon’s Leo constellation
It appears this deal is tied to Hitachi’s use of Amazon’s cloud web services.
- Blue Origin touts its proposed Blue Ring Mars Telecommunications Orbiter
So, how’s that New Glenn explosion investigation going?
- Hayabusa-2 update: Out of the four ion engines, three are unusable, and the last remaining one is starting to degrade
Japan hoped to send it to asteroid 1998 KY26 in 2031, but this update suggests that it is now unlikely it will get there.
- A history of the Russian APAS docking system
It became the basis for the docking systems now used by all.
- On June 25, 1974 the Soviet Union launched Salyut 3
It was Soviet’s second space station, the first purely military mission, that was occupied twice for 16 and 2 days respectively. For the full story see chapter 4 of Leaving Earth.
- On June 25, 1997 a Progress freighter collided with the Spektr module on Mir
It punctured the module, disabling for the remainder of Mir’s life. For the full story see chapter 13 of Leaving Earth.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
”So, how’s that New Glenn explosion investigation going?”
The debris from the explosion has been removed from the launch site, cranes have been moved into place, and reconstruction of the launch pad has begun. The CEO stated recently that launches will resume by the end of this year with a new conops.
Or was that comment just meant to mock Blue Origin?
In other launch news, Rocket Lab has won a three-launch contract from NASA to launch two science missions by about this time next year. The first launch will be TSIS-2 in January. TSIS-2 was originally scheduled to launch as the primary payload on a Falcon 9 rideshare in Feb 2025, but that launch was apparently cancelled as SpaceX cuts back on launch opportunities for external customers. The word on the street is that the waiting list for a flight is three years long.