Author: Robert Zimmerman
June 24, 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 link below.
- Rocket startup Hyprspace signs deal with French military to launch new suborbital rocket from missile test range inside mainland France
Believe it or not, the company has named this new suborbital rocket Baguette-1. Jay and I both have great doubts about this whole deal.
Slow day. No other quick 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 link below.
- Rocket startup Hyprspace signs deal with French military to launch new suborbital rocket from missile test range inside mainland France
Believe it or not, the company has named this new suborbital rocket Baguette-1. Jay and I both have great doubts about this whole deal.
Slow day. No other quick links.
A graceful spiral galaxy
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope as part of a project to study galaxies with very active central supermassive black holes.
What sets UGC 11397 apart from a typical spiral lies at its centre, where a supermassive black hole containing 174 million times the mass of the Sun is growing. As a black hole ensnares gas, dust, and even entire stars from its vicinity, this doomed matter heats up and puts on a fantastic cosmic light show. Material trapped by the black hole emits light from gamma rays to radio waves and can brighten and fade without warning. But in some galaxies, including UGC 11397, thick clouds of dust hide much of this energetic activity from view in optical light. Despite this, UGC 11397’s actively growing black hole was revealed through its bright X-ray emission — high-energy light that can pierce the surrounding dust. This led astronomers to classify it as a Type 2 Seyfert galaxy, a category used for active galaxies whose central regions are hidden from view in visible light by a doughnut-shaped cloud of dust and gas.
To me what sets this galaxy apart is its natural beauty. It also reminds me of the universe’s vastness. Located about 250 million light years away, those hazy spiral arms represent millions of stars, many of which likely harbor planets and maybe even life.
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope as part of a project to study galaxies with very active central supermassive black holes.
What sets UGC 11397 apart from a typical spiral lies at its centre, where a supermassive black hole containing 174 million times the mass of the Sun is growing. As a black hole ensnares gas, dust, and even entire stars from its vicinity, this doomed matter heats up and puts on a fantastic cosmic light show. Material trapped by the black hole emits light from gamma rays to radio waves and can brighten and fade without warning. But in some galaxies, including UGC 11397, thick clouds of dust hide much of this energetic activity from view in optical light. Despite this, UGC 11397’s actively growing black hole was revealed through its bright X-ray emission — high-energy light that can pierce the surrounding dust. This led astronomers to classify it as a Type 2 Seyfert galaxy, a category used for active galaxies whose central regions are hidden from view in visible light by a doughnut-shaped cloud of dust and gas.
To me what sets this galaxy apart is its natural beauty. It also reminds me of the universe’s vastness. Located about 250 million light years away, those hazy spiral arms represent millions of stars, many of which likely harbor planets and maybe even life.
Another permanently shadowed crater on the Moon shows no obvious ice
Note that the bright areas are not ice but simply overexposed
The science team operating the Shadowcam camera on South Korea’s Danuri lunar orbiter — designed to take images in places with little light — yesterday released a new image taken of the floor of a permanently shadowed crater on the Moon, Hermes-A, located near the north pole.
That picture is to the right. The rectangle indicates the area discussed by the release, focusing entirely on describing its geological features, such as impact melt and the numerous secondary smaller impacts and ejecta within the crater floor. The inset gives the context, showing the crater’s location near the north pole. The blue areas in the inset are those areas thought to be permanently shadowed, such as the entire floor of Hermes-A.
What the release fails to mention is the most important detail lacking in this picture. Though the floor of Hermes-A crater is considered permanently shadowed, the low light image taken by Shadowcam shows no obvious ice features, at all. If there is a higher content of water here, it is locked within the soil, and would require processing to access. Even so, the picture suggests that any such moisture is of extremely low concentration, likely in the parts per billion, and hardly enough to build a lunar base.
This is the same result found by previous Shadowcam pictures. Increasingly it appears that the hope of finding large quantities of easily accessible water ice in these permanently shadowed craters is proving false.
Note that the bright areas are not ice but simply overexposed
The science team operating the Shadowcam camera on South Korea’s Danuri lunar orbiter — designed to take images in places with little light — yesterday released a new image taken of the floor of a permanently shadowed crater on the Moon, Hermes-A, located near the north pole.
That picture is to the right. The rectangle indicates the area discussed by the release, focusing entirely on describing its geological features, such as impact melt and the numerous secondary smaller impacts and ejecta within the crater floor. The inset gives the context, showing the crater’s location near the north pole. The blue areas in the inset are those areas thought to be permanently shadowed, such as the entire floor of Hermes-A.
What the release fails to mention is the most important detail lacking in this picture. Though the floor of Hermes-A crater is considered permanently shadowed, the low light image taken by Shadowcam shows no obvious ice features, at all. If there is a higher content of water here, it is locked within the soil, and would require processing to access. Even so, the picture suggests that any such moisture is of extremely low concentration, likely in the parts per billion, and hardly enough to build a lunar base.
This is the same result found by previous Shadowcam pictures. Increasingly it appears that the hope of finding large quantities of easily accessible water ice in these permanently shadowed craters is proving false.
NASA sets another new date for Axiom’s Ax-4 commercial manned mission to ISS
NASA today announced a new launch date of June 25, 2025 for Axiom’s Ax-4 commercial manned mission to ISS carrying a three passengers from India, Poland, and Hungary respectively and commanded by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson (now working for Axiom).
As with previous announcements, the information provided was sparse:
NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX are targeting 2:31 a.m. EDT, Wednesday, June 25, for launch of the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, Axiom Mission 4.
The mission will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew will travel to the orbiting laboratory on a new SpaceX Dragon spacecraft after launching on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket. The targeted docking time is approximately 7 a.m. Thursday, June 26. NASA will provide more details and its coverage information shortly.
The launch had previously been delayed several times because NASA and Russia wanted to first assess the repair work on the leaks in the Russian Zvezda module before allowing another docking at the station. No information however has been released so far detailing that assessment. Though there have been indications that the loss of air in ISS was stopped by the repair, neither NASA nor Roscosmos have provided any specific data.
NASA today announced a new launch date of June 25, 2025 for Axiom’s Ax-4 commercial manned mission to ISS carrying a three passengers from India, Poland, and Hungary respectively and commanded by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson (now working for Axiom).
As with previous announcements, the information provided was sparse:
NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX are targeting 2:31 a.m. EDT, Wednesday, June 25, for launch of the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, Axiom Mission 4.
The mission will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew will travel to the orbiting laboratory on a new SpaceX Dragon spacecraft after launching on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket. The targeted docking time is approximately 7 a.m. Thursday, June 26. NASA will provide more details and its coverage information shortly.
The launch had previously been delayed several times because NASA and Russia wanted to first assess the repair work on the leaks in the Russian Zvezda module before allowing another docking at the station. No information however has been released so far detailing that assessment. Though there have been indications that the loss of air in ISS was stopped by the repair, neither NASA nor Roscosmos have provided any specific data.
2nd test flight of French cargo capsule prototype “partial success”
According to an update today from the French cargo capsule startup The Exploration Company, its Mission Possible capsule prototype launched yesterday on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 had a “partial success (partial failure)” during its return to Earth.
The capsule was launched successfully, powered the payloads nominally in-orbit, stabilized itself after separation with the launcher, re-entered and re-established communication after black out. But it encountered an issue afterwards, based on our current best knowledge, and we lost communication a few minutes before splash down. We are still investigating the root causes and will share more information soon.
This was the second prototype test flown by the company, the first launched on the inaugural flight of the Ariane-6 rocket. That test was unable to complete its mission because of a problem with the rocket’s upper stage, which prevented it from completing its de-orbit burn, which would have then permitted the prototype to be released and return to Earth for flight testing. Instead, no test was done.
The company had initially only planned two test flights of these smaller prototypes before moving on to test flights of its full scale Nyx cargo capsule, designed to garner commercial cargo business to and from the space stations presently under development. The update today suggests it might now do another test flight with a smaller prototype.
According to an update today from the French cargo capsule startup The Exploration Company, its Mission Possible capsule prototype launched yesterday on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 had a “partial success (partial failure)” during its return to Earth.
The capsule was launched successfully, powered the payloads nominally in-orbit, stabilized itself after separation with the launcher, re-entered and re-established communication after black out. But it encountered an issue afterwards, based on our current best knowledge, and we lost communication a few minutes before splash down. We are still investigating the root causes and will share more information soon.
This was the second prototype test flown by the company, the first launched on the inaugural flight of the Ariane-6 rocket. That test was unable to complete its mission because of a problem with the rocket’s upper stage, which prevented it from completing its de-orbit burn, which would have then permitted the prototype to be released and return to Earth for flight testing. Instead, no test was done.
The company had initially only planned two test flights of these smaller prototypes before moving on to test flights of its full scale Nyx cargo capsule, designed to garner commercial cargo business to and from the space stations presently under development. The update today suggests it might now do another test flight with a smaller prototype.
Ispace: Resilience’s failure was due to a hardware issue in laser range finder
In a press conference today, officials of the Japanese startup Ispace explained that the failure of its second lunar lander, Resilience, to land softly on the Moon on June 5, 2025 was due to a hardware issue in its laser range finder that prevented it from providing correct altitude data.
At the same time, they have not yet been able to pin down precisely what caused the failure. It could have been because of unexpected degradation during flight, or possibly a technical fault with the range finder in gathering data at the speeds and altitudes experienced.
The company is forming a task force in partnership with Japan’s space agency JAXA as well as NASA to try to figure out the issue. It is also going to add lidar instrumentation to future missions to provide a backup to the laser range finder. These actions will add about $11 million in additional costs, an amount Ispace says it can absorb.
Ispace is building two more lunar landers, one for NASA in partnership with the American company Draper, and the second for JAXA. It appears both missions are still moving forward.
In a press conference today, officials of the Japanese startup Ispace explained that the failure of its second lunar lander, Resilience, to land softly on the Moon on June 5, 2025 was due to a hardware issue in its laser range finder that prevented it from providing correct altitude data.
At the same time, they have not yet been able to pin down precisely what caused the failure. It could have been because of unexpected degradation during flight, or possibly a technical fault with the range finder in gathering data at the speeds and altitudes experienced.
The company is forming a task force in partnership with Japan’s space agency JAXA as well as NASA to try to figure out the issue. It is also going to add lidar instrumentation to future missions to provide a backup to the laser range finder. These actions will add about $11 million in additional costs, an amount Ispace says it can absorb.
Ispace is building two more lunar landers, one for NASA in partnership with the American company Draper, and the second for JAXA. It appears both missions are still moving forward.
Dorothea Taylor – Down With The Sickness
An evening pause: Music by Disturbed.
Hat tip to Wamphyr, who adds, “It’s fun to watch a grandmother rock out like this.”
SpaceX completes another smallsat Transporter launch, launching 70 payloads
SpaceX today successfully placed 70 payloads, including 66 separate deployments, into orbit as part of its Transporter program for smallsats, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg in California.
The first stage completed its 26th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. It also completed this flight only 22 days after its last flight. As of posting the deployment of these payloads and satellites was on going.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
78 SpaceX
35 China
8 Rocket Lab
7 Russia
SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 78 to 58.
SpaceX today successfully placed 70 payloads, including 66 separate deployments, into orbit as part of its Transporter program for smallsats, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg in California.
The first stage completed its 26th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. It also completed this flight only 22 days after its last flight. As of posting the deployment of these payloads and satellites was on going.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
78 SpaceX
35 China
8 Rocket Lab
7 Russia
SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 78 to 58.
June 23, 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.
- Sweden and the U.S. sign deal allowing American companies to launch from Esrange
The deal removes state department restrictions designed to prevent the theft of U.S. technology by hostile foreign powers.
- Chinese pseudo-company AZSpace apparently renamed a spacecraft from DEAR-4 to DEAR-5 because the word “four” in Chinese sounds like the word “death”
That’s the theory at least.
- Arianespace official says it must increase the launch cadence of Ariane-6
He also admits just getting to 10 per year will be difficult.
- On this day in 1960 the first U.S. radar reconnaissance satellite was launched
Its classified name was Grab-1. At the time its public name was Solrad-1, with the government only telling the public about its solar research instruments.
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.
- Sweden and the U.S. sign deal allowing American companies to launch from Esrange
The deal removes state department restrictions designed to prevent the theft of U.S. technology by hostile foreign powers.
- Chinese pseudo-company AZSpace apparently renamed a spacecraft from DEAR-4 to DEAR-5 because the word “four” in Chinese sounds like the word “death”
That’s the theory at least.
- Arianespace official says it must increase the launch cadence of Ariane-6
He also admits just getting to 10 per year will be difficult.
- On this day in 1960 the first U.S. radar reconnaissance satellite was launched
Its classified name was Grab-1. At the time its public name was Solrad-1, with the government only telling the public about its solar research instruments.
Parker completes its 24th close fly-by of the Sun
The Parker Solar Probe has successfully completed its 24th close fly-by of the Sun, the last of its initial primary mission, matching the distance and speed record set during two previous fly-bys.
Parker Solar Probe checked in with mission operators at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Maryland — where it was also designed and built — on Sunday, June 22, reporting that all systems are healthy and operating normally. The spacecraft was out of contact with Earth and operating autonomously during the close approach.
During this flyby, the spacecraft also equaled its record-setting speed of 430,000 miles per hour (687,000 km per hour) — a mark that, like the distance, was set and subsequently matched during close approaches on Dec. 24, 2024, and March 22, 2025.
The data obtained during this fly-by will be beamed back to Earth in the coming months, as Parker moves to the outer part of its orbit, farther from the Sun.
Though this completes the planned orbits of the mission’s primary mission, the proposed Trump budget continues to fund the spacecraft’s operation for the next five years, allowing it to monitor changes in the Sun as it ramps down from solar maximum to solar minimum.
The Parker Solar Probe has successfully completed its 24th close fly-by of the Sun, the last of its initial primary mission, matching the distance and speed record set during two previous fly-bys.
Parker Solar Probe checked in with mission operators at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Maryland — where it was also designed and built — on Sunday, June 22, reporting that all systems are healthy and operating normally. The spacecraft was out of contact with Earth and operating autonomously during the close approach.
During this flyby, the spacecraft also equaled its record-setting speed of 430,000 miles per hour (687,000 km per hour) — a mark that, like the distance, was set and subsequently matched during close approaches on Dec. 24, 2024, and March 22, 2025.
The data obtained during this fly-by will be beamed back to Earth in the coming months, as Parker moves to the outer part of its orbit, farther from the Sun.
Though this completes the planned orbits of the mission’s primary mission, the proposed Trump budget continues to fund the spacecraft’s operation for the next five years, allowing it to monitor changes in the Sun as it ramps down from solar maximum to solar minimum.
France’s space agency awards ArianeGroup contract to build methane-fueled engine
France’s space agency CNES this week awarded ArianeGroup, the rocket partnership between Airbus and Safran that builds the Ariane-6 rocket a contract to develop a more powerful methane-fueled rocket engine.
Aiming to reach between 200 and 300 tons of thrust, the new engine will be twice as powerful as the current Vulcain 2.1 main stage engine that propels Ariane 6.
No details about cost or time schedule were released.
The significance of this deal isn’t the engine, but that it was issued directly to ArianeGroup by France’s space agency, instead of through the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Arianespace commercial arm, as has been routine for the past three decades. The deal illustrates how the ESA is essentially beginning to break up. Rather than go through it, its individual nations are now going it alone, each providing support and funding to their own commercial private space startups. Germany began this process, encouraging the development of three new rocket companies (Rocket Factory Augsburg, Isar, and Hyimpulse). Spain and Italy soon followed with their own new rocket companies, (PLD and Avio respectively). France, which until recently lobbied to keep the old government model alive in ESA, has in the past year shifted strongly to the capitalism model.
This contract only underscores this shift.
France’s space agency CNES this week awarded ArianeGroup, the rocket partnership between Airbus and Safran that builds the Ariane-6 rocket a contract to develop a more powerful methane-fueled rocket engine.
Aiming to reach between 200 and 300 tons of thrust, the new engine will be twice as powerful as the current Vulcain 2.1 main stage engine that propels Ariane 6.
No details about cost or time schedule were released.
The significance of this deal isn’t the engine, but that it was issued directly to ArianeGroup by France’s space agency, instead of through the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Arianespace commercial arm, as has been routine for the past three decades. The deal illustrates how the ESA is essentially beginning to break up. Rather than go through it, its individual nations are now going it alone, each providing support and funding to their own commercial private space startups. Germany began this process, encouraging the development of three new rocket companies (Rocket Factory Augsburg, Isar, and Hyimpulse). Spain and Italy soon followed with their own new rocket companies, (PLD and Avio respectively). France, which until recently lobbied to keep the old government model alive in ESA, has in the past year shifted strongly to the capitalism model.
This contract only underscores this shift.
The new Rubin telescope releases its first images
Click to see all first look images.
The new Vera Rubin telescope, located in Chile and designed to provide a high resolution survey of the southern sky every three nights, has now released its first images.
Rubin Observatory will … be the most efficient and effective Solar System discovery machine ever built. Rubin will take about a thousand images of the Southern Hemisphere sky every night, allowing it to cover the entire visible Southern sky every three to four nights. In doing so, it will find millions of unseen asteroids, comets and interstellar objects. Rubin will be a game changer for planetary defense by spotting far more asteroids than ever before, potentially identifying some that might impact the Earth or Moon.
The image to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, shows a small section of the Virgo cluster of galaxies, about 50 million light years away.
The telescope’s vast survey data of the sky will also be used to attempt to determine the nature of both dark matter and dark energy.
Click to see all first look images.
The new Vera Rubin telescope, located in Chile and designed to provide a high resolution survey of the southern sky every three nights, has now released its first images.
Rubin Observatory will … be the most efficient and effective Solar System discovery machine ever built. Rubin will take about a thousand images of the Southern Hemisphere sky every night, allowing it to cover the entire visible Southern sky every three to four nights. In doing so, it will find millions of unseen asteroids, comets and interstellar objects. Rubin will be a game changer for planetary defense by spotting far more asteroids than ever before, potentially identifying some that might impact the Earth or Moon.
The image to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, shows a small section of the Virgo cluster of galaxies, about 50 million light years away.
The telescope’s vast survey data of the sky will also be used to attempt to determine the nature of both dark matter and dark energy.
Isaacman hints of future space plans
In receiving an award from a space advocacy group on June 21, 2025, billionaire Jared Isaacman hinted that his future space-related plans could include working with science organizations to finance scientific probes.
[Had he become NASA administrator he had wanted] NASA to partner with academic organizations on missions where such organizations would have had a bigger role in funding. “My priorities would have been leadership in space and the orbital economy,” he said, “and trying to introduce a concept where NASA could help enable others to conduct interesting scientific missions, getting academic organizations to contribute.”
That was something he said he might be interested in pursuing outside the agency. “I wouldn’t mind maybe trying to put that to a test and see if you could fund an interesting robotic mission, just to show that it can be done, and try and get some of the top tier academic institutions who want to perform. So that’s on my mind.”
He also indicated that he generally has no problem with the Trump administration’s proposed NASA cuts, noting that such academic organizations need to figure out how to work with less money.
Despite this statement, it appears he is still unsure of what he will do next in space. He has not restarted his Polaris Dawn manned program — suspended when he was nominated to become NASA administrator — and has said that right now he is more focused taking advantage of this unexpected break from work to spend more time with his family.
In receiving an award from a space advocacy group on June 21, 2025, billionaire Jared Isaacman hinted that his future space-related plans could include working with science organizations to finance scientific probes.
[Had he become NASA administrator he had wanted] NASA to partner with academic organizations on missions where such organizations would have had a bigger role in funding. “My priorities would have been leadership in space and the orbital economy,” he said, “and trying to introduce a concept where NASA could help enable others to conduct interesting scientific missions, getting academic organizations to contribute.”
That was something he said he might be interested in pursuing outside the agency. “I wouldn’t mind maybe trying to put that to a test and see if you could fund an interesting robotic mission, just to show that it can be done, and try and get some of the top tier academic institutions who want to perform. So that’s on my mind.”
He also indicated that he generally has no problem with the Trump administration’s proposed NASA cuts, noting that such academic organizations need to figure out how to work with less money.
Despite this statement, it appears he is still unsure of what he will do next in space. He has not restarted his Polaris Dawn manned program — suspended when he was nominated to become NASA administrator — and has said that right now he is more focused taking advantage of this unexpected break from work to spend more time with his family.
NJ Boy scouts win first prize in international rocketry competition
A rocketry team form Boy Scout Troop 74 in New Jersey has garnered first prize in the International Rocketry Challenge held this week at the Paris Air Show in France.
The team competed against top student rocketeers from across the globe. This year, the United Kingdom placed second, followed by France in third, and Japan in fourth.
The “Troop 74 Rocketeers” won the opportunity to represent the United States by securing the title of National Champion at the 23rd annual American Rocketry Challenge National Finals in May. The team bested a record-breaking 1,001 middle and high school teams who participated in the design, build, and launch competition.
This year marked the first time teammates Chase, Makayo (Mak), and Thomas qualified for the National Finals. Their precision in designing, building, and launching a model rocket was unmatched by any other team in the country.
This contest, which has been growing steadily in recent years, suggests a robust next generation of rocket engineers is on the way. And it also appears they will have plenty of job opportunities for their talent.
A rocketry team form Boy Scout Troop 74 in New Jersey has garnered first prize in the International Rocketry Challenge held this week at the Paris Air Show in France.
The team competed against top student rocketeers from across the globe. This year, the United Kingdom placed second, followed by France in third, and Japan in fourth.
The “Troop 74 Rocketeers” won the opportunity to represent the United States by securing the title of National Champion at the 23rd annual American Rocketry Challenge National Finals in May. The team bested a record-breaking 1,001 middle and high school teams who participated in the design, build, and launch competition.
This year marked the first time teammates Chase, Makayo (Mak), and Thomas qualified for the National Finals. Their precision in designing, building, and launching a model rocket was unmatched by any other team in the country.
This contest, which has been growing steadily in recent years, suggests a robust next generation of rocket engineers is on the way. And it also appears they will have plenty of job opportunities for their talent.
ULA launches the second set of Kuiper satellites into orbit
ULA this morning successfully placed 27 Kuiper satellites into orbit, its Atlas-5 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
This was the second set of Kuiper satellites launched for Amazon. It now has 54 satellites in orbit, with a requirement to launch about 1,600 by July of 2026.
As this was only the second launch in 2025 for ULA, both Atlas-5 launches of Kuiper satellites, the leader board in the 2025 launch race remains unchanged.
77 SpaceX
35 China
8 Rocket Lab
7 Russia
SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 77 to 58.
ULA had predicted it would do 20 launches in 2025. It appears the company will not only not reach that goal, it will not do so by a lot.
ULA this morning successfully placed 27 Kuiper satellites into orbit, its Atlas-5 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
This was the second set of Kuiper satellites launched for Amazon. It now has 54 satellites in orbit, with a requirement to launch about 1,600 by July of 2026.
As this was only the second launch in 2025 for ULA, both Atlas-5 launches of Kuiper satellites, the leader board in the 2025 launch race remains unchanged.
77 SpaceX
35 China
8 Rocket Lab
7 Russia
SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 77 to 58.
ULA had predicted it would do 20 launches in 2025. It appears the company will not only not reach that goal, it will not do so by a lot.
SpaceX launches 27 Starlink satelites
The beat goes on: SpaceX tonight successfully launched 27 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The first stage completed its 25th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
77 SpaceX
35 China
8 Rocket Lab
7 Russia
SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 77 to 57.
The beat goes on: SpaceX tonight successfully launched 27 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The first stage completed its 25th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
77 SpaceX
35 China
8 Rocket Lab
7 Russia
SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 77 to 57.
Scientists discover unexpected mineral in Ryugu asteroid sample
Scientists analyzing the samples brought back from the rubble pile asteroid Ryugu by Japan’s Hayabusa-2 spacecraft have now discovered an unexpected mineral, dubbed djerfisherite, that the formation theories of the asteroid say should not be there.
“Djerfisherite is a mineral that typically forms in very reduced environments, like those found in enstatite chondrites, and has never been reported in CI chondrites or other Ryugu grains,” says first and corresponding author Masaaki Miyahara, associate professor at the Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University. “Its occurrence is like finding a tropical seed in Arctic ice—indicating either an unexpected local environment or long-distance transport in the early solar system.”
At present the scientists propose two hypotheses for explaining the mineral. Either it came from another asteroid as Ryugu was congealing, or it formed in Ryugu when conditions raised its temperature above 350 degrees Celsius. The researchers now favor the latter theory, even though the generally accepted histories of Ryugu’s formation never included such conditions.
Scientists analyzing the samples brought back from the rubble pile asteroid Ryugu by Japan’s Hayabusa-2 spacecraft have now discovered an unexpected mineral, dubbed djerfisherite, that the formation theories of the asteroid say should not be there.
“Djerfisherite is a mineral that typically forms in very reduced environments, like those found in enstatite chondrites, and has never been reported in CI chondrites or other Ryugu grains,” says first and corresponding author Masaaki Miyahara, associate professor at the Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University. “Its occurrence is like finding a tropical seed in Arctic ice—indicating either an unexpected local environment or long-distance transport in the early solar system.”
At present the scientists propose two hypotheses for explaining the mineral. Either it came from another asteroid as Ryugu was congealing, or it formed in Ryugu when conditions raised its temperature above 350 degrees Celsius. The researchers now favor the latter theory, even though the generally accepted histories of Ryugu’s formation never included such conditions.
ESA partners with French company to build space plane “demonstrator”
The European Space Agency (ESA) and the French company Dassault Aviation yesterday announced a partnership for building a space plane “demonstrator” that will lay the groundwork for developing a family of such spacecraft dubbed Vortex.
The ESA press release is here. Both this release and the Dassault release linked to above provided little detailed information, other than the demonstrator will be a small scale suborbital testbed for eventually developing the full scale orbital vehicle. Neither a budget nor time schedule were even hinted at.
ESA has funded a number of these demonstrators in the past decade — Themis and Calisto come to mind — all of which are behind schedule and have as yet not flown. It will be interesting to see if this project fares better, as it seems it is being led by a single commercial company rather than the government run mishmashes of the other projects.
The European Space Agency (ESA) and the French company Dassault Aviation yesterday announced a partnership for building a space plane “demonstrator” that will lay the groundwork for developing a family of such spacecraft dubbed Vortex.
The ESA press release is here. Both this release and the Dassault release linked to above provided little detailed information, other than the demonstrator will be a small scale suborbital testbed for eventually developing the full scale orbital vehicle. Neither a budget nor time schedule were even hinted at.
ESA has funded a number of these demonstrators in the past decade — Themis and Calisto come to mind — all of which are behind schedule and have as yet not flown. It will be interesting to see if this project fares better, as it seems it is being led by a single commercial company rather than the government run mishmashes of the other projects.
SpaceX provides update on Starship explosion while fueling for static fire engine test
SpaceX has now posted an update outlining its preliminary conclusions as to the cause of the Starship explosion as the spacecraft was being fueled prior to a static fire engine test on June 18, 2025.
Engineering teams are actively investigating the incident and will follow established procedures to determine root cause. Initial analysis indicates the potential failure of a pressurized tank known as a COPV, or composite overwrapped pressure vessel, containing gaseous nitrogen in Starship’s nosecone area, but the full data review is ongoing. There is no commonality between the COPVs used on Starship and SpaceX’s Falcon rockets.
It remains unclear how long it will take to get that test stand back up and running.
SpaceX has now posted an update outlining its preliminary conclusions as to the cause of the Starship explosion as the spacecraft was being fueled prior to a static fire engine test on June 18, 2025.
Engineering teams are actively investigating the incident and will follow established procedures to determine root cause. Initial analysis indicates the potential failure of a pressurized tank known as a COPV, or composite overwrapped pressure vessel, containing gaseous nitrogen in Starship’s nosecone area, but the full data review is ongoing. There is no commonality between the COPVs used on Starship and SpaceX’s Falcon rockets.
It remains unclear how long it will take to get that test stand back up and running.
June 20, 2025 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast
Embedded below the fold in two parts.
To listen to all of John Batchelor’s podcasts, go here.
» Read more
Embedded below the fold in two parts.
To listen to all of John Batchelor’s podcasts, go here.
» Read more
Clickspring – Recreating the ancient engineering that built the Antikythera Mechanism
An evening pause: For background, the Antikythera Mechanism is an archaeological artifact from ancient Greece:
The Antikythera Mechanism is the oldest known scientific computer, built in Greece at around 100 BCE. Lost for 2000 years, it was recovered from a shipwreck in 1901. But not until a century later was its purpose understood: an astronomical clock that determines the positions of celestial bodies with extraordinary precision.
Today’s pause shows how this very complex mechanism, that includes many metal gears, might have been made by hand, without electricity and our modern tools.
Hat tip Cotour.
June 20, 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.
- As planned, Psyche has resumed engine firing, using a back-up propellant line
The spacecraft is still targeting an arrival at the metal asteroid Psyche in August 2029.
- ESA touts the shipment of the first stage of its Themis grasshopper demonstrator
ESA touted its completion three days ago, and now is bragging how it is now ready to shipped by truck. Meanwhile, this test vehicle is only three years late, and even if its short test hops are successful it will still leave Europe years away from having a reusable rocket.
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.
- As planned, Psyche has resumed engine firing, using a back-up propellant line
The spacecraft is still targeting an arrival at the metal asteroid Psyche in August 2029.
- ESA touts the shipment of the first stage of its Themis grasshopper demonstrator
ESA touted its completion three days ago, and now is bragging how it is now ready to shipped by truck. Meanwhile, this test vehicle is only three years late, and even if its short test hops are successful it will still leave Europe years away from having a reusable rocket.
Two lunar orbiters spot the crash site of Ispace’s Resilience lander
Scientists using both NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and India’s Chandrayaan-2 lunar orbiter have spotted the crash site for the private commercial lunar lander Resilience, built and launched by the Japanese startup Ispace.
The picture to the right was taken by Chandrayaan-2. As noted at the LRO website showing its photo:
The dark smudge (60.4445°N, 355.4120°E, -2431.6 m elevation ) formed as the vehicle excavated and redistributed shallow regolith (soil); the faint bright halo resulted from low-angle regolith particles scouring the delicate surface.
The lander attempted a soft landing on June 5, 2025, but because its laser rangefinder was unable to gather good data as to its elevation, it did not decelerate properly and was going too fast when its engines tried for a soft landing. It instead crashed.
Scientists using both NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and India’s Chandrayaan-2 lunar orbiter have spotted the crash site for the private commercial lunar lander Resilience, built and launched by the Japanese startup Ispace.
The picture to the right was taken by Chandrayaan-2. As noted at the LRO website showing its photo:
The dark smudge (60.4445°N, 355.4120°E, -2431.6 m elevation ) formed as the vehicle excavated and redistributed shallow regolith (soil); the faint bright halo resulted from low-angle regolith particles scouring the delicate surface.
The lander attempted a soft landing on June 5, 2025, but because its laser rangefinder was unable to gather good data as to its elevation, it did not decelerate properly and was going too fast when its engines tried for a soft landing. It instead crashed.
New nova spotted and now visible to the naked eye
Astronomers have now spotted a brand new nova in the southern hemisphere that has quickly brightened so that is now just visible to the naked eye.
On June 12th (June 12.9 UT), the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) discovered a new 8.7-magnitude stellar object in Lupus. Not long after, Yusuke Tampo, with the South African Astronomical Observatory (University of Cape Town), obtained a spectrum of the “new star” and identified it as a classical nova based on its spectral features and dramatic increase in brightness.
The nova went through a slew of temporary names — AT 2025nlr, ASASSN-25cm, and N Lup 2025 — until receiving its official designation V462 Lupi on June 16th. Since discovery, the nova has brightened rapidly. As of 3 p.m. Eastern Time June 17th, it’s at magnitude 6.1, and visible without optical aid from a dark-sky location. Its rise has been phenomenal when you consider that prior to the explosion, the progenitor star was approximately magnitude 22.3 (in the blue band) according to American Association for Variable Stars (AAVSO) observer Sebastián Otero, who dug up an older image from a photographic plate.
Though in the southern hemisphere, this nova star is also visible in the northern hemisphere to the mid-latitudes. The article at the link provides some details if you wish to try spotting it.
Novae occur when a central heavy white dwarf star robs enough material from its closely orbiting stellar companion. When enough material piles up on the surface of the white dwarf it goes critical, resulting in a thermonuclear explosion strong enough to produce the nova.
Whether the nova will continue to brighten remains unknown, but I guarantee that a plethora of amateur astronomers will watching to find out.
Hat tip to BtB’s stringer Jay.
Astronomers have now spotted a brand new nova in the southern hemisphere that has quickly brightened so that is now just visible to the naked eye.
On June 12th (June 12.9 UT), the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) discovered a new 8.7-magnitude stellar object in Lupus. Not long after, Yusuke Tampo, with the South African Astronomical Observatory (University of Cape Town), obtained a spectrum of the “new star” and identified it as a classical nova based on its spectral features and dramatic increase in brightness.
The nova went through a slew of temporary names — AT 2025nlr, ASASSN-25cm, and N Lup 2025 — until receiving its official designation V462 Lupi on June 16th. Since discovery, the nova has brightened rapidly. As of 3 p.m. Eastern Time June 17th, it’s at magnitude 6.1, and visible without optical aid from a dark-sky location. Its rise has been phenomenal when you consider that prior to the explosion, the progenitor star was approximately magnitude 22.3 (in the blue band) according to American Association for Variable Stars (AAVSO) observer Sebastián Otero, who dug up an older image from a photographic plate.
Though in the southern hemisphere, this nova star is also visible in the northern hemisphere to the mid-latitudes. The article at the link provides some details if you wish to try spotting it.
Novae occur when a central heavy white dwarf star robs enough material from its closely orbiting stellar companion. When enough material piles up on the surface of the white dwarf it goes critical, resulting in a thermonuclear explosion strong enough to produce the nova.
Whether the nova will continue to brighten remains unknown, but I guarantee that a plethora of amateur astronomers will watching to find out.
Hat tip to BtB’s stringer Jay.
The source of a Martian glacial canyon 750 miles long
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, sharpened, and brightened to post here, was taken on May 1, 2025 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
The scientists label this very simply as a “wall on Ausonia Cavis”. Ausonia Cavis — 31 miles long and 20 miles wide at its widest — is one of the many gigantic sinks found in many places on Mars. This particular cliff wall is about 2,000 feet high, though from rim to floor of the sink is closer to 3,000 feet.
The image was likely taken to get a closer look at those gullies flowing down the cliff wall. Previous research of similar cliff walls in this region has found what appears to be seasonal water frost in such gullies, and this image was likely taken to see if more such frost could be spotted here as well.
» Read more
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, sharpened, and brightened to post here, was taken on May 1, 2025 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
The scientists label this very simply as a “wall on Ausonia Cavis”. Ausonia Cavis — 31 miles long and 20 miles wide at its widest — is one of the many gigantic sinks found in many places on Mars. This particular cliff wall is about 2,000 feet high, though from rim to floor of the sink is closer to 3,000 feet.
The image was likely taken to get a closer look at those gullies flowing down the cliff wall. Previous research of similar cliff walls in this region has found what appears to be seasonal water frost in such gullies, and this image was likely taken to see if more such frost could be spotted here as well.
» Read more
France government invests big in Eutelsat-OneWeb
According to the satellite company Eutelsat-OneWeb, the French government has now committed more than a billion dollars in investment capital to the company, doubling its stake to almost 30%.
France would more than double its stake in Eutelsat to nearly 30% as part of a $1.56 billion capital raise backed by multiple shareholders, bolstering the French operator’s plans to refresh its OneWeb constellation amid Starlink’s growing dominance.
The funds would be raised in two parts before the end of the year, Eutelsat announced June 19, a day after the French military agreed to buy OneWeb services over 10 years in a deal potentially worth up to one billion euros ($1.15 billion).
OneWeb itself almost went bankrupt until it was saved by cash from a major Indian investor and the government of the United Kingdom. This new deal means that the merged company is largely controlled by France, the UK, and India.
According to the satellite company Eutelsat-OneWeb, the French government has now committed more than a billion dollars in investment capital to the company, doubling its stake to almost 30%.
France would more than double its stake in Eutelsat to nearly 30% as part of a $1.56 billion capital raise backed by multiple shareholders, bolstering the French operator’s plans to refresh its OneWeb constellation amid Starlink’s growing dominance.
The funds would be raised in two parts before the end of the year, Eutelsat announced June 19, a day after the French military agreed to buy OneWeb services over 10 years in a deal potentially worth up to one billion euros ($1.15 billion).
OneWeb itself almost went bankrupt until it was saved by cash from a major Indian investor and the government of the United Kingdom. This new deal means that the merged company is largely controlled by France, the UK, and India.
Chinese pseudo-company Landspace completes static fire test of 1st stage of its Zhuque-3 reusable rocket
The Chinese pseudo-company Landspace today successfully completed a static fire test of 1st stage of its Zhuque-3 reusable rocket, firing all nine engines for 45 seconds.
This lays the groundwork for the first launch attempt of this rocket.
The first Zhuque-3 orbital launch attempt was earlier slated for the third quarter of the year and would carry a prototype of the reusable Haolong cargo spacecraft, designed by the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute under the Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC). The test is part of a program for low-cost cargo delivery to the Tiangong space station. Landspace did not provide a timeframe for the launch in its static fire test statement.
It appears increasingly that three different Chinese pseudo-companies are getting close to launching reusable rockets within the next year or so. In addition to Landspace, there is CAS-Space (the rocket division of a government agency) and Space Pioneer. In addition, there five other pseudo-companies doing similar rocket hop tests. All are working under the supervision of the government, which requires them to share data.
The Chinese pseudo-company Landspace today successfully completed a static fire test of 1st stage of its Zhuque-3 reusable rocket, firing all nine engines for 45 seconds.
This lays the groundwork for the first launch attempt of this rocket.
The first Zhuque-3 orbital launch attempt was earlier slated for the third quarter of the year and would carry a prototype of the reusable Haolong cargo spacecraft, designed by the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute under the Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC). The test is part of a program for low-cost cargo delivery to the Tiangong space station. Landspace did not provide a timeframe for the launch in its static fire test statement.
It appears increasingly that three different Chinese pseudo-companies are getting close to launching reusable rockets within the next year or so. In addition to Landspace, there is CAS-Space (the rocket division of a government agency) and Space Pioneer. In addition, there five other pseudo-companies doing similar rocket hop tests. All are working under the supervision of the government, which requires them to share data.
India transfers ownership of SSLV rocket from space agency to government-owned private aerospace company
Capitalism in space: As part of the Modi government’s effort to switch its space industry from something owned and run entirely by its space agency ISRO, it has now awarded the ownership and control of ISRO’s newest and smallest rocket, the SSLV, to the aerospace company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
The company paid about $60 million for the purchase, and the right to build, market and launch it. It hopes to build between 6 to 10 rockets per year, depending on launch demand.
This transfer is not as radical as it appears. Though HAL operates mostly as an independent aerospace company, it is still owned by the government with its board of directors appointed by the president of India. The rocket will thus still be owned and controlled by the government, not a private company.
At the same time, this deal acts to shift power away from the space agency ISRO, which I suspect is the plan: Divvy up ISRO’s assets, which will eventually make it harder for it to block independent operations by private companies. As part of that program, the government has also transferred construction of the larger PSLV rocket from ISRO to a consortium of companies.
Whether this shift can create an independent and competitive rocket industry in India is very unclear. In many ways the country’s strategy so far mimics more China’s pseudo-company approach (where the companies raise investment capital, compete for government and commercial contracts, but are always under the full control and supervision of the government) then it does America’s free enterprise system (where ownership and control resides entirely with the companies, and the government only buys the services it needs from them).
The American model is by far the most successful in encouraging innovation and competition for the least cost. The Chinese model produces some results for less cost, but relatively little innovation. Instead, it copies what Americans do.
Capitalism in space: As part of the Modi government’s effort to switch its space industry from something owned and run entirely by its space agency ISRO, it has now awarded the ownership and control of ISRO’s newest and smallest rocket, the SSLV, to the aerospace company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
The company paid about $60 million for the purchase, and the right to build, market and launch it. It hopes to build between 6 to 10 rockets per year, depending on launch demand.
This transfer is not as radical as it appears. Though HAL operates mostly as an independent aerospace company, it is still owned by the government with its board of directors appointed by the president of India. The rocket will thus still be owned and controlled by the government, not a private company.
At the same time, this deal acts to shift power away from the space agency ISRO, which I suspect is the plan: Divvy up ISRO’s assets, which will eventually make it harder for it to block independent operations by private companies. As part of that program, the government has also transferred construction of the larger PSLV rocket from ISRO to a consortium of companies.
Whether this shift can create an independent and competitive rocket industry in India is very unclear. In many ways the country’s strategy so far mimics more China’s pseudo-company approach (where the companies raise investment capital, compete for government and commercial contracts, but are always under the full control and supervision of the government) then it does America’s free enterprise system (where ownership and control resides entirely with the companies, and the government only buys the services it needs from them).
The American model is by far the most successful in encouraging innovation and competition for the least cost. The Chinese model produces some results for less cost, but relatively little innovation. Instead, it copies what Americans do.
China launches communications satellite
China today successfully launched a communications satellite, its Long March 3B rocket lifting off from its Xichang spaceport in southwest China.
As is usual for its state-run press, no information was provided about the satellite or where the rocket’s lower stages crashed inside China.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
76 SpaceX
35 China
8 Rocket Lab
7 Russia
SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 76 to 57.
China today successfully launched a communications satellite, its Long March 3B rocket lifting off from its Xichang spaceport in southwest China.
As is usual for its state-run press, no information was provided about the satellite or where the rocket’s lower stages crashed inside China.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
76 SpaceX
35 China
8 Rocket Lab
7 Russia
SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 76 to 57.