December 4, 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.
- Vast touts a successful fit check of its Haven-1 docking adapter
The company still looks good for a spring launch of this demo single module space station.
- An interview with Spinlaunch’s CEO
The bulk of the discussion is about the company’s planned satellite constellation, which it has now put ahead of its spinlaunch concept.
- China releases Chang’e-6’s scientific data
The tweet includes images of the small test rover that was deployed during the mission.
- Russia agrees to transfer 100% of the technology of its RD-191M semi-cryogenic rocket engines to India’s space agency ISRO
ISRO will use it on its largest GLSV rocket to increase its payload capacity.
- On this day in 1973 Pioneer 10 became the first spacecraft to fly past Jupiter
For some reason the tweet features a painting, not any of the real photographs, probably because they aren’t that good compared to what we are now used to. Go here to see some. At the time these images were ground-breaking.
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
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.
- Vast touts a successful fit check of its Haven-1 docking adapter
The company still looks good for a spring launch of this demo single module space station.
- An interview with Spinlaunch’s CEO
The bulk of the discussion is about the company’s planned satellite constellation, which it has now put ahead of its spinlaunch concept.
- China releases Chang’e-6’s scientific data
The tweet includes images of the small test rover that was deployed during the mission.
- Russia agrees to transfer 100% of the technology of its RD-191M semi-cryogenic rocket engines to India’s space agency ISRO
ISRO will use it on its largest GLSV rocket to increase its payload capacity.
- On this day in 1973 Pioneer 10 became the first spacecraft to fly past Jupiter
For some reason the tweet features a painting, not any of the real photographs, probably because they aren’t that good compared to what we are now used to. Go here to see some. At the time these images were ground-breaking.
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


I believe the Pioneers, later supplemented by the Voyagers, really planted in the public mind that these weren’t just lights in the sky, but real places we could go to.
The RD-191M is quite a new, modestly up-rated, model in the engine family based on the venerable RD-170 and including the RD-151, RD-180, RD-181, RD-191 and RD-193. It is used in the Angara 5 variants.
Russia is apparently now willing to sell the complete design and manufacturing recipe of one of Roscosmos’s crown jewels to at least one most-favored nation. Had the Russo-Ukraine War not stretched Russia’s finances to a near-breaking point I don’t think this deal would ever have been done and certainly not on the terms the Indians apparently managed to demand. Russia doubtless shopped its Energomash engines to the PRC also, but that nation would likely not have offered nearly as much for the IP as it already has a number of its own large kerolox engines in production.
One cannot but wonder whether talks aimed at securing comparable deals for other Russian space technologies are not already on-going between Russia and India.
I hope so. China doesn’t need their help any more.
RD-171 is the equal of F-1
RD-175 was to be even more powerful at 9,800 kN thrust as per the wiki on RD-170.
RD-180 was just RD-170 cut in half—and RD-191 an even weaker single nozzle deal.
All kerolox.
On A.I. and propulsion
https://phys.org/news/2025-11-ai-spacecraft-propulsion-efficient-nuclear.html
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/5105/1
I wonder what the exact deal is for those engine designs? Does it include some of the construction equipment and tooling?
Was it all cash, an agreement for India to keep making a few for Russia, An agreement to keep buying oil from Russia as part of the deal?
I am not mad at India for accepting this deal. They might have perfectly fine rocket engines but The proven designs of Russia are valuable. Can India freely sell those engines to other nations without Russian permission?
India and Russia just announced their agreement to place their next stations in the same orbit so as to facilitate easy transfers between their stations in orbit.
My real idea for this is that Russia is looking for another nation that might actually make their launches for them. The excuse of placing them in the same orbit is just cover.
They must be planing on not having launch facilities available inside Russia.
Its also a nice way of not paying rent or having to pay for maintenance and infrastructure updates. Let India do it instead.