January 21, 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.
I am posting this early because I am busy this morning dealing with a scheduled family medical procedure. Nothing critical, but I will be out of the office for a good portion of the day. I plan to catch up in the afternoon.
- NASA astronaut Suni Williams retires
She spent 27 years at NASA, logging 608 days in space.
- Stratolaunch raises “significant capital” from two new investment partners
The press release says nothing about the amount of money raised. Nor does it indicate how this deal changes the company’s management.
- Airbus’s plan to consolidate its satellite divisions opposed by unions
It is unclear from the article how that opposition might impact Airbus’s plans.
- Chinese pseudo-company Galactic Energy claims its new CQ-90 engine is more powerful than SpaceX’s Merlin engine
This engine has not flown yet. It is to be used on a planned reusable first stage.
- In November 2026 Voyager-1 will be one light-day away from Earth (16 billion miles)
In other words, any signals will take a full 24 hours to reach the spacecraft. It will also take that long for data to come back.
- On this day in 1965 an Apollo test command module was launched atop a Little Joe II rocket
The suborbital flight successfully tested the capsule’s launch abort escape system.
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.
I am posting this early because I am busy this morning dealing with a scheduled family medical procedure. Nothing critical, but I will be out of the office for a good portion of the day. I plan to catch up in the afternoon.
- NASA astronaut Suni Williams retires
She spent 27 years at NASA, logging 608 days in space.
- Stratolaunch raises “significant capital” from two new investment partners
The press release says nothing about the amount of money raised. Nor does it indicate how this deal changes the company’s management.
- Airbus’s plan to consolidate its satellite divisions opposed by unions
It is unclear from the article how that opposition might impact Airbus’s plans.
- Chinese pseudo-company Galactic Energy claims its new CQ-90 engine is more powerful than SpaceX’s Merlin engine
This engine has not flown yet. It is to be used on a planned reusable first stage.
- In November 2026 Voyager-1 will be one light-day away from Earth (16 billion miles)
In other words, any signals will take a full 24 hours to reach the spacecraft. It will also take that long for data to come back.
- On this day in 1965 an Apollo test command module was launched atop a Little Joe II rocket
The suborbital flight successfully tested the capsule’s launch abort escape system.
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

