July 21, 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.
- SpaceX launch today of two SES communications satellites aborted at T-11 seconds
No reason was given on the live stream, nor was a new launch date indicated.
- SKY Perfect JSAT and Planet Labs partner to build a Earth observation satellite constellation
The former is investing $230 million and using Planet’s newest satellite design.
- Vast opens its new headquarters in California
According to the tweet, the company hopes to launch a “Haven Demo” module this year, and the Haven-1 manned station module in 2026. The demo appears to be a relatively new addition to its program.
- ESA recertifies the parachutes it will use to slow descent of its Franklin Mars lander
Video here. The test was necessary because the chutes have been sitting in storage for so long because of delays in launching this lander.
- China targets 2026 for the first astronauts from the former British and Portuguese controlled cities of Hong Kong and Macao to fly to its Tiangong-3 station
Clearly China is using these astronauts to further cement its control over those cities.
- The NASA-ISRO joint NISAR satellite now scheduled for launch by India on July 30th
ISRO proudly notes that “At a cost of $1.5 billion, NISAR will be the most expensive Earth observation satellite ever launched!” I don’t think this is something to brag about.
- On this day in 1961, Gus Grissom became the second American to fly in space
The suborbital flight in his Liberty Bell 7 Mercury capsule lasted fifteen minutes. Grissom had to quickly evacuate the capsule after splash down when its hatch blew open and it began to sink.
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. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
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.
- SpaceX launch today of two SES communications satellites aborted at T-11 seconds
No reason was given on the live stream, nor was a new launch date indicated.
- SKY Perfect JSAT and Planet Labs partner to build a Earth observation satellite constellation
The former is investing $230 million and using Planet’s newest satellite design.
- Vast opens its new headquarters in California
According to the tweet, the company hopes to launch a “Haven Demo” module this year, and the Haven-1 manned station module in 2026. The demo appears to be a relatively new addition to its program.
- ESA recertifies the parachutes it will use to slow descent of its Franklin Mars lander
Video here. The test was necessary because the chutes have been sitting in storage for so long because of delays in launching this lander.
- China targets 2026 for the first astronauts from the former British and Portuguese controlled cities of Hong Kong and Macao to fly to its Tiangong-3 station
Clearly China is using these astronauts to further cement its control over those cities.
- The NASA-ISRO joint NISAR satellite now scheduled for launch by India on July 30th
ISRO proudly notes that “At a cost of $1.5 billion, NISAR will be the most expensive Earth observation satellite ever launched!” I don’t think this is something to brag about.
- On this day in 1961, Gus Grissom became the second American to fly in space
The suborbital flight in his Liberty Bell 7 Mercury capsule lasted fifteen minutes. Grissom had to quickly evacuate the capsule after splash down when its hatch blew open and it began to sink.
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. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. 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
What did the space pirates say when approaching Haven 1?
A Vast, ye hearties!
Ha!
Slide-rule in their teeth as they climb the solar sail.