June 11, 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.
- The Exploration Company unveils a new methane-fueled engine dubbed “Storm”
The company claims it has a thrust about 72% that of SpaceX’s Raptor-3, which would make it among the most powerful liquid-fueled engines in the world.
- On June 11, 2004 Cassini–Huygens flew past Saturn’s moon Phoebe
The tweet shows the arrival (left) and departure mosaics of the moon.
- On June 11, 2013 China launched its Soyuz-derived Shenzhou 10 capsule on a Long March 2F
The two week manned mission occupied China’s first space station, Tiangong-1.
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
Thought Phoebe orbited Saturn.
Xenophon: You are correct. My mistake. I have corrected the post.
SpaceX today began assembly of the first of the Starship launch towers at SLC-37 at CCSFB.
https://x.com/Miss1onControl/status/2065116461245563122
Based on what we’ve seen at Boca Chica Pad 2, I think we should expect this to be topped out well before summer (though I doubt the pad will be fully ready until sometime next year).
Summer is only nine days away but you could still be right about that tower.
Based on that little chat video with two of his subordinates Elon has pinned on SpaceX’s X feed, there will be massive new AI data center satellite factory construction underway soon in the Bastrop, TX area as well – square footage a multiple of the current Starlink user terminal factory that is already there and which will be surrounded by the new plants. I suspect SpaceX will retain the same construction company that erected the Tesla Semi factory in Nevada in jig time to do the work. The concrete never sets on Elon Musk’s empire.
And less than an hour into the trading day, SPCX shares already zoomed over a hundred bucks above the $135 IPO strike price and are now settling back a bit. It will be interesting to see what the price is at close of trading.
Dick E. – Good turn of a phrase for Elon’s concrete setting. England seems to be sunsetting now, possibly just ahead of the US if the Dems win 2028.
I wish I could claim credit for that witticism. I don’t know the originator, but it was first said about John Hannah, who was the long-time President of what became Michigan State University and who oversaw a massive increase in the physical plant and enrollment of that institution on his watch before leaving to become the first director of USAID for Pres. Nixon.
I think it fits Elon even better.
Oopsie! I was looking at the wrong ticker symbol. SPCX shares opened about 15 bucks above the strike price and reached almost 40 bucks higher before closing about 26 bucks higher. That means Elon didn’t leave much money on the table. Good.
Hydrogen storage
https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-surface-pre-treatment-barrier-layer.html
Researchers from Plasma Technology and Surfaces, Paint/Lacquer Technology, as well as Automation and Production Technology at Fraunhofer IFAM, in collaboration with HYTANK project partners, developed resource-efficient manufacturing and joining technologies for the production of large-format, double-walled hydrogen tanks made of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP)—ranging from suitable surface pretreatments and functional barrier layers to automated production on a 1:1 scale, including machining and adhesive-bonding assembly. The goal was to lay the groundwork for the future efficient production of lighter, leak-tight and—under cryogenic conditions—more reliable tank structures, for example, for the aerospace industry.
Boiling surfaces
https://phys.org/news/2026-06-smart-surfaces-gravity.html
A research team led by Davoud Jafari at the University of Twente, in collaboration with the University of Pisa, has completed a series of parabolic flight experiments to investigate advanced smart surfaces under rapidly changing gravity conditions. “Boiling is strongly influenced by gravity,” he noted, “and in microgravity, the absence of buoyancy fundamentally changes how heat is transferred.” Efficient heat transfer remains a critical challenge in space systems, where traditional gravity-driven mechanisms no longer apply. Jafari noted that smart, responsive surfaces like these could play an important role in future spacecraft, high-performance electronics and energy systems requiring reliable cooling under unconventional conditions.
I meant to type ‘before summer is over’. Argh.
A good reason why solar should be in space
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7Bp1tuqurA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ujet-cziIVY&t=1s
New book on Interstellar transport
https://www.amazon.com/Physics-Interstellar-Travel-Coryn-Bailer-Jones/dp/1009689320/
On thin materials
https://phys.org/news/2026-06-scaling-law-ultrathin-materials-stronger.html