June 25, 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.
- Hitachi signs a deal with Amazon’s Leo constellation
It appears this deal is tied to Hitachi’s use of Amazon’s cloud web services.
- Blue Origin touts its proposed Blue Ring Mars Telecommunications Orbiter
So, how’s that New Glenn explosion investigation going?
- Hayabusa-2 update: Out of the four ion engines, three are unusable, and the last remaining one is starting to degrade
Japan hoped to send it to asteroid 1998 KY26 in 2031, but this update suggests that it is now unlikely it will get there.
- A history of the Russian APAS docking system
It became the basis for the docking systems now used by all.
- On June 25, 1974 the Soviet Union launched Salyut 3
It was Soviet’s second space station, the first purely military mission, that was occupied twice for 16 and 2 days respectively. For the full story see chapter 4 of Leaving Earth.
- On June 25, 1997 a Progress freighter collided with the Spektr module on Mir
It punctured the module, disabling for the remainder of Mir’s life. For the full story see chapter 13 of Leaving Earth.
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”So, how’s that New Glenn explosion investigation going?”
The debris from the explosion has been removed from the launch site, cranes have been moved into place, and reconstruction of the launch pad has begun. The CEO stated recently that launches will resume by the end of this year with a new conops.
Or was that comment just meant to mock Blue Origin?
In other launch news, Rocket Lab has won a three-launch contract from NASA to launch two science missions by about this time next year. The first launch will be TSIS-2 in January. TSIS-2 was originally scheduled to launch as the primary payload on a Falcon 9 rideshare in Feb 2025, but that launch was apparently cancelled as SpaceX cuts back on launch opportunities for external customers. The word on the street is that the waiting list for a flight is three years long.
Hard questions that touch the core of Blue Origin’s business aren’t mockery. Without access to space all of their other plans are meaningless. Limp has claimed they’ll launch again this year, yes, but if they get to that point through rushing and end up losing the pad again, is it worth it?
I think it’s pretty clear that SpaceX wants to start shifting payloads to Starship as soon as possible. The longer they fly Falcon 9, the greater their expenses, having to maintain another set of launch facilities, operate a vehicle that will ultimately not be able to fly so often as Starship, and cost more per flight. In the interim, this will certainly benefit other providers, but not forever.
Had the money that went to Starship went to more Falcons and Falcon pads, they’d be in better shape.
That would not meet their long-term goals, so no, they would not be in better shape. They need Starship to cut costs even further, increase flight rates, and access much of the inner solar system. The Falcons are great rockets, but they do have limits.
Jeff: I appreciate reading commentary from all sources. It is my personal version of support for freedom of speech. Of course, one of the consequences of such speech is one becomes familiar with the values and capacities of whoever is doing the speaking.
Yes, you may be correct, in that SpaceX may have been in “better shape” (at least in the short term) had the money gone to Falcon instead of Starship. Once again, however, you display your lack of understanding of “economics.” Specifically, Bastiat’s “seen and unseen” (the economic horizon in front of your face as opposed to the hidden one revealed by one’s “vision.”
I remain curious. During your life have you ever started or ran an enterprise? Or, were you, like many, an employee of those who did run one?
I hope you will continue to post. I learn much from your doing so.
I worked for a drunk many years. The paychecks were steady at least.
There were old hands who did good work, but couldn’t even read. Call it bragging if you wish, but if I had left, the outfit would have fallen apart–and the more elderly co-workers would never have found work elsewhere.
I took a hit financially, but I can at least sleep a bit better.
Long before there was an MSNBC or even a CNN, I had a deep and abiding hatred for many in the business world. I firmly believe Hayes Aircraft was liquidated to pay off gambling debts.
If anyone tells you the private world doesn’t have goldbrickers, look up a little something called “the bosses’ son.”
One good thing about being the guy they can’t fire is that-to quote the author of Dilbert, your insolence factor increases.
I think I got some of my smart mouth from that as well as my Mom…who once asked a little mouth-breather whose young mother played the field shall we say…”who’s your Daddy this week?”
Even I would never be as bold as that.
At any rate there have been a couple of advances worth sharing.
The first–Thorium can bond with itself:
https://phys.org/news/2026-06-elusive-thoriumthorium-bonding-hirshfeld-atom.html
With X-ray jets, there may be heavy compounds we just don’t have the energy to make–Polyhymnia anyone?
Even more important–is this finding:
https://phys.org/news/2026-06-crystal-strategy-thermal-expansion.html
A substance that is stable from 11 K to 893 K
That is bound to have a use in space….you just know it.
Jeff Wright,
You wrote: “If anyone tells you the private world doesn’t have goldbrickers, look up a little something called ‘the bosses’ son.’”
If the company is family owned, the boss may be grooming his son to run the company well, so that the company stays in the family. If it is publicly owned — has stockholders — then he may be grooming him so that he has a good job for his whole life. Either way, the boss wants his son to succeed.
It isn’t just nepotism. Many jobs get filled by people that the boss knows, because the boss already has a good sense of how well that person can fill the position. If he doesn’t know you or me, then he takes a chance by hiring either one of us.
“Had the money that went to Starship went to more Falcons and Falcon pads, they’d be in better shape.”
The launch pads may not be the limiting factor. SpaceX still needs to build an upper stage for each launch, a problem that Starship is intended to mitigate.
For those who asked: Starship is expected to launch Superbird-9 in June of 2027.
There are absolutely lazy people in the private sector. They just aren’t as affordable for most companies, unless their name is something like Boeing, and they’re used to charging all their costs to the government–e.g. to taxpayers. Overhead is much easier to carry when someone else pays for it. Smaller companies have to be careful about how much overhead they have versus what they can have third parties pay for.
I have seen a few companies with a bosses’ son involved. Several went bankrupt shortly after the son took over. One is third generation successful. The lazy or incompetent going out of business is the strength of freedom. The lack of negative feedback is why so many government dependent businesses stagnate.
It took me too many years to fully realize that a high percentage of wage employees are drones that will never develop the initiative to become leaders. That is a major part of my businesses never getting beyond a dozen employees.
As an aside, I have had positive interaction with government employees of the DMV and IRS. And extreme negative experiences with several other agencies that seem to exist to provide jobs for control freaks.
If the waiting list for a Falcon ride really is three years long, I suspect the main reason is a combination of a sharp up-tick in overall launch demand combined with the lack of any near-term alternative even if both ULA and Blue return to flight by year’s end. Neither is likely to be at even a low-double-digits-per-year launch cadence in 2027 and the only other big vehicles operating – Ariane 6, India’s LVM3 and Japan’s H-3 – are also production-limited in their cadences and have lengthy waiting lists of their own.
Another probable contributor to a 3-year waiting list for Falcon are some yet-to-be-revealed, and sizable, additional launch tranches for SpaceX’s competitors such as Amazon and AST SpaceMobile. They both have deadlines to meet and no other credible way to meet them. As neither has any incentive to ballyhoo such arrangements, I suspect we’ll hear about them piecemeal as the launches occur.
If, as planned, Starship reaches early operational capability later this year, at least for Starlink deployments, perhaps SpaceX would see its way clear to canceling some currently-planned Falcon Starlink launches in order to free up more Falcon capacity over the next year or two. Other than NASA and maybe the War Dept., I don’t see Starship carrying any 2nd-party customer payloads in 2027. That won’t likely start until 2028.
Given all of the new sources of launch demand that continue to appear, even the advent of Starship is not going to solve the launch demand crunch over the next few years. There should be more than ample business for every launch provider so long as they can actually deliver.
“ So, how’s that New Glenn explosion investigation going?”
Took the words right out of my mouth.
Re: TSIS-2
From Jeff Foust’s Space News story yesterday:
When your payload is years behind schedule in completion, the launch company may not be the first place you want to pick nits.
Nate P wrote: “””Hard questions that touch the core of Blue Origin’s business aren’t mockery.”””
On Blue Origin’s website, the Mission Statement is:
“””Blue Origin means “Earth.” We envision a future where millions of people will live and work in space with a single-minded purpose: to restore and sustain Earth, our blue origin.”””
Just reminds me of the touchy feely, woke Climate Hoax phraseology. The cleanest places on Earth are thanks to the free enterprise system. The dirtiest places are the Communist Socialist hell holes. If your business model does not include some kind of profit, none of it will be “sustainable” long term.
Who knows. Perhaps Blue Origin will become a reliable, successful space endeavor. If not, someone will fill that void.
Recall the pictures from Eastern Europe, after The Wall fell.
Just announced: Botswana joins the Artemis Accords:
https://www.nasa.gov/organizations/oiir/nasa-welcomes-botswana-as-68th-artemis-accords-signatory/
Funny, we were discussing Botswana here just the other day!
Botswana isn’t a major space player, but they do play a little, and they are one of the most functional countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. So they matter more than most other African nations for this.
Hi Richard,
I think the reason why they joined was that their neighbor South Africa joined China’s ILRS.
Botswana joined because its government is rational and focused on merit and achievement, not DEI racial quotas. It sees the U.S. and its basic principles as smart and worth following.
Note that I reported Botswana’s signing four days ago. Today’s signing was merely pro forma. The announcement had already been made.
Hi Bob,
Sorry I missed that. I’ve been spotty dropping in here this week. Glad you covered it.
You’re entirely right about their motivations and character. Hopefully they might contribute a little something to the moon base, in time.