March 24, 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.
- Amazon outlines its effort to accelerate the launch of its Leo satellites
Sounds good, but it will all depend on whether the rockets it depends on, other than SpaceX or ULA, can get off the ground. Right now it is questionable Blue Origin’s New Glenn and Arianespace’s Ariane-6 can launch soon or very quickly.
- A Florida-based company, Seagate Space, is developing modular offshore launch platforms
It joins two European companies attempting to do the same.
- Blue Origin touts the ongoing assembly of its 2nd Blue Moon MK1 unmanned lunar lander
Blue Origin still has to launch the first.
- Rocket Lab touts its Rutherford rocket engine, having launched more than 800 so far on its Electron rocket
The company hopes in 2026 to launch another 200+.
- More moons for Jupiter and Saturn!
Jupiter now has 101, while Saturn has 285. Nor should anyone expect these numbers to remain this low.
- Gus Grissom and John Young became the first astronauts to fly the Gemini spacecraft on this day in 1965
The 5-hour Gemini-3 mission tested the new maneuverable Gemini spacecraft, designed expressly to demonstrate docking and rendezvous as well as missions from one to two-weeks long.
- On March 23, 1983, the Soviet Union launched the Astron-1 space telescope on its Proton rocket from Baikonur
It operated in a highly elliptical orbit to study sources of UV and X-rays and functioned for about 6-8 years.
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.
- Amazon outlines its effort to accelerate the launch of its Leo satellites
Sounds good, but it will all depend on whether the rockets it depends on, other than SpaceX or ULA, can get off the ground. Right now it is questionable Blue Origin’s New Glenn and Arianespace’s Ariane-6 can launch soon or very quickly.
- A Florida-based company, Seagate Space, is developing modular offshore launch platforms
It joins two European companies attempting to do the same.
- Blue Origin touts the ongoing assembly of its 2nd Blue Moon MK1 unmanned lunar lander
Blue Origin still has to launch the first.
- Rocket Lab touts its Rutherford rocket engine, having launched more than 800 so far on its Electron rocket
The company hopes in 2026 to launch another 200+.
- More moons for Jupiter and Saturn!
Jupiter now has 101, while Saturn has 285. Nor should anyone expect these numbers to remain this low.
- Gus Grissom and John Young became the first astronauts to fly the Gemini spacecraft on this day in 1965
The 5-hour Gemini-3 mission tested the new maneuverable Gemini spacecraft, designed expressly to demonstrate docking and rendezvous as well as missions from one to two-weeks long.
- On March 23, 1983, the Soviet Union launched the Astron-1 space telescope on its Proton rocket from Baikonur
It operated in a highly elliptical orbit to study sources of UV and X-rays and functioned for about 6-8 years.
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
Amazon is facing issues with Blue Origin too as its solid rocket strap ons keep puking off engine nozzles, and to launch any reasonable number of Leo satellites at the same time like SpaceX does Starlinks they’re going to need them.