May 29, 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.
- NASA touts its help to Vast in building the company’s Haven-1 space module
NASA provided the facilities and advice that allowed the company to test the module’s atmospheric filtering systems.
- China touts the 2-meter diameter of its Xuntian space telescope, designed to closely match Hubble and fly in formation with its Tiangong-3 space station for repair and maintenance
The link says the launch is now targeting 2026, but a report last year it was probably delayed to 2027. Originally China wanted to launch the telescope in 2024.
- Northrop Grumman touts is new medium launch vehicle, Eclipse, built in partnership with Firefly
I could be wrong, but at first glance this appears to be the Antares rocket using Firefly’s first stage (replacing its Ukrainian-built first stage), and renamed.
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.
- NASA touts its help to Vast in building the company’s Haven-1 space module
NASA provided the facilities and advice that allowed the company to test the module’s atmospheric filtering systems.
- China touts the 2-meter diameter of its Xuntian space telescope, designed to closely match Hubble and fly in formation with its Tiangong-3 space station for repair and maintenance
The link says the launch is now targeting 2026, but a report last year it was probably delayed to 2027. Originally China wanted to launch the telescope in 2024.
- Northrop Grumman touts is new medium launch vehicle, Eclipse, built in partnership with Firefly
I could be wrong, but at first glance this appears to be the Antares rocket using Firefly’s first stage (replacing its Ukrainian-built first stage), and renamed.
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
Some great articles at phys.org today:
“Laser technique improves ultra-high temperature ceramic manufacturing for space and defense applications.” (North Carolina State’s hafnium carbide research.)
SMU’s Amin Salehi-Khojin presents 1D-HEO in
“High-entropy nanoribbons offer cost-effective solution for harsh environments.”
“A new super material could lead to more powerful, energy saving electronics” is about Rice’s Emilia Morosan and work done with Kramer’s nodal line metal.
”I could be wrong, but at first glance this appears to be the Antares rocket using Firefly’s first stage (replacing its Ukrainian-built first stage), and renamed.”
I think the Northrop Grumman vehicle with the Firefly first stage is still called the Antares 330. This is the new Firefly vehicle with the new Firefly second stage that will be called Eclipse. With Northrop investing directly in the Firefly vehicle, however, I’m thinking Antares may be retired with the ISS.
mkent: So if I understand correctly, this is a new rocket, dubbed Eclipse, that is essentially built entirely by Firefly but financed by Northrop Grumman and uses its launch facility at Wallops.
If so, I don’t know how it will compete if that first stage is not reusable.
”…this is a new rocket, dubbed Eclipse, that is essentially built entirely by Firefly but financed by Northrop Grumman and uses its launch facility at Wallops.
That’s my understanding, yes. Antares 330 and Eclipse will share a common Firefly first stage, but the upper stages will be built by the vehicles’ respective companies.
”If so, I don’t know how it will compete if that first stage is not reusable.”
I believe Firefly plans to start reusability trials around Eclipse serial number 6. That’s also why I don’t think Antares will outlast Northrop’s ISS resupply contract.
BryceTech has their first quarter 2025 Global Space Activity report up now, and it’s always worth looking over.
SpaceX shows as having launched 85.3% of all upmass to orbit, and 86.7% of all spacecraft to orbit, in the first quarter of the year. Nice to have it quantified.
https://brycetech.com/reports/report-documents/bryce-briefing-2025-Q1/
mkent is correct: Firefly and Northrop announced in 2022 that a de-rated version of MLV’s first stage would be used forNorthrop’s Antares 300-series. (MLV is what has been now officially named Eclipse). Today’s release reaffirms that.
So, basically, these two rockets will have the same first stage. Firefly is developing its own second stage and fairings for Eclipse. And yes, the other difference between the rockets is planned reuse: As mkent says, the plan has been to attempt a recovery on Flight 6 of Eclipse/MLV. Whereas Northrop has no plans (at least not publicly) to try any reuse on the Antares 300.
But….will Antares 300 die when the ISS and the CRS contract dies, as mkent suspects? Neither company has hinted at such an idea, but it is worth wondering just what the business case would be for Antares once that’s gone, since unlike Firefly, Northrop has never pursued outside customers for its rockets. Even if a commercial station (or their customers) wants to contract for a Cygnus cargo flight, why not just put it on an Eclipse? Especially if Northrop is a large stakeholder in Firefly by that point?
P.S. Sorry, I left out the links for the original 2022 announcement of Antares 300 with that information:
Space News (Aug 8, 2022): https://spacenews.com/northrop-grumman-and-firefly-to-partner-on-upgraded-antares/
Firefly Aerospace PR release (August 8, 2022): https://fireflyspace.com/news/northrop-grumman-teams-with-firefly-aerospace-to-develop-antares-rocket-upgrade-and-new-medium-launch-vehicle/
Jeff Wright,
Good links. Thanks. For a quick second there, the first story about hafnium carbide sounded as though it might be an answer to Starships TPS issues. Then I got to the point where it was mentioned that this material does not perform well in oxidative environments. I guess that means it would be mainly good for neutral or reducing environments of which there are certainly many in industry. But there are some other carbides with much better oxidation resistance at extreme temperature that might be coatable using the same laser technology and different precursors.
All,
Nice that Firefly’s new rocket finally has a name instead of just an acronym. I share mkent’s skepticism that the Antares 330 will have any future beyond the ISS decommissioning. But Cygnus could still have a future in a commercial LEO environment if launched on a partially-reusable version of Eclipse. The obvious way for NorGrum to pursue such a future for Cygnus would be to acquire Firefly outright.
This might help Elon
https://techxplore.com/news/2025-05-laser-technique-ultra-high-temperature.html
https://ceramics.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jace.20650
Origami
https://phys.org/news/2025-05-origami-unfold-seamless-surfaces-deployable.html
https://phys.org/news/2025-05-intuitive-geometric-method-inverse-kirigami.html
Here is the nanoribbon deal
Try this
https://phys.org/news/2025-05-high-entropy-nanoribbons-effective-solution.html