Category: Behind The Black

Alan Hale, the co-discoverer of Comet Hale-Bopp, passes away at 67

9:35 am

R.I.P.: Amateur astronomer Alan Hale, who co-discovered Comet Hale-Bopp, one of the brightest naked-eye comets in the past century, passed away on June 6, 2026 at his home in New Mexico. He was 67.

One fateful night in 1995, he had just finished observing Comet 71P/Clark and decided to glimpse a few globular clusters in Sagittarius while waiting for Comet 6P/d’Arrest to rise above the horizon. As he focused in on M70, he noticed a faint, diffuse object — a comet that would place his name in astronomical history books alongside Thomas Bopp’s.

Checking his star charts, his email, and the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT), Hale fully expected to find that someone else had already discovered the comet he’d spied. On finding all three databases devoid of any mention of a comet near M70, he sent an email to the CBAT team notifying them about his discovery.

At the same time, another amateur astronomer, Thomas Bopp, had spied the fuzzy smudge in his friend’s telescope, while observing from south of Pheonix, Arizona. According to Hale, spotty cell service forced Bopp to drive all the way home to send a telegram to the CBAT team — who were surprised to receive an actual telegram. So Hale’s email arrived first, receiving first billing on the comet, but it’s unclear who observed the comet first.

Comet Hale-Bopp turned out to be the most spectacular comet of the 20th century, easily visible to the naked eye, even in urban areas, and visible for many weeks in the evening sky in the northern hemisphere. All told, it was visible to ordinary people for more than 18 months, a record. Even now, more than a quarter of a century later, no comet has been as bright or as spectacular.

Hale subsequently used this discovery to build a career promoting astronomy to the general public.

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India takes first step to privatize its largest rocket, the LVM3 or Bahubali

9:21 am

LVM3 launching a set of OneWeb satellites in 2022
LVM3 about to launch a set of OneWeb satellites in 2022

IN-SPACe, the agency assigned the job for shifting India’s space effort away from its space agency ISRO and to the private sector, yesterday released an Expression of Interest (EOI), asking India’s private aerospace industry for bids to take over operations of ISRO’s LVM3 rocket (also called Bahubali), its most powerful rocket that ISRO plans to use for its future manned and interplanetary missions.

The invitation for EOI, released on Tuesday, invites eligible Indian private companies or industry consortia to acquire and operationalise LVM3 technology from ISRO. The LVM3, often referred to as ISRO’s ‘Baahubali’ rocket, is the agency’s heaviest operational launch vehicle and is behind key missions including Chandrayaan 2 and 3. The selected private entity will receive technology transfer and extensive support from ISRO to absorb the technology and begin manufacturing and launching LVM3 vehicles commercially.

The EOI invitation also lays down the eligibility criteria for the applicable private entities. ISRO’s handholding and infrastructure support is proposed for a defined period of 42 months or until the realisation and launch of two LVM3 vehicles by the selected entity, whichever comes earlier.

The eventual goal is for the private sector to market LVM3 for commercial purposes, outside of ISRO’s Gaganyaan and space station manned program. While ISRO will continue to operate the rocket to launch manned missions as well as the country’s proposed Bharatiya Antariksh Space Station (BAS), the private company that takes over LVM3 will sell it to the international market for profit. As this is a powerful rocket, it can compete directly with SpaceX’s Falcon 9, ULA’s Vulcan, Blue Origin’s New Glenn, and Arianespace’s Ariane-6.

IN-SPACe has already begun this process with ISRO’s smallsat SSLV rocket, transferring operations in June 2025 to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). There are also indications it is trying to do the same with ISRO’s mid-sized PSLV rocket. If all three transfers go through, almost all of ISRO’s rockets will be operated by the private sector.

Don’t expect this transition to the private sector to happen quickly. As we have seen in the U.S., the shift away from a government-run space program to a chaotic free capitalist space industry can take many years, decades even. And its eventual success is never guaranteed, as government agencies fight hard to protect their turf, and they have the power of government coercion to back them up.

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China picks four of its pseudo-companies to launch its new Qingzhou cargo freighter

8:54 am

China's Qingzhou unmanned cargo freighter
China’s Qingzhou unmanned cargo freighter

China’s government has now chosen four of its pseudo-companies to allow them to bid on launching its new smaller and less costly Qingzhou freighter to bring cargo its Tiangong-3 space station.

Launch firms Galactic Energy, CAS Space, OrienSpace and Landspace were shortlisted to launch the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft, following the launch of a prototype of the supply vessel March 30. The four were named in a public notice posted to China’s national tendering platform June 5, with the notice period closing June 9. The notice does not indicate the selection of a final provider.

The full scale Qingzhou cargo spacecraft is tentatively scheduled for launch in January 2027, subject to the final launch window, according to the tender information. The mission is intended to dock at Tiangong to provide supplies for the first time. Qingzhou is developed by the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IAMCAS), and is one of two low-cost space station resupply spacecraft being developed under a program initiated by China’s human spaceflight agency, CMSEO, to support Tiangong. The prototype completed rendezvous tests in April.

Of these four pseudo-companies, CAS Space and Landspace are most likely to get the first Qingzhou launch contracts. CAS Space is wholly-owned by a government agency, giving it a distinct political advantage. Its Kinetica-2 solid-fueled rocket has also flown a number of times successfully, including one mission that launched the first Qingzhou prototype in March 2026.

Landspace’s rocket, the Zhuque-2, has also flown successfully a number of times (with one failure). As an independent pseudo-company with no direct ownership by the government, its political connections are not as good. At the same time, all these pseudo-companies are essentially owned by the communist government, which recognizes private property only at its convenience.

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Science operations about to resume on Europe’s two-satellite Proba-3 space telescope

8:39 am

The Proba-3 mission
The Proba-3 mission. Click for original.

After months of trouble-shooting after losing contact with the coronagraph probe of Europe’s two-satellite Proba-3 solar space telesscope in February 2026, engineers have successfully resumed precise formation flying of the two spacecraft, and are about to resume full science observations of the Sun’s corona.

The mission is explained in the graph to the right. In February all contact with the coronagraph, which holds the mission’s science instruments, was lost. After a month of struggle, engineers regained contact, but it required another few months of trouble-shooting to pin down the cause of the problem and fix it. The press release provides almost no information about that cause, other than this one quote that hints it was software-based.

“One by one, we have checked the status of each of the spacecraft’s subsystems. We have also been able to successfully perform the operations that proved critical in February,” says Damien. “Back then, it triggered the unfortunate chain reaction that led to loss of connection with the spacecraft, but after patching the root cause in the software, we were confident that this activity will cause no further issues.”

With both spacecraft once again operating in tandem, the occulter can block the Sun’s light so the coronagraph can observe the Sun’s corona, its atmosphere. Essentially, Proba-3 creates an on-going artificial eclipse so as to make the corona visible for study.

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Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66 – Goin Out of My Head

6:01 pm

An evening pause: Performed live 1966. I have started the embed at Herb Albert’s intro, cutting out the staged opening jokes, which some of you might find amusing.

Hat tip Rex Ridenoure.

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June 9, 2026 Quick space links

2:26 pm

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, plus readers Tom Donahue and Chuck, who provided the first two links. 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.

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The rings of Saturn

1:29 pm

Saturn's rings in 2006
Click for original image.

Cool image time! Rather than post another Mars image, I decided today to dig back into the Cassini orbiter archives, which orbited Saturn for almost fourteen years, beginning in 2004.

The picture to the right, reduced and sharpened to post here, was taken on September 6, 2006 from about 397,000 miles away. It has a resolution of about 22 miles per pixel, so no object smaller than that is resolved.

This wide and sweeping view of the sunlit rings of Saturn takes in the impressive variety in their structure — from the clumpy and perennially intriguing F ring to the many waves, ringlets and gaps in the A and B rings and the Cassini Division in between.

The F ring is the outermost thin clumpy ring. The B ring is the brighter set of rings inside the wide Cassini Division, with the A ring the darker set beyond. For a labeled map of all the rings and gaps go here. The seemingly incoherent naming sequence is because the rings are named alphabetically in their order of discovery. Thus, the A ring was first identified, followed by the inner B Ring. The F ring was discovered by the Pioneer 11 when it flew past Saturn in 1979.

While the many Cassini wide-view images of Saturn’s rings tend to look somewhat the same, they all remain breath-taking regardless. Imagine a hotel in orbit around Saturn, where you could look out your window and see this evolve over time as your spacecraft orbited the ringed planet.

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NASA announces crew and flight plan for Artemis-3 Earth orbit mission next year

12:22 pm

Artemis logo

NASA today unveiled both the four-person crew that will fly its Artemis-3 Earth orbit mission next year as well as the mission’s basic plan, assuming both SpaceX and Blue Origin can get their respective lunar landers ready in time.

Crew assignments are as follows:

  • NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, commander
  • ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Luca Parmitano, pilot
  • NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, mission specialist
  • NASA astronaut Andre Douglas, mission specialist

… NASA astronaut Bob Hines was named as a backup crew member.

Except for Douglas, all are veterans.

The mission details were also announced:

Artemis III includes launching the world’s most powerful rockets in short order. Blue Origin’s lander pathfinder, which is able to stay in orbit for multiple weeks, will launch first and await the crew. NASA will send the astronauts aboard Orion by SLS to orbit Earth, before rendezvousing in space with the company’s lander test article and spending about two days docked together for tests and technology demonstrations, including entering the lander.

After completing docked operations with Blue Origin, Orion will detach and await Starship. SpaceX’s Starship pathfinder will launch and meet up with Orion to spend about a day connected for checkouts and testing. After that, Orion and its crew will undock and return home, splashing safely down in the Pacific Ocean where a team from the U.S. Navy and NASA will recover the astronauts.

In total, the crew is expected to remain in space for about two weeks, with exact mission length to be determined in real-time based on launch, rendezvous, and docked operations.

All of this assumes that New Glenn has been fixed and is operational by late 2027 and can launch the Blue Moon Mark-2 manned lunar lander. It also assumes the lunar lander version of Starship is ready and operational and man-rated. It also assumes NASA can get SLS stacked and ready for launch much faster than previously expected.

All are big assumptions.

Other issues: Orion will be testing its docking system and its newly redesigned heat shield for the first time, with humans on board. As the return will be from low Earth orbit, the stress on the heat shield will be relatively light, reducing the risk considerably. Similarly, if the docking system fails they simply won’t dock, and can return to Earth instead. Both should work, however, as neither is cutting edge technology.

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Update on SpaceX preparations at Boca Chica for next Starship/Superheavy test flight

10:54 am

Link here. The key news is that SpaceX has moved Superheavy prototype #20 — the booster that will carry Starship prototype #40 on the 13th orbital test flight — to the test stand to begin tank and engine tests.

Cryogenic testing on B20 will focus on verifying the structural integrity of the liquid oxygen and methane tanks under extreme cold temperatures, while also checking the performance of internal systems, including COPVs, piping, valves, and sensors. This phase is critical for ensuring the booster can safely handle propellant loads before any engine firings.

Based on the article’s overall estimate of what still needs to be done, it is projecting a July-August time frame for the 13th flight. While that will be only two to three months after the 12th flight, significantly less than the seven months between the 11th and 12th flights, it still is longer than required. In order to get Starship certified for a manned Artemis-3 Earth orbit mission next year, a lot of test flights will have to occur in quick succession, on a monthly basis. For the lunar missions the company also has to start flying refueling missions in Earth orbit, which will require the launch of multiple Starships within several weeks.

SpaceX has indicated in intends to do that refueling mission before the end of the year. To do that however this 13th flight must fly in the summer and largely achieve most of its engineering goals.

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Orbital tug startup Quantum raises $300 million by merging with a SPAC

10:40 am

Quantum's proposed Ranger tug
Quantum’s proposed Ranger tug

The orbital tug startup Quantum Space has gone public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), raising $300 million in the process.

Quantum Space announced June 8 that it will merge with Inflection Point Acquisition Corp. VI, a SPAC traded on the Nasdaq exchange. The companies expect the deal to close in the fourth quarter, with Quantum Space then trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol QSPC.

The deal includes a $300 million investment, known as a private investment in public equity, or PIPE, by Inflection Point into Quantum Space. The SPAC also has $253 million in trust that would go to Quantum Space, assuming none of its shareholders redeem their shares. The deal would value Quantum Space at more than $1.1 billion if there are no SPAC redemptions.

The company’s press release is here. Quantum gets extra press because its CEO is Jim Bridenstine, former NASA administrator. The company is developing a tug it labels Ranger, designed with the War Department in mind, capable of not only moving satellites around but also maneuvering to other satellites for reconnaissance and surveillance.

The company however is a latecomer to the orbital tug field. There are several tug and satellite servicing companies (Impulse, Starfish, Momentus, to name just three) that have already flown their tugs and done actual missions. Another, Katalyst, will be launching its first mission in about a month, to rescue the Gehrels-Swift space telescope.

It will be interesting to see if Bridenstine can succeed in playing catch up.

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Astronomers find another quasar in the early universe that really shouldn’t be there

9:28 am

The uncertainty of science: Using archival data from the WISE space telescope, astronomers have now identified another unexpected quasar in the early universe, only 850 million years after the Big Bang, that also flickers in several wavelengths.

The quasar’s flicker enabled the researchers to determine that, surprisingly, the ancient quasar’s whirlpool of gas and dust, known as an accretion disk, resembled a flat pancake, similar in shape to that of more modern-day quasars.

Their findings add to a longstanding mystery in cosmology: Why do supermassive black holes exist so early in the universe’s history? Physicists have assumed that a flat accretion disk reflects a relatively mature black hole that is in a calm and stable state. Black holes that are just starting to form, like those in the very early universe, should be more unsettled systems, with accretion disks that appear more puffy and chaotic.

The flat accretion disk around this very early quasar heightens the mystery of how supermassive black holes can grow and mature in a very short amount of cosmic time.

They estimate the quasar energy output is equivalent to about 12 trillion suns. Its flickering, ranging about 20% in power, makes it the first such flickering quasar found this early in time. Such early quasars however are not unique. Astronomers have found about 200, all of which should not exist, based upon present Big Bang cosmology. There simply hasn’t been enough time for them to evolve, based on present theories of galactic formation.

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Chinese pseudo-company Landspace launches two satellites

9:16 am

The Chinese pseudo-company Landspace yesterday successfully launched two satellites, its Zhuque-2E rocket lifting off from the Jiuquan spaceport in northwest China.

The Zhuque-2E is an upgraded version of Landspace’s Zhuquie-2 rocket, apparently using a larger fairing with an increased payload capacity. The two satellites were both for communications. One was for the Qianfan (Spacesail) internet constellation, which now has approximately 200 satellites in orbit out of a planned 12,000, with the constellation’s first phase targeting 648 by the end of the year. The second satellite was for a different constellation, and is a experimental satellite testing cell-to-satellite technology.

China’s state-run press provided no information about where the rocket’s lower stages crashed inside China.

The leaders in the 2026 launch race:

68 SpaceX
35 China
8 Russia
7 Rocket Lab

For the third straight year SpaceX leads the entire world combined in total launches, 68 to 60.

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German rocket startup Isar raises $312 million; sets new launch date

9:06 am

Proposed or active spaceports in north Europe
Proposed or active spaceports in north Europe

The German rocket startup Isar Aerospace today announced in has raised $270 euros ($312 million) in a new funding round, bringing the total investment capital the company has raised to just under one billion, about $914 million.

The round is backed by new investors Island Green Capital and Molten Ventures with strong participation from existing investors HV Capital, Lakestar, UVC Partners with co-investor KfW Capital, and others, with substantial contributions from European stakeholders – underscoring Europe’s continued strong commitment to the company’s strategic role in providing space sovereignty and technological leadership.

This total does not include the funding provided by the European Space Agency, which is likely in the range of $20 to $40 million, though the actual number has not been published.

Isar's first launch attempt fails
Spectrum falling seconds after its launch
in March 2025

The company also announced a new launch window for its second attempt to complete the first orbital mission of its Spectrum rocket. The new window runs from June 15 to 21, lifting off from Norway’s Andoya spaceport. The previous attempt failed less than a minute after launch. The company tried to do this second attempt in January, but scrubbed the launch several times due to technical issues.

If successful, this launch will make Isar the first new commercial rocket startup from Europe to complete a launch. Two others, PLD from Spain and Rocket Factory Augsburg from Germany, are saying they will launch this year, but no actual launch dates have been set.

All these new startups are small rockets, comparable to Rocket Lab’s Electron. Thus they will not compete with SpaceX initially. All however are aiming to move to larger versions as they gain experience and data.

The launch will also make Andoya the first commercial spaceport in Europe to successful complete an orbital launch.

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June 8, 2026 Quick space links

2:46 pm

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.

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Curiosity’s looks up Valle Grande to its future travels

10:19 am

Panorama, June 8, 2026
Click for high resolution. For original images go here, here, and here.

Overview map
Click for interactive map.

Cool image time! The panorama above was created by me using three pictures taken today by the left navigation camera on the Mars rover Curiosity (see here, here, and here).

The overview map to the right provides the context. The white dotted line indicates Curiosity’s actual travels, while the red dotted lines its planned route, both in the past and in the future. The blue dot marks its approximate position when these images were taken. The yellow lines indicate approximately the view.

The panorama looks up this spectacular valley, which the science team has named Valle Grande. The red dotted line on the panorama is my guess as to the rover’s future route. It will likely not follow such a straight path, but weave back and forth as the science team directs it to look at interesting geological features along the way.

What remains unknown is the route the rover will take once it reaches those light-colored hills in the distance. The science team so far not indicated any chosen route through those hills. I suspect they want to get closer and do some on-site scouting before making any decision. The nature of that light terrain remains unknown. It could be easily traversed, or it could be a problem. From a distance it looks very soft, and thus it will likely required close inspection to make any definite plans.

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SpaceX’s IPO: A quick look at the financial world’s present take

9:23 am

SpaceX logo

As SpaceX and the Wall Street gear up for the June 12, 2026 initial public offering (IPO) of SpaceX stock, there have been a number of articles published in the past week expressing skepticism about it, mostly aimed at trying to predict what will happen in order to advise potential buyers.

Much of this is guesswork, but the people speaking are people who do this for a living, so it might be worthwhile to take a look at what what they have to say. Below are a few examples.

First, the New Yorker published a detailed article questioning the overall $1.75 trillion valuation of SpaceX listed in its IPO. It doubts the reality of the company’s AI division, its plan to launch a constellation of data satellites, and notes that Starlink and the launch divisions don’t make up the difference. Overall, its analysis concludes the valuation is over-rated, and should be approached with caution.

Business Insider also posted an article expressing reservations about the IPO’s unusual requirement that 30% of all shares be reserved for the retail market, made up of small individual buyers.

Here’s how it’s instead been interpreted by the retail-investor commentariat: They’re capitalizing on trader excitement and relying on it to supplement demand from institutions. The heavy allocation is essentially setting up retail to hold the bag after longer-term shareholders take profits.

I myself have had this analysis confirmed by one source, that the major big stock buyers are themselves planning to hold back their purchases for at least the first few months, believing the stock price will be pumped up initially by this flood of small enthusiastic buyers. They will wait for it to drop — as they expect — and then buy, taking their profits then.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal posted two articles with contradictory conclusions:

The first article is very optimistic. The second is less so, approaching the situation more carefully.

For my readers who wish to invest, I strongly suggest you read them all, and consider them all. Investment here might not be as great as you think.

For SpaceX and the future of space exploration however the situation is excellent, whether or not buyers are going to make money on its IPO. The company is certain to bring in more than $75 billion, maybe as much as $86 billion, giving it the capital to do everything it wants in the next few years. It will build Starship. It will send it to both the Moon and Mars. It will have the resources to fuel Elon Musk’s fundamental dream, building a major human civilization throughout the solar system.

In this alone the IPO will be historic, as it lays the groundwork for the human colonization of space. History begins now, and it does so under the aegis of capitalism and freedom.

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Czech Republic buys seat on Vast mission to ISS

8:37 am

Haven-1 with docked Dragon capsule
Artist rendering of Haven-1 with docked
Dragon capsule

In its continuing effort to sign customers (and earn income) outside of NASA funding, the space station startup Vast today announced it has signed a deal with the Czech Republic to fly one of its astronauts to ISS on its planned mission there in 2027.

This agreement builds on the memorandum of understanding that Vast, and the Czech Republic signed in 2024. Subject to Multilateral Crew Operations Panel (MCOP) review and approval, Aleš Svoboda, one of the 12 members of the astronaut reserve selected by ESA in November 2022, will serve as the mission pilot. The MCOP’s decisions are reached through a consensus among representatives from all five space station partners: NASA, ESA, Roscosmos, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency. Pending approval, Aleš Svoboda will become the first Czech astronaut to visit the International Space Station. Svoboda is planned to join ESA Astronaut Thomas Pesquet who is the named Commander for the mission.

Pesquet is a French astronaut flying under the deal France signed with Vast only two weeks ago.

Unlike the Starlab and Axiom stations, Vast is building its single module demo station, Haven-1, with no government funds. It is not only flying this private two-week mission to ISS, it is also planning four two-week missions to Haven-1 during if three year mission, once it launches next year. All will use SpaceX’s Falcon 9 as a launch provider, with one of its Dragon capsules for crew transport.

Below is my updated ranking of the five American space stations presently under development:
» Read more

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SpaceX launches 29 Starlink satellites, uses 1st stage for record 35th time

3:37 am

SpaceX early this morning successfully launched another 29 Starlink satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral Space Force station in Florida.

The first stage (B1067) successfully completed its 35th flight (70 days after its previous flight), landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic. This flight was a new record for the reuse of a Falcon 9 first stage, placing it only four behind the space shuttle Discovery in the rankings for the most reused launch vehicle:

39 Discovery space shuttle
35 Falcon 9 booster B1067
33 Atlantis space shuttle
33 Falcon 9 booster B1071
32 Falcon 9 booster B1063
31 Falcon 9 booster B1069
28 Columbia space shuttle
28 Falcon 9 booster B1077
28 Falcon 9 booster B1078

Sources here and here.

Expect these rankings to see some newer Falcon 9 first stages in the near future The older stages listed here seem to take about two months generally to turn-around after each launch. The younger stages are instead turning around much faster, in one month or less.

The leaders in the 2026 launch race:

68 SpaceX
34 China
8 Russia
7 Rocket Lab

For the third straight year SpaceX leads the entire world combined in total launches, 68 to 59.

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NASA’s X-59 completes first no-boom supersonic flight, more than a year after a private company did it

10:28 am

NASA yesterday made a big deal about the first successful supersonic test flight of its X-59 test plane, built by Lockheed Martin for $247.5 million to demonstrate quiet no-boom supersonic flight.

And as usual, our uneducated propaganda press played along, touting the wonders of this new NASA achievement. A few examples:

Poppycock. Not one of these news articles made mention of the fact that the private commercial company Boom Supersonic accomplished the same feat eighteen months earlier, its XB-1 supersonic airplane breaking the sound barrier with no boom three separate times. And it did so using private funds for significantly less and getting the job done faster and in a manner that it can quickly convert into its planned commercial supersonic planes.

The X-59 is a typical NASA test project, designed to test a technology in a manner that is generally too specific and expensive for commercial use. Without doubt the engineering and the data from these flights will be helpful to companies like Boom, but to use it will require major changes and revisions to bring the cost down. It is for this reason Boom did its own engineering and test.

That I appear to be the only news outlet aware of this important background information — that puts a significantly different light on this government project — illustrates the bankruptcy of our modern media. They don’t know anything, and can only rewrite press releases.

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