Behind The Black – Robert Zimmerman

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 touts tomorrow’s first launch of 24 Kuiper satelites using SpaceX’s Falcon 9
  Amazon initially excluded SpaceX in its Kuiper launch contracts, going with the then unlaunched new and more expensive rockets of ULA (Vulcan), Arianespace (Ariane-6), and Blue Origin (New Glenn). When stockholders sued, its management then quickly gave SpaceX a small three-launch contract. Since then there have been rumors that Amazon has switched several more flights to SpaceX.

• On this day in 1965 Mariner-4 captured the first close-up images of Mars
  The fly-by was arranged to capture images of what we now know as the southern cratered highlands, chosen because it was that region that showed changes seasonally from Earth. The 21 images thus gave us the wrong impression that Mars was like the Moon. More here.

• On this day in 2015 New Horizons did its fly-by of Pluto
  As usual, these first close-up images revealed a planet completely unique from every other solar system object visited within the solar system.

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.

• Orlando Sentinel details the NASA perks in the just passed reconciliation bill, including money to move the space shuttle Discovery on display in DC to Texas
  The article is behind a paywall, but if you scan it quick you can get the gist. My sense is that this is a typical press report, naively in favor of all spending.

• On this day in 1995 the space shuttle Discovery finally launched after a several week delay because woodpeckers poked 200 holes in the external tank’s foam insulation

• On this day in 1969 the Soviet Union launched Luna-15 in a desperate attempt to get lunar samples back to Earth ahead of Apollo 11
  The mission failed, with the lander crashing.

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.

• Vast touts its thermal vacuum testing of the power distribution unit for its Haven-1 space station
  It says this is the unit’s “final qualification milestone”. Whether they are still on schedule for a launch in early 2026 remains unclear.

• Firefly files papers in preparation for its first public stock offering
  The number of shares and their price has not yet been determined. Nor is there any date set for the offering.

• ESA successfully communicates with the Psyche probe using optical lasers over a distance of 165 million miles

• Blue Origin shows off the seven BE-4 engines it plans to install on the first stage of the second New Glenn rocket launch
  As always, this company moves like frozen molasses. The first launch was seven months ago. Only now they are thinking of assembling the second rocket? Did it take that long to build these BE-4 engines? Or is the company simply twiddling its thumbs while Jeff Bezos gets married?

• Axiom’s spacesuit visor, built for it by the subcontractor Oakley in California
  The company’s visor design used technology found in the sunglasses it sells commercially.

• ISRO touts the rocket it is building for its proposed lunar manned missions
  Don’t hold your breath. They are targeting the 2040s for the mission. If built the rocket will be bigger than SLS and only slightly shorter than Starship/Superheavy.

• On this day in 1978 Skylab fell to Earth, with some pieces hitting the ground in Australia
  The original plan had been to use the space shuttle to dock with it, raise its orbit, and then use both together. Shuttle development however was late and thus there was no way to prevent Skylab’s orbit from decaying, with its de-orbit an uncontrolled one.

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.

• Space Forge signs deal to use Intuitive Machines’ proposed orbital capsule for in-space product manufacturing
  Space Forge manufactures semi-conductors, but it has also partnered with Rhodium Scientific, a biotech manufacturer, so the plan is to produce both pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.

• Interlune touts its NASA contract to develop its lunar trenching and excavation technology

• Rocket Lab hires Bollinger Shipyard to modify its ship as a landing platform for its Neutron rocket
  Delivery is scheduled for early 2026. Since Rocket Lab has been targeting its first Neutron launch for this year, this either means the schedule has been pushed back, or the company doesn’t expect to recover the rocket on the first launch.

• NASA touts Parker images of the Sun
  A short video summary describing Parker’s results so far, though heavy on platitudes.

• ESA and France sign new agreement for expanding commercial launch operations at French Guiana
  The deal runs through 2035, allowing continued launches of Ariane-6 and Vega-C, but expands opportunities for new commercial rocket startups.

• Juno is about to do its 74th close fly-by of Jupiter

• On this day in 1962 AT&T launched the first private satellite, Telstar-1
  It demonstrated relatively inexpensive broadcast and communication between Europe and North America. AT&T’s plan then was to launch a full constellation to provide phone and broadcast service worldwide, replacing the expensive and very limited undersea cables. The plan ended up getting blocked by Congress and President Kennedy, who instead created a monopoly run by the pseudo-company Comsat, partly owned by the government. While Comsat launched a number of geosynchronous satellites, it never came close to the success promised.

  Had the government stayed out, we would have had large satellite constellations in the early 1960s and a robust private launch industry. Instead, it all died on the vine, and it would be more than a half century before the American commercial space industry recovered.