Tag: commercial

Two more launches in past 24 hours, by Israel and SpaceX

9:04 am

Both Israel and SpaceX completed new launches during the evening hours yesterday. First, Israel placed an Ofek radar surveillance satellite into orbit, its small solid-fueld Shavit-2 rocket lifting off from an undisclosed location within the country, likely its Palmachim Airbase on the Mediterranean coast south of Tel Aviv. The launch occurred about the same time as SpaceX’s Starlink launch from Vandenberg, already reported last night.

This was Israel’s first launch in 2025, and the first since 2023. Since 2008 the country has launched seven military surveillance satellites, one about every two to four years or so.

Several hours later, in the wee hours of the morning, SpaceX completed another launch, placing 28 Starlink satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The first stage completed its fourteenth flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

112 SpaceX
48 China
12 Rocket Lab
11 Russia

SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 112 to 85.

2 comments

SpaceX launches 24 more Starlink satellites

9:01 pm

SpaceX tonight successfully launched another 24 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The first stage was new, successfully completing its first flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

111 SpaceX
48 China
12 Rocket Lab
11 Russia

SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 111 to 84.

0 comments

Hoobastank – The Reason

6:01 pm

An evening pause: This “music” video intentionally illustrates why I prefer live performances over most “official” music videos that show a fake visual story under the music, as if that story and the music have something to do with each other, when they never really do. This video instead shows us what the music video would sound like if you focused instead on this fake story. Quick funny at times.

Hat tip Wayne DeVette, who writes, “Great concept! What happens when you take a Music Video and de-emphasize the music & band performance, and concentrate on the story being told in the background?”

2 comments

An interesting look at why the British government decided to eliminate its space agency

8:55 am

Gone, and likely soon to be forgotten
Gone, and likely soon to be forgotten

Link here. The article depends almost entirely on anonymous sources, but unlike most propaganda news stories which typically use such sources to push one pro-government perspective, this article includes sources from a range of viewpoints.

According to those sources who wanted the UK Space Agency (UKSA) gone, the agency was eliminated last month because it simply had not been very effective in building up Great Britain’s space industry. First, it was too focused on doing what the European Space Agency wanted.

The U.K. has had a different approach to space than its European counterparts, such as Germany, France and Italy, the source explained. Historically, the U.K. has dedicated most of its resources to the European Space Agency (ESA) rather than pursuing a multipronged approach involving a strong domestic space program and bilateral partnerships independent of ESA. Therefore, over 80% of UKSA’s budget has been placed into ESA. The perception in the government was that UKSA was acting more in line with ESA’s wishes than with the U.K. government’s needs, the source added.

Second, it not only did nothing to alleviate the red tape hampering the industry, its existence added a layer that made things worse. Numerous studies and hearings before Parliament in the past five years have bewailed the situation. The inability of the rocket companies to get launch licenses — for years — proved their correctness.

Meanwhile, the anonymous sources opposing the agency’s elimination argued that without it Great Britain will be in a weaker position negotiating with its ESA partners as well as projecting itself internationally in the space field.
» Read more

6 comments

South Korea’s space agency requests big 15% budget increase

9:28 am

South Korea’s space agency KASA today submitted its proposed budget for 2026 that included a 15% budget increase which would bring its funding to just under $8 billion.

According to the national space agency, the proposed funds will be concentrated in six major areas, which include the strengthening of space transportation capacity and new technology acquisition, advancing satellite-based communications, navigation and observation, as well as fostering future space industries through exploration.

The largest requested increases would be for developing new satellite constellations and rockets.

When the South Korean government established this agency in in 2024, it said its goal was to foster private enterprise. The agency itself repeated that assertion in January 2025 when it announced its long term plans. In both cases, however, I sensed a lack of sincerity in these assertions. The government wanted wanted to help build a prosperous aerospace industry, but it clearly wanted to do so with it in control.

Today’s budget request again reinforces my suspicions. KASA might want to encourage a commercial space industry, but it remains unclear whether it will let the private sector develop the satellites and rockets independently, or pay for the development while insisting it owns and controls everything.

Based on past history at NASA, my instincts say KASA will use this big budget to build an empire for its managers. Stay tuned to see if my instincts are correct.

0 comments

SpaceX launches another 28 Starlink satellites

8:59 am

The beat goes on! SpaceX this morning successfully launched 28 more Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

The first stage completed its 23rd flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

110 SpaceX
48 China
12 Rocket Lab
11 Russia

SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 110 to 84.

4 comments

SpaceX launches 24 more Starlink satellites

10:08 pm

SpaceX this evening successfully launched another 24 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The first stage completed its fifteenth flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

109 SpaceX
48 China
12 Rocket Lab
11 Russia

SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 109 to 84.

0 comments

Idealized Science Institute – Which ramp reaches highest final speed?

6:01 pm

An evening pause: A science quiz I suspect most of my readers will get right. Regardless, this experiment illustrates some basic fundamentals of the scientific method: Don’t guess, make no assumptions, test by experimentation, and repeat those tests multiple times to confirm your results.

The Institute that made this video appears to be a great resource for homeschoolers.

Hat tip Cotour, who tells me he “got it correct!”

To everyone: Enjoy the Labor Day weekend!

7 comments

SpaceX launches 28 more Starlink satellites while setting a new reuse record for a Falcon 9 1st stage

12:42 am

SpaceX earlier today launched another 28 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The first stage completed its 30th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic. This is a new reuse record for a Falcon 9 first stage. At this moment only the space shuttles Discovery (39 flights) and Atlantis (33 flights) have flown more often.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

108 SpaceX
48 China
12 Rocket Lab
11 Russia

SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 108 to 84.

4 comments
1 … 63 64 65 66 67 … 898