Tag: 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.

• Stratolaunch touts the re-usability of its Talon-A2 hypersonic test vehicle

• Vast touts completion of second major weld (of ten) for the primary hull of its Haven-1 space module
  Time is pressing if they want to launch on schedule in 2026.

• Firefly releases four-camera video taken during Blue Ghost’s lunar landing in March
  The video is quite beautiful.

• Graphic showing images of all eight Chinese pseudo-company prototypes testing vertical rocket landings
  This shows in graphic form the summary of this Chinese effort that I posted on May 29, 2025. There is also a ninth company attempting the same work. It must be underlined that the Chinese government demands that these companies share their results. There is no such thing as propriety data under its totalitarian rule.

• On this day in 1965 Ed White became the first American to do a spacewalk

• On this day in 2003 Europe’s Mars Express orbiter was launched
  It is still operating in orbit around Mars.

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.

• Ispace update: All is well with its Resilience lunar lander, still scheduled to land on June 5, 2025
  The picture of the company’s Tenacious rover is cool: It looks like a Conestoga wagon.

• Picture of offshore engine test stand for Space Pioneer’s Tianlong-3 rocket
  This is the same Chinese pseudo-company that had its rocket break free and launch itself during a staric fire engine test in 2024. I wonder if the Chinese government ordered it to build this offshore test stand after that incident.

• Long tweet detailing why Europe’s government Starlink constellation, IRIS2, is “dead in the water”
  The bottom line is that Germany and Italy want nothing to do with these government projects that cost too much and never get built on time, no matter how much France whines.

• On this day in 1966 Surveyor-1 became the first spacecraft to gently soft land on the Moon
  The Soviets had placed Luna 9 on the Moon in January 1966, but it didn’t soft land, it used giant airbags to protect it when it crashed on the surface, which once deflated allowed the spacecraft to operate three days. For a picture of Surveyor-1 from orbit, taken by Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, go here.

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.

• Another Chinese pseudo-company, Astronstone, raises money, proposes copycat rocket
  More here. As noted at the first link, the design appears to be a steal of the rocket being built by another Chinese pseudo-company, Space Epoch. This is not surprising, as the Chinese government requires its fake companies to share all data with the government and other companies. The only design difference is that Astronstone is stealing SpaceX’s chopstick launch tower design for its rocket’s landing.

• Pictures of Space Epoch’s recovered YXZ-1 grasshopper test stage after its soft vertical splashdown in the ocean
  There are dents and some damage, but overall the rocket’s condition looks good. A vertical touch down on land would probably have been less harmful than falling over into the ocean.

• Sources claim Russia will begin deploying its own “Starlink constellation” by the end of this year
  The sources say each launch will place 16 satellites in orbit. We shall see. The Russians have not met any schedule even close now for decades, often missing proposed targets by decades.

• South Korea has approved Starlink, allowing it to sell its service to customers

• On this day in 1971, Mariner 9 was launched, becoming upon arrival the first successful Martian orbiter
  It arrived during a global dust storm, waited it out, and eventually discovered that Mars was not like the Moon as suggested by earlier fly-by missions, but had giant volcanoes, canyons, and many meandering channels suggestive of flowing water.

• On this day in 2020 SpaceX used its Falcon 9 rocket to place two Americans into space, the first American launch from American soil in an American spacecraft on an American rocket in nine years

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.

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.

• Rocket Lab acquires Geost, a payload provider for the military
  The company continues to diversify across the entire commercial space landscape.

• Sierra Space wins NASA contract to study using its LIFE inflatable modules on the Moon
  The modules were originally conceived to fly on Blue Origin’s Orbital Reef commercial space station. NASA now wants to see if they can be adapted for planetary colonies.

• Starship in orbit yesterday, as photographed from Namibia in Africa
  As noted at the link, a substantial tail had already formed as the spacecraft dropped into the atmosphere uncontrolled.

• This week in 2012 the first SpaceX cargo Dragon was berthed at ISS
  And at that moment capitalism, freedom, and competition took over.

• On this day in 2002 NASA announced that Mars Odyssey had discovered enormous amounts of near surface ice on Mars
  And yet, almost a quarter of a century later news organizations (excluding Behind the Black) still think Mars lacks water and is nothing but a dry desert.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who also notes as I do the overall lack of news stories today. As he says, “Everyone is waiting for Starship 9 to launch.”

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.

• Ispace explains why its Resilience lander will set down at Mare Frigoris on the Moon
  Landing is still targeting June 5, 2025.

• South Korean rocket startup Innospace delays its first launch from July 2025 to second half of 2025
  It appears they discovered issues with a first stage electric pump.

• Astronomers detect a seasonal wobble in Titan’s atmosphere by reviewing Cassini and Huygens archival data
  As always there is great uncertainty to these conclusions.

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.

• Blue Origin touts underwater tests of its manned lunar lander design
  Essentially divers tested the ladder and hatch design for getting astronauts and cargo in and out of the lander.

• Ispace reports Resilience is continuing to operate as planned in lunar orbit
  The landing is still planned for June 5, 2025.

• The UAE hires Firefly’s Blue Ghost to land its Rashid-2 rover on the far side of the Moon
  UAE’s first Rashid rover had been carried by Ispace’s first lunar lander, Hakuto-R1, which crashed. It appears the UAE chose Firefly this time after its successful landing of Blue Ghost earlier this year.

• Chinese astronauts on Tiangong-3 complete their first spacewalk
  They installed “a debris protection device at its designated location.” It appears they are testing this shield’s effectiveness against micrometeorites and space junk at various locations on the station.

• On this day in 1969 Apollo 10 descended to within nine miles of the lunar surface, testing both the Apollo capsule and Lunar Module in lunar orbit
  This was a complete dress rehearsal prior to the Apollo 11 landing two months later. It accomplished everything but the landing itself.

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.

• Anther new startup, Cochrane Exploration, proposes two direct-to-orbit spaceplanes
  So far nothing more than great graphics.

• Computer simulations say Jupiter was once twice its size and had a much more powerful magnetic field
  To say there is uncertainty in these conclusions is a mild understatement.

• Axiom touts its partnership with Omega watches
  As Jay notes, “I remember Mel Brooks from Space Balls: ‘Merchandising, merchandising, where the real money from the movie is made.'”

• Video of fire at SpaceX test stand during static fire test
  The tweet speculates this might have been a failure of a Raptor-3 engine.

• French parliament report worries about job losses if Airbus and Thalia Alenia merger goes through
  The report also worried about decreasing interest in ESA’s government Iris2 constellation, proposed to compete with Starlink but far more expensive and not expected to launch for years.

  The second point is actually more important. It signals the shift among European governments away from the failed government model, something that the French parliament is apparently not yet able to comprehend.

• On this day in 1978 Pioneer Venus was launched to orbit Venus
  It was the first American orbiter to arrive there, and operated from late 1978 until October 1992.

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.

• Starfish’s second Otter Pup tug will attempt this summer its first docking using the company’s docking technology
  The demo mission is aimed at attracting business for either de-orbiting defunct satellites or servicing them.

• SaxaVord touts its spaceport to NATO officials
  The tour also showed off Rocket Factory Augsberg’s launchpad.

• Blue Origin shows off “an illustration” of its fuel tanker needed for its Blue Moon manned lunar lander
  My heart be still. Blue Origin drew a picture! And it only took two years, since it won the contract!

• Blue Origin officials claim the company will do an unmanned lunar landing demo mission later this year
  No one believes this claim, and if you do, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I can sell you cheap.

• Relativity touts the ongoing construction of its facilities at Cape Canaveral
  It does appear that things are finally moving for this company, after what appeared to be a four year pause that was coincidentally timed with the increased red tape during the Biden administration.

• China invites India to join its International Lunar Research Station project
  The offer is just for PR purposes. It will be a shock if India accepts, considering its hostile relations generally with China. Furthermore, the Chinese alliance includes Pakistan, which is also not a friend to India.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who apologies for their lateness. 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.

As I noted to him when he sent these links, I had read all these stories and considered them bottom of the barrel and not worth a full post. They do rate however as quick links.

• Startup Venus Aerospace does successful suborbital test of its “Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine”
  Video here. This is still not much more than at the large model rocket stage, but the potential is great.

• Jared Isaacman posts two tweets (here and here) noting how budgets are limited and we must face the reality of NASA budget cuts.
  He specifically slams SLS and the issuance of two lunar lander contracts, to SpaceX and Blue Origin. Says we can’t afford it, while robbing NASA of money it could use for “dozens of scientific programs.”

  He must be confident he has enough confirmation votes in the Senate or he wouldn’t say these things now.

• Headline: “SpaceX launches 1,000th Starlink satellite of the year during Friday morning mission”
  This was the May 16, 2025 launch. Jay calls this an “insane headline,” adding “I remember back when there were only about 1000 active satellites total, as in for the whole world.”

• Russia & China ink agreement for Russia to supply a nuclear power source for Chinese lunar base
  Anatoly Zak I think correctly notes, “I think that ‘collaboration’ was actually a simple purchase of the Russian hardware with no Russian access to the resources of the project.” Russia has a very limited ability to send much of anything to China’s lunar base. It will deliver some hardware and let the Chinese deliver it to the Moon.

• Hubble takes colorful image of the Large Magellanic Cloud
  More details here.

• On this day in 2009 the last shuttle servicing mission to Hubble ended, with the robot arm releasing the telescope after major repairs
  At the time Hubble’s engineers estimated the repairs would give the telescope a minimum of another five years of operation (see the afterword in the paperback edition of The Universe in a Mirror for more details). It is now sixteen years later. The telescope is still functioning but it is also definitely on thin ice, with only two working gyroscopes.

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.

• Video from inside Varda’s third capsule as it returned to Earth May 13, 2025

• Scientists claim tree ring data shows impact of biggest solar storm ever in 12,350 BC
  I have three words: The uncertainty of science.

• Ispace reports Resilience lunar lander is in good shape in lunar orbit, preparing for June 5, 2025 landing
  You can see a Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter image of the landing zone here.

• China’s intended manned capsule for its lunar missions, dubbed Mengzhou, is about to undergo launch abort tests
  The tweet really provides no real info.

• Japan’s MMX spacecraft for bringing back samples from the Martian moon Phobos undergoing ground thermal vacuum tests
  Due to problems with Japan’s H3 rocket, its launch was delayed from August ’25 to December ’26.

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.

• Chinese pseudo-company Landspace scrubs third launch of its Zhuque-2 rocket for “technical reasons”
  This rocket was the first to reach orbit using methane fuel, in 2023. For the second launch in November 2024 it upgraded the fueling system to copy SpaceX’s methods. The company says it will launch this year its larger Zhuque-3, designed to have the first stage return vertically, but based on the launch pace of Zhuque-2, I have doubts.

• On this day in 1963 Gordon Cooper flew on the final Mercury mission
  He orbited the Earth 22 times.

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.

• New rocket startup HStar Space proposes its own heavy-lift reusable rocket
  It wants to launch from French Guiana, Wallops, and Australia. This is a very new company, so our expectations should at this point be very skeptical.

• Firefly touts its composite dome for the tanks on its Alpha rocket planned medium launch rocket as well as its first stage for Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket.
  Corrected as per my reader Dick Eagleson below. Thank you.

• The New Horizons team notes that the spacecraft continues to detect “high dust impact rates” as it flies outward beyond Pluto in the Kuiper belt
  This was first reported in Feburary 2024, but the continuing high impact rate suggests the Kuiper Belt has more in it than predicted.

• On this day in 1973 the last Saturn 5 rocket launched, carrying the first American space station, Skylab, into orbit
  Three crews in 1973 occupied the station, for 28, 59, and 84 days respectively. The first mission however had to do major improvised repairs to make the next two missions possible, because during launch a heat shield on the hull ripped off, destroying one solar panel and preventing a second from deploying. Astronauts on that first mission, led by Apollo astronaut Pete Conrad, had to install a new umbrella shield to control the station’s internal temperature, and during a spacewalk released the remaining solar panel. More details in Leaving Earth.

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.

• Fire threatens city that serves Russia’s Vostochny spaceport
  Video of the fire here. Russian authorities say all is under control, but that video is quite startling.

• China touts development in only 7 years of its high powered methane-fueled rocket engine
  As Jay notes, “That’s because China did not do the R&D themselves!”

• Intuitive Machines claims issues with the altimeter and lighting caused its Athena lunar lander to fall over after landing
  The company says the fixes are easy, but having had both of its two lunar landers tip over after landing suggests a more fundamental design flaw that is not yet addressed.

• Eutelsat’s OneWeb ground terminal as compared to SpaceX’s Starlink terminal
  The tweet notes that the OneWeb terminal does not come off well when compared to Starlink.

• 75 years ago today the Bell X-1 “Glamorous Glennis” flew for the last time, piloted by Chuck Yaeger
  The plane can be seen at the Air & Space Museum in Washington.

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.

• Rocket Lab begins engine burns on its Pioneer service module for the return of Varda’s third orbiting commercial capsule
  It will land in the Koonibba Test Range in South Australia.

• Vast touts the on-going testing of the primary structure for its Haven-1 space module
  The launch is still targeting May 2026.

• Astronomers use Webb to study Jupiter’s aurora
  As usual, the data didn’t match the predictions, and left them with more questions than answers.

• Pictures of interesting paint job on shell of Long March 2E, scheduled for launch later this week

• China touts the upcoming launch of its Tianwen-2 asteroid probe on a Long March 3B rocket

• SpaceX does 60-second static fire test of Starshp prototype set to launch on 9th test flight
  I’m seeing speculations that the targeted launch date is now May 20, 2025.

• Canadian company MDA Space contemplates finding a new customer for its robot arm should Lunar Gateway be cancelled
  They have four American commercial stations plus India’s space station as potential customers.

• Russian space historian says there is a small chance that the Venera capsule that just came back to Earth might be floating in the Indian Ocean and could be picked up by a passing ship
  The image at the link indicates that the capsule did come down near major shipping lanes.

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.

• Astronomers claim to have detected a star being destroyed by a black hole
  I found all the actual data in the press releases of this story to be exceedingly confused and uncertain, but Jay thought it worth a quick link, especially because some news outlets are covering it.

• Video showing the moment Northrop Grumman’s Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV-1) undocked from Intelsat satellite
  MEV-1 had docked to the satellite’s engine nozzle (useless because it was out of fuel) and acted as a service module to extend the satellite’s life by five years.

• Politico claims without proof that Trump will revive National Space Council
  The claim might turn out true, but this “news article” contains no source from anyone in the Trump administration backing up the claim.

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.

This is late because I was stuck in a doctor’s office for an extra two hours because the idiots misplaced my file. (Ain’t it great how Obamacare digitized all medical records so they would never get lost?)

• Startup Interlune unveils fullscale prototype of its planned lunar excavator
  The company also announced it has a contract with the Department of Energy to deliver lunar helium-3 to the agency by April 2029. Exciting, but it all relies on Starship getting built and flying.

• French article [translated by Google] says China has abandoned its plan to send Tianwen-4 to Uranus after flying past Jupiter; Instead it will focus on Jupiter’s moon Calisto
  Target launch date is 2030.

• Long March 12 launch scrubbed, rocket rolled back to assembly building
  Jay says there are rumors it had “failures during fueling.”

• Updated prediction for uncontrolled re-entry of 1972 Soviet Venera lander now targets May 10th
  The margin of error is still large, almost 9 hours before or after, which essentially means there is as yet no way to predict where it will fall.

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.

• Long video reviewing Boeing’s Starliner capsule history
  I have not watched it. Jay says it provides a good and detailed overview, but nothing new.

• European Space Agency (ESA) touts proposals for its proposed “reusable tugs” for “low-cost missions to Mars”
  So far this appears mostly governmental fantasy, as the project has not yet gotten budget approval from the ESA.

• Video of Biomass’s 12-meter diameter antenna as it successfully deployed
  More details here.

• Space junk removal startup ClearSpace completes ground-testing of technology for removing defunct satellites from orbit
  Now they need to actually fly it.

• Video describing the history of the many astronauts who got stuck in space longer than planned
  From cosmonauts to astronauts, the Starliner crew’s experience has hardly been unique.

• On this day in 1992 the space shuttle Endeavour launched on its first mission
  Endeavour was the fifth shuttle, and was built to replace Challenger after it was destroyed in the 1986 launch failure.

• Ten years ago today SpaceX completed its first launchpad abort test of Dragon
  The success made possible the first manned flights using the capsule.

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.

• Ispace’s Resilience lunar lander will enter lunar orbit tomorrow
  The landing will take place in about a week.

• IEEE Spectrum touts China’s plans to bring a sample back from Venus’s atmosphere by citing speculations by American scientists at MIT
  This is one of the most perverse news articles I have ever read. It literally admits it knows nothing really of China’s plans, has no new information to hinge the story on, and then spends the entire text quoting guesses by MIT scientists who have proposed unsuccessfully their own missions. The only real mention of China is in the headline, written almost as press release for China. With nothing to base that press release on.

  Makes me wonder if IEEE is in China’s pay. Wouldn’t surprise me.

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.

• China releases some payload mass data on its pseudo-commercial SpaceSail satellite constellation, aiming to compete with SpaceX
  As Jay notes, the images suggest China’s engineers have somehow stolen SpaceX designs, or are copying them superficially.

• A video “tour” of Vast’s space station facility
  I put quotes around “tour” because I was very disappointed with this video. It provided very little real or new information, and instead acted more like a promotional for the company. Largely a waste of time.

• On this day in 1961 Alan Shepard became the first American to fly in space
  It was a short 15 minute suborbital flight.

• An analysis of Amazon’s Kuiper satellite design, based on the limited public information so far released
  Hat tip to reader Gary.

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 the gyroscopes it is building in-house to control the orientation of its Haven-1 space station
  Thse gyros will only have to function for less than a year, as Haven-1 is not intended for long term use.

• Blue Origin touts its LISTER drill that flew on Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander
  Released today, it says nothing about the mission itself, which occurred three months ago. Apparently Blue Origin can’t even get its PR published on time.

• Engineers continue their attempts to regain communications with Lunar Trailblazer orbiter
  All contact was lost shortly after launch. They figure they have about a month left before the mission will be considered a total loss.

• On this day in 1925 Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter was born
  He was the second American to orbit the Earth.

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.

• Claiming budget uncertainty, NASA delays by a year deadline for relatively small astrophysics mission proposals
  There are budget uncertainties, but I have no doubt this decision is mostly aimed at ginning up opposition to any cuts at NASA at all. It’s an old NASA tactic: Threaten cuts in a broad indiscriminate manner to get Congress and the President to retreat from any cuts. Today’s specific decision tells me we really need a new hard-nosed administrator at NASA who won’t let lower management play these games. Whether Isaacman is that man however remains unknown.

• Rocket startup Stoke Space touts static fire tests of two of its engines, both running above 100%
  The company had hoped to do its first launch this year, but that will likely slip to 2026, mostly because of environmental red tape at its launch site in Florida.

• India’s space agency touts its astronaut flying on the fourth Axiom tourist mission to ISS
  Launch is now scheduled for May 29, 2025.

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.

• Intuitive Machines gets grant worth up to $10 million for developing a re-entry capsule

• Today marks the tenth anniversary of the end of the Messenger mission to Mercury
  The spacecraft was the first to orbit Mercury, and operated there for four years.

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.

• Japanese rocket startup Interstellar gets another government grant
  It appears the grant is to develop technology for flying many satellites in formation

• China touts a 10m diameter stainless steel tank prototype
  Supposedly for a heavy lift rocket.

• Russia now says its Spectr-UV space telescope will launch in 2031
  It was originally supposed to launch in 1997.

• Russia re-confirms its unmanned lunar program previously outlined in 2023, except now it gives few specific target dates
  Expect Russia to miss even these dates.

• A picture of Russia’s version of its own “Starlink” satellite
  Supposedly going to begin launches in 2026, but if you believe that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I can sell you cheap.

• New images of failed 1972 Soviet-era Venera lander whose Earth orbit is about to decay
  The pictures don’t really show much, except that it appears smaller than a typical Starlink satellite (shown in comparison). Designed however to survive Venus’s thick and hot atmosphere, it will still likely hit the ground when its orbit decays in the second week of May.

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.

• Soviet-era lander module from failed 1972 Venus mission to re-enter atmosphere in mid-May
  Designed to survive Venus’s thick atmosphere, there is an excellent chance it will hit the ground intact when it comes down, with no way to control it. It is not a big object, and the risk to habitable areas remains small, but not zero. More updates to follow.

• ISRO engineers have undocked the two Spadex satellites after raising their orbit
  More docking tests are expected.

• Lockheed Martin touts the successful pressure tests for its own inflatable station module
  The company does not tell us the scale of this test item, but it does indicate it exceeded specififications.

• On this day in 2001 Dennis Tito became the first space tourist, launching as a paying passenger on a Russian Soyuz capsule to ISS
  Tito paid the Russian’s $20 million for the flight, and NASA fought hard to stop this perfect example of freedom and capitalism. By the start of this century the U.S. government was no longer a big supporter of such things, something that sadly continues largely to this day.

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.

• Startup Radian Aerospace announces its development of a spacecraft coating that can be used “operate repeatedly without degradation”
  The company claims this coating surpasses the thermal tiles presently used by SpaceX.

• NASA Dragonfly mission to Titan passes its critical design review
  All this means that construction can now begin.

• In answering further questions by science committee senators, Jared Isaacman calls proposed budget cuts to NASA not “optimal”
  Of course he did. Congress critters never want any budget cuts, no matter which party they belong to. He needs their votes to get confirmed. He is therefore always going to tell them what they want to hear. What he actually believes remains unknown.

• China touts a pseudo-commercial new cargo ferry for its space station
  It is scheduled for its first flight later this year. Jay notes that it is not reusable.

• On this day in 1967 Vladimir Komarov died when the parachutes on the first Soyuz capsule tangled during re-entry and the capsule crashed
  The Soyuz really wasn’t ready, and Komarov was having serious technical problems almost immediately after reaching orbit.

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.

• Senate committee schedules April 30, 2025 for its vote on Jared Isaacman’s nomination for NASA administrator
  If approved, his nomination will then advance to the full Senate for a vote. Expect this to proceed with little opposition.

• Sierra Space touts the micrometeorite impact testing it is doing for its LIFE inflatable manned modules
  Unlike its Orbital Reef space station partner, Blue Origin, Sierra Space continues to cut metal and do testing of hardware in developing its part of that proposed station.

• Boeing reports progress on Starliner
  Not really. This article as well as the company’s conference call provided little real information, other than the company does appear to be committed to getting Starliner finally operational.

• Rocket Lab wins another contract for its HASTE suborbital version of its Electron rocket
  The contract is for doing a hypersonic test for the Defense Department, and I suspect it is part of a larger Pentagon award announced earlier this week.

• Blue Origin touts a successful 15-second static fire test of an upgraded New Glenn upper stage
  This is in preparation for the second New Glenn launch, tentatively scheduled for May.

• China touts a viewgraph outlining the plan for its Mars sample return mission
  An additional propaganda video provides more information in the text on the screen. All this is part of the PR push China initiated today in conjunction with the launch of three astronauts to its Tiangong-3 station.

• FAA reschedules virtual meeting for public comment on SpaceX’s request to increase launches in Florida from 50 to 120 per year
  The previous meeting was scrubbed due to a major Zoom outage. The meeting relates to the FAA’s environmental reassessment, which though still delaying things somehow seems to be less of a threat with Trump in office. At a minimum the FAA is no longer delaying things simply because it needs to fill out some paperwork.

• ESA/NASA release some new Hubble Space Telescope images to celebrate the telescope’s 35 anniversay in space
  Some very cool images at the link. However, in truth the telescope didn’t start to really do its thing until three years later, after astronauts installed equipment to correct its out-of-focus mirror.

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.

• Firefly wins Air Force contract to develop ceramic-based nozzles for upper stages
  The concept is expected to lower the weight and speed production of nozzles.

• China touts what it calls a “Lunar Soil Brick Machine” for using lunar materials to make bricks
  Jay notes that “Astroport Space Technologies out of Belgium has been doing this for over a year. Looks like another Chinese theft.”

• Trump administration urges other nations to stop doing business with China’s pseudo-satellite companies
  Not surprisingly, the government is worried that China uses these deals to steal sensitive technology.

• Picture of a SpaceX Raptor-3 engine during road transport

• Bloomberg reports (behind a paywall) that Amazon is having production problems producing Kuiper satellites
  It seems that “faulty components and a complex design” are making assembly line production difficult. If this story has any truth, than Amazon’s ability to meet its FCC license requirement of having 1,600 satellites in orbit by mid-2026 is increasingly unlikely. It also might explain why ULA has not seemed to be in a hurry to get these satellites off the ground.

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.

• China touts its twin vehicle assembly buildings for its Long March 10 rocket, used for manned missions
  The second VAB is for a back up rocket. Seems to me to be a very wasteful way to do things, but then that’s how governments operate.

Both Jay and I have found it to be a relatively slow news day in space.

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.

• Lucy successfully completes fly-by of asteroid Donaldjohanson
  The spacecraft is healthy. Next engineers will download the data over the next few days.

• NASA touts the launch of Lunar Gateway’s first two modules sometime in 2027
  The two modules will be launched by a Falcon Heavy and take a year-long circuitous route to get to their lunar polar orbit. The fourth Artemis mission (following the lunar landing) will bring a manned crew to the station with the habitation module.

  Sounds good? Right now it is all fantasy.

• ULA schedules a new launch date of April 28th for placing the first set of Kuiper satellites into orbit
  The first launch was scrubbed due to bad weather.

• On April 19, 2021 engineers confirmed Ingenuity’s first powered flight on Mars, the first such achievement in history
  Intended to only fly a handful of times over 30 days, Ingenuity ended up completing 72 flights over almost three years.

• On this day in 1961 a man completed the first flight of the Bell Rocket Belt
  One of several jetpacks tested in the 1960s, all of which proved very dangerous and unpractical.

• This week in 1972 the Apollo 16 astronauts deployed the first astronomical telescope on the Moon