Tag: spaceflight

Astronomers detect another galaxy that shouldn’t be there, so soon after the Big Bang

11:38 am

A spiral galaxy too early in the universe
Click for original.

Using the Webb Space Telescopes astronomers have detected another galaxy that shouldn’t be there, so soon after the Big Bang.

The image to the right comes from figure 1 of the peer-reviewed paper. The galaxy’s two spiral arms form a backward “S” emanating out from the galaxy’s nucleus. From the press release:

Using JWST, researchers Rashi Jain and Yogesh Wadadekar spotted a galaxy remarkably similar to our own Milky Way. Yet this system formed when the cosmos was barely 1.5 billion years old—roughly a tenth of its present age. They named it Alaknanda, after the Himalayan river that is a twin headstream of the Ganga alongside the Mandakini—fittingly, the Hindi name for the Milky Way.

…It already has two sweeping spiral arms wrapped around a bright, rounded central region (the galaxy’s ‘bulge’), spanning about 30,000 light-years across. Even more impressively, it is annually churning out new stars, their combined mass roughly equivalent to 60 times the mass of our Sun. This rate is about 20 times that of the present-day Milky Way! About half of Alaknanda’s stars appear to have formed in only 200 million years—a blink in cosmic time.

This galaxy underlines the difficulty for cosmologists by much of Webb’s data of the early universe. Present theories of galaxy formation say it should take billions of years to form such a spiral galaxy, meaning it shouldn’t exist as yet so soon, only 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang.

Either the theories have to be revised substantially, or they are simply wrong entirely. Or we are missing or lacking in some fundamental information about the early universe that skews all our theories.

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Blue Origin faces opposition renewing its permit to dump waste water at Florida launch facility

11:17 am

Chicken Little strikes again!
Chicken Little strikes again!

It appears several local politicians as well as the typical anti-everything activists are expressing opposition to Blue Origin’s request to renew its permit to dump waste water at its Florida launch facility.

Some county commissioners have concerns about the proposal because of how much money and effort has gone to cleaning up the Indian River. “That’s really troubling to me especially when we are spending so much money as a community on the half-cent sales tax and the save the Indian River Lagoon tax,” said Brevard County Commissioner Katie Delaney.

Space experts say large-scale companies don’t necessarily follow rules and regulations put on them. “There has been all sorts of industrial waste issues associated with the aerospace industry not just here in Florida but all across the country,” Florida Tech space professor, Don Platt, said.

The water is likely that used during launches to dampen the shock produced by the rocket’s engines, and like SpaceX’s systems, is almost certainly potable and harmless. This is also a permit that Blue Origin obtained five years ago and has used without harm during all its launchpad tests and launches.

None of this whining really matters, as it appears the county commission has no authority over the matter. The permit was issued by the state’s environmental department which will almost certainly approve the renewal. It is just unfortunate that these whiners almost always get positive coverage from our propaganda press. In this case the local Fox affiliate that reported the story clearly made no effort to research anything. It just simply spouted back the grumbles of these politicians and activists.

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Three new papers find sugars, “gum,” and lots of stardust in the samples brought back from the asteroid Bennu

10:24 am

Bennu
The asteroid Bennu

Three new papers published this week have found that the samples brought back by OSIRIS-REx from the asteroid Bennu contained some unexpected or unusual materials, including sugars that are important for biology, a gumlike material never seen before, and a much higher amount of stardust than expected.

The papers can be read here, here, and here.

As the press release notes, describing the sugar discovery:

The five-carbon sugar ribose and, for the first time in an extraterrestrial sample, six-carbon glucose were found. Although these sugars are not evidence of life, their detection, along with previous detections of amino acids, nucleobases, and carboxylic acids in Bennu samples, show building blocks of biological molecules were widespread throughout the solar system.

The stardust results found six-times the abundance previously found in other samples.

As for the “gum”, this was possibly the strangest discovery of all, coming from the solar system’s earliest time period.
» Read more

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All eight ports on ISS occupied for the first time; Longest manned mission about to start?

9:56 am

ISS as presently configured
ISS as presently configured. Click for original.

For the first time in its more than quarter century history, all eight docking ports on ISS are occupied, as shown in the graphic to the right.

For the first time in International Space Station history, all eight docking ports aboard the orbital outpost are occupied following the reinstallation of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft to the Earth-facing port of the station’s Unity module. The eight spacecraft attached to the complex are: two SpaceX Dragons, Cygnus XL, JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) HTV-X1, two Roscosmos Soyuz crew spacecraft, and two Progress cargo ships.

This milestone follows the reattachment of the Cygnus XL spacecraft, supporting the Northrop Grumman-23 commercial resupply services mission for NASA, which was removed last week by the robotics officer at the agency’s Mission Control Center in Houston using the space station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm. The Cygnus XL movement was coordinated between NASA, Northrop Grumman, and Roscosmos to provide appropriate clearance for the arriving crewed Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft on Nov. 27.

Cygnus will remain attached to the orbiting laboratory until no earlier than March 2026, when it is scheduled to safely depart and dispose of up to 11,000 pounds of trash and unneeded cargo when it harmlessly burns up in Earth’s atmosphere.

This situation will not last of course, and in fact it may never happen again before the station is retired around 2030. First, Cygnus will leave in March. Second, one Russian Soyuz capsule will leave shortly, as the presence of two simply indicates a crew rotation is underway.

Third, it is presently unclear when the Russians will be able to launch further Soyuz or Progress capsules. » Read more

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China reveals its plans for the damaged Shenzhou-20 capsule docked to Tiangong-3

9:28 am

The Tiangong-3 station, as presently configured
The Tiangong-3 station, as presently configured,
with two Shenzou capsules docked at either end.

Having successfully docked Shenzhou-22 as a lifeboat to its Tiangong-3 space station last week, China’s state-run press yesterday outlined its plans for the damaged Shenzhou-20 capsule that is still docked to the station but cannot be used by its crew because of cracks in one viewport.

First, China’s space operations have decided to attempt a return of the capsule back to Earth, unmanned, so the damage can be inspected in greater detail. Before that happens however the astronauts on board the station will do their own inspection, including the possibility of adding a patch.

During a subsequent spacewalk, the Shenzhou-21 crew, who are now undertaking a six-month orbital stay, may be tasked with inspecting the cracked viewport. They may also perform protective work on it using specialized devices delivered by the Shenzhou-22 launch — a procedure still being validated in ground tests, said Ji in a recent CCTV interview.

A day prior to their planned return on Nov. 5, the Shenzhou-20 crew spotted an anomaly on the viewport’s edge — a triangular, paint-like mark. They photographed it from multiple angles and under different lights, while the station’s robotic arm cameras were employed to take supplemental external pictures.

The flaw was later identified as “penetrating cracks,” said Jia Shijin, chief designer of the crewed spaceship system from China Academy of Space Technology. “The space debris responsible is preliminarily judged to be less than a millimeter in size, but struck with extremely high speed.”

This description of the damage is the most detailed China as yet revealed. These details certainly fit the description of an impact from an outside source, though considering China’s general lack of transparency some skepticism should still be retained. For example, we still do not know if these “penetrating cracks” mean the capsule is no longer holding its atmosphere, or if the crew has closed the capsule’s hatch to keep the air loss to a minimum.

Either way, it appears China’s engineers are concerned that this damage could cause a major break-up of the capsule during re-entry, and are thus considering options for covering it during that return.

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German rocket startup Isar gets launch contract from ESA

8:25 am

The German rocket startup Isar Aerospace yesterday announced it has won a launch contract from the European Space Agency (ESA) to place a satellite carrying a number of experimental payloads into orbit before the end of 2026.

Satellite launch service company Isar Aerospace has signed a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) to launch the ΣYNDEO-3 mission under the European Union’s In-Orbit Demonstration and In-Orbit Validation Programme (IOD/IOV). The launch will be carried out from Isar Aerospace’s dedicated launch complex at Andøya Space in Norway from Q4 2026.

…Redwire is the prime contractor for the ΣYNDEO-3 mission and will be delivering its Hammerhead spacecraft for a launch onboard Isar Aerospace’s launch vehicle Spectrum to a low Earth orbit (LEO). The spacecraft was built and integrated at Redwire’s state-of-the-art satellite processing facility in Belgium. The spacecraft aggregates 10 innovative payloads from six countries and institutions: Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the EC.

Isar has yet to reach orbit with its Spectrum rocket. The first launch failed in March only seconds after launch. A second attempt is presently scheduled for sometime prior to December 21, 2025, lifting off from Andoya.

This is the second new launch contract Isar has announced in the past two weeks, and the third since September. At the moment it appears it is gaining momentum pending that first launch later this month, especially because a successful December launch would make it the first European rocket startup to successfully reach orbit.

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Senate Commerce committee to move up its vote on Isaacman’s nomination as NASA administrator

8:01 am

Jared Isaacman
Billionaire Jared Isaacman

Today Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) announced that the Commerce committee he heads will vote on the re-nomination of Jared Isaacman for NASA administration on December 8, 2025, only five days after tomorrow’s renomination hearing.

It appears Cruz and his committee is pushing to get Isaacman approved as quickly as possible. At least one Republican senator, John Cornyn (R-Texas) has met with Isaacman again and gotten his commitment to move the space shuttle Discovery to Texas, as mandated by the budget bill passed several months ago. That commitment was likely a quid pro quo by Cornyn to get his vote for Isaacman.

Once Isaacman is approved by Cruz’s committee, the Senate could vote at any time. Whether it will do so before the end of the year remains unknown, as it would likely require a special session as the Senate is expected to be in recess until after the new year.

If it does not, it will likely give Isaacman very little time to review the next Artemis mission, tentatively schedule for launch as early as February 2026, carrying four astronauts around the Moon on a Orion capsule with a questionable heat shield and an untested environmental system.

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SpaceX gets Air Force approval to launch and land Starship/Superheavy at Cape Canaveral

12:01 am

Cape Canaveral

The Air Force announced late yesterday [pdf] that it will now allow SpaceX to launch its Starship/Superheavy rocket at Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37) at Cape Canaveral in Florida (as shown on the map to the right) as many as 76 times per year, with twice that number of landings.

The DAF [Department of Air Force] decision authorizes SpaceX to use SLC-37 at CCSFS [Cape Canaveral Space Force Station] to support Starship-Super Heavy launch and landing operations, including the redevelopment of SLC-37 and the other infrastructure improvements required and analyzed in the FEIS [Final Environmental Impact Statement]. Under this ROD [record of decision], upon execution of the real property agreement and associated documentation, and as analyzed in the FEIS while adhering to the mitigation measures specified in Appendix A to this ROD, SpaceX is authorized to: (1) undertake construction activities necessary to re-develop SLC-37 and associated infrastructure for Starship Super Heavy operations; (2) conduct prelaunch operations, including the transportation of launch vehicle components and static fire tests; and (3) conduct up to 76 launches and 152 landings annually once a supplemental analysis of airspace impacts by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is completed. [emphasi mine]

The deal also requires SpaceX to do some road upgrades in order to transport the rocket from its Gigabay to the launch tower. The company immediately announced on X yesterday that it has already begun construction, and expects to have three pads in Florida before all is done.

The final environmental impact statement [pdf] was released on November 20, 2025, and concluded in more than 200 pages that there will be no significant impact from these launch operations, something that should be self-evident after more than three-quarters of century of rocketry at the Cape. The existence of the spaceport acts to protect wildlife, because it limits development across a wide area.

The report suggested that some turtle species and one mouse specie might “affected adversely”, but it it also appears that risk was considered minor and not enough to block development. To deal with this however the impact statement requires SpaceX to do a number of mitigation actions, similar to what it is required to do at Boca Chica.

One fact must be recognized, based on the red tape and delays experienced by SpaceX during the Biden administration. Had Kamala Harris and the cadre that ran the White House under Biden had been in office now, this approval would almost certainly have not happened, or if it did, it would have likely been delayed for a considerable amount of time, into next year at the earliest. It is certain that Trump is clearing the path to prevent red tape and the administrative state from slowing things down unnecessarily.

This announcement also strengthens the likelihood that SpaceX will do at least one launch of Starship/Superheavy from Florida in 2026. And if not then, by 2027 for sure.

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Two launches today, by Arianespace and SpaceX

10:36 pm

Today there were two launches worldwide, one from South America and the second from the U.S.

First, Arianespace launched a South Korea imaging satellite from French Guiana, using the Vega-C rocket built and owned by the Italian rocket company Avio. Based on the July 2024 agreement, this is the next-to-last Vega-C flight that Arianespace will manage. After the next flight, Avio will take over management of its own rocket, cutting out this government middle man, though that agreement also allowed customers who had previously signed with Arianespace for later flights to stay with it as the managing organization.

Either way, Arianespace’s responsibilities will soon be limited solely to the Ariane-6 rocket, which itself has a limited future, being expendable and too expensive to compete in the present launch market.

Next SpaceX launched another 27 Starlink satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The first stage completed its 20th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific.

As the Vega-C launch was only the sixth for Europe in 2025, it remains off the leader board for the 2025 launch race:

157 SpaceX (a new record)
74 China
15 Rocket Lab
15 Russia

SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 157 to 126.

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A detailed look at Europe’s $1 billion commitment to its nascent commercial rocket industry

11:12 am

The European Space Agency

Link here. In announcing last week the European Space Agency’s (ESA) budget for the next three years, along with its general overall goals, the European council (dubbed CM-25) also apparently committed about $1.45 billion to its “European Launcher Challenge”, a program created in 2023 and designed to encourage the development of new European rockets, owned and operated by independent competing startups.

The article at the link provides a good overall summary of major increase in funding for this program, including which ESA countries are contributing the most and why. The key quote however is this:

In July 2025, ESA shortlisted Isar Aerospace, Rocket Factory Augsburg, PLD Space, MaiaSpace, and Orbex to proceed to the initiative’s next phase. It then began discussions with the host country of each company to assess its willingness to contribute to that company’s participation in the European Launcher Challenge.

During his post-CM25 address, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher revealed that Member States had committed double the anticipated amount for the European Launcher Challenge, with the final figure exceeding €900 million. While the funding model’s structure suggests that only the UK, Spain, France, and Germany contributed, post-CM25 disclosures have indicated that a few additional countries also committed funds to the programme.

Germany appears to be the biggest contributor, supplying more than a third of the total fund ($422 million). This isn’t surprising, since Germany also has the most rocket startups, three, two of which are on that shortlist (Rocket Factory and Isar). Spain is next with a contribution of $196 million, aimed helping the rocket startup PLD. The UK is next, also contributing $196 million, likely to be used to support its Orbex startup that wants to launch from its Saxavord spaceport in the Shetland Islands.

A variety of other ESA nations, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and Norway, have also outlined their contributions, for a variety of space-related startups unrelated to rockets.

France also appears to have donated a significant amount, but has not made that number public. Its MaiaSpace startup is one on that shortlist above, but France also has one or two other rocket startups that might eventually qualify for aid.

The bottom line is that ESA here is committing funding to aid the development of rockets and space infrastructure that it won’t own or control, a major shift from its past policy of owning and controlling everything through its Arianespace pseudo-commercial company, what I call the Soviet- or government-run model. Instead, these ESA nations are going to help fund a range of competing private rockets, which will own the rockets and operate them for profit. ESA will simply become one of their customers, following the capitalism model that the U.S. switched to in the previous decade.

This increased commitment to capitalism in the ESA suggests that we should see some real progress by these startups in the next three years.

If you think the launch records being set this year are breath-taking, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

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After being linked for almost six months, China’s Shijian 21 and Shijian 25 separate

9:32 am

After rendezvousing and doing repeated docking tests in June and July and then remaining linked since then, China’s Shijian 21 and Shijian 25 test satellites have now separated.

Optical ground observations Nov. 29 made by S2a systems, a Swiss company which develops and operates customized systems for optical space surveillance worldwide, reveal that the two satellites have now separated in geosynchronous orbit, close to the geostationary belt (GEO) at 35,786 km above Earth’s equator. The orbits of the pair are inclined by 4.6 degrees with respect to GEO.

The article at the link speculates that the spacecraft were doing refueling tests while docked, but while a good guess this has not been confirmed anywhere. China has said nothing.

Shijian-21 was launched in 2021, and was used to grab a defunct Chinese geosynchronous satellite and tug it to a graveyard orbit. Shijian-25 was launched in January 2025, apparently intended to test robotic servicing of satellites. These maneuvers with Shijian-21 appear to be part of those tests. Whether those tests included refueling is uncertain, though possible. If Shijian-21 proceeds to do additional satellite tug maneuvers then it will strongly suggest this refueling occurred and was successful.

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Russia still using black market Starlink terminals on its drones

9:20 am

In its war with the Ukraine, it appears Russia is still managing to obtain black market Starlink mini-terminals for use on its drones, despite an effort since 2024 to block access.

According to Defense Express on November 30, imagery has emerged showing what appears to be a Russian “Molniya”-type drone fitted with a mini-Starlink unit, reportedly observed near the Pokrovsk sector in eastern Ukraine. The configuration—an off-the-shelf satellite internet terminal strapped to a drone—suggests improvised but functional integration, consistent with past sightings. The drone’s design and power unit indicate it is of Russian origin, likely a variation of the Molniya unmanned aerial vehicle, which is known for its low-cost, modular construction.

The use of Starlink terminals on Russian drones was first publicly reported in early 2024. Since then, Ukrainian forces have documented multiple instances of their use, including on Shahed-136 drones and larger UAVs such as the RD-8 “mothership” drone, which is reportedly capable of controlling other loitering munitions using satellite connectivity. The main concern raised by Ukrainian defense observers is that Starlink-based control enables extended-range communications, allowing Russian drones to conduct reconnaissance or strike missions far from ground-based operators.

SpaceX has made no comment on this issue. According to the article, the Ukraine is “exploring alternative European satellite providers in response, seeking more secure and controllable communications infrastructure for military operations.” While switching to another satellite provider might allow the Ukraine to shut Starlink down and prevent the Russians from using it within its territory, doing so would likely do more harm to the Ukraine’s military effort than Russia’s. There isn’t really any other service comparable at this time. And when Amazon’s Leo system comes on line it will face the same black market issues. I doubt it will have any more success than SpaceX in preventing Russia from obtaining its terminals.

Overall this issue is probably not a serious one militarily, however. Russia is not likely capable of obtaining enough black market terminals to make any significant difference on the battlefield.

This story however highlights a positive aspect of these new constellations. Just as Russia can’t be prevented from obtaining black market terminals, neither can the oppressed citizens in totalitarian nations like Russia and China be blocked as well. These constellations as designed act to defeat the censorship and information control of such nations, a very good thing.

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