With a post on social media, Blue Origin announced its return to flight for the New Shepard rocket. Flying science equipment and postcards from its charity Club for the Future, launch is set for no earlier than December 18.
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Managing Editor at Space Explored
Seth Kurkowski covers launches and general space news for Space Explored. He has been following launches from Florida since 2018.
Seth’s first launch was SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Demo in February of 2018 and has been hooked on them ever since.
He also helped start Space Coast Launch Ambassadors, an outreach group advocating for space exploration while helping the general public enjoy rocket launches from the Space Coast.
Seth co-hosts the Space Explored weekly podcast as well as the Rapid Unscheduled Discussions podcast both of which you can listen to here on SpaceExplored.com
Email tips, pitches, typos, and feedback to kurk@spaceexplored.com.
Follow: Twitter @SethKurk + Instagram @sethkurk.
This Week in Launch: Electron returns to flight and final Falcon Heavy of the year
Another packed week between SpaceX and China launching almost every day this week. The expected Falcon Heavy launch from this weekend is now today (Monday) but that’s not the only RTLS mission this week. This Friday a Falcon 9 will fly and have its booster return to LZ-1 as well.
Hidden in the bunch will be the return to flight of Rocket Lab‘s Electron rocket!
Expand Expanding CloseVulcan launch delayed to 2024, concluding ULA’s year at three launches
In a post on social media, ULA CEO Tory Bruno shared that the launch date for the company’s new rocket, Vulcan, has been delayed to NET January 8. This comes after a wet dress rehearsal that wasn’t completed in full due to ground system faults. Another dress rehearsal will be required before launch.
Expand Expanding CloseSpace Explored Podcast 71: Lets talk seriously about the Artemis Program
This week Seth and Jared go over the top stories from the last week but for the main topic they piggy back off of  @smartereveryday‘s video about Apollo versus Artemis. A mandatory watch for everyone.
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Expand Expanding ClosePending SpaceX stock sale could put its valuation at $175 billion
According to Bloomberg, an offer to purchase shares of Elon Musk‘s rocket company, SpaceX, show a valuation of $175 billion. This is an increase of $25 billion from its last valuation this summer.
Expand Expanding CloseAll signs point to NASA’s Psyche mission performing well in space
Since launching in October, NASA has begun turning on Psyche‘s scientific instruments and perform early test to ensure everything is working correctly. This lead to the spacecraft capturing its first photo in space on Monday.
Expand Expanding CloseStarship Flight 3 could include an important test for Artemis success
According to NASA, Starship‘s third flight test will feature a major demonstration needed for the overall success of landing humans on the Moon with the Artemis program. In a meeting, slides showed Starship Flight 3 being the first mission to demonstrate in-orbit propellent transfer. However, the schedule is still up in the air.
Expand Expanding CloseVega rocket maker lost major part of their final vehicle
Avio, the company that builds ESA‘s Vega launcher, lost a pair of tanks for the AVUM fourth stage. While the company eventually found them, they were no longer useable, leading to a scramble to save the final Vega launch.
Expand Expanding CloseThis Week in Launch: Busy week for China and SpaceX
This week we are tracking the possibility of seeing seven launches from both the United States and China. On the US side, all of those launches will be coming from SpaceX with three being Starlink and one being a Falcon Heavy for the Space Force.
Expand Expanding CloseFirefly completes first hot fire of a new rocket engine for upgraded Antares
Last week Firefly completed a test fire of its Miranda engine that will be used on its Medium Launch Vehicle and Northrop Grumman‘s Antares 330 rocket. This was a first for the company and a quick one as the company only signed the contract from Northrop just over one year ago.
Expand Expanding CloseDelays coming to NASA’s Dragonfly Titan drone
Because of budget deals on the hill, NASA is working on how to deal with limited budget increases over the next few years. One mission that will suffer from that is Dragonfly, who is seeing a delay to an important review to set a launch timeline and pricing.
Expand Expanding CloseESA gives Ariane 6 a launch date after big test
ESA has shared a timeline for what is left for Ariane 6 before launching its first mission. The new heavy lift rocket has two more ground tests on the booster and upper stage before a launch window opens up targeting mid-June to July 2024.
Expand Expanding CloseRelativity CEO goes into why they’re signing launch contracts for a rocket that’s years away
A slight feud played out between Relativity CEO Tim Ellis and Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck about the usefulness of launch contracts for rockets still in development. Ellis explained why they do it and the benefits it gives both them and the customer.
Expand Expanding CloseAmazon is launching Kuiper satellites on its competitor’s rocket, but why?
In a rather surprising and weird move, Amazon has purchased three Falcon 9 flights with SpaceX to deploy its Project Kuiper satellites into low Earth orbit. The launch contract comes after Amazon bought 77 launches from SpaceX competitors and receiving a lawsuit from a pension fund for not including SpaceX in the bids, the most reliable and successful launch provider on the market.
Expand Expanding CloseSpace Explored Podcast 70: What is Starship V2?
This week Seth and Jared discuss a lot of news about rockets currently in development: Starship Flight 2, Vulcan, New Glenn, and Ariane 6. Also, we breakdown what exactly Starship V2 could be.
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Expand Expanding CloseHubble placed in safe mode after continued gyro troubles [U: Back up]
NASA stated that it has paused scientific operations on the Hubble Space Telescope while its in a self imposed safe mode after it experienced yet again more gyro issues. This isn’t the first time Hubble has experienced this sort of trouble and it only seems to be getting worse as the space observatory ages.
Expand Expanding CloseSpaceX acquires its parachute vender out of bankruptcy for $2.2 million
In a rare move, SpaceX has acquired one of its vendors for $2.2 million after the parachute manufacturer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month. Named Pioneer Aerospace, the company built and sold parachute systems to both SpaceX, NASA, and the Department of Defense.
Expand Expanding CloseNASA goes hard at flight testing for future Martian helicopters
Earth and Mars are now home to flight testing programs to develop better future Martian helicopters for NASA’s Mars Sample Return Mission. NASA now has new blades for a future Martian helicopter while Ingenuity on Mars has been pushing the limits it was designed for.
Expand Expanding CloseA 60 year old rocket engine is getting a face lift with 3D printing
The historic RL10 rocket engine, built by Aerojet Rocketdyne, is getting a big upgrade after operating for almost six decades. Using additive manufacturing, Aerojet hopes to bring new life and increased production to the engine that helped humans first reach for the stars.
Expand Expanding CloseAstra receives second short term funding deal
According to a SEC filing, Astra Space has received another short term bridge loan to further solve its long term funding woes. The loan came from the same two providers that bailed out the company at the end of last month.
Expand Expanding CloseBlue Origin’s New Glenn rocket hardware seen outside Florida factory
Spotted up above in a fly over, the first potential flight hardware of Blue Origin‘s New Glenn rocket might have just been seen near the company’s Florida rocket factory. The hardware appears to be a part of New Glenn’s first stage, sporting a clean coat of paint.
Expand Expanding CloseRocket Lab sets return to flight mission launch date for mid-December
Rocket Lab completed payload integration of the Japanese iQPS satellite at its facility in New Zealand. The company now has a wet dress rehearsal to complete ahead of a launch, which has a NET date set for December 13.
Expand Expanding CloseThis Week in Launch: Ireland’s first satellite tags along with South Korean reconnaissance payload
This week we are only seeing two launches and both are from SpaceX. The obligatory SLC-40 Starlink launch and a fun little RTLS launch out of Vandenberg. By “fun little” I mean a reconnaissance satellite for the South Korean government. That mission however is also launching the first satellite for the nation of Ireland.
Expand Expanding CloseElon Musk shares that a new version of Starship is coming soon
In two posts on his social media platform, X, Elon Musk shared that a version 2 of Starship is around the corner and will bring various improvements to the rocket. However, it sounds like there will still be a few “V1” Starships left to be tested before moving to V2.
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