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THE PRIVATE SECTOR SENDING A ROCKET WHEN THE PUBLIC SECTOR CAN’T GET IT UP: How SpaceX could end up rescuing stranded astronauts if Boeing’s Starliner can’t be fixed.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: China returns samples from the moon’s far side in historic 1st (video).
STILL A FEW BUGS IN THE SYSTEM: Critical Leak: How a Spacesuit Malfunction Compromised Spacewalk 90. This flight seems plagued with bugs.
EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: NASA calls off spacewalk for second time this month.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: 99 SpaceX Raptor Engines Before New Mass Production of Thousands. “Elon Musk showed Everyday Astronaut the SpaceX Starbase and rocket factories. SpaceX has a new Raptor engine that will be a couple hundred pounds lighter without a heat shield. It will have built in cooling channels. This is the version of the Raptor engine which wil be produced by the thousands. The Texas Starbase will eventually be able to produce one hundred Starships and Boosters per year.”
JOEL KOTKIN: The Space Race Gets Serious. “We are shifting from the early era of space exploration to a more serious phase extending ever further from Earth’s orbit, focused on key opportunities such as mining and manufacturing as well as military purposes. This newly expanded playing field will determine not only who rules in space, but who ends up dominating Earth. . . . The new post-terrestrial boom is just taking off — space industry global revenues are up tenfold since the early 2000s. The World Economic Forum projects that “by 2035, the space economy is set to reach $1.8 trillion, up from $630 billion in 2023 and averaging a growth rate of 9 percent per annum — a figure significantly above the growth rate of global GDP.” These new opportunities are supercharging a vast entrepreneurial surge that includes more than fifty players creating everything from launch facilities and launch service providers to reusable rockets, landers and vehicles. Space Foundation reports a workforce growth of nearly 5 percent in 2023; Moon landings are reaching their highest frequency since the early 1970s. The likely big play will occur once rockets, robots and humans begin developing industrial capacity in space — some estimates suggest this will reach a value of $10 billion by 2030.”
All is proceeding as I have foreseen.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: SpaceX deploys another round of Internet satellites.
WOEING: Astronauts stranded in space face further setback to return home.
Nasa has again delayed the return of two US astronauts currently stranded on the International Space Station.
Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams were due to return to Earth on June 26 after faults with the Boeing spacecraft forced the astronauts to remain aboard the space station two weeks longer than planned.
On Friday, Nasa said it was taking more time to review the thruster malfunctions and helium leaks that caused the first delay.
The ISS mission was Boeing’s first crewed space launch after more than a decade of planning, during which two launches had to be aborted at late notice.
It was scheduled to last only eight days, but helium leaks and issues with the spacecraft’s thrusters delayed its return by two weeks.
I’m sure the astronauts will be back on earth soon — well, sooner or later: NASA indefinitely delays return of Starliner to review propulsion data.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: How SpaceShipOne’s historic launch 20 years ago paved the way for a new space tourism era. And much more. It wasn’t huge in itself, but then, neither was the flight at Kitty Hawk.
NIFTY: SpaceX unveils backpack-sized ‘Starlink Mini’ satellite internet antenna for $599. “The Starlink Mini antenna is about the size and weight of a laptop, at just over two pounds and measuring at about 12 inches by 10 inches by 1.5 inches. It’s roughly half the size and one-third the weight of Starlink’s Standard antenna.”
THE NEW SPACE RACE: Pentagon picks SpaceX, Blue Origin and ULA for $5.6 billion launch deal.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover enters new Red Planet territory: ‘Bright Angel.’
THE NEW SPACE RACE: NASA, Boeing delay Starliner astronaut landing to June 26 amid thruster issues.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: NASA moon orbiter spots Chinese lander on lunar far side (photo).
THE NEW SPACE RACE: China takes small step towards the moon with rocket test.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: China takes small step towards the moon with rocket test.
A Long March 10 first stage test article was fired in Fengtai district of Beijing, Friday, June 14. The stage started normally, operated steadily, and shut down on schedule, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) stated via its WeChat channel.
The test was conducted by the Institute 101 of the Sixth Academy of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the country’s main space contractor.
The successful test is a step towards China’s goal of putting astronauts on the moon before 2030. NASA currently aims to land humans on the moon once more with Artemis III no earlier than 2026.
“No earlier” is right.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: Blue Origin joins SpaceX and ULA in new round of military launch contracts.
OUT: “LIGHT THIS CANDLE.” IN: NASA cancels ISS spacewalk after ‘spacesuit discomfort.’
THE NEW SPACE RACE: Armenia signs Artemis Accords.