THE NEW SPACE RACE: NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover finds possible signs of ancient Red Planet life.
Flashback: Why I Hope There’s No Life on Mars.
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THE NEW SPACE RACE: SpaceX Builds a Second Launch Tower and Improved Starship Heat Shield is Ready.
ON THE MOVE: SpaceX makes Starlink Roam available throughout the US. I was a Starlink beta tester and found it fast and reliable. It’s only improved since.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: SaxaVord prepares for first orbital launch. “A spaceport in the Shetland Islands expects to soon be ready to host the first vertical orbital launch from U.K. soil. In a presentation at the Farnborough International Airshow here July 23, Scott Hammond, deputy chief executive and operations director of SaxaVord Spaceport, said he expected the spaceport to receive the last of the licenses from U.K. regulators in September needed to host the inaugural launch of Rocket Factory Augsburg’s RFA ONE rocket there.”
IT’S GREAT THAT SPACEX IS GREAT. IT’S NOT GREAT THAT NOBODY ELSE IS AS GREAT. SpaceX just stomped the competition for a new contract—that’s not great. “Although it’s wonderful that NASA has an excellent contractor in SpaceX, it’s not healthy in the long term that there are so few credible competitors. Moreover, a careful reading of the source selection statement reveals that NASA had to really work to get a competition at all.”
XI’S GOTTA HAVE IT: China’s domestic turmoil risks escalating space tensions.
Faced with an array of internal problems, state censorship has been ratcheted into overdrive. Wary of espionage, Beijing is taking ever more extreme measures to restrict the flow of information. But a more opaque China could impair decision-making about its actions within the global economy and international order. This impairment also includes decision-making ability around the development and preservation of space for the common good.
Indeed, in a lecture broadcasted during the 20th National Congress of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in October 2022, Xi Jinping warned that “external attempts to suppress and contain China may escalate at any time.” The gathering also served to showcase the Chinese leader’s consolidation of absolute control over his party. Loyal ultranationalists were rewarded with cabinet positions, sidelining any viable opposition to Xi’s policies.
By silencing moderate perspectives, hawkish voices that align with Xi Jinping’s zero-sum mindset are now shaping China’s space agenda — as well as related propaganda for domestic consumption.
Leaders living in a bubble dictating the news sounds an awful lot like America under Biden-Harris.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: China wants 50 countries involved in its ILRS moon base.
FASTER, PLEASE: We’re building nuclear spaceships again—this time for real.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: Polaris Dawn crew shows off new SpaceX spacesuits for 1st private spacewalk.
THIS SHOULD BE FUN: SpaceX Will Make a Giant Version of Dragon to De-Orbit the Space Station.
I’D MISSED THIS STORY LAST WEEK AMIDST ALL THE OTHER EXCITEMENT: Enhanced Dragon spacecraft to deorbit the ISS at the end of its life.
NASA and SpaceX officials provided new details about the United States Deorbit Vehicle (USDV) spacecraft NASA selected SpaceX to build June 26 under a contract worth up to $843 million. At the time of the announcement, neither the agency nor the company described the design of the spacecraft or its specific capabilities.
The USDV will be based on SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft but with a redesigned, larger trunk section with more Draco thrusters. The spacecraft will have 46 Draco thrusters, 16 for attitude control and 30 to perform the maneuvers needed to lower the station’s orbit at the end of its life, said Sarah Walker, director of Dragon mission management at SpaceX.
The “enhanced” trunk section, she said, is twice as long as the regular one and will include engines, propellant tanks, power generation and other systems. It will store six times the propellant as the current Dragon spacecraft, while generating and storing three to four times the power. “It’s almost a spacecraft in and of itself,” she said.
NASA, which will own and operate the USDV after SpaceX builds it, will launch the vehicle to the ISS shortly after the arrival of the station’s final crew. Once the USDV arrives and is checked out, ISS controllers will allow the station’s orbit to naturally decay, with the final crew leaving once the station’s altitude, currently about 400 kilometers, reaches 330 kilometers.
The station’s orbit will decay further for about six months before NASA used the USDV for a final controlled deorbit of the station, targeting an open area of ocean in a narrow corridor about 2,000 kilometers long.
I just hope SpaceX loads it up with cameras like they do for Falcon and Starship launches.
CHEFS IN SPACE: Science of smell might help make food in space more appealing.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: South Korea’s new space agency outlines plans. “South Korea’s new space agency, less than two months old, is laying out ambitious goals in spaceflight as part of its efforts to serve as a ‘control tower’ for the county’s growing space presence.”
THE NEW SPACE RACE: China prepares to launch new Long March 12 rocket.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: NASA nixes VIPER lunar rover project.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: China’s military forces are rapidly building up space warfare capabilities.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: GOP platform lays out aggressive space agenda to counter China.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: NASA ships critical rocket stage to Florida for Artemis II mission to moon.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: Bigger and Better Version of the SpaceX Starship.
That may be one reason, but I suspect after seeing New York’s lawfare against Trump, and receiving Delaware’s lawfare against him, he’s moving as much of his business as he can out of hostile jurisdictions.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: China reschedules planetary defense mission for 2027 launch.
WAIT! TAKE ME WITH YOU, ELON!: “Musk Says SpaceX, X Moving HQs out of California over Transgender Law.”