Just now, Lisa Watson-Morgan, NASA's Human Landing System program manager, posted to LinkedIn on the "remarkable progress" from SpaceX in relation to HLS, including seeing a "functioning life support mockup" for future missions.
Good news for SpaceX: "The FAA has concluded that the modification of SpaceXโs existing vehicle operator license for Starship/Super Heavy operations conforms to the prior environmental documentation, consistent with the data contained in the 2022 PEA, that there are no
The Missile Defense Agency just dropped a draft solicitation for a $151B multi-award IDIQ for a multi-domain missile defense system. (Think Golden Dome architecture.) Primes & startups onboarded to the vehicle will fight for contract $$ on individual task orders.
Gwynne Shotwell casually dropped that Starlink will hit 4M customers this week. Past growth for reference:
1M customers - Dec 2022
2M - Sept 2023
3M - May 2024
โThree separate, well-placed sources have confirmed to Ars that the current flight software on board Starliner cannot perform an automated undocking from the space station and entry into Earthโs atmosphere.โ
NASA is planning to significantly delay the launch of the Crew 9 mission to the International Space Station due to ongoing concerns about the Starliner spacecraft currently attached to the station.
arstechnica.com/space/2024/08/โฆ
Small scoop from this reporting - The Exploration Company has switched to ISRO's PSLV for its first demonstration mission, now in Jan '24, due to ongoing delays with Ariane 6.
New: Rocket Lab has five oversized Neutron shipments headed to Wallops starting in September, but no approved permanent channel to get them there. Itโs asking regulators to let it โkedgeโ barges through shallow water to stay on track for a 2025 launch. Link in reply.
New: The former program manager of Blue Originโs BE-4 engines has filed a lawsuit against the company alleging whistleblower retaliation for speaking up about safety issues, many of which were related to former CEO Bob Smith's leadership.
I recently visited @fireflyspace to learn more about their first lunar lander mission, Blue Ghost Mission 1.
Launch date:
โข The launch window provided by SpaceX is in the Q3 (barely into Q4) time frame
โข That will narrow to a 30-day period in May