At almost the same time that SpaceX was doing two launches last night from opposite coasts, China was launching another nine satellites for its Guowang (Satnet) constellation, its Long March 12 rocket lifting off from its coastal Wenchang spaceport. Though China’s state run press made no mention of the number of satellites in the payload, all previous Long March 12
SpaceX today completed two launches from opposite coasts, with both launches taking place at almost the same time. First SpaceX launched eight Globalstar telecommunications satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral Space Force station in Florida. The two fairings halves were both reused, but the announcer only stated that one has completed its 8th flight.
Click for source. Using its Flamingo missiles, the Ukraine last night successfully damaged and possibly destroyed Russia s factory where it builds the Soyuz-2 rockets, located in the city of Samara about 550 miles northeast of the Ukrainian border. The image to the right shows the impact point, Building 106A of the the Progress Rocket Space Centre in Samara, which is
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An evening pause: This bit of technological history forms a sad bookend to that of the Cox .049 engine evening pause from several weeks ago.
Courtesy of BtB s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below. Note: X now requires log in to view videos with sound. You can get around this by clicking on the three dots at the top
Click for full resolution image. Cool image time! The picture to the right, reduced to post here, was taken on August 9, 2026 by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on the rover Curiosity. This camera, designed to take close-ups like this of objects on the ground, is located at the end of Curiosity s robot arm. According to the science
Pecan Island SpaceX facility? It appears Elon Musk s private jet landed in south Louisiana at Lafayette Regional Airport early this week, along with another larger plane also believed to be linked to SpaceX operations. Both planes arrived on August 10, 2026 and left later that day. Their appearance fueled more speculation that SpaceX is going to purchase a 130K acre
An evening pause: I searched hard and long and cannot find out when this was performed or the name of the other pianist. This piece is extremely challenging, and to do it this well for humor! is mind-boggling. Hat tip wamphyr.
Courtesy of BtB s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below. Blue Origin begins construction on a second launchpad at Cape Canaveral The company leases Launch Complex 36. LC-36A is what they have been using and
Click for original image. Cool image time! The picture above, cropped to post here, was taken on July 2, 2026 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The science team labels this layers in a low spot in Aeolis Mensae. Aeolis Mensae is a high plateau of volcanic ash, part of the vast Medusae Fossae Formation, the
It all stinks! The Texas Broadband Development Office (BDO) has now suspended issuing any new grants under the federal government s Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program (supposedly designed to encourage rural broadband access) because of objections raised by state legislators from both parties. The suspension appears linked to comprehensive performance review initiated by the…
Impulse Space s Mira tug. Payloads are attached to the space on top. The Space Force has extended its contract with the company Impulse Space, buying two more of its Mira orbital tugs to fly its program aimed at developing the capability of flying missions very fast to meet sudden new military actions. The U.S. Space Force has added $28 million
UPDATE: My guess at the end of this post below was correct. SpaceX responded quickly to Poland s complaint and restored full service to Poland. Poland s foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski on August 12, 2026 threatened to cut off a $50 million per year fee his nation pays to Starlink that apparently pays for half of the Starlink terminals in the
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An evening pause: An American ode to moonlight, performed live 2015. Hat tip Ferris Akel.
Courtesy of BtB s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below. Time-lapse video covering 20 years that shows the multiple stars orbiting the Milky Way s central supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A* The data comes from an
India s Bharatiya Antariksh Station as outlined in 2024. Click for original image. According to several stories in the Indian press today, the U.S. State Department yesterday invited India to partner in NASA s Artemis program. NASA has formally invited India to join its Moon Base programme, which aims to establish a sustained human presence near the lunar South Pole. The invitation
Firefly announced yesterday that Lockheed Martin has awarded it a two year contract extension on a multi-launch contract using its upgraded Alpha-2 rocket. The extension raises the number of launches to as many as 25, through 2031. The Alpha-2 rocket, first revealed in January 2026, is replacing the first version that completed its last launch in March. It will have
SkyFall helicopter deployment. Click for original animation. NASA officials, including administrator Jared Isaacman, visited the Department of Energy s (DOE) Idaho National Laboratory (INL) on August 7, 2026, to review the status of its work building the nuclear electric propulsion engine that will be used to send the agency s proposed three-helicopter SkyFall mission to Mars in 2028, dubbed…
In its second launch today, SpaceX successfully placed 24 Starlink satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The first stage (B1103) completed its 5th flight (27 days after its previous mission), landing on a drone ship in the Pacific. The leaders in the 2026 launch race: 97 SpaceX 52 China 11
Artist rendering of Link (on left) about to attach to Gehrels-Swift. Click for original image. The engineers for the satellite repair startup Katalyst successfully uploaded new software to its Link spacecraft so that it can now maneuver using its one remaining operational electrical thruster. Katalyst Space successfully uploaded a flight software update for its LINK spacecraft, which is set to
An evening pause: A Ukrainian folk song (English title The night is so moonlit ) sung by a Ukrainian to express her love for her country and for her people at home. Translation here. Hat tip Judd Clark.
Courtesy of BtB s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below. Startup Gravitics wins small NASA contract to develop concept of a single orbital hangar to bring multiple orbital products back on one flight The idea
Click for original image. Cool image time! The picture above, cropped and lightened to post here, was taken on July 5, 2026 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The black dot on the overview map to the right marks the location, deep inside Mars perennial south pole cap, with the top layer a thin crust of
Screen capture from animation showing two Starships about to dock for refueling. Click for original video. Link here. The article outlines the approximate status of four Starships (prototypes 42 through 45) and one Superheavy (prototype 22), and links them to test flight numbers 15 through 18. This list does not include the Starship and Superheavy now being prepared for flight
The Vietnamese company VinSpace has purchased a slot on a SpaceX Falcon 9 Transporter mission in 2027, the first such contract to an American company. The satellites, which VinSpace said it will develop and operate, will test the company’s technology in orbit and support future commercial applications. VinSpace is part of Vietnam’s Vingroup conglomerate and was established in November 2025.
SpaceX this morning successfully placed another 29 Starlink satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The first stage (B1085) completed its 18th flight (43 days after its previous mission), landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic. The leaders in the 2026 launch race: 96 SpaceX 52 China 11 Rocket
Scientists at Kyoto University in Japan have used the precise and known orbits of 1,200 Starlink satellites to more precisely map the Earth s thermosphere, a layer of the atmosphere from 60 to 600 miles altitude. The Kyoto University team treated the Starlink constellation as a vast network of moving atmospheric sensors. As each satellite traveled through the thermosphere, drag
India s spaceports, active, under construction, or proposed India s IN-SPACe government agency, tasked with encouraging the development of a commercial space agency to eventually replace its established space agency ISRO, has now put out an expression of interest , looking for private companies that might be interested in taking over from ISRO the operation of the new spaceport being built for…
An evening pause: Performed live 2013. Hat tip John Jossy.