December 28, 2024

Last Days for Blue Origin to Launch New Rocket Before 2025 (Source: Click Orlando)
It’s the final week if Jeff Bezos still thinks his space company can launch its brand-new rocket on its maiden flight before 2025. This month, Blue Origin has been sharing videos showing tests of the New Glenn at its Cape Canaveral launch pad. Whenever it takes off for the first time, the huge rocket should draw huge crowds on Space Coast beaches. Here's a video of their preparatory engine hot-fire test. (12/26)

3 Years After JWST's Launch, Here's What It Has Taught Us About The Universe (Source: Science Alert)
On this day three years ago, we witnessed the nail-biting launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the largest and most powerful telescope humans have ever sent into space. It took 30 years to build, but in three short years of operation, JWST has already revolutionized our view of the cosmos. Here's what JWST has taught us about the early Universe since its launch – and the new mysteries it has uncovered. Click here. (12/27)

SpaceX's Big Year: The New Records and Feats Elon Musk's Space Company Achieved in 2024 (Source: Space.com)
SpaceX had a pretty good 2024. Elon Musk's company broke its own record for most launches in a single year, continued pushing the boundaries of rocket reuse and made serious strides toward getting Starship, its next-generation megarocket, up and running. Oh, and Musk has apparently entered the inner circle of President-elect Donald Trump, wielding political power like he never has before. Here's a brief rundown of SpaceX's very busy year. Click here. (12/26)

NASA to Maryland Lawmakers: ‘High Risk’ Goddard Project had Unrealistic Launch Schedule (Source: Baltimore Sun)
NASA described a plan to launch a multi-billion dollar spacecraft in 2026 as “overly optimistic and not credible” in a September letter to Maryland lawmakers that Capital News Service obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests. On Sept. 4, NASA informed Congress it was ending the $2 billion OSAM-1 project, which was expected to service existing satellites and expand their lifespans in space, among other capabilities.

Twelve days after the announcement, nine Maryland lawmakers demanded that NASA explain why it canceled the project, which was based at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. In its response, dated Sept. 25, NASA cited numerous risks, an overly ambitious plan and a low return on investment as rationales for ending the project. (12/27)

Noisy Booster Landings Can Impede Spaceflight Progress. Congress Was Right to Step In (Source: Space News)
The recent congressional approval of the first-ever acknowledgment of space launch noise impacts on nearby communities is a landmark moment for both the aerospace sector and the communities that host these transformative activities. The commercial spaceflight industry must continue growing, but at the same time, the American public must remain safeguarded.

Congress’ recent legislative recognition of the disruptive and dangerous disturbances that launch site communities face underscores the critical need for this balance and, beyond acknowledging the problem, provides a long-overdue foundation for addressing a challenge that could undermine public support for — and overall growth of — the burgeoning private space industry. (12/27)

Private Space Station Set To Break Free From ISS 2 Years Early (Source: Jalopnik)
NASA awarded Axiom Space a $140 million contract in 2020 to attach a habitat module to the ISS, part of a government effort to commercialize low Earth orbit. Axiom’s Hab-1 would be the starting point for even more Axiom modules, leading to its own independent station. Both parties are now revising the order that modules will arrive. The space agency announced last week that the private Axiom Station could break free “as soon as 2028,” two years ahead of schedule. (12/27)

T-Mobile Starlink Beta Invites Rolling Out to Android and iOS Devices (Source: Droid Life)
When T-Mobile and Starlink teamed up to announce T-Mobile Starlink, a satellite internet service that would one day bring a data connection to your T-Mobile phone when in remote locations, they told us that a beta program was open for sign-up. The plan, at least at the time of initial sign-up, was to get folks in line for access, which was going to launch in early 2025. As it turns out, T-Mobile is already inviting users to give the new service a run. (12/27)

FAA Grants Commercial Launch License to Blue Origin’s New Glenn Rocket (Source: Spaceflight Now)
Blue Origin is preparing to put on a display of fire and fury out at Launch Complex 36. The company is gearing up for a crucial hot fire test of its New Glenn rocket, which is one of the big, final steps needed before it can launch. It comes as the FAA granted a Part 450 commercial launch license for the rocket, clearing way for it to operate for five years. While the first stage booster is intended to land on a barge and then reflown, similar to SpaceX and its Falcon rockets, Blue Origin won’t be able to do so immediately.

According to the launch license, the Flight Safety System (FSS) is “limited to a single-flight use” for now. “Prior to implementing FSS component reuse, Blue Origin shall submit an updated Means of Compliance to 450.145 addressing FSS component reuse,” the FAA wrote in the license. (12/27)

Starship Flight 7 Date Revealed: Why This Mission Is Unlike Any Other (Source: Marcus House)
Yes, we have the Starship Flight 7 Date Revealed this week. we also dive deep into Why This Mission Is Unlike Any Other. We still of course have the usual updates to help get you up to speed on everything Starbase and the like, but also as very much requested, we are diving deep into the differences between the older Starship Block 1, and the brand new Starship Block 2 preparing to fly! I think you are going to love this one as we round out the very last video of 2024! Click here. (12/28)

NASA, Astronomical League Team Up for 2025 Hubble Night Sky Challenge (Source: Space.com)
In honor of the telescope's 35th anniversary, NASA and the Astronomical League are launching an observation challenge, encouraging skywatchers on the ground to search the skies for the same incredible objects Hubble has observed during its tenure in space. Hubble's Night Sky Observing Challenge will kick off in 2025 and feature different targets each month that can be observed using a large backyard telescope with a recommended diameter of at least six inches. The list of targets will be announced one month in advance and include options for optimal viewing from both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. (12/27)

Boeing Engineers Leave Struggling Planemaker For Space Companies (Source: Benzinga)
Planemaker Boeing is reportedly witnessing an increased number of its engineers leaving for space companies. The average tenure of a Boeing engineer has dropped to 12.6 years from 16.4 years over the last decade, the Financial Times reported, citing data from the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, a union representing 12,000 Boeing engineers. As per union data, the tenure is shortening in every age bracket.

The departure of engineering talent could make it harder for the company to launch a new plane, the report noted, while adding that the struggling plane maker is serving as a good place for space companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin to poach talent from. (12/27)