January 1, 2025

China's Human Spaceflight Program Achieves Key Milestones in 2024 (Source: Space Daily)
China concluded a busy year in its human spaceflight program with the launch of the Tianzhou 8 cargo spacecraft on November 16, marking the completion of the country's 2024 space missions. This year featured several significant achievements, including advancements in orbital science, space station operations, and astronaut training. Click here. (12/28)

From Commercial Moon Landers to Asteroid Investigations, the Year Ahead (Source: Space Daily)
In 2024, space exploration dazzled the world. NASA's Europa Clipper began its journey to study Jupiter's moon Europa. SpaceX's Starship achieved its first successful landing, a critical milestone for future deep space missions. China made From new commercial Moon landers to asteroid investigations, expect a slate of exciting space missions in 2025s with the Chang'e 6 mission, which successfully returned samples from the far side of the Moon. Meanwhile, the International Space Station continued to host international crews, including private missions like Axiom Mission 3. Click here. (12/28)

XBow Systems Expands Defense Contract for Hypersonic Solid Rocket Motors (Source: Space Daily)
X-Bow Systems Inc. (X-Bow), a key innovator in solid rocket motor (SRM) production and defense technology, has announced an expansion of its U.S. Department of Defense contract to supply large SRMs to the U.S. Navy and Army. This development further positions X-Bow as a critical supplier in bolstering the national defense supply chain during a strategically important time for the United States. (12/23)

Kenya Space Agency Arrives at Makueni Village Where Large Space Debris Fell from Sky (Source: Tuko)
A large, partially burnt metallic object fell from the sky with a loud bang in Mukuku village, Mbooni East, Makueni county, on December 30, 2024 Villagers surrounded the mysterious ring-like object, speculating about its origin and capturing images that circulated widely on social media The Kenya Space Agency (KSA) arrived to assess the object with initial reports suggesting it is debris from a rocket, specifically from a rocket-separation stage. (12/31)

Jan. 10 is Date for SpaceX's Next South Texas Starship Launch (Source: San Antonio Express-News)
SpaceX is getting ready to ring in the new year with a Starship launch from South Texas as soon as Jan. 10. CEO Elon Musk posted the date on his X social media site Monday, about two weeks after Federal Aviation Administration issued a launch license for the next test flight. (12/31)

Public to Get Chance to Comment on Increased SpaceX Launches at Vandenberg Base (Source: VC Star)
Members of the public will get their chance to share comments on possible increased SpaceX rocket launches at Vandenberg Space Force Base during scoping meetings set for mid-January. The Department of the Air Force will hold three in-person meetings in Ventura, Santa Barbara and Lompoc with a fourth meeting held virtually, according to a news release from the agency. (12/31)

SpaceX to Double the Size of Starlink Texas Production Facility (Source: Teslarati)
SpaceX is now looking to double the size of its Bastrop production facility this coming 2025. As per the 2024 Starlink Progress Report: “To further strengthen its production scalability, SpaceX is more than doubling the size of its Bastrop production facility (opening in 2025). This will add production capability of millions of customer kits each year to meet the growing demand for high-speed, low-latency internet from space that people can take with them wherever they go.” (12/31)

NASA, U.S. Patent Office To Study Streamlining Tech Transfer (Source: Aviation Week)
NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to study best practices for streamlining the process of transferring technology to private industry. The two agencies will find ways to advance both agencies’ technology transfer missions, identify barriers to technology transfer, and coordinate initiatives to overcome those barriers. The agencies will present the results of their study in spring 2025. (12/31)

China’s Tiangong Space Station Research Aims to ‘Break Technology Choke Points’ (Source: South China Morning Post)
China aims to break space technology choke points with thousands of experiments on the Tiangong space station over the next decade or so as it expands its crewed exploration program. The China Manned Space Agency outlined the target on Monday in its first performance review of the Tiangong, adding that 181 experiments and application projects had been conducted, and nearly 2 tonnes of scientific materials delivered, as of December 1. (12/31)

Ispace, Italian Space Agency Plan To Deploy Laser Reflector On Moon (Source: Aviation Week)
Ispace’s European subsidiary and the Italian Space Agency plan to deploy a laser reflector on the Moon in 2026 to help with lunar mapping and navigation. The laser retroreflector array (LaRA2), a small dome-shaped instrument, would be integrated into the APEX 1.0 lunar lander. (12/30)

Blue Origin Looks to Take On SpaceX Dominance with New Glenn Launch Days Away (Source: Tech Crunch)
Nearly a quarter century after its founding, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is gearing up to launch an orbital rocket for the first time — and finally enter the competitive launch industry that is currently dominated by SpaceX. An air traffic advisory posted last week suggests that Blue Origin may conduct the launch no earlier than January 6. When the rocket does finally launch, seven of the Blue Origin-made BE-4 engines will fire up to generate over 3.8 million pounds of thrust and propel the rocket away from its launch pad at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport.

New Glenn’s boosters will return to Earth and land vertically on a floating barge, to be refurbished and reused up to 25 times. NASA also tapped Blue Origin to launch twin spacecraft to Mars — those satellites were supposed to fly on this inaugural mission, but after the launch was delayed from October, the space agency decided to remanifest them on a later New Glenn launch. Blue Origin also has signed launch deals with the Space Force, Amazon’s Project Kuiper, and other commercial companies. (12/30)

10 Amazing Things We Found on Mars in 2024 (Source: Live Science)
Every year the robots and satellites scientists have sent to Mars make discoveries that help us learn more about the Red Planet's past and take us a step closer to humanity's potential future living there — and this year was no exception. Despite the death of NASA's Ingenuity helicopter and a gaping hole in one of the Curiosity rover's wheels, 2024 was still a banner year for Martian discoveries, including what happened to the Red Planet's magnetic field and whether or not the alien world once harbored extraterrestrial life. Click here. (12/30)

Boeing On Track to be 2024's Biggest Loser in Dow Jones Index (Source: Reuters)
U.S. planemaker Boeing is on track to be the biggest loser of 2024 in the Dow Jones Index, tumbling 32% as it bounced from one crisis to another. Rival Airbus rose more than 11% for the year, and the benchmark S&P 500 gained more than 23% during 2024. Boeing's shares opened the year at $257.50. However, a mid-air cabin panel blowout on Jan. 5 aboard a recently-delivered 737 MAX operated by Alaska Airlines triggered investigations and a temporary grounding of the popular single-aisle airplane. By the end of the month, the FAA capped 737 production at 38 airplanes a month and the company's share price hovered around $211. (12/31)

SpaceX 2024 Launch Stats (Source: Space Explored)
SpaceX launched four Starship test flights in 2024, doubling what it did in 2023 when full-stack flights began. Most of the year was met with back-and-forth between SpaceX, mostly Elon Musk, and the FAA on getting approval to fly. It wasn’t until Flight 6, the final flight of the year, that SpaceX’s launch timeline wasn’t entirely set on waiting for FAA approval.

SpaceX has three launch sites it leases from the Space Force and NASA to conduct its Falcon 9 and Heavy missions. One is in California at Vandenberg Space Force Base and has seen a nearly doubled launch cadence since 2023. Two are in Florida: the historic LC-39A, which has seen the bulk of human spaceflight missions, both Falcon Heavy flights, and other extremely important flights for NASA and other entities.

The last pad is SLC-40, located just a few miles south on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. In total, SLC-40 saw 62 Falcon 9 launches in 2024; that’s nearly two-thirds of all SpaceX launches for the entire year. (12/31)

Experts Warn of Satellite Debris Proliferation That Could Cripple Space US Tech and Global Space Access (Source: SF Gate)
The recent proliferation of satellites for personal internet, Earth observation and wide-scale communications is creating a newly busy atmosphere — SpaceX has launched more working satellites in the past five years than previously existed at all. Bay Area astronomers are split on when the space congestion may prove an issue, but there’s near-unanimous agreement that humanity has something to fear from the so-called “Kessler Syndrome.”

The “Kessler Syndrome” refers to a scenario where debris hitting satellites above Earth creates a ripple effect — broken pieces slam into other orbiting machines, creating a belt, or cloud, of space junk circling the planet. This cloud wouldn’t be visible from Earth, Paul Lynam, an astronomer for the University of California’s Lick Observatory, told SFGATE, but the detritus could stop or slow other launches, block on-ground telescopes and break the all-important modern systems that rely on satellite tech. Think GPS, weather forecasts, satellite TV.

“It’s important that people realize, it’s not going to be a remote, out-there kind of thing,” said Lynam, who prefers “cascade” to “syndrome” for describing the event. “It would affect everybody on the planet.” (12/31)

What's Coming Up for Rocket Lab USA in 2025? (Source: Motley Fool)
hile SpaceX sparks a lot of enthusiasm, the company isn't planning a public stock offering anytime soon. However, one competitor is available for investors to buy today: Rocket Lab USA (RKLB -3.23%). Rocket Lab has taken off in 2024, surging 409% as it continues to ramp up its launch cadence. Looking ahead to 2025, the company is positioned to grow its margins and profits. Here's why. (12/28)

How The US Space Force's STARCOM Ensures Guardian Readiness (Source: Simple Flying)
STARCOM is a central unit within the organization of the US Space Force (USSF). They provide training and education that shapes new Guardians, fresh from US Air Force basic training, into fighters fit for the unique battlefield of outer space. This command has a comprehensive approach to readiness that leverages the wealth of experience and knowledge gained from decades of operations in space. While the Space Force may be new, their team and their mission is far from it. Click here. (12/30)

PLD Space Closes a Successful 2024 (Source: Joint-Forces)
Spain’s PLD Space has closed a successful 2024 marked by exponential growth and a strengthening of its position in the industry. PLD Space’s strategic plan, key to strengthening the brand: In 2024, PLD Space has also announced its new strategic plan, where it has unveiled MIURA Next, its new family of large reusable launchers, and LINCE, the first private manned capsule in Europe. This strategic vision consolidates the company as a benchmark in the industry worldwide and positions it as a leader of European technological sovereignty in space transport, covering the entire range of space missions. (12/30)