Author Topic: NSF Weekly / This Week in Spaceflight (TWIS)  (Read 132867 times)

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Re: NSF Weekly / This Week in Spaceflight (TWIS)
« Reply #120 on: 10/24/2025 11:22 pm »
New Glenn Stacked, Static Fire Incoming! | This Week In Spaceflight | October 24, 2025



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Oct 24, 2025


China's LandSpace ignites ZhuQue-3's nine methane engines in a stunning static fire test, paving the way for reusable booster landings and the "Land to Infinity" mission; Blue Origin hoists its massive 80-meter New Glenn rocket onto the transporter erector for ESCAPADE's Mars probe launch on November 9; Stoke Space demos water deluge suppression at Cape Canaveral while intentionally bursting a methalox tank to failure; NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy pushes to reopen the Artemis III Human Landing System contract amid Starship delays, aiming for a U.S. Moon return before China's taikonauts in 2029 - sparking Elon Musk's X critiques and debates over folding NASA into the Department of Transportation.

🤵 Hosted by Elysia Segal (@elysiasegal).
🖋️ Written by Alejandro Alcantarilla Romera (@alexphysics13), & Martijn Luinstra.
🎥 Footage from: BocaChicaGal, Max Evans, D Wise, Space Coast Live, LandSpace, Blue Origin, SpaceX, NASA, Stoke Space, The White House, Dynetics, US Department of Transportation, Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, Astrolab, Rocket Lab, Eta Space, Vast, Apex, Isar Aerospace, CCTV, JAXA, INNOSPACE, CASC.
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Re: NSF Weekly / This Week in Spaceflight (TWIS)
« Reply #121 on: 10/31/2025 11:40 pm »
SpaceX Answers NASA, New Glenn Fires Again, HTV-X Arrives 🚀 | This Week in Spaceflight | Oct 31, 2025



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Oct 31, 2025
🎃 Happy Halloween from NSF! The only day “orbital decay” sounds festive.

SpaceX has published a detailed update on its Starship Human Landing System just days after NASA’s acting Administrator asked both SpaceX and Blue Origin to accelerate their Artemis III landers — and SpaceX even clapped back at former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine on X.

Meanwhile, Blue Origin rolled out and static fired the full New Glenn stack at LC-36 ahead of its second flight, which will launch NASA’s ESCAPADE mission. Over in Japan, JAXA’s brand-new HTV-X cargo ship has arrived at the ISS right as the Station celebrates 25 years of continuous human presence in orbit. And China has launched Shenzhou-21 to Tiangong.

Also this week: AI sharpens JWST’s vision, China turns on the world’s first mid-infrared solar magnetic telescope, Lockheed/NASA’s X-59 finally flies, and SpaceX breaks another Vandenberg turnaround record.

🤵 Hosted by Elysia Segal (@elysiasegal).
🖋️ Written by Alejandro Alcantarilla Romera (@alexphysics13), Martijn Luinstra, &  Martin Smith.
🎥 Footage from: Jack Beyer, Julia Bergeron, Max Evans, Jerry Pike, D Wise, Space Coast Live, SpaceX, Blue Origin, JAXA, NASA, Xander89, Rocket Lab, Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines, JAXA/Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, ISSinrealtime.org, CCTV, Xinhua, CMSEO, Max Charles/University of Sydney, Space Pioneer, CAS Space, Lockheed Martin, Lockheed Martin/USGS/NASA Landsat, United Launch Alliance, ISRO.
✂️ Edited by Ryan Caton (@dpoddolphinpro).
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Re: NSF Weekly / This Week in Spaceflight (TWIS)
« Reply #122 on: 11/08/2025 02:16 am »
Daylight Launches Are Banned In The USA - For Now... | This Week in Spaceflight | November 7, 2025



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November 11, 2025
In the midst of a protracted U.S. government shutdown, the FAA has imposed a nighttime-only restriction on commercial space launches starting November 10, aiming to ease the strain on unpaid air traffic controllers—while President Trump re-nominates billionaire astronaut Jared Isaacman as NASA Administrator after months of political ping-pong.

Over in China, the Shenzhou-20 crew faces an extended stay aboard Tiangong due to potential space debris damage on their return vehicle, echoing past orbital mishaps like Soyuz MS-22, though a backup launch could soon resolve it.

Starlink hits 8 million users and seals deals for in-flight Wi-Fi across European airlines plus spectrum acquisitions for global 5G, as Vast's Haven Demo delivers stunning 4K orbital footage from its recent rideshare debut. From Axiom's docking hardware tests and China's inflatable manufacturing module to Astrolab's lunar rover trials, Astra's engine firings, and a global launch roundup including Ariane 6's Sentinel-1D and ULA's Atlas V.

🤵 Hosted by Elysia Segal (@elysiasegal).
🖋️ Written by Alejandro Alcantarilla Romera (@alexphysics13), & Martijn Luinstra.
🎥 Footage from: Jack Beyer, Max Evans, D Wise, Space Coast Live, SpaceX, John Kraus/Polaris Program, CCTV, British Airways, Vast, NASA, US Senate Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation, US Department of Transportation, The Federal Aviation Administration, CMSA, CASC, Axiom Space, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Iberia, Astrolab, Astra, Galactic Energy, ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA; image processing by M. Schirmer (MPIA/Heidelberg), Diagram: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA Diagram by J.-C. Cuillandre, L. Quilley, F. Marleau Images alone: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre, E. Bertin, G. Anselmi, ISRO, ESA/CNES/Arianespace/ArianeGroup, Rocket Lab, Space Lens, Astra, Google Earth, Pexels.
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Re: NSF Weekly / This Week in Spaceflight (TWIS)
« Reply #123 on: 11/14/2025 11:38 pm »
New Glenn Nails Its First Landing! Rocket Lab Delays Neutron & More — This Week In Spaceflight - November 14, 2025



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November 14, 2025
Blue Origin makes history as New Glenn successfully lands its first orbital-class booster, becoming only the second company ever to achieve the feat. Meanwhile, Rocket Lab confirms Neutron’s first launch is slipping to 2026, Firefly reveals the root cause of its Alpha test stand anomaly, and Relativity pushes Terran R closer to flight with major progress across both stages and engine testing.

Europe also had a huge week: Isar Aerospace ships both Spectrum stages to Andøya, OHB establishes a new European Spaceport Company, PLD Space beats its reusability margins with aggressive TEPREL-C gas generator testing, and Vodafone + AST SpaceMobile announce a joint European constellation operations center.

Across space, China’s Shenzhou-20 crew swaps spacecraft after debris damage, ISRO completes a critical parachute drop test for the Gaganyaan crew vehicle, and The Exploration Company validates the MMOD shield for its Nyx capsule. And here on Earth, the Sun sent an X-class CME our way, generating auroras as far south as Texas and briefly impacting GPS accuracy.

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Offline jebbo

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Re: NSF Weekly / This Week in Spaceflight (TWIS)
« Reply #124 on: 11/15/2025 09:46 am »
Some pretty bad unit errors this week:

Isar FTS was after 30 seconds not minutes.
The X5.1 CME velicity was 1,500 km/s not km/h
Ditto the extrasolar CME was 2,500 km/s

--- Tony

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Blue Origin’s Bold Plan: Super Heavy New Glenn, Reusable Fairings & Aerobrake Tech!



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November 21, 2025

This week, we saw the return of GS-1—New Glenn’s first-stage booster—safely back from orbit after its historic landing at Port Canaveral. But Blue Origin didn’t stop there. They announced a suite of massive upgrades to turn New Glenn into a super heavy-lift vehicle capable of carrying up to 70 metric tonnes to orbit, nearly rivaling Starship and SLS.

From 9 BE-4 engines, larger tanks, propellant subcooling, reusable fairings, and deployable aerobrakes, to a 120-meter tall variant, New Glenn’s future is suddenly looking very big.

We’re also diving into:
🚀 SpaceX rolls out the FIRST Block 3 Starship Super Heavy booster (Booster 18)… which then suffers a catastrophic COPV failure during ground testing at Massey’s.
🧵 Europe unveils its first next-generation spacesuit, EuroSuit, set to be tested on the ISS by Sophie Adenot.
🌌 NASA releases stunning images of 3I/Atlas, our third confirmed interstellar visitor.
🛰️ Pegasus is BACK as a rescue mission targets the Swift Observatory.
🛰️ PLD Space shows off the first complete qualification model of MIURA 5.
📊 And in Space Traffic, we recap an incredibly busy launch week: Falcon 9 record flights, Electron double launches, Chinese missions, and more.

Plus: your weekly Space Traffic Report from NextSpaceflight, including Starlink launches, Chinese orbital activity, and ULA’s final Atlas V launch of the year.

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Re: NSF Weekly / This Week in Spaceflight (TWIS)
« Reply #126 on: 11/29/2025 12:10 am »
Trouble For ISS Operations? | This Week In Spaceflight | November 28, 2025



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November 28, 2025


🚀 This Week in Spaceflight is packed with breaking updates:

🇪🇺 ESA’s biggest budget ever – over €22 billion for rockets, science, Earth observation, and possibly crewed spaceflight!
🛰 Starliner-1 won’t fly crew – NASA modifies Boeing’s Commercial Crew contract after ongoing issues.
🔥 Soyuz launch damages pad – a service cabin collapses into the flame trench at Baikonur.
🔁 China readies two reusable rockets – ZhuQue-3 and Chang Zheng 12A roll onto their pads.
🔭 Nancy Grace Roman clears critical testing – NASA’s next flagship telescope moves closer to launch.
🛰 Orbex reveals hardware for Prime rocket – Europe grows stronger in commercial launch.
📡 ESCAPADE spacecraft send first images – Mars-bound explorers already snapping selfies.
🌦 TROPICS completes storm mission – and changes hurricane forecasting forever.
🚀 Transporter-15 rideshare launches 140 satellites – and B1071 hits 30 flights.
🛰 Falcon 9, Shenzhou, Soyuz, Angara, KSLV, Vega-C & more in Space Traffic Report

Plus — NASA’s Artemis updates, RS-25 engine testing, CHAPEA analog crew isolation, ISS logistics challenges, crew rotations, and next week’s launch schedule!

📱 Track launches: https://nextspaceflight.com
🛰 NSF Live Streams: https://www.youtube.com/@NASASpacefli...
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🖋️ Written by Martin Smith, Martijn Luinstra.
🎥 Footage from: Martijn Luinstra, D Wise, Roscosmos, NASA, ESA, LandSpace, 風禾盡起, Viewsridge, Airbus Defence & Space, Centre Spatial Guyanais, Isar Aerospace, PLD Space, Rocket Factory Augsburg, ESAS/Science Office, ESA-ATG, Copernicus Sentinel data (2025) processed by ESA, The Exploration Company, SpaceX, NASA Goddard, 航太愛好者88, Orbex Space, NASA/CHAPEA Crew, NASA Johnson, NASA/UCB-SSL/RL/NAU-Radiant/Lucint, Blue Canyon Technologies, NASA Earth Observatory/Lauren Dauphin, Airbus, NASA Stennis, CCTV, CNSA/CCTV, Russian Ministry of Defence, KARI, Rocket Lab.
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It's Tony De La Rosa... I don't create this stuff; I just report it.  I also cover launches and trim post (Tony TrimmerHand).

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Re: NSF Weekly / This Week in Spaceflight (TWIS)
« Reply #127 on: 12/06/2025 01:56 am »
Orbital Debut of ZhuQue-3, NASA’s New Sugary Surprise, & Isaacman Back in the Hot Seat | TWIS - December 5, 2025



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December 5, 2025
🇨🇳 ZhuQue-3 Debut Flight
Landspace’s methalox, stainless-steel ZhuQue-3 reaches orbit on its first attempt and nearly nails a propulsive landing at its downrange pad—missing by just meters. With stainless steel construction, nine Tianque-12A engines, and a reusable design, ZQ-3 marks a major step toward Chinese reusability.

🇺🇸 Jared Isaacman Senate Hearing
Isaacman returns to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee following his re-nomination for NASA Administrator. Senators press him on Artemis delays, competition with China, SLS’s role, and the future of NASA under his leadership.

🏢 Vast’s Haven-1 Update
Vast shows new hardware progress and docking adapter fit checks as Haven-1 heads toward a planned launch NET May 2026. Freeze-dried strawberries, international partnerships, and ISS-style docking highlight a growing commercial LEO ecosystem.

🪨 NASA Finds Sugar on Bennu
The OSIRIS-REx sample reveals ribose and glucose—major building blocks for life—along with a strange gum-like polymer and supernova dust. These discoveries deepen our understanding of the early Solar System and prebiotic chemistry.

📱 Track launches: https://nextspaceflight.com
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Re: NSF Weekly / This Week in Spaceflight (TWIS)
« Reply #128 on: 12/12/2025 11:43 pm »
SpaceX “Going Public” in 2026? | This Week In Spaceflight | December 12, 2025



Quote
December 12, 2025
SpaceX “going public” in 2026? This week we unpack the fresh round of reports and what Elon Musk did (and didn’t) say — plus the theory tying it to AI data centers in space.
Then: China’s reuse race continues with i-Space Hyperbola-3 progress, Long March 12A static fire leaks + a downrange landing pad spotted, and Tianlong-3 showing up vertical again.

In science news, Perseverance captures evidence of electrical sparks and tiny sonic booms inside Martian dust devils — while NASA unexpectedly loses contact with MAVEN after a routine blackout behind Mars. We also look at PUNCH getting “punched” by micrometeoroid debris — and a packed Space Traffic report featuring a record-setting Falcon 9 booster flight count, fast pad turnaround, and launches worldwide.

📱 Track launches: https://nextspaceflight.com
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🎥 Footage from: US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, LandSpace, NASA, SpaceX, CCTV, Google Earth, CNES 2024 Distribution AIRBUS DS via Harry Stranger, Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, US Department of Transporation, VAST, NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Dan Gallagher, NASA/University of California, Berkeley, CALT/CASC, CMS, CCTV/CASC, Isar Aerospace, Univity, CNES/RIBET Adrien, Rocket Lab.
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Re: NSF Weekly / This Week in Spaceflight (TWIS)
« Reply #129 on: 12/19/2025 11:13 pm »

NASA Finally Has a New Administrator — But MAVEN Is in Trouble | This Week In Spaceflight  |  December 19, 2025




Quote

Premieres Dec 19, 2025
NASA finally confirmed a new Administrator after months of uncertainty — but not all NASA news is good this week. The agency still hasn’t regained contact with its MAVEN spacecraft at Mars, and new telemetry suggests the satellite may be spinning and drifting into an unexpected orbit. We break down what’s at stake for MAVEN, the future of Mars atmospheric science, and what it could mean for Perseverance and Curiosity’s relay network.

Meanwhile, billionaire astronaut Jared Isaacman has been officially confirmed as NASA’s 15th Administrator, and he’ll now guide the agency through Artemis II, Artemis III acceleration efforts, and looming budget fights in Congress.

Plus:
- A Chinese satellite nearly collided with a Starlink spacecraft in orbit — only 200 meters apart
- Blue Origin fires the BE-7 engine for the first Blue Moon Mk1 mission and runs mock-up training for Mark 2
- A Chinese startup openly shows off their own “copy of Mechazilla” — and another wants a smaller “Starship-1”
- Firefly completes qualification testing for Blue Ghost Mission 2
- South Korea wants to launch a Mars mission on Starship in 2031
- Roscosmos says it will rebuild a damaged Soyuz launchpad in four months
- Isar Aerospace static-fires its upgraded second stage for Spectrum Flight 2

And in this week’s Space Traffic Report, we track another jam-packed 7 days with 10 global launches, including four Starlink missions, two Electrons, Atlas V’s final commercial flight of the year, a Galileo dual-launch on Ariane 6, and China’s recoverable DEAR-5 capsule.

📱 Track launches: https://nextspaceflight.com
🛰 NSF Live Streams: https://www.youtube.com/@NASASpacefli...
📰 Spaceflight news 24/7: https://nasaspaceflight.com


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« Last Edit: 12/31/2025 03:23 pm by catdlr »
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Re: NSF Weekly / This Week in Spaceflight (TWIS)
« Reply #130 on: 12/31/2025 03:24 pm »
We Are NSF!

It's Tony De La Rosa... I don't create this stuff; I just report it.  I also cover launches and trim post (Tony TrimmerHand).

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Re: NSF Weekly / This Week in Spaceflight (TWIS)
« Reply #131 on: 01/03/2026 12:07 am »

Artemis II Update, New US Space Force Pads, and China’s Methalox Debut | This Week In Spaceflight | Jan 2, 2026





Quote
January 2, 2026

NASA’s Artemis II mission is inching closer to launch as the crew takes part in a full countdown demonstration test, while teams prepare SLS and Orion for rollout and final pad rehearsals. Meanwhile, the US Space Force is exploring new options for big rockets on both coasts — including leasing SLC-46 at Cape Canaveral and developing a new SLC-14 at Vandenberg.

Plus: a major $3.5B contract award for SDA’s Tracking Layer Tranche 3 satellites, Tory Bruno departs ULA and joins Blue Origin to lead its National Security Group, and a packed Space Traffic Report featuring launch highlights and year-end stats — including China’s Chang Zheng 12A debut and another attempt at first-stage reuse.


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Re: NSF Weekly / This Week in Spaceflight (TWIS)
« Reply #132 on: 01/09/2026 11:16 pm »

First-Ever ISS Medical Evacuation: NASA Prepares For Return | This Week In Spaceflight | January 09, 2026




 
Premieres Jan 9, 2026
This week in spaceflight brought major developments: For the first time in the ISS's 25-year history, NASA is returning the four Crew-11 astronauts (including Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke, Kimiya Yui, and Oleg Platonov) early due to a serious but stable medical issue with one crew member, marking a rare and cautious medical evacuation ahead of their originally planned late-February departure. Congress delivered welcome news by largely rejecting proposed deep cuts in the FY2026 NASA budget, with appropriators advancing a plan for approximately $24.4 billion — close to 2025 levels — preserving key science, exploration, and STEM programs while pausing the troubled Mars Sample Return mission.

In astronomy, billionaire philanthropists Eric and Wendy Schmidt unveiled the ambitious Lazuli Space Observatory, a privately funded 3-meter space telescope larger than Hubble, set to launch as early as 2028 with exoplanet-hunting capabilities via advanced coronagraph and spectrograph instruments. Other highlights include Impulse Space troubleshooting propellant issues on its upgraded Mira space tug after the Transporter-15 launch, NASA's power system activation milestone on the Lunar Gateway, historic test facility demolitions at Marshall Space Flight Center, ISRO's progress on Gaganyaan uncrewed tests, and more across launches, observatories, and global space efforts.

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🖋️ Written by Martijn Luinstra & Martin Smith.
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Re: NSF Weekly / This Week in Spaceflight (TWIS)
« Reply #133 on: 01/16/2026 11:55 pm »

“Ryanair says Starlink costs 2% fuel—Musk says nope | This Week In Spaceflight | January 16, 2026




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Jan 16, 2026
Starlink is spreading fast across global airlines — Lufthansa is rolling it out across its fleet, while Ryanair says the terminal’s weight and drag aren’t worth the fuel penalty. Meanwhile, NASA’s Artemis II SLS rocket is set to roll out to the pad tomorrow (Jan 17) ahead of a wet dress rehearsal and the opening of the next launch window. Plus: Blue Origin cranks up the noise for a major Blue Moon Mk1 acoustic test, Firefly unveils a Block II upgrade for Alpha, and Relativity shares new Terran R progress.

We’ve also got the latest on Crew-11’s expedited return from the ISS, a round-up of the week’s launches (including Starlink missions and NASA’s Pandora), and what’s coming up next week.

Track launches: https://nextspaceflight.com
🛰 NSF Live Streams: https://www.youtube.com/@NASASpacefli...
📰 Spaceflight news 24/7: https://nasaspaceflight.com
ISS Imagery Partner: https://youtube.com/@Sen/live

🤵 Hosted by Elysia Segal.
🖋️ Written by Martijn Luinstra & Martin Smith.
🎥 Footage from: Max Evans, Erik Fraser, D Wise, Firefly Aerospace, Starlink, Blue Origin, NASA, JSX, United Airlines, ThinkKom, Emirates, Amazon, jetBlue, True Anomaly, Relativity Space, Hyundai Rotem, Starlab/Mitsubishi Corporation, Voyager Technologies, Starlab Space, ispace, SpaceX, ISRO, Orbital Paradigm, CCTV/CASC, Galactic Energy, Rocket Lab, Isar Aerospace, CNSA/CCTV.
✂️ Edited by Ryan Caton.
💼 Produced by Kevin Michael Reed (@kmreed).
It's Tony De La Rosa... I don't create this stuff; I just report it.  I also cover launches and trim post (Tony TrimmerHand).

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