1

Firefly, Relativity, Astra / Re: Astra Space

« Last post by StraumliBlight on Today at 10:52 am »

Astra Ships 110 Satellite Engines, Focuses on 2026 Test Flight of New Rocket [Jan 20]

Astra today announced it has shipped 110 satellite engine systems since January 1, 2025, surpassing a key operating milestone set when the company went private in 2024. The achievement reflects a step-change in production scale and execution discipline, accomplished while Astra continued to develop its new rocket and mobile launch system to support a 2026 test flight.

2025 highlights:
 • 110 satellite engine systems shipped since January 1, 2025
 • $45M 2025 GAAP revenue forecast (700% growth over 2024)
 • Breakeven EBITDA in 2025 ($62M improvement over 2024)
 • 100% mission reliability to date with all deployed systems performing nominally
 • $13M in contracts closed in Q4 2025 representing 36 additional systems scheduled for delivery in 2026

[...]

Astra Satellite Engines: Scaled, Flight-proven, and Expanding
Astra satellite engines provide precision propulsion and attitude control for satellites across multiple orbits. With the 100-unit milestone achieved, Astra is now focused on further improving throughput, reducing costs, and maximizing on-orbit performance.

Astra Focused on 2026 Test Flight of New Rocket
In parallel with satellite engine scale-up, Astra advanced development of its new rocket system and its mobile, containerized spaceport designed for deployment flexibility and mission-driven responsiveness.

In 2025, Astra progressed major subsystems across propulsion, avionics, structures, software, and ground systems, including:
 • Completion of two dozen+ first-stage engine test campaigns, including 30+ second tests, feeding updated performance models and mass/efficiency improvements
 • Avionics build-and-test progress across the controller, stage computer, and power management systems
 • Vehicle design maturity progressing to approximately ~75% first-stage design completion and 90%+ upper-stage design completion
 • Software-in-the-loop execution through key flight events and autonomous flight safety computer qualification testing completed
 • Initial mobile spaceport design completed, supported by structural analysis to fit within a shipping container and withstand launch loads

2

Spaceflight Entertainment and Hobbies / Re: Space Stamps

« Last post by salyut on Today at 10:25 am »

September 29, 1969, Mexico.

3

General Discussion / Re: Upcoming planetary exploration missions

« Last post by Cose2 on Today at 10:16 am »

This is a very useful table, thank you for systematising all the missions. It is particularly interesting to observe BepiColombo after such a long journey to Mercury. Entering orbit in November will be an important milestone for studying this planet. Tianwen-2 to the asteroid Kamoaaleva is also intriguing, as the Chinese programme has shown consistent results in recent years. It is a pity that the Indian mission to Venus has been delayed until 2028, but it is better to launch later with quality preparation. JAXA's MMX promises interesting data about Phobos and Deimos, which are still mysterious objects. It will be exciting to follow all these events throughout the year and see the real scientific results from each mission.

4

Other Launchers (Korean, Brazilian etc.) / Re: Isar Spectrum flight 2 - Andøya - 21 January 2026 (20:00 UTC)

« Last post by Remes on Today at 10:16 am »

(Fast and dirty edit with some strange jitter artifacts. But should still be fine as a small entertainment till the evening.)

5

Other Launchers (Korean, Brazilian etc.) / Re: Isar Spectrum flight 2 - Andøya - 21 January 2026 (20:00 UTC)

« Last post by Yggdrasill on Today at 10:12 am »

Received a text alert regarding the road:

ANDØYA SPACE:
FV7698 Børvågen:

CLARIFICATION;
The police have issued a curfew in Børvågen which is in effect during the time 11:00 until midnight.
Passing through is allowed until road closure. See the Police website for more information.

Because of planned activity at Andøya Space from January 21st until January 23rd the county road 7698 at Børvågen may be closed for up to 8 hours in the time between 16:30-00:30. Detour via FV82.

6

Space Science Coverage / Re: NASA - Hubble Space Telescope updates

« Last post by jacqmans on Today at 10:11 am »

Hubble uncovers the secret of stars that defy ageing
21/01/2026

Some stars appear to defy time itself. Nestled within ancient star clusters, they shine bluer and brighter than their neighbours, looking far younger than their true age. Known as blue straggler stars, these stellar oddities have puzzled astronomers for more than 70 years. Now, new results using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope are finally revealing how these 'forever young' stars come to be and why they thrive in quieter cosmic neighbourhoods.

Blue straggler stars stand out in old star clusters because they appear hotter, more massive and younger than stars that should all have formed billions of years ago. Their very existence contradicts standard theories of stellar ageing, prompting decades of debate over whether they are created through violent stellar collisions or through more subtle interactions between pairs of stars. A new study provides some of the clearest evidence yet that blue stragglers owe their youthful appearance not to collisions, but to life in close stellar partnerships, and to the environments that allow those partnerships to survive.

An international research team analysed ultraviolet Hubble observations of 48 globular clusters in the Milky Way, assembling the largest and most complete catalogue of blue straggler stars ever produced. The sample includes more than 3000 of these enigmatic objects. Their host clusters span the entire range of possible environmental conditions, from very loose to very dense systems (as illustrated in the image above). This vast dataset allowed astronomers to investigate the long-suspected links between blue straggler stars and their surroundings.

Rather than finding more blue stragglers in the most crowded, collision-prone clusters, the team was surprised to discover the opposite: dense environments host fewer blue stragglers. Instead, these stars are most common in low-density clusters, where stars have more space and where fragile binary systems are more likely to survive.

“This work shows that the environment plays a relevant role in the life of stars,” says Francesco R. Ferraro, lead author of the study and professor at the University of Bologna in Italy. “Blue straggler stars are intimately connected to the evolution of binary systems, but their survival depends on the conditions in which they live. Low-density environments provide the best habitat for binaries and their by-products, allowing some stars to appear younger than expected.”

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Hubble_uncovers_the_secret_of_stars_that_defy_ageing#msdynmkt_trackingcontext=08332e5d-163f-4a8c-804a-1c4fe32d0100

7

ISS Section / Re: Schedule of ISS flight events (part 2) [Updates Only]

« Last post by Salo on Today at 10:10 am »

https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/2011716612429398431

Jonathan McDowell @planet4589
Dragon Crew-11 deorbit burn was at 0751 UTC for 13.5 min with delta-V of 87.5m/s; trunk was jetttisoned on a suborbital trajectory at 0805 UTC,will reenter around 0832 UTC near 127W 40N. Dragon is expected to splash down at 0841 UTC near 117.7W 32.6N, off the coast of San Diego

https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/2011721274926735405

Jonathan McDowell @planet4589
Splashdown of Crew-11 at 0841:36 UTC Jan 15 near 117.74W 32.59N off the coast of San Diego

8

ISS Section / Re: Cameras with views into the stars away from Earth on the ISS?

« Last post by eeergo on Today at 10:06 am »

As far I'm aware, no satellite exists which could provide a good quality image of the total solar eclipse in LEO. Many satellites have engineering cameras which could take an image if they are lucky to pass through the shadow, but first they need to be lucky as those satellites can't change the orbit just for an eclipse and second the camera quality isn't as good as a commercial high end camera like those on the ISS.

Only from LEO and Earth surface you can get the perfect eclipse experience as otherwise the Moon hides too much of the Sun.

Balloons are a good intermediate approach between space and ground, but add other problems like stabilization. Space has the advantage of providing the full UV spectrum of the chromosphere near the photosphere, only possible during the eclipse. It should also make the streamers better visible, created by Thomson Scattering.

Also the view should be spectacular as a good camera should be able to show all the planets in the area with the sharp sun ring in the center. People could even try to validate Einstein's light bending theory as the complications of the atmosphere disturbance is eliminated.

As the ISS altitude needs to be boosted every two months, that boost can easily be timed to make it passing through the shadow at the correct time. At least under the assumption of a relatively constant drag for a few weeks. That may fail due to surprises from the solar wind, but at least worth a try before the station is shut down in a few years.

The totality only lasts 30 seconds in average for the station for most occurrences, not the one hour the Concorde flight in 1973 managed to achieved.

Balloons are perfectly capable of stabilizing to microradian accuracy, as they routinely perform astronomical observations. Much better than any handheld camera operated by an astronaut on the ISS. Atmospheric distortions are likewise practically identical (for eclipse observation purposes with a regular camera) from a stratospheric balloon and ISS. So are relative Moon-Sun sizes, and any possible practical application of such an observation, from general relativity checks to outreach images.

There may be very niche spectroscopy objectives that are impeded by the tenuous wisps of atmosphere at stratospheric altitude and are only attainable during a total solar eclipse (I'm not aware of them, are you?)... but then you'd need spectroscopic measurements, not handheld or video cameras!

The Moon's orbit varies about 50000 km between apogee and perigee. GEO is <36000 km from the surface. Therefore, the effect of having a GEO satellite take an eclipse image, even if in the extremal case of it being exactly between the Moon and Earth, is smaller than the natural variability of the Moon's distance to a surface (or LEO) observer. Of course, a GEO satellite can also observe from the same plane and relative distance as an Earth surface observer (it's actually more likely than not, since it can also observe from a fair angular distance behind the terminator without being obscured by the Earth). So no, it's not only LEO and the surface that you can get "the perfect eclipse experience", whatever that may mean - and other orbits may actually be superior.

Claiming that "no satellite exists which could provide a good quality image of the total solar eclipse in LEO" apart from ISS cameras is disingenuous, patently false and, frankly, quite silly.

Dedicated extended coronographs like PROBA-3's indeed provide a larger blockage than just the photosphere and nothing else, but they could be easily reconfigured to cover less once the eclipse capability has been demonstrated (50 eclipses have been achieved already: https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Technology/Proba-3_fills_the_solar_observation_gap). While this does not allow for the general relativity checks a natural eclipse provides, all coronal studies are still enabled.

But you haven't answered: what's the unique objective an observation from LEO, or from the ISS specifically, enables beyond the outreach purposes you mentioned (which don't exist, or are negligible, with respect to regular ground or balloon observations)?

9

ISS Section / Re: Schedule of ISS flight events (part 2) [Updates Only]

« Last post by Salo on Today at 10:02 am »

https://twitter.com/cbs_spacenews/status/2011719748166566332

William Harwood @cbs_spacenews
Crew 11: Stabilizing drogue parachutes have deployed as planned to begin slowing the spacecraft's descent

https://twitter.com/cbs_spacenews/status/2011719976584126672

William Harwood @cbs_spacenews
Crew 11: Main chute deploy confirmed

https://twitter.com/cbs_spacenews/status/2011720745391620160

William Harwood @cbs_spacenews
Crew 11: Splashdown! At 3:41am EST (0841 UTC)

10

Missions To Mars (HSF) / Re: Starship variant for crewed Mars ascent

« Last post by Slarty1080 on Today at 10:00 am »

NTRS: A Crew and Logistics Lander for the Common Habitat Architecture [Mar 9, 2024]

That is similar to what I was trying to describe for the MAV. Although strangely the flaps and the heat shield are shown for this Moon version (where they are not needed) but they would be needed in the Mars version. The whole area around the flaps is likely reinforced as the flaps will exert considerable aerodynamic forces through to the hull here. So just remove the top and have some blow out panels lower down.

Obviously the details would be very different for Mars as a more powerful rocket would be need to lift from Mars than from the Moon, although a reduced crew of 6 or even 4 would help. It is not entirely clear to me at first look how the crew get back into the Lunar ascent vehicle and how it all works. Figure 15 in particular which shows 4 levels of structure which don't look stable if stacked alone or a good use of space if left atop the Starship?

If you look through the paper, they're assuming that the forward flaps are aft of the nose fairing.  They were moved forward and dorsally on v2; I don't know if that's changed in v3, to say nothing of v4.  I suspect there's not enough nose room to support the MAV doors they have in the paper.

It's possible to fold back / jettison the forward flaps, but it's certainly more complex.  The paper doesn't seem to consider the complexities of the splitting mechanism, which would likely require dealing with the load paths of the front flaps, and numerous straight lines through the TPS / crunch wrap / thermal blanket surrounding the nose.

However, by moving the MAV all the way into the nose, that likely serves as enough ballast to offset the lack of nose header tanks.  The Mars Starship would then need rear headers for both LCH4 and LOX, which currently don't exist.  They might be a problem in terms of shifting weight too far back, even with the MAV in the tip of the nose.

RISD and NASA make strange bedfellows.  I searched in vain for the section on hab color schemes.

Yes you are right about the repositioning of the flaps, I had forgotten about that!

I don't think that that moving the header tanks should be a show stopper Centre of gravity issue, but it's an interesting question. The combined mass of the header tanks must be in the region of 30-33 tons whereas the MAV was 40 tons. So that moves the CoG forward even if the header tanks were put at the bottom of the ship, but they won't be, they will be at the top of the tank section so roughly amidships. With only ~14tons of Raptors in the back third if anything it's going to be top heavy. It's going to require different plumbing and balancing at the very least.

The real issues are around the flaps and clearing the front end for the MAV especially with the new flap positions. I don't think the flaps can be easily jettisoned. There are a whole load of heavy duty hinge mechanisms and motors as well as major structural support in that area. Maybe reconfigure the whole of the top so there is a circular ring below the flaps that can be separated and blast it off with Dragon sized rocket motors? But I'm not sure that would work.

Another thought - leave the flaps and heatshield in place and use a "chomper" style fairing. That should be fairly easy to fit and remove when required. Then cant the MAV over at a modest angle and launch. The MAV could also be carried off centre and closer to the fairing side to help (yes I know it's all a bit clunky, but it's a difficult one).