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FAA Waives Hera Launch – Falcon 9 Remains Grounded

Falcon 9 currently finds itself in the midst of its third grounding in 2024. Following a successful launch of the Crew-9 mission and crew aboard Crew Dragon Freedom on September 28th, the Falcon 9 second stage experienced an anomaly during its deorbit burn, causing it to fall outside of the designated safe zone.

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Crew-9 Launches Two Astronauts to ISS

SpaceX’s ninth crew rotation to the International Space Station is underway, carrying two crew members uphill to the orbiting laboratory. Crew-9 evaded stormy weather to lift off on September 28th, 2024 at 1:17 PM EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

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Crew-9 Set to Launch with Two Astronauts

In periods of uncertainty, one thing is clear in spaceflight – the show must go on. With this mantra in mind, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are preparing to launch on the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station.

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ISS Crews Face Upcoming Shakeups amid Curtailed Seat Exchanges

In an age marked by aggression and deterioration of relationships, it appears that the end of a long standing practice, seat exchange on partner vehicles, is coming to an end – thrusting the station into a period of uncertainty as it faces the twilight years of its operation.

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ArtemisHuman SpaceflightInternationalNASANews and Updates

NASA Identifies Lunar Cargo and Mobility Gaps

The development of NASA’s Moon to Mars Architecture is a continuous process, one which is always seeking to strengthen our approach to sending humans to Mars and beyond. In June, NASA released a pair of white papers that give a glimpse into this year’s analysis: Lunar Surface Cargo and Lunar Mobility Drivers and Needs.

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ArtemisHuman SpaceflightInternationalNASAScience Missions

Moon to Mars Part II: Evolving to Mars

Artemis’ stated goal to “prepare for human missions to Mars” is an ambitious undertaking, with visible consequences on its organization. With Artemis entering flight across its various programs, and hardware which will eventually support its primary missions in flow, we have entered a unique era for spaceflight.

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InternationalNews and UpdatesPolicy

Australia Joins US-Led Landsat Next Program

As the United States prepares to shift from the legacy Landsat program to the next generation Landsat Next constellation, new players in space have been integrated with the program to support broad reaching global observation. Australia has formally joined the United States-led Landsat Next satellite program as a core partner, building on nearly half a century of collaboration in satellite land imaging across the globe. 

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CFT Continues Safely: Starliner and the Commercial Crew Return Process

Boeing’s Crew Flight Test mission is continuing its stay aboard the International Space Station. On July 25, NASA and Boeing held a press conference to provide an update on the mission including ongoing tests, the current status of the spacecraft, and upcoming events.

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A Graceful Exit, Part 2: What Comes After ISS?

The end of the International Space Station will mark a tectonic shift in human spaceflight. The ISS program united the efforts of fifteen nations, including a landmark union between the United States and Russia, and citizens from eight other countries have since visited the orbiting laboratory. Now, approaching retirement, we begin to ask the question of what comes next?

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Meet The Pressurized Rover

In April of this year, the United States and Japan signed a formal agreement to collaborate on the first of a new kind of spacecraft for the Artemis Program: a pressurized rover. Acting like a camper van for astronauts to live in as they roam across the surface of the Moon, the pressurized rover is a dramatic new capability for the Artemis Program.

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Starliner Launches first Crew to ISS

On June 5, 2024 at 10:52 AM, America’s newest crew capable spacecraft lifted off from SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. 61 years, 21 days, 1 hour, 48 minutes and 1 second since Atlas LV-3B 130-D launched Gordon Cooper into orbit aboard Faith 7, the mighty Atlas V continues the dream.

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Boeing and NASA Prepare for Crewed Flight Test

On May 6th, 2024, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is set to fly for the third time, this time carrying its most important cargo to date: a human crew. Flown by veteran NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams, this mission intends to fully certify the vehicle for human flight.

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Op-Ed: Human Health Research, the Key to the Commercial Space Revolution

If one word can summarize the past five years of human spaceflight, it’s “commercialization.” The early 2020s have been defined by a dramatic shift in the way we think about space exploration, particularly as NASA moves beyond LEO to procure new capabilities for its groundbreaking Artemis program.

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A Shake Up For Mars Sample Return

On April 15th 2024, NASA hosted a media teleconference giving updates on the current status of the agency’s Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission. MSR is a vital step in providing high fidelity environmental data which could dramatically inform the technology and methodology for a planned human mission to the Red Planet.

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News and Updates

Preparing for Totality

If you want to experience the true beauty and awe of the upcoming total solar eclipse, you have to be within the path of totality. There is no compromise. Totality is a unique experience, it is a truly cosmic event where the concept of daytime slips away from you, plunging the world into a momentary 360 degree twilight. It’s a night and day contrast, a captivating reminder of the majesty of the Solar System. 

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NASA’s Newest Ocean Mission Takes Flight

After nearly nine years of planning, preparation, and even once being slated for cancellation entirely, NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Earth-observation mission lifted off from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on February 8, at 1:33:36 AM.

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News and Updates

Blue Fire in Rocket City

Blue Origin made some noise in Huntsville, as the former Saturn V test stand, Test Stand 4670, saw its first firing from its new operators. The short test, which took place on August 3rd, lasted between 30 and 40 seconds according to locals who heard the test firing. It has yet to be confirmed if the test was a BE4 or BE3-U. This marked the first test firing on 4670 since 1998.

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Crew-2 is set for an early morning liftoff tomorrow – here’s what to expect

Crew-2 is set to liftoff April 23 at 5:49 a.m. ET – here’s everything you need to know, including full detailed timelines of the mission.

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ArtemisNASANews and Updates

NASA continues making rapid progress towards ever-closer Artemis I launch

JAN. 16, 2020–NASA is currently targeting this fall for the launch of Artemis I, the uncrewed first test flight of the agency’s Space Launch System rocket and the Orion Spacecraft together. With less than a year of time remaining until the launch, NASA has already begun launch preparation operations.

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NASA’s SLS Program prepares for re-start of SLS operations amid COVID-19

MAY 6, 2020- After temporarily pausing on-site work for the agency’s Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket, NASA is now preparing to reopen the Marshall Spaceflight Center (MSFC), Stennis Space Center, and Michoud Assembly Facility alongside other agency centers and locations which are critical to the Artemis Program.

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News and Updates

Op-Ed: The Cases For and Against Crewed Starship

When SpaceX first unveiled the plan for the Interplanetary Transport System in 2016, the world stood mystified. What seemed like science fiction was now a real concept proposed by a company that had quickly established themselves as a leader in the NewSpace market. ITS would be the dream everyone wanted – a fast, efficient way to transport 450 tons to Mars, and almost a hundred crew, much more than we could ever dream of sending to even Earth orbit.

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Solar Orbiter launches with impeccable accuracy

FEB. 14, 2020–Five days ago, the cooperative NASA-ESA Solar Orbiter mission took off on an Atlas V 411 from Space Launch Complex-41, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, towards the poles of the sun. Yesterday, United Launch Alliance’s CEO Tory Bruno hinted that it may be the most accurate insertion ever done by ULA.

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SpaceX and NASA ready for crucial In Flight Abort test

JAN. 13, 2020–After a successful static fire of Falcon 9 first stage B1046 on Saturday, Jan. 11, SpaceX has declared that they are ready for the Crew Dragon in-flight abort test, now scheduled for January 18.

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