Author: starpathwp-production
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SpaceX launches twin radar satellites for German military from California
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the SARah 2 & 3 satellites for the German military Sunday. The twin craft, equipped with passive synthetic aperture radar reflectors, lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 5:11 a.m. PST / 8:11 a.m. EST / 1311 UTC.
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SpaceX launches Falcon 9 first-stage booster on record-breaking 19th flight
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches for a record-breaking 19th time, sending 23 Starlink satellites up to low Earth orbit. Image: Pete Carstens Update 1:06 a.m. EST: Liftoff of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket confirmed. The booster, B1058, landed on the droneship several minutes after launch. SpaceX sent off a Falcon 9 first-stage booster for a…
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Rocket Lab Wins $515M Contract to Build 18 Satellites for Space Development Agency
The Space Development Agency confirmed it is the customer for Rocket Lab‘s $515 million, 18-satellite contract announced in December. Rocket Lab will build 18 satellites for the SDA’s Tranche 2 Transport Layer (T2TL) – Beta variant, marking Rocket Lab’s first award as a defense prime. Rocket Lab disclosed the award in a Dec. 21 filing…
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CAS and ESA Collaborative Mission Einstein Probe Set for Launch
The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) spacecraft Einstein Probe is ready to launch in January 2024. Equipped with a new generation of X-ray instruments with high sensitivity and a very wide view, this mission will survey the sky and hunt for powerful blasts of X-ray light coming from mysterious celestial objects such as neutron stars…
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Vice President announces first international astronaut to land on the Moon through Artemis
More than just the US will be Moonwalkers Vice President Harris spoke at the Wednesday’s National Space Council meeting with an announcement many of us saw coming for a while now. “I am proud, then, to announce that alongside American astronauts, we intend to land an international astronaut on the surface of the Moon by…
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Orbite is raising funds as it gets set to expand training programs for spacefliers
Artwork shows an interior view of Orbite’s Astronaut Training and Spaceflight Gateway Campus, with mockups of a SpaceX Dragon capsule and a Blue Origin New Shepard capsule on display. (Orbite Illustration) Orbite Space, a venture that aims to offer down-to-Earth spaceflight training programs on a “try before you fly” basis, is raising more capital amid…
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ISS Roundup: 25 year anniversary, spacewalks, cargo arrivals and departures
The final quarter of 2023 saw the International Space Station (ISS) celebrate 25 years in orbit, though there was no letup in the ongoing work as the Expedition 70 crew settled into the tasks and experiments that are carried out onboard the orbital laboratory. Cargo spacecraft arrived at the Station carrying supplies and fresh experiments…
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US commits to landing an international astronaut on the Moon
One of the core tenets of NASA’s Artemis program to return astronauts to the Moon is its inclusion of international partners. This intertwines the program, like the International Space Station, with considerations of geopolitics and international relations, alongside key themes like US national prestige, exploration, and scientific discovery. Earlier this year, NASA named a Canadian…
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NASA Successfully Tests 3D-Printed Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine
NASA has achieved a new benchmark in developing an innovative propulsion system called the Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE). Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, successfully tested a novel, 3D-printed RDRE for 251 seconds (or longer than four minutes), producing more than 5,800 pounds of thrust. That kind of sustained burn…
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Key Milestones Accomplished by the ISS National Laboratory in 2023
As 2023 comes to a close, the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory wraps up a banner year supporting research and technology development (R&D) in low Earth orbit (LEO). The ISS National Lab and NASA work in unison to utilize the orbiting outpost to its fullest capacity, and the achievements from this year demonstrate the…