Author: starpathwp-production
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Launch preview: SpaceX to launch Starship Flight 8 following Monday scrub
SpaceX’s Starship rocket stands at the launch tower ahead of the eighth suborbital flight test. Image: SpaceX Update March 6, 3:50 p.m. EST (2050 UTC): SpaceX is proceeding towards a launch attempt on March 6. SpaceX is preparing to launch its Starship rocket from its Starbase facilities in southern Texas following a scrubbed launch attempt…
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Sierra Space to Conduct Cancer Research on Spaceplane Mission to International Space Station
Sierra Space, a leading commercial space company and defense tech prime that is Building a Platform in Space to Benefit Life on Earth, announced new initiatives to advance research and development of biopharmaceutical solutions in low-Earth orbit during the Dream Chaser spaceplane’s inaugural mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The plans include conducting experiments…
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Arianespace successfully launches Ariane 6’s first commercial launch following Monday scrub
An Ariane 6 rocket lifts off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on Thursday, March 6, 2025. It marked the first commercial and second overall flight for this rocket program. Image: ESA-CNES-ARIANESPACE-ArianeGroup / Optique vidéo du CSG – P PIRON Update March 6, 3:20 p.m. EST (2020 UTC): Arianespace confirms mission success and CNES confirmed…
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Auburn Secures DOD Contract for Critical Space Defense Project
Backed by a recent $11.4 million Department of Defense (DOD) contract through the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), Auburn University’s Applied Research Institute (AUARI) in Huntsville, Alabama’s Cummings Research Park is establishing a cutting-edge radiation hardening facility, the only university-led facility of its kind in the nation, to help ensure the reliability of military technology in…
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Firefly’s picture-perfect Moon landing shows the way for lunar exploration
Firefly Aerospace became the first commercial company to make a picture-perfect landing on the Moon early Sunday, touching down on an ancient basaltic plain, named Mare Crisium, to fulfill a $101 million contract with NASA. The lunar lander, called Blue Ghost, settled onto the Moon’s surface at 2:34 am CST (3:34 am EST; 08:34 UTC). A…
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Pentagon Says SDA Meeting Minimum Viable Product, But GAO Notes Problems
The Department of Defense (DoD) says that the U.S. Space Force’s Space Development Agency (SDA) has met the “minimum viable product” (MVP) standard for the agency’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture Tranche 0 Transport Layer communications satellites and Tracking Layer missile warning satellites, but a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report said that four evaluated contractors for…
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Spire Demonstrates Laser Communications in its Constellation
Spire has demonstrated optical communications between two satellites in orbit in its constellation for the first time, Spire reported on March 3. The demonstration took place between two satellites equipped with optical inter-satellite link (OISL) payloads that launched in June of 2023. The OISLs are designed to transmit data up to 5,000 km apart. The…
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SWISSto12 to Develop SES’s O3b mPOWER Ground Terminals for Remote Region Connectivity
SWISSto12, one of the world’s fastest-growing Radio Frequency (RF) product and GEO small satellite manufacturers has been selected by SES to develop innovative large aperture electronically steered antenna for its customer user terminals for its second generation medium earth orbit (MEO) constellation, O3b mPOWER. O3b mPOWER, operational since 2024, is designed to bring high-performance connectivity…
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Varda Space Successfully Lands W-2 Capsule in Australia
Varda Space Industries, a microgravity-enabled life sciences company, announced the successful landing of its second reentry capsule, W-2, and the completion of the company’s second mission. At 6:32 AM Pacific Time, W-2 touched down at the Koonibba Test Range after six weeks in orbit. The W-2 capsule carried a spectrometer built by the Air Force…
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Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Lander Achieves Historic First Commercial Moon Landing
Firefly Aerospace, the leader in end-to-end responsive space services, announced its Blue Ghost lunar lander softly touched down on the Moon’s surface in an upright, stable configuration on the company’s first attempt. As part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1, named Ghost Riders in the Sky, sets the…