Tag: Artemis
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Ship 36 experiences anomaly during engine testing, next steps unclear
On the evening of June 18, SpaceX was performing a routine six-engine static fire test of Ship 36 at its Massey’s Test Site near Starbase, Texas. Just after 11 PM CDT, while propellant was being loaded onto the vehicle, a sudden energetic anomaly resulted in the loss of Ship 36 and significant damage to the…
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NASA Proposes Deep Budget Cuts for 2026, Prioritizing Exploration Over Science Missions
NASA has unveiled detailed plans for its fiscal year 2026 budget, proposing significant cuts to science missions and workforce alongside new investments in human space exploration, according to documents released on May 30. The agency’s proposed budget request totals $18.8 billion, representing a nearly 25% decrease from the $24.9 billion NASA received in fiscal year…
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Blue Origin boss: Government should forget launch and focus on “exotic” missions
Eighteen months after leaving his job as a vice president at Amazon to take over as Blue Origin’s chief executive, Dave Limp has some thoughts on how commercial companies and government agencies like NASA should explore the Solar System together. Limp had no background in the space industry before taking the helm of Jeff Bezos’…
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Ship 35 makes it past SECO, but Tumbles in Coast Phase
Starship Flight 9 had a lot riding on it heading into this flight, after back to back failures of Ship 33 and Ship 34 in the past two flights. After investigations SpaceX seemingly succeeded in solving these issues with Ship 35 making it past Second Stage Engine Cutoff (SECO), however another issue came up during…
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Blue Origin Unveils New Transporter Design for Artemis Lunar Missions
Blue Origin has released new details about its plans for a propellant transporter that will support its lunar landing missions under NASA’s Artemis program, as the company moves closer to launching its first robotic lander to the Moon. At the Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium meeting on May 19, John Couluris, senior vice president of lunar…
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Artemis II stacking and preparations underway even as SLS faces budget cuts
The SLS program continues with preparations for the first human spaceflight to the Moon’s vicinity since 1972. Currently scheduled for April 2026, the mission’s date could be moved up to as early as February if no major issues arise. Meanwhile, the program’s future faces uncertainties as the proposed NASA budget for Fiscal Year 2026 aims…
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If Congress actually cancels the SLS rocket, what happens next?
The White House Office of Management and Budget dropped its “skinny” budget proposal for the federal government earlier this month, and the headline news for the US space program was the cancellation of three major programs: the Space Launch System rocket, Orion spacecraft, and Lunar Gateway. Opinions across the space community vary widely about the…
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Proposed 24 percent cut to NASA budget eliminates key Artemis architecture, climate research
The Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters in Washington D.C. Image: NASA Update May 3, 5:22 p.m. EDT: Corrected the location of Northrop Grumman’s facility housing the HALO module for the Gateway. The White House released its proposed federal spending budget for Fiscal Year 2026 on Friday and with it a series of deep cuts to…
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NASA just swapped a 10-year-old Artemis II engine with one nearly twice its age
A couple of weeks ago, ground teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida removed one of the four main engines from the Space Launch System rocket slated to send four astronauts on a voyage around the Moon next year. NASA officials ordered the removal of one of the massive rocket’s RS-25 main engines after…
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As preps continue, it’s looking more likely that NASA will fly the Artemis II mission
Late Saturday night, technicians at Kennedy Space Center in Florida moved the core stage for NASA’s second Space Launch System rocket into position between the vehicle’s two solid-fueled boosters. Working inside the iconic 52-story-tall Vehicle Assembly Building, ground teams used heavy-duty cranes to first lift the butterscotch orange core stage from its cradle in the…