Tag: Space
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Why is Elon Musk talking to Vladimir Putin, and what does it mean for SpaceX?
In a blockbuster story published Friday morning, The Wall Street Journal reports that Elon Musk has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin for about two years, with the discussions covering a range of issues from geopolitics to business to personal matters. There are no on-the-record sources confirming the regular conversations between Musk…
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If you thought Astra was going to go away quietly, you were wrong
On Wednesday morning, a surprising email popped into my inbox with the following subject line: “Astra announces Department of Defense contract valued up to $44 Million.” I had to read it a second time to make sure I got it right. Astra, the launch company? Astra, whose valuation went from $2.6 billion to $25 million…
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It’s increasingly unlikely that humans will fly around the Moon next year
Don’t book your tickets for the launch of NASA’s Artemis II mission next year just yet. We have had reason to doubt the official September 2025 launch date for the mission, the first crewed flight into deep space in more than five decades, for a while now. This is principally because NASA is continuing to…
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Rocket Report: Bloomberg calls for SLS cancellation; SpaceX hits century mark
Welcome to Edition 7.16 of the Rocket Report! Even several days later, it remains difficult to process the significance of what SpaceX achieved in South Texas last Sunday. The moment of seeing a rocket fall out of the sky and be captured by two arms felt historic to me, as historic as the company’s first…
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We’re finally going to the Solar System’s most intriguing but unexplored frontier
I really hate to be the bearer of such bad news, but you and I will not live forever, dear reader. We may hope to draw breath for a few decades yet, perhaps. But that’s not long enough to descry any worlds circling other stars in a meaningful way. Those mysterious orbs are too distant,…
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Rocket Report: Falcon 9 second stage stumbles; Japanese rocket nears the end
Welcome to Edition 7.14 of the Rocket Report! For readers who don’t know, my second book was published last week. It’s titled Reentry, and tells the story behind the story of SpaceX’s development of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft. The early reviews are great, and it made USA Today’s bestseller list this week.…
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NASA is working on a plan to replace its space station, but time is running out
The next year is crucial for the future of NASA and its plans to extend human activity in low-Earth orbit. For the first time in decades, the US space agency faces the not-too-distant prospect of failing to have at least one crew member spinning around the planet. Over the next several months, NASA will finalize…
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The politically incorrect guide to saving NASA’s floundering Artemis Program
Regardless of the outcome of this year’s election, the United States will have a new president in a few months. Although there are myriad issues of greater importance than spaceflight to most Americans, a new leader of the country will inevitably take a fresh look at the nation’s space policy. Among the highest priorities for…
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NASA confirms space station cracking a “highest” risk and consequence problem
US space officials do not like to talk about the perils of flying astronauts on the aging International Space Station, elements of which are now more than a quarter of a century old. However, a new report confirms that NASA managers responsible for operating the space station are seriously concerned about a small Russian part…
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In the room where it happened: When NASA nearly gave Boeing all the crew funding
This is an excerpt from Chapter 11 of the book REENTRY: SpaceX, Elon Musk and the Reusable Rockets that Launched a Second Space Age by our own Eric Berger. The book will be published on September 24, 2024. This excerpt describes a fateful meeting 10 years ago at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC, where the…