Category Archives: SpaceX

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 22-25 July 2022

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International Teams Prepare for Summer Around the Moon, Autumn on Lunar Surface

KARI KPLO / Danuri launching on SpaceX F9 to Moon orbit 2 Aug from KSC, arrival at 100-km lunar orbit expected 1 Jan 2023; NASA mega rocket SLS / Orion crew capsule Artemis 1 mission targeting 29 Aug, 2 Sep or 5 Sep for launch to 100-km Moon flyby / 61,155-km Distant Retrograde Orbit; ispace Hakuto-R Mission 1 aiming for November launch, Astrobotic striving to launch Peregrine lander within Q4, Intuitive Machines Nova-C may launch Dec 2022 or Jan 2023; Roscosmos Luna-25 and ISRO Chandrayaan-3 likely delayed to 2023

Credits: KARI, NASA, ispace

Friday / 22 July 2022

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ispace Conducting Final Testing on HAKUTO-R Flight Model for November Launch Window

Operating in Japan, USA and Luxembourg, ispace may reach Moon surface within 2022 with Hakuto-R undergoing final thermal vacuum, vibration and function checks at IABG Space Centre near Munich Germany; Flight-ready Mission 1 lander expected to ship to KSC in Sep, launch via SpaceX F9 NET Nov carrying UAE MBRSC and JAXA rovers, flight computer and cameras from Canada enterprises Mission Control Space Services and Canadensys, NGK solid-state battery, engraved panels with supporter names

Credits: ispace

Friday / 15 July 2022

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Malapert Mountain Beckons Lunar Exploration, Science, Communication, Industry

As world space powers focus future landing & Moon base efforts on Moon South Pole / prospecting H2O hidden in PSRs near Shackleton Rim, critical infrastructure zone atop nearby (~130km) Malapert Massif (86°S, 0°) remains undeclared by NASA, CNSA, Roscosmos, ESA, JAXA, ISRO or SpaceX; Malapert possesses indispensable qualities for MSP buildout: A unique astrophysical vantagepoint; Constant line-of-sight to Earth (long-duration Earth observation / communication redundancy) and Shackleton (local comms and power beaming); 70%+ solar illumination; Geological significance (border area of South Pole–Aitken basin); 4 suitable 150-m landing sites have been identified by Carnegie Mellon / Astrobotic

Credits: NASA / LROC / ASU / N. Petro / ESA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 8-11 July 2022

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New Lunar Era Underway with CAPSTONE On Route to Moon, Many Orbiters / Landers to Follow

Capstone Moon orbit pathfinder on nominal trajectory to achieve 4-body (Earth, Moon, Sun, Spacecraft) Ballistic Lunar Transfer; S. Korea Danuri orbiter next on Moon mission schedule, launching 2 Aug; NASA Mega Moon rocket SLS undergoing final prep with first Artemis 1 launch window open 23 Aug–6 Sep; Roscosmos Luna-25 lander tentatively set for late Sep; Window for ispace Hakuto-R carrying MBRSC Rashid rover open Oct-Nov; NASA CLPS providers Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines race to land Peregrine and Nova-C before EOY; SpaceX Starship 24 / Booster 7 on orbital launch pad at Boca Chica

Credits: NASA, Advanced Space

Tuesday / 28 June 2022

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Advocates Call for Prioritization of Lunar Surface Habitation as NASA Leak Casts Doubt on Artemis Timeline

Whistleblower-provided document reported on by Ars Technica showing alternative Artemis schedules emphasizing ‘Cadence’ and ‘Content’ with focus on Lunar Gateway through 2031/2, relegating surface habitation to NET 2034, prompts calls for adherence to space policy articulated in 2020, “Next American man / first American woman on the Moon by 2024, followed by sustained presence on the Moon by 2028”; Replacing Gateway with SpaceX Starship-based station emerging as viable alternative method to meeting Lockheed Martin Orion fueling needs while accelerating progress towards human multi-world civilization

 

Credits: NASA, Thales Alenia Space

Tuesday / 21 June 2022

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UAE Rashid Rover on Track for November Launch for Moon Landing on ispace HAKUTO-R Mission 1

Deigned by Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre engineers at Dubai ‘Silicon Oasis’, 10-kg Rashid Rover now in France for CNES thermal / vibration testing; Integration with Series 1 Lander to follow at ispace facility in Germany, with arrival of lander / rover at KSC NET September; SpaceX Falcon 9 launch window opening early November; M1 will also carry payloads from JAXA (2-wheeled spheroid rover), Canadensys (2 360° cameras), NGK (solid state battery experiment), Mission Control Space Services (AI flight computer)

Pictured: Emirates Lunar Mission Director Hamad Al Marzooqi
Credits: ispace, MBRSC, Twitter
 
 

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 17-20 June 2022

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CAPSTONE, KPLO Danuri and Artemis 1 Teams Working Towards Summer 2022 Moon Orbit

NASA Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment now striving for 25 June launch from LC-1 on Māhia NZ via Rocket Lab Electron / Photon; KARI lunar orbiter Danuri ‘fully prepared’ for 2 August launch on SpaceX Falcon 9 from KSC – South Korea will be 8th nation with Moon probe; Artemis 1, fully stacked with SLS and Orion, to begin WDR countdown 18 June, NASA mission availability schedule indicates 148 possible launch opportunities from 23 August 2022 – 1 July 2023

Credits: NASA, KARI, Rocket Lab

Friday / 10 June 2022

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NASA Conducting Extensive Testing of Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) for Lunar Gateway

Power and Propulsion Element of Lunar Gateway under development by Maxar to utilize 6 and 12kW Hall-effect ion thruster systems built by Busek and Aerojet Rocketdyne with Moog xenon propellant feeder and Maxar power processing unit; Current testing regimen comes after initial testing phase finds both systems ‘capable of performing across the full mission power range’; SEP to keep Gateway on efficient NRHO during 15-year mission after Q4 2024 launch via SpaceX Falcon Heavy; Tiangong space station is only human-rated ion-powered spacecraft

Credits: NASA, Maxar, Aerojet Rocketdyne

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 3-6 June 2022

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Summer Around the Moon: 3 Orbiters May Embark as NASA Funds New Private Sector Lunar R&D

NASA CAPSTONE targeting 13-22 June launch window; KARI Danuri set for 2 Aug, NASA Artemis 1 team working to achieve WDR 19 June then NET Aug launch; Vessels are bound for ~1,609×70,006km NRHO, elliptical 100km polar orbit, and 100×61,155km DRO respectively; NASA PRISM science proposals Lunar-VISE (investigation of Gruithuisen Domes), LEIA (study of yeast exposed to lunar environment) to receive CLPS task orders for launch circa 2026; NASA SSTR awarding US$150K to Air Company Holdings / NYU for development of RP-1 production process using only CO2 / H2; NASA Break the Ice Lunar Challenge phase 2 distributing $3M for water harvesting tech

Credits: NASA, KARI

Wednesday / 1 June 2022

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Newly Named ‘Danuri’ Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter on Track for 2 Aug Launch to Moon

Selected from 62,719 submissions across South Korea by a 1000-person focus group, Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, now Danuri (Moon Enjoy), set for launch on 2 Aug (19:37 EDT) to 100-km Moon orbit on SpaceX Falcon 9 via ballistic lunar transfer; 678-kg spacecraft is outfitted with 6 instruments – KARI-built Lunar Terrain Imager, Wide-Angle Polarimetric Camera, Magnetometer, Gamma-Ray Spectrometer, Disruption Tolerant Network Experiment Payload and NASA provided ShadowCam; NASA will also assist Danuri with ground station / comms / navigation support and 9-member KPLO Participating Scientist Program

Credits: KARI, NASA, SpaceX