TYB
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
March 3, 2025
Blue Ghost on the Moon
There's a new lander on the Moon. Yesterday Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost executed the first-ever successful commercial lunar landing. During its planned 60-day mission, Blue Ghost will deploy several NASA-commissioned scientific instruments, including PlanetVac which captures lunar dust after creating a small whirlwind of gas. Blue Ghost will also host the telescope LEXI that captures X-ray images of the Earth's magnetosphere. LEXI data should enable a better understanding of how Earth's magnetic field protects the Earth from the Sun's wind and flares. Pictured, the shadow of the Blue Ghost lander is visible on the cratered lunar surface, while the glowing orb of the planet Earth hovers just over the horizon. Goals for future robotic Blue Ghost landers include supporting lunar astronauts in NASA's Artemis program, with Artemis III currently scheduled to land humans back on the Moon in 2027.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
NASA Celebrates 110th Anniversary of Predecessor
March 3, 2025
To celebrate the 110th anniversary of the organization that ultimately became NASA, the agency released a new collection of videos to highlight the history of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and the ways it transformed flight over four decades.
the United States Congress, concerned that America was lagging behind other countries, created a new committee to advance the nation's flight technology development.
On March 3, 1915, the NACA was founded "to supervise and direct the scientific study of the problems of flight, with a view to their practical solution."
While the NACA began as a committee of only 12 leaders representing government, military, and industry, it rapidly expanded through World War II to develop America's flight capabilities for defense and commercial uses.
The organization became home to some of the nation's best and brightest aeronautical engineers and world-class facilities, transforming into NASA at the dawn of the Space Age in 1958.
The new video collection highlights some of NACA's striking historic photography and celebrates this pioneering organization with a brief history of its formation, expansion, and groundbreaking aeronautics research at four centers across the United States - the current homes of NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton Virginia, Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley, Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, and Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.
https://www.miragenews.com/nasa-celebrates-110th-anniversary-of-predecessor-1418395/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVckl1YF_E4
NASA Holds Back on SPHEREx, PUNCH Prelaunch Conference Until Further Notice
Mar 03, 2025 01:04 PM IST
NASA announced it would not hold the SPHEREx and PUNCH prelaunch news conference on Monday, March 3, 2025 (today).
The US space agency said that it would share more information as soon as possible.
NASA SPHEREx and NASA PUNCH are both important missions are already set to launch on March 4, 2025.
The SPHEREx mission is aimed to study the universe's first second and search for life's ingredients, while the PUNCH mission will observe the Sun's corona transitioning into the solar wind.
https://www.latestly.com/socially/technology/science/nasa-holds-back-on-spherex-punch-prelaunch-conference-until-further-notice-6682483.html
https://twitter.com/NASA_LSP/status/1896378760313876881
NASA Names Norman Knight as Acting Deputy Director of Johnson Space Center
Mar 03, 2025
NASA has selected Norman Knight as acting deputy director of Johnson Space Center.
Knight currently serves as Director of Johnson’s Flight Operations Directorate (FOD), responsible for astronaut training and for overall planning, directing, managing, and implementing overall mission operations for NASA human spaceflight programs.
This also includes management for all Johnson aircraft operations and aircrew training. Knight will serve in this dual deputy director and FOD director role for the near term.
“It is an honor to accept my new role as acting deputy director for Johnson,” Knight said. “Human spaceflight is key to our agency’s mission and our Johnson team is unified in that goal.
The successes we see every day are the evidence of that. It never ceases to amaze me what our team is capable of.”
Knight began his career at the Johnson Space Center as a Space Shuttle mechanical systems flight controller, working 40 missions in this capacity.
He progressed through management roles with increasing responsibility, and in 2000, he was selected as a flight director and worked in that capacity for numerous International Space Station expeditions and Space Shuttle missions.
In 2009, he became the deputy chief of the Flight Director Office and participated in a NASA fellowship at Harvard Business School in general management.
In 2012, Knight was selected as the chief of the Flight Director Office and then in 2018 as deputy director of the Flight Operations Directorate after serving a temporary assignment as the assistant administrator, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters.
In 2021, Knight was selected as the director of FOD.
“Norm has an accomplished career within the agency,” said Steven Koerner, Johnson acting director. “His leadership, expertise, and dedication to the mission will undoubtably drive our continued success.”
Throughout his career, Knight has been recognized for outstanding technical achievements and leadership, receiving a Spaceflight Awareness Honoree award for STS-82.
He also received several center and agency awards, including two Exceptional Achievement medals, multiple Johnson and agency group achievement awards, two Superior Accomplishment awards, an Outstanding Leadership medal, the Johnson Director’s Commendation award, and the Distinguished Service medal.
Knight earned a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering from the Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in 1990.
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/johnson/nasa-names-norman-knight-as-acting-deputy-director-of-johnson-space-center/
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-exposes-complex-atmosphere-of-starless-super-jupiter/
https://www.stsci.edu/jwst-program-info/download/jwst/pdf/3548/
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ad9eaf
NASA’s Webb Exposes Complex Atmosphere of Starless Super-Jupiter
Mar 03, 2025
An international team of researchers has discovered that previously observed variations in brightness of a free-floating planetary-mass object known as SIMP 0136 must be the result of a complex combination of atmospheric factors, and cannot be explained by clouds alone.
Using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to monitor a broad spectrum of infrared light emitted over two full rotation periods by SIMP 0136, the team was able to detect variations in cloud layers, temperature, and carbon chemistry that were previously hidden from view.
The results provide crucial insight into the three-dimensional complexity of gas giant atmospheres within and beyond our solar system.
Detailed characterization of objects like these is essential preparation for direct imaging of exoplanets, planets outside our solar system, with NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which is scheduled to begin operations in 2027.
Rapidly Rotating, Free-Floating
SIMP 0136 is a rapidly rotating, free-floating object roughly 13 times the mass of Jupiter, located in the Milky Way just 20 light-years from Earth.
Although it is not classified as a gas giant exoplanet — it doesn’t orbit a star and may instead be a brown dwarf — SIMP 0136 is an ideal target for exo-meteorology: It is the brightest object of its kind in the northern sky.
Because it is isolated, it can be observed with no fear of light contamination or variability caused by a host star. And its short rotation period of just 2.4 hours makes it possible to survey very efficiently.
Prior to the Webb observations, SIMP 0136 had been studied extensively using ground-based observatories and NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes.
“We already knew that it varies in brightness, and we were confident that there are patchy cloud layers that rotate in and out of view and evolve over time,” explained Allison McCarthy, doctoral student at Boston University and lead author on a study published today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
“We also thought there could be temperature variations, chemical reactions, and possibly some effects of auroral activity affecting the brightness, but we weren’t sure.”
To figure it out, the team needed Webb’s ability to measure very precise changes in brightness over a broad range of wavelengths.
Graphic A: Isolated Planetary-Mass Object SIMP 0136 (Artist’s Concept)
Charting Thousands of Infrared Rainbows
Using NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph), Webb captured thousands of individual 0.6- to 5.3-micron spectra — one every 1.8 seconds over more than three hours as the object completed one full rotation.
This was immediately followed by an observation with MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument), which collected hundreds of spectroscopic measurements of 5- to 14-micron light — one every 19.2 seconds, over another rotation.
The result was hundreds of detailed light curves, each showing the change in brightness of a very precise wavelength (color) as different sides of the object rotated into view.
“To see the full spectrum of this object change over the course of minutes was incredible,” said principal investigator Johanna Vos, from Trinity College Dublin.
“Until now, we only had a little slice of the near-infrared spectrum from Hubble, and a few brightness measurements from Spitzer.”
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The team noticed almost immediately that there were several distinct light-curve shapes.
At any given time, some wavelengths were growing brighter, while others were becoming dimmer or not changing much at all. A number of different factors must be affecting the brightness variations.
“Imagine watching Earth from far away.
If you were to look at each color separately, you would see different patterns that tell you something about its surface and atmosphere, even if you couldn’t make out the individual features,” explained co-author Philip Muirhead, also from Boston University.
“Blue would increase as oceans rotate into view. Changes in brown and green would tell you something about soil and vegetation.”
Graphic B: Isolated Planetary-Mass Object SIMP 0136 (NIRSpec Light Curves)
Patchy Clouds, Hot Spots, and Carbon Chemistry
To figure out what could be causing the variability on SIMP 0136, the team used atmospheric models to show where in the atmosphere each wavelength of light was originating.
“Different wavelengths provide information about different depths in the atmosphere,” explained McCarthy.
“We started to realize that the wavelengths that had the most similar light-curve shapes also probed the same depths, which reinforced this idea that they must be caused by the same mechanism.”
One group of wavelengths, for example, originates deep in the atmosphere where there could be patchy clouds made of iron particles.
A second group comes from higher clouds thought to be made of tiny grains of silicate minerals. The variations in both of these light curves are related to patchiness of the cloud layers.
A third group of wavelengths originates at very high altitude, far above the clouds, and seems to track temperature.
Bright “hot spots” could be related to auroras that were previously detected at radio wavelengths, or to upwelling of hot gas from deeper in the atmosphere.
Some of the light curves cannot be explained by either clouds or temperature, but instead show variations related to atmospheric carbon chemistry.
There could be pockets of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide rotating in and out of view, or chemical reactions causing the atmosphere to change over time.
“We haven’t really figured out the chemistry part of the puzzle yet,” said Vos.
“But these results are really exciting because they are showing us that the abundances of molecules like methane and carbon dioxide could change from place to place and over time.
If we are looking at an exoplanet and can get only one measurement, we need to consider that it might not be representative of the entire planet.”
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Heart cell research on the International Space Station
March 03, 2025 10:45 am
Researchers from Emory University studying how heart muscle cells grow and function in a space environment found that spaceflight increases the expression of genes involved in stress response and cell survival, according to a study published in the journal Biomaterials.
The investigation was launched to the ISS on NASA's SpaceX Crew-8 mission.
The researchers reported that cell therapy is often thought to be a more promising treatment for heart failure, but a lot of the cells injected into the injured area do not survive, making that strategy less effective than it could be.
However, research conducted by Emory University via the ISS National Lab could soon change that scenario.
By building upon their previous investigation, revealing that heart cells not only grew faster and turned into beating heart cells efficiently in space, the researchers aimed to see if they could further develop those cells and make them more flexible.
In addition the researchers put together bundles of heart muscle cells into microscopic three-dimensional spheroids that imitated the structure and function of the human heart and sent them to the orbiting laboratory.
Results from the study indicated that spaceflight increases the expression of genes involved in stress response and cell survival.
The Emory team said the research, done on the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory, can revolutionize cell therapy and open new pathways to repair damaged hearts in patients on Earth and lead to new ways of producing heart muscle cells on Earth that will survive transplantation into patients and respond better to stress.
The team’s investigation was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, which provides critical support for fundamental science in areas such as tissue engineering and transport phenomena.
THE LARGER TREND
In January, research conducted on the ISS could result in early cancer detection, advance treatments for neurodegenerative conditions and improve respiratory therapies.
The researchers took advantage of the unique environment of the space station to investigate potential therapies that could benefit patients on Earth.
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft had almost 50 biotechnology onboard as well as physical science and student research payloads sponsored by the ISS National Laboratory.
In 2024, The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) funded a solicitation searching for projects that utilize the ISS National Lab to advance tissue engineering and mechanobiology research.
Through the solicitation, NSF provided up to $1.6 million in funding for multiple projects.
Research exploiting these effects can lead to advances in the modeling of healthy and pathological tissues and organs, disease diagnosis and treatment, regenerative medicine as well other areas within bioengineering and the biomedical sciences.
When NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 launched to the ISS in September 2024, one of the ISS National Lab-sponsored investigations included a student-led project designed to investigate the consequences of radiation and the space environment on gene-editing mechanisms.
The ISS National Laboratory said that data from the project could help to develop techniques that more effectively protect astronauts and potentially clarify the genetic risks for some diseases during space travel.
https://www.mobihealthnews.com/news/heart-cell-research-international-space-station
Spire achieves two-way laser communication between satellites in space
March 3, 2025
Spire Global, Inc. has successfully established a two-way optical link between two satellites in orbit.
This achievement marks a major step toward enhancing the speed, reliability, and security of data transmissions for future missions.
The satellites, which launched in June 2023, are equipped with optical inter-satellite link (OISL) payloads.
The payloads create lasers that send information back and forth between satellites, securely and almost instantaneously, while up to 5,000 kilometers apart.
This technology has the ability to enhance applications such as weather forecasting, global communications, and remote sensing for navigation and environmental monitoring by increasing data speeds, enhancing security and reducing data latency.
“Precisely pointing two satellites, across distances equivalent of New York to London, and establishing an inter-satellite optical link is a significant milestone for Spire,” said John E. Ward, Senior Director of Research & Development at Spire Global.
“This achievement places us among a select group of organizations capable of developing and deploying this advanced technology and overcoming the complexities of aligning satellites separated by thousands of kilometers in Low Earth Orbit. Integrating this technology into our future fleet will enhance resilience, improve security, and reduce latency for critical applications.”
“We have shrunk what is typically a large optical system—the size of a microwave—down to the size of a tissue box,” added Thomas Carroll, Team Lead – Applied Optics Team, Spire.
“Our OISL payload is the smallest on the market, allowing us to deploy this technology on our small satellites while delivering performance previously achievable only with much larger systems.
This breakthrough has the potential to enhance our data and Space Services solutions, especially for applications that require continuous coverage with fast and secure data relay.”
The development of the OISL technology was supported by a European Space Agency (ESA) Advanced Research in Telecommunications Services (ARTES) Pioneer Partnership Project, within ESA’s Connectivity and Secure Communications directorate, with funding from the UK Space Agency (UKSA).
“Through our ARTES Pioneer Partnership Project, we have supported Spire in the development of a new OISL capability for their space data service network,” said Clive Edwards, ESA Pioneer Implementation Manager.
“This OISL system is set to transform satellite communications, offering enhanced security and efficiency for space-based data transmission.”
Following the successful demonstration, Spire will launch three additional LEMUR satellites with OISL technology in 2025, two of which are set to launch via Exolaunch on the Transporter-13 rideshare mission with SpaceX.
During the mission, Spire will also launch four additional LEMUR satellites to replenish its fully deployed constellation and enable missions for its Space Services customers.
The launch is scheduled for no earlier than March 2025. For updates on the launch, follow Spire on LinkedIn, X or Bluesky.
https://www.satelliteevolution.com/post/spire-achieves-two-way-laser-communication-between-satellites-in-space
https://spire.com/
Polish space agency investigates cyberattack on its systems
March 3rd, 2025
Polish space agency investigates cyberattack on its systems
Poland’s space agency (POLSA) announced on Sunday it had suffered a cyberattack and is currently investigating the incident.
In response to the attack, the agency said it disconnected its network from the internet, and as of Monday its website remained inaccessible.
Poland’s digital minister, Krzysztof Gawkowski, confirmed that state cybersecurity services had detected unauthorized access to POLSA’s IT infrastructure and had secured the affected systems.
Cyber specialists are now working to identify the attackers behind the breach, he added.
Authorities have not disclosed whether the attack was carried out by ransomware groups or politically motivated hackers. They have also not provided further details about how the hackers infiltrated the system.
POLSA is the government agency responsible for Poland's space activities. The agency is a member of the European Space Agency (ESA) and oversees the country’s contributions to space exploration and satellite technology.
In January, Gawkowski said that Poland’s cyber space is the most frequently targeted in the European Union. He attributed most of the incidents to Russia.
Poland has become a prime target for pro-Russian hackers due to its military support for Ukraine and its role as a host for Ukrainian refugees.
In September, Gawkowski reported that cyberattacks on Poland had doubled since 2023, with over 400,000 incidents recorded in the first half of last year.
To strengthen its defenses, Poland announced a $760 million investment in cybersecurity in June.
Space agencies like POLSA can be attractive targets for hackers as they often collaborate with military and intelligence agencies.
A potential breach — whether by financially or politically motivated hackers — could expose sensitive defense-related information, satellite operations, or classified research, endangering national security.
Among recent examples of cyber incidents targeting space agencies is the attack on Japan’s JAXA.
The agency has suffered multiple cyber incidents since 2016, when it was among 200 Japanese companies and research institutes allegedly targeted by Chinese military hackers.
In 2023, unknown hackers reportedly targeted the agency’s network server, possibly to gain access to its general business operations.
This may have led to breaches of communications between the agency and external organizations with which it has confidentiality agreements, such as Toyota.
https://therecord.media/poland-space-cyberattack-agency-investigate
Australian Space Agency says Russian rocket debris and sonic boom possible off Tasmanian coast
March 3, 2025
Tasmanians have been told debris from a Russian rocket could fall in waters near the island, with the possibility of a "sonic boom" accompanying its re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere.
In an alert on Monday, the Australian Space Agency (ASA) advised of "the expected re-entry of a Stage II Soyuz 2-1B Fregat rocket into international waters off the south-east coast of Tasmania between 9am March 3 and 11am March 7".
ASA said: "It is possible that the object may survive re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere and land in international waters to the south-east of Tasmania."
The agency said the event was "expected to match the launch profile of a near-identical mission which occurred in August 2023".
"In that mission, visible space debris was spotted in the sky over Melbourne and Tasmania, and a sonic boom occurred which resulted in 23 'felt reports' being received by Geoscience Australia.
ASA said: "Given the similarity of the upcoming mission, reoccurrence of visible space debris and a sonic boom are possible".
The Australian government's National Situation Room said it would "continue to monitor this event in consultation with the ASA".
The ASA said the "re-entry of the debris is not expected to impact people or property".
"The debris may be visible in the sky and may cause a sonic boom. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority has implemented a temporary danger area to manage risks to airspace users."
The rocket's payload is listed as "kerosene" and "liquid oxygen".
'Danger area' in place for pilots
In a statement, a spokesperson said the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) had "established a temporary danger area south of Tasmania".
"A danger area is a way of alerting pilots to an increased risk of flying in the area. It does not prevent pilots from operating in the area," they said.
"The danger area has been established in accordance with our international obligations and warns pilots of potential debris as a result of a space launch and re-entry.
"This is not uncommon and is how aviation authorities around the world routinely deal with these pre-planned events."
CASA said it was "working closely with Airservices Australia, the Department of Defence, the Australian Space Agency and the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communication and the Arts and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority to ensure appropriate safety measures are in place".
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-03/tas-alert-for-russian-rocket-debris-in-path-of-tasmania/105004952
DARPA Requests Plans for "Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures"
Mar 2, 11:15 AM EST
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) — which has been known to fund the development of sci-fi-sounding ideas like flying aircraft carriers or massive streetlights on the Moon — is now seeking public input on its plans to construct massive "bio-mechanical space structures."
As spotted by Gizmodo, the agency filed a Request for Information this week for the eyebrow-raising concept.
And while we're still not 100 percent sure exactly what they're going after, it sounds rad as hell.
According to a description of the request, DARPA is looking into the "feasibility" of creating "useful space structures" over 1,600 feet in length that could "disrupt the current state-of-the-art and position biology as a complimentary component of the in-space assembly infrastructure."
Possibilities, according to the document, include "tethers for a space elevator, grid-nets for orbital debris remediation, kilometer-scale interferometers for radio science, new self-assembled wings of a commercial space station for hosting additional payloads, or on-demand production of patch materials to adhere and repair micrometeorite damage."
What DARPA wants to specifically look into are new methods and "technical insights" to create these "large, self-assembled, mechanically stable biological growths in space."
There are plenty of advantages to having larger structures be constructed in space. For one, it's a whole lot cheaper than launching large components and other building materials from the Earth's surface.
And beyond welding pieces of metal together, DARPA is peering much further into the future by wanting to harness biological engineering to exploit its "rapid growth properties" — which could one day be done with minimal human intervention.
The agency used a tent as an analogy.
"Given the structural material of the tent poles, biological growth mechanisms are envisioned to be the 'cover' of the tent," the document reads.
In short, it's hard not to see DARPA's vision as a terrifying blob of space gloop — or "filler" — encompassing the necessary "electronics or structural materials."
Is the agency trying to leapfrog a near future filled with conventionally built space stations by jumping straight to a hard sci-fi paradigm where space structures are grown through biological means, not built?
It's certainly a pretty out-there concept, as we haven't even reached such a stage on Earth, where we've only started exploring concepts like using mycelium as living building materials.
And how long scientists have to work on the idea remains unclear at best.
Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency is set to plow through the Department of Defense, which could bring about mass layoffs amid other budget cuts.
How lifesaving research into HIV/AIDS vaccines and Ebola, which recently landed on DOGE's chopping block, stack up to the importance of DARPA's grand visions of growing structures in space remains to be seen.
In the meantime, DARPA is planning to hold a "sponsored workshop" in April to discuss relevant "future research."
https://futurism.com/darpa-requests-plans-large-bio-mechanical-space-structures
https://sam.gov/opp/426e5868fcf74dd4ada3768b00b09234/view
Air Force selects Pacific landing sites to test space cargo deliveries
March 2, 2025
The U.S. Air Force is set to launch an environmental impact review for a novel military logistics project, proposing the construction of two landing pads on Johnston Island, a remote atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
The pads would support the reentry of vehicles under the Air Force’s Rocket Cargo program, an initiative led by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to harness commercial rockets and reentry capsules for rapid global cargo delivery.
In a notice scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on March 3, the Department of the Air Force will formally announce its intent to prepare an environmental assessment.
The review will evaluate the effects of building and operating the landing pads on Johnston Atoll, where up to 10 reentry vehicle landings would be planned annually over four years.
This testing phase aims to demonstrate and refine the capabilities of the Rocket Cargo program, which envisions delivering critical supplies to any point on Earth within hours.
The environmental review will involve collaboration with multiple federal agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Wildlife Refuge System, given the atoll’s status as part of the Pacific Remote Islands National Wildlife Refuge.
A draft of the assessment is expected in April, followed by a 30-day public comment period, offering stakeholders a chance to weigh in on the project’s implications.
Strategic foothold in the Pacific
The Air Force identified Johnston Atoll as the optimal site after evaluating several remote, government-controlled locations, including Kwajalein Atoll, Midway Island, and Wake Island.
Johnston stood out as the only location meeting all operational criteria: it is remote, securable, U.S.-controlled, accessible by air or sea, and capable of supporting the barged removal of reentry vehicles.
These requirements would align with the FAA’s Launch and Reentry Licensing Requirements, which prioritize public safety by mandating isolated landing zones for such operations.
Johnston Atoll, located about 700 nautical miles southwest of Hawaii, has a storied military past. Since the 1930s, it served as a hub for nuclear testing, missile defense, chemical weapons storage, and even an Air Force anti-satellite weapon test.
Decommissioned in 2004, the atoll was handed over to the National Wildlife Refuge System, though remnants of its military infrastructure — including an airfield — persist.
Cargo reentry capsules
The Rocket Cargo program represents a bold step in military logistics, leveraging the burgeoning commercial space sector to shrink delivery timelines.
Traditional airlift methods, while reliable, can take days to move cargo across continents. In contrast, AFRL aims to use space vehicles — such as reentry capsules dropped from rockets in flight — to achieve same-day delivery.
Companies like Inversion Space, Outpost, Sierra Space, and Varda Space are developing such capsules. Launch providers like SpaceX, Rocket Lab, and Blue Origin hold Air Force contracts to demonstrate these capabilities.
One scenario would be a rocket launches into orbit, releases a cargo-laden reentry vehicle, and the vehicle glides back to Earth, landing precisely at a designated site like Johnston Island.
Pending environmental approval, Air Force hopes to begin testing this year, using the Johnston landing pads to validate the technology’s feasibility and safety.
https://spacenews.com/air-force-selects-pacific-landing-sites-to-test-space-cargo-deliveries/
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/03/03/2025-03359/notice-of-intent-to-prepare-an-environmental-assessment-for-rocket-cargo-test-and-demonstration-at
SpaceX Starlink Mission
March 2, 2025
On Sunday, March 2 at 9:24 p.m. ET, Falcon 9 launched 21 Starlink satellites, including 13 with Direct to Cell capabilities, to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
This was the fifth flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched GOES-U, Maxar 3, and now three Starlink missions.
The first stage booster returned to Earth and landed on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean ~250 nautical miles off the coast of Florida.
Following the successful landing, an off-nominal fire in the aft end of the rocket damaged one of the booster's landing legs which resulted in it tipping over.
While disappointing to lose a rocket after a successful mission, the team will use the data to make Falcon even more reliable on ascent and landing.
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=sl-12-20
Starship's Eighth Flight Test
March 3, 2025 5:30 p.m. CT
The eighth flight test of Starship is preparing to launch Monday, March 3. The 60-minute launch window opens at 5:30 p.m. CT.
A live webcast of the flight test will begin about 40 minutes before liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX.
You can also watch the webcast on the X TV app. As is the case with all developmental testing, the schedule is dynamic and likely to change, so be sure to check in here and stay tuned to our X account for updates.
After completing the investigation into the loss of Starship early on its seventh flight test, several hardware and operational changes have been made to increase reliability of the upper stage. You can read the full summary of the mishap investigation here.
The upcoming flight will fly the same suborbital trajectory as previous missions and will target objectives not reached on the previous test, including Starship’s first payload deployment and multiple reentry experiments geared towards returning the upper stage to the launch site for catch.
The flight also includes the launch, return, and catch of the Super Heavy booster.
Extensive upgrades to Starship’s upper stage debuted on the previous flight test, focused on adding reliability and performance across all phases of flight.
Starship’s forward flaps have been upgraded to significantly reduce their exposure to reentry heating while simplifying the underlying mechanisms and protective tiling.
Redesigns to the propulsion system, including a 25 percent increase in propellant volume over previous generations, add additional vehicle performance and the ability to fly longer duration missions.
And the vehicle’s avionics underwent a complete redesign, adding additional capability and redundancy for increasingly complex missions like propellant transfer and ship return to the launch site.
During the flight test, Starship will deploy four Starlink simulators, similar in size to next-generation Starlink satellites, as the first exercise of a satellite deploy mission.
The Starlink simulators will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship and are expected to demise upon entry. A relight of a single Raptor engine while in space is also planned.
The flight test includes several experiments focused on enabling Starship’s upper stage to return to the launch site. A significant number of tiles have been removed from Starship to stress-test vulnerable areas across the vehicle.
Multiple metallic tile options, including one with active cooling, will test alternative materials for protecting Starship during reentry.
On the sides of the vehicle, non-structural versions of Starship’s catch fittings are installed to test the fittings’ thermal performance, along with a section of the tile line receiving a smoothed and tapered edge to address hot spots observed during reentry on Starship’s sixth flight test.
Starship’s reentry profile is designed to intentionally stress the structural limits of the upper stage’s rear flaps while at the point of maximum entry dynamic pressure.
Finally, several radar sensors will once again be tested on the launch and catch tower’s chopsticks with the goal of increasing the accuracy when measuring distances between the chopsticks and a returning vehicle.
The Super Heavy booster for this flight features upgraded avionics, including a more powerful flight computer, improved power and network distribution, and integrated smart batteries.
Distinct vehicle and pad criteria must be met prior to the return and catch of the Super Heavy booster, requiring healthy systems on the booster and tower and a final manual command from the mission’s Flight Director.
If this command is not sent prior to the completion of the boostback burn, or if automated health checks show unacceptable conditions with Super Heavy or the tower, the booster will default to a trajectory for a soft splashdown in the Gulf of America.
We accept no compromises when it comes to ensuring the safety of the public and our team, and booster return will only take place if conditions are right.
The returning booster will slow down from supersonic speeds, resulting in audible sonic booms in the area around the landing zone.
Generally, the only impact to those in the surrounding area of a sonic boom is the brief thunder-like noise with variables like weather and distance from the return site determining the magnitude experienced by observers.
Developmental testing by definition is unpredictable. But by putting flight hardware in a flight environment as frequently as possible, we’re able to quickly learn and execute design changes as we seek to bring Starship online as a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle.
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-8
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/private-spaceflight/spacex-launching-flight-8-of-starship-megarocket-today-watch-it-live
Europe's Ariane 6 Rocket Called Off Minutes Before Launch Due To "Anomaly"
Mar 03, 2025 22:42 pm IST
Kourou:
Minutes before it was scheduled to launch, the first commercial mission of Europe's new heavy-lift rocket Ariane 6 was called off on Monday due to an "anomaly" on the ground.
It was the latest of several postponements for the rocket as Europe seeks to secure independent access to space amid a shock rapprochement between Moscow and Washington.
The launch had been scheduled to blast off from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana at 1:24 pm (1624 GMT) Monday.
While there had been some scattered rain in Kourou, teams on the ground had received the green light until just minutes before blast off.
But after an "anomaly" on the ground was detected, "the only possible decision now is to postpone the launch," said David Cavailloles, the head of the French company Arianespace which operates the rocket.
"I have no doubt that we will have another flight again soon," he added.
The launch was postponed as Europe seeks to reduce its reliance on the United States for security – and the European space industry struggles to remain competitive with Elon Musk's SpaceX.
The launcher was intended to place a French military satellite in orbit at an altitude of around 800 kilometres (500 miles) above Earth.
Europe has not been able to use Russia's Soyuz rockets since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022, while the workhorse Ariane 5 was retired in 2023.
'We must be united'
The mission had taken on greater symbolic significance after the administration of new US President Donald Trump initiated a surprise rapprochement with Russia, prompting European nations to close ranks.
"Europe must ensure its own security," ESA space transportation director Toni Tolker-Nielsen told a press conference in Kourou before the postponement was announced.
"We must be united," Cavailloles said, stressing the importance of "not depending on anyone else" to launch satellites "in today's world".
The space industry has been experiencing major upheaval – and more is expected after SpaceX's billionaire founder Elon Musk recently became a prominent advisor to Trump.
"The concept of strategic autonomy, once mocked as a French whim, is at the heart of the Europe of tomorrow," France's research minister Philippe Baptiste told local media.
"The number of launches has exploded – not only American, but also Chinese," said French General Philippe Steininger, a consultant at the space research institute CNES.
Initially planned for December, the Ariane 6 mission was delayed until February 26 and then to March 3. The next launch date is not yet known.
The mission is to take the CSO-3 satellite into space. CSO-3 will complete a network of three French military imaging satellites, with the first two launched in 2018 and 2020 on Soyuz rockets.
Heavy security
The satellites have "orbiting cameras that take images in both visible and infrared light all over the globe, which is very important for military operations," Michel Sayegh, the head of the French government's armament agency DGA, told AFP.
Given the military role of the satellite, strict security precautions were taken to limit access at the spaceport on the northern coast of South America, with French fighter jets deployed to patrol the surrounding skies.
Europe's smaller Vega-C launcher was earlier grounded for two years due to an accident that resulted in the loss of two satellites, only resuming flights in December 2024.
The mishap left Europe without a way to launch satellites into orbit for a year, following delays to Ariane 6 and the end of cooperation with Russia.
https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/europes-ariane-6-rocket-called-off-minutes-before-launch-due-to-anomaly-7840272