Tag: Astronautics

Blue Origin Set to Launch New Glenn Following Weekend Weather Delay

Spaceflight Now Update at 10:40 am ET:  “NASA scrubbed the launch due to strong solar impacts.”

Spaceflight Now reports Blue Origin was able to secure permission from the Federal Aviation Administration for a daytime launch. According the article, Blue Origin will “take another crack at launching its 98-meter-tall (321 ft) New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Wednesday, Nov. 12.”  An 87-minute launch window “opens at 2:50 p.m. EST (1950 UTC) on Wednesday.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)


Video

Watch Launch Live
Spaceflight Now

SpaceX Launches 560th Falcon 9 Rocket to Date Following Saturday Scrub

Spaceflight Now reports, “Following a last minute scrub Saturday morning, SpaceX launched a batch of Starlink satellites in the predawn hours of Sunday morning. The launch came as the Federal Aviation Administration readies a rollout of commercial launch restrictions for U.S. airspace.” The mission was SpaceX’s 560th Falcon 9 rocket launch to date, with liftoff taking place at pad 39A “at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Nov. 9 at 3:10 EST (0810 UTC).”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)

Video

SpaceX performs its 560th Falcon 9 rocket launch to date from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. (Launch occurs at the 59:12 mark)
Spaceflight Now; YouTube

Arc Orbital Supply Spacecraft Designed to Deliver Military Supplies Anywhere on Earth Within an Hour

The War Zone reports, “California-based space startup Inversion has unveiled its design for a fully reusable, lifting-body spacecraft named Arc. The spacecraft is intended to deliver critical cargo from space to any point on Earth within an hour, landing on water, snow or soil with a precision of around 50 feet, the company says. The concept, aimed squarely at the defense sector, reflects longstanding U.S. military interest in using space-based systems to rapidly move cargo around the globe to meet commanders’ urgent needs.”
Full Story (The War Zone)

2025 AIAA Best Professional and Student Papers

FROM THE INSTITUTE
AIAA technical committees (TCs) and integration and outreach committees (IOCs) have selected the best professional and student technical papers presented at recent AIAA forums. With a standard award criteria and selection process from the respective committees, the following technical papers were selected as the “best,” and thereby were presented with a Certificate of Merit. The papers can be found online at the AIAA Aerospace Research Central (arc.aiaa.org), marked as “Best Paper.”
Full Story (Aerospace America)

Rocket Lab Launches Earth-observing Radar Satellite to Orbit in 6th Mission for Japanese Company iQPS

SPACE reports, “Rocket Lab launched its sixth mission for the Japanese Earth-imaging company iQPS this afternoon (Nov. 5) from its seaside pad in New Zealand. An Electron rocket carrying the QPS-SAR-14 satellite, nicknamed Yachihoko-I, lifted off from Rocket Lab’s New Zealand site today at 2:51 p.m. EST (1951 GMT; 8:51 a.m. on Nov. 6. local New Zealand time).”
Full Story (SPACE)

Video

Rocket Lab launches Japanese Earth-observation satellite. (Launch occurs at the 00:10 mark)
VideoFromSpace; YouTube

ISS Marks 25 Years of Continuous Human Presence in Orbit

ISS National Laboratory reports, “This past weekend, the International Space Station (ISS) celebrated a historic milestone: 25 years of continuous human presence in orbit. Since November 2, 2000, more than 290 astronauts from around the globe have lived and worked onboard the space station, advancing science and fostering international cooperation for the benefit of humanity.”
Full Story (ISS National Laboratory)

AI Shifts the Paradigm of Aerospace Structural Modeling

From the Institute
Artificial intelligence (AI) can and should be a practical partner in changing the way aerospace structural modeling is accomplished, remarked Wenbin Yu. While physics-based models remain essential, AI can accelerate computation, fill knowledge gaps, integrate workflows, and make advanced simulation tools accessible to more engineers, he added, describing this new paradigm in detail during an AIAA JournalKeynote Seminar Series webinar.

“Athena” Plan Lays Out New Blueprint for Remaking NASA

Ars Technica reports, “In recent weeks, copies of an intriguing policy document have started to spread among space lobbyists on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The document bears the title ‘Athena,’ and it purports to summarize the actions that private astronaut Jared Isaacman would have taken, were his nomination to become NASA administrator confirmed. The 62-page plan is notable both for the ideas to remake NASA that it espouses as well as the manner in which it has been leaked to the space community.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)

Blue Origin Successfully Test-Fires New Glenn Rocket Engines at Cape Canaveral

Ars Technica reports, “The road to the second flight of Blue Origin’s heavy-lifting New Glenn rocket got a lot clearer Thursday night with a success test-firing of the launcher’s seven main engines on a launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Standing on a seaside launch pad, the New Glenn rocket ignited its seven BE-4 main engines at 9:59 pm EDT Thursday (01:59 UTC Friday). The engines burned for 38 seconds while the rocket remained firmly on the ground, according to a social media post by Blue Origin.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)