Tag: Astronautics

Live Coverage: Crew-11 Scheduled for Launch at 12:09 p.m. EDT

Update 12:16 p.m. EDT
NASA and SpaceX delayed the Crew-11 launch to the ISS at T-minus one minute before liftoff due to weather concerns. The next launch opportunity is scheduled for Friday, August 1, at 11:43 a.m. EDT.

Spaceflight Now reports, “A group of astronauts and a cosmonaut originally slated to fly on other missions are finally getting their ticket to ride. The quartet, led by NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, will head to the International Space Station beginning with a launch scheduled for Thursday afternoon. The SpaceX Crew-11 mission will launch onboard the Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is scheduled for 12:09 p.m. EDT (1609 UTC).”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)



 Live Coverage

Crew-11 Scheduled for Launch at 12:09 p.m. EDT
Spaceflight Now; YouTube

First Australian-built Orbital Rocket Crashes Shortly After Liftoff

The Guardian reports, “The Eris rocket was built by Gold Coast-based Gilmour Space and briefly blasted off from the Bowen orbital spaceport in north Queensland on Wednesday morning, after months of waiting for the right conditions. The spaceship hovered for less than a minute before crashing in a giant plume of smoke, but it was history-making nonetheless – the attempted launch of an orbital rocket designed and made in Australia.”
Full Story (The Guardian) 

 Video

First Australian-made rocket crashes 14 seconds after liftoff.
Firstpost; YouTube

Next X-37B Mission to Test Quantum Sensor and Laser Link Experiments

Breaking Defense reports, “The Defense Department’s secretive X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle will lift off again in late August, carrying a quantum sensor that could enable navigation when GPS is unavailable as well as a laser communication system, the Space Force announced today. The Aug. 21 mission will be the eighth for the mysterious space plane, which is operated by the Space Force in partnership with the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office.”
Full Story (Breaking Defense)

The Space Industry Dilemma of Moving from Innovator to Integrator

FROM THE INSTITUTE
Having long tackled the innovators’ dilemma to adjust to technological transformation, the space industry is now poised to tackle the integrators’ dilemma: what to do with all that innovation and how to use it. A panel discussion at 2025 ASCEND explored the theme, tapping experts in academia and industry.
Full Story (Aerospace America)

ASCENDANTS – Making the Case for Generative, Restorative, and Just Human Space Activity

FROM THE INSTITUTE
Each year for the last five years, ASCEND has featured a group of emerging space visionaries from around the world who offer solutions to the most pressing space sustainability challenges. Known as “ASCENDANTS” (previously the Diverse Dozen), the group, comprised of trailblazers from NGOs, government, and industry from nine countries, address compelling issues ranging from managing space debris to ensuring every country has a seat at the space table, among other topics.
Full Story (Aerospace America)

‘Skyfall’ Mars Mission Proposes to Drop 6 Scout Helicopters onto Mars

SPACE reports, “AeroVironment of Arlington, Virginia and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory today debuted ‘Skyfall,’ a concept for deploying next-generation Mars helicopters that could help pave the way for human landing on Mars through autonomous aerial exploration.”
Full Story (SPACE)



Video

Skyfall – Future Mission Concept for Next-gen Mars Helicopters and Exploration
(Aerovironment; YouTube)

“Live from the ISS”: 2025 ASCEND Opens with ISS Astronauts, A Sit-Down with Axiom Space CEO

FROM THE INSTITUTE
2025 ASCEND opened Tuesday to a packed room of spellbound space industry members as they watched a live linkup with NASA flight engineers – Lt. Col. Nichole Ayers, USAF, and Col. Anne McClain, USA – onboard the ISS. The conversation, facilitated by Dave Cavossa, president of the Commercial Space Federation (CSF), touched on the ISS’s contributions as an orbiting science laboratory over the last 25 years, and key lessons learned that will benefit future orbiting stations.
Full Story (Aerospace America)

SpaceX Launches NASA’s TRACERS Mission to Study the Origins of Space Weather

Ars Technica reports, “Two NASA satellites rocketed into orbit from California aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday, commencing a $170 million mission to study a phenomenon of space physics that has eluded researchers since the dawn of the Space Age. The twin spacecraft are part of the NASA-funded TRACERS mission, which will spend at least a year measuring plasma conditions in narrow regions of Earth’s magnetic field known as polar cusps.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)