Global Scans · SpaceX · Weekly Summary

• [New] More recently, in June, NASA awarded an $843m contract to SpaceX to provide the vehicle for deorbiting the International Space Station at the end of its lifetime in early 2031, directing it to a fiery re-entry over the Pacific. SKY
• [New] Elon Musk's SpaceX has launched a flight test of its Starship rocket, as NASA pins its hopes of returning to the moon and reaching Mars. SKY
• [New] SpaceX plans to use Starship for uncrewed and eventually crewed missions to Mars in the 2030s. Newsweek
• [New] SpaceX will be conducting its sixth test of its Starship rocket, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built, which it soon hopes to use to deliver more of its Starlink communications satellites into orbit and to carry NASA astronauts to the moon. The New York Times
• [New] SpaceX's massive Starship rocket has the potential to transform the commercial space economy, ensure America's position as the global leaders in the space race, and put humans on Mars for the first time. TechCrunch
• [New] On SpaceX's 31st Commercial Resupply Services mission for NASA to the International Space Station, Bristol Myers Squibb will build on its legacy of protein crystallization in order to support the manufacturing of more effective therapeutics. Space-for-All at HobbySpace
• The polymers, which were launched on a Space X rocket, will be placed on the Bartolomeo platform at the front of the International Space Station (ISS), where they will orbit Earth up to 9000 times over the next 12 to 18 months. Chemistry World
• SpaceX is due to start launching Telesat Lightspeed satellites in mid-2026 for commercial services the following year. SpaceNews
• LignoSat, developed by Kyoto University and homebuilder Sumitomo Forestry, will be flown to the International Space Station on a SpaceX mission, and later released into orbit about 400 km (250 miles) above the Earth. Emirates24|7
• Starlink will likely need at least 10,000 satellites in orbit before it can claim to offer full service to most of the globe, and SpaceX has shown signs that it wants as many as 42,000 satellites in its constellation. CNet
• Elon Musk's SpaceX successfully caught a booster from its Starship rocket for the first time in a lift to humanity's hopes of travelling to Mars. The Telegraph
• Commercial customers will be on the schedule with SpaceX expected to launch the next pair of WorldView Legion satellites for Maxar, another batch of 20 OneWeb satellites, the Koreasat 6 A and SXM-9 communications satellites, and potentially the first batch of Astranis satellites as well. NASASpaceFlight.com
• SpaceX successfully launched the latest test flight of Starship Sunday morning, the most powerful rocket system ever constructed, which could one day be used to carry humans to the moon and Mars. CNN
• Private Space Missions: SpaceX has begun converting the desire for space travel into action by offering private citizens the opportunity to purchase spaceflights. Hivelr
• Today's flight test should last about 65 minutes, with much of the action occurring up front as SpaceX hopes to attempt the first landing and capture of its Super Heavy booster at its Mechazilla launch pad. Space
• The Pentagon hopes that Starshield satellites launched by SpaceX could drastically improve connectivity in remote environments. USA Today
• The SpaceX Raptor rocket engine, which will be used for the Artemis III and Artemis IV missions, is a critical component in NASA's plan to return humans to the Moon. Hawkdive Media
• The Starlink company, owned by SpaceX, will have 23 of its satellites going to low-Earth orbit. Spectrum News 13
• SpaceX will get the Starship flying and will launch new Starlink satellites that are about three times bigger than the Starlink version 2 mini. NextBigFuture.com
• In light of Starliner's test flight that left its crew stranded in space, NASA will use SpaceX's Dragon for the upcoming crewed flights to the International Space Station (ISS) while the space agency decides what to do with Boeing's troubled spacecraft. Gizmodo
• NASA will use SpaceX's Crew Dragon for its two crew rotation missions to the International Space Station in 2025 as it continues to evaluate if it will require Boeing to perform another test flight of its Starliner spacecraft. SpaceNews
• SpaceX's progress with Starship has already captured the interest of NASA, which has selected Starship to serve as the first crewed lunar lander for the Artemis 3 mission, set to take place in 2026. The Daily Galaxy - Great Discoveries Channel
• Coming up in the final quarter of the year, SpaceX is expected to fly up to 15 customer missions and there will be highly important ones such as the launch of NASA's Europa Clipper. NASASpaceFlight.com

Last updated: 25 November 2024