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☆ Investing in Space: Where NASA made cuts in its underwhelming budget request
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

CNBC's Investing in Space newsletter offers a view into the business of space exploration and privatization, delivered straight to your inbox. A year ago, the space agency was seeking budgets of $27.2 billion and $27.7 billion for 2024 and 2025, respectively. Moreover, NASA's budget remains a tiny fraction (less than 0.4%!) But the branch isn't exactly enthused, with Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall giving the 2025 request an "acceptable" grade. Space Force's budget has already surpassed NASA's, and the Pentagon is seeking $29.4 billion for the branch in 2025.

Persons: CNBC's Michael Sheetz, what's, Artemis, Frank Kendall, That's Organizations: House, NASA, Congress, Exploration Systems, Planetary Society, Air Force, Pentagon, Space Force, Security, NSSL

☆ Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship rocket and spacecraft lost in second test flight
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( Leighton Rowell | Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The Super Heavy booster and Starship spacecraft successfully separated after liftoff, as the Starship lit up its engines and pushed away. SpaceX's Starship launches on its second test flight from the Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, on Saturday morning. The method was used to separate the Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket after liftoff. Then, the spacecraft’s flight termination system was triggered to prevent it from veering off course, bringing an early end to the test flight. After April’s explosive first test flight, SpaceX noted “success comes from what we learn, and we learned a tremendous amount.”

Persons: Eric Gay, ”, John Insprucker, Artemis, “ Congrats, Bill Nelson, —, @SpaceX, Jim Free, Elon Musk, Kate Tice Organizations: CNN, Super, Starship, SpaceX, SpaceX's, Federal Aviation Administration, Boca, FAA, NASA, SpaceX Quality Systems Engineering Locations: of Mexico, Boca Chica , Texas, Hawaii

SpaceX on Saturday aims to perform its second uncrewed test flight of its massive Starship rocket after the last attempt in April successfully launched but exploded minutes later. Now, months after the first flight test, SpaceX has rebuilt its megarocket and is targeting a 20-minute launch window Saturday at 8 a.m. The test was initially scheduled for Friday, but SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that a part of the rocket needed to be replaced. SpaceX had to gain clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration to perform the test, which it received earlier this week. “The FAA has given license authorization for the second launch of the @SpaceX Starship Super Heavy vehicle,” the FAA posted on social media on Wednesday.

Persons: “, SpaceX, Elon Musk, ”, Jim Free Organizations: SpaceX, Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, NASA Locations: Texas, Indian, Hawaii, Mars

☆ SpaceX Starship: World’s most powerful rocket ready for takeoff
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

CNN —After months of rebuilding and clearing red tape following the April explosion of the Starship system’s first test flight, SpaceX is set for its next attempt. The Starship spacecraft stacked atop the Super Heavy booster is intended to play a key role in the NASA Artemis III moon mission, currently slated for 2025. After its fuel is spent, the Super Heavy will detach from the Starship spacecraft and fall back toward the ocean. “These delays may seem small in the big scheme of things but … delays in each and every test flight adds up. One group of activists sued the FAA in May, alleging regulators had failed to comply with federal environmental law when they greenlit Starship’s April test flight.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, they’re, NASA Artemis, ”, Musk’s, SpaceX’s, NASA’s —, Jim Free, “, ” Musk, William Gerstenmaier —, we’re, ” Gerstenmaier, Jared Margolis Organizations: CNN, SpaceX, Super, NASA, International Astronautical, “, NASA’s, Systems, Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, Center for Biological Locations: Riding, Boca Chica , Texas, South Texas, Texas, Padre, of Mexico, Hawaii, Baku, Azerbaijian, China

☆ FAA closes investigation into SpaceX Starship rocket that exploded, outlines ‘corrective actions’
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Kristin Fisher | Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The Federal Aviation Administration announced Friday it has closed its “mishap” investigation into the April SpaceX Starship test flight that ended after the rocket exploded over the Gulf of Mexico. The FAA says the investigation “cites multiple root causes” and “63 corrective actions SpaceX must take to prevent mishap reoccurrence,” the agency said in a statement. SpaceX has said it is ready to try to launch Starship again. But the FAA must issue a launch license, and one of the holdups has been the mishap investigation. “You can think about that launch date slipping probably into ’26.”In August, Free told CNN “my level of concern is the same” after a trip to visit SpaceX’s launch site a month earlier.

Persons: Elon Musk, WjENkdudo9 — Elon, Artemis III, Jim Free, he’s, ”, Free Organizations: CNN, Federal Aviation Administration, SpaceX, FAA, Boca Chica, U.S . Export Control, Boca, Fish and Wildlife Service, NASA, NASA’s, Systems, ”, Aeronautics, Space Engineering Board, Space Studies, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, Medicine Locations: of Mexico, Boca Chica , Texas, Boca Chica

☆ NASA taps Blue Origin to join SpaceX in building lunar landers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Blue Origin will develop its lunar lander alongside partners Lockheed Martin, Draper, Boeing, Astrobotic and Honeybee Robotics. Altogether, the price tag for Blue Origin’s lunar lander development program is likely worth more than $7 billion. Blue Origin has been fighting for a role in the Artemis lunar lander contracts — called Human Landing System — for years. A judge ultimately ruled against Blue Origin, though NASA later pledged to expand the number of companies with lunar lander contracts to two. NASA said from the beginning that it hoped to have more than one company working to develop lunar landers capable of carrying humans.

☆ Fact Check-Lengthier Artemis I trajectory toward Moon compared to Apollo 11 is not proof that space travel is a hoax
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The Artemis I mission took a different, less direct route toward the Moon compared to the 1969 Apollo 11 mission. The Artemis I lengthier trajectory is not proof of inferior technology, nor is it proof that space travel is a hoax, despite claims made online. Social media users shared a meme claiming to show the number of days it took for the Apollo 11 spacecraft to reach the Moon compared to the November 2022 Artemis I mission. A graphic released by NASA showing the Apollo 11 flight trajectory can be viewed (here), with the Artemis I trajectory viewable (here). “The Apollo 11 mission had a very direct path to a low lunar orbit to deliver the crew to the lunar surface.

☆ Historic NASA moon mission troubleshoots fuel leak ahead of launch
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

ET, intermittent leaks began to spring up that were occasionally above the threshold NASA officials hoped to see. Given all the issues that surfaced Tuesday evening, NASA could not move ahead with launch right at 1:04 a.m. The NASA Space Launch System rocket is seen at Kennedy Space Center on November 15, ahead of the Artemis I launch. After the most recent try in September, NASA did some troubleshooting and put the rocket through a fueling test. This a test mission, but NASA — and the corporate contractors that helped build the $4.1 billion SLS — have a lot riding on it.

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