The #NewArtemisFederation can be the foundation of a grand adventure of human and robotic exploration of our Solar System.
Ad Astra, Tum Magnus Casus
Joined March 2022
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SpaceX placed 27 more Starlink satellites in orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
The first stage (B1093) completed its 18th flight (41 days after its previous mission), landing on a drone ship in the Pacific.
The leaders in the 2026 launch race:
122 SpaceX
70 China
17 Rocket Lab (plus two suborbital HASTE launches)
12 Russia
SpaceX is once again tied with the entire world combined in successful launches in 2026, 122 to 122.
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SpaceX recently placed 27 Starlink satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
The first stage (B1063) completed its 36th flight (48 days after its previous mission), landing on a drone ship in the Pacific. With this launch that booster moved into third place in the rankings for the most reused launch vehicle:
39 Discovery space shuttle (retired)
37 Falcon 9 booster B1067
36 Falcon 9 booster B1063
35 Falcon 9 booster B1071
33 Atlantis space shuttle (retired)
32 Falcon 9 booster B1069 (retired)
30 Falcon 9 booster B1077
30 Falcon 9 booster B1078
Sources here and here.
The leaders in the 2026 launch race:
120 SpaceX
69 China
17 Rocket Lab (plus two suborbital HASTE launches)
12 Russia
SpaceX is now tied with the entire world combined in successful launches in 2026, 120 to 120.
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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off this morning.
The Dragon capsule carried 3+tons of supplies and experiments on its 4th cargo mission to ISS.
The capsule will dock with ISS in 2 days on October 15th.
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GO NAVY!!
The MASSIVE Move to Level Up Navy Shipbuilding Is Making Us Feel Like America's BACK pjmedia.com/victoria-taft/20…
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SpaceX completed 2 launches from opposite coasts.
First SpaceX launched eight Globalstar telecommunications satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral Space Force station in Florida. Then about 45 minutes later it placed a classified payload into orbit for the Space Force, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Here are the leaders in the 2026 launch race:
99 SpaceX
52 China
11 Rocket Lab (plus 2 suborbital HASTE launches)
10 Russia
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Starship looking like Enterprise rounding a planet from Star Trek TOS.
Starship soared on the second flight of the next generation, deploying advanced Starlink satellites for the first time and providing priceless data as it travelled through air, space, and sea → spacex.com/launches/starship…
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SpaceX placed 81 different commercial payloads in orbit, & Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenderg Space Force Base in California.
This was the company’s 17th Transporter mission, designed to provide launch services to very small satellites and payloads, including “cubesats, microsats, hosted payloads, and orbital transfer vehicles carrying eight of those payloads to be deployed at a later time.”
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Starfall has a circular, disk-shaped form measuring 10′ in diameter and 2′ 6″ in height. Its empty mass is 2,100 kg (4,600 lb). Starfall carries up to 1,000 kilograms of payload in a volume of 2.5 by 0.5 meters and a total mass of about 3,100 kilograms. The vehicle consists of a top plate with maneuvering thrusters and a heat shield that jettisons before a parachute assisted splashdown. Starfall reaches orbit as a payload on Falcon 9 or Starship. The design focuses on precision delivery to specific locations, supporting rapid delivery for critical cargo.
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The #NewArtemisFederation can be the foundation of a grand adventure of human and robotic exploration of our Solar System. The #AI paradigm shift will focus on laser comms at Mars so that robotic envoys can have embedded AI for Amazing Robotic Adventures 🚀
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The companies that received #SpaceForce contracts are Anduril, Booz Allen Hamilton, General Dynamics Mission Systems, GITAI USA, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Quindar, Raytheon, Sci-Tec, SpaceX, True Anomaly and Turion Space Corp.
These 12 companies have very different capabilities. Space Force is hoping to get many different ideas and proposals that will give it options provide it multiple methods for destroying in-coming missiles.
Space Force awarded up to $3.2bn contracts to 12 firms for space-based missile interceptors under Trump’s “Golden Dome” plan to spot and destroy threats from orbit. #SpaceForce #Trump
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Bravo Zulu NASA!
The Artemis-2 mission is over and the final condition of that heat shield needs to be analyzed. Other issues include:
▪A leak in an internal helium tank on Europe’s service module
▪Communication drop-outs several times
▪the endless issues with Orion’s toilet
And splashdown!
America is back in the business of sending astronauts to the Moon and bringing them home safely.
Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy did an outstanding job. These talented astronauts inspired the world and represented their space agencies and nations as humanity’s ambassadors to the stars.
This was a test mission, the first crewed flight of SLS and Orion, pushing farther into the unforgiving environment of space than ever before, and it carried real risk. They accepted that risk for all we stood to learn and for the exciting missions that follow, as we return to the lunar surface, build a Moon base, and prepare for what comes next.
And they were not alone. The entire NASA workforce, our commercial and international partners, and the hopes and dreams of people all over the world were with them. The astronauts know it, and you should too. This mission would not have been possible without you.
Congratulations. Artemis II, mission accomplished.
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🚀 Firefly Aerospace successfully carried out the launch of the “Stairway to Seven” mission with the Alpha rocket.
This is a huge win for #FireflyAerospace. Clearing that hurdle after the 2025 setback is critical, especially since they're using this flight as a bridge to their upgraded Alpha configuration.
The 2026 leaderboard really highlights the sheer scale of SpaceX's cadence. With 30 launches already, they aren't just leading; they are essentially providing the backbone for global orbital access while others scale up their next-gen systems such as ULA with Vulcan or Rocket Lab Electron.
#FireflyAerospace #AlphaRocket #RocketLaunch #Spaceflight
NASA admits SLS is experimental, just like Starship/Superheavy!
Let’s compare these experimental programs:
Testing:
SLS: One launch followed by a manned flight.
Starship/Superheavy: So far eleven test flights plus a half dozen early flip maneuver tests with just Starship. No humans on board, and no present plans to put humans on board for quite a number of additional test flights.
Cost:
SLS: ranging above $60 billion.
Starshp/Superheavy: Estimated in the range of $12 billion.
Development time:
SLS: Now going on 22 years.
Starship/Superheavy: Now about a decade.
Which would you buy?
NASA chief vows to solve SLS rocket fueling issues before Artemis III arstechnica.com/space/2026/0…
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SpaceX delays Mars plans to focus on 2027 moon landing, WSJ reports reuters.com/science/spacex-d…
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NASA admits SLS is experimental, just like Starship/Superheavy!
Let’s compare these experimental programs:
Testing:
SLS: One launch followed by a manned flight.
Starship/Superheavy: So far eleven test flights plus a half dozen early flip maneuver tests with just Starship. No humans on board, and no present plans to put humans on board for quite a number of additional test flights.
Cost:
SLS: ranging above $60 billion.
Starshp/Superheavy: Estimated in the range of $12 billion.
Development time:
SLS: Now going on 22 years.
Starship/Superheavy: Now about a decade.
Which would you buy?
The Full Moon rises over the Kennedy Space Center Press Site... as the world awaits Artemis II.
@NASASpaceflight nsf.live/spacecoast
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NASA admits SLS is experimental, just like Starship/Superheavy!
Let’s compare these experimental programs:
Testing:
SLS: One launch followed by a manned flight.
Starship/Superheavy: So far eleven test flights plus a half dozen early flip maneuver tests with just Starship. No humans on board, and no present plans to put humans on board for quite a number of additional test flights.
Cost:
SLS: ranging above $60 billion.
Starshp/Superheavy: Estimated in the range of $12 billion.
Development time:
SLS: Now going on 22 years.
Starship/Superheavy: Now about a decade.
Which would you buy?
The Artemis vision began with President Trump, but the SLS architecture and its components long predate his administration, with much of the heritage clearly traced back to the Shuttle era. As I stated during my hearings, and will say again, this is the fastest path to return humans to the Moon and achieve our near-term objectives through at least Artemis V, but it is not the most economic path and certainly not the forever path.
The flight rate is the lowest of any NASA-designed vehicle, and that should be a topic of discussion. It is why we undertake wet dress rehearsals, Pre-FRR, and FRR, and why we will not press to launch until we are absolutely ready.
The President’s National Space Policy envisions a Moon base, with repeated and affordable missions to the lunar environment. Along that journey, some functions that NASA has performed in the past and present may move to industry in the future, and that is when NASA recalibrates toward the near-impossible and undertakes the next grand endeavor.
Where Apollo ended at 17, Artemis will live on for decades as we explore and realize the economic and scientific potential of the lunar surface. It is where we will test hardware and operations, including resource manufacturing, nuclear power, and propulsion, the tools necessary to undertake human missions to Mars.
In short, Artemis II will be a historic mission, but it is still just the beginning. Where we go in the years ahead will inspire generations to come.
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I need to hear some sounds that recognize the pain in me, yeah
I let the melody shine,
Let it cleanse my mind,
I feel free now
But the airwaves are clean and there's nobody singing to me now
No change, I can change
I can change, I can change
But I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
And I'm a million different people
From one day to the next
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
Have you ever been down?
I can't change it you know
I can't change it
'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life
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