behindtheblack

The head of NASA’s Artemis Moon Base program, Carlos García-Galán, admitted during a symposium in Ohio today that three of the four unmanned lunar lander missions that the agency hoped to launch in the fall of 2026 have now been delayed to 2027. Voyager Technologies’ first Griffin lunar lander is on track to launch no earlier than November, but a

According to CEO Giulio Ranzo of the Italian rocket company Avio, the decision by SpaceX to no longer fly its Falcon 9 Transporter missions — that fly dozens of small payloads in one launch — has been a blessing for his company, forcing it to push to ramp up its launch cadence to meet the new demand. “SpaceX has practiced

Starship/Superheavy, shortly after launch on July 24, 2026, looking down at Boca Chica SpaceX today finally officially confirmed the September 22, 2026 launch date for the 14th orbital test flight of Starship/Superheavy, with the launch window opening at 7:15 a.m (Central). In doing so it provided the first specific details of the mission. Starship’s initial orbital mission is expected to

The uncertainty of science: For the first time since satellite hurricane monitoring began in the mid-1960s, there have been no hurricanes recorded so far in 2026 in the Atlantic. While tropical cyclone activity continues at a rapid pace in the eastern Pacific, the Atlantic hurricane season remains well behind the historical average. As of Saturday, no Atlantic hurricanes had formed

In what should be the least newsy story of the day, the Air Force secretary yesterday noted during a speech that United States has what he called “space control weapons” in orbit. “Today, we continue to ensure we remain ready to meet the challenges of evolving threats wherever they exist,” [Air Force Secretary Troy] Meink said in a keynote address