Kennedy Space Center

butch and suni

The long journey of Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore and the Boeing Starliner mission is finally near its end: If everything goes according to plan, one of the most talked about journeys in American spaceflight will come to an end with a splashdown tomorrow evening somewhere off the coast of Florida.

Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore
Photo: NASA

​NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams are set to return to Earth aboard SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission, concluding an unexpectedly extended stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The deorbit burn is scheduled for approximately 5:11 p.m. EDT, with splashdown anticipated around 5:57 p.m. EDT off the coast of Florida.​

Unexpectedly Extended Mission

Wilmore and Williams launched to the ISS in June 2024 aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, initially slated for what was described an eight-day mission. However, technical issues with the Starliner, including thruster malfunctions and a helium system leak, rendered it unsafe for their return. Consequently, the spacecraft returned to Earth uncrewed, leaving the astronauts on Station for an extended period.

International Space Station
Photo: NASA

As a result of the unexpected issues with Starliner, NASA chose to add Wilmore and Williams to the ISS Expedition 71/72 roster. Both astronauts remained active and engaged throughout their prolonged mission, contributing significantly to the station’s objectives, with Williams taking command of ISS itself during her stay. The pair participated in over 150 experiments and observed various Earth phenomena from their unique vantage point. Despite the unforeseen extension, both maintained a positive outlook and never publicly complained about their unexpectedly long mission.

SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission, part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, launched on September 28, 2024, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 40. This mission was notable for being the first crewed launch from this particular complex. The Crew-9 spacecraft, named Freedom, carried NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov to the ISS, leaving behind NASA’s three-time space shuttle astronaut Stephanie Wilson and Zena Cardman, with both being reassigned to unspecified future missions.

Crew 9 lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 on September 28, 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Crew 9 lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 on September 28, 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

For its part, Crew 9 also experienced several delays prior to launch, primarily due to technical issues with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft and scheduling conflicts with other missions on ISS. Originally planned for mid-August 2024, the launch was postponed to late September to accommodate these challenges. ​

Crew 10

The arrival of SpaceX’s Crew-10 mission on March 16, 2025, marked a significant milestone in facilitating the return of Wilmore and Williams. The Crew-10 spacecraft, carrying NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, successfully docked with the ISS, allowing for a seamless transition of responsibilities. ​

The docking occurred at 12:04 a.m. EDT, followed by hatch opening at 1:35 a.m. EDT. The new crew members were warmly welcomed aboard, with the station’s population temporarily increasing to 11. This handover period ensured continuity of operations and allowed Wilmore and Williams to brief their replacements before their departure. ​

Liftoff of Crew 10 on March 14, 2025.
Liftoff of Crew 10 on March 14, 2025. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

Following the arrival of Crew-10, preparations for the return of Wilmore and Williams intensified. The Crew-9 spacecraft underwent thorough checks to ensure its readiness for re-entry and landing. Both astronauts expressed cautious excitement about returning home, acknowledging the inherent risks associated with re-entry but also their eagerness to reunite with family and resume life on Earth. ​

A Political Football

The extended stay of Wilmore and Williams garnered attention beyond the aerospace community. Public figures, including former President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, commented on the situation, with Musk referring to the upcoming return mission as a “rescue” operation.

However, both NASA and the astronauts refuted the notion that they were stranded in space or abandoned, emphasizing that their extended stay was a result of technical challenges and not political decisions. This set off a political firestorm, the intensity of which is rarely seen that involves spaceflight and NASA.

Current Return Plans for Crew 9

As the deorbit burn approaches, scheduled for approximately 5:11 p.m. EDT, mission teams are closely monitoring weather conditions and spacecraft systems to ensure a safe re-entry and landing. The splashdown is anticipated around 5:57 p.m. EDT off the coast of Florida, where recovery teams will be stationed to assist the returning astronauts. ​

Click to open NASA+ for live coverage of Crew 9 activities

In a press release today, NASA said that they and SpaceX met on Sunday, March 16th, to assess weather and splashdown conditions off Florida’s coast for the return of the agency’s Crew-9 mission from the International Space Station. Mission managers are targeting an earlier Crew-9 return opportunity based on favorable conditions forecasted for the evening of Tuesday, March 18. The updated return target continues to allow the space station crew members time to complete handover duties while providing operational flexibility ahead of less favorable weather conditions expected for later in the week.

NASA will provide live coverage of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 return to Earth from the International Space Station, beginning with Dragon spacecraft hatch closure preparations at 10:45 p.m. EDT Monday, March 17.

The successful end of the Crew 9 astronauts will finally end a long and controversial mission, and one that NASA surely hopes will never be repeated.

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First Full Successful NASA CLPS Lunar Lander Set To End Mission

A solar eclipse as seen from the lunar surface by Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission 1 lander on March 14, 2025
A solar eclipse as seen from the lunar surface by Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 lander on March 14, 2025
Photo: Firefly Aerospace

The first fully successful lunar lander mission in the NASA CLPS program is nearly complete. Lunar sunset at Mare Crisium is expected on March 16, 2025, and without sunlight to power the vehicle’s solar panels, the operations of Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 will end.

This morning on X.com, Firefly Aerospace said

Notably, the last major act of the lander will be to “capture the sunset glow and dust levitation seen by the Apollo 17 astronauts as they were leaving the Moon.” If Firefly engineers are able to capture that rare and only once-seen phenomena, it will be a fitting finale for a thoroughly successful mission.

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
—Dylan Thomas

Sunset On The Moon Is A Very Strange Time There

During the Apollo 17 mission, astronauts observed a faint light near the Moon’s horizon during sunrise and sunset, known as lunar horizon glow. This phenomenon is attributed to the electrostatic levitation of lunar dust particles.

On the Moon’s daylit side, solar ultraviolet and X-ray radiation can cause dust particles to become positively charged, leading them to repel from the surface and rise to altitudes ranging from meters to kilometers.

Conversely, on the night side, dust particles acquire a negative charge due to interactions with the solar wind. At the lunar terminator—the dividing line between day and night—intense electric fields may develop, resulting in horizontal dust transport, sometimes referred to as “Moon storms.”

Blue Ghost will attempt to further measure this phenomenon, as it has only been witnessed once, and that some fifty-three years ago.

This Just After A Solar Eclipse

Two days ago, Blue Ghost captured a solar eclipse, albeit the the first one recorded from the lunar surface — on Earth, a lunar eclipse was underway, and the Earth’s shadow was darkening the face of the moon for observers on the ground.

Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 successfully landed on the Moon on March 2, 2025, at 3:34 a.m. EST, near Mons Latreille within the Mare Crisium basin. This mission, part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, delivered ten NASA science and technology instruments to the lunar surface.

irefly's Blue Ghost 1 lander in lunar orbit in February, 2025.
Firefly’s Blue Ghost 1 lander in lunar orbit in February, 2025.
Photo: Firefly Aerospace

Among the payloads, the Lunar PlanetVac (LPV) successfully collected, transferred, and sorted lunar soil using pressurized nitrogen gas. The Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS) operated effectively, demonstrating potential applications in mitigating lunar dust accumulation on various surfaces.

The Next Generation Lunar Retroreflectors (NGLR) provided precise measurements of the Earth-Moon distance, contributing to our understanding of the lunar interior and fundamental physics. The Reconfigurable, Radiation-Tolerant Computer System (RadPC) demonstrated resilience to the Moon’s radiation environment, marking a significant step in developing robust computing technologies for space missions.

Blue Ghost Mission 1 cast its shadow on the lunar surface in March 2025
Blue Ghost Mission 1 cast its shadow on the lunar surface in March 2025
Photo: Firefly Aerospace

The Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) successfully received GPS and Galileo signals at lunar distances, proving the viability of using these systems for lunar navigation. The Lunar Instrumentation for Subsurface Thermal Exploration with Rapidity (LISTER) measured heat flow from the Moon’s interior, providing insights into its thermal properties.

The Lunar Environment Heliospheric X-ray Imager (LEXI) captured images of Earth’s magnetosphere interacting with the solar wind, enhancing our understanding of space weather phenomena. Additionally, the mission serendipitously captured images of a total lunar eclipse from the Moon’s surface, offering a unique perspective on this celestial event.

NASA awarded Blue Ghost Mission 1 to Firefly Aerospace in February 2021 as part of the NASA CLPS program. The contract was valued at approximately $93.3 million, making Blue Ghost 1 a bargain providing far more scientific returns than it cost.

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It was a good day to have a good day here in Florida, and that’s exactly what NASA, SpaceX and Crew 10 had today at Kennedy Space Center.

Falcon 9 lifted off, carrying three astronauts and one cosmonaut toward orbit and the International Space Station just as the sun was starting to set in the west. Some seven and a half minutes later, SpaceX booster B1090 completed its duty for the day by landing at LZ-1 in Cape Canaveral, 8.8 miles south of LC-39A.

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Falcon 9

The FAA released a statement today announcing the draft results of an Environmental Assessment for more than doubling the allowable launch operations at SpaceX’s facility at Space Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral starting in 2026. The assessment also contains information on the construction and operation of a landing zone at SLC-40 with up to 34 first-stage booster landings at the new landing zone annually.

The document outlines a Draft Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI).

Falcon 9
Falcon 9

Talk of Titusville first reported on SpaceX’s plans to build a new landing zone at SLC-40 in January of this year. In 2023, the 2-pad launch site has been allocated to Cocoa, Florida based Vaya Space and also Phantom Space through the Department of the Air Force’s Launch Pad Allocation Strategy (LPAS), a program designed to support the commercial space market and demand at the Eastern Range.

FAA Statement

The FAA is posting for public review a Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) analyzing the SpaceX proposal to increase Falcon 9 operations from 50 to up to 120 per year from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The Draft EA also reviews the construction of a first-stage booster landing zone at the site with up to 34 landings per year.

In order to meet the Department of the Air Force (DAF) National Environmental Policy Act requirements, the FAA has also posted a link to the Draft Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for public comment on behalf of DAF.

A virtual public meeting will be held on April 16 and the public comment period closes on April 24, 2025.

That assessment can be found here:

Draft Environmental Assessment SpaceX Falcon 9 Operations at Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida: 91711Download

In it some preliminary conclusions are found:

No Degredation Of The Human Environment

“The FAA has preliminarily concluded that the Proposed Action would not significantly affect the quality of the human environment.”

No Adverse Effects On Natural Resources / Energy Use

[The FAA has preliminarily concluded that] “the Proposed Action is not expected to contribute in any substantive 17 manner to adverse cumulative effects to supplies of natural resources or energy use.”

Negligible Effects On Increased Hazardous Waste

“Cumulative effects of other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions with the Proposed 13 Action would not contribute a noticeable incremental effect from hazardous materials and waste.”

Minimal Effect On Public Parks And Recreation

“Reasonably foreseeable future actions in the area, such as SLS launches at LC-39B, may require temporary closures of both the refuge and the seashore by USFWS and NPS. These temporary closures are related to crowd control and access for emergency services and are not related to a public safety hazard from a launch. If any such closures were to occur, they would be both infrequent and temporary in nature. As a result, the cumulative effects of other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions with the Proposed Action are not expected to result in a significant impact to [publicly owned park and recreation areas that are open to the general public.] resources.”

No Significant Adverse Effect On Land Use

“The Proposed Action would not result in significant adverse cumulative land use impacts.”

No Significant Cumulative Effects On Coastal Resources

“There would be no significant cumulative effects to coastal resources.”

Little Effect On Wildlife

“Several of the projects [..] include construction and development in both undisturbed and 37 previously disturbed areas. Disturbance to existing launch areas or other developed and semi-developed 38 The FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation Cumulative Effects Draft Environmental Assessment 4-10 March 2025 Falcon 9 Operations at SLC-40 sites would have little effect on wildlife because these areas have limited habitat value.”

Some Effect On Wetland Habitats

“The Proposed 1 Action and some of the actions in Table 4-2 involve clearing of native upland habitat. Some of the actions 2 in Table 4-2 could also potentially involve clearing and/or filling of a limited amount of wetland habitat. 3 The Proposed Action would not directly affect wetlands; potential impacts would consist of 4 construction -related sedimentation from runoff.”

“Cumulative loss and fragmentation of native upland and 5 wetland habitats may cause long-term effects on wildlife breeding, roosting, or foraging, particularly of 6 individuals with limited mobility and those without corridors to another suitable habitat. Construction 7 noise and general disturbance could cause similar impacts, but the effects would be temporary.”

Have Your Say

A virtual public meeting will be held on April 16 and the public comment period closes on April 24, 2025.

The FAA invites interested parties to submit comments on the Draft EA. Instructions on how to submit comments can be found on the FAA webpage linked here: 

https://www.faa.gov/space/stakeholder_engagement/SpaceX_Falcon_SLC_40_EA.

Interested parties are invited to submit comments on the Draft EA by April 24, 2025.

The FAA will hold a virtual public meeting on the Draft EA on April 16, 2025, from 6:00 – 8:00 PM (Eastern). Interested parties must register to join the virtual public meeting. Registration is now available at the link below.

RegistrationLink: 
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_8qtN8bzPS1eApVobqo8poA

Dial-in phone number: 888-788-0099 (Toll Free)
Webinar ID: 853 9161 5696
Passcode: 743444

If any accommodation for public meeting is needed (such as additional translation services), please submit a request by April 4, 2025 to SpaceXFalconSLC40@icf.com.

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Starship tower under construction in 2022 Photo: Charles Boyer / ToT
Starship Heavy lifts off from Boca Chica, Texas to start the IFT-6 mission. Photo: Richard Gallagher, FMN
Starship Heavy lifts off from Boca Chica, Texas to start the IFT-6 mission. Photo: Richard Gallagher, FMN

SpaceX, never a company to shy away from daunting challenges, said yesterday that it plans to launch its Starship Heavy megarocket from Florida late this year, pending the completion of environmental reviews. Previously, it had been believed that Starship would come in 2026 or even later, due to several factors: permitting, needed construction and incomplete infrastructure needed to launch the 397 foot tall rocket.

SpaceX’s Announcement

SpaceX announcement

Hurdles To Clear

The environmental reviews the announcement speaks of is the Environmental Impact Statement for Pad LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. Ongoing since last May, the EIS initial draft is due later this year with a final decision to come not long after a public comment period.

The reviews are just one of several obstacles SpaceX will need to overcome in order to actually fly Starship from Florida this year. They will also need to complete the Starship tower that has been at LC-39A for a few years, albeit in a partially finished state. Secondly SpaceX will need to construct propellant infrastructure in or near LC-39A to fuel Starship, and finally, if the company intends to land both the first stage of Starship and the Ship (second stage itself) they will need a second tower for one or the other to settle on after its mission.

Starship tower under construction in 2022 Photo: Charles Boyer / ToT
Starship tower under construction at LC-39A in 2022
Photo: Charles Boyer / ToT

On top of that, SpaceX will need to have a mission-capable Starship ready before the end of the year, unless they are planning to conduct test flights from the Space Coast as well as their headquarters in Texas. At this point in time, it appears that is some months away at a minimum as the company conducts test flights of the new rocket system.

All that said, it is a tall order to complete all of those items in 2025, especially at an active launch pad that is the only one that can currently support Falcon Heavy launches. On the other hand, if there is a company that can execute a demanding project plan quickly, it is SpaceX.

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Artists rendering of the AstroForge Odin spacecraft. Credit: AstroForge

Spacecraft Is Out Of Contact And Presumably Tumbling In Space

Attempts to re-establish contact with AstroForge’s Odin asteroid mining were not successful last night. Astroforge co-founder and CEO Matt Gialich said in an update on the status of the mission that, “There is still a chance that we are going to be able to recover the vehicle… but I think we all know that hope is fading.”

AstroForge Now Believes Odin Is Tumbling

A clearly exhausted Gialich said in the update, “Last night we had two options. One of those options was that [Odin] was tumbling. And I think that is the option that has become true as we have got additional data.”

That’s a change from yesterday, when AstroForge mission controllers did not think Odin was in a tumbling state. More data or further analysis of all the data available can change informed opinions, of course, and that’s what appears to be the case with AstroForge.

AstroForge’s founders, Jose Acain (left) and Matt Gialich (right.). Photo: Ed Carreon/AstroForge
AstroForge’s founders, Jose Acain (left) and Matt Gialich (right.).
Photo: Ed Carreon/AstroForge

“When I say tumble,” Gialich explained, “this is a really, really low speed tumble. We think this is somewhere sub one-degree. And we have some optical data to calculate that.”

He then added that, “In short, we don’t know why and that’s going to be the problem going forward now.” It seemed clear in Gialich’s statement that he was not only speaking towards recovering Odin’s mission but also future AstroForge spacecraft. “We’re gonna keep our head up, we’re gonna keep trying over the weekend and we’ll see how far we get.”

AstroForge Promises Detailed Summary Of Events Next Week

Gialich and AstroForge have been extremely open and transparent throughout the Odin mission and from the start. Gialich promised more information will be coming soon, warts and all, regarding the Odin mission. “I’ll follow this up with a really detailed blog post,” he said last night. “I’m gonna tell you guys everything: all the errors we made, all the issues we had, all the problems we had, everything that went wrong.”

Odin launching aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 on February 26, 2025. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Odin launching aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 on February 26, 2025. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

He added, “I think as a team and as a company and I think as humans, that’s how we get better at these missions. Right? And our hope is that in the future we can open up space to everybody. We don’t do that by being closed minded. So we’ll publish that.”

As to when that update would be coming, Gialich said, “I think the first iteration of that we’ll put up in a couple hours and then followed up in the middle of the week by, I think, a very detailed one and some of the learnings that will go into our next mission.”

AstroForge Will Try Again In A Year

Despite the apparent failure of their second mission, Matt Gialich seemed upbeat in spite of his disappointment, “We have probably the best group of investors in the world. [A] lot of them have doubled down on this company. We have more than enough capital to make it to the next mission. So regardless of the outcome of Odin, regardless if we ever talk to it again or we don’t, we’re going to roll these findings into the next mission.

He concluded by saying, “We’ll see you back here in about a year when we take another stab at it.”

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NASA Trailblazer
Rendering of NASA Trailblazer near the Moon. Courtesy NASA
Rendering of NASA Trailblazer near the Moon.
Courtesy NASA

NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer is experiencing issues after its launch earlier this week. Trailblazer launched on February 26 aboard Falcon 9 from LC-39A at KSC.

The spacecraft successfully established initial communications with mission operators at Caltech’s IPAC in Pasadena, California, at 8:13 PM EST, but telemetry data soon revealed intermittent power problems with Lunar Trailblazer.

Fueled and attached to an adaptor used for secondary payloads, NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer is seen at SpaceX’s payload processing facility within NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in early February 2025. The small satellite is riding along on Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 launch. Credit: SpaceX
Fueled and attached to an adaptor used for secondary payloads, NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer is seen at SpaceX’s payload processing facility within NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in early February 2025. The small satellite is riding along on Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 launch.
 Credit: SpaceX

By early Thursday morning, around 4:30 AM EST, the team lost contact with the satellite. However, several hours later, Lunar Trailblazer’s transmitter powered back on, and engineers are now working with NASA ground stations to restore full communication. Efforts are focused on assessing the spacecraft’s power issues and identifying potential solutions.

Lunar Trailblazer was developed as part of NASA’s SIMPLEx (Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration) program, which funds low-cost, high-risk science missions. The initiative allows small spacecraft to hitch a ride alongside larger primary missions, enabling innovative research while accepting a higher level of operational risk.

NASA’S Trailblazer, launching aboard the SpaceX IM-2 mission on February 26, 2025
Photo: Chris Leymarie / Florida Media Now

Weighing a mere 440 pounds and measuring 11.5 feet wide with its solar panels fully deployed, Lunar Trailblazer is about the size of a dishwasher and relies on a relatively small propulsion system to travel cislunar space to lunar orbit. It is employing a low-energy transfer to save weight and to simplify the propulsion system aboard the spacecraft.

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AstroForge's Odin spacecraft
AstroForge’s Odin spacecraft.
Credit: AstroForge

Communications issues dogging the company’s inaugural launch

AstroForge, the California-based company developing asteroid mining technologies, is having trouble locking on and establishing reliable communications with its Odin spacecraft after its February 26th launch from Kennedy Space Center. Communications from spacecraft to the ground have thus far been intermittent, with no meaningful data telemetry being received from Odin back on Earth.

AstroForge Co-Founder and CEO Matt Gialich said in a briefing earlier today, “We have made multiple communications with the spacecraft. We do believe we’re in a power positive state, although we don’t have telemetry coming down to confirm that. There’s no known way to actually have the vehicle communicating with us at this point in the mission and not be in a power positive state.”

AstroForge’s founders, Jose Acain (left) and Matt Gialich (right.).
Photo: Ed Carreon/AstroForge

“Power positive” is indicative of a successful deployment of Odin’s solar panels, and that those panels are providing power to the spacecraft to operate. Taken at its simplest terms, AstroForge knows that Odin is not dead because of the intermittent information received thus far.

On Its Way To Deep Space

Secondly, AstroForge knows that they are on course to exit cislunar space. “The vehicle is almost exactly where we predicted it would be. And we do have information and updated locations to show it is very close to where [it is] predicted [to be], which allows it to track us with the high gain antennas that we are going to be using.”

“We have what’s called the C3 greater than zero, which means we are on our way to deep space. We will be in deep space or we’ll be on the other side of the moon in about two days.”

Two Possibilities

AstroForge believes that the issues come down to one of two possibilities: “Possibility number one is everything is fine and all our issues are actually on the ground,” Gialich said. “Possibility number two is that we are in a really slow uncontrolled tumble. We actually got some information [earlier] that suggests that that is not true.”

Matt Gialich during the February 28th mission briefing
Photo: AstroForge stream

Good news that, and AstroForge’s team has a plan going forward. Sometime this evening, the company’s mission controllers are planning to send two commands to Odin. “The first command is going to be turning on our power amplifier. This is the thing on the spacecraft that actually sends a really high gain signal back to Earth. We’re going to [send] a command up,” Gialich explained. “We’ll send it about once every half a second. That is going to try to turn this on from the flight computer.”

He added that, “We have every inclination to believe the flight computer is on. And if we can get this command to it, it will be received and turned on. There is a second special command that we will put in place, probably an hour to two hours if that command doesn’t work. And this is a command that will turn on the power amplifier via the radio.”

“So we’ll never communicate with the flight computer. We’ll have the radio turn on the power amplifier and turn back down to us. Those are the two commands we’ll be trying tonight with the whole intent of getting more data from the spacecraft so we can make sure its state is in a good place,” Gialich concluded.

Ground Station Issues

“We dealt with a [lot] of ground issues very early. The first station we had there was a lot of mistakes made by the provider,” Gialich said.

“We actually didn’t even start to communicate with the spacecraft until about an hour after launch, which was not ideal because that was a much smaller dish. So we made a lot of mistakes there. That sucked. But essentially that whole 10 hour pass that we first had was just useless.”

“One of our power amplifiers on one of our stations literally broke. I don’t even know how you make this [stuff] up. Like it broke during, right before [it was needed]. And that was one of our major communication points,” a clearly frustrated Matt Gialich said.

On top of that bad luck, one of AstroForge’s deep space communications providers in India has been experiencing interference from a nearby cellphone tower. “The theory actually what happened is somebody installed the cell phone antenna and turned it on, Gialich said, adding “You gotta love the world sometimes. There was nothing we could do about it.”

For tonight’s communications attempt, according to Gialich that cellphone tower will either be shut down or will operate with greatly reduced power. In the meantime, Astroforge will be attempting to track the Intuitive Machines IM-2 lander as it travels towards the moon in order to verify their communications setup on the ground.

AstroForge's Odin spacecraft lifts off aboard a Falcon 9 on February 26, 2025. Photo: Chris Leymarie / Florida Media Now
AstroForge’s Odin spacecraft lifts off aboard a Falcon 9 on February 26, 2025.
Photo: Chris Leymarie / Florida Media Now

Contingency Plans

In about six and a half days, if Odin remains out of communication, it will automatically execute a pre-planned burn designed to send the spacecraft towards its target asteroid.

“The challenge here becomes if there’s anything that is really, even in the predicted margins here, it’s really hard to track the spacecraft,” Gialich explains. He added that Odin “Is very far away from Earth at this point. And to try to point one of these high gain thin-beam width antennas at the spacecraft and get it right, it’s gonna be really difficult. So not an ideal situation that we want to get to whatsoever.”

Gialich concluded the briefing sating, “We got a long night ahead of us of trying to command this thing and trying to figure out what we can do. It’ll be a lot of of going back and forth. It’ll be a lot of not sleeping for me and the team again. And welcome to Space.”

Indeed. Space is a harsh mistress, and is unforgiving of even the smallest error. While AstroForge has already made some history by being the first deep-space commercial probe, the company is working diligently to restore communications and to get Odin’s mission back on track.

Stay Tuned.

You can follow AstroForge’s mission updates on their X.com account. The company is remarkably transparent and entirely human, and it is refreshing to see them showing all aspects of their mission, good and bad.

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SpaceX Falcon 9 IM-2 liftoff
SpaceX Falcon 9 IM-2 lifts off from LC-39A at 7:16 PM
SpaceX Falcon 9 IM-2 lifts off from LC-39A at 7:16 PM in the first of two evening launches.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

SpaceX launched twice from the Cape Wednesday night, as a Falcon 9 carrying Intuitive Machines second lunar lander lifted off at 7:16 PM from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center, and three hours and eight minutes later, the company launched another Falcon 9 on the Starlink 12-13 mission.

Both launches were successful.

IM-2 Launch

The Nova-C lunar lander “Athena”, developed by Intuitive Machines, is embarking on its second mission. This mission includes NASA’s PRIME-1 (Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1), marking the first demonstration of in-situ resource utilization on the Moon. PRIME-1 comprises two key instruments: the TRIDENT drill, designed to extract lunar ice, and the MSolo mass spectrometer, which will analyze the extracted material.

Intuitive Machines' IM-2 mission lunar lander, Athena, in the company's Lunar Production and Operations Center. Photo courtesy Intuitive Machines
Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission lunar lander, Athena, in the company’s Lunar Production and Operations Center. Photo courtesy Intuitive Machines

Additionally, several other spacecraft are on board:

  • Lunar Trailblazer, a small-class (D) lunar orbiter under NASA’s SIMPLEx program, is tasked with detecting and mapping water on the Moon’s surface. By analyzing the form, abundance, and distribution of lunar water in relation to geological features, it aims to enhance our understanding of the Moon’s water cycle.
  • Odin, a spacecraft developed by AstroForge, a company focused on asteroid mining, is set to venture into deep space. Its mission is to observe near-Earth asteroid 2022 OB5 from a distance of approximately one kilometer, providing critical data for AstroForge’s first asteroid retrieval mission. The flyby is expected to take place 11 months after launch.
  • CHIMERA GEO 1, a transfer spacecraft by Epic Aerospace, is designed to transport payloads into geostationary orbit. On this mission, it carries an unidentified 16U cubesat, manifested by Exolaunch, with the objective of securing an orbital position.

This mission represents a another step in lunar exploration and resource utilization, advancing scientific and commercial ambitions. The Artemis program will be a major beneficiary of IM-2, and if Astroforge is successful on the Odin mission, a new frontier for raw materials and resources may be kicked off. As for Chimera GEO 1, a successful mission will position Epic Aerospace as a viable vendor for satellite delivery to high orbits.

Liftoff of Space Falcon 9 and IM-2 on February 26, 2025.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

Starlink 12-13

Timelapse of Starlink 12-13.
Photo: Chris Leymarie, Florida Media Now

At 10:34 PM EST and 7.5 miles away on Space Launch Complex 40, SpaceX launched for the second time of the day when Falcon 9 launched another batch of 21 satellites for its Starlink mega-constellation.

With over 7,000 satellites in orbit and customers in over one hundred countries, Starlink has been growing rapidly as it provides broadband Internet access to early five million users.

Launch Replay

IM-2

Starlink 12-13

Next Launch

On Saturday, March 1st, SpaceX plans to launch Falcon 9 and Starlink 12-20 mission from SLC-40 down the Bimini Highway — southeastwards towards The Bahamas. This mission will be a near carbon copy of tonight’s Starlink launch.

  • Organization: SpaceX
  • Location: Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
  • Rocket: Falcon 9
  • Pad: Space Launch Complex 40
  • Window Opens: Saturday, 03/01/2025 8:57:00 PM EST
  • Window Closes: Sunday, 03/02/2025 1:28:00 AM EST
  • Destination: Low Earth Orbit
  • Mission Description: Another batch of satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation – SpaceX’s project for space-based Internet communication system.
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