Kennedy Space Center Archives - Page 6 of 24

October 30, 2025

SpaceX Release Starship HLS Update

SpaceX issued an update today outlining their planned path forward for Starship, its lunar lander variant, and another affirmation that the Moon plays a critical role in its long-term plan to establish a sustained human presence beyond Earth.

At the heart of the effort is Starship, a fully reusable, two-stage launch vehicle that SpaceX says is designed “for Moon, Mars, and beyond.” But the Moon is up first. The vehicle is being adapted to support both cargo and crewed lunar missions with plans to use both.

SpaceX is a key player in NASA’s Artemis program. Its lunar Starship variant was selected as the Human Landing System (HLS) for Artemis III—the mission that will return astronauts to the Moon for the first time since 1972. That landing, targeting the lunar south pole, could happen as soon as the late 2020s, depending on development progress of the lander and other key equipment, such as the EVA suits the astronauts will use once they get there.

In parallel, SpaceX is preparing its own launch infrastructure both here on the Space Coast and at Starbase in south Texas, where flight tests are steadily ramping up. The goal: make rapid reusability and high payload capacity a routine part of deep space logistics.infrastructure like rovers, habitats, and power systems. The Eastern Range will serve as the operations launch site, with support from Texas. Meanwhile Texas will continue its role as the R&D center for Starship.

What’s The Rush?

The Moon’s south pole is a region believed to hold water ice within permanently shadowed craters. This resource is key for producing oxygen, fuel, and potentially even drinking water for future astronauts, making the South Pole one of the most strategically valuable spots on the Moon.

While the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, a multilateral treaty that forms the basis of international space law, forbids any entity claiming ownership of a celestial body, it is also simple common sense that if someone establishes a base or colony on a given spot on the Moon or Mars, it is “theirs” for all practical purposes. For the Moon’s resources, getting there and establishing a permanent presence is a strategic interest for both China and the US.

Planning For Long Stays

Unlike the Apollo missions’ Lunar Module, SpaceX is building Starship for permanence. Starship is anticipated to spend extended periods in space and on the lunar surface. Artemis III, the first mission, anticipates a seven-day stay on the Moon. Artemis X, should the program get that far, could be one to six months long. Starship will need to be able to fly and carry crew after that.

NASA is also tasking SpaceX to deliver cargo to the lunar surface prior to a crewed landing. The company’s overall plan includes an uncrewed Starship Cargo variant, which will deploy essential supplies and infrastructure before astronauts even arrive, meeting NASA’s requirements. These early robotic missions will test and qualify Starship’s systems and lay the groundwork for longer stays, science operations, and industrial activity.

The Moon will serve as a proving ground for systems that SpaceX eventually wants to use on Mars: in-situ resource utilization, deep-space life support, surface mobility, and long-duration habitation. Starship will play a major role in any of those efforts and the Starship Cargo variant promises to be quite a busy set of spacecraft.

Technical Hurdles

Major technical hurdles remain. Landing Starship on the Moon requires precise control in a low-gravity environment, along with in-space refueling—something no space agency or company has done yet. There’s also the complex choreography of launching cargo missions ahead of crewed flights and assembling a sustainable support chain between Earth and the Moon. There’s a long way to go.

Still, SpaceX appears quite committed to solving these problems quickly, with an eye on both NASA’s timelines and its own broader lunar strategy. They’ve also made tremendous progress, according to their update:

SpaceX HLS Issues
Item/Area	Purpose
Life Support & Thermal System Test	Full-scale cabin test with crew to validate oxygen/nitrogen injection, air, humidity, thermal, and sanitation controls.
Docking Adapter Qualification	Tests SpaceX’s docking system for Orion–Starship linkup, based on Dragon 2 hardware.
Landing Leg Drop Test	Dropped full-size leg article onto simulated lunar surface to study landing behavior.
Raptor Lunar Landing Throttle Test	Simulated lunar landing thrust profile with Raptor engine.
Micrometeoroid & Debris Testing	Analyzed shielding and material stackups to protect Starship from impacts and heat in space.
Landing Navigation Demos	Tested sensors, software, and radar for accurate lunar descent and landing.
Software Architecture Review	Defined control systems, fault detection, telemetry, and alert functions for lunar Starship.
Raptor Cold Start Demo	Simulated cold engine restarts after long exposure to space conditions.
Integrated Mission Ops Review	Outlined NASA–SpaceX mission plans, flight rules, and crew procedures.
Depot Power Module Test	Validated electrical systems for Starship propellant depot variant.
RF Communications Demo	Tested radio systems between Starship and ground station.
Elevator & Airlock Demo	Practiced crew and cargo transfer with EVA suits using the Starship elevator system.
Medical System Test	Validated on-board crew medical and telemedicine systems.
Propellant Transfer Testbed	Activated hardware-in-the-loop system to simulate in-space fuel transfer operations.

Clearly, SpaceX has not been sitting on its hands idly waiting for the initial Starship development to conclude before starting on other aspects of the Artemis III mission and what lies beyond that. Today’s update gives insight into those efforts and demonstrates clear progress on all fronts.

Timeline

One thing missing from the SpaceX update: any sort of timeline or projection of a timeline for completion of major milestones such as ship-to-ship propellant transfers. To be fair, the company has issued timelines for when those critical milestones will be met, but in this update there are no adjustments or restatements.

It’s possible that SpaceX may be waiting for NASA to update the public on the timeline statuses of the human landing systems (Blue Origin is working on their own) as well as the status at Axiom Space of its efforts to deliver EVA suits. NASA has not made major managers for Artemis available to the press for interviews in quite some time now, something the agency should rectify after the government shutdown ends.

The Big Picture

In their update, SpaceX makes clearly that HLS and their lunar effort isn’t just about returning to the Moon—it’s about staying there. SpaceX envisions a future where regular missions bring materials, tools, and people to build out a lunar foothold that could support science, exploration, and even commercial activity.

Clearly, SpaceX has a long way to go before it is ready, but at the same time, it is extremely rare for a company the size of SpaceX to be as agile and creative as it has been and continues to be.

As former astronaut Clayton Anderson has said for years: “Never bet against SpaceX.”

October 19, 2025

Big Birds Are About To Fly From The Cape

Business is picking up here on the Space Coast, and we’re heading into a very busy stretch on the Eastern Range with missions to Mars, the Moon, low Earth orbit and of course ISS all set to launch here. Best of all, they’ll ride aboard a wide array of rockets and we’ll see some rare birds taking flight from here in Florida.

Those flagship and keystone launches will be mixed in with the regular Starlink and Project Kuiper missions along with some commercial satellite missions. In short, if you like watching rocket launches, the next few months here at The Cape are going to be a treat. Get your bug spray and lawn chair ready.

Regulars who watch pad activity or track transport moves out of Astrotech or the Blue Origin integration facility off Space Commerce Way are already seeing the signs: New Glenn’s first stage is at LC-36 being integrated to GS-2 (New Glenn’s second state) and preparing for an integrated static firing as part of its launch campaign. SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy is on the manifest again, albeit in lightly written pencil. And NASA’s Artemis II stack is inching toward flight, with some saying that the crew of that mission will be heading to moon as soon as February 2026. Best we can tell, here’s what’s real, what’s rumor, and what’s sitting on the pad right now:

New Glenn

Starting things off, Blue Origin rolled out its GS-1 booster — Never Tell Me The Odds — to Launch Complex 36 on October 8th. This is a sure sign of the impending second flight of Blue’s New Glenn, a 320-foot tall behemoth of a rocket that the company will use to power the multiple missions it is currently working on.

The rollout from Blue’s factory on Exploration Way kicked off final pad integration for the flight. Following completion of that and culminating in a static firing of GS-1, it’s fair to say that the launch campaign has kicked off for NG-2, carrying NASA’s EscaPADE dual spacecraft, bound for Mars orbit to study solar wind interactions, plus a secondary payload for Viasat.

The static fire is expected in the next 7–10 days according to unofficial sources, and that will be the final greenlight before range clearance. The company already has a launch license, so there will be no need to wait for any FAA approvals.

While Blue Origin hasn’t publicly confirmed a date, multiple launch tracking sites now list November 9, 2025, as the likely target. That may change, of course, so stay tuned.

Falcon Heavy In December?

Assuming a November New Glenn flight, eyes will turn from one end of The Cape to the other, for a rare SpaceX Falcon Heavy mission, this time flying Astrobotic’s Griffin Mission One under NASA’s CLPS program. The lander will ferry the VIPER lunar rover to the south pole of the Moon.

The mission is notable not just for its science payload and is a critical mission for Astrobotic, the mission’s operator. Their first attempt at a lunar landing was not successful, but after applying lessons learned from its Peregrine Mission One, which launched in January 2024 but experienced an anomaly that prevented it from reaching the Moon.

The window opens in early December, though final pad dates haven’t been published.

Frankly, a delay into 2026 would not be terribly surprising. Nothing on Astrobotic’s or NASA’s websites indicates the lander is in Florida for final launch preparation and payload integration. Add in the current shutdown state of the federal government and you can see this mission shifting right on the calendar fair easily.

Artemis II

With the recent transportation of the Orion capsule stack to the VAB and the SLS rocket that awaits it there, things are literally coming together nicely for America’s first crewed mission beyond low-Earth orbit in over fifty years.

NASA is saying that Artemis II is now tracking toward a no-earlier-than February 2026 launch, with an official “no later than” window of April 2026. The mission will send four astronauts around the Moon aboard Orion and riding atop the SLS Block 1 rocket. This will be the first crewed flight of Orion and will raise the count of crewed American spacecraft systems to three, if one includes the Starliner program.

Artemis II will bring the excitement and the crowds that go along with it, so this is a launch to watch closely.

Starship – Mid 2026 If All Goes Well

While Starship continues testing from Boca Chica, SpaceX is working feverishly at LC-39A and is progressing to bring full-stack launches to the Cape.

No launch license yet for Florida flights, and no integration tower ready for Super Heavy booster ops. That said, groundwork is active.

Expect a first Florida-based Starship no earlier than mid-2026, contingent on pad completion and FAA approval. That launch would be key to fulfilling the Artemis HLS lander contract. After Artemis II, all eyes will turn to Artemis II, and there are going to be literally dozens of Starship launches from here and in Boca Chica to the support that mission.

First though, a lot has to happen here at The Cape: Starship must gain approval from the FAA, and secondly, the construction at LC-39A and at Hangar X must be completed. Flight hardware will be manufactured in Texas and transported to the Cape by water, and after all of that, all of the pieces need to be put together into an integrated flight system. Sounds daunting, with a lot of potential potholes, but it is foolish to ever bet against SpaceX and their capability to get things done.

So, mid-2026 optimistically. If there are delays, any time after that. Time will tell, but be sure of this: Starship is coming as NASA and the DoD both want it.

Mixed In With It All

Falcon 9, Atlas V and Vulcan will all stay busy with constellation-building, government missions and commercial missions.

They may be overshadowed for a time by the big missions set to fly from here in Florida, but the bread-and-butter rocket launches will continue apace and will be increasing: SpaceX is looking to raise its Falcon 9 pace from The Cape and launching more Starlink satellites thereby, Vulcan is now operational and with a notable backlog of flights, and New Glenn is not far behind. Let’s not forget the venerable Atlas V, it will be carrying Kuiper Project satellites to orbit at a fair steady pace as well.

So if you like rocket launches, this is going to be like Christmas for you. Good thing it’s almost Christmas!

October 13, 2025

11th Starship Test Mission Soars From Texas

The rocket was clearly visible from The Cape as it passed to the south.

SpaceX launched its eleventh integrated flight of the Starship and Super Heavy booster system on Monday evening from Boca Chica in southeast Texas close to the Mexican border. Today’s mission tested core Starship systems including flight operations, launch, stage separation, engine relight, and controlled splashdowns among many other objectives. It was largely successful and marked a transition point for the company’s vehicle development program.

Liftoff occurred at 6:23 PM Central Time. Shortly after launch, the Super Heavy booster separated from the upper stage as planned and performed a controlled descent before splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico. There was no attempt to catch the booster using the tower’s mechanical arms. Before the launch SpaceX had reported that the descent data would inform future recovery efforts. In any event, the descent and landing of the booster appeared to be nominal in all respects until the rocket splashed down.

Ship 28, Starship’s upper stage, continued on a suborbital trajectory and deployed eight Starlink satellite simulators. It also successfully restarted its Raptor engines in space—an important test for missions that require multiple burns. The vehicle later reentered the atmosphere and splashed down in the Indian Ocean off of the northwest coast of Australia.

This flight is expected to be the final mission using the current version of the Starship hardware, as SpaceX prepares to introduce a more advanced variant, Version 3, with updated systems and structures. Engineers also gathered data on heat shielding and aerodynamic performance, which are critical for future operational flights.

Elon Musk watched the launch from outside mission control, describing the view as a different experience from past launches. No official statements were made during the live broadcast beyond brief technical updates.

Starship Flight 11. Photo: Chris Leymarie, Florida Media Now

NASA is monitoring the Starship program closely, as the vehicle is planned to serve as a lunar lander for future Artemis missions. While timelines remain uncertain, successful flights like this one move the system closer to the performance levels required for human-rated missions.

Another group watching closely were Space Coast residents. Starship is expected to heavily utilize the Eastern Range for many of its flights once it is operational, and tonight’s flight served as a preview of things to come in the area, probably sooner rather than later.

Video credit: Michael Lynch of Talk of Titusville

October 13, 2025

Starship Flight 11 Is Today, Many Space Coast Residents Are Keenly Watching

SpaceX is set to launch Starship Flight 11 today from its Boca Chica, Texas, facility, on a test flight that potentially carries major implications for Florida’s Space Coast. As the company eyes future Starship operations from Cape Canaveral, today’s test flight will help validate critical systems—like heat shield performance, engine performance and stability, as well as booster recovery—all systems that must be fully qualified and fully dependable prior to the system entering an operational state.

As SpaceX prepares for the next Starship test flight from Texas, attention is shifting to Florida, where the company is laying the groundwork for future launches. SpaceX is preparing infrastructure at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral, potentially bringing economic growth, tourism surges, and job creation. At the same time, concerns about airspace closures, beach access restrictions, and environmental impacts are mounting locally.

Starship To Boost The Local Economy

The economic implications of Starship for the Space Coast region are significant. Experts believe that regular Starship launches could revive the kind of tourism once seen during the Space Shuttle era, drawing thousands of visitors and pumping millions into local businesses. Spending on hotels, restaurants, transportation, and entertainment could surge, while local hiring and infrastructure development could follow suit. If Florida becomes a key hub for Starship activity, the benefits could extend from tourism to long-term aerospace investment.

Others point to jobs that will be created both during construction and also during the ongoing operation of Starship from the Eastern Range. The Starship expansion in Florida is expected to create approximately 600 new full-time jobs on the Space Coast by 2030, along with a $1.8 billion infrastructure investment, according to a Reuters report.

Those are the direct jobs, and other indirect positions are likely to be created as well — payload processing, infrastructure support at The Cape and others come to mind. In short, it’s fair to say that Starship will bring jobs, local spending, increased tax revenues, and a lot of other positives for the Space Coast economy.

The Price Of Progress

But with those opportunities come challenges. Previous Starship launches have already caused ripple effects in Florida’s airspace. During Flight 8, the FAA grounded commercial flights at major airports across the state, including Miami, Orlando, and Palm Beach, due to debris concerns from failed flights. While those flight failures can fairly be attributed to the company’s efforts to develop and determine the limits of Starship hardware, the incidents also portend delays SpaceX ramps up operations here. Similar disruptions for ongoing normal operations could become more common, affecting both travelers and airlines across the region.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has warned that airline passengers could be delayed by up to 2 hours per flight, with an average interruption of 40 minutes per event. That will not only inconvenience passengers, it will also create logistics issues for air carriers and their destinations. All of that has a price, and airlines are resisting paying it.

Environmental and community concerns are also growing. The FAA’s draft environmental review proposes closing Playalinda for around 60 days a year to create safety zones during launches and tests. That’s before Florida’s notoriously fickle launch weather is taken into account.

In the past 30 years of missions lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, about 48 percent of launch scrubs were because of weather violations. Each of those weather violations will result in additional closures at Playalinda and other nearby areas, inconveniencing not only tourists but also local businesses in the Titusville area that depend on them.

Local residents and advocacy groups are voicing concerns about the impact of frequent launches on wildlife, natural habitats, and noise levels. Researchers are also examining how the intense force of Starship liftoffs may spread particulate matter from the pad into surrounding areas. Whether that makes any difference to NASA, the US Fish and Wildlife Service or other government agency has yet to be seen.

Tonight’s Mission

Flight 11 will launch from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, using Booster 15 and Ship 38. Booster 15 will reuse a number of Raptor engines for its flight, proving the reusability of SpaceX’s new powerplants. After liftoff, the Super Heavy booster is expected to complete a full-duration ascent burn, separate cleanly from the Starship upper stage, and perform a controlled boostback and landing burn over the Gulf of Mexico. Unlike earlier tests that attempted landings on water, this booster will not be recovered, but the descent performance and engine burns will be closely monitored.

The Starship upper stage, once separated, will ignite its engines to reach near-orbital velocity and coast across the globe on a suborbital trajectory. The vehicle is expected to reenter Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean, targeting a controlled splashdown. During this phase, SpaceX will be evaluating critical thermal protection systems, particularly the performance of its heat shield tiles. This will help validate Starship’s reentry capabilities under conditions that simulate the return from orbital missions. The flight path has been carefully chosen to minimize risk to populated areas and optimize data collection.

Success for Flight 11 doesn’t depend on full recovery or reuse but on hitting key engineering milestones. SpaceX is focused on clean stage separation, stable engine performance, successful ignition and shutdown sequences, and accurate reentry tracking. It also aims to test refinements in flight software, telemetry, and structural resilience. If the heat shield performs as intended and the booster’s descent proceeds according to plan, the flight will mark a step forward in proving Starship’s viability for future orbital missions, including satellite deployment, lunar landings, and eventually Mars transport.

Flight 11 is also a proving ground for operational procedures and systems integration that will feed into future missions from Florida and beyond. Every sensor reading, pressure fluctuation, and engine plume will inform hardware tweaks and software updates for the next generation of test flights. While the vehicle won’t carry payloads or astronauts this time, the stakes are high: SpaceX is racing to mature Starship into a reliable workhorse for NASA’s Artemis program.

No matter the outcome of tonight’s flight, Starship in Florida will remain a hot topic, at least until the Department of the Air Force and the FAA release their findings from the ongoing environmental studies, which are now in their final rounds with the public. Those decisions are due late this year or early in 2026.

October 6, 2025

Falcon Heavy Set To Launch Once in 2025, Maybe Not At All In 2026

Since its first flight in 2018, Falcon Heavy has demonstrated exceptional lift capacity and mission flexibility. After the retirement of the venerable Delta IV Heavy, Falcon Heavy is the only three-liquid booster-core combination in operation at the Cape. SLS uses solid rockets as its side cores.

So far this year, Falcon Heavy has not been on SpaceX’s launch schedule. The last Heavy launch was on October 14, 2024, but at least one is tentatively set for late 2025, and as of now, there are no confirmed Falcon Heavy launches with a fixed date before 2027.

Astrobotic’s Griffin-1 Set For NET December

Astrobotic’s Griffin Mission One is a lunar lander contracted by NASA as part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, and it is slated to head for the Moon aboard a Falcon Heavy. It is reportedly on schedule for a December launch from Kennedy Space Center, assuming that payload preparation and rocket availability remain on track.

Two Potential Flights For Falcon Heavy In 2026

For other Falcon Heavy missions, the schedule is far more nebulous. There are two potential Falcon Heavy missions scheduled for next year, but no specific target dates for launch have been announced.

That said, it is possible that after the Griffin launch late this year that SpaceX might launch Starship from LC-39A before a Falcon Heavy. Possible, sure, but launch schedules have a funny way of changing without notice, so as always, keep an eye on the schedule trackers for the latest information.

First, the USSF launches recently granted (plus Griffin). After that, it gets interesting.

Mission / Payload	Launch Vendor	Rocket	Estimated / NET Date	Remarks / Notes
Expected Falcon Heavy Launches — Now through January 1, 2027
Griffin Mission 1	SpaceX	Falcon Heavy	Late 2025	Listed on multiple tracking sites as the next Falcon Heavy launch from LC-39A.
USSF-75	SpaceX	Falcon Heavy	2027	Appears in SpaceX manifest as a future Falcon Heavy mission.
USSF-70 (ROOSTER-5 & TETRA)	SpaceX	Falcon Heavy	2027	Listed in 2027 manifest; details subject to change.
NROL-97	SpaceX	Falcon Heavy	2027	Manifest sources list as planned Falcon Heavy mission.
USSF-186	SpaceX	Falcon Heavy	2027	Manifest shows “planned” status for late-decade launch.

As of October 6, 2025. Launch dates are subject to change or cancellation.

Others:

There is no current launch schedule for launching the ViaSat-3 F3 (Asia-Pacific) satellite; the satellite’s launch is planned for late in 2026, after its sister satellite, ViaSat-3 F2, is in service. It will be carried to orbit aboard Falcon Heavy.

Astrobotic’s third lunar mission is targeted for launch in 2026 aboard Falcon Heavy. No date for liftoff has been given as of yet.

Nancy Roman Grace Telescope: presumed to be in 2027.

Artemis Gateway PPE & HALO: presumed to be in 2027 if program not canceled.

That tells me that if I want to witness the raw power and fury of a Falcon Heavy any time soon that I should make plans for the Astrobotic launch later this year. It might be a while after that before the heavy lifter flies from The Cape.

October 1, 2025

With The Federal Government Shut Down, So Is A Lot of NASA At KSC

At 12:01 this morning, the federal government officially entered a shutdown after Congress failed to pass a continuing resolution funding key agencies. The shutdown’s ripple effects reach far, and here on the Space Coast, into the heart of America’s space program at KSC. According to many reports, NASA officials are scrambling to balance mission continuity, public access, and workforce impacts.

Since 1976, the U.S. has experienced shutdowns 20 times, with an average duration of just eight days. The most protracted one—from late 2018 into early 2019—spanned 34 days. Past events do not necessarily predict present ones, but one could expect the political pressure on both sides to ramp up steeply starting today.

The most visible impact is the furloughing of tens of thousands of NASA civil servants. According to agency estimates, more than 15,000 NASA employees have been sent home due to the funding lapse. A specific number of furloughed NASA employees here was not given, and Talk of Titusville has asked NASA for that number but has not heard back at the time of this writing.

Despite the disruption, NASA leadership and local officials have emphasized that the Artemis program will remain a priority and, to the extent possible, projects already in motion should not be derailed. “For the space industry, we want to make sure Artemis II goes off in spring. I’ve spoken to NASA — whether the government shuts or not, that is still on target,” said Congressman Mike Haridopolos, R-Brevard County.

What Is Affected?

As of today, across KSC and NASA, the nonessential components are largely in cold or idle mode. Budgetary and personnel constraints mean:

Research and development projects not already in “excepted” status are paused
Ground systems upgrades, facility maintenance, and infrastructure improvements are deferred
Administrative, planning, outreach, and educational activities are suspended
Many scientists, engineers, and support staff await instructions or return to work orders

Effects on KSC NASA Employees

Because of the funding freeze, NASA’s plans stipulate that when appropriations resume, back pay will be awarded retroactively under the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019. That’s good for the workers, but again, depending on the length of the shutdown, many will undoubtedly undergo some financial stress until they resume receiving paychecks. That might ripple through the local economy as workers reduce discretionary spending in order to stretch their savings further.

Back at NASA, delays in funding or staffing could create schedule pressure. Without support testing, mission planning, ground support and other necessary background tasks for the Artemis II launch campaign will inevitably be delayed and that in turn will delay the flight of Artemis II.

Tours At KSC Are Still Running; Sands Museum Is Closed

In a somewhat surprising twist, the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex remains open despite the federal shutdown. That’s due to Delaware North being a private contractor and the operator of KSCVC, and as such, they are not beholden to the federal budget.

At the same time, the shutdown may curtail some exhibit programs, tours, and demonstrations. Some behind-the-scenes access, such as bus tours, could be limited or suspended. Contact KSCVC for more information.

On the other side of The Cape, the Sands Museum is closed, according to museum director James Draper, He posted this today on X.com:

The American Space Museum in Titusville is unaffected and will presumably operate on its normal schedule.

Playalinda Beach and other Cape Canaveral National Seashore facilities are closed, as are other national parks in the Sunshine State. Unlike 2013 there are no signs indicating the closure. There are some reports circulating that national parks across the country are operating in a “partially open” mode (whatever that means) so if you are interested in visiting one of the parks, call ahead first.

How Long Might This Last?

That’s a good question, and there is no certain answer other than “as long as it takes Congress to act like adults and do their jobs.” In other words, no one knows with any certainty. Congress is not well known for compromise and governing these days, so it is a matter of when they cave to political pressure.

September 25, 2025

SpaceX, NASA IMAP Rideshare, September 24, 2025

more below…

September 24, 2025

SpaceX Launches IMAP Rideshare Mission For NASA and NOAA

Falcon 9 and the IMAP Rideshare mission lifting off at Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center just after dawn on September 24, 2025
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

SpaceX and NASA launched the IMAP Rideshare mission early Wednesday morning from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center. After an apparently event-free countdown, liftoff was at 07:30 AM ET.

The flight appeared to be nominal, and Falcon 9 entered into a parking orbit around eight minutes after liftoff. The rocket and payload are now in a coast phase prior to to payload deployment, after which the three scientific satellites carried to orbit this morning will make their own way to the Lagrange 1 point, about one million miles from the Earth in the direction of the Sun.

About 7.5 minutes after liftoff, Booster B1096 touched down safely downrange aboard ASDS ‘Just Read The Instructions.’ Both barge and booster will now return to Port Canaveral, after which the booster will be offloaded and transported to SpaceX’s Hangar X facility at Kennedy Space Center, where it will be inspected, refurbished as necessary and prepared for its next mission.

Payload

Three space weather satellites were launched this morning: the NASA IMAP, Carruthers Geocorona Observatory and the NOAA) Space Weather Follow On – Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) instruments.

IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) is designed to study the boundary of the heliosphere, a bubble-like region of space dominated by the solar wind. Positioned about one million miles from Earth at the L1 Lagrange point, IMAP will capture and analyze particles that stream into the solar system from interstellar space. Its goal is to map how the solar wind interacts with the interstellar medium, shedding light on how cosmic rays are filtered and how the heliosphere protects our solar system from galactic radiation.

SWFO (Space Weather Follow-On) is a NOAA satellite mission focused on monitoring solar activity that could impact Earth’s space environment. Scheduled to launch alongside IMAP, SWFO will also be stationed at L1, where it will provide continuous data on solar wind, magnetic fields, and solar energetic particles. Its primary purpose is to support real-time space weather forecasting, helping to protect satellites, power grids, GPS, and other technologies from solar storms and other space weather events.

Carruthers Geocorona Observatory is a NASA mission named after astrophysicist George Carruthers, aimed at studying the outermost layer of Earth’s atmosphere—the geocorona. This layer of hydrogen extends thousands of miles into space, and Carruthers will observe it in ultraviolet light to understand how Earth’s atmosphere escapes into space and interacts with solar radiation. By providing detailed imaging of the geocorona, the probe will help scientists refine models of atmospheric loss, which has implications for both Earth and exoplanet habitability studies.

Next Launch

	Details
Mission	Falcon 9 Block 5 \| Starlink Group 10-15 — Go for Launch!
Organization	SpaceX
Location	Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Rocket	Falcon 9
Pad	Space Launch Complex 40
Status	Go for Launch
Status Info	Current T-0 confirmed by official or reliable sources.
Window Opens	Thursday, 09/25/2025 4:36 AM
Window Closes	Thursday, 09/25/2025 8:36 AM
Destination	Low Earth Orbit
Mission Description	A batch of 28 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation — SpaceX’s project for space-based Internet communication system.

As of 9:01 AM Wednesday September 24, 2025. Launch times are subject to change or cancellation at any time. Consult SpaceX.com for more information.

September 23, 2025

Launch Preview: SpaceX Launching Space Weather Rideshare for NASA

SpaceX is planning to launch the NASA IMAP, Carruthers Geocorona Observatory and the NOAA) Space Weather Follow On – Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) satellites tomorrow from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. Launch time is set for 07:30:35 in an instantaneous window.

At A Glance

	Details
Mission	Falcon 9 Block 5 \| IMAP & others — Go for Launch!
Organization	SpaceX
Location	Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Rocket	Falcon 9
Pad	Launch Complex 39A
Status	Go for Launch
Status Info	Current T-0 confirmed by official or reliable sources.
Window Opens	Wednesday, 09/24/2025 7:30:35 AM
Window Closes	Wednesday, 09/24/2025 7:30:35 AM
Destination	Heliocentric L1
Mission Description	IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) is a NASA mission to study interactions between solar wind and the local interstellar medium. Carrying a suite of 10 scientific instruments, IMAP is able to investigate how particles are accelerated, determine their composition, as well as help to advance space weather forecasting models. The IMAP launch also includes the space weather satellite SWFO-L1 (Space Weather Follow-On – L1) for NOAA and the GLIDE (Global Lyman-alpha Imagers of the Dynamic Exosphere/Carruthers Geocorona Observatory) mission to study far ultraviolet emission in the Earth’s exosphere.

As of 6:44 PM Tuesday September 23, 2025. Launch times are subject to change or cancellation at any time. Consult SpaceX.com for more information.

Weather

The 45th Weather Squadron of Space Launch Delta 45 released their latest Launch Mission Execution Forecast today calling for 90+ GO conditions at liftoff.

Trajectory

Estimated Trajectories: Stage 1, yellow; Stage 2, white.

Online Viewing

SpaceX will have a livestream of the launch on their website: IMAP Mission. This will also be available on the X platform. Coverage starts about fifteen minutes before liftoff.

Spaceflight Now will have coverage of the launch starting about one hour before liftoff on Youtube: link

For official updates regarding launch times, NASA+ and SpaceX.com are the best sources of information.

Next Space Flight an app for iOS and Android phones, has a real-time countdown clock that is accurate to a second, give or take. The app is free. Search the App Store or Google Play. They are also on the web: nextspaceflight.com.

Launch Viewing: In Person

The best free options are available for spectators: Northern Titusville parks on Washington Avenue / US-1, For example, Space View Park, Sands Park, Rotary Riverfront Park.

Playalinda Beach will be open, but call ahead and go early. Playalinda Beach generally opens at 6 AM ET this time of year, and that is only 90 minutes before liftoff. Call ahead if you are planning to go: 386-428-3384.

Remember that there is a delay between a launch stream and the actual countdown clock. That is simply because of physics: it takes time for the signal to travel from the launch site, through the Internet, and back down to your phone, resulting in a five to fifteen-second delay.

September 22, 2025

Carruthers Geocorona Observatory: Directly Measuring The Size Of Earth’s Atmosphere For The First Time

The fully assembled Carruthers Geocorona Observatory at AstroTech in Titusville earlier this month.

The Carruthers Geocorona Observatory is one of NASA’s newest Earth-facing space weather missions, named in honor of the late George Carruthers, a pioneering astrophysicist who built the first lunar-based telescope as part of the Apollo 16 mission.

What Will This Observatory Measure?

The observatory’s mission is to image the geocorona, a vast cloud of hydrogen atoms that extends tens of thousands of miles beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Also called the exosphere, it is invisible to the naked eye. The geocorona’s hydrogen halo interacts with solar radiation and can be measured to monitor how solar activity affects Earth’s environment.

The Carruthers Observatory uses ultraviolet (UV) imaging to observe how the geocorona responds to solar emissions, particularly during solar storms. By watching the movement and intensity of hydrogen glow in the far-UV spectrum, scientists can get early indicators of incoming disturbances from the Sun.

“Carruthers gives us a front-row seat to the very edge of Earth’s atmospheric bubble,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. “It’s a critical piece in understanding how Earth responds to solar energy.”

Heading To L₁

After launch, the telescope will travel to the L₁, or the first Lagrange Point, which is relatively near the Earth — about one million miles away. L₁ is the point of gravitational equilibrium between the Earth and the Sun, and that region provides a stable position for small objects to reside while using a minimum amount of fuel to remain there. Several scientific payloads, such as the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) also reside in the region.

Lagrange-1, or L₁, lays about a million miles from Earth in the direction of the Sun. This is about four times the distance from Earth to Moon. Graphic adapted from a NOAA original.

Carruthers will be able to directly measure the size of Earth’s geocorona for the first time. The first Carruthers telescope landed on the moon, too close to see the geocorona in its entirety. That said, this mission will enable scientists to measure the size of Earth’s atmosphere for the first time.

The spacecraft is part of the IMAP Rideshare mission, which will launch ~~tomorrow~~ Wednesday.

	Details
Mission	Falcon 9 Block 5 \| IMAP & others — Go for Launch!
Organization	SpaceX
Location	Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Rocket	Falcon 9
Pad	Launch Complex 39A
Status	Go for Launch
Status Info	Current T-0 confirmed by official or reliable sources.
Window Opens	Wednesday, 09/24/2025 7:30:35 AM
Window Closes	Wednesday, 09/24/2025 7:30:35 AM
Destination	Heliocentric L1
Mission Description	IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) is a NASA mission to study interactions between solar wind and the local interstellar medium. Carrying a suite of 10 scientific instruments, IMAP is able to investigate how particles are accelerated, determine their composition, as well as help to advance space weather forecasting models. The IMAP launch also includes the space weather satellite SWFO-L1 (Space Weather Follow-On – L1) for NOAA and the GLIDE (Global Lyman-alpha Imagers of the Dynamic Exosphere/Carruthers Geocorona Observatory) mission to study far ultraviolet emission in the Earth’s exosphere.

As of 12:22 PM Monday September 22, 2025. Launch times are subject to change or cancellation at any time. Consult SpaceX.com for more information.