New Glenn NG-1 at LC-36 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Blue Origin has officially announced the launch date and time window for its second New Glenn mission, NG‑2. It is now officially scheduled to lift off no earlier than Sunday, November 9, 2025, from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The launch window opens at 2:45 PM ET and closes at 5:11 PM ET (19:45–22:11 UTC).
🚀 Launch Alert | We're targeting New Glenn's second launch no earlier than Sunday, November 9, from LC-36. NG-2 will send @NASA's ESCAPADE twin spacecraft on their journey to Mars and carry a @Viasat technology demonstration for @NASASpaceOps' Communications Services Project. pic.twitter.com/6rK6wg9yxJ
An Early Look At The Weather For Sunday November 9th
Weather might pose a problem on Sunday, as there is a ~40-50% chance of rain in the forecast. Monday the 10th looks to be the beginning of a cold spell for the Space Coast, as winds will shift to the northwest as a frigid air mass approaches the area. Veteran’s Day will bring a winter-like high of 62ºF, with northerly winds ranging from 10-20 MPH. While none of that is any sort of Launch Mission Execution Forecast, it’s reason able to expect the 45th Weather Squadron to come out with something less than an ideal forecast for this flight.
In Brief
New Glenn | EscaPADE
Organization
Blue Origin
Location
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Rocket
New Glenn
Pad
Launch Complex 36A
Status
Go for Launch
Status Info
Current T-0 confirmed by official or reliable sources.
Window Opens
Sunday, 11 / 09 / 2025 2:45 PM
Window Closes
Sunday, 11 / 09 / 2025 5:11 PM
Destination
Mars Orbit
Mission Description
Maiden flight of Blue Origin’s New Glenn carrying NASA’s twin Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE) to study ion and sputtered escape from Mars and the processes that shape the planet’s hybrid magnetosphere and energy/momentum transport from the solar wind.
As of 10:16 AM Thursday November 6, 2025. Launch assignments and times are subject to change or cancellation at any time. Consult
BlueOrigin.com for updates.
The NG‑2 mission will carry the Rocket Lab-built ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) spacecraft — a pair of identical satellites bound for Mars. Also aboard is a technology demonstration payload for Viasat, part of NASA’s Communications Services Project.
The New Glenn rocket’s first stage will attempt recovery via landing on the offshore ship Jacklyn, while the upper stage delivers the payload to its Mars-bound trajectory. Jacklyn left Port Canaveral overnight, and is now steaming towards its planned downrange position to await GS-1, New Glenn’s booster.
While Blue Origin has maintained that a successful booster landing remains a tertiary goal for the mission, it is still an important one for the company: recovering the first stage sets the table for refurbishment and reflight, a key part of the economics of the New Glenn program. Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp commented yesterday on social media on the landing attempt, saying, “What if we don’t stick the landing? That’s ok. We’ve got several more New Glenn boosters already in production.”
The first two goals are obvious: a successful ascent to orbit for the 320 ft (98 m) tall rocket flying for the second time. Following that, a successful payload deployment for NASA and ViaSat, Blue Origin’s customers for NG-2.
Stay Tuned
As always, lots of things can and probably will change prior to Sunday in regards to the mission.
Booster Landing Planned for LZ-2, Expect a Sonic Boom Around 1:15 AM ET
SpaceX is set to launch Bandwagon 4 tonight from SLC-40 in Cape Canaveral around 1:09 AM EDT. The window is short, only three minutes. B1091 will be returning to Cape Canaveral and Landing Zone 2 after the Main Engine Cutoff and booster separation. As such, anticipate a sonic boom to reverberate across the Space Coast shortly afterward.
*Times cross a U.S. daylight saving transition on Sunday, Nov 2, 2025; 1:00–1:03 AM local can map to either 05:00–05:03 UTC (EDT) or 06:00–06:03 UTC (EST).
As of Saturday November 1, 2025, 10:06 AM. Launch assignments and times are subject to change or cancellation at any time. Consult
SpaceX.com for updates.
Weather
The 45th Weather Squadron of the US Space Force’s Space Delta 45 has released their Launch Mission Execution Forecast for tonight’s launch attempt: 95% GO.
Trajectory
Southeastward, with Booster B1091 returning to Cape Canaveral. The planned orbit is ~510 x ~510 km (approx. 317 x 317 miles), ~45 degrees inclination.
Payload
There are 18 known payloads aboard tonight’s mission, with the keystone customer being the South Korean Defense “425 Project.”
Links are included only where publicly available official pages exist; unnamed Exolaunch customers currently have no public payload pages.
Launch Viewing: In Person
As always, if you plan to watch the launch in person, arrive early and settle in at your chosen location. It’s going to a late night by most standards, so be sure to bring a jacket and a flashlight.
Follow the latest launch information on Spaceflight Now’s coverage, as well as SpaceX’s X.com feed and website.
Launch times can and do change quickly, especially when weather is a concern.
Finally, keep in mind that streaming coverage on YouTube or the X platform runs slightly behind the actual countdown — usually about 5-10 seconds. That’s simple physics – it takes some time for the signal to go through the Internet and the servers hosting it. The Next Spaceflight app displays the real countdown, so it is a good choice in the last few minutes.
Best Public Viewing Spots for SpaceX Launches from SLC-40 (Cape Canaveral)
Rooftop bar at Courtyard by Marriott with launch views; seating fills quickly. official hours.
Note: Distances are approximate straight-line measures. Access, hours, fees, security zones, and closures change by mission—verify on launch day.
Launch Viewing: Online
SpaceX will have a livestream of the launch on their website: Bandwagon-4. This will also be available on the X platform. Coverage starts about five 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, SpaceX.com is the best source of information. Starlink launch times change from time to time, and the company generally updates their website within minutes of the decision to change the launch time. This is very handy if none of the streaming options on YouTube have started their broadcasts.
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.
Artist’s rendering of Starships on the lunar surface. Graphic via SpaceX
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:
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.
The first SLS rocket, Artemis I, sits on the launch pad at KSCs LC39B in 2022
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.
New Glenn NG-1 lifts off in January from LC-36. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
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.
David Limp of Blue Origin posted this photo on X.com on October 10 with the caption: “Welcome to LC-36, “Never Tell Me The Odds.” Next up: GS1+GS2 stage mate and integrated launch vehicle hotfire.”
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.
Liftoff of Falcon Heavy of June 25, 2024
Photo: Charles Boyer / Tot
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.
Photo: NASA
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.
Starship Flight 11 rising in Texas earlier in October. Photo: Chris Leymarie / Florida Media Now
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!
Starship Rising: initial ascent from the Texas coast went exactly as planned.
Photo: Chris Leymarie, Florida Media Now
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.
Starship light 11 lifts off from Boca Chica, Texas on October 13, 2025 Photo: Chris Leymarie, Florida Media Now
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 NowStarship Flight 11. Photo: Chris Leymarie, Florida Media NowStarship 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.
Falcon Heavy launches the GOES-U weather satellite for NOAA on JUne 25, 2024. Photo: Charles Boyer / ToT
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.
Expected Falcon Heavy Launches — Now through January 1, 2027
Mission / Payload
Launch Vendor
Rocket
Estimated / NET Date
Remarks / Notes
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’sthird lunar mission is targeted for launch in 2026 aboard Falcon Heavy. No date for liftoff has been given as of yet.
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.
Falcon Heavy in flight on October 14, 2024 carrying the Europa Clipper probe for NASA.
Photo: Charles Boyer / TOT
NASA astronaut and Expedition 63 Commander Chris Cassidy conducts a spacewalk in a Collins Aerospace EMU to set up the Tranquility module for the future installation of a NanoRacks airlock that will enable public and commercial research on the outside of the International Space Station. Cassidy has completed 10 spacewalks throughout his career for a total of 54 hours and 51 minutes spacewalking time. Photo: NASA
Collins Aerospace, a North Carolina-based major aerospace contractor with deep roots in Brevard County, is under scrutiny following a critical NASA Inspector General report that highlights serious performance issues with the company’s management of the spacesuits used on the International Space Station.
Collins is a unit of RTX (formerly Raytheon Technologies) and it employs thousands in Brevard County and plays a pivotal role in Florida’s aerospace ecosystem. The company supports not only the ISS program but also numerous spaceflight systems through partnerships with NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and commercial space providers operating along the Space Coast.
With over 110 missions and nearly 300 spacewalks to its credit, the Collins Extra Vehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) is an integral part of the ISS and a key component of the American space program. Spacecraft in their own right, these complex systems allow human extracurricular activities outside of ISS where the crew can perform repair, insulation, experiment retrieval and other vital activities for the ongoing functionality of the orbiting outpost. Simply put, they are critical items, even if the general public often takes them for granted.
The Report
You can read the report for yourself below, or download it to read in Acrobat Reader or a similar PDF viewer.
18 EMU suits were originally manufactured, and the last time a number was reported — in 2017 — the number of functioning EMUs had dropped to 11, and conventional wisdom in the space industry holds that there are fewer than the eight-year old 2017 count still working.
Overview of the EMU Graphic: NASA
While the EMU is a venerable piece of hardware that has served NASA for decades, it is close to its end of life. Now, a NASA audit, released this week by NASA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG), paints a troubling picture of Collins’ work under the $1.5 billion Extravehicular Activity Space Operations Contract (ESOC).
Collins was originally awarded in 2010 for $324 million, the contract has ballooned in size and scope as the ISS mission has been extended through 2030, presumably the same year ISS will be deorbited.
NASA Findings
The report cites repeated delays in delivering life support components, including the fan pump separator and carbon dioxide sensors, which are essential to astronaut safety. In some cases, components originally due in 2020 and 2022 have still not been delivered.
Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) With Water in Helmet During Post-EVA 23 Screening Test. S–2013–199–00005 Photo: NASA
Summary of Deficiencies cited by NASA
Category
Deficiency
Danger
Water Intrusion in Helmets
NASA documented multiple incidents where water leaked into astronauts’ helmets during spacewalks, including a 2013 event and another in 2022.
These events pose severe risks of asphyxiation, vision impairment, and communication failure during extravehicular activities.
Thermal Regulation Failures
Malfunctions in cooling systems, especially the sublimator units, have caused problems regulating suit temperature.
Uncontrolled temperatures can lead to overheating or hypothermia, endangering astronaut health and limiting operational capability.
Injuries from Suit Fit and Design Limitations
The bulky and rigid design has led to physical injuries, particularly in the shoulders and hands, due to poor fit and restricted mobility.
These injuries can impair astronaut performance and require medical attention, possibly compromising mission objectives.
Delayed Delivery of Critical Components
Collins has experienced years-long delays in delivering essential life support components, such as fan pump separators and carbon dioxide sensors.
These delays reduce the number of available functioning suits, increasing the risk of suit failure and EVA cancellations.
Obsolescence of Replacement Parts
Many suit components are no longer manufactured, and suppliers have exited the market, making replacements difficult.
Continued use of obsolete or expired parts increases the likelihood of system failure during missions.
Quality Control Failures
Instances were reported where expired, incorrectly built, or inadequately tested components were installed or shipped, including a component that remained on the ISS two decades past expiration.
These failures compromise suit integrity and astronaut safety, raising the risk of malfunctions in space.
Inadequate Management of EVA Anomalies
Collins and NASA experienced delays in identifying and resolving anomalies, such as the 2024 umbilical unit water leak that led to a spacewalk cancellation.
Slow responses to real-time issues increase the risk of loss of life support functions and mission failure.
Cost Overruns and Schedule Failures
Over the past three fiscal years, Collins exceeded planned costs by an appreciable amount.
These financial and schedule inefficiencies strain NASA’s resources and delay the availability of safe, functioning suits.
Inflated Contractor Performance Ratings
Despite repeated failures, Collins received high performance scores and a majority of available award fees, which the Inspector General deemed inconsistent with actual results.
Overly generous evaluations reduce accountability and hinder meaningful performance improvement.
NASA’s own evaluations, according to the report, appear to inflate Collins’ performance scores, particularly in technical management and safety compliance, despite “persistent schedule, cost, and quality problems.” In 2023, NASA took the unusual step of sending a formal letter to Collins leadership expressing dissatisfaction across multiple contracts — including ESOC.
NASA management concurred with most of the report’s recommendations and committed to updating evaluation criteria and reassessing award fee practices by the end of 2025. However, they defended the current scores as fair within the broader context of the contract’s scope.
For its part, Collins says it has been troubled by supply chain issues, schedule delays, cost overruns. These problems have threatened NASA’s ability to conduct safe and timely spacewalks, a critical function for ISS maintenance and research.
As of the time of this writing, the company has not responded publicly to the NASA OIG report.
Collins Dropped Out Of Next-Gen Spacesuit Development
In 2019, NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel strongly recommended a complete EMU replacement due to the aging technology in the long-running program. In 2022, NASA selected Collins and Axiom Space to develop the next-generation spacesuit systems needed for the Artemis Project and for ISS. Collins was tasked with building the ISS suit, Axiom with the lunar suit.
Things seemed to be going well for Collins in their efforts as they developed and tested their new systems.
A Collins Aerospace rendering of their lunar suit. Graphic: Collins Aerospace
In 2024, however, Collins dropped out of the program. It was said that NASA and Collins felt that the development timeline would not support the space station’s schedule and NASA’s mission objectives, and thus the contract with Collins was mutually descoped.
Industry chatter suggested at the time that Collins’s program was encountering cost overruns and technical challenges, and that under a fixed-price or tightly constrained contract environment, continuing the program would have risked further losses.
Whether or not that conjecture was true is immaterial: Collins was out, Axiom Space and the AxEMU were the only game in town. Until Axiom’s suit was ready to take over Artemis and ISS use, Collins would continue to support the current EMU. That work is under scrutiny from the NASA OIG Report.
The Next Generation Suit – On The Way And Apparently On Track
AxEMU Suit Photo: Axiom Space
As mentioned above, Axiom Space is the sole vendor preparing the next generation of spacesuits for NASA and presumably for other customers.
Axiom describes their ISS version of the suit: “Similar to the Artemis III spacesuit, the Axiom Space ISS suit will be built to accommodate a wide range of crew members … provide increased flexibility … life support systems, pressure garments, and power avionics and communication.”
SpaceX
While SpaceX and the Polaris Dawn flight made a lot of noise in 2024 with its EVA, it should be noted that the SpaceX suit tested was not even the old EMU’s equal in terms of environmental control, autonomy, duration, robustness, and task flexibility. The SpaceX suits were intermediate or developmental EVA-capable suits, not yet the full “go-anywhere, high-complexity” spacesuit used by NASA for ISS or lunar EVAs. Theirs is a program still in development.
Currently the AxEMU is undergoing testing and development, focusing on preparation for NASA’s Artemis missions. Recently, for the first time, two AxEMU suits were tested at the same time in the in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at NASA Sonny Carter Training Facility in Houston. Last month astronaut Walter Villadei took part in an integral test of the AxEMU using lunar-task tools, to evaluate stowage, deployment, and usability of tools under realistic constraints.
Two AxEMU suits being tested underwater in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston. Photo: NASA
No specific date for testing the new AxEMU suit in space has been given, but multiple sources say that the company is shooting for a Critical Design Review late in 2025 or early 2026. Following the resolution of any action items, the AxEMU may be tested in orbit on ISS prior to being put to work on the lunar surface as part of the Artemis landings.
What’s better than one suit? TWO suits! 🧑🚀🧑🚀@NASA and @Axiom_Space teams held the first dual spacesuit run at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory with NASA astronauts wearing Axiom Space’s lunar spacesuit. This was the final integration test, proving both the spacesuit and… pic.twitter.com/8P04fyCXu3
For a fleeting moment, New Glenn lit LC-36 blue as it lifted off on the first. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
As October progresses, Blue Origin has turned up the tempo of its preparations for the next launch of its New Glenn rocket. Plans are converging toward a liftoff sometime between mid-October and mid-November for the second mission of the 322-foot-tall (98-meter) rocket, which will carry NASA’s twin Rocket Lab-built ESCAPADE probes and place them on their way to Mars.
Though the company has not yet committed to a hard launch date, recent public statements suggest the first-stage static fire is likely to occur in the middle of the month, with a launch to follow soon thereafter. All of the pieces are coming together for a second New Glenn flight.
In a post on social media, Blue Origin affirmed that “ESCAPADE is at Astrotech and GS1 [the first stage] is headed to LC-36 in early October,” adding that the “vehicle hotfire mid-month” is the next major activity. Given that today is October 2, “mid-month” is only a couple of weeks away.
That phrasing strongly implies that the full booster test—igniting all seven BE-4 engines while the booster is held on the pad—is expected in mid-October. Assuming a successful test firing of GS1, the entire launch vehicle will then be stacked and returned to LC-36 for its eventual flight to space.
An update on NG-2: ESCAPADE is at Astrotech and GS1 is headed to LC-36 in early October. Next up is the vehicle hotfire mid-month with launch soon thereafter. pic.twitter.com/E8M2O7LbEs
Meanwhile, the second stage of the vehicle has already undergone a dedicated hot-fire test on September 23, a milestone that cleared that portion of the stack for upcoming integration work.
The FAA already licenses New Glenn Flight 2 under Blue Origin’s existing five-year Part 450 commercial space launch license, issued in December 2024 and valid through at least 2029. No separate license is required for subsequent flights under this framework, provided that Blue Origin meets the changes required after NG-1’s flight and subsequent investigation.
This license authorizes multiple orbital missions from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (LC-36), including reusability attempts for the first stage on an Atlantic barge. It covers Flight 2 following the closure of the Flight 1 mishap investigation in March 2025.
Meet our second booster, with all modules mated: “Never Tell Me The Odds.” I think the odds of landing this booster are a lot better than 3,720-to-1. Both strakes are in place, and BE-4 installation is well underway. Great job by the team as we continue getting our second… pic.twitter.com/B065jDvA7N
Pretty clearly, business is picking up for Blue Origin. Sooner rather later, skies above the Space Coast are going to turn blue again as NG-2 powers its way to orbit. And may the odds ever be in their favor.
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.
Falcon 9 created a vapor cone that wrapped the entire booster today Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
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.
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.
Another view of liftoff of Falcon 9 and the IMAP Rideshare mission on September 24, 2025 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
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.
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