Another Crewed Suborbital Flight Is in the Books...

Blue Origin

Blue Origin’s New Shepard Completes 32nd Flight, Has Now Flown 64 People to Space (News Release)

Today, Blue Origin successfully completed its 12th human spaceflight and the 32nd flight for the New Shepard program. The crew included: K-12 STEM teacher Aymette Medina Jorge, radiologist-turned-explorer Dr. Gretchen Green, former Panamanian ambassador to the United States Jaime Alemán, businessman Jesse Williams, aerospace executive Mark Rocket, and entrepreneur Paul Jeris. Including today’s crew, New Shepard has now flown 64 people into space—including four who have flown twice—among them scientific researchers, educators, physicians, explorers and entrepreneurs.

“We thank our customers for trusting us to give them the opportunity to appreciate Earth’s fragility from above, an experience that truly transforms those who embark on it,” said Phil Joyce, Senior Vice President of New Shepard. “We look forward to seeing what our remarkable crew will do with this experience. I am proud of our team’s dedication in making these moments possible.”

Named after astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American in space, New Shepard is Blue Origin’s fully-reusable, autonomous suborbital rocket system built to fly humans and scientific payloads to space. The rocket is powered by one BE-3PM engine, which is fueled by a highly-efficient and clean combination of liquid hydrogen and oxygen. During flight, the only byproduct of New Shepard’s engine combustion is water vapor, with no carbon emissions.

Key mission statistics:

Official Launch Time: 8:39:11 AM CDT / 13:39:11 UTC

Booster Apogee: 339,963 ft AGL / 343,610 ft MSL (104 km AGL / 105 km MSL)

Crew Capsule Apogee: 340,290 ft AGL / 343,937 ft MSL (104 km AGL / 105 km MSL)

Crew Capsule Landing Time: 8:49:18 AM CDT / 13:49:18 UTC

Mission Elapsed Time: 10 minutes, 7 seconds

Source: Blue Origin

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Reaching apogee isn’t just the highest point during flight. It’s a defining moment. pic.twitter.com/MYGvD6QeS2

— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) May 31, 2025

The Latest Update on One of the Orbital Successors to the ISS...

Vast

NASA Helps with Progress on Vast’s Haven-1 Commercial Space Station (News Release - May 28)

NASA-supported commercial space station, Vast’s Haven-1, recently completed a test of a critical air filter system for keeping future astronauts healthy in orbit. Testing confirmed that the system can maintain a safe and healthy atmosphere for all planned Haven-1 mission phases.

Testing of the trace contaminant control system was completed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, as part of a reimbursable Space Act Agreement. Vast also holds an unfunded Space Act Agreement with NASA as part of the second Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities initiative.

The subsystem of the environmental control and life support system is comprised of various filters designed to scrub hazardous chemicals produced by both humans and materials on the commercial station. During the test, a representative chemical environment was injected into a sealed environmental chamber, and the filtration system was turned on to verify that the trace contaminant control system could maintain a healthy atmosphere.

“Testing of environmental control systems and subsystems is critical to ensure the health and safety of future commercial space station crews,” said Angela Hart, program manager for NASA’s Commercial Low-Earth Orbit Development Program at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “Through NASA’s agreements with Vast and our other industry partners, the agency is contributing technical expertise, technologies, services and facilities to support companies in the development of commercial stations while providing NASA important insight into the development and readiness to support future agency needs and services in low-Earth orbit.”

Experts used the same environmental chamber at Marshall to test the International Space Station environmental control and life support system.

The knowledge and data gained during the recent testing will help validate Vast’s Haven-1 and support future Haven-2 development.

NASA supports the design and development of multiple commercial space stations through funded and unfunded agreements. NASA plans to procure services from one or more companies following the design and development phase as part of the agency’s strategy to become one of many customers for low-Earth orbit stations.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA

The Next SLS Rocket Will Go Through a Series of Pre-Flight Milestones at KSC Before Sending Four Astronauts to the Moon...

NASA

Integrated Testing on Horizon for Artemis II Launch Preparations (News Release)

Teams responsible for preparing and launching Artemis II at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida are set to begin a series of integrated tests to get ready for the mission. With the upper stage of the agency’s SLS (Space Launch System) integrated with other elements of the rocket, engineers are set to start the tests to confirm that rocket and ground systems are working and communicating as planned.

While similar to the integrated testing campaign conducted for NASA’s uncrewed Artemis I test flight, engineers have added tests ahead of Artemis II to prepare for NASA’s first crewed flight under the Artemis campaign – an approximately 10-day journey by four astronauts around the Moon and back. The mission is another step towards missions on the lunar surface and helping the agency prepare for future astronaut missions to Mars.

Interface Verification Testing

Verifies the functionality and interoperability of interfaces across elements and systems. Teams will conduct this test from the firing room in the Launch Control Center and perform health and status checks of various systems and interfaces between the SLS core stage, the solid rocket boosters, and the ground systems. It will ensure that different systems, including core stage engines and booster thrust control, work as planned.

Teams will also perform the same series of tests with the interim cryogenic propulsion stage and Orion before conducting a final interface test with all segments.

Program Specific Engineering Test

Teams will conduct separate engineering tests for the core stage, rocket boosters and upper stage following the interface verification tests for each part of the rocket.

End-to-End Communications Testing

Integrated test of SLS core and upper stages, and Orion command and telemetry radio frequencies with mission control at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to demonstrate flight controllers’ ability to communicate with the ground systems and infrastructure. This test uses a radio frequency antenna in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), another near the launch pad that will cover the first few minutes of launch, as well as a radio frequency that use the Tracking Data Relay Satellite and the Deep Space Network. Teams will do two versions of this test – one with the ground equipment communicating with a radio and telemetry station for checkouts, and one with all of the hardware and equipment communicating with communications infrastructure like it will on launch day.

Countdown Demonstration Test

Teams will conduct a launch day demonstration with the Artemis II astronauts to test launch countdown procedures and make any final necessary adjustments ahead of launch. This test will be divided into two parts. The first will be conducted while SLS and Orion are in the VAB and include the Artemis II crew departing their crew quarters after suiting up at the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building and driving to the VAB where they will enter Orion like they will on launch day and practice getting strapped in.

Part two will be completed once the rocket is at the launch pad and will allow the astronauts and Artemis launch team to practice how to use the emergency egress system, which would be used in the event of an unlikely emergency at the launch pad during launch countdown.

Flight Termination System End-to-End Test

Test to ensure that the rocket’s flight termination system can be activated in the event of an emergency. For public safety, all rockets are required to have a flight termination system. This test will be divided into two parts inside the VAB.

The first will take place ahead of Orion getting stacked atop SLS and the second will occur before the rocket and spacecraft roll out to the launch pad.

Wet Dress Rehearsal

Teams will practice loading cryogenic liquid propellant inside SLS once it’s at the launch pad and run through the launch countdown sequences just prior to engine ignition. The rehearsal will run the Artemis II launch team through operations to load liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen into the rocket’s tanks, conduct a full launch countdown, demonstrate the ability to recycle the countdown clock, and also drain the tanks to give them an opportunity to practice the timelines and procedures that they will use for launch.

Teams will load more than 700,000 gallons of cryogenic, or super cold, propellants into the rocket on the Mobile Launcher at the launch pad according to the detailed timeline that they will use on the actual launch day. They will practice every phase of the countdown, including weather briefings, pre-planned holds in the countdown, conditioning and replenishing the propellants as needed, and validation checks. The Artemis II crew will not participate in the rehearsal.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA / Kim Shiflett

The Latest Updates on the Third Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle and the Next SLS Rocket...

NASA / Cory Huston

Orion Roars to Life: Successful Power On Paves Way for Artemis III (News Release)

In a major milestone for NASA's Artemis campaign, the Orion team recently powered on the Artemis III spacecraft’s computers for the very first time.

This activity was the initial time that the two vehicle management computers and the six power and data units were installed in the crew module, loaded with flight software, powered on and tested.

These core avionic systems, known as the “brain and heart” of the Orion capsule, are essential to testing to ensure that crew module subsystems are safe and reliable for flight.

Unprecedented Power

Each of Orion’s redundant flight computers are 20,000 times faster than the one on Apollo, and are substantially faster than flight computers on the space shuttle and the International Space Station. Its triple-redundant data network and gigabit ethernet technology enable rapid communication between systems, making it an ideal platform for deep space exploration.

“Over the next few months, our team will continue integrating the 70 components that make up the spacecraft avionics suite, connecting them with nearly 400 harnesses,” said Nathan Varn, director of Orion assembly at Lockheed Martin. “We’ll then put the vehicle through a series of functional tests to ensure all components are ready to move on to environmental testing, where the spacecraft is pushed to its limits.”

A New Era of Space Exploration

Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor for the Orion spacecraft, has been working closely with NASA to bring the spacecraft to life. The power-on milestone is a testament to the strength of this partnership and the dedication of the teams involved. Within days of the power on for Artemis III, the team also powered down the Orion vehicle for Artemis II and delivered it to NASA for launch processing.

The success of the Orion spacecraft is a critical step towards establishing a sustainable presence on the lunar surface. The Artemis III mission will mark a lunar landing with a crew of four in 2027 – a milestone that will eventually help send humans on to Mars.

"As we bring the Artemis III Orion spacecraft to life, we're not just powering on a machine – we're igniting a new era of deep space exploration we haven’t seen since Apollo," said Kim Fleming, Artemis III mission manager at Lockheed Martin. “We're excited to see the incredible feats Orion will achieve as it takes humans farther than ever before."

Source: Lockheed Martin

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🔌Powered up!⚡

Last week, Exploration Ground Systems teams powered up the @NASAArtemis II @NASA_SLS core stage and solid rocket boosters for the first time. Teams in @NASAKennedy’s Launch Control Center verified the systems and interfaces function between the flight hardware… pic.twitter.com/H2YkacbWcP

— NASA's Exploration Ground Systems (@NASAGroundSys) May 27, 2025

Starship's Third Flight Test of the Year Falls Short...

SpaceX

A Quick Summary: Booster 14 had a so-called Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly (RUD) during its descent back to the Gulf of Mexico several minutes after launch... The payload (a batch of fake Starlink satellites) once again didn't deploy, just like in the two previous Integrated Flight Tests... And lastly, there was no reentry data from Ship 35 due to this vehicle committing its own RUD following a loss of attitude control caused by a propellant leak after second engine cut-off.

Starship Flight 9 should might as well have ended the same way the first two missions of 2025 did—with Ships 33 and 34 littering the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean islands with debris after exploding during their ascent to a suborbital altitude. SpaceX was better off just human-rating its Falcon Heavy rocket instead; a Dragon vehicle carrying crew might've actually reached Mars by now. We'll overlook the cost and logistics of how the astronauts would've survived a six-month trip to the Red Planet inside that capsule.


SpaceX


SpaceX

Blue Origin Looks Ahead to Its Next Suborbital Passenger Flight...

Blue Origin

Blue Origin Announces Crew for New Shepard’s 32nd Mission (News Release)

Blue Origin today announced the six people flying on its NS-32 mission. The crew includes Aymette Medina Jorge, Dr. Gretchen Green, Jaime Alemán, Jesse Williams, Mark Rocket and Paul Jeris.

This mission is the 12th human flight for the New Shepard program and the 32nd overall. The live webcast on BlueOrigin.com will start at T-30 minutes. The flight date will be announced soon.

Meet the Crew:

Aymette (Amy) Medina Jorge

Amy is a high school and middle school STEM teacher at Odyssey Academy in Galveston, Texas. She has led more than 60 space experiments and Zero-Gravity projects, including flying biometric sensors developed by her students and performing in-flight 3D printing as part of a parabolic Zero-G flight. Born in Puerto Rico, Amy’s mission is to boost Hispanic representation in STEM fields and push for greater inclusion in science for underrepresented communities.

Amy is the 2023 AIAA and Challenger Center Trailblazing STEM Educator Award recipient, which celebrates educators who go above and beyond to inspire the next generation of explorers and innovators in STEM. Her seat is sponsored by Farmacias Similares, a Mexican company committed to social impact and accessible healthcare across Latin America.

Dr. Gretchen Green

Dr. Green is a radiologist specializing in women’s imaging with over 20 years of clinical experience. An educator, explorer and lifelong space enthusiast, she first attended Space Camp in 1986, later worked as a Crew Trainer, chaired the Space Camp Alumni Association, and now serves on the U.S. Space & Rocket Center Education Foundation Board. Nationally recognized as a medicolegal expert witness and entrepreneur, she founded The Expert Resource to help physicians build expert witness businesses and improve patient care.

A certified life coach, Dr. Green empowers others to pursue their highest purpose. At 16, she bicycled across the U.S. to fight hunger and, in 2022, reached the North Pole. Dr. Green trained at Harvard, Yale, and Brown, earning degrees in neuroscience, history of medicine, and medicine from Brown, and is a proud graduate of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy.

Jaime Alemán

Jaime is a Panamanian attorney, businessman and former ambassador to the United States. A Notre Dame and Duke Law School graduate, Jaime serves as a Senior Partner at Alemán, Cordero, Galindo & Lee, a law firm that he co-founded in 1985, and sits on the board of directors of one of Panama’s largest private banks. He serves on Special Olympics International’s Board of Directors, Duke Law School's Board of Visitors, and the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Latin America Board.

A lifelong adventurer, Jaime will become the first person to travel to all 193 U.N.-recognized countries, the North and South Poles, and space.

Jesse Williams

Jesse is a Canadian entrepreneur and adventurer. He started his first digital marketing business at age 16 and currently serves as CEO of Car History Group, which he founded in 2012. A competitive cyclist and avid mountaineer, Jesse has summited six of the seven highest peaks on Earth, including Mt. Everest and Antarctica’s Mt. Vinson.

Mark Rocket

Mark is an entrepreneur and technology leader from Christchurch, New Zealand. He is CEO of Kea Aerospace, which develops solar-powered, stratospheric UAVs for aerial imaging and monitoring, and President of Aerospace New Zealand, whose mission is to promote the interests of the New Zealand aerospace community. He was a seed investor in Rocket Lab, where he served as co-Director until 2011.

Paul Jeris

Paul is a real estate developer and entrepreneur. Inspired by his NASA engineer father, Paul grew fascinated with space at a young age. He spent his childhood summers on Florida’s Space Coast, watching historic Apollo, Shuttle, Mariner, Voyager and Viking launches.

Driven by a passion for exploration, Jeris has visited more than 149 countries, aiming to see every nation. Despite his many adventures, Jeris' lifelong dream is to journey to space and witness Earth’s fragile beauty from above. In addition to his professional ventures, Paul actively serves on several local and regional tourism boards, giving back to the travel industry that has helped shape his life.

Source: Blue Origin

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Blue Origin

The Fourth and Final Secondary Payload Has Been Approved for Flight on the Next SLS Rocket...

NASA / Charles Beason

NASA Signs Agreement with Argentina’s Space Agency for Artemis II CubeSat (News Release)

NASA has signed an agreement with Argentina’s Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE) for a CubeSat to fly on the agency’s Artemis II test flight. With this agreement, NASA has finalized all partnerships for the four international CubeSats that will fly aboard the mission.

The ATENEA CubeSat will collect data on radiation doses across various shielding methods, measure the radiation spectrum around Earth, collect GPS data to help optimize future mission design, and validate a long-range communications link.

CubeSats are small but mighty – compact in size, they contain technology demonstrations or scientific experiments that can potentially enhance understanding of the space environment.

In addition to CONAE, NASA is working with German space agency DLR, the Korea AeroSpace Agency and the Saudi Space Agency to fly payloads aboard Artemis II to access the high-Earth orbit environment as part of NASA’s Artemis campaign. Collectively, the CubeSats will gather information to inform and potentially improve how missions to deep space are designed. They will be delivered to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida later this summer for integration with an SLS (Space Launch System) spacecraft adapter.

While the CubeSats will detach from the rocket to study the environment around Earth, the crew in Orion will continue on and venture around the Moon and back over the course of a 10-day journey. Through Artemis, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits and build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.

Source: NASA.Gov

The Latest Update on SpaceShipTwo's Successor...

Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic Announces First Quarter 2025 Financial Results and Provides Business Update (Press Release - May 15)

Orange County, Calif. – Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SPCE) (“Virgin Galactic” or the "Company”) today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2025 and provided a business update.

First Quarter 2025 Financial Highlights

-- Cash position remains strong, with cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $567 million as of March 31, 2025.

-- Revenue of $0.5 million, compared to $2.0 million in the first quarter of 2024, with the decrease driven by the pause in commercial spaceflights to focus efforts on the production of the Delta-Class SpaceShips.

-- GAAP total operating expenses of $89 million, compared to $113 million in the first quarter of 2024. Non-GAAP total operating expenses of $80 million in the first quarter of 2025, compared to $101 million in the first quarter of 2024.

-- Net loss of $84 million, compared to a $102 million net loss in the first quarter of 2024, with the improvement primarily driven by lower operating expenses.

-- Adjusted EBITDA totaled $(72) million, compared to $(87) million in the first quarter of 2024, primarily driven by lower operating expenses.

-- Net cash used in operating activities totaled $76 million, compared to $113 million in the first quarter of 2024.

-- Cash paid for capital expenditures totaled $46 million, compared to $13 million in the first quarter of 2024.

-- Free cash flow totaled $(122) million, compared to $(126) million in the first quarter of 2024.

-- Generated $31 million in gross proceeds through the issuance of 6.9 million shares of common stock as part of the Company's at-the-market offering program.

Business Updates

-- First spaceflight with new SpaceShip carrying research payloads planned for summer 2026.

-- Private astronaut spaceflights planned for fall 2026.

-- Midway through feasibility study to potentially develop second spaceport in Italy.

Source: Virgin Galactic

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In recent months, our team has demonstrated strong progress advancing the build of our new SpaceShips. Mike Moses, President of Virgin Galactic’s Spaceline, recaps our most recent milestones in this installment of Galactic 10. pic.twitter.com/xrsy33w0py

— Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) May 15, 2025

Photos of the Day: Endeavour's Permanent Home Continues to Take Shape in Los Angeles...

Earlier today, I drove down to the California Science Center near downtown Los Angeles to check on the status of Endeavour's permanent home, the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center.

As shown in these images, the diagrid structure that enshrouds Endeavour and her Space Shuttle Stack is close to being fully assembled; the only task that needs to be done now is install all of the stainless-steel skin panels around the structure's exterior. The steel panels are also being attached to the rest of the building that will house scores of aerospace exhibits once the Air and Space Center is complete.

The "Work in Progress (WIP)" exhibit, shown at the very bottom of this entry, displays flight artifacts that will eventually be moved into the Air and Space Center after the WIP exhibit permanently closes this Sunday, May 18. The artifacts include a flown SpaceX Dragon freighter (designated C108), a Rocket Lab Electron booster, a Space Shuttle Main Engine as well as a Gemini capsule and Apollo-Soyuz Command Module.

I look forward to visiting the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center for another status check later this year!


Richard T. Par


Richard T. Par


Richard T. Par


Richard T. Par


Richard T. Par


Richard T. Par


Richard T. Par

The Work in Progress exhibit on video#SpaceX #Apollo #DTLA pic.twitter.com/j1Y5cUwkZn

— Rich Par (@AstroPnoy) May 16, 2025

Nation #55 Has Joined NASA's Moon Exploration Initiative...

NASA

NASA Welcomes Norway as 55th Nation to Sign Artemis Accords (News Release)

Following an international signing ceremony on Thursday, NASA congratulated Norway on becoming the latest country to join the Artemis Accords, committing to the peaceful, transparent and responsible exploration of space.

“We’re grateful for the strong and meaningful collaboration we’ve already had with the Norwegian Space Agency,” said acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro. “Now, by signing the Artemis Accords, Norway is not only supporting the future of exploration, but also helping us define it with all our partners for the Moon, Mars and beyond.”

Norway’s Minister of Trade and Industry Cecilie Myrseth signed the Artemis Accords on behalf of the country during an event at the Norwegian Space Agency (NOSA) in Oslo. Christian Hauglie-Hanssen, director general of NOSA, and Robert Needham, U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires for Norway, participated in the event. Petro contributed remarks in a pre-recorded video message.

“We are pleased to be a part of the Artemis Accords,” said Myrseth. “This is an important step for enabling Norway to contribute to broader international cooperation to ensure the peaceful exploration and use of outer space.”

In 2020, the United States, led by NASA and the U.S. Department of State, and seven other initial signatory nations established the Artemis Accords, the first set of practical guidelines for nations to increase safety of operations and reduce risk and uncertainty in their civil exploration activities.

The Artemis Accords are grounded in the Outer Space Treaty and other agreements including the Registration Convention and the Rescue and Return Agreement, as well as best practices for responsible behavior that NASA and its partners have supported, including the public release of scientific data.

Source: NASA.Gov