OrbitalHub

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Early on the morning of September 24, 2025, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket thundered off Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center, carrying into space a powerful trio: NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP), the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, and NOAA’s SWFO-L1 (Space Weather Follow On – Lagrange 1). The launch marked a bold new chapter in humanity’s efforts to monitor and understand the Sun’s influence across the solar system. The weather was nearly perfect—a 90 percent favorable forecast—and the three spacecraft were stacked together in a “cosmic carpool” bound for a vantage point some 1.6 million kilometers from Earth, at the L1 Lagrange point between the Sun and Earth.

IMAP is the centerpiece of the mission package. Designed to probe the boundary of the heliosphere—the region where the solar wind collides with the interstellar medium—it will sample energetic particles streaming outward from the Sun and inward from beyond, charting the invisible frontier that shields our solar system from cosmic rays. Its array of ten instruments includes devices to detect solar wind electrons, energetic ions, interstellar dust, and magnetic fields, among others. IMAP will also provide near–real-time data useful for space weather prediction, offering up to thirty minutes of advance warning for harmful solar radiation events.

Accompanying IMAP is the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, a smaller NASA payload dedicated to observing the Earth’s exosphere—the tenuous outermost layer of our atmosphere. From its L1 vantage point, Carruthers will use ultraviolet imaging to monitor the geocorona’s glow, revealing how it responds to solar storms and seasonal changes. The mission is named in honor of George Carruthers, a pioneering space physicist and ultraviolet astronomer.

Meanwhile, NOAA’s SWFO-L1 is the operational arm of this venture, designed for continuous, real-time space weather monitoring. With instruments including a solar wind plasma sensor, magnetometer, and coronagraph, SWFO-L1 will keep watch on solar emissions and storms that could affect Earth’s satellites, communications networks, power grids, and crewed missions beyond low Earth orbit.

Following liftoff, the mission deployment sequence unfolded about 83 minutes later, with IMAP separating first, followed by Carruthers and SWFO-L1 in carefully timed intervals. Engineers expected to receive IMAP’s first signal roughly ten minutes after deployment, while Carruthers’ communications would follow about half an hour later. All spacecraft are destined for halo orbits around L1, providing unobstructed views of solar activity and the heliosphere’s edge.

This launch is more than a technological feat—it’s a leap toward safeguarding life and infrastructure on Earth, as well as deepening our knowledge of how the Sun, Earth, and the galaxy interact. In the coming months and years, IMAP, Carruthers, and SWFO-L1 will collectively map invisible space weather dynamics, chart the Sun’s magnetic bubble, monitor the Earth’s exosphere, and provide vital data for future human missions venturing beyond our planet.

Video credit: NASA/SpaceX

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On August 26, 2025, SpaceX finally pushed its Starship system through a full, ambitious test flight that many in the space-community had long awaited. After a series of earlier mishaps and scrapped attempts, the tenth integrated flight test marked a turning point: the vehicle performed a full-duration ascent burn, reached its planned velocity, deployed test payloads, and survived a fiery reentry before splashing down as intended.

The flight began from Starbase, Texas, with the Super Heavy booster igniting all 33 Raptor engines for launch. After climbing to altitude, Starship’s upper stage (Ship 37) separated and ignited its six engines, continuing on a suborbital trajectory.

During its coast phase, it deployed eight Starlink simulator payloads—marking the first time Starship successfully released a mock satellite mass during a test flight.

The upper stage also accomplished a Raptor engine relight in space, a key demonstration for future deorbit or orbit-raising maneuvers.

As the vehicle reentered Earth’s atmosphere, Starship faced some stress and damage—particularly in the aft skirt and in sections of its heat-shield and flaps.

Despite these challenges, the spacecraft managed a controlled “flip” maneuver, guiding itself nose-first toward the splashdown zone in the Indian Ocean.

Meanwhile, the booster executed a series of burns to reverse course, though it intentionally disabled one of its center engines during the landing burn as part of testing engine-out capability. It hovered briefly over the water before cutting engines and splashing in the Gulf of Mexico, where it broke up on impact.

While not perfect, Flight 10 delivered on many of its critical test objectives. The mission pushed Starship closer to full reusability, validated maneuvers needed for future missions, and restored confidence in the system after earlier failures.

The success of payload deployment and engine relighting in space stand out as especially important steps for upcoming missions to orbit and beyond. Challenges remain—especially refining heat-shield durability, improving structural margins during reentry, and achieving consistent booster recoveries. But the trajectory is now clearer: if the lessons from Flight 10 are applied well, Starship may well be on its way to realizing SpaceX’s goals for lunar, Martian, and deep-space missions.

Video credit: SpaceX

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SpaceX’s Fram2 mission, launched on March 31, 2025, from Kennedy Space Center, marked a historic milestone as the first human spaceflight to orbit over Earth’s polar regions. This privately funded mission, led by cryptocurrency entrepreneur Chun Wang, featured a diverse international crew and aimed to advance scientific research and exploration.

The mission’s name, Fram2, pays homage to the Norwegian exploration ship Fram, symbolizing a new era of polar exploration—this time from space. The spacecraft completed multiple orbits over both the North and South Poles, providing unprecedented views and data.

The crew members are:

Chun Wang (Mission Commander): A Maltese entrepreneur of Chinese origin and founder of F2Pool, Wang financed the mission.

Jannicke Mikkelsen (Capsule Commander): A Norwegian cinematographer specializing in extreme environments.

Rabea Rogge (Pilot): A German robotics researcher and the first German woman in space.

Eric Philips (Mission Specialist & Medical Officer): An Australian polar explorer and guide.

All crew members were civilians with backgrounds in exploration and science, emphasizing the mission’s pioneering spirit.

The Fram2 mission conducted 22 experiments focusing on:

Human Physiology: Including the first X-ray of a human in space and studies on blood flow restriction to mitigate muscle and bone loss in microgravity.

Radiation Exposure: Assessing the effects of increased cosmic radiation encountered in polar orbits.

Biological Studies: Attempting to cultivate oyster mushrooms in space as a potential food source.

Atmospheric Phenomena: Observing aurora-like events such as STEVE and green emissions using high-resolution cameras.

Educational Outreach: The “Fram2Ham” amateur radio project connected with students worldwide, promoting STEM education.

Mission Highlights

Historic Polar Orbit: Fram2 was the first crewed mission to achieve a polar orbit, offering unique perspectives of Earth’s poles.

International Collaboration: The diverse crew underscored the global nature of modern space exploration.

Scientific Contributions: The mission’s experiments provided valuable data for future long-duration spaceflights.

Cultural Significance: Artifacts such as a piece of the original Fram ship’s deck and a Stephen Hawking Medal were carried onboard, bridging past and future explorations.

Fram2’s success demonstrates the potential of private missions to contribute meaningfully to space science and exploration. By achieving a polar orbit, the mission opened new avenues for Earth observation and research. The data collected will inform future missions, particularly those targeting long-duration travel to destinations like Mars. Moreover, the mission’s emphasis on international cooperation and educational outreach sets a precedent for inclusive and globally beneficial space endeavors.

Video credit: SpaceX

Wikipedia dicit:

SpaceX Crew-8 is the eighth crewed operational NASA Commercial Crew flight and the 13th overall crewed orbital flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft. The mission launched on 4 March 2024.

The Crew-8 mission transports four crew members to the International Space Station (ISS). Three NASA astronauts, Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, and one Roscosmos cosmonaut, Alexander Grebenkin, were assigned to the mission. Jeanette Epps was previously assigned to Boeing Starliner missions.

Video credit: NASA’s Kennedy Space Center

Wikipedia dicit:

Starship is an American two-stage super heavy lift launch vehicle under development by the aerospace company SpaceX. It is currently the largest and most powerful rocket ever flown. Starship is intended to be fully reusable, which means both stages will be recovered after a mission and reused.

The Starship launch vehicle is designed to supplant SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, expand SpaceX’s Starlink satellite constellation, and launch crews to both low Earth orbit and Mars. The vehicle is fundamental to SpaceX’s ambition of colonizing Mars. SpaceX plans to use Starship vehicles as tankers, refueling other Starships to allow missions to geosynchronous orbit, the Moon, and Mars. A planned lunar lander variant of Starship was contracted by NASA to land astronauts on the Moon as part of the Artemis program by 2025, later delayed to September 2026.

Starship consists of the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft, which are both powered by Raptor engines, which burn liquid methane and liquid oxygen. Both stages are constructed primarily of stainless steel, instead of the carbon composite used in a series of prior designs. The booster is designed to use its engines to slow itself down, before being caught by a pair of mechanical arms attached to the launch tower. The Starship spacecraft is designed to be protected during atmospheric reentry by its thermal protection system, using a ‘belly flop’ maneuver where the spacecraft turns from a horizontal to a vertical position from which it lands using its engines.

SpaceX has stated that a long-term goal for the Starship system is to achieve frequent space launches at low cost. Development follows an iterative and incremental approach involving test flights of prototype vehicles which are often destructive. The first flight test of the full Starship system took place on 20 April 2023, lifting-off with three engines out and ending four minutes after launch due to a loss of control, resulting in the destruction of the launch vehicle. The second flight test of the vehicle took place on 18 November 2023, achieving stage separation with the Super Heavy booster exploding roughly 30 seconds later following multiple engine failures during its boostback burn. The upper stage was lost nearly eight minutes after launch prior to reaching orbit.

Video credit: SpaceX

Wikipedia dicit:

On November 18, 2023, SpaceX performed the second integrated near-orbital flight of its Starship rocket. The rocket successfully lifted off under the power of all 33 Raptor engines on the Super Heavy booster and made it through stage separation. The booster then had multiple engine failures and exploded after beginning its boostback burn, while the Starship second stage continued to fly for over 8 minutes, reaching an altitude of 148 km (92 mi) before being destroyed by the flight termination system. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a statement confirming that an anomaly had occurred and that there are no reports of public property damage or injuries. SpaceX described the test as a success.

After the first test flight in April 2023 ended in the destruction of the Starship vehicle, significant work was done on the launch mount to repair the damage it sustained during the test and to prevent future issues.

Following Starship’s first flight failure, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) required SpaceX to conduct an investigation on the mishap, grounding Starship pending the outcome of their investigation. The FAA closed the investigation on September 8, 2023. The FWS concluded its environmental review on November 14, and the FAA gave its approval for launch shortly after.

Video credit: SpaceX