FlightGlobal
• Joseph Dainty
Blue Origin has shifted New Glenn’s planned return to flight from December 2026 to January 2027 while rebuilding Launch Complex 36 after a ground-testing accident. Separately, Boeing has moved NASA’s Artemis III core stage into Kennedy Space Center’s High Bay 3 for final stacking, integration and testing ahead of the mission’s planned 2027 launch.
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Blue Origin has shifted New Glenn’s planned return to flight from December 2026 to January 2027 while rebuilding Launch Complex 36 after a ground-testing accident. Separately, Boeing has moved NASA’s Artemis III core stage into Kennedy Space Center’s High Bay 3 for final stacking, integration and testing ahead of the mission’s planned 2027 launch.
NASA has opened applications for its next astronaut class as the agency prepares to return Americans to the moon, establish a long-term lunar presence and lay groundwork for crewed Mars missions. The announcement coincided with a $10 billion contract program intended to support future lunar cargo deliveries.
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NASA is recruiting for an astronaut class tied to Artemis and a planned Moon Base, with applications due Dec. 3 and final selections expected in late 2027. At a Kennedy Space Center air show featuring lunar exploration and electric aviation, administrator Jared Isaacman also outlined plans for a larger aerospace exhibition intended to rival the Paris Air Show.
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NASA’s effort to return astronauts to the moon depends on Axiom Space, whose track record the article describes as uneven. The Houston-based startup has partnered with Prada and counts among its investors a firm where Donald Trump Jr. is a partner.
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NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk installed the International Space Station’s eighth and final roll-out solar array during a seven-hour spacewalk, completing an upgrade begun more than five years ago. The arrays are intended to sustain the orbiting laboratory’s power supply through its planned retirement in 2030.
Victor Glover, an Artemis II astronaut, says traveling to the moon changed how he sees Earth, human connection and the wonder available closer to home. His reflections put the mission’s value in personal perspective, beyond the technical achievement of sending astronauts toward the moon.
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NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins made history as commander of her mission to the International Space Station. Her appointment brings renewed attention to diversity in astronaut leadership and to who gets represented in the next generation of human spaceflight.
NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk are scheduled to install the International Space Station’s final roll-out solar array during a spacewalk on Nov. 5. The Houston flight-control team approved the excursion, which will advance work to modernize the orbital laboratory’s power system.
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