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• Jeff Foust
Starfish Space says it can no longer receive data from its first full-scale Otter servicing spacecraft after a fault-protection issue disrupted communications. The failure prematurely ended SSPICY, a NASA-funded, $15 million mission to inspect inoperable satellites, shortly after the vehicle’s launch.
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Starfish Space’s Otter spacecraft has switched off its communications link after a problem with its fault-protection system, ending its mission to inspect inoperable satellites. The loss of contact cuts short a NASA-funded demonstration of the company’s satellite-servicing vehicle.
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Starfish Space says it can no longer receive data from its first full-scale Otter servicing spacecraft after a fault-protection issue disrupted communications. The failure prematurely ended SSPICY, a NASA-funded, $15 million mission to inspect inoperable satellites, shortly after the vehicle’s launch.
NASA Human Landing System engineers describe Artemis III test articles and docking operations intended to support future crewed lunar landings. Separately, University of Alabama in Huntsville students and researchers report three rocket-motor firings on a prototype landing pad designed to make lunar operations safer.
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The European Space Agency’s Hera planetary-defense probe has imaged Didymos and its smaller moon Dimorphos as separate objects for the first time, as it approaches the binary asteroid system. Hera will investigate the aftermath of NASA’s DART collision, collecting data on kinetic-impact deflection and probing outstanding scientific questions about the asteroids.
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NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the agency plans to unveil a new X-plane during a recent podcast appearance, while cautioning that it is “not the one you’re thinking of.” The brief announcement offers no further details on the aircraft or its purpose.
NASA’s Artemis IV mission could rely on SpaceX’s Starship as its lunar lander, but the vehicle’s scale and propellant needs make the mission architecture complex. The number of refueling launches required—and how they would be distributed between two separate orbits—remains unknown.
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NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has addressed the debate over the Hubble Space Telescope’s long-term future as the agency seeks commercial input on possible paths forward. Its request for information asks companies to assess options ranging from reboosting or servicing the observatory to carrying out a controlled deorbit.
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In his first months as NASA administrator, Jared Isaacman has shaken up several of the agency’s key programs, with Artemis, the SR-1 mission and robotic lunar landings all facing a 2028 imperative. The available reporting identifies the programs but provides no further detail on the changes or their schedules.
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