NASA Spaceflight
• Alejandro Alcantarilla Romera, Chris Bergin
NASA has stacked the center segments of both Space Launch System solid rocket boosters for Artemis III on Mobile Launcher 1. The work advances booster assembly ahead of mating the boosters with the rocket’s core stage, a key step in preparing the vehicle for the mission.
NASA
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NASA’s administrator has directed a shift involving 7,500 contractors, who would return to work as civil servants. The directive is described as a necessary vision for the agency’s future, though the available report provides no further detail on its implementation or rationale.
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NASA has stacked the center segments of both Space Launch System solid rocket boosters for Artemis III on Mobile Launcher 1. The work advances booster assembly ahead of mating the boosters with the rocket’s core stage, a key step in preparing the vehicle for the mission.
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NASA is close to announcing a bulk purchase of rocket launches to support its $30 billion effort to build a permanent lunar base where humans can live and work. The potential deal would tie launch procurement directly to the agency’s long-term plan for sustained human presence on the moon.
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Türkiye used the 77th International Astronautical Congress in Antalya to promote its expanding space capabilities and seek international partnerships. Turkish Aerospace Industries plans to launch its first optical Earth-observation satellite, Hürsat-1, in mid-2027, while Roketsan is pursuing cooperation in launch systems and orbital technologies to support independent access to space.
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Launch coverage points to flights from SpaceX, South Korea and China, including a South Korean Earth-observation payload and a Chinese Long March 12 mission. Separately, SpaceX’s Transporter-18 carried Star Catcher’s orbital power-beaming prototype, while NASA and SpaceX targeted Crew-12’s return and NASA named the Crew-14 astronauts for a spring 2027 mission.
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NASA and SpaceX plan to undock Crew-12 from the International Space Station on Oct. 7, following an eight-month mission that included research, station work and spacewalks. Separately, the four-person Crew-13 crew has arrived at Kennedy Space Center ahead of a planned Oct. 1 launch to the orbiting outpost.
A former NASA associate administrator for science is joining Blue Origin to lead the company’s advanced technology work. The appointment brings senior NASA science leadership experience into the space company as it develops and advances new technologies.
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A former SR-71 engineer offers insight into the current condition of NASA’s No. 844 Blackbird, the technical and logistical work required to make the aircraft airworthy again, and what the agency may ultimately seek to accomplish through a revival program.
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