SpaceWatch Global
• Joshua Faleti
NASA selected Lunar Outpost’s proposal to advance Starweave, an autonomous robotic swarm software platform, under the agency’s Announcement of Collaboration Opportunity. The effort adds to NASA’s work on coordinated robotic systems for future lunar operations, though the announcement provides no details on funding, schedule or mission assignment.
NASA
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NASA selected Lunar Outpost’s proposal to advance Starweave, an autonomous robotic swarm software platform, under the agency’s Announcement of Collaboration Opportunity. The effort adds to NASA’s work on coordinated robotic systems for future lunar operations, though the announcement provides no details on funding, schedule or mission assignment.
With a Falcon 9 upper stage expected to impact the moon this week, NASA and SpaceX are examining ways to prevent similar lunar collisions in the future. The effort highlights the need to account for spent launch hardware beyond Earth orbit and during deep-space missions.
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SpaceX is positioning its Starfall capsule to address microgravity access and point-to-point cargo delivery while the company considers life after Falcon 9. Separately, Boeing says redesign work on CST-100 Starliner is progressing ahead of a potential 2026 cargo mission to the International Space Station.
Engineers are preparing a capture—or attempted capture—of NASA’s Swift satellite in an effort to preserve the mission. The operation would rely on another spacecraft sent specifically to assist Swift, underscoring the technical complexity of extending the life of an established space observatory.
NASA is evaluating whether an engineering model of a Mars rover can be converted into a lunar rover, but a reported cost estimate above $1 billion has drawn a rejection from the agency’s leader. The dispute highlights the financial stakes of reusing existing spacecraft hardware for new planetary missions.
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NASA and Blue Origin have agreed to test New Glenn engines at NASA’s historic Stennis Space Center stand, giving the company an alternative to capacity constrained by the May static-fire explosion at Launch Complex 36 as it works toward a return to flight before the end of 2026.
NASA continues to assess flight opportunities for Starliner-1 as work with Boeing on the CST-100 vehicle advances. A NASA official characterized progress as “good” but declined to provide a target launch date, leaving the timing of the program’s next uncrewed mission unresolved.
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An examination of the Columbia space shuttle disaster argues that the failures behind the tragedy were not unique to a single mission. The same weaknesses can persist across aerospace operations, from maintenance hangars to flight decks, making organizational discipline and safety oversight as critical as technical performance.
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