Universe TodayAndy Tomaswick

Purdue study: Building reusable lunar launchpads from local regolith with minimal material data

A Purdue team led by Shirley Dyke publishes a method in Acta Astronautica to construct lunar landing pads from local regolith using minimal prior knowledge of material properties. The approach targets pads robust enough to support landing and ascent of heavy rockets needed for sustained resupply operations.

2025-12-21T04:46:04.963408-08:00
Wall Street JournalAndrew Tangel

FAA documents show January 16 Starship explosion posed greater risk to flights over the Caribbean

By Wall Street Journal: FAA documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal show an explosion of SpaceX’s Starship on Jan. 16 posed a greater danger to planes in the air over the Caribbean than was publicly known.

2025-12-20T20:49:48.640802-08:00
Spaceflight NowWill Robinson-Smith

Astronauts, launch teams practice Artemis 2 countdown

By Spaceflight Now: ![](http://spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251220_Artemis-II_walkout_MC-1.jpeg) In a prelude to the real deal, the four astronauts of the Artemis 2 mission boarded their Orion spacecraft inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center on Saturday afternoon.

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2025-12-20T16:24:07.495409-08:00
ESAEuropean Space Agency

P160C solid rocket motor passes ground qualification review, boosting Ariane and Vega performance as production scales to 35+ units/year

By ESA: Europe’s next solid propellant rocket motor passes review In brief - The P160C solid propellant rocket motor passed its ground qualification review - The upgraded rocket motor will increase performance and competitiveness for the Ariane and Vega rockets - Teams are working on the first four flight units and on industrial ramp-up production to 35 or more motors a year In-depth After firing up on.

2025-12-20T18:23:57.380572-08:00
Universe TodayAndy Tomaswick

IMAP Achieves First Light on All 10 Instruments, Confirming Instrument Functionality

By Universe Today: During the deployment of new space telescopes that are several critical steps each has to go through. Launch is probably the one most commonly thought of, another is “first light” of all of the instruments on the telescope.

2025-12-20T04:43:56.587700-08:00