SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 on a return-to-flight mission after a brief stand‑down, carrying the Starlink 17‑33 payload of 25 broadband satellites into low Earth orbit. The flight expands SpaceX's megaconstellation, pushing its operational fleet past 9,600 satellites as deployment continues.
Reuters
By Reuters: Elon Musk's SpaceX told investors it will prioritize going to the moon first and attempt a trip to Mars at a later time, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing sources.
By Spaceflight Now:  It’s the end of an era as SpaceX transitions all of its planned Dragon flights from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
SpaceNews.com
• Jeff Foust
By SpaceNews.com: After losing about 20% of its civil servant workforce in the past year, NASA’s administrator says the agency plans to bring more expertise in-house.
Via Satellite
• Rachel Jewett
By Via Satellite: Blue Origin is now targeting the satellite constellation market, in one of the biggest and perhaps even most surprising story of the year, Blue Origin.
Space.com
• Robert Lea
By Space.com: "We found an unexpected chemical complexity, with abundances far higher than predicted by current theoretical models.".
Universe Today
• Matthew Williams
By Universe Today: Recently published data from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) of the galaxy Messier 87 facilitate new insights into the direct environment of the central supermassive black hole.
SpaceNews.com
By SpaceNews.com: At least 5,000 federal workers left their positions in the U.S. space workforce last year. These are some of their stories.
