Space Launch System (SLS)

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Starliner Return Flight Delayed Until Later This Summer
The team is still hoping to gather data on Starliner's latest glitches before it returns to Earth.
By Ryan Whitwam June 24, 2024

https://www.extremetech.com/aerospace/s ... his-summer
Boeing's troubled Starliner spacecraft was supposed to have returned to Earth weeks ago, but it's still at the International Space Station (ISS), along with its crew. And that's not changing anytime soon. NASA has announced that Starliner's return flight has been delayed again until an unspecified date in July, giving engineers more time to understand the nature of Starliner's recent glitches.

NASA reportedly came to this decision after two days of intensive meetings last week with senior leaders at the agency, including Associate Administrator Jim Free. The mission launched on June 5 and was initially scheduled to return on June 14. But mission managers have passed on several return windows as they seek to understand better the causes of multiple helium leaks and malfunctioning reaction-control system (RCS) thrusters.

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NASA Should Not Risk Astronauts on Boeing Starliner
August 4, 2024 by Brian Wang

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2024/08/n ... liner.html
Ars Technica reports that there has been a lot of recent activity at NASA, Boeing, and SpaceX. This activity suggests that two ISS astronauts (Wilmore and Williams) could come home aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft rather than Starliner.

Nextbigfuture believes that it is a needless risk to have the astronauts return on Boeing Starliner. Multiple engineering teams within NASA agree. Sending astronauts on Starliner despite not knowing the root cause of helium leaks and thruster problems is as reckless as the choices to use the Space Shuttle before fatal accidents.

They have NOT identified a root cause for why 5 of Starliner’s RCS thrusters failed during docking.

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More on that by Space.com:

https://www.space.com/boeing-starliner- ... st-mission

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Eric Berger Believes SLS Will Be Cancelled
November 26, 2024 by Brian Wang

Eric Berger is the Ars Technica, senior space editor and author of Reentry, a book about the behind the scenes SpaceX development of Falcon 9. Berger’s primary focus is on NASA and private aerospace companies. He authored Liftoff, which was published by William Morrow and Company and released in March 2021. The book chronicles the early history of SpaceX and the protracted development program of the Falcon 1 launch vehicle.

Eric has deep sources in the Space industry. He hears that United Launch Alliance SLS could be cancelled.

NASA has spent $26.4 billion on SLS development since 2011, through 2023, in nominal dollars. This is equivalent to $32 billion with inflation adjustment. The $2.6 billion per year of spending on direct SLS development costs.

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2024/11/e ... elled.html

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Boeing Starliner crew's return to Earth from International Space Station delayed yet again

Source: CBS News

Updated on: December 17, 2024 / 7:35 PM EST

Two astronauts who traveled to the International Space Station aboard Boeing's troubled Starliner more than six months ago will not return to Earth until at least March 2025, NASA announced Tuesday.

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams traveled to the space station aboard the Starliner back in June. Their trip was initially only to last about eight to 10 days, but multiple issues with the Starliner prompted a concerned NASA, out of caution, to leave them behind at the space station and return the capsule to Earth empty in September.

That same month, a SpaceX Crew-9 Dragon capsule with a reduced two-person crew and two empty seats launched to the space station with the intention of returning Wilmore and Williams aboard it in February 2025.

However, NASA said in a news release Tuesday that Wilmore and Williams' replacements, traveling aboard the SpaceX Crew-10, would be launching to the space station "no earlier than late March 2025," meaning that would be the earliest that Wilmore and Williams will return to Earth. The most recent delay in the Crew-10's launch is to give "NASA and SpaceX teams time to complete processing on a new Dragon spacecraft for the mission."

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/boeing-sta ... -williams/

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NASA Kennedy ground systems prepping hardware for Artemis II and beyond
https://phys.org/news/2025-01-nasa-kenn ... dware.html
by Tiffany L. Fairley, NASA

Teams with NASA are gaining momentum as work progresses toward future lunar missions for the benefit of humanity as numerous flight hardware shipments from across the world arrived at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the first crewed Artemis flight test and follow-on lunar missions. The skyline at Kennedy will soon see added structures as teams build up the ground systems needed to support them.

Crews are well underway with parallel preparations for the Artemis II flight, as well as buildup of NASA's mobile launcher 2 tower for use during the launch of the SLS (Space Launch System) Block 1B rocket, beginning with the Artemis IV mission. This version of NASA's rocket will use a more powerful upper stage to launch with crew and more cargo on lunar missions. Technicians have begun upper stage umbilical connections testing that will help supply fuel and other commodities to the rocket while at the launch pad.

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NASA Shows Off New Mission Control Center Room for Artemis 2 Mission
Dell monitors for everyone!
By Jon Martindale September 2, 2025
https://www.extremetech.com/aerospace/n ... -2-mission

The next-generation Orion spacecraft, which will take astronauts to the Moon for the first time in over 60 years, is so full of new tech that NASA reportedly needed a new control room just to manage it. The new Mission Evaluation Room will allow in-depth data analysis of Orion, while the in-flight operations are handled by a separate team in the main White Flight Control Room.

Artemis 2's launch window is planned for February through April 2026 and will send NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency, in a fly-by orbit of the Moon. This will be the first time any astronauts have travelled beyond low Earth orbit since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. It will use the Space Launch System rocket to get there, and is a key step towards Artemis 3, a manned Moon landing mission planned for 2027.

However, to manage this complicated new spacecraft arrangement, NASA reportedly needed a new space to handle all the data. The Mission Evaluation Room features 24 console stations that are seemingly all fitted with giant Dell monitors. They'll be managed 24/7 during the roughly 10-day mission, with each of the stations' observers comparing real-time data with the expected data from Orion simulations. If anything dramatically changes, they can inform the flight lead, and they can then make any necessary adjustments.

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NASA Details Upgrades to Space Launch System Ahead of Next Year's Artemis 2 Mission
It's now rated for human flight following performance and reliability improvements.
By Jon Martindale September 19, 2025

NASA has cleared the Space Launch System (SLS) heavy launch vehicle for human-rated flight ahead of next year's Artemis II mission, which will send a human crew into lunar orbit for the first time in over 50 years. This comes following a series of major upgrades to the SLS, including improvements to manual targeting systems for the astronauts and an updated communications system antenna placement will better ensure the spacecraft stays in touch with NASA at all times. There have also been updates to the booster separation process to enhance payload lift capacity, among other improvements.

Artemis I was a milestone mission for NASA. It launched the SLS for the first time and tested some of the essential technologies for getting humans back to the Moon for the first time in half a century. It went off without a hitch, but there is always important data to review in the years to follow. Now, NASA has applied some of what it learned during that mission, improving the SLS for its planned Artemis II mission next year.

https://www.extremetech.com/aerospace/n ... rs-artemis

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NASA Readies Orion Abort Safety For First Manned Human Moon Mission in 50 Years – Feb-April 2026
September 23, 2025 by Brian Wang

NASA’s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket is getting ready to send four astronauts from Earth on a journey around the Moon in 2026. Engineers have upgraded the agency’s Moon SLS rocket inside and out after the Artemis 1 launch. SLS flew a good first mission on the Artemis I test flight.

NASA commits to launching no later than April 2026. Teams are accelerating preparations to target as early as February 2026, but safety remains paramount. Assessments consider rocket stacking progress, ops/training, available launch periods (monthly, 4-8 days each with specific windows), technical readiness, trajectory physics, and weather. They will have a full assessment post-key integrations and tests. Emphasis: “When we’re ready to safely launch, we’re going to accelerate as much as we can.”

Success Measure: Flyby Moon, safe return, validate systems for Artemis 3. NASA hopes to inspire an Artemis Generation like Apollo did. This is a front-row to history.

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2025/09/n ... -2026.html

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Vast Plans to Launch First Commercial LEO Space Station in 2026
The final welds and paint job on Haven-1 are now complete.
By Jon Martindale October 17, 2025

With all the talk of the International Space Station (ISS) reaching potential retirement in 2030, there's the question of what comes next. Perhaps it's commercial space stations like Haven-1, which is now slated for a 2026 launch. Its developer, Vast, now claims it's completed the final welds on the 31,000-pound station, with only a few more alterations required before it's ready to launch atop a Falcon 9 sometime next year.

If it launches on schedule, Haven-1 will be the first commercial space station of its type in low Earth orbit. With a brief, three-year lifespan and the ability to host up to four astronauts at a time for short-duration stays, the station is designed as a stepping stone to future station developments.

"If we stick to our plan, we will be the first standalone commercial LEO platform ever in space with Haven-1, and that's an amazing inflection point for human spaceflight," said Drew Feustel, Vast's lead (and former NASA) astronaut (via Space.com).

https://www.extremetech.com/aerospace/v ... on-in-2026

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NASA Installs Orion Capsule on SLS as Artemis II Prep Continues Amidst Government Shutdown
No rest for the wicked cool.
By Jon Martindale October 22, 2025
https://www.extremetech.com/aerospace/n ... ues-amidst

Despite the Trump administration's government shutdown, NASA employees are hard at work. They've just finished installing the Orion capsule atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which will take humans back around the Moon for the first time in 50 years in 2026. The Artemis II mission is on track and could launch as soon as February if all checks are completed on time.

"The last major hardware component before Artemis II launches early next year has been installed," acting NASA head Sean Duffy said (via SpaceNews). The Orion capsule had its abort system attached at a nearby facility before being transported to the tall Vehicle Assembly Building to be attached to the top of the rocket on Oct. 16.

This is all taking place amid the government shutdown, which began on Oct. 1 after the Republican-controlled Congress failed to pass a budget or continuing resolution. This means many military personnel, government offices, and even NASA aren't being compensated at their typical cadence—or at all. But work continues nonetheless.

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I am starting to think i'll either be starship or super new glenn that gets us back to the moon if the US does it at all. Probably around 2030.

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