SpaceX Starship Flight 11 NET Oct 13, Increases Cadence Towards First Lunar Flights
Flight 11 is set to launch from Starbase during a window opening 18:15 CT. Booster 15, with 33 Raptor engines delivering 7,500 metric tons of thrust, pairs with Ship 38 standing 121 meters tall. This test follows Flight 10 success where Super Heavy achieved 100% engine relight and precise splashdown. Objectives for Flight 11 include heatshield endurance under 1,650°C reentry temperatures, and Raptor 3 data and maneuvers simulating return-to-launch-site landings with 90% accuracy. The fully reusable Starship reduces launch costs to US$10M per flight, down from $100M, eventually enabling 100+ annual missions. NASA US$2.89B Human Landing System contract positions Starship HLS to ferry Artemis III astronauts from lunar orbit to South Pole surface and back by 2027. Up to 16 tanker Starships will refuel HLS in orbit, transferring 1,200 metric tons of propellant for 250,000-kilometer round trips. Gateway station docking supports Artemis IV in 2028. SpaceX Starship drives lunar economy, projected at US$1.8T by 2040, powering cargo hauls of 150 tons to Moon and habitats for sustained presence. Future roles include Artemis V competition with Blue Origin, fostering innovation for Moon bases and Mars gateways, marking a milestone in reusable rocketry. (Image Credits: SpaceX)
Interstellar Research Group Is Bellwether for Credibility of Interstellar Community
Interstellar Research Group (IRG) holds its 9th Interstellar Symposium Distant Worlds, Neighboring Opportunities Oct 12-15 in Texas with partners International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and Center for Planetary Systems Habitability, of the University of Texas at Austin. Scientists of all disciplines and expertise levels are invited to participate in symposium goals of advancing interstellar travel, not only for exploring other stars and what lies between them, but also understanding formation of galaxies and their elements, searching for extraterrestrial life, and ensuring safety and future of our planet. Symposium elements include presentations, social events and art. They are held every 2 years and videos of the 10-13 July 2023 symposium – the first held outside the USA (Montréal, Canada) – are on the IRG website. IRG provided guidance for the First European Interstellar Symposium, held in Luxembourg. British Interplanetary Society has sponsored and supported IRG events. 3 pre-symposium seminars increase the Standard, Student, IAA Member or IRG Member registration fee as does a post-symposium tour of Firefly Aerospace Rocket Ranch, which does not offer public tours. Up to 100 student scholarships are available. Plenary speakers include physicists, entrepreneurs and those discussing fusion power, growing food in space, the Europa Clipper and other subjects. The IRG website has daily updates with links to new science studies.(Image Credits: IRG, Firefly Aerospace)
Humans in Space
International Space Station, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 73 seven-member crew are maintaining life-support and electronics systems, installing and activating a technology demo for removing spacecraft moisture for recycling, and processing materials in the ultra-high-temperature module for measurement; Mike Fincke is installing: new physics research hardware to look at condensation when gas turns to liquid, and a bag that could be used to capture debris or samples outside the ISS; Zena Cardman is inspecting ventilation systems; Oleg Platonov took a fitness test while on a treadmill.
Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 20 three-member crew, Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, are observing ignition testing in Wenchang of Long March 10A, able to carry ~14,000kg (astronauts / cargo) to the station without side thrusters that would carry >27,000kg to Earth-Moon transfer; storing / analyzing samples from an extravehicular exposure experiment device to learn mechanisms of structural damage / performance degradation of advanced materials used for construction, shielding, solar wings and lubrication; measuring their fine motor skills under microgravity conditions; conducting combustion experiments of various fuels: gas / liquid / solid; using neuromuscular stimulators to relax and prevent muscle atrophy.
Lunar News: Weekly lunar advisories [coming soon]
Near-Earth Objects Close Approaches – Mon Oct 13: Apollo Asteroid 2025 TV2 (0.008 AU); Tue Oct 14: Apollo Asteroid 2022 AY5 (0.019 AU); Wed Oct 15: Aten Asteroid 2022 UY3 (0.026 AU); Thu Oct 16: Apollo Asteroid 2025 SX26 (0.022 AU).
Hawai'i Time for launch is 13:15. 11th test flight of 2-stage Starship launch vehicle. Super Heavy Booster 15-2 is planned to splash down near the launch site; it was also used for the 8th test flight.
Taking 21 satellites made by Lockheed Martin, it is one of 6 launches for USSF SDA for worldwide connectivity, which will be via Optical Inter-Satellite Links (OISLs) that have significantly better performance than radio frequency crosslinks.
Presentation by Josh Wimpenny of Los Alamos National Laboratory: Behaviour of moderately volatile elements on the Moon. Join here: https://sservi.nasa.gov/casa-moon-seminar-series Hosted by CASA Moon, SSERVI, Institute of Meteoritics at UNM, University of New Mexico Grand Challenge, Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) and RASSLE (Research Activities Supporting Science and Lunar Exploration, […]
Detecting some of the most energetic radiation in space, ESA, NASA, Roscosmos spacecraft surpasses another year of operations in space, despite loss of its thrusters; launched 2002, expected to run out of fuel early 2020s and fall to Earth Feb 2029.
European Space Agency (ESA) and Roscosmos spacecraft surpasses another full year at Mars, launched 2016; craft continues collecting data on atmosphere, deployed Schiaparelli demonstration lander 19 Oct 2016 (unsuccessful).
European Space Agency / JAXA Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (dubbed Mio ‘waterway or fairway’) starts its next year in space today, launched 2018; expected to reach Mercury polar orbit in Nov 2026 to map planet, investigate magnetosphere.
Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, Sergey Mikayev and Christopher Williams set to undock from ISS in Soyuz MS-28, triggering the start to Expedition 75 with Commander Jessica...
In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the creation of the Astrophysics Group at the University of Exeter, we are pleased to announce the international...
Emanating from ~6km-wide comet with 5.3-year Solar orbit, visible in constellation Aquarius near star Delta Aquarii, fast, faint meteors peak on this night, best...
The International Research Conference is a federated organization dedicated to bringing together a significant number of diverse scholarly events for presentation within the conference...
Includes ~150 meetings covering the fields of COSPAR Scientific Commissions / Panels / Task Groups, such as SC B: The Earth-Moon System, Planets, and...
From 02 to 07 August 2026, a few thousand geoscientists across diverse disciplines will gather at the 23rd annual meeting of the Asia Oceania Geosciences...
NASA Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory) rover surpasses another full year of operations on Mars surface today; launched Nov 26, 2011 – landed Aug 5,...
This international lunar science meeting has two objectives: to provide a platform for leading experts to review recent advances across lunar research, from the...
International Space Station, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 73 seven-member crew are maintaining life-support and electronics systems, installing and activating a technology demo for removing spacecraft moisture for recycling, and processing materials in the ultra-high-temperature module for measurement; Mike Fincke is installing: new physics research hardware to look at condensation when gas turns to liquid, and a bag that could be used to capture debris or samples outside the ISS; Zena Cardman is inspecting ventilation systems; Oleg Platonov took a fitness test while on a treadmill.
Lunar News: Weekly lunar advisories [coming soon]
Near-Earth Objects Close Approaches – Mon Oct 13: Apollo Asteroid 2025 TV2 (0.008 AU); Tue Oct 14: Apollo Asteroid 2022 AY5 (0.019 AU); Wed Oct 15: Aten Asteroid 2022 UY3 (0.026 AU); Thu Oct 16: Apollo Asteroid 2025 SX26 (0.022 AU).
