Starship Has Successful 11th Launch

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The Starship rocket on the launchpad in Texas on Monday, October 13th, just prior to launch. (SpaceX)

The Starship launches have been going a little better, with yesterday’s 11th launch meeting its goals, including the release of a practice satellite.

Following the launch, SpaceX stated:

Every major objective of the flight test was achieved, providing valuable data as we prepare the next generation of Starship and Super Heavy...Focus now turns to the next generation of Starship and Super Heavy, with multiple vehicles currently in active build and preparing for tests. This next iteration will be used for the first Starship orbital flights, operational payload missions, propellant transfer, and more as we iterate to a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle with service to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

I like that ending, which sounds like something you would hear on the airport bus as you approach the rental lot, “…with service to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond.”

Let’s just hope this bus can get NASA to its next destination on time.

Space Stories: Layoffs at NASA’s JPL, Rocky Giants in our Solar System, and New Findings from Apollo 17

Posted on by onespaceman2000

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest.

—NBC News: “NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Lays Off 550 Workers“

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced Monday that it will cut around 550 jobs — around 10% of its staff. In a statement posted online, the lab’s director, Dave Gallagher, said the layoffs are part of a broad “realignment of its workforce” and not a result of the government shutdown. The cuts will affect positions across the NASA center’s technical, business and support areas, he said.

—Space.com: “Uranus and Neptune May Not Be ‘Ice Giants’ After All, New Research Suggests“

Astronomers have long called Uranus and Neptune the “ice giants” because models suggested that these outer planets’ interiors are largely made of mixtures of water, ammonia and other ices — compounds that freeze easily in deep space. But new research reveals that we actually know very little about what’s going on inside these planets, causing researchers to propose that Uranus and Neptune be called “rocky giants” instead.

—Brown University: “With New Analysis, Apollo Samples Brought to Earth in 1972 Reveal Exotic Sulfur Hidden in Moon’s Mantle“

In a study published in JGR: Planets, researchers report a sulfuric surprise in rock samples taken from the Moon’s Taurus Littrow region during Apollo 17. The analysis shows that volcanic material in the sample contains sulfur compounds that are highly depleted of sulfur-33 (or 33S), one of four radioactively stable sulfur isotopes. The depleted 33S samples contrast sharply with sulfur isotope ratios found on Earth, the researchers say.

Upcoming Conference: Space Settlement Summit

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If you are interested in seeing humanity spread into space, you might want to attend the upcoming Space Settlement Summit hosted by the National Space Society (NSS) and scheduled for November 3 and 4 in Orlando, Florida.

The federal government may be backing out of conferences, and science in general, but that need not stop you from learning more. Do you want to know more about the difficulties of settling on Mars, the role of robotics and AI in space travel, or some of the approaches being pursued by the big space industry players?

Some of the sessions already posted on the schedule for the first day are shown below:

You should also check out the range of presenters from industry, academia, and the non-profit center. It will take superior hardware, software, and brain power to eventually settle on Mars and elsewhere. You can be part of the discussion now.

The Early Bird prices end this coming Friday, so you need to make up your mind soon.

Credit: NSS

Space Quote: It’s Raining Satellites

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Credit: Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay.

“Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in the US, recorded an average of between one to two Starlink satellites deorbiting each day in 2025. That figure is expected to rise to around five per day as SpaceX continues to grow its space internet constellation.”

-Statement in the UK’s Independent newspaper regarding SpaceX’s Starlink satellites burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere. Given that the satellites are only expected to last 5 years and there are already 8,500 in orbit, this should come as no surprise. Fortunately, the satellites are designed to burn up after their useful life space. Of course, that does not necessarily mean that burning debris and the related pollutants are welcome. It will only get worse once Amazon and China start pumping even more satellites into orbit.

Is Jared Isaacman Back?

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Image (Credit): Jared Isaacman. (PolarisProgram.com)

It has been a few months since the blowup between President Trump and Elon Musk, which also led to the removal of billionaire Jared Isaacman as the nominee to be NASA administrator. In the meantime, Sean Duffy has been in the role of acting administrator while also trying to run the Department of Transportation.

Well, that may be ending soon as it appears Mr. Isaacman may have another chance at the NASA job, as reported by CNBC. President Trump is said to have met with Mr. Isaacman last month to discuss his return as a nominee.

It is not clear if this means Mr. Isaacman is forgiven for donating to democratic causes or the White House is very short on capable people to run NASA, or both. Whatever the case, it is quite a turn of events, possibly helped along by Musk’s hat-in-hand approach after the scuffle.

Mr. Isaacman is being offered a much diminished agency from the one offered earlier this year, with the White House planning severe cuts in the Fiscal Year 2026 budget. Talks of more layoffs and firings during the current shutdown also threatens to make the situation worse.

These are fickle times with the White House flipping its positions on issues almost daily, so the news could change. For now, it’s a matter of wait and see.