The Space Race - Weekly Roundup Jan 21st

Author

Juan Fernández
January 21, 2025

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Hi, space friends! 🚀 

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And now, back to space. What an amazing week! As a space fan, I feel so lucky to be witnessing all the missions, progress, and experiments we are experiencing nowadays.

Two new heavy-lift rockets, two commercial lunar landers heading to the moon, and much more... just in the last 7 days! How cool is that?

Let's jump into the details! 😊

💪🏻 New Glenn reaches orbit on first attempt

Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket successfully reached orbit on its first launch this January 16, despite loosing its booster. Powered by seven BE-4 engines, the rocket's first stage separated as planned, but the second stage was lost during reentry. This mission, also carried the Blue Ring Pathfinder payload, aimed at testing communications equipment for future missions, and it was precisely delivered to the intended orbit. Blue Origin is now coordinating with the FAA to review the incident and is aiming to launch again in the spring.

🚀 Starship's Seventh Test Ends…too soon

SpaceX's seventh test flight of the Starship/Super Heavy ended when the upper stage was lost during ascent. Launched from Boca Chica, the flight featured several upgrades such as a stretched upper stage and enhanced thermal protection. Despite a successful booster recovery, an anomaly led to the loss of the Starship upper stage. Early investigations by SpaceX suggest a fire developed in the aft section of Starship due to a significant oxygen or fuel leak, leading to its destruction. This incident calls for a mishap investigation by the FAA. Might this impact SpaceX's future plans?

🌕 Two Lunar Landers Launched!

On January 15th, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched not one but two lunar landers, Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost and ispace's Hakuto-R Resilience.

Blue Ghost, on a mission named "Ghost Riders in the Sky," will deliver ten payloads to the Moon, and Hakuto-R will focus on improving lunar landing capabilities, while also delivering the Tenacious micro-rover.

And what are they up to now? They are both in orbit performing tests before going to the moon. Blue Ghost has already captured its first image from space, successfully performing health checks and maintaining communications with its Mission Operations Center.

And Hakuto-R's Resilience lander has already executed its first orbital maneuver, confirming the operational status of its propulsion and guidance systems.

🇮🇳 India's Successful Space Docking

India's Space Research Organization (ISRO) has successfully achieved its first in-orbit docking through the SpaDeX mission, marking a key milestone in space technology. On January 16, 2025, two satellites, SDX01 and SDX02, completed a complex series of maneuvers to dock in low-Earth orbit. This breakthrough places India among the small group of nations capable of space docking, opening new possibilities for its space programs including the Ganganyaan crewed missions and Chandrayaan lunar exploration.

🇨🇳 Shenzhou-19's Space Station Research

The Shenzhou-19 team on the Tiangong space station is advancing key scientific research, including new robotics capabilities for pipeline inspections and brain function studies in zero gravity using EEG. Their experiments focus into how humans adapt to long durations in space, assessing everything from circadian rhythms to motion dynamics during exercise

🌌 Webb Reveals The Key Role of Supernovae in Universe's Beginnings

Webb telescope observations reveal supernovae as key shapers of the early universe. These powerful stellar explosions enriched young galaxies with heavy elements and dust, enabling star formation and galactic evolution. Early supernovae were more energetic than previously thought, potentially contributing to cosmic reionization.

📹 Our latest videos

In case you missed them, here are the latest videos we've published on our YouTube channel

🚀 Upcoming Rocket Launches

Get ready for another week of exciting launches! 🌍🚀

  • Tuesday, Jan 21st:

    • Falcon 9 Block 5 (SpaceX, USA) – Starlink Group 13-1. Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA.

    • Falcon 9 Block 5 (SpaceX, USA) – Starlink Group 11-8. Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA.

  • Friday, Jan 24th:

    • Falcon 9 Block 5 (SpaceX, USA) – Starlink Group 11-6. Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA.

    • Falcon 9 Block 5 (SpaceX, USA) – Starlink Group 10-12. Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA.

  • Tuesday, Jan 28th:

    • GSLV Mk II (ISRO, India) – IRNSS-1K (NVS-02). Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India.

  • Wednesday, Jan 29th:

    • Falcon 9 Block 5 (SpaceX, USA) – SpainSat NG I. Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA.

And that’s it for this week. Stay curious!

Juan and the team at The Space Race