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Perth: (The Conversation) Last week, three tiny Australian satellites from Curtin University's <keyword id="23932163" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Binar-Space-Program" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Binar Space Program" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Binar Space Program">Binar Space Program</keyword> burned up in Earth's atmosphere. That was always going to happen. In fact, Binar means "fireball" in the Noongar language of the First Nations people of Perth. When a satellite is in low Earth orbit (2,000km or less), it experiences orbital decay as it drags closer and closer to the surface, eventually burning up. But these cube satellites (<keyword id="21533654" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="CubeSats" source="keywords">CubeSats</keyword>), known as Binar-2, 3 and 4, entered the atmosphere much sooner than originally planned. They only lasted for two months - a third of what was expected. This significantly reduced valuable time for science and testing new systems. The reason for their untimely demise? Our Sun has kicked into high gear, and the Binar satellites are far from the only casualty. Recent high <keyword id="20792842" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Solar-activity" source="keywords">solar activity</keyword> has been causing an unexpected headache for satellite operators in the last few years, and it's only increasing. <h2>Why is the Sun so active? </h2> Solar activity includes phenomena such as sunspots, solar flares and solar wind - the stream of charged particles that flows toward Earth. This activity is a product of the Sun's ever-changing magnetic field, and approximately every 11 years, it completely flips. At the midpoint of this cycle, solar activity is at its highest. While this cycle is known, specific solar activity is challenging to predict - the dynamics are complex and solar forecasting is in its infancy. In the last few months, indicators of solar activity were more than one and a half times higher than predictions for this point in the current cycle, labelled <keyword id="22712826" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="solar-cycle-25" source="keywords">solar cycle 25</keyword>. <h2>The impact of <keyword id="20087207" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="space-weather" source="keywords">space weather</keyword> </h2> Space weather refers to the environmental effects that originate from outside our atmosphere (mostly the Sun). It affects us on Earth in a variety of noticeable and unnoticeable ways. The most obvious is the presence of auroras. In the past few months, auroras have been visible far more intensely and closer to the equator than in the last two decades. This is a direct result of the increased solar activity. Space weather, and solar activity in particular, also creates additional challenges for satellites and satellite operators. Higher solar activity means more solar flares and stronger solar wind - resulting in a higher flux of charged particles that can damage or disrupt electrical components on satellites. It also means an increase in ionising radiation, resulting in a higher dose for astronauts and pilots, and potential disruptions to long-distance radio communications. But for satellites in low Earth orbit, the most consistent effect of solar activity is that the extra energy gets absorbed into the outer atmosphere, causing it to balloon outward. As a result, all satellites less than 1,000km from Earth experience a significant increase in <keyword id="23473319" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="atmospheric-drag" source="keywords">atmospheric drag</keyword>. This is a force that disrupts their orbit and causes them to fall towards the planet's surface. Notable satellites in this region include the International Space Station and the Starlink constellation. These satellites have thrusters to counteract this effect, but these corrections can be expensive. Low Earth orbit also contains many university satellites, such as the Binar CubeSats. Cube satellites are rarely equipped with tools that can adjust their altitude, so they're entirely at the mercy of space weather. <h2>What happened to Binar? </h2> The Binar Space Program is a satellite research program operating out of Curtin University. It aims to advance our understanding of the Solar System and lower the barrier for operating in space. The program began operations with its first satellite, Binar-1, in September 2021. This was less than a year into solar cycle 25 when solar activity was relatively low. In these conditions, the ten-centimetre cube satellite started at an altitude of 420km and survived a full 364 days in orbit. The program's follow-up mission - Binar-2, 3, and 4 - were three equally sized CubeSats. However, they were expected to last approximately six months owing to the extra surface area from new deployable solar arrays and a forecast increase in solar activity. Instead, they only made it to two months before burning up. While cube satellite missions are relatively cheap, the premature ending of a mission will always be costly. This is even more true for commercial satellites, highlighting the need for more accurate space weather forecasting. The good news is the Sun will calm down again. Despite the current unexpectedly high solar activity, it will likely slow down by 2026, and is expected to return to a solar minimum in 2030. While this was not an explicit goal of the mission, the Binar Space Program has now poignantly demonstrated the dramatic effects of solar activity on space operations. While the untimely loss of Binar-2, 3 and 4 was unfortunate, work has already begun on future missions. They are expected to launch into far more forgiving space weather. (The Conversation).

Right now, the Sun is far more active than predicted - and small satellites are paying the price

Projected to last only days, the first crewed test flight of <keyword id="19915275" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Boeing" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Boeing" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="Boeing">Boeing</keyword>'s <keyword id="20138728" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="starliner" source="keywords">Starliner</keyword> <keyword id="19982902" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="spacecraft" source="keywords">spacecraft</keyword> with two <keyword id="20038917" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="astronauts" source="keywords">astronauts</keyword> onboard is in limbo with no exact return to Earth announced. <keyword id="19935155" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="NASA" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="NASA" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="NASA">NASA</keyword>'s <keyword id="20430894" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Commercial-Crew-Program" source="keywords">Commercial Crew Program</keyword> manager, Steve Stich has said that the US space agency is considering extending the duration of Starliner's mission from 45 days to 90 days, CNN reported. Officials have repeatedly hinted that the Starliner, which faced issues with helium leaks and thruster outages heading to the International <keyword id="20073557" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="space-station" source="keywords">Space Station</keyword> in early June, will be safe to bring astronauts including indian-origin Sunita 'Suni' Williams and Butch Wilmore home. On Friday, Stich said that NASA is considering extending the maximum length of Starliner's mission from 45 days to 90 days and there is no firm return date on the horizon, according to CNN report. Addressing a briefing on Friday, the NASA official said, "We're just looking at the timeline to execute (the test in New Mexico) and then review the data." He further said, "And that's what's really the long pole, I would say, determining a landing date." Stich added, "We're not in a rush to come home." Part of that desired extension is due to the ground tests that Boeing and NASA plan to conduct in New Mexico, seeking to better understand why some of the Starliner's thrusters unexpectedly failed during the first leg of its journey. Stich and Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager of the Commercial Crew Program for Boeing, also said that engineers are still not certain about the reason behind the Starliner's problems. Nappi said that part of the aim is conducting the ground tests while the vehicle is still in space is to try to whittle down possible reasons why the thrusters malfunctioned. Mark Nappi said, "So, if (the test in New Mexico) comes back and gives us all the answers, then we can just undock and come home." He added, "If it comes back and says, 'Here's 80 per cent of the answer. And if you just run one more docked hot fire (test on the Starliner in orbit), then you can get 100 per cent of the answers' -- then we want (Starliner) to be there so that we can get that information." Meanwhile, Williams and Wilmore have integrated with the rest of the crew currently aboard the International Space Station and are conducting routine tasks. Several more helium leaks were identified while the craft was heading to the International Space Station, along with the thruster issues. The Starliner's service module, a cylindrical attachment at the bottom of the spacecraft that provides much of the vehicle's power during flight, faced several issues, CNN reported. As per the design, the service module will not survive the return to Earth. The module is jettisoned and destroyed as the Starliner spacecraft reenters the atmosphere and that's the reason why Boeing and NASA teams then opted to leave the Starliner spacecraft safely docked with the space station while they worked to learn as much as possible about those issues. It is not clear yet whether NASA will extend the maximum mission length to 90 days. Stich said officials must clear the battery life of the Starliner for that purpose. Although he noted that the batteries are being recharged at the space station, they should operate the same way after 90 days as they will for the first 45 days. The spaceflight industry frequently experiences cost overruns, delays and unmet deadlines. However, Boeing has faced challenges that have stood out, particularly when the Starliner program is directly compared with SpaceX's Crew Dragon, CNN reported. Crew Dragon, which falls under the same NASA Commercial Crew Program for astronaut transportation, completed its first test flight in 2020 and has been carrying out routine missions ever since. SpaceX did not have the benefit of designing the Crew Dragon spacecraft off the back of its Cargo Dragon vehicle, which for years sent supplies to the International Space Station before its successor started operating while Boeing designed Starliner from scratch. Nappi said, "We've got a really good test flight that's been accomplished so far, and it's being viewed rather negatively." In the latest update regarding the ongoing space mission, the Expedition 71 crew members on Friday packed a US cargo craft, cleaned up the International Space Station, studied techniques of futuristic piloting, and carried out eye exams. NASA's Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts spent the day reconfiguring a space botany facility. In its live blog, NASA stated, " Robotics controllers are scheduled to detach the Cygnus space freighter from the Unity module on July 12 and release it into Earth orbit for disposal over the South Pacific Ocean ending a five-and-a-half-month mission at the orbital lab." NASA Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick spent most of the time on Friday on loading trash and discarding gear inside the Cygnus with assistance from fellow NASA astronauts Jeanette Epps and Tracy C Dyson. Canadarm2 robotic arm captured the Cygnus on February 1, with more than 8200 pounds of science experiments and crew supplies. Epps operated standard medical imaging gear found in an optometrist's office on Earth and peered into Dyson's eyes. She examined the cornea, retina, and lens of Dyson to help flight surgeons understand and counteract microgravity's effect on crew vision. Earlier, Dyson collected and stowed excess space station hardware for disposal. During the day, NASA Flight Engineer Mike Barratt routed cables and reprogrammed communications systems inside the Columbus laboratory module. He stowed hardware and components used earlier in the week for advanced orbital plumbing in the Tranquility module's bathroom. Mike Barratt refilled supply kits in Columbus' two Human Research Facility racks with biomedical gear, including sample tubes and needles. On Friday, Starliner's Commander and Pilot, Butch Wilmore and <keyword id="21544825" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sunita-Williams" source="keywords">Sunita Williams</keyword> in Kibo conducted space botany work. They removed the Plant Habitat growth chamber from Kibo's EXPRESS rack, replaced its camera and carbon dioxide sensors, then reinstalled the research device. In the liveblog, NASA said, "NASA and Boeing continue to evaluate Starliner's propulsion system performance before returning to Earth from the orbiting lab. NASA and Boeing leaders participated in a media teleconference today to discuss Starliner and station operations." "NASA is now targeting the end of July for the next spacewalk outside the space station. This change allows teams on the ground to continue to troubleshoot and understand the water leak in the service and cooling umbilical unit that forced an early end to a spacewalk on Monday, June 24," it added. Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub practiced planetary spacecraft and robotic piloting techniques future crew members and conducted two sessions of an investigation exploring ways to create new materials on the lunar surface. Meanwhile, Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin worked throughout the day inventorying medical kits and cleaning fans inside the Rassvet module and Station Commander Oleg Kononenko replaced thermal components in Roscosmos' life support hardware.

Boeing Starliner with Sunita Williams onboard could wait months in space before return as NASA mulls extending mission duration

Two <keyword id="19939779" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="NASA-astronauts" source="keywords">NASA astronauts</keyword> <keyword id="21967665" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Barry-Wilmore" source="keywords">Barry Wilmore</keyword> and <keyword id="21544825" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sunita-Williams" source="keywords">Sunita Williams</keyword> have no planned date to return to Earth and they are waiting aboard the <keyword id="19985509" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="International-Space-Station" source="keywords">International Space Station</keyword> (ISS) amid several mechanical issues with Boeing's <keyword id="20138728" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="starliner" source="keywords">Starliner</keyword> spacecraft, ABC News reported. The two <keyword id="19935155" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="NASA" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="NASA" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="NASA">NASA</keyword> astronauts were scheduled to return on June 14. However, the pair has no set date to return to Earth as their return has been delayed multiple times. In a statement, Steve Stich, manager of NASA's <keyword id="20430894" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Commercial-Crew-Program" source="keywords">Commercial Crew Program</keyword>, said, "We are taking our time and following our standard mission management team process," according to ABC News report. Stich added, "We are letting the data drive our decision-making relative to managing the small helium system leaks and thruster performance that we observed during rendezvous and docking." The Starliner with flight commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore and flight pilot Sunita "Suni" Williams onboard was launched from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida on June 5. The Starliner arrived at the ISS on June 6. The mission is part of the larger Commercial Crew Program at NASA, which wanted to see whether Boeing's spacecraft could be certified to carry out routine missions to and from the ISS. Boeing and NASA have said the crew is currently not in danger as they are aboard the ISS with plenty of supplies in orbit and the schedule of the station is relatively open through mid-August. NASA and Boeing said Wilmore and Williams are "integrated" with the Expedition 71 crew aboard the ISS and are assisting the crew with operations of the station as needed and completing "objectives" required for NASA's possible certification of Starliner, ABC News reported. In a statement, Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager of Boeing's Starliner program, said, "The crew's feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and they know that every bit of learning we do on the Crew Flight Test will improve and sharpen our experience for future crews." Starliner has faced several issues, even before launch. The flight test was originally tentatively scheduled for May 6. However, it was delayed after a problem with an oxygen valve on a rocket from United Launch Alliance (ULA), which makes and operates the rockets that launch spacecraft into orbit. The launch date was later set for May 25. However, a small helium leak was found in the service module, which comprises support systems and instruments for operating a spacecraft, ABC News reported. Helium leaks and a thruster issue then threatened to delay the docking of Starliner. After docking at the ISS for five days, NASA and Boeing said the spacecraft was experiencing five "small" helium leaks. At the time, NASA and Boeing said enough helium was available for the return mission.

No planned date to return to Earth for two NASA astronauts due to issues with Boeing Starliner spacecraft

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Ukraine will be getting its second Western jet type, as France plans to send Mirages.</li><li>France also said it was training Ukrainian pilots.</li></ul>France's plan for getting Ukraine new Western fighter jets could help it skirt a big issue facing the F-16 program.France is giving Ukraine Mirage jets, and once they arrive, they will be the second Western aircraft type that Ukraine has received, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-may-not-use-f16s-for-frontline-offensives-it-wanted-2024-8">after the American-made F-16</a>, since Russia<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-did-russia-invade-ukraine-putin-politics-motive-2023-6"> launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022</a>.Part of France's pledge includes a promise to train Ukrainian pilots on the jets, which is good news for Ukraine given the persistent delays in Western programs designed to train its pilots on F-16s.France's armed forces minister, Sébastien Lecornu, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.sudouest.fr/societe/defense/proche-orient-personne-ne-veut-desarmer-israel-pour-sa-defense-21685927.php">said</a> the jets would be equipped for the fight in Ukraine, "but most important of all is the training of pilots and mechanics, which continues in Nancy."Retired US Army Maj. Gen. Gordon "Skip" Davis, who served as NATO's deputy assistant secretary-general for its defense-investment division, told Business Insider that "the fact that France is willing to provide both the jets and train the pilots, that's great. That's key."<h2 id="f594afa1-e1d5-413d-8195-814c68a993f5">F-16 training struggles</h2>Ukrainian pilots are being trained in the US, Denmark, and Romania on Lockheed Martin-manufactured F-16s. But the new program has faced setbacks. Politico <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" class="" href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/05/ukraine-f-16-pilot-training-00161742">reported</a> in June that Ukraine's allies did not have the number of training spaces that Ukraine wanted for its pilots.And to further complicate things, another delay in getting more trained pilots in the air seems to have arisen.The Wall Street Journal <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.wsj.com/world/u-s-shifts-ukraines-f-16-training-to-focus-on-younger-pilots-f8b97cfd">reported</a> last month that the US is shifting its training to younger, less-experienced cadets, largely because experienced pilots typically don't have the necessary English skills to do the training. That decision could delay the arrival of more F-16s on the battlefield by months, the report said.<div type="image" title="Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stands outside in front of microphones and wearing a black long-sleeved t-shirt with a Ukrainian Air Force F-16 fighter jet behind him" height="1333" width="2000" msid="115215860" hostid="261" sizebytes="167434"></div>Ukraine has only received 10 F-16s so far, according to Ukrainian outlet <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2024/08/4/7468896/">Pravda</a>, and it has already lost at least one. So few aircraft are helpful for augmenting Ukrainian air defenses, but there's not enough to make a substantial impact.France's offer to train pilots for a different jet type, even if it is only for a small number of aircraft, is helpful, experts explained to BI.Gordon said it's a "big deal" that France is providing training "because training is a bit of a bottleneck for the F-16s."Michael Bohnert, an air warfare expert at the RAND Corporation, said that when it comes to Ukraine getting Mirage aircraft, "a big advantage" is that "the French have their training pipeline, so they're able to run an independent set of training relative to what's happening in the US or elsewhere."George Barros, a warfare expert at the Institute for the Study of War, said that the US has "a big training bottleneck when it comes to getting pilots qualified.""Any sort of augmentation and training bandwidth that partners and allies can provide to help alleviate that critical rate determiner is going to really help expedite Ukraine's ability to become proficient in operating in that air domain," he said.That's"not to undersell the importance of the actual hardware and equipment itself," Barros said, "but no one really talks about training." He explained that "you could have as many airframes as you want, but if you don't have the qualified pilots who know how to do it correctly, then you don't have a capability."<h2 id="0f83039a-7b0d-433d-93bb-3c2345ca7f0f">Ukraine's future</h2>Lecornu said in October that his country intends to send Mirage 2000 jets manufactured by Dassault Aviation in the first half of 2025. But the jets will not arrive in large numbers. French newspaper La Tribune <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.latribune.fr/entreprises-finance/industrie/aeronautique-defense/la-france-va-livrer-debut-2025-trois-mirage-2000-5-a-l-ukraine-1009418.html?utm_term=Autofeed&amp;utm_medium=Social&amp;utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1729656105">reported </a>that only three will be delivered in the first quarter of next year.France has not officially confirmed how many will arrive in the first tranche or how many it will send in total. It is also unclear when pilots will complete their training and Mirage aircraft will be able to join Ukrine's F-16s in the air.<div type="image" title="The undersides of two F-16s flying against a gray sky." height="1291" width="2000" msid="115215862" hostid="261" sizebytes="56534"></div>But having a new jet to fly alongside the F-16s and its Soviet-designed aircraft isn't without its challenges."It would be ideal if they would just operate one thing, but now they have to operate three things," Tim Robinson, a military aviation specialist at the UK's Royal Aeronautical Society, said."Ideally, you don't have to support three different types of fixed-wing aircraft," he said. "But beggars can't be choosers, and at the end of the day, more capability is better than no capability."Bohnert gave a similar assessment. "One problem is they're just trying to stand up their F-16 infrastructure. So, adding another plane that is relatively different in its supply chain will pose some logistical challenges. But from a force perspective, it's a positive improvement," he said.Ukraine has notably proven itself to be very adept at mixing combat technologies from many different partners, be it artillery, tanks, missiles, or aircraft.The Mirage will be "added value" for Ukraine, Gordon said, though he said allies should have made the decision earlier so they could be flying and helping Ukraine now.Ukraine definitely needs more jets. Even if all the F-16s the country has been promised arrive — the more than 85 jets promised by Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Denmark — that's not enough to make a big difference, warfare experts say. Even Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said it's not enough, saying the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-faces-same-problem-with-f16s-as-abrams-tanks-zelenskyy-2024-7">issues are the same ones it ran into with the Abrams tanks</a>.And the F-16, while a capable, combat-proven aircraft, is 50 years old. These aircraft are <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-old-f16s-outclassed-russia-best-jets-former-general-nato-2024-10">not peak warfighting capabilities</a>, and they arrived long after Ukraine really needed them, giving Russia time to prepare for their arrival. More capability is welcomed.The Mirages are good for Ukraine, Robinson said, and "obviously more of everything is great."

New French Mirage fighter jets could help Ukraine skirt one of the biggest roadblocks for the F-16 program 

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-won-election-what-that-means-for-elon-musk-2024-11">Elon Musk and Donald Trump are both enthusiastic </a>about space exploration opportunities amid a desire to slash regulations.</li><li>It's not yet clear how powerful Musk's role in the new Trump administration will be.</li></ul>Now that <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/election-results-trump-harris-presidential-election-2024-11">president-elect Donald Trump</a> is set to return to power in the US, Elon Musk's plans for sending humans beyond Earth's orbit may be more likely to come to fruition.Space industry experts told Business Insider that Musk's influence over Trump could help advance <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-could-help-deregulate-tech-amid-a-trump-victory-2024-11">his business interests</a>, including sending the first crewed mission to Mars."I'm hugely optimistic about what's going to happen in space now," Michelle Hanlon, executive director of the Center for Air and Space Law at the University of Mississippi School of Law, told Business Insider.Hanlon's optimism isn't unfounded, especially if Trump's second term focuses on space as much as his first.During his first term, from 2017 to 2021, Trump's administration founded <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/space-force-guardian-nick-hague-spacex-rocket-iss-2024-2">the Space Force</a>, re-launched the National Space Council, and established NASA's Artemis program. This program is set to return astronauts to the moon and lay the groundwork for the first crewed mission to Mars.But space isn't the only interest Trump and Musk share. They also want to slash government regulations.<h2 id="b873fb1d-647e-4cdf-a3ef-7d9a7adb04e7">Musk's 'Department of Government Efficiency'</h2>Trump has said that he would cut 10 regulations for every new one his administration creates.Musk and his businesses, meanwhile, have <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-spacex-faa-overtime-regulations-2024-9">clashed with regulators</a>, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Aviation Administration."There is a lot of waste and needless regulation in government that needs to go," Musk wrote on <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1830829538118381574">X</a> after Trump announced that he planned to put the billionaire at the helm of a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-rally-elon-musk-save-department-government-efficiency-2024-10">new "department of government efficiency."</a>It's unclear how much influence Musk would have over regulations if this department came to fruition. Trump's trust in Musk to run such a department, however, is a testament to the pair's burgeoning relationship.The two men teamed up on the campaign trail, with Musk contributing millions to Trump's reelection campaign and appearing with him at a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-pennsylvania-america-pac-donald-trump-harris-2024-11">rally in Pennsylvania</a>.In his election-night victory speech, Trump praised Musk for <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-spacex-starship-launch-five-huge-deal-space-travel-2024-10">SpaceX's Starship</a> vehicle, designed to shuttle the first humans to Mars, and for the company's Starlink internet satellites, which are designed to offer fast, cheap internet to remote locations worldwide.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-trump-calls-zelenskyy-erdogan-influence-2024-11">Musk also joined a call</a> between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday — underscoring how influential Musk could be once Trump returns to office, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.axios.com/2024/11/08/musk-trump-zelensky-ukraine-call?stream=top&amp;utm_source=alert&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=alerts_all">Axios</a> reported.Whether that influence translates to Trump founding a new "department of government efficiency" for Musk, though, is unclear.<div type="image" title="Elon Musk jumps for joy at Trump's recent rally in Butler, Pennsylvania." height="1279" width="2000" msid="115101302" hostid="261" sizebytes="117830"></div>SpaceX and Musk did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Trump's campaign said that Musk's ideas and efficiency will benefit federal bureaucracy but his role in Trump's administration remains under wraps."It's a crazy situation, but you can't just create a new department," Deborah Sivas, the director of the Environmental Law Clinic at Stanford, told BI. She said Congress would have to approve it, which may be more likely since Republicans won the Senate majority.Changing a government agency's powers or rules, Sivas said, requires making new rules or passing a law through Congress. That can take months, and it's not guaranteed to work.So, it's unlikely that Musk would be able to single-handedly eliminate key steps in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-texas-starship-launch-site-development-challenges-2019-6">regulatory processes</a>, like the typical environmental review requirement for building a new rocket launchpad."I think Elon Musk will be more likely in the background, whispering in his ear," Sivas said of the billionaire's relationship with Trump."Is he going to be able to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-spacex-autocratic-style-success-politics-harm-2024-9">influence space policy</a>? Yes, no question," Hanlon said, adding that she sees that as a "good thing" because of Musk's experience.In other arenas, like environmental regulation, Sivas isn't so sure."I feel like he should stay in his business lane and stay out of the government lane," Sivas said. "When you put those two together, it's like putting church and state together."<h2 id="879d5f64-5325-4a92-9196-db627a3cb3e9">Smoothing potholes on the road to Mars</h2>Even if Musk can't change regulations, a space-friendly Trump administration could smooth the path to Musk's goal of building a city on Mars.Musk recently <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1832550322293837833">said</a> that he plans to launch Starships to Mars for the first time in just two years. If those flights go well, he said that the first human crews would follow four years from now."That's a pretty ambitious timeline," George Nield, former associate administrator of the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation, told BI. To meet it would probably require "different regulatory frameworks or contractual arrangements than we've used in the past," he added.<div type="image" title="Elon Musk with former president Donald Trump" height="2633" width="3949" msid="115101300" hostid="261" sizebytes="148502"></div>"If anybody can do it, it will be Elon Musk," Hanlon said. But the government can help, she said, by making regulators more efficient.To help even further, she added, "It can become a policy of the US government to support commercial flight to Mars."With Trump's interest in Starship, the chances of that look better than ever.Regulations aren't the only obstacle. There are still a lot of technical hurdles to overcome before we can reach Mars, Nield said.The moon, on the other hand, is more achievable, and Trump has had his eye on it. Weeks after Musk endorsed Trump, the president-elect <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-victory-expected-boost-musks-mars-dream-2024-11-08/">told reporters</a> that the moon was the first step toward his ultimate goal to reach Mars.<h2 id="60abc973-d957-4dd0-8d46-da0596ffb8e2">The next moon landing</h2>For the Artemis program's first human moon landing, NASA plans to launch four astronauts toward the moon using its Space Launch System and Orion spaceship.In lunar orbit, the ship would meet up with SpaceX's Starship, which would carry two astronauts to the moon's surface, putting boots in the lunar dust for the first time since 1972.The date for that mission has been repeatedly pushed back, with September 2026 being NASA's current target.There's no indication that Trump is considering this, but if he wants a faster moon landing, he could ditch the NASA hardware and send astronauts aboard Starship alone, Nield said."If we see rapid progress with Starship and encouragement from the administration and Congress, I don't see any reason why that couldn't happen in a small number of years," Nield said.

What Trump's second term means for space and why one expert is 'hugely optimistic'

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-launch-risky-polaris-dawn-mission-first-commercial-spacewalk-radiation-2024-8">SpaceX launched the Polaris Dawn mission</a> Tuesday morning, sending four people on an ambitious flight.</li><li>The private mission aims to fly through radiation belts and conduct the first commercial spacewalk.</li></ul><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-polaris-dawn-mission-launch-2024-8">SpaceX just launched four people</a> on its most daring human spaceflight yet, a mission called Polaris Dawn.The crew features a billionaire, a pilot, and two SpaceX employees. After an early morning launch on Tuesday, they're floating in the company's <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-says-next-spacex-flight-will-have-better-toilets-2021-9">Crew Dragon spaceship</a> in Earth's orbit.None of them are NASA-grade <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-astronaut-warns-tourists-that-spaceflight-is-uncomfortable-risky-2021-8">professional astronauts</a>, but they're scheduled to fly further from Earth than anyone has traveled in over 50 years, since the Apollo missions.They're also planning to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/polaris-dawn-spacewalk-spacex-crew-dragon-2024-9">conduct the first-ever commercial spacewalk</a>, taking the risk of opening their entire Crew Dragon spaceship to the vacuum of space.Here's who's on board this bold, historic mission.<h2 id="688a5c11-20ce-406b-89c2-4f98790acc82">Jared Isaacman, mission commander</h2><div type="image" title="jared isaacman spacex crew dragon" height="2560" width="3840" msid="113245844" hostid="261" sizebytes="991006"></div><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jared-isaacman-net-worth-career-spacex-polaris-dawn-2024-8">Jared Isaacman</a> is the billionaire bankrolling the mission and serving as its commander. This isn't the 41-year-old's first rodeo.In 2021, he funded and flew on the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-civilian-crew-zip-ties-sedatives-orbit-2021-9">first-ever all-civilian spaceflight</a>, called Inspiration4, and brought three people with him to circle Earth aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon.That mission's name, Inspiration4, derives from Shift4, the payment-processing company that Isaacman founded at age 16 in his parents' basement after dropping out of high school. He is still the CEO.Compared to other space-faring billionaires — like the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/virgin-galactic-richard-branson-spaceflight-2021-7">flashy Richard Branson</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-jeff-bezos-interrupts-william-shatner-space-speech-spray-champagne-2021-10">champagne-spraying Jeff Bezos</a> — Isaacman's tone is much more serious.For starters, he's a relatively private person. He's repeatedly declined to say how much money he's spent on his missions with SpaceX.He also has some technical qualifications for the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/virgin-galactic-blue-origin-spacex-commercial-space-flights-tourism-cost-2023-7">commercial astronaut</a> gig: He's an accomplished pilot, reporting over 7,000 flight hours. Isaacman's business repertoire also includes Draken International, a private aircraft provider and pilot-training company that he founded in 2012 and sold to Blackdstone in 2019. The sale, along with taking Shift4 public, made him a billionaire.Messaging around both <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-final-members-of-the-all-civilian-inspiration4mission-revealed-2021-4">Inspiration4</a> and Polaris Dawn has been heavily focused on fundraising for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital as well as making technological advancements in human spaceflight."I just knew it was a pretty significant moment in history, and it comes with some responsibility," Isaacman told BI ahead of the Inspiration4 launch in 2021. He said the St. Jude fundraising was an effort to "take care of some of the problems that we have here on Earth, so we earn the right to go and explore among the stars."Isaacman has also approached NASA, offering to fund a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-spacex-announcement-billionaire-spaceflight-hubble-space-telescope-2022-9">Crew Dragon mission to boost the Hubble Space Telescope's orbit</a> and therefore extend its lifespan, since it's currently expected to fall from orbit in the mid-2030s. NASA has declined the offer for now.Isaacman lives in New Jersey with his wife, Monica Isaacman, and their two daughters, according to the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://nypost.com/2024/09/10/us-news/jared-isaacman-nj-high-school-dropout-turned-tech-billionaire-set-to-conduct-first-private-spacewalk/">New York Post</a>.<h2 id="826614e6-dace-47db-8f31-d7d755ada4e7">Sarah Gillis, mission specialist</h2><div type="image" title="sarah gillis smiling woman in white spacesuit and open helmet with gray and black trim" height="1667" width="2500" msid="113245841" hostid="261" sizebytes="137418"></div>As the engineer overseeing <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-spacex-first-civilians-trained-for-spaceflight-photos-2021-9">SpaceX's astronaut training program</a>, Sarah Gillis first got to know Isaacman when she was preparing him and his crewmates for the Inspiration4 flight."You spend a huge amount of your job pretending to be an astronaut and thinking through what they would care about," Gillis, aged 30, said in a briefing on August 19. "I cannot wait to actually test this in space and bring back knowledge to the engineers."Growing up in Boulder, Colorado, Gillis was on track to be a violinist like her mother until her junior year of high school, when she attended a university guest lecture by Joe Tanner, a former NASA astronaut and a mechanical engineering professor. She told <a target="_blank" href="https://www.denverpost.com/2024/07/22/spacex-colorado-astronauts-scott-poteet-sarah-gillis-polaris-dawn/">The Denver Post</a> that she stayed to talk with Tanner, who became her mentor as she pursued aerospace engineering.Gillis started with an internship at SpaceX in 2015 and quickly ascended through the ranks of the company's astronaut training program and mission control operations. She's still a skilled violinist and an avid hiker.Gillis's husband, Lewis, is also a SpaceX engineer. He helped build Dragon's propulsion system."So I know exactly what goes into the testing and the design and the rigor behind absolutely everything in the spacecraft," Gillis said, adding that she was "very, very excited to fly on my favorite Dragon spacecraft."She's serving as the mission specialist on Polaris Dawn, assigned to leave Dragon on Thursday to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-shows-cosmonaut-space-littering-during-spacewalk-nasa-says-harmless-2023-5">conduct the first commercial spacewalk</a> alongside Isaacman. This is her first time in space.<h2 id="3fe1acf4-ea8f-4279-9bc9-30d402b3c54d">Anna Menon, mission specialist and medical officer</h2><div type="image" title="Crewmember Anna Menon of Polaris Dawn smiling and wearing sunglasses" height="1500" width="2004" msid="113245851" hostid="261" sizebytes="165860"></div><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-astronaut-parenting-tips-career-vs-dad-time-2024-3">Anna Menon</a> has dreamed of going to space since she was a child."I grew up in Houston, another Space City, and I was exposed to space on a field trip and got to experience a day in the life of an astronaut and a flight controller in mission control," Menon said during the August 19 briefing. "And I fell in love with the industry." Polaris Dawn is the 38-year-old's first time in space. She's an engineer at SpaceX and is serving as a mission specialist and medical officer for Polaris Dawn. "I think working at SpaceX gives me a tremendous amount of competence going to space," Menon said. Before joining SpaceX, Menon worked at NASA and helped oversee International Space Station operations as a biomedical flight controller. She's not the only one in her family headed to space. Menon's husband, Anil, is one of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-astronauts-hiring-resume-selection-manager-2024-3">NASA's new astronauts</a>. The couple have two children, James and Grace.During her trip in space, Anna plans to get in a bit of reading. "I'm going to read a children's book I wrote, '<a target="_blank" href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/744559/kisses-from-space-by-anna-menon-and-keri-vasek-illustrated-by-andy-harkness/">Kisses from Space</a>,' to both my kids as well as some of the brave kids at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital," she <a target="_blank" href="https://people.com/billionaire-jared-isaacman-leads-four-civilian-astronauts-historic-polaris-dawn-mission-8709509">told People</a>. The live feed storytime is part of the mission's fundraising for the pediatric hospital, which treats childhood cancers and other diseases.<h2 id="3fce8d66-9204-4222-b02b-13d7f457607b">Scott "Kidd" Poteet, mission pilot</h2><div type="image" title="Polaris Dawn crewmember Scott Poteet against a white background" height="1500" width="2151" msid="113245842" hostid="261" sizebytes="78440"></div>Though he's flown fighter jets for the US Air Force, Scott Poteet has never been to space. The 50-year-old <a target="_blank" href="https://polarisprogram.com/team/scott-poteet/">mission</a> pilot <a target="_blank" href="https://mynews13.com/fl/orlando/space/2024/08/16/scott-kidd-poteet-talks-about-polaris-dawn">suffers</a> from motion sickness, but managed to overcome that in his combat missions and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.airforce.com/thunderbirds/overview">performing</a> aerobatic maneuvers with the US Air Force's Thunderbirds.Poteet told <a target="_blank" href="https://mynews13.com/fl/orlando/space/2024/08/16/scott-kidd-poteet-talks-about-polaris-dawn">Spectrum News</a> his route to becoming an astronaut wasn't typical, at least not by today's standards. His grades weren't the best in school, and he doesn't have a background in engineering or science. Nevertheless, Isaacman invited Poteet, who goes by "Kidd," to pilot Polaris Dawn."On a personal level, flying fighter jets in the Air Force for 20 years, combat experience, operational test experience, leading many red flag exercises, and fighter weapons school, I can tell you without a doubt this has been some of the most challenging training that I've ever experienced," Poteet said about his training for Polaris Dawn during the briefing on August 19.Poteet lives in Monument, Colorado with his wife and has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C8QPSBUMRo8/?img_index=1">three</a> children. At least one hopes to follow in his footsteps. "My 12-year-old son absolutely plans to go to space," he recently told <a target="_blank" href="https://magazine.unh.edu/issue/winter-2023/to-the-stars/">UNH Magazine</a>. "He believes it will be commonplace in his lifetime."

Meet SpaceX's Polaris Dawn crew: The daring 4 who are in space on the most ambitious private space mission in history

<ul class="summary-list"><li>NASA is planning to give the Boeing Starliner another chance.</li><li>The agency has scheduled two SpaceX launches — Crew-10 and Crew-11 — for 2025.</li></ul>NASA has released the schedule for its commercial launches in 2025, and the Boeing Starliner is slated to get another chance at spaceflight.In a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2024/10/15/nasa-updates-2025-commercial-crew-plan/">blog post</a> on Tuesday, the agency listed the "Next Starliner Flight" as the last of its three launches in its 2025 schedule.But it added that the spacecraft's next flight dates will be released after "Crew Flight Test lessons" are incorporated into the aircraft and NASA approves its "operational readiness.""The timing and configuration of Starliner's next flight will be determined once a better understanding of Boeing's path to system certification is established," the blog post said."Meanwhile, NASA is keeping options on the table for how best to achieve system certification, including windows of opportunity for a potential Starliner flight in 2025," it added.The first planned launch of 2025 will be the SpaceX Crew-10 mission. NASA said in its blog post that the agency is now targeting a launch "no earlier than February 2025."According to the post, NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, along with astronauts from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Russia's Roscosmos, will be on the mission.The second slot of the year has been reserved for the SpaceX Crew-11 mission, which will take place "no earlier than July," the post added. The four-person crew of the Crew-11 mission will be revealed at a later date.<h2 id="89e3328a-4aa6-41d9-91b1-6d492db3fcae">Hope for Starliner</h2>The Boeing Starliner, which <a target="_blank" rel="" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-starliner-spacecraft-returns-to-earth-without-nasa-astronauts-2024-9">returned to New Mexico</a> on September 6 without its crew, suffered several issues with its thrusters and helium leaks as it approached the International Space Station on June 6 to dock.The difficulties resulted in the delay in the return of its crew — the two NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. NASA said it decided to "prioritize safety and return Starliner without its crew."The agency has now turned to SpaceX to bring Wilmore and Williams back to Earth. The duo are <a target="_blank" rel="" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-stranded-astronauts-return-nasa-boeing-starliner-spacex-crew-dragon-2024-8">scheduled to return</a> via the SpaceX Crew Dragon in February 2025.<h2 id="75d54524-597d-471e-950b-61869a094abd">SpaceX and Boeing's competition continues</h2>The two companies have been in the commercial space exploration race since they both won highly sought-after NASA contracts totaling $6.8 billion in 2014.According to NASA's 2014 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-chooses-american-companies-to-transport-u-s-astronauts-to-international-space-station/">press release</a>, Boeing and SpaceX were allotted $4.2 billion and $2.6 billion, respectively.The contracts were part of NASA's public-private partnership, the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/index.html">Commercial Crew Program</a>.Following the Starliner's successful launch in June, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that his space exploration company had <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-bashes-boeing-astronaut-flight-spacex-did-years-ago-2024-5">beat Boeing to the punch four years before.</a>In 2020, SpaceX surged ahead of Boeing in the space race when it became the first private company to fly astronauts to space. Musk brought that win up in an X <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" class="" href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1787531120852312388?lang=en">post</a> about Starliner in May, writing: "SpaceX finished 4 years sooner."Now, Musk is accusing the Federal Aviation Administration of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-faa-should-punish-boeing-starliner-not-spacex-9">playing favorites with Boeing</a>.In September, he <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1836923457960919224?s=46&amp;t=bkmJfZuvxzKCaiQCsNuiTw">wrote on X</a> that the FAA should punish Boeing for its Starliner failures rather than impose "petty" fines on SpaceX.This was after the FAA proposed a $633,009 fine for SpaceX, saying that Musk's company had violated the terms of its launch licenses during two launches in June and July 2023.Representatives for NASA didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, sent outside business hours.

NASA is planning to give the beleaguered Boeing Starliner another shot at space — in late 2025

<ul class="summary-list"><li>North Korea's latest satellite launch failed in a fireball in the sky on Monday evening.</li><li>That comes after South Korean media reported that Russia was helping Pyongyang's space program.</li></ul>North Korea announced on Monday that its latest spy satellite launch ended in the explosion of its rocket just minutes after liftoff — a third failure in its last four attempts to put a satellite into orbit.And that was despite Russian space experts recently arriving to guide North Korea's space program, South Korean news agency <a target="_blank" href="https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20240526000500315">Yonhap</a> reported a day before the failed launch, citing a senior defense official who was not named.Yonhap wrote that a "large number" of Russian technicians had entered North Korea after Russian leader Vladimir Putin last year offered to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.npr.org/2023/09/13/1199190066/russia-north-korea-putin-kim-jong-un-summit#:~:text=Putin%20offered%20North%20Korea%20technological,for%20military%20cooperation%20between%20them.">support Pyongyang with its satellite launches.</a>It's unclear exactly how many technicians were sent to North Korea, when they might have arrived, or how they might have advised Pyongyang.The senior South Korean defense official told the agency that the Russian experts likely had high standards, causing a delay between North Korea's last satellite launch and preparations for Monday's attempt.Yonhap reported that North Korea's space rockets also likely face issues with their second and third-stage engines.That could forewarn even deeper problems in Pyongyang's space program; the explosion at Monday's launch occurred during the rocket's first stage of flight.North Korean state media cited a space official saying that preliminary investigations showed the rocket's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/north-korea-blames-new-liquid-oxygen-engine-for-satellite-2024-5">new liquid oxygen and petroleum engine</a> was to blame. However, he also said there may have been other reasons for the launch failure.Roscosmos, Russia's space agency, and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider.Russia and North Korea's relationship has come under scrutiny in the past year after the <a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-north-korea-un-missiles-aa272d30568657a3718bad4af7a44b16#:~:text=UNITED%20NATIONS%20(AP)%20%E2%80%94%20The,sanctions.">US accused them of trading arms and materials</a> deployed in the war in Ukraine.Per the accusations from the US and its allies, Moscow has been sending raw materials, food, and technical expertise to Pyongyang <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/north-korea-shells-used-by-russia-from-1970s-report-2024-5">in exchange for shipments of artillery ammunition and missiles</a> that Ukraine reports seeing on the battlefield.South Korea has for months said that North Korea's sole successful satellite launch of 2023<a target="_blank" href="https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20231124/p2g/00m/0in/002000c"> came off the back of Russian assistance.</a>Pyongyang launched the Malligyong-1 in November and claims it is still functioning, though Seoul said in February that it detected the satellite is no longer communicating with the ground.Some international experts, however, said that month that they've seen <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/north-korea-spy-satellite-malligyong1-movement-orbit-alive-failed-attempts-2024-2">signs of activity</a> from the Malligyong-1.North Korea's repeated satellite launches come as a concern for the US and its allies, who have tried to limit its nuclear weapons and space programs through sweeping sanctions. Pyongyang's repeated testing of ballistics and space launches indicates that it's been able to persist despite the global restrictions.The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pacom.mil/Media/News/News-Article-View/Article/3788148/usindopacom-statement-on-dprk-launch/">US Indo-Pacific Command</a> noted that Pyongyang's Monday launch appeared to use technology related to North Korea's ballistic missile program. It condemned the launch as a "brazen violation" of United Nations resolutions that could destabilize regional security.

Russian experts were guiding North Korea's space program ahead of Pyongyang blowing up its latest satellite: South Korean report

Washington DC: <keyword id="19935155" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="NASA" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="NASA" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="NASA">NASA</keyword> astronauts Sunita 'Suni' Williams and Barry 'Butch' Wilmore will put a call to Earth and participate in a press conference aboard the <keyword id="19985509" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="International-Space-Station" source="keywords">International Space Station</keyword> in low Earth orbit, the US space agency said. The space call is scheduled at 2:15 p.m. EDT (local time) on September 13 to the newsroom at NASA's Johnson Space Centre in Houston. The pair had launched aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on June 5 for its first crewed flight, arriving at the space station on June 6. A decision was made to return Starliner to Earth without its crew and the spacecraft successfully returned on September 6 after more than three months in space. It made a safe landing at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. Both astronauts <keyword id="21544825" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sunita-Williams" source="keywords">Sunita Williams</keyword> and Butch Wilmore called down to flight controllers to thank teams for their support before the uncrewed Starliner spacecraft returned to Earth. "You guys it's time to bring Calypso home. We have your backs and you have got this. Bring her back to Earth," Sunita Williams said in the radio message referring to the spacecrafts nickname. Both the astronauts will remain on the international space station as part of the Expedition 71/72 crew and return home in February 2025 aboard the <keyword id="19905255" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="SpaceX" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="SpaceX" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="SpaceX">SpaceX</keyword> Dragon spacecraft with two other crew members on NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 mission. Meanwhile, crew of the Polaris Dawn the Elon Musk-led private charted spaceflight created history when they completed the first commercial spacewalk. Donning newly-designed SpaceX extravehicular activity (EVA) suits, the crew began their approximately two-hour operation at 3:12 a.m. EDT while traveling at 17,500 miles per hour in an elliptical orbit of 190 x 700 km above the EarthThe spacewalk represents an important milestone of the Polaris Program, a developmental program designed to further the advancement of human spaceflight. After opening the hatch, the Polaris Dawn crew became the first four astronauts to be exposed to the vacuum of space at the same time, the company said in a statement. Over approximately twenty minutes, Commander Jared Isaacman and Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis egressed the vehicle, completed a series of tests designed to evaluate the suit's mobility, thermal systems and the Dragon mobility aid "Skywalker" before returning to the cabin and closing the hatch. Mission Pilot Scott "Kidd" Poteet and Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Anna Menon supported Isaacman and Gillis throughout the entire operation monitoring vital support systems. Once the hatch was closed, Dragon was re-pressurized, cabin oxygen and pressure levels confirmed. Reflecting on his experience, mission commander and billionaire Isaacman, who financed the mission reflected on the experience: "SpaceX, back at home we all have a lot of work to do, but from here, Earth sure looks like a perfect world." NASA Administrator Bill Nelson relayed good wishes to SpaceX and the Polaris Dawn crew in a statement on X. "Congratulations @PolarisProgram and @SpaceX on the first commercial spacewalk in history!" Nelson wrote. "Today's success represents a giant leap forward for the commercial space industry and @NASA's long-term goal to build a vibrant U.S. space economy." The Polaris Dawn mission targeted splashdown off the coast of Florida, however SpaceX has not yet released details about the upcoming landing.

NASA astronaut Sunita Williams to address Earth from orbiting international Space Station

Domestic firms will <keyword id="6356112" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="lease" source="Orion">lease</keyword> an estimated 60-65 million square feet of <keyword id="181150" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="office-space" source="Orion">office space</keyword> between 2024 and 2025, according to <keyword id="20060150" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cbre" source="keywords">CBRE</keyword> South Asia's report, '<keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="keywords">India</keyword> Inc's Ascension - The Rise of Domestic Firms as an Office Demand Driver'. Domestic companies have been responsible for nearly 47 per cent of office leasing activity from 2022 to H1 2024, marking a departure from the traditional dominance of global corporations, particularly American firms. During 2022-2023, domestic firms experienced a 60 per cent surge in office space absorption compared to the pre-pandemic period of 2018-2019. Key occupier groups have secured significant spaces in prime locations across major cities, with <keyword id="19913115" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="delhi-ncr" source="keywords">Delhi-NCR</keyword> leading, followed by <keyword id="6354321" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bengaluru" source="Orion">Bengaluru</keyword> and Mumbai. E-commerce and life sciences companies have driven occupancy in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, respectively, while Mumbai has captured a substantial 43 per cent share of domestic <keyword id="19910880" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bfsi" source="keywords">BFSI</keyword> leasing, with strong contributions from Delhi-NCR and Chennai. The report attributes the robust growth of India's office market to several factors, including government initiatives like Make in India and the <keyword id="19952889" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="production-linked-incentive" source="keywords">Production Linked Incentive</keyword> (PLI) Scheme. These programs, along with increased domestic manufacturing, employment generation, and a well-capitalized banking sector, have created a supportive environment for business expansion. Other contributing factors include low corporate leverage ratios and improved access to capital, which have enhanced the investment capacity of Indian companies. India's talent pool, with approximately 2.5 million STEM graduates and a thriving start-up ecosystem featuring over 100 unicorns, has also been a major driver of growth. With over 38 sector skill councils, the government's focus on bridging the skill gap is preparing domestic firms for future demands, further bolstering the office leasing sector. Flexible space operators, technology, and BFSI sectors have emerged as the primary drivers of office leasing, collectively accounting for two-thirds of all domestic activity. The RCA sector, which includes legal, taxation, HR, and media services, is also playing a significant role in boosting domestic leasing. Additionally, Indian engineering and manufacturing firms, which currently represent 7-8 per cent of domestic office leasing, are expected to expand into <keyword id="20270212" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tier-ii" source="keywords">Tier-II</keyword> and Tier-III cities, which are emerging as manufacturing hubs. Anshuman Magazine, Chairman and CEO, India, Southeast Asia, Middle East &amp; Africa, CBRE, said, "India's rapidly expanding start-up ecosystem and talent abundance are major drivers of this demand. As India's major urban centers continue to grow and diversify, the demand for premium office spaces will shape the future of the commercial real estate market, setting new standards for innovation and excellence. He added, "India's top nine cities are poised to see an impressive addition of ~185 million sq. ft. of premium office space by 2026. This dramatic increase in office space is a testament to several key factors driving the transformation of the commercial real estate landscape". Ram Chandnani, Managing Director, Advisory and Transaction Services, CBRE India, said, "Advances in technology, especially artificial intelligence (AI), are poised to further transform the office sector. While AI may cause job displacement in some areas, it will also create new opportunities and necessitate comprehensive workforce reskilling. The surge in workforce needs, driven by digitalization, evolving workplace strategies, and enhanced business confidence, has substantially boosted leasing activity."

Domestic firms to lease 60-65 million sq ft office space by 2025: CBRE report

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Netflix wants you to think of things you see on Netflix as Netflix shows and movies.</li><li>The people who license those movies and TV shows wish you thought of them as NBC shows, or Disney movies, or whatever.</li></ul>Thought experiment: Let's say you run a big TV network.*And let's say you decide to license some of your TV shows to Netflix.What happens next?First, you get a bunch of money, at something close to 100% margin. You've already paid to make these shows, and (hopefully) made some money from them. Now Netflix is paying you again. Great!What happens next is up for debate.One possibility is that Netflix users watch your show, then realize that it came from your network, and then eventually make their way over to your network to watch more of your programming.This is what happened years ago when Netflix started showing old episodes of AMC's "Breaking Bad" while AMC was still airing new episodes of the show, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/7/14/21312595/netflix-breaking-bad-podcast-streaming-land-of-the-giants">"Breaking Bad's" ratings shot up</a>. This is good for the long-term health of your network.Another possibility is that Netflix users watch your show, have no idea it came from your network, and don't care. They just think it's a Netflix show because they saw it on Netflix. This is bad for the long-term health of your network.The fact that both possibilities exist helps explain why big media companies have taken an on-off-on approach to licensing their stuff to Netflix.At first, when Netflix was just building its streaming business, big media was happy to do those deals and thought Netflix was kind of a sucker. Then, once they realized Netflix was killing them, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.vox.com/2017/8/8/16115402/disney-netflix-espn-streaming-service-2018-2019">they pulled a lot of their stuff off of Netflix</a> and put it onto their own streaming services. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.vox.com/technology/2023/6/21/23768778/hbo-netflix-insecure-streaming-amazon-peter-kafka-media-column">Now they've started selling Netflix their good stuff, again</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.vox.com/technology/2023/10/4/23903539/dune-netflix-max-streaming-wbd-hbo-peter-kafka-newsletter">because they need the money</a>.Which brings us to Monday — the first day of a new licensing deal between AMC and Netflix. In addition to licensing shows that have been on Netflix for a long time, like "Breaking Bad" and "The Walking Dead," AMC is now also selling the streaming rights to shows you may not have seen or even heard about, like "Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire" and "Monsieur Spade." That's all very standard.What appears to be new is that Netflix has now agreed to group all of AMC's shows together in a "collection." So that, in theory, a "Better Call Saul" fan might learn that the show is from AMC, and that AMC also has "Gangs of London." And you can see the first two seasons of that on Netflix, too.AMC is psyched about this, and called it out on its <a target="_blank" href="https://investors.amcnetworks.com/news-releases/news-release-details/amc-networks-inc-reports-second-quarter-2024-results">earnings call earlier this summer</a>, describing it as "an innovative deal to strategically curate and window prior seasons of 15 AMC branded shows" on Netflix.I pay a lot of attention to Netflix, and I've never seen the streamer emphasize the network or studio something comes from. Unless it can call something a "Netflix Original," which it does a lot (<a target="_blank" href="https://www.quora.com/Why-does-Netflix-label-shows-it-purchased-Netflix-Originals-when-it-didnt-originate-from-Netflix#:~:text=They%20are%20commissioned%20by%20Netflix,them%2C%20Netflix%20does%20the%20same.">sometimes even when that's a bit misleading</a>). And I know that's definitely something the TV and movie guys have asked for in the past.So I was curious to see what this looked like, and … boy was it hard to find. There's nothing on my Netflix home screen — either on my phone or my TV — that indicates there's an AMC "collection," even though Netflix knows I've watched a lot of AMC shows like "Breaking Bad" before.Because I knew it's supposed to exist, I did type in "AMC" in the Netflix search bar and eventually got this page, which is indeed a curated collection of things made by AMC.<div type="image" title="Screenshot of &quot;AMC Collection&quot; on Netflix" height="2778" width="1284" msid="112635716" hostid="261" sizebytes="147102"></div>But what are the odds someone types "AMC" into a Netflix search bar? I'm guessing very, very low.There has to be more to this, right? Surely Netflix will eventually give AMC a row on its powerful homepage — the kind they use now, with labeling that's either super-generic ("Blockbuster Movies") or embarrassingly detailed ("Because you watched 'The Equalizer'"). At least for some users.Then again, I'm a user who watches AMC shows, so you'd think they would get this to me quite soon, if not already. And it's one thing to give AMC a row — quite another to put it somewhere where you can find it.A Netflix rep declined to comment.But until I hear or see otherwise, I'm finding it hard to believe Netflix will dedicate meaningful screen space to a single provider, even if they give Netflix really good stuff like "Breaking Bad."Because <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-wins-streaming-wars-this-chart-shows-why-2024-1">Netflix now has the upper hand with the TV guys</a>. Hard to see why they'd make any concessions, at all.*Yes, it's a stressful job! <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jon-stewart-daily-show-audience-old-small-tv-ratings-streaming-2024-2">In a declining industry</a>! On the other hand, <a target="_blank" href="https://observer.com/2023/07/how-much-do-the-media-ceos-fighting-the-strikes-make/">you get paid a ton of money</a>.

You Searched For "space program" and got 11 results

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NASA astronaut Sunita Williams to address Earth from orbiting international Space Station

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Domestic firms to lease 60-65 million sq ft office space by 2025: CBRE report

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A new programming deal shows why Netflix has all the leverage

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