Irene Klotz
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Senior Space Editor Aviation Week & Space Technology
Articles by Irene Klotz
SpaceX Nails Test Objectives For Starship-Super Heavy Flight 13
Irene Klotz July 25, 2026 Credit: SpaceX SpaceX conducted a successful, full-duration flight test of its Starship-Super Heavy launch system on July 24, putting the reusable, Mars-class vehicle on the cusp of orbital flight. The 13th integrated flight test of Starship-Super Heavy lifted off at 6:51 p.m. EDT (5:51 p.m. local time) from... Irene Klotz Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral.
Blue Origin Turns To NASA For New Glenn Upper Stage Engine Test Site
Irene Klotz July 24, 2026 Credit: NASA Blue Origin is shifting hot-fire testing of its New Glenn upper stage engines to NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi as repairs and reconstruction continue at the company’s Cape Canaveral launch and test facilities. “Production continues at rate,” Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp noted on X in... Irene Klotz Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral.
Debrief: U.S. Seeks Industry Ideas On Offshore Launch
Irene Klotz July 23, 2026 On its final flight in May 2014, a Sea Launch Zenit rocket carried the Eutelsat 3B satellite into orbit after liftoff from the Ocean Odyssey, a self-propelled oil rig modified into a mobile launchpad.
Debrief: Assessing Risk In Human Spaceflight
Irene Klotz July 22, 2026 Credit: NASA With lunar landings and future human missions to Mars as its goal, NASA and the U.S. space community should have a hard think about how they assess risk. “Say a crew launches to Mars, lands on the surface and comes back. Or maybe they just go around and come back alive. We’ll call that a success,” U... Irene Klotz Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral.
Relativity Space Expanding Florida Operations
Irene Klotz July 21, 2026 Credit: Relativity Space CAPE CANAVERAL—Relativity Space plans to add production and test facilities as well as launch support infrastructure for its Terran R program at Cape Canaveral SFS. The Long Beach, California-based company, now overseen by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, is eligible for up to $134 million in funding... Irene Klotz Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral.
NASA Payload Shifted From Vulcan To Falcon Heavy
Irene Klotz July 20, 2026 Credit: Allison Bills/Space Dynamics Laboratory A NASA science payload hitching a ride on a U.S. Space Force National Security Space Launch (NSSL) mission will fly on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rather than a United Launch Alliance Vulcan. The Vulcan, which debuted in January 2024, has not flown since the USSF-87 mission on Feb. 12. The rocket... Irene Klotz Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral.
NASA To Outfit Orion With Starlink For Artemis III
Irene Klotz July 17, 2026 Artist’s rendering of a Starship spacecraft docked with NASA’s Orion capsule. Credit: SpaceX/NASA As part of the upcoming Artemis III flight test, NASA plans to outfit its crewed Orion spacecraft with two mini lasers to connect with SpaceX’s Starlink network. The goal is to enable inflight 4K imagery and video from Orion, which is slated to spend about two weeks in low Earth orbit (LEO) in mid-...
Starship Flight 13 Aborted Just Before Liftoff
Irene Klotz July 16, 2026 Credit: SpaceX An unknown technical issue nixed the launch of SpaceX’s next-generation Starship-Super Heavy system in the final second before liftoff on July 16. “Some of the engines didn’t start, triggering an automatic launch abort,” SpaceX CEO and chief engineer Elon Musk wrote on X. “Next launch attempt... Irene Klotz Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral.
Penn State Teams With Voyager Space Research Park
Irene Klotz July 15, 2026 Credit: Starlab Voyager Technologies, a contender for a NASA-backed, privately owned space station in low Earth orbit (LEO), is adding Pennsylvania State University to its associated space research institute, which is intended to nurture science, applications, manufacturing and other initiatives to grow the space... Irene Klotz Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral.
SpaceX Gears Up For Starship Flight Test July 16
Irene Klotz July 13, 2026 Credit: SpaceX The FAA has closed its mishap investigation into SpaceX’s last Starship-Super Heavy flight test, clearing the company for another attempt to demonstrate its next-generation reusable superheavy lift system as early as July 16. Starship Flight 13 is slated to launch between 6:45 -8:15 p.m. EDT/5:45-7... Irene Klotz Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral.
Startup Aims To Catch A Falling Space Telescope
Irene Klotz July 09, 2026 Katalyst’s LINK spacecraft will conduct a survey of NASA’s Swift telescope before attempting to dock. Credit: Katalyst Space/NASA Concept Four years ago, entrepreneur and private astronaut Jared Isaacman proposed a mission to NASA: Reboost the Hubble Space Telescope using a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. Ultimately, the agency passed on the offer to avoid the risk of damaging the aging but highly productive observatory but kept the...
NASA Releases Draft RFP For ISS Replacement Plan
Irene Klotz July 06, 2026 Credit: NASA NASA released a long-awaited draft solicitation July 6 for industry partners to design, build and operate a commercial space station in low Earth orbit (LEO) to succeed the International Space Station. The proposed solicitation calls for the partner or partners to be ready to support a crewed flight... Irene Klotz Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral.
Debrief: NASA For Hire
Irene Klotz July 01, 2026 NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced a public-private partnership with Relativity Space to advance Mars science. Credit: Relativity Space At first blush, the NASA agreement for Relativity Space to fly a suite of science instruments to Mars is just another step in the agency’s efforts to broaden the pool of companies supporting its science and exploration goals—and hopefully save taxpayers money in the process. But the reimbursable...
Blue Origin Doubles Down On Return To Flight This Year
Irene Klotz July 01, 2026 Artist's rendering of Blue Origin's new concept of operations using a crane to vertically hoist New Glenn and lift it onto the launch table for mating with the vehicle hold-down ring. Credit: Blue Origin CAPE CANAVERAL—A month after a botched preflight hotfire test destroyed a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket and severely damaged its sole launch complex, the company said it had cleared all the debris and started to rebuild the launchpad at Cape Canaveral SFS.
NASA Buys Four More Rides To The Moon
Irene Klotz June 30, 2026 Artist's depictions of Astrobotics, Intuitive Machines and Firefly landers on the Moon. Credit: NASA NASA has awarded four additional Commercial Lunar Payload Services contracts to a trio of companies developing lunar landing services for NASA science, commercial customers and other payloads. Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic, which is in the process of being acquired by Voyager Technologies, was awarded...
Starliner Return To Flight Still About One Year Away
Irene Klotz June 25, 2026 Boeing's uncrewed Starliner spacecraft viewed from a window aboard the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft shortly after undocking from the International Space Station. Credit: NASA NASA and Boeing are continuing work toward another uncrewed flight test of the CST-100 Starliner with a cargo run to the International Space Station now expected “in the next year or so,” the chair of the agency’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) said.
SpaceX Tests New Vehicle For Returning Payloads From LEO
Irene Klotz June 23, 2026 Credit: SpaceX CAPE CANAVERAL—A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket dispatched a new spacecraft designed to return science samples and items manufactured in microgravity back to Earth, a service the company intends to sell to researchers and entrepreneurs. The Falcon 9, flying for the 29th time, lifted off at 6:53 a.m. EDT... Irene Klotz Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral.
Roman Telescope Arrives For Launch Preparations
Irene Klotz June 22, 2026 Credit: Amber Jean Notvest/NASA CAPE CANAVERAL—A flagship NASA observatory designed to answer questions about dark energy, dark matter, exoplanets and other astrophysical phenomena arrived at Kennedy Space Center on June 21 to begin a 10-week launch campaign. Named after the agency’s first chief astronomer, the Nancy Grace Roman... Irene Klotz Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral.
Relativity Unveils Privately Funded Mars Orbiter
Irene Klotz June 18, 2026 Relativity is nearing completion of the Terran R first-stage qualification article. Credit: Relativity Space Under new owner and CEO Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, California-based Relativity Space is setting its sights on Mars, with a mission planned for launch in 2028 that includes NASA as a paying customer. The U.S. space agency did not immediately disclose the value of its agreement with...
Startup Katalyst Aims To Boost NASA Telescope On Its Space Debut
Irene Klotz June 17, 2026 Credit: Scott Wiessinger/NASA Under mentorship and with financial backing from NASA, startup Katalyst Space Technologies is preparing for a targeted June 27 launch of its robotic Lightweight In-space Navigation and Kinematics (LINK) spacecraft on a debut mission to demonstrate satellite reboost services. The target spacecraft is... Irene Klotz Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral.
Astrobotic Unveils Moon-Bound Griffin Lander
Irene Klotz June 15, 2026 Credit: Astrobotic Having incorporated lessons learned from its first failed attempt to land on the Moon and with a new deeper-pocketed, better-resourced owner imminent, Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic unveiled the first in a series of midsize lunar landers, with the aim of flying in the fourth quarter of 2026. Griffin-1... Irene Klotz Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral.
NASA Looks Ahead To Artemis III
Irene Klotz June 12, 2026 Selected for the Artemis III crew are (from left) NASA astronaut Andre Douglas, Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency, and Randy Bresnik and Frank Rubio, both with NASA. Credit: Robert Markowitz/NASA A newly added mission to NASA’s Artemis program portfolio is designed not only to test docking systems and techniques prior to a Moon landing but also to give a novel commercial-U.S. government partnership a practice run at integrated operations.
New Glenn Launchpad Explosion Yields Silver Lining
Irene Klotz June 11, 2026 Preliminary assessments put the planned Starship blast damage area at about 12,000 ft. Credit: FAA The root cause for the failed New Glenn flight 4 static-fire test has yet to be disclosed, but one metric stands out—7,174 ft. That is the number of feet around the New Glenn launch site that comprised the blast damage area ahead of the rocket’s May 28 hot-fire test at Cape Canaveral SFS’ Space...
Debrief: A Silver Lining From Blue Origin’s Bad Day
Irene Klotz June 10, 2026 The root cause of Blue Origin’s failed New Glenn Flight 4 (NG-4) static fire test has yet to be disclosed, but one metric stands out: 7,174. That is the number of feet around the New Glenn launch site that comprised the blast damage area (BDA) ahead of the rocket’s May 28 hot-fire at Cape Canaveral... Irene Klotz Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral.
NASA Wants Options To Fly Blue Origin Lander
Irene Klotz June 05, 2026 A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket exploded at Cape Canaveral SFS Space Launch Complex 36 on May 28, bringing operations to a halt. Credit: Planet With Blue Origin’s New Glenn rockets grounded, NASA said it wants options to launch the company’s lunar lander to support a planned Artemis III demonstration flight test in Earth orbit next year. “We are ... decoupling the lander from the launch vehicle and the pad itself,” NASA Administrator Jared...
Launchpad Explosion Opens New Chapter For Blue Origin
Irene Klotz June 05, 2026 A fully fueled Blue Origin New Glenn rocket went up in flames on May 28, triggering the largest explosion in Cape Canaveral history. Credit: SpaceflightNow.com for Aviation Week Sonic booms and rocket plumes are part of everyday life on Florida’s Space Coast, so when a thundering roar and brilliant light shattered the balmy night on May 28, it was presumed that another booster was heading into orbit.
NASA Backs Off Plan For U.S.-Owned, Post-ISS Module
Irene Klotz June 02, 2026 ISS Credit: NASA In response to wide objections from potential industry partners, NASA is rescinding a proposal to anchor a post-International Space Station (ISS) commercial platform with a government-owned module, the agency said June 2. “Industry response was loud and clear,” Joel Montalbano, acting associate... Irene Klotz Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral.
Blue Origin Eyes Return To Flight Before Year-End
Irene Klotz June 02, 2026 Space Launch Complex 36. Credit: John Kraus/NASA Despite extensive damage from the explosion of a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket on its launchpad, the company is aiming to return to flight before the end of 2026. The blast at Cape Canaveral SFS occurred at 9 p.m. EDT May 28 at the start of what was expected to be a routine, preflight static firing... Irene Klotz Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral.
SpaceX Starfall Reentry Capsule Passes FAA Environmental Review
Irene Klotz June 01, 2026 Credit: FAA The FAA has determined a pair of demonstration missions of a SpaceX-proposed small reentry capsule in the Pacific Ocean poses no significant environmental issues, clearing the company to pursue a vehicle operator license for the flights. Starfall is a small capsule designed to return payloads from... Irene Klotz Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral.
Blue Origin Assessing Impacts After New Glenn Explosion
Irene Klotz May 29, 2026 Credit: Spaceflightnow.com for Aviation Week CAPE CANAVERAL—Blue Origin had hoped for a quick turnaround between the problematic third flight of its New Glenn heavy-lift launcher and flight four, which was to be the first of 24 for Amazon, its biggest customer. But the booster being prepared for the Amazon Leo New Glenn (LN-01) mission was... Irene Klotz Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral.
New Glenn Explodes During Static Test Fire
This article is published in Aerospace Daily & Defense Report part of Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN), and is complimentary through Jun 06, 2026. For information on becoming an AWIN Member to access more content like this, click here. Irene Klotz May 29, 2026 Credit: Spaceflightnow.com for Aviation Week CAPE CANAVERAL—A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket exploded on its launchpad during a static test fire May 28 ahead of the company's fourth orbital flight.
Despite Raptor Engine Issues, Starship V3 Makes Full-Duration Debut
Irene Klotz Vivienne Machi May 29, 2026 Starship Version 3 completed a full-duration flight test during its May 22 debut, including a hover and soft landing in the Indian Ocean, captured live by a Starlink-connected camera on a buoy at the splashdown site.
Virgin Galactic Resumes Spaceship Flights For Pilot Training
Irene Klotz May 28, 2026 Credit: Virgin Galactic With its first Delta-class suborbital spaceship expected to debut this summer, Virgin Galactic has returned its first-generation SpaceShipTwo vehicle Unity to flight for pilot and ground team training. Grounded since its seventh and final operational mission on June 8, 2024, VSS Unity and its quad... Irene Klotz Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral.
Debrief: NASA To Seek Bids To Run JPL
Irene Klotz May 27, 2026 Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA’s single largest contract—for the operations and management of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California—will be up for bids for the first time in the agency’s history. It is a move NASA hopes may cut costs while maintaining the center’s expertise in planetary and space... Irene Klotz Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral.
Startups Win NASA Contracts For Lunar Rover Demos
Irene Klotz May 26, 2026 NASA purchased two more missions aboard Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 1 landers to fly rovers to the lunar surface. Credit: Blue Origin CAPE CANAVERAL—NASA has awarded contracts totaling nearly $1 billion for a pair of crew-capable lunar rovers and transportation services to land them on the Moon, hopefully ahead of the planned Artemis IV mission in early 2028, the agency announced May 26. The Lunar Terrain Vehicles (LTV) will be...
Starship V3 Completes Full Duration Flight Despite Booster Loss
Vivienne Machi Irene Klotz May 23, 2026 SpaceX's Super Heavy booster broke apart shortly after liftoff of the Starship Super-Heavy's 12th flight test on May 22, 2026. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX completed a full suborbital flight of the latest version of its Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle on May 22, achieving several key milestones for "Version 3" even as it lost its first-stage booster shortly into the flight. The 408-ft.-tall rocket lifted off on May 22 at 6:30 p.m. EDT from...
Starship Version 3 Prepped For May 19 Debut
Irene Klotz May 13, 2026 Credit: SpaceX After a seven-month hiatus, SpaceX is preparing to resume flight tests of the Starship-Super Heavy reusable launch system with launch of a re-engineered, orbital-class vehicle slated for May 19. For the 12th integrated flight test, SpaceX again plans to fly a suborbital trajectory, as was targeted... Irene Klotz Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral.
Podcast: At Space Symposium, NASA is Cool Again
Joe Anselmo Vivienne Machi Irene Klotz Guy Norris April 21, 2026 Credit: Guy Norris/Aviation Week Listen in as our editors discuss the buzz over Artemis II, the push for multiyear misplace predicaments and the return of nuclear reactors. Subscribe Now Don't miss a single episode of the award-winning Check 6. Follow us in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. Discover all of...
New Glenn Flight 3 Set For April 19
Irene Klotz April 17, 2026 A static hot-fire for New Glenn-3 was conducted April 16 at Space Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral SFS. Credit: Blue Origin COLORADO SPRINGS—Blue Origin will attempt to launch its third New Glenn rocket between 6:45 a.m. and 8:45 a.m. EDT April 19 from Cape Canaveral SFS, the company said April 16. The flight will be Blue Origin’s third mission onboard a New Glenn rocket and the first to use a previously flown booster...
NASA’s Orion Spacecraft Nails Crewed Flight Debut
Irene Klotz Mark Carreau April 17, 2026 The day after splashdown, the Artemis II astronauts (from left) Jeremy Hansen, Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman flew to Houston’s Ellington Field, where family, friends and coworkers welcomed them home. Credit: John Tylko Even before the Artemis II crew splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, ending the successful debut of the first deep space human spaceship in 53 years, NASA ordered the mobile launcher platform, from which their 694,481-mi.
Much Ado About Artemis II At Space Symposium
Irene Klotz Vivienne Machi April 17, 2026 U.S. Space Command Cmdr. Gen. Stephen Whiting is expecting increased activity in cislunar orbits following NASA’s successful Artemis II mission. Credit: Space Foundation U.S. space investments are poised to accelerate, thanks to momentum from Artemis II’s historic journey beyond the Moon, looming competition in the cislunar domain and an expected spending hike for U.S. Space Force and NASA lunar missions.
Artemis II Puts A Face On Human Spaceflight
Irene Klotz April 16, 2026 Credit: NASA In hindsight, it is fitting that it took a broken space potty, one of the most challenging and critical systems for human spaceflight—and a bane of all its programs—for the Artemis II mission to begin to show its human face. Then, from a vantage point 4,000 mi. beyond the Moon, astronauts aboard the... Irene Klotz Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral.
NASA Awards Private Astronaut Mission To Voyager
This article is published in Aerospace Daily & Defense Report part of Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN), and is complimentary through May 16, 2026. For information on becoming an AWIN Member to access more content like this, click here.
NASA Aims To Launch Lunar Fission Reactor By 2030
Irene Klotz April 14, 2026 Artist's rendering of the proposed SR-1 Freedom spacecraft. Credit: NASA COLORADO SPRINGS — A new White House initiative to develop space nuclear power directs NASA to develop a minimum 20-kW fission reactor and fly a variant to the lunar surface by 2030, with an eye on having high-power reactors ready to launch in the 2030s. “This is the next giant leap,” NASA... Irene Klotz Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral.
Rocket Lab Adds Hall-Effect Thruster To Commercial Offerings
This article is published in Aerospace Daily & Defense Report part of Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN), and is complimentary through May 21, 2026. For information on becoming an AWIN Member to access more content like this, click here. Irene Klotz April 14, 2026 Credit: Rocket Lab COLORADO SPRINGS—Rocket Lab on April 14 added a high-performance, Hall-effect satellite thruster to its growing catalog of space technologies and flight services.
Debrief: The Face Of Human Spaceflight
Irene Klotz April 14, 2026 The Artemis II crew. Credit: NASA In hindsight, it is fitting that it took a broken space potty, one of the most challenging and critical systems for human spaceflight—and a bane of all its programs—for the Artemis II mission to begin to show its human face. Then, from a vantage point 4,000 mi. beyond the Moon, astronauts onboard... Irene Klotz Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral.
Key NASA Appropriator Rebukes White House 2027 Budget Plan
Irene Klotz April 13, 2026 Artemis II astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman and Jeremy Hansen, took some time out April 9 to speak to legislators as the Orion spaceship headed back to Earth. Credit: NASA COLORADO SPRINGS—A key NASA appropriator intends to lobby fellow legislators to fund NASA at its current level, clawing back a proposed 24% budget cut for fiscal 2027 from the Trump administration.
Blue Origin Targeting April 16 For New Glenn Flight 3
By Irene Klotz Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral. Before joining Aviation Week in 2017, Irene spent 25 years as a wire service reporter covering human and robotic spaceflight, commercial space, astronomy, science and technology for Reuters and United Press International.
Artemis II Crew Shares Images From Historic Flight Test
By Irene Klotz Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral. Before joining Aviation Week in 2017, Irene spent 25 years as a wire service reporter covering human and robotic spaceflight, commercial space, astronomy, science and technology for Reuters and United Press International.
NASA's Artemis II Mission Shows Sides Of Moon Not Seen In 50 Years
By Irene Klotz Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral. Before joining Aviation Week in 2017, Irene spent 25 years as a wire service reporter covering human and robotic spaceflight, commercial space, astronomy, science and technology for Reuters and United Press International.
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