Space Explored

Image: NASA NASA has spent decades accomplishing what many thought was impossible: landing astronauts on the Moon, exploring the outer planets, and building some of the most advanced spacecraft. But today, one of the agency’s biggest challenges isn’t technology – it’s maintaining the workforce behind it.

Image: SpaceX After delaying for weather, SpaceX is back again to launch its Starship Flight 13 mission from Starbase, Texas later this afternoon. If you aren’t able to be there in person, here is how you can watch it from the comfort of your home. Starship Flight 13’s 90 minute launch window is set to open at 5:45 PM CT. This means that at any moment between 5:45 PM and 7:15 PM CT, SpaceX can launch its Starship rocket.

Image: SpaceX After delaying its launch attempt yesterday due to weather, SpaceX is hoping today is the day for it to finally get its next Starship rocket off the ground. Thunderstorms and rain delayed yesterday’s Starship Flight 13 launch to today, but if forecasts are anything to go by, today is looking like a beautiful day to launch a rocket. Same as yesterday, SpaceX’s 90 minute launch window opens up at 5:45 PM CT. This means that SpaceX can launch anytime between 5:45 PM and 7:15 PM CT today.

Image: NASA Senator Mark Kelly, former NASA Astronaut and retired Navy Aviator, is being considered as a Presidential candidate for the Democratic Party. According to the Federal Election Commission’s website, Senator Kelly has nearly $25 million in funds, well ahead of that what he would need if he was just raising money for reelection in 2028. In the last year, Senator Kelly has also become a much stronger voice for the Democratic Party in opposition to sitting President Donald Trump.

Image: SpaceX As long as weather allows it, SpaceX will attempt again to launch its Starship Flight 13 mission from Starbase, Texas later this afternoon. If you aren’t able to be there in person, here is how you can watch it from the comfort of your home. Starship Flight 13’s 90 minute launch window is set to open at 5:45 PM CT. This means that at any moment between 5:45 PM and 7:15 PM CT, SpaceX can launch its Starship rocket.

Image: SpaceX Later today, SpaceX is gearing up for its next attempt at launching its 13th Starship test flight from Starbase, Texas. The previous attempt on July 16 was aborted just before liftoff due to issues with two Raptor engines. At 5:45 PM CT, SpaceX is hoping to launch its 13th Starship rocket on a test flight that will be similar to its 12th mission back in February.

Image: NASA NASA has a new idea for a lunar rover, but the vehicle itself is already familiar. During a June 30 Moon Base update, the agency unveiled PROMISE – the Polar Rover for Observation, Mapping, and In-Situ Exploration. The proposed rover mission began life as an Earth-based engineering testbed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, and is being studied to see if it can be modified to survive on the Moon.

Image: SpaceX In the last decade, SpaceX has transitioned from just a commercial launch company to a full-scale aerospace contractor for hire. From its early NASA contracts to being the sole supplier of crewed access to space, we are now seeing it take a grasp on the defense market. In the last couple of months, SpaceX has won two large defense contracts for building out in-space assets for the U.S. military.

Image: Seagate Space Florida’s aerospace development agency, Space Florida, has approved a strategic investment in Seagate Space, a St. Petersburg startup developing offshore launch infrastructure, signaling growing interest in ocean-based spaceports as launch demand continues to increase. Announced June 2, Space Florida’s $270,000 investment supports Project Manta, a program intended to prototype and demonstrate key elements of Seagate Space’s offshore launch platform concept at Port Tampa Bay.

Image: NASA For decades, lunar exploration was defined by astronauts, rovers, and orbiters. But as NASA pushes deeper into the Artemis era, a new class of robotic explorer is quietly emerging, one that could significantly change how humanity navigates the Moon: small autonomous hopping drones. Called MoonFall, the concept is being developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, with an architecture designed for the Moon’s south polar region.