SpaceX Starship Flight Test 6 lifts off from Boca Chica, Texas on November 19, 2024. Photo: Richard Gallagher / FMN

You Can Buy Pieces Of SpaceX’s Flight 7 Starship…For a Price

January 27, 2025Posted inAviation and Space News, Space News, SpaceX, Starship
Remote camera image taken of Starship clearing the tower. Image by Richard P Gallagher

Spaceflight aficionados, like many sports fans, love memorabilia. Space-related apparel, books, mission patches, stickers and other items sell at a brisk pace, and that’s just the bottom end of the market. The most valuable pieces are “flown” — meaning that they were either a part of or aboard a given mission. Many of those pieces are well out of reach for the common man – they are relatively rare and often quite expensive, at least for artifacts with certain authenticity. Others are affordable, at least to a dedicated collector, and can be bought for a few hundred dollars or less.

The maiden underwater flight test of the Trident II D-5

Where Does The Term “Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly” Come From?

January 24, 2025Posted inSpace News, SpaceX
The maiden underwater flight test of the Trident II D-5, was an utter fiasco that very nearly resulted in serious damage to the launching submarine, the USS Tennessee, which is just below the surface in this photograph. The timing of the failure could not have been worse: Congress, skeptical that the program could get back on schedule, was prepared to shift its production funds to another project.
Credit: U.S. Navy

In the world of aerospace engineering, even the smallest miscalculation can lead to catastrophic failure. And in the past few years, a phrase has emerged as a humorous way to describe those unfortunate events: “rapid unscheduled disassembly,” often shortened to RUD. This technical-sounding euphemism, often deployed in the aftermath of rocket explosions, has become a staple in modern spaceflight jargon, is widely used when a rocket fails and has entered into common vernacular. But where did the phrase come from?

Trial and Triumph – An Emotional Day For Two Competing Launch Companies

Trial and Triumph – An Emotional Day For Two Competing Launch Companies

January 16, 2025Posted inBlue Origin, Space News, SpaceX, Starship
Space X's Starship (L) and Blue Origin's New Glenn (R) both had success ful launches but faced challenges during Thursday's flight tests. Images: SpaceX / Blue Origin

Space X’s Starship (L) and Blue Origin’s New Glenn (R) both had success full launches but faced challenges during Thursday’s flight tests. Images: Richard P Gallagher-FMN / Blue Origin

January 16th proved to be an emotional roller coaster for private space exploration. Both Blue Origin and SpaceX achieved notable successes tempered by huge challenges during their respective rocket launches from Florida and Texas. 

New Glenn Launches To Orbit

New Glenn Launches To Orbit

January 16, 2025Posted inBlue Origin, Space News
Blue Origin's New Glenn Rocket heads to orbit for the first time. Photo: Charles Boyer/FMN
Blue Origin’s New Glenn Rocket heads to orbit for the first time. Photo: Charles Boyer/FMN

Just after 2 AM on January 16, 2025, Blue Origin, the aerospace company founded by Jeff Bezos, successfully launched its first New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This inaugural flight marks Blue Origin’s entry into the heavy-lift launch vehicle market, positioning it as a competitor to established players like SpaceX and the SpaceX Starship.

Latest CLPS Mission “Ghost Riders in the Sky” Headed for the Moon

Latest CLPS Mission “Ghost Riders in the Sky” Headed for the Moon

January 15, 2025Posted inNASA, SpaceX
Ghost Riders in the Sky logo. Photo credit: Firefly Aerospace
Ghost Riders in the Sky logo.  Photo credit:  Firefly Aerospace

NASA’s latest Commercial Lunar Payload Program (CLPS) mission, “Ghost Riders in the Sky,”   developed by Firefly Aerospace (Cedar Park, TX), was successfully launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Centers’s Launch Complex 39A in the early morning hours of January 15, 2025. This spacecraft, named Blue Ghost, is the first of three planned  Ghost Riders spacecraft destined for lunar landings.

Blue Ghost, New Glenn, and Starship: Charting the Future of Space Travel

Blue Ghost, New Glenn, and Starship: Charting the Future of Space Travel

January 14, 2025Posted inBlue Origin, KSC, NASA, Space News, SpaceX, Starlink, Starship
The countdown clock outside of the KSC's media center displays the next launch. Image by Richard P Gallagher/FMN
The countdown clock outside of the KSC’s media center displays the next launch. Image by Richard P Gallagher/FMN

Cocoa, FL – January 14, 2025 

Looking for something to see or do while in Florida this week? You’re in luck! This week is witnessing a flurry of space exploration activities at Cape Canaveral and KSC, with multiple launches and historic feats by private aerospace giants. The excitement began with SpaceX’s ongoing efforts to complete their Starlink constellation and will culminate in the much-anticipated launches of the Blue Ghost lunar lander, Blue Origin’s first New Glenn Heavy booster launch, and hopefully SpaceX’s Starship IFT-7. 

New Glenn stands tall near Cape Canaveral Lighthouse

New Glenn Launch Delayed 24 Hours

January 11, 2025Posted inSpace News
Blue Origin's New Glenn sits ready to launch on Pad 36 at CCSFS. Photo: Charles Boyer/FMN
Blue Origin’s New Glenn sits ready to launch on Pad 36 at CCSFS. Photo: Charles Boyer/FMN

Blue Origin’s inaugural launch of its New Glenn rocket has been rescheduled to Monday, January 13, 2025, at 1:00 AM Eastern Time due to unfavorable sea conditions in the Atlantic Ocean. Waves at Stage 1’s landing site were expected to calm from 10-foot swells to more acceptable levels tomorrow.

FBI Investigates Bomb Threats Against SpaceX Starbase Facility in Texas

January 10, 2025Posted inSpace News, SpaceX
SpaceX's Starship stands against a Texas sky in Boca Chica, TX . Photo- Richard Gallagher/FMN
SpaceX’s Starship stands against a Texas sky in Boca Chica, TX . Photo- Richard Gallagher/FMN


The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is actively investigating threats made against SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica Beach near Brownsville, Texas, according to a report by the San Antonio Express-News. on January 3rd, 2025. The threats reportedly involve plans by several individuals to target the Starship rocket planned to be launched from at the facility.

DeSantis Proposes NASA HQ Move, Citing Florida’s Space Leadership

DeSantis Proposes NASA HQ Move, Citing Florida’s Space Leadership

January 10, 2025Posted inFlorida News, NASA
The Mary Jackson Building is NASA's headquarters, located in Washington DC - Photo: NASA
The Mary Jackson Building is NASA’s headquarters, located in Washington DC – Photo: NASA

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has proposed relocating NASA’s headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, citing underutilization of the current facility and the strategic advantages of positioning the agency’s leadership at the nation’s busiest spaceport.