Covering All Things Florida
Intuitive Machines is set to launch its second lunar mission, IM-2, this Wednesday from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A. Carried on a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, the mission will deploy the Nova‑C lunar lander—affectionately named Athena—near the Moon’s south pole.
Washington, D.C. – On February 26, 2025, the House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, chaired by Representative Mike Haridopolos (R-Fla.), will hold a pivotal hearing to assess NASA’s Artemis program.
NASA is preparing for an evaluation by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a federal oversight body led by Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX. Acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro confirmed this development during a recent space industry conference in Washington, D.C., stating, “We are going to have DOGE come. They’re going to look—similarly to what they’ve done at other agencies—at our payments and what money has gone out.” Already deep in the Artemis Program, NASA has a lot on the line.
In a news release Tuesday, NASA and SpaceX announced they are moving forward with adjusted launch and return timelines for the upcoming crew rotation missions to and from the International Space Station (ISS).
Boeing has warned employees working on NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) program that layoffs could be coming as the company faces reduced funding for the rocket’s future development. The announcement raises concerns about the stability of the program, which serves as the backbone of NASA’s Artemis missions to return humans to the Moon.
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.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 roared off the launch pad at 1:11 AM EST this morning from Kennedy Space Center carrying two lunar landers into orbit and on their way to the moon.
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.
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.
Despite recent assurances from NASA that Artemis II will be safe to fly, at least one former astronaut still has his doubts.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have had their missions extended yet again, this time until at least March, and possibly April 2025. Originally planned as an eight-day mission, Williams and Wilmore’s straightforward task was to take Boeing’s Starliner on its debut flight with crew, dock at ISS for a brief visit before returning home. That was not meant to be.
