Hello and welcome back to Max Q!
In this issue:
SpaceX launches NASA asteroid mission
News from Relativity Space and more
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launches NASA Psyche mission to metal asteroid
Godspeed, Psyche.
The large NASA spacecraft is officially en route to a metal-rich asteroid (also named Psyche) after taking off on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket last week. The mission marked the first time a NASA science mission has used SpaceX’s larger rocket for a launch.
Psyche (the spacecraft) will now embark on a six-year, 2.2 billion-mile journey to Psyche (the asteroid), which sits in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Before the spacecraft reaches its target, it will conduct a technology demonstration of the Deep Space Optical Communications experiment. If successful, it would be the first time optical communications are demonstrated beyond the Earth-moon system.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with the Psyche spacecraft onboard is launched from Launch Complex 39A, Friday, October 13, 2023, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Image Credits: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani
More news from TC and beyond
Astra Space is reportedly weighing up selling a 51% stake in its in-space propulsion business or selling other parts of the business, like equipment.
Evolution Space has a new deal with NASA to begin building a solid propulsion center and solid rocket motor testing at the agency’s Stennis Space Center.
Relativity has signed a launch agreement with Intelsat that would see the telecom giant’s satellites fly on a Terran R rocket as early as 2026.
Image Credits: Relativity
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