Roundup of thoughts

1/ With the 212th landing of a #Falcon9 booster during the @hughesconnects #FalconHeavy Jupiter 3 mission, @SpaceX has reused or saved nearly 1,894 #MerlinEngine rocket engines (some were swapped out) Read about the SpaceX Merlin engine here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Merlin 2/ That’s astonishing and encouraging for the long imagined #spacefaring #multiplanet future of humanity. Image courtesy of SpaceX - spacex.com at the Wayback Machine (archived 2006-02-14)

1/ Here’s an update to my roundup of @amazon ‘s gigantic tranche of 94 launch contracts for its #ProjectKuiper satellite constellation  2/ As of June 2023, no satellites are in orbit and Amazon has just 37 months to launch 1/2 the constellation under its spectrum license  3/ The first two are scheduled to fly on the ULAVulcan debut launch delayed until Q4 2023  4/ Here's an updated graphic showing the number of months remaining   5/ Only @SpaceX has launched a comparable number of satellites with TBD #starlink in LEO  6/ It took @SpaceX 24 months & TBD launches to surpass 1600 in orbit   You will find more infographics at Statista  7/ Prior to lofting the #StarLink constellation, #Falcon9 had completed a total of TBD launches including #TBD in preceeding 12 months  8/ As of this writing, the only launch vehicle in the #Amazon fleet to reach orbit is the #ULAAtlasV  9/ None of the new heavy launch vehicles #HLV is yet flying - #ULAVu...

Last August, I wrote a "Roundup of Planned #HLV here Now I am reading with interest this analysis of Ariane 6 by Eric Berger https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/04/europes-ariane-6-rocket-is-turning-into-a-space-policy-disaster/ I will summarize soon! A key nugget reads, "As of this writing [18 April 2023], the public date for the debut launch of Ariane 6 remains "late 2023," but the rocket's first flight will certainly slip into 2024. And its development budget has nearly doubled, to $4.4 billion." And Eric finishes writing, "For Europe, the optics of this are terrible . . . [and] officials from the continent are going to have to negotiate with SpaceX for a ride to space for some of their most precious satellites—never mind that the cost is likely to be lower and that the Falcon 9 is the most reliable rocket in the world, with the lowest insurance costs. It's a bitter pill to swallow."

Here's a #wenhop update for #HLV #SpaceXStarship @TGMetsFan98 writes, "per FAA Advisory, @SpaceX #Starship orbital test flight #OFT1 is targeting N.E.T. Monday, April 10, N.E.T. 9:10 EDT 8:10 AM CDT 13:10 UTC" Thomas Burghardt @TGMetsFan98 According to an FAA Operations Plan Advisory released just now, the Starship orbital test flight is targeting Monday, April 10, no earlier than 8:10 AM CDT (13:10 UTC). Note: this does not mean that the launch license has been issued. https://fly.faa.gov/adv/adv_spt.jsp

 Health - NYTimes: A Low-Pressure Guide to Make Strength Training a Habit https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/12/well/move/strength-training-beginners-guide.html

 Here's a #wenhop update for @boeingspace #Starliner launching on an #ULAAtlasV NASA delayed the flight from ~April to N.E.T. July 21 Steve Stich, Mgr Commercial Crew, said time is needed for pre-flight review, certification of the parachute system & ISS schedule June / July Read more on Ars: https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/03/nasa-delays-flight-of-boeings-starliner-again-this-time-for-parachutes/

Here's a #wenhop update for @boeingspace #Starliner  launching on an #ULAAtlasV  CFT scheduled "after Axiom Mission 2" On 17-Feb, status was "80% through" work to be human-rated & fly As of 23-Mar its, "adjusting schedule...as teams assess readiness & complete verification" https://twitter.com/KathyLueders/status/1638986514729140224?s=20 @KathyLueders We’re adjusting the @Space_Station schedule including the launch date for our Boeing Crew Flight Test as teams assess readiness and complete verification work. CFT now will launch following Axiom Mission 2 for optimized station operations. (1/2) Target launch dates for Ax-2, still planned in early May, and Starliner will be shared soon. We’ll plan a media update after we have the space station schedule set. As always, we will fly when we are ready. (2/2) 3:30 PM · Mar 23, 2023