Space
SpaceX wins NASA contract to launch Earth Observing System, but current administration has other plans
SpaceX recently snagged an $80.4 million NASA contract to launch an upcoming Earth-observing satellite sometime in 2022. That is, if the mission isn’t scrapped due to budgetary issues.
A used Falcon 9 rocket is slated to ferry the 3,748-lb. (1,700 kg) Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, and ocean Ecosystem satellite (aka PACE) to orbit sometime in December 2022. The mission, which provides data on oceans and particles in the atmosphere, is expected to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Its goal: to help us better understand our home planet. SpaceX is expanding its portfolio, after receiving certification for science launches in 2016. To date, SpaceX launched a bevy of scientific satellites including Jason-3 in 2106, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and GRACE-FO missions in 2018, and the upcoming Sentinel 6A in Nov. 2020.
But it’s been a tough journey for PACE. The satellite has been on the chopping block several times, but managed to avoid getting the ax so far.
That’s because the Trump administration has tried to cancel the ocean-watching mission three separate times now, in an effort to reduce the Earth science budget. Each time the president has tried to cut its funding, Congress voted to support it, including authorizing $131 million for the mission in December 2019.
So NASA has moved ahead with the development of the mission, and selected SpaceX as the launch provider on Feb. 4.
“SpaceX is honored to continue supporting NASA’s critical scientific observational missions by launching PACE, which will help humanity better understand, protect and preserve our planet,” Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s president and chief operating officer, said in a company statement.
PACE will focus on our planet’s oceans, the clouds, and aerosols (small air particles) in an effort to better understand phytoplankton — tiny plant-like organisms in the ocean that are the base of the food chain. These organisms can tell us a lot about how climate change is affecting the environment.
“PACE will help scientists investigate the diversity of organisms fueling marine food webs and the U.S. economy, and deliver advanced data products to reduce uncertainties in global climate models and improve our interdisciplinary understanding of the Earth system,” NASA said in a statement.
“It will also continue systematic records of key atmospheric variables associated with air quality and Earth’s climate,” officials wrote on the PACE mission’s website.
Like most plants, phytoplankton relies on chlorophyll to capture sunlight, and then using photosynthesis to turn it into chemical energy, releasing oxygen as a byproduct.
Phytoplankton are a diverse variety of species and their growth depends on the availability of things like carbon dioxide, sunlight, and nutrients. Just like their terrestrial counterparts, phytoplankton require can nutrients such as nitrate, phosphate, silicate, and calcium, depending on the species.
Other factors that influence growth rates are water temperature and salinity, water depth, wind, as well as what sort of predators are nearby.
When conditions are just right, phytoplankton populations can grow explosively, a phenomenon we call a bloom. Blooms in the ocean may cover hundreds of square kilometers and are easily spotted in satellite imagery. A bloom may last several weeks, although the life expectancy of any individual organism is rarely more than a few days.
Phytoplankton are important because they are the foundation of the aquatic food web, feeding many different creatures from other microscopic organisms to enormous, mega-ton whales.
Phytoplankton aren’t always a good thing — certain species are known to produce powerful biotoxins, like the red tide. These toxic blooms can kill marine life and ultimately people if they accidentally eat contaminated seafood or by inhaling the organisms.
PACE’s primary tool is called the Ocean Color Instrument (OCI). It will measure the color of the ocean in a broad range of wavelengths, from ultraviolet to shortwave infrared, according to NASA. The satellite will observe the Earth from an orbital perch about 420 miles (675 kilometers) above the planet. (For reference, the space station orbits at 250 miles or 400 km up.)
“The color of the ocean is determined by the interaction of sunlight with substances or particles present in seawater, such as chlorophyll, a green pigment found in most phytoplankton species,” according to the mission’s website. “By monitoring global phytoplankton distribution and abundance with unprecedented detail, the OCI will help us to better understand the complex systems that drive ocean ecology.”
PACE will be in a sun-synchronous orbit, which will allow for consistent daylight conditions for imaging. This makes it easier for scientists to compare different regions and the same regions over long periods of time — if the satellite makes it to orbit.
Today, the president released his budget request for 2021, and once again, PACE is one of two Earth science missions he wants to cancel. Will its luck hold out? Will Congress vote to approve funding for the vital satellite despite the president’s suggestion? Only time will tell.
But with many coastal states recently suffering from red tide, this satellite will be a valuable tool in scientists’ arsenal to help them better understand these tiny organisms.
Elon Musk
NASA’s first human outpost on the Moon starts now – SpaceX on deck
NASA named the rovers, landers, and vendors that will build America’s first Moon Base.
NASA has laid out its most detailed Moon Base plan to date, describing a permanent outpost near the Moon’s south pole that the agency intends to build over the coming decade as a direct stepping stone to Mars. “The Moon Base will be America’s and humanity’s first outpost on another celestial world,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said, adding that every mission crewed and uncrewed “will be a learning opportunity as we return to the lunar surface, build the infrastructure to stay, and master the skills required to live and operate in one of the most demanding and dangerous environments imaginable.”
The plan is structured in three phases involving both uncrewed and crewed missions to deliver equipment, vehicles, and infrastructure to the surface, with the first three moon base missions targeted to launch before the end of 2026.
Moon Base I, targeting fall 2026, will use Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 lander to deliver scientific instruments to the Shackleton Connecting Ridge, the same region where Artemis astronauts will land. Moon Base II will send Astrobotic’s Griffin lander carrying more than 1,100 pounds of cargo including Astrolab’s FLIP rover to begin developing mobility systems on the surface. Moon Base III will carry the Lunar Vertex science mission on Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C Trinity lander to study lunar swirls near the south pole, with ESA and Korean science payloads aboard.
On the rover side, NASA awarded Astrolab $219 million and Lunar Outpost $220 million to build the first phase of Lunar Terrain Vehicles, with both rovers targeted for deployment to the lunar surface by 2028. Astrolab’s crewed rover weighs roughly 2,000 pounds and can reach over 6 mph. Lunar Outpost’s Pegasus rover can operate autonomously or via remote control at over 9 mph. Blue Origin separately received $188 million with an option worth $280.4 million to deliver cargo landers for rover transport.
NASA also confirmed that MoonFall, a mission deploying four survey drones to scout Artemis landing sites, has selected Firefly Aerospace to build the transport spacecraft, with a 2028 launch target.
SpaceX sits at the center of that commercial layer. SpaceX holds the NASA Human Landing System contract for the Starship-derived lander that will put astronauts on the surface under Artemis IV, currently targeting 2028. Before that can happen, SpaceX must demonstrate in-orbit propellant transfer at scale, a process requiring multiple Starship tanker launches to fuel a single mission. Water ice at the lunar south pole is central to the base’s long-term viability, as it can be converted into drinking water, breathable oxygen, and rocket fuel, directly reducing dependence on Earth resupply. That resource loop becomes far more practical if Starship can land and be refueled on or near the Moon itself.
Elon Musk has publicly stated that Starship V3, which recently completed its first flight, should be capable enough for initial Mars missions. The Moon Base plan announced Tuesday is the infrastructure layer that connects everything between those two ambitions, and SpaceX is the only American company currently contracted to build the rocket that gets humans to either destination.
SpaceX’s Starlink product has just gotten its latest airline adoptee, and the move marks the successful partnership of three of the “Big Four” U.S. airlines.
American Airlines announced on Tuesday that it would utilize Starlink in more than 500 narrowbody aircraft beginning in the first quarter of 2027. These include the Airbus aircraft in its fleet, including the new A321XLR and A321neo.
With the new partnership with American Airlines, Starlink is now present on three of the largest airlines in the country: American, United, and Southwest.
Starlink gets its latest airline adoptee for stable and reliable internet access
Starlink’s VP of Enterprise Sales, Jason Fritch, said:
“We are proud to bring Starlink on board American Airlines, delivering fast and reliable internet to passengers and crew. Whether traveling for leisure or business, Starlink enables a fully connected experience gate to gate, making every flight smoother and more enjoyable.”
Additionally, American Airlines Chief Customer Officer, Heather Garboden, said:
“As a premium global airline, we are continuously seeking out world-class partners like Starlink to deliver what our customers need and want. The addition of Starlink solidifies American as a leading airline in keeping passengers connected in flight.”
Starlink has been on a tear over the past year, as it has continued to be adopted by a wide variety of airlines as a more consistent and reliable way to provide WiFi to its passengers. It has already gained a great reputation among residential users, but its biggest commercial application appears to be how it is being used in the air.
American Airlines will adopt Starlink on more than 500 of its narrowbody aircraft beginning in Q1 2027
“As a premium global airline, we are continuously seeking out world-class partners like Starlink to deliver what our customers need and want,” said American Airlines Chief… pic.twitter.com/XY2wflycc0
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) May 26, 2026
The only airline of the Big Four not to adopt Starlink thus far is Delta, which chose to opt for the alternative, which is Amazon Leo. CEO Ed Bastian said to Bloomberg that Delta chose Amazon’s product over Starlink’s because “the opportunities, in terms of the improved bandwidth with a much lower price point than what we’ve ever seen from Starlink, will make a big difference.”
Delta will not start installing Amazon Leo until 2028.
“Of course, we expect Starlink will be warning people that we’re going to go with an inferior product,” Bastian said. “But I’m not too worried about partnering with Amazon.”
NASA has filed a procurement notice announcing its intent to add six post-certification missions to SpaceX’s existing Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contract. The agency said it would order up to three of those missions immediately upon adding them to the contract, with the remaining three available as needed through the end of the International Space Station’s planned operations in 2030.
The reason for the expansion is straightforward. NASA cited recently shortened ISS mission durations, technical issues and schedule delays encountered by Boeing, the allocation of missions between Boeing and SpaceX, and the ongoing technical challenges of maintaining a reliable crew transportation capability as the driving factors behind the decision. Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner has still not been certified for crewed flights, and a cargo-only Starliner mission was not included on NASA’s most recent mission manifest. With Boeing effectively sidelined for the foreseeable future, SpaceX is the only American company capable of rotating crews to the station.
The history behind this contract tells the fuller story of how SpaceX got here. NASA originally awarded SpaceX its Commercial Crew contract in 2014 for $2.6 billion. In 2022 NASA modified the contract to add five missions covering Crew-10 through Crew-14, worth $1.436 billion, bringing the total contract value at that point to $4.9 billion. The recent May 18 filing by NASA extends that runway further, with Crew-12 currently docked at the station and Crew-13 assigned and targeting a mid-September 2026 launch.
According to a report by SpaceNews, NASA stated in its filing: “It is necessary to award additional PCMs to SpaceX given the recently shortened ISS mission durations, technical issues and schedule delays encountered by Boeing, the allocation of missions between Boeing and SpaceX, NASA’s projections for when an alternative crew transportation system may become available, and the ongoing technical challenges of maintaining a reliable capability for crewed flights to ISS.”
No dollar value for the new six missions has been publicly confirmed yet, but based on the 2022 precedent of roughly $287 million per mission, the new block could represent close to $1.7 billion in additional contract value. With SpaceX simultaneously preparing Starship as NASA’s Artemis lunar lander, filing its S-1 for a June IPO, and now absorbing more ISS crew rotation work, the company’s role as the primary contractor for American human spaceflight is no longer a matter of circumstance. It is NASA policy.
NASA’s first human outpost on the Moon starts now – SpaceX on deck
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