**Full show notes:**
Today's episode — S05E166, Thursday August 13, 2026:
**Main story: The August 12 total solar eclipse.** The Moon's shadow crossed the Arctic Ocean, eastern Greenland, western Iceland, northern Spain, the Balearic Islands and out into the Mediterranean. Longest totality on land: 2 minutes 18 seconds at Látrabjarg, Iceland. Millions gathered across northern Spain, with the path also crossing A Coruña, Bilbao, Zaragoza, Valencia and Palma (Madrid and Barcelona were just outside the path). Observers reported seeing the solar corona, a prominence, and Jupiter, Mercury and Venus during totality. Spain gets another total eclipse on August 2, 2027.
**Three supermassive black holes, one galaxy.** Astronomers led by Hannah Übler (Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics) used JWST to confirm three actively feeding supermassive black holes in galaxy J0148-4214, 12.5 billion light-years away — the first such triple system ever confirmed. Two of the three are on course to merge.
**Virgin Galactic delays commercial flights to 2027.** The company's upgraded Delta-class spaceplane will now begin commercial service in February 2027, pushed back from Q4 2026, to complete avionics and systems installation. Shares fell 12% after-hours. $750,000 seat packages were oversubscribed.
**Rocket Lab's Neutron: delay and deal.** Rocket Lab is hedging on a 2026 debut for its Neutron rocket, with the window potentially slipping into 2027 — even as the company signs a new five-launch deal with Kepler Communications.
**Links & sources:**
- [Space.com — Total solar eclipse live updates](https://www.space.com/news/live/total-solar-eclipse-today-aug-12-2026-live-updates)
- [Space.com — Total solar eclipse 2026 thrills millions (photos, video)](https://www.space.com/stargazing/solar-eclipses/total-solar-eclipse-2026-thrills-millions-with-a-stunning-cosmic-spectacle-photos-video)
- [CNN — Photos: Total solar eclipse 2026](https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/12/science/gallery/photos-total-solar-eclipse)
- [Wikipedia — Solar eclipse of August 12, 2026](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_August_12,_2026)
- [Max Planck Institute — Three supermassive black holes discovered in a single galaxy](https://www.mpg.de/26904239/three-black-holes-discovered-in-a-young-galaxy)
- [SpaceNews — Virgin Galactic delays resumption of commercial flights to 2027](https://spacenews.com/virgin-galactic-delays-resumption-of-commercial-flights-to-2027/)
- [Spaceflight Now — Window for 2026 Neutron debut is narrowing](https://spaceflightnow.com/2026/08/10/window-for-2026-launch-debut-of-rocket-labs-neutron-rocket-is-narrowing-as-development-continues/)
- [Rocket Lab — Neutron launch deal with Kepler Communications](https://rocketlabcorp.com/updates/rocket-lab-inks-neutron-launch-deal-with-kepler-communications/)
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This episode includes AI-generated content.
00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 Anna: Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Astronomy
00:00:03 --> 00:00:04 AstroDailyPod. I'm Anna.
00:00:04 --> 00:00:07 Avery: And I'm Avery. And Anna, uh, I don't think
00:00:07 --> 00:00:09 I've slept properly since Wednesday.
00:00:10 --> 00:00:11 Anna: Because of the eclipse.
00:00:11 --> 00:00:14 Avery: Because of the Eclipse. It's Thursday,
00:00:14 --> 00:00:17 August 13th. This is series five, episode
00:00:17 --> 00:00:20 166. And yesterday, half our
00:00:20 --> 00:00:22 listeners were either standing on a beach in
00:00:22 --> 00:00:24 Spain or on a boat in Greenland watching the
00:00:24 --> 00:00:27 moon eat the sun. So, yeah, today's a
00:00:27 --> 00:00:27 big one.
00:00:28 --> 00:00:31 Anna: It really is. We've got the eclipse as
00:00:31 --> 00:00:33 our main storey today, properly deep dive.
00:00:33 --> 00:00:35 We're going to spend some real time on it.
00:00:35 --> 00:00:37 And then three more news storeys to get
00:00:37 --> 00:00:39 through. Astronomers have found three
00:00:40 --> 00:00:42 supermassive black holes hanging out in one
00:00:42 --> 00:00:45 single galaxy, which rude
00:00:45 --> 00:00:48 Virgin Galactic just pushed its comeback
00:00:48 --> 00:00:50 flight back again. And Rocket Lab's
00:00:50 --> 00:00:53 neutron rocket is doing that thing where the
00:00:53 --> 00:00:55 deadline keeps sliding, but they're also
00:00:55 --> 00:00:58 signing new customers, so make it make sense.
00:00:58 --> 00:01:00 Avery: Lots to get through. Let's get into it.
00:01:00 --> 00:01:03 Anna: Okay, so let's set the scene. Yesterday,
00:01:03 --> 00:01:05 August 12th, the moon's shadow, and this
00:01:05 --> 00:01:08 shadow is about 182 miles wide,
00:01:08 --> 00:01:11 swept across the planet, starting up near
00:01:11 --> 00:01:14 Siberia, across the Arctic Ocean, down
00:01:14 --> 00:01:16 through eastern Greenland, western Iceland,
00:01:17 --> 00:01:20 northern Spain, over the Balearic Islands,
00:01:20 --> 00:01:22 and finally out into the Mediterranean, which
00:01:22 --> 00:01:24 is such a wild path.
00:01:24 --> 00:01:27 Avery: Like, you don't usually get Arctic Ocean in
00:01:27 --> 00:01:29 northern Spain in the same sentence for
00:01:29 --> 00:01:31 anything, let alone the same eclipse.
00:01:31 --> 00:01:33 Anna: Right. And this is one of the reasons this
00:01:33 --> 00:01:36 one had people so excited, because it hit
00:01:36 --> 00:01:38 two totally different kinds of eclipse
00:01:38 --> 00:01:41 chasing experiences. You had people up in
00:01:41 --> 00:01:44 Greenland and Iceland, where it's this stark,
00:01:44 --> 00:01:46 icy, end of the world kind of landscape.
00:01:47 --> 00:01:49 And then a few hours of shadow travel later,
00:01:49 --> 00:01:51 it's crossing sunbathers in Spain.
00:01:52 --> 00:01:54 Avery: Tell me about the Iceland leg, because I
00:01:54 --> 00:01:55 heard that's where you got the longest
00:01:55 --> 00:01:56 totality.
00:01:56 --> 00:01:59 Anna: Yeah, so the single longest point of totality
00:01:59 --> 00:02:01 on land was at a place called La Tr,
00:02:02 --> 00:02:04 which is this dramatic bird cliff on
00:02:04 --> 00:02:07 Iceland's westernmost tip. And totality there
00:02:07 --> 00:02:10 ran about 2 minutes and 18 seconds.
00:02:10 --> 00:02:13 The actual maximum point of the whole eclipse
00:02:13 --> 00:02:16 was just off the coast, about 45 kilometres
00:02:16 --> 00:02:17 out over the water.
00:02:17 --> 00:02:20 Avery: 2 minutes 18. Doesn't sound like much, but
00:02:20 --> 00:02:20 when you're
00:02:20 --> 00:02:23 Anna: standing there, it's an eternity. And
00:02:23 --> 00:02:26 this is the bit I love. One of the Space.com
00:02:26 --> 00:02:28 editors on the ground, Daisy Dobrievic,
00:02:28 --> 00:02:31 said something like, I knew what to expect.
00:02:31 --> 00:02:34 I've seen thousands of photos, but nothing
00:02:34 --> 00:02:36 compares to that feeling you get when you
00:02:36 --> 00:02:38 watch the sun transform before your very
00:02:38 --> 00:02:39 eyes.
00:02:39 --> 00:02:42 Avery: That's a thing every eclipse chaser tries to
00:02:42 --> 00:02:44 explain to people who haven't seen one, and
00:02:44 --> 00:02:45 you just can't really.
00:02:46 --> 00:02:47 Anna: There was another quote I liked from a guy
00:02:47 --> 00:02:50 watching in Spain, Anthony Wood. He said it
00:02:50 --> 00:02:52 strikes the lizard part of your brain that
00:02:52 --> 00:02:54 just tells you this shouldn't be real.
00:02:56 --> 00:02:58 Avery: The lizard brain thing. Yeah, that tracks.
00:02:58 --> 00:03:00 There's something about totality that's
00:03:00 --> 00:03:02 almost primal. Day turning to night in a
00:03:02 --> 00:03:05 couple of minutes, temperature dropping,
00:03:05 --> 00:03:06 animals going quiet.
00:03:06 --> 00:03:09 Anna: And in Iceland, because it happened mid
00:03:09 --> 00:03:11 afternoon, only about four hours before
00:03:11 --> 00:03:14 sunset, and up that far north, you got some
00:03:14 --> 00:03:17 extra atmospheric effects that this eclipse
00:03:17 --> 00:03:19 gamma geometry meant people could actually
00:03:19 --> 00:03:21 see the moon shadow moving through the high
00:03:21 --> 00:03:24 atmosphere and had this weirdly extended
00:03:24 --> 00:03:26 twilight window either side of totality.
00:03:27 --> 00:03:29 Avery: That's very niche and, uh, very cool.
00:03:29 --> 00:03:31 Anna: There was even a chance of aurora showing up
00:03:31 --> 00:03:33 in northern Russia if the geomagnetic
00:03:33 --> 00:03:36 activity cooperated. Which total eclipse and
00:03:36 --> 00:03:39 aurora at once, that's the dream combo for a
00:03:39 --> 00:03:40 lot of skywatchers.
00:03:41 --> 00:03:43 Avery: Okay, let's talk Spain, because that's where
00:03:43 --> 00:03:45 the crowd numbers really show up.
00:03:45 --> 00:03:48 Anna: So the path crossed Ocaruna, Bilbao,
00:03:48 --> 00:03:50 Zaragoza, Valencia and Palma,
00:03:50 --> 00:03:53 notably Madrid and Barcelona, were both
00:03:53 --> 00:03:56 just outside the path of totality. So a
00:03:56 --> 00:03:57 lot of people had to
00:03:57 --> 00:03:59 Avery: travel for it, which, if you live in Madrid,
00:03:59 --> 00:04:02 that's a rough one. So close. And yet,
00:04:02 --> 00:04:03 nope, you get the partial.
00:04:04 --> 00:04:06 Anna: Millions of people gathered across small
00:04:06 --> 00:04:09 towns in northern Spain. Places like
00:04:09 --> 00:04:12 Valoria, La Buena, and Segur de Calafel
00:04:12 --> 00:04:15 were absolutely packed. And because it
00:04:15 --> 00:04:17 happened about an hour before sunset there,
00:04:17 --> 00:04:20 you got totality low on the horizon
00:04:20 --> 00:04:23 with this golden, dramatic lighting.
00:04:23 --> 00:04:25 Avery: And it wasn't just a look up and go home
00:04:25 --> 00:04:28 event either. There was real science
00:04:28 --> 00:04:29 happening during totality.
00:04:30 --> 00:04:32 Anna: Yeah, this is the bit that matters. Beyond
00:04:32 --> 00:04:35 the spectacle during totality, the
00:04:35 --> 00:04:38 sun's corona, its outer atmosphere, which
00:04:38 --> 00:04:40 you basically never get to see because the
00:04:40 --> 00:04:43 sun's surface is so blindingly bright, still
00:04:43 --> 00:04:45 streams out visibly into space.
00:04:46 --> 00:04:49 Observers also picked out a solar prominence,
00:04:49 --> 00:04:51 and you could see Jupiter, Mercury, and
00:04:51 --> 00:04:54 Venus all pop into the darkened sky.
00:04:55 --> 00:04:57 Avery: Four minutes, well, two and a bit minutes
00:04:57 --> 00:05:00 of what does a solar system actually look
00:05:00 --> 00:05:01 like right now?
00:05:02 --> 00:05:04 Anna: Exactly. And coronal science is
00:05:04 --> 00:05:07 genuinely useful. It helps researchers study
00:05:07 --> 00:05:10 the sun's magnetic structure and the
00:05:10 --> 00:05:13 processes that drive space weather, which is
00:05:13 --> 00:05:15 obviously very relevant right now, given how
00:05:15 --> 00:05:17 active this solar cycle's
00:05:17 --> 00:05:19 Avery: been for anyone gutted, they missed it.
00:05:19 --> 00:05:22 Partial phases were visible from a huge chunk
00:05:22 --> 00:05:25 of the world, too. Some are set in England,
00:05:25 --> 00:05:28 the northeastern U.S. michigan, Canada,
00:05:28 --> 00:05:31 even Alaska. All got a partial bite taken out
00:05:31 --> 00:05:31 of the sun.
00:05:32 --> 00:05:35 Anna: And if you're already eclipse hungry again,
00:05:35 --> 00:05:37 Spain gets another one relatively soon.
00:05:38 --> 00:05:40 Less than a year from now, on August 2,
00:05:41 --> 00:05:43 2027, there's another total solar
00:05:43 --> 00:05:45 eclipse crossing Spain.
00:05:45 --> 00:05:48 Avery: Two total eclipses in Spain within 12 months.
00:05:48 --> 00:05:50 Eclipse chasers are going to have a
00:05:50 --> 00:05:53 Anna: very good year, they really are.
00:05:53 --> 00:05:56 So that's our deep dive. The August 12th
00:05:56 --> 00:05:57 total solar eclipse. A, uh,
00:05:58 --> 00:06:00 182 mile wide shadow,
00:06:00 --> 00:06:03 Arctic ice to Spanish coastline. 2
00:06:03 --> 00:06:06 minutes 18 seconds of totality at its
00:06:06 --> 00:06:09 longest and a genuine I can't believe what
00:06:09 --> 00:06:11 I just saw moment for millions of people.
00:06:12 --> 00:06:14 Avery: Can we talk logistics for a second? Because I
00:06:14 --> 00:06:16 know a chunk of our listeners are already
00:06:16 --> 00:06:19 plotting the 2027 one. If you've never
00:06:19 --> 00:06:22 chased totality before, what's actually
00:06:22 --> 00:06:22 involved?
00:06:23 --> 00:06:25 Anna: Honestly, the biggest thing is just being
00:06:25 --> 00:06:27 inside the path. Even
00:06:27 --> 00:06:30 99% partial is nothing like
00:06:30 --> 00:06:32 totality. It's a completely different
00:06:32 --> 00:06:35 experience. So it's worth the travel. After
00:06:35 --> 00:06:38 that, it's the usual stuff. Proper eclipse
00:06:38 --> 00:06:40 glasses for every phase, except totality
00:06:40 --> 00:06:43 itself. A spot with a clear horizon if you
00:06:43 --> 00:06:46 can one, and a uh, backup location in case of
00:06:46 --> 00:06:49 cloud because you cannot control the weather
00:06:49 --> 00:06:49 on the day.
00:06:50 --> 00:06:52 Avery: And don't try to photograph the whole thing
00:06:52 --> 00:06:54 on your phone and forget to actually look up.
00:06:55 --> 00:06:57 Anna: That is the classic mistake. Half the
00:06:57 --> 00:07:00 eclipse chaser community has a rule now. Get
00:07:00 --> 00:07:03 one or two shots set up on a tripod and
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 then just put the phone down and watch it
00:07:05 --> 00:07:08 with your own eyes. Because you only get 2
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 minutes and 18 seconds and you don't get them
00:07:11 --> 00:07:11 back.
00:07:12 --> 00:07:14 Avery: I did see the livestreams were huge for this
00:07:14 --> 00:07:17 one too. Between the Greenland boat
00:07:17 --> 00:07:19 expeditions and the Spanish coverage, they
00:07:19 --> 00:07:21 were millions of people watching online who
00:07:21 --> 00:07:22 couldn't be there in person.
00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 Anna: Which is honestly one of the nicer things
00:07:25 --> 00:07:28 about how big eclipse broadcasting has
00:07:28 --> 00:07:30 gotten. You don't have to be a hardcore
00:07:30 --> 00:07:33 chaser with a passport full of stamps to get
00:07:33 --> 00:07:36 at least some of the I can't believe what I
00:07:36 --> 00:07:37 just saw feeling.
00:07:38 --> 00:07:40 Avery: Still not the same as the lizard brain moment
00:07:40 --> 00:07:40 though.
00:07:41 --> 00:07:44 Anna: No, nothing beats being there. But August
00:07:44 --> 00:07:46 2, 2027 in Spain is looking
00:07:46 --> 00:07:49 very tempting for a lot of people right now.
00:07:49 --> 00:07:52 Avery: Alright, from one sun to three black holes,
00:07:52 --> 00:07:55 astronomers have confirmed for the first time
00:07:55 --> 00:07:58 three actively feeding supermassive black
00:07:58 --> 00:07:58 holes
00:07:58 --> 00:08:01 Anna: sitting inside a single galaxy, which is
00:08:01 --> 00:08:02 just greedy.
00:08:04 --> 00:08:05 Avery: The galaxy's called
00:08:05 --> 00:08:08 J014-84214
00:08:08 --> 00:08:11 and it's about 12.5 billion light
00:08:11 --> 00:08:13 years away. So we're seeing it as it looked
00:08:13 --> 00:08:16 roughly 1.2 billion years after the
00:08:16 --> 00:08:17 big bang.
00:08:17 --> 00:08:20 Anna: So this is baby picture of the universe
00:08:20 --> 00:08:20 stuff.
00:08:21 --> 00:08:23 Avery: Exactly. And that's what Makes it such a big
00:08:23 --> 00:08:26 deal. The team led by Hannah Hubler at the
00:08:26 --> 00:08:28 Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial
00:08:28 --> 00:08:30 Physics used the James Webb Telescope's
00:08:30 --> 00:08:32 NIRSP instrument to find them.
00:08:33 --> 00:08:34 Specifically, a technique called
00:08:34 --> 00:08:37 spectroastrometry, which measures tiny
00:08:37 --> 00:08:39 spatial shifts in the light coming from
00:08:39 --> 00:08:42 hydrogen emission to pin down exactly where
00:08:42 --> 00:08:44 each black hole is sitting, even though
00:08:44 --> 00:08:45 they're really close together on the sky.
00:08:45 --> 00:08:47 Anna: And these aren't small either?
00:08:47 --> 00:08:50 Avery: No, roughly 80 million, 2 million
00:08:50 --> 00:08:53 and 0.6 million solar masses. And
00:08:53 --> 00:08:55 here's the two of the three are on a
00:08:55 --> 00:08:57 collision course. They're heading for a
00:08:57 --> 00:08:58 merger.
00:08:58 --> 00:09:01 Anna: So why does finding three in one galaxy
00:09:01 --> 00:09:03 actually matter scientifically beyond just
00:09:04 --> 00:09:04 wow three?
00:09:05 --> 00:09:07 Avery: Because it's evidence for how supermassive
00:09:07 --> 00:09:10 black holes get so big so fast in the early
00:09:10 --> 00:09:12 universe, which has honestly been a bit of a
00:09:12 --> 00:09:14 puzzle. If black holes can merge with each
00:09:14 --> 00:09:16 other, not just grow by slowly swallowing
00:09:16 --> 00:09:19 gas, that gives them a much faster route to
00:09:19 --> 00:09:22 becoming supermassive. Hubler's team is
00:09:22 --> 00:09:24 essentially saying mergers might be doing a
00:09:24 --> 00:09:26 lot more of the heavy lifting early on than
00:09:26 --> 00:09:27 we thought.
00:09:27 --> 00:09:29 Anna: It's basically a black hole growth hack,
00:09:30 --> 00:09:32 cosmic speedrunning to supermassive status.
00:09:33 --> 00:09:35 But it does reshape how we think about galaxy
00:09:35 --> 00:09:38 assembly in the early universe. If triple
00:09:38 --> 00:09:40 black hole systems like this aren't a total
00:09:40 --> 00:09:42 fluke, there could be a lot more of these
00:09:42 --> 00:09:45 hiding out there, waiting for JWST to spot
00:09:45 --> 00:09:46 them for scale.
00:09:46 --> 00:09:49 Avery: Sagittarius A, our own galaxy's black
00:09:49 --> 00:09:52 hole, is about 4 million solar masses. So
00:09:52 --> 00:09:55 the biggest of these three, at 80 million, is
00:09:55 --> 00:09:57 20 times heavier than the black hole sitting
00:09:57 --> 00:09:58 at the centre of the Milky Way.
00:09:58 --> 00:10:00 Anna: And that's just one of three in the same
00:10:00 --> 00:10:01 galaxy.
00:10:01 --> 00:10:03 Avery: Right. Which tells you this galaxy was doing
00:10:03 --> 00:10:06 some serious growing up fast. It's another
00:10:06 --> 00:10:09 one of those results where JWST just keeps
00:10:09 --> 00:10:11 outperforming what Hubble could ever have
00:10:11 --> 00:10:13 shown us at these distances. This is a level
00:10:13 --> 00:10:16 of detail on a 12.5 billion year old
00:10:16 --> 00:10:18 galaxy that simply wasn't accessible a few
00:10:18 --> 00:10:18 years ago.
00:10:18 --> 00:10:21 Anna: JWST really is the gift that keeps on
00:10:21 --> 00:10:24 giving. We'll be watching to see if Uber's
00:10:24 --> 00:10:26 team or anyone else turns up more of these
00:10:26 --> 00:10:28 triple systems now that people know what to
00:10:28 --> 00:10:28 look for.
00:10:29 --> 00:10:31 Sticking with things that are taking longer
00:10:31 --> 00:10:33 than planned, Virgin Galactic has delayed its
00:10:33 --> 00:10:36 return to commercial spaceflight again.
00:10:36 --> 00:10:37 Avery: Again being the key word.
00:10:38 --> 00:10:40 Anna: Right. So the new spacecraft, this is their
00:10:40 --> 00:10:43 upgraded Delta class vehicle, was supposed to
00:10:43 --> 00:10:45 start flying paying customers in the fourth
00:10:45 --> 00:10:47 quarter of this year. That's now been pushed
00:10:47 --> 00:10:49 to February 2027.
00:10:49 --> 00:10:51 Avery: What's the hold at this time? According to
00:10:51 --> 00:10:53 the company, it's avionics and systems
00:10:53 --> 00:10:55 installation on the first operational
00:10:55 --> 00:10:57 spacecraft. They say they need more time to
00:10:57 --> 00:10:59 get it right before putting people on board,
00:10:59 --> 00:11:01 which. Fair enough. I'd rather they take the
00:11:01 --> 00:11:03 extra months than rush it.
00:11:03 --> 00:11:05 Anna: Always the right call with anything crude.
00:11:05 --> 00:11:06 How did the market react?
00:11:06 --> 00:11:09 Avery: Not well. Shares dropped about 12% in after
00:11:09 --> 00:11:11 hours trading on the news.
00:11:11 --> 00:11:14 Anna: Ouch. But there's a more interesting storey
00:11:14 --> 00:11:16 buried in the same. Their
00:11:16 --> 00:11:18 $750 a seat flight packages
00:11:18 --> 00:11:21 were over subscribed and CEO Michael
00:11:21 --> 00:11:24 Coglazier said they'll be offering higher
00:11:24 --> 00:11:26 price points when ticket sales reopen this
00:11:26 --> 00:11:26 autumn.
00:11:26 --> 00:11:28 Avery: So even with the delay, demand isn't the
00:11:28 --> 00:11:31 problem. If anything, they could be
00:11:31 --> 00:11:32 underpricing seats.
00:11:32 --> 00:11:34 Anna: Seems that way. Financially, the picture is
00:11:34 --> 00:11:37 actually improving too. Net loss narrowed to
00:11:37 --> 00:11:39 about $56 million, down from
00:11:39 --> 00:11:42 $67 million a year ago. And they've still got
00:11:42 --> 00:11:45 $286 million in cash and
00:11:45 --> 00:11:46 securities on hand.
00:11:46 --> 00:11:48 Avery: So they can absorb another delay. They've
00:11:48 --> 00:11:50 just got to actually get the Delta ships
00:11:50 --> 00:11:51 flying at some point.
00:11:51 --> 00:11:53 Anna: That's the whole storey with Virgin Galactic
00:11:53 --> 00:11:55 at this point, isn't it? The money and the
00:11:55 --> 00:11:57 demand are there. It's the hardware timeline
00:11:57 --> 00:11:58 that keeps slipping.
00:11:58 --> 00:12:01 Avery: It's a very different position than where
00:12:01 --> 00:12:03 they were even five years ago. Right back
00:12:03 --> 00:12:05 when this was Richard Branson's company
00:12:05 --> 00:12:08 flying the original SpaceShipTwo on short
00:12:08 --> 00:12:10 hops. And everyone was comparing them
00:12:10 --> 00:12:12 directly to Blue Origin's New Shepard.
00:12:13 --> 00:12:15 Anna: Right. And that comparison's aged in an
00:12:15 --> 00:12:18 interesting way. Blue Origins had its own
00:12:18 --> 00:12:20 well documented hardware problems this year
00:12:20 --> 00:12:23 too. So it's not like Virgin Galactic's the
00:12:23 --> 00:12:25 only one whose timeline keeps slipping.
00:12:25 --> 00:12:28 Suborbital space tourism as a whole seems to
00:12:28 --> 00:12:30 be harder than everyone hoped across the
00:12:30 --> 00:12:31 board.
00:12:31 --> 00:12:34 Avery: Which? Building crewed spacecraft's always
00:12:34 --> 00:12:37 harder than everyone hoped. We'll cheque back
00:12:37 --> 00:12:39 in as February 2027 gets closer.
00:12:39 --> 00:12:42 Last one, Rocket Lab. Their new medium
00:12:42 --> 00:12:45 lift rocket, Neutron, is looking less and
00:12:45 --> 00:12:47 less likely to make its planned debut before
00:12:47 --> 00:12:48 the end of this year.
00:12:49 --> 00:12:50 Anna: How much of a slip are we talking?
00:12:51 --> 00:12:54 Avery: The company's now hedging pretty openly. This
00:12:54 --> 00:12:56 could push out of 2026 and into
00:12:56 --> 00:12:59 2027. It's the kind of narrowing
00:12:59 --> 00:13:02 window language that usually means don't hold
00:13:02 --> 00:13:03 your breath for December.
00:13:03 --> 00:13:06 Anna: Rocket development timelines name a more
00:13:06 --> 00:13:08 consistent disappointment, honestly.
00:13:08 --> 00:13:11 Avery: But and this is the fun contrast, in the same
00:13:11 --> 00:13:14 window, they announced a brand new 5 launch
00:13:14 --> 00:13:16 deal with Kepler Communications, who'll be
00:13:16 --> 00:13:18 flying payloads on Neutron once It does get
00:13:18 --> 00:13:19 off the ground,
00:13:20 --> 00:13:22 Anna: so customers are still betting on it even as
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 the debut date wobbles.
00:13:24 --> 00:13:27 Avery: Exactly. And Rocket Lab's actually coming off
00:13:27 --> 00:13:29 a record revenue quarter, so the business
00:13:29 --> 00:13:31 overall is healthy. It's specifically
00:13:31 --> 00:13:33 Neutron's first flight that keeps sliding,
00:13:33 --> 00:13:34 right?
00:13:34 --> 00:13:37 Anna: Which to be fair, is basically the storey of
00:13:37 --> 00:13:39 every new orbital rocket ever built. Starship
00:13:39 --> 00:13:41 slipped for years, New Glenn slipped for
00:13:41 --> 00:13:42 years.
00:13:42 --> 00:13:44 Avery: Ariane 6 slipped for years,
00:13:45 --> 00:13:45 right?
00:13:45 --> 00:13:48 Anna: It's basically tradition at this point. We'll
00:13:48 --> 00:13:50 keep you posted on Neutron as we get closer
00:13:50 --> 00:13:51 to an actual launch date.
00:13:52 --> 00:13:55 Avery: For anyone not fully across it, Neutron's the
00:13:55 --> 00:13:57 reusable medium lift rocket Rocket Lab's been
00:13:57 --> 00:14:00 building to sit between their small electron
00:14:00 --> 00:14:02 rocket and the big players. Basically going
00:14:02 --> 00:14:04 head to head with Falcon 9 for the medium
00:14:04 --> 00:14:06 payload market, which
00:14:06 --> 00:14:08 Anna: is a pretty crowded lane to be entering late.
00:14:09 --> 00:14:11 Falcon 9's flying constantly and everyone
00:14:11 --> 00:14:13 from Blue Origin to the Chinese commercial
00:14:13 --> 00:14:15 players wants a piece of that market too.
00:14:16 --> 00:14:18 Avery: Exactly why deals like the Kepler
00:14:18 --> 00:14:20 communications one matter so much right now.
00:14:21 --> 00:14:23 Signing customers ahead of your first flight
00:14:23 --> 00:14:26 is basically a vote of confidence that Rocket
00:14:26 --> 00:14:28 Lab's execution track record with electron is
00:14:28 --> 00:14:31 enough to earn trust, even with Neutron
00:14:31 --> 00:14:33 itself still on the ground reputation
00:14:33 --> 00:14:35 Anna: doing some of the heavy lifting while the
00:14:35 --> 00:14:36 hardware catches up.
00:14:36 --> 00:14:39 Okay, that's our storeys for today. Quick
00:14:39 --> 00:14:41 recap the total solar eclipse over Greenland,
00:14:41 --> 00:14:44 Iceland and Spain gave millions of people a
00:14:44 --> 00:14:46 lizard brain moment on August 12.
00:14:47 --> 00:14:49 Astronomers found three supermassive black
00:14:49 --> 00:14:52 holes cozying up in one distant galaxy, two
00:14:52 --> 00:14:54 of them headed for a merger. Virgin
00:14:54 --> 00:14:56 Galactic's Delta class comeback flight has
00:14:56 --> 00:14:59 slipped to February 2027, and Rocket
00:14:59 --> 00:15:01 Lab's neutron rocket is picking up customers
00:15:01 --> 00:15:03 faster than it's picking up a launch date.
00:15:03 --> 00:15:05 Avery: If you enjoyed today's episode, the best
00:15:05 --> 00:15:08 thing you can do for us is leave a rating or
00:15:08 --> 00:15:10 review wherever you're listening and share
00:15:10 --> 00:15:12 the episode with a fellow space nerd. You can
00:15:12 --> 00:15:15 find full show notes, sources and links for
00:15:15 --> 00:15:17 every storey we cover today at astronomydaily
00:15:17 --> 00:15:20 IO and find us on social media. We're
00:15:20 --> 00:15:23 astronomydailypod pretty much everywhere.
00:15:23 --> 00:15:25 Anna: We'll be back tomorrow with another episode.
00:15:25 --> 00:15:27 Until then, keep looking up.
00:15:27 --> 00:15:28 Avery: See you next time.