In today’s episode, Anna and Avery cover six stories from across the space and astronomy world — including a seismic shift in NASA’s Artemis program, a jaw-dropping Webb telescope discovery, fresh imagery of an interstellar comet, and the debut of a powerful new reusable rocket from China. 🚀 IN THIS EPISODE • NASA officially redesigns Artemis 3 — no Moon landing, and SpaceX’s Starship may not even fly on the mission • The James Webb Space Telescope discovers PSR J2322-2650b: a lemon-shaped exoplanet orbiting a pulsar every 7.8 hours, with a carbon-rich atmosphere that defies all known planetary science • A new ‘stochastic siren’ method using gravitational waves from merging black holes could finally resolve the Hubble tension — one of physics’ deepest mysteries • ESA’s JUICE spacecraft captures its first detailed image of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, revealing a glowing coma and sweeping tail • This week’s global launch roundup: Japan’s Kairos rocket makes its third attempt, and SpaceX eyes its 600th Falcon booster recovery • China’s CAS Space prepares to debut Kinetica-2, a reusable heavy-lift rocket targeting late March 🔗 LEARN MORE • Full episode details and blog post: astronomydaily.io • NASA Artemis updates: nasa.gov/artemis • Webb telescope news: science.nasa.gov/mission/webb ⭐ SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review — it helps other space enthusiasts find the show. New episodes every weekday. Find us: astronomydaily.io • @AstroDailyPod • Bitesz.com Podcast Network
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00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily,
00:00:02 --> 00:00:05 your daily guide to the universe. I'm
00:00:05 --> 00:00:05 Anna.
00:00:05 --> 00:00:08 >> And I'm Avery. It is Tuesday, the 3rd of
00:00:08 --> 00:00:11 March, 2026, and we are season 5,
00:00:11 --> 00:00:15 episode 53. Anna, quite a lineup today.
00:00:15 --> 00:00:17 >> We really do have something for
00:00:17 --> 00:00:19 everyone. We've got an update to that
00:00:19 --> 00:00:21 major shakeup at NASA, the kind that has
00:00:21 --> 00:00:23 the whole space community talking.
00:00:23 --> 00:00:26 >> We've got a planet shaped like a lemon.
00:00:26 --> 00:00:28 That's not a metaphor. It is literally
00:00:28 --> 00:00:30 shaped like a lemon. There is a new
00:00:30 --> 00:00:32 approach to one of the biggest unsolved
00:00:32 --> 00:00:34 mysteries in all of physics.
00:00:34 --> 00:00:36 >> A space probe has snapped its first
00:00:36 --> 00:00:39 close-up of an interstellar comet. And
00:00:39 --> 00:00:41 we've got your global launch roundup,
00:00:41 --> 00:00:43 including a big one from Japan making
00:00:43 --> 00:00:45 its third attempt.
00:00:45 --> 00:00:47 >> And China is about to debut a new
00:00:47 --> 00:00:49 reusable rocket that could shake up the
00:00:49 --> 00:00:52 commercial launch industry. Avery, where
00:00:52 --> 00:00:53 do we start?
00:00:53 --> 00:00:56 >> Let's start at the top with NASA and a
00:00:56 --> 00:00:58 decision that's rewriting the Aremis
00:00:58 --> 00:01:00 playbook. So Avery, when NASA
00:01:00 --> 00:01:02 administrator Jared Isaacman stood up at
00:01:02 --> 00:01:05 Kennedy Space Center just days ago and
00:01:05 --> 00:01:07 said Artemis 3 will not be landing on
00:01:07 --> 00:01:10 the moon, it was a significant moment.
00:01:10 --> 00:01:13 >> It really was. To understand why, a
00:01:13 --> 00:01:15 quick bit of context. Artemis 3 was
00:01:15 --> 00:01:17 meant to be humanity's first crude lunar
00:01:18 --> 00:01:22 landing since Apollo 17 back in 1972.
00:01:22 --> 00:01:24 That's over 50 years, a very long time
00:01:24 --> 00:01:25 to wait.
00:01:25 --> 00:01:27 >> And now it's not happening. Instead, the
00:01:28 --> 00:01:30 mission, now targeting a launch sometime
00:01:30 --> 00:01:33 in mid 2027, has been completely
00:01:33 --> 00:01:35 redesigned. It will stay in low Earth
00:01:35 --> 00:01:37 orbit and focus on testing docking
00:01:37 --> 00:01:39 procedures between NASA's Orion capsule
00:01:39 --> 00:01:41 and the commercial lunar landers.
00:01:42 --> 00:01:43 >> And that's where it gets really
00:01:43 --> 00:01:45 interesting because those landers are
00:01:45 --> 00:01:48 SpaceX's Starship and Blue Origins Blue
00:01:48 --> 00:01:51 Moon. And NASA is now openly keeping
00:01:51 --> 00:01:53 both of them in the running rather than
00:01:53 --> 00:01:55 committing exclusively to Starship.
00:01:55 --> 00:01:58 Isaacman was quite candid about why. He
00:01:58 --> 00:02:00 compared the current Artemis cadence to
00:02:00 --> 00:02:03 Apollo and found it wanting. Apollo was
00:02:03 --> 00:02:05 launching missions every four to 5
00:02:05 --> 00:02:07 months. Artemis has been going every
00:02:07 --> 00:02:09 couple of years, which means the agency
00:02:09 --> 00:02:11 loses what he called muscle memory
00:02:11 --> 00:02:14 between flights. Engineers leave.
00:02:14 --> 00:02:15 Procedures get rusty.
00:02:15 --> 00:02:18 >> And Starship, despite 11 test flights,
00:02:18 --> 00:02:21 has yet to reach Earth orbit. It's still
00:02:21 --> 00:02:23 technically a suborbital vehicle. And
00:02:23 --> 00:02:25 the list of milestones it needs to hit
00:02:25 --> 00:02:27 before it could put astronauts on the
00:02:27 --> 00:02:30 moon, orbital refueling, rendevous and
00:02:30 --> 00:02:33 docking an uncrrewed lunar landing is
00:02:33 --> 00:02:34 still very long.
00:02:34 --> 00:02:37 >> So the plan now is Artemis 3 in low
00:02:37 --> 00:02:39 Earth orbit to test systems, then
00:02:39 --> 00:02:42 Artemis 4 as the first real moon landing
00:02:42 --> 00:02:45 targeting 2028. And NASA is even talking
00:02:45 --> 00:02:48 about two moon landing missions in 2028
00:02:48 --> 00:02:50 if they can get the launch cadence up.
00:02:50 --> 00:02:51 Ambitious,
00:02:51 --> 00:02:54 >> very. And in the meantime, Artemis 2,
00:02:54 --> 00:02:56 the crude flyby around the moon with no
00:02:56 --> 00:02:59 landing, is still on track for an April
00:02:59 --> 00:03:00 launch after being rolled back to the
00:03:00 --> 00:03:03 vehicle assembly building for repairs to
00:03:03 --> 00:03:05 a helium flow issue.
00:03:05 --> 00:03:07 >> A lot happening on the Aremis front. We
00:03:07 --> 00:03:10 will absolutely keep you updated. Now,
00:03:10 --> 00:03:12 let's go somewhere much, much further
00:03:12 --> 00:03:16 away. 750 lightyear, in fact.
00:03:16 --> 00:03:18 >> This one genuinely made me do a double
00:03:18 --> 00:03:21 take when I read it. Scientists using
00:03:21 --> 00:03:23 the James Webb Space Telescope have
00:03:23 --> 00:03:26 found an exoplanet unlike anything ever
00:03:26 --> 00:03:28 studied, and they are baffled.
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 >> So, let's set the scene. The planet is
00:03:30 --> 00:03:36 called PSRJ2322-2650b.
00:03:36 --> 00:03:38 It's about the mass of Jupiter, and it
00:03:38 --> 00:03:41 orbits its star at a distance of just 1
00:03:41 --> 00:03:43 million miles. For comparison, Earth
00:03:43 --> 00:03:45 orbits the sun at about 100 million
00:03:45 --> 00:03:48 miles. This planet is 100th of that
00:03:48 --> 00:03:49 distance away.
00:03:49 --> 00:03:52 >> One complete orbit, one full year for
00:03:52 --> 00:03:56 this planet, takes just 7.8 hours.
00:03:56 --> 00:03:58 >> And its star is not a normal star. It's
00:03:58 --> 00:04:01 a pulsar, a rapidly spinning neutron
00:04:01 --> 00:04:03 star. The collapsed core of a long,
00:04:03 --> 00:04:06 dead, massive star containing the mass
00:04:06 --> 00:04:08 of our entire sun packed into something
00:04:08 --> 00:04:11 the size of a city. And the gravity from
00:04:12 --> 00:04:14 that pulsar is so extreme that it's
00:04:14 --> 00:04:17 literally stretching the planet. Instead
00:04:17 --> 00:04:19 of being roughly spherical like Earth or
00:04:19 --> 00:04:22 Jupiter, the gravitational tidal forces
00:04:22 --> 00:04:25 are pulling it into an elongated shape
00:04:25 --> 00:04:27 like a lemon or an American football if
00:04:28 --> 00:04:30 you prefer. The lead researcher, Michael
00:04:30 --> 00:04:32 Zang, from the University of Chicago,
00:04:32 --> 00:04:35 described it as the stretchiest planet
00:04:35 --> 00:04:37 we've confirmed the stretchiness of,
00:04:37 --> 00:04:39 which is a sentence I never expected to
00:04:39 --> 00:04:41 hear in astronomy.
00:04:41 --> 00:04:43 >> But the shape is almost the least weird
00:04:43 --> 00:04:45 thing about it. When web turned its
00:04:46 --> 00:04:47 infrared instruments on this world, the
00:04:48 --> 00:04:50 atmosphere came back completely wrong.
00:04:50 --> 00:04:53 Instead of water, methane, carbon
00:04:53 --> 00:04:55 dioxide, the things you'd normally
00:04:55 --> 00:04:57 expect on a gas giant, it's almost
00:04:57 --> 00:05:00 entirely helium and carbon.
00:05:00 --> 00:05:03 >> Carbon compounds called C2 and C3,
00:05:03 --> 00:05:05 specifically molecular carbon. And
00:05:05 --> 00:05:07 because the pressure inside the planet
00:05:07 --> 00:05:09 is enormous, scientists think that
00:05:10 --> 00:05:11 carbon could actually be crystallizing
00:05:12 --> 00:05:15 in the deep interior, forming diamonds.
00:05:15 --> 00:05:18 The surface temperature is around 3700°
00:05:18 --> 00:05:21 F, by the way, which is four times
00:05:21 --> 00:05:23 hotter than Venus. So, it's a
00:05:23 --> 00:05:27 lemon-shaped diamond cord 3700°
00:05:27 --> 00:05:29 mystery world orbiting a zombie star
00:05:29 --> 00:05:32 every 8 hours. And nobody can explain
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 how it formed. Zang said the carbon
00:05:34 --> 00:05:36 composition rules out every known
00:05:36 --> 00:05:39 formation mechanism. It's part of what's
00:05:39 --> 00:05:41 called a black widow system, where the
00:05:41 --> 00:05:43 pulsar is slowly evaporating its
00:05:43 --> 00:05:46 companion. But even that doesn't fully
00:05:46 --> 00:05:47 explain what Webb is seeing.
00:05:48 --> 00:05:50 >> The team is seriously entertaining the
00:05:50 --> 00:05:52 idea that this might be an entirely new
00:05:52 --> 00:05:55 class of cosmic object. Not quite a
00:05:55 --> 00:05:57 planet, not quite a stellar remnant,
00:05:57 --> 00:06:00 something in between with no name yet.
00:06:00 --> 00:06:02 >> Only Web could have found this. The
00:06:02 --> 00:06:04 pulsar emits mostly gamma rays which are
00:06:04 --> 00:06:06 invisible to infrared instruments. So
00:06:06 --> 00:06:09 Web could study the planet without the
00:06:09 --> 00:06:11 star drowning it out. A pristine
00:06:11 --> 00:06:13 spectrum. The researchers called it a
00:06:13 --> 00:06:16 perfect observational setup. Remarkable
00:06:16 --> 00:06:19 stuff. From the inexplicable to the
00:06:19 --> 00:06:21 cosmological, what's next?
00:06:21 --> 00:06:23 >> So, the Hubble tension. If you've been
00:06:23 --> 00:06:25 listening to astronomy daily for any
00:06:25 --> 00:06:26 length of time, you've heard us mention
00:06:26 --> 00:06:29 this, but let's quickly recap why it
00:06:29 --> 00:06:30 matters so much.
00:06:30 --> 00:06:33 >> The Hubble constant is a measure of how
00:06:33 --> 00:06:35 fast the universe is expanding.
00:06:35 --> 00:06:36 Different methods of measuring it
00:06:36 --> 00:06:39 produce different answers. Not wildly
00:06:39 --> 00:06:41 different. We're talking about a 10%
00:06:41 --> 00:06:44 gap, but in cosmology, that gap is
00:06:44 --> 00:06:46 enormous. If the universe's expansion
00:06:46 --> 00:06:48 rate isn't consistent, something in our
00:06:48 --> 00:06:51 fundamental model of physics is wrong.
00:06:51 --> 00:06:53 >> And now, a team from the University of
00:06:53 --> 00:06:55 Illinois and the University of Chicago
00:06:55 --> 00:06:57 thinks they may have found a new tool
00:06:57 --> 00:06:59 that could finally help resolve it. They
00:06:59 --> 00:07:02 call it the stochastic siren method.
00:07:02 --> 00:07:05 >> And it works like this. Every time two
00:07:05 --> 00:07:07 black holes spiral together and collide
00:07:07 --> 00:07:09 somewhere in the universe, which is
00:07:09 --> 00:07:11 happening constantly across billions of
00:07:11 --> 00:07:14 galaxies, they release gravitational
00:07:14 --> 00:07:17 waves, ripples in the fabric of spaceime
00:07:17 --> 00:07:19 itself. Most of these events are too
00:07:19 --> 00:07:22 distant and too faint for us to detect
00:07:22 --> 00:07:23 individually.
00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 >> But together, all those undetected
00:07:25 --> 00:07:29 collisions create a background humle
00:07:29 --> 00:07:31 gravitational wave signal washing
00:07:31 --> 00:07:33 through everything all the time. And the
00:07:33 --> 00:07:36 team realized that by looking for or in
00:07:36 --> 00:07:38 this case not finding that background
00:07:38 --> 00:07:41 signal in existing data from the LIGO,
00:07:41 --> 00:07:43 Virgo and Cogra detectors, they could
00:07:43 --> 00:07:46 actually constrain the Hubble constant.
00:07:46 --> 00:07:48 Even the non detection is informative.
00:07:48 --> 00:07:51 If certain expansion rates were correct,
00:07:51 --> 00:07:53 you'd expect to see a background signal
00:07:53 --> 00:07:56 by now. You don't. So those slower
00:07:56 --> 00:07:59 expansion scenarios can be ruled out.
00:07:59 --> 00:08:01 Combined with existing measurements from
00:08:01 --> 00:08:03 individual black hole mergers, the team
00:08:03 --> 00:08:06 produced a new, more precise estimate of
00:08:06 --> 00:08:08 the expansion rate, one that sets right
00:08:08 --> 00:08:10 in the contested zone where the Hubble
00:08:10 --> 00:08:12 tension actually bites.
00:08:12 --> 00:08:14 >> The research is published in Physical
00:08:14 --> 00:08:16 Review Letters. Daniel Holtz from
00:08:16 --> 00:08:19 Chicago put it well, saying, "It's not
00:08:19 --> 00:08:21 every day you come up with an entirely
00:08:21 --> 00:08:24 new tool for cosmology." And as
00:08:24 --> 00:08:26 gravitational wave detectors become more
00:08:26 --> 00:08:29 sensitive over the next decade, this
00:08:29 --> 00:08:31 method will only get sharper.
00:08:31 --> 00:08:33 >> The gravitational wave background itself
00:08:33 --> 00:08:35 is expected to be directly detected
00:08:35 --> 00:08:38 within about 6 years. When that happens,
00:08:38 --> 00:08:40 this technique becomes even more
00:08:40 --> 00:08:42 powerful. We might actually be within
00:08:42 --> 00:08:44 reach of solving one of the deepest
00:08:44 --> 00:08:48 puzzles in physics. Exciting times. From
00:08:48 --> 00:08:50 the vast and theoretical to the
00:08:50 --> 00:08:53 relatively local, we had a visitor in
00:08:53 --> 00:08:55 our solar system and we've got a new
00:08:55 --> 00:08:56 photo.
00:08:56 --> 00:08:59 >> So, three/Atlas has been quite the
00:08:59 --> 00:09:01 recurring character on the show and with
00:09:01 --> 00:09:03 good reason. This is only the third
00:09:03 --> 00:09:05 confirmed interstellar object ever
00:09:05 --> 00:09:07 detected passing through our solar
00:09:07 --> 00:09:10 system. And it's by far the most studied
00:09:10 --> 00:09:11 because we had more warning than with
00:09:12 --> 00:09:14 the previous two. And now, issa's Juice
00:09:14 --> 00:09:17 spacecraft, the Jupiter Icy Moons
00:09:17 --> 00:09:19 Explorer, currently in route to Jupiter,
00:09:19 --> 00:09:22 has captured its first detailed image of
00:09:22 --> 00:09:24 the comet. And what it's showing is a
00:09:24 --> 00:09:26 bright glowing coma surrounding the
00:09:26 --> 00:09:29 nucleus with a sweeping tail already
00:09:29 --> 00:09:32 developing. Juice was actually well
00:09:32 --> 00:09:34 positioned to get an early look at this
00:09:34 --> 00:09:36 object, which makes it a brilliant
00:09:36 --> 00:09:38 opportunistic observation. The
00:09:38 --> 00:09:39 spacecraft was designed to study
00:09:39 --> 00:09:42 Jupiter's moons, but its cameras are
00:09:42 --> 00:09:44 perfectly capable of turning onto a
00:09:44 --> 00:09:45 bright comet.
00:09:45 --> 00:09:48 >> What makes Three Atlas so scientifically
00:09:48 --> 00:09:50 exciting is what it can tell us about
00:09:50 --> 00:09:53 chemistry beyond our solar system.
00:09:53 --> 00:09:55 Interstellar objects carry the
00:09:55 --> 00:09:57 fingerprints of wherever they formed.
00:09:57 --> 00:10:00 Previous NASA observations already
00:10:00 --> 00:10:02 revealed the coma and a flare up as it
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 was heading outward, and the composition
00:10:04 --> 00:10:07 data has been trickling in. And now we
00:10:07 --> 00:10:10 have Juice's optical imagery to add to
00:10:10 --> 00:10:12 that picture. Every instrument, every
00:10:12 --> 00:10:15 telescope, every spacecraft that can
00:10:15 --> 00:10:17 contribute data is doing so. This is
00:10:18 --> 00:10:20 coordinated solar system science at its
00:10:20 --> 00:10:21 best.
00:10:21 --> 00:10:24 >> 3IE Atlas is now heading back out into
00:10:24 --> 00:10:26 the solar system, so the window for
00:10:26 --> 00:10:28 observations is narrowing, but the data
00:10:28 --> 00:10:30 already collected will be keeping
00:10:30 --> 00:10:33 researchers busy for years. Now, let's
00:10:33 --> 00:10:36 check in on what's flying this week. It
00:10:36 --> 00:10:38 is a busy week at launch sites around
00:10:38 --> 00:10:41 the globe. Five missions on the schedule
00:10:41 --> 00:10:43 and there are some real standout moments
00:10:43 --> 00:10:45 to watch for. The international
00:10:45 --> 00:10:48 highlight is Japan. Space 1, a
00:10:48 --> 00:10:50 commercial startup backed by Canon
00:10:50 --> 00:10:52 Electronics and IHI Aerospace is
00:10:52 --> 00:10:54 attempting its third launch of the
00:10:54 --> 00:10:57 Chyros rocket from Spaceport Key on the
00:10:57 --> 00:10:59 Key Peninsula. The window opens
00:10:59 --> 00:11:01 Wednesday the 4th of March.
00:11:01 --> 00:11:03 >> Now, the first two Chyros flights did
00:11:04 --> 00:11:07 not go well. Flight one in March 2024
00:11:07 --> 00:11:09 was terminated by the autonomous flight
00:11:09 --> 00:11:12 termination system due to first stage
00:11:12 --> 00:11:15 underperformance. Flight two in December
00:11:15 --> 00:11:18 2024 was lost because a sensor failure
00:11:18 --> 00:11:20 caused loss of control during the first
00:11:20 --> 00:11:21 stage burn.
00:11:21 --> 00:11:24 >> Third time lucky hopefully. This flight
00:11:24 --> 00:11:26 is targeting suns synchronous orbit and
00:11:26 --> 00:11:29 is carrying five small payloads from a
00:11:29 --> 00:11:31 range of customers including satellites
00:11:31 --> 00:11:34 from Taiwan and a micro satellite from a
00:11:34 --> 00:11:36 Japanese high school. Lovely to see that
00:11:36 --> 00:11:37 kind of diversity.
00:11:38 --> 00:11:40 >> On the SpaceX side, there are four
00:11:40 --> 00:11:42 Falcon 9 missions this week launching
00:11:42 --> 00:11:44 from both Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg.
00:11:44 --> 00:11:46 The standout is a Vandenberg launch on
00:11:46 --> 00:11:49 Wednesday where booster B1071 will be
00:11:49 --> 00:11:53 flying for its 32nd mission. And that
00:11:53 --> 00:11:56 landing will mark SpaceX's 600th Falcon
00:11:56 --> 00:11:59 booster recovery attempt. 600.
00:11:59 --> 00:12:01 >> The numbers just keep getting bigger and
00:12:01 --> 00:12:03 more mind-boggling. A booster that's
00:12:04 --> 00:12:07 flown 32 times is extraordinary by any
00:12:07 --> 00:12:10 standard. This week's Falcon 9 missions
00:12:10 --> 00:12:13 will also push SpaceX to its 30th launch
00:12:13 --> 00:12:15 of 2026. Overall, the cadence is
00:12:15 --> 00:12:17 relentless.
00:12:17 --> 00:12:19 >> And we're watching the Chyros launch
00:12:19 --> 00:12:21 particularly closely. Japan's commercial
00:12:21 --> 00:12:23 launch sector has been growing and the
00:12:23 --> 00:12:25 successful Chyros flight would be a
00:12:25 --> 00:12:27 significant milestone for the country's
00:12:27 --> 00:12:30 private space industry. Fingers crossed.
00:12:30 --> 00:12:32 Now, speaking of new rockets,
00:12:32 --> 00:12:35 >> and we close today's episode with a look
00:12:35 --> 00:12:38 further ahead to the end of March when
00:12:38 --> 00:12:40 China's commercial space sector is about
00:12:40 --> 00:12:44 to make a significant move. CAS Space, a
00:12:44 --> 00:12:45 commercial offshoot of the Chinese
00:12:46 --> 00:12:48 Academy of Sciences, is preparing to
00:12:48 --> 00:12:51 debut its new Kinetic 2 rocket. Launch
00:12:51 --> 00:12:54 is targeted for late March from the Geio
00:12:54 --> 00:12:56 Quan satellite launch center out in the
00:12:56 --> 00:12:57 Gobi Desert.
00:12:57 --> 00:13:01 >> The Kinetic 2 is a 53 m tall rocket
00:13:01 --> 00:13:04 powered by three YF102 engines running
00:13:04 --> 00:13:07 on kerosene and liquid oxygen, a similar
00:13:07 --> 00:13:10 propellant combination to SpaceX's
00:13:10 --> 00:13:13 Falcon 9. And like Falcon 9, it's
00:13:13 --> 00:13:15 designed to be reusable.
00:13:15 --> 00:13:17 >> It can carry up to 12 kg to low
00:13:18 --> 00:13:21 Earth orbit or around 7 kg to a 500
00:13:21 --> 00:13:24 km suns synchronous orbit. That's a
00:13:24 --> 00:13:26 meaningful capability. It puts it in a
00:13:26 --> 00:13:28 similar class to Falcon 9 in terms of
00:13:28 --> 00:13:29 payload.
00:13:29 --> 00:13:32 >> For its debut mission, it's carrying the
00:13:32 --> 00:13:35 Ching Xiao 1, a prototype cargo
00:13:35 --> 00:13:37 spacecraft designed to eventually
00:13:37 --> 00:13:40 resupply China's Tangong space station.
00:13:40 --> 00:13:42 Think of it as China's equivalent of
00:13:42 --> 00:13:44 testing a Dragon capsule, a first step
00:13:44 --> 00:13:47 toward a regular, affordable resupply
00:13:47 --> 00:13:50 system. And Caspay has ambitious plans.
00:13:50 --> 00:13:52 They're aiming for at least four Kinetic
00:13:52 --> 00:13:55 2 launches in 2026 alone, including
00:13:55 --> 00:13:58 missions to deploy satellites into mega
00:13:58 --> 00:14:00 constellations, directly competing with
00:14:00 --> 00:14:03 Starlink in the global broadband market.
00:14:03 --> 00:14:05 It's worth noting that CAS Space's
00:14:06 --> 00:14:08 smaller solid fuel rocket, the Kinetic
00:14:08 --> 00:14:11 1, has already flown 11 successful
00:14:11 --> 00:14:13 missions and has eight more planned for
00:14:13 --> 00:14:16 this year. So, this is not a firsttime
00:14:16 --> 00:14:17 player. They have operational
00:14:17 --> 00:14:20 experience. The broader picture is that
00:14:20 --> 00:14:22 the global commercial launch industry is
00:14:22 --> 00:14:24 genuinely becoming competitive in a way
00:14:24 --> 00:14:28 it never was before. SpaceX still leads,
00:14:28 --> 00:14:30 but you now have serious players from
00:14:30 --> 00:14:33 China, Japan, Europe, and beyond, all
00:14:33 --> 00:14:36 developing capable, affordable rockets.
00:14:36 --> 00:14:38 It's a fascinating time to be watching
00:14:38 --> 00:14:41 this space. Pun absolutely intended.
00:14:41 --> 00:14:43 >> And on that note, it's time to wrap up
00:14:44 --> 00:14:45 episode 53.
00:14:45 --> 00:14:47 >> Really already?
00:14:47 --> 00:14:50 >> Yes. That is a wrap on Astronomy Daily
00:14:50 --> 00:14:53 season 5, episode 53. What a week it's
00:14:53 --> 00:14:55 shaping up to be. From NASA's lunar
00:14:55 --> 00:14:58 reset to lemon planets to cosmic
00:14:58 --> 00:15:01 background hums to a brand new reusable
00:15:01 --> 00:15:02 rocket on the launchpad.
00:15:02 --> 00:15:04 >> If you've enjoyed today's episode, we
00:15:04 --> 00:15:06 would love it if you leave us a review
00:15:06 --> 00:15:08 wherever you listen. It really does make
00:15:08 --> 00:15:10 a difference in helping new listeners
00:15:10 --> 00:15:11 find the show.
00:15:11 --> 00:15:13 >> You can find full show notes, blog
00:15:13 --> 00:15:17 posts, and more over at astronomyaily.io
00:15:17 --> 00:15:19 and follow us on social media at
00:15:19 --> 00:15:22 astroaily pod for daily space updates.
00:15:22 --> 00:15:24 Until next time, keep looking up. The
00:15:24 --> 00:15:27 universe has no shortage of surprises.
00:15:27 --> 00:15:30 >> Clear skies, everyone. Goodbye.
00:15:30 --> 00:15:32 >> Day
00:15:32 --> 00:15:36 stories told.