Astralytical Consulting

Congress pushed back against the suggestion that NASA skip the Moon and focus on sending astronauts to Mars. "I think it's bad policy," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, "We need to put our national interests ahead of our personal interests," referring to Elon Musk's personal interest to send humans to Mars. At Wednesday's House of Representatives Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee hearing, multiple members of congress spoke in support of the current NASA plan to send astronauts to the Moon to prepare to go to Mars under the current Artemis program plan. The Coalition for Deep Space Exploration also spoke in favor of focusing on humans to the Moon before Mars, stating in written testimony: "The Moon is not a detour on the path to the human exploration of deep space. It is the essential next step in expanding humanity’s reach into the solar system." Both witnesses in the hearing, Scott Pace and Dan Dumbacher, also supported the Moon-first approach. Not a single member during the hearing spoke in favor of skipping the Moon and going directly to Mars. The great power competition between the US and China was cited repeatedly as the top reason why NASA should focus on the current lunar return goal with speed. China is aiming to land its taikonauts on the Moon by 2030. Artemis III, NASA's first human lunar landing mission since Apollo, is planned for 2027 but most certainly will be delayed. The Senate has yet to hold a similar hearing on NASA's Artemis program in the current 119th Congress. It is unlikely that influential senators will support re-directing Artemis from the Moon to Mars in the near-term.

“When you get to [thousands of lunar satellites], it becomes much more complex to track and identify which satellite is which and who’s maneuvering.” Our Executive Director Laura Seward Forczyk spoke with Aerospace America magazine (AIAA) about the future lunar and cislunar satellite and spacecraft landscape. Space domain awareness will become more difficult as lunar activity increases. Read to learn more: https://lnkd.in/eyZvUTDd

High-altitude balloon tourism company Space Perspective has ceased operations and furloughed nearly all of its employees. It is facing eviction from the Space Coast Regional Airport after $90,295 in unpaid rent. The Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority is seeking to repossess Space Perspective's property. An Orlando executive search firm is seeking $29,000 plus interest in unpaid fees. And former employees are considering legal action after they say they were effectively laid off without warning or severance. Space Perspective stems from the high-altitude balloon company World View, which recently pivoted away from space tourism and instead is focusing on Earth observation. Similar high-altitude balloon tourism companies around the world, such as Zero 2 Infinity, Zaphalto, EOS-X, Space Balloon, and Iwaya, have not made much progress toward operations. At a ticket price of $125,000, it's clear Space Perspective was not charging enough to run its development and marketing programs. Former employees stated the company spent half its budget on marketing. Not enough investors saw a business case to invest heavily in the nascent market. Is high-altitude balloon tourism a dead end? For now, it likely is. However, a future company with a wealthy and patient founder or investor could bring such a concept to operations. It will be difficult for high-altitude balloon tourism to compete with suborbital and orbital space tourism. Floating calmly in a balloon at 30 km, above much of the atmosphere of the Earth, for hours in leisure without microgravity conditions, could supplement space tourism options in the future.

“NASA and the space industry is creating a new business, getting science and payloads to the surface of the moon. And these uncrewed missions are preparing us to send humans.” Our Executive Director Laura Seward Forczyk spoke with WIRED about the upcoming Intuitive Machines IM-2 mission. Read to learn more: https://lnkd.in/ep7zzvSV

"And with the new leadership, there is this direction to bring Blue Origin to profitability and make it a real company, a real competitor against SpaceX and others." Our Executive Director Laura Seward Forczyk spoke with Florida Today on the impact of Blue Origin's layoffs this week. Read to learn more: https://lnkd.in/eEh2WaXH

“Is it realistic that we’ll have humans to Mars within this new Trump administration? But we can start preparing in a way we’ve never done before.” Our Executive Director Laura Seward Forczyk spoke with The Times on President Trump's focus on Mars. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eUjt5Bdy

“Whether or not Artemis continues into the far future, we don’t know.” Our Executive Director Laura Seward Forczyk Forczyk spoke with Nature about space policy and direction in the incoming administration. Read to learn more: https://lnkd.in/ekfeRYTr

New Glenn could potentially “capture the market that is waiting for Starship.” Our Executive Director Laura Seward Forczyk spoke with Aerospace America magazine (AIAA) prior to Blue Origin's inaugural launch of its orbital heavy-lift rocket New Glenn and what this new entrant could mean for the space industry. Read to learn more: https://lnkd.in/eBR3zjUF

"The market is really orbital. Suborbital can only take you so far - there are only so many payloads and customers for a quick ride to space." Our Executive Director Laura Seward Forczyk spoke with AFP ahead of Blue Origin's New Glenn initial launch. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eG85gbqT

SpaceX increased its Falcon launch cadence significantly over the past 5 years, from 31 launches in 2020 to 134 launches in 2024. SpaceX launched Falcons 40 times in Q4 2024 alone. Continuing that pace, we can expect SpaceX to break its launch record again in 2025.