Spaceflight 🚀Where to book and what else to consider for your private #spaceflight 🚀 https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Space
20 things to see 📷 on the #Moon https://www.astronomy.com/observing/things-to-see-on-the-moon-an-observers-guide-to-lunar-names/
🧭 #Navigation : #Marble is a virtual globe 🌐 application which allows the user to choose among the #Earth, the #Moon, #Venus, #Mars and other planets 🪐 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marble_(software) | https://marble.kde.org
"Think of something profound to say on your arrival. Things that the #Apollo astronauts 👨🚀 said on their arrival includes [...] https://en.wikivoyage.org/w/index.php?title=Moon
4️⃣0️⃣ #SpaceStation & #SpaceHabitat companies https://www.factoriesinspace.com/space-stations
The Global 🌐 #Spaceport Alliance now has 76 members, including 31 spaceports around the world 🌏. #Starship could reach most destinations within 30 minutes and anywhere on #Earth within an hour ⏱️ https://www.imeche.org/news/news-article/rocket-companies-set-out-plans-for-global-same-day-delivery-at-farnborough-airshow
The search for safer and geographically advantageous launch sites has turned global attention toward #Africa 🌍. It’s proximity to the equator brings with it a “slingshot effect” for rockets, helping satellites reach geostationary transfer orbit with less fuel and #costs. #Djibouti’s 🇩🇯 #spaceport is expected to take five years to complete. Engineers from a couple of #Kenyan 🇰🇪 universities concluded that building a spaceport was “highly feasible” https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/africasource/could-the-united-states-future-liftoffs-take-place-in-africa/
#SpaceX is laying the groundwork for expansion 🏗️ at #KennedySpaceCenter. SpaceX’s second #Starship tower at #Starbase was stacked in record time, taking only four months to complete. At least two 2️⃣ additional towers could be built at the Cape. A new tent is beginning to be raised. This tent has around 40% 📈 more ground space than the old tents at Starbase. SpaceX would only need one more large tent to cover over 90% of the space inside the old tents at Starbase. https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2024/11/roberts-road-10-31-24/
Starship preparations to return to the Roberts Road facility - NASASpaceFlight.com
SpaceX is at it again, laying the groundwork for expansion at its Roberts Road facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The work never ceases with SpaceX as it prepares for the future with an evolution coming to the Space Coast. These developments include new buildings, property expansions, and rumors of Starship’s revival in Florida.
"There are currently hundreds of employees on the waitlist to move to the campus. To do this, #SpaceX must maximize its space." https://www.texastribune.org/2024/12/12/spacex-starbase-city-texas-cameron-county
The new city 🏙️ covers about 3.9 sq km. #Starbase will be a Type C city - a category of municipality of fewer than 5,000 people https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c39j8rj4nmmo
The #city boundary of Starbase in #OpenStreetMap 🗺️ https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/1383490697/history
The ultimate goal of this factory 🏭 is to build one #Starship rocket a day. This sounds utterly mad. Wandering around the #Starfactory, however, this ambition no longer seems undoable.
The next steps include :
• #Reuse ♻️
• Propellant transfer ⛽
• Propellant depots 🌌
• Lunar landing 🌙
• Lunar launch 🚀
• Powered landing on #Mars 🔴
#SpaceX has received approval to nearly double 📈 the launch site’s size at #Starbase. Crews have just started the initial groundwork: removing vegetation in the expansion area and flattening it with the existing sand https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/02/starbases-launch-site-double-size/
The permit allows #SpaceX “to fill over 17 acres of wetlands and tidal flats”. The work “includes building new infrastructure such as a new entrance road, test and staging pads, water and propellant storage, blast walls, equipment staging areas and internal roadways.” https://www.expressnews.com/business/article/texas-spacex-starbase-expansion-22092493.php
#Starbase Mayor Bobby Peden has issued at least three beach and highway closure ⛔ orders since March 9. Actual closures lasted about six hours on March 11, about three hours on March 15 and another three hours on March 16 https://www.expressnews.com/business/article/spacex-tests-starbase-boca-chica-beach-closure-22088251.php
#Africa now has 22 nations represented on the #UnitedNations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (#COPUOS) https://spaceinafrica.com/2024/11/05/djibouti-joins-united-nations-committee-on-the-peaceful-uses-of-outer-space
Earth spins a little over 1,600 km/h at the equator 🌐. At the 45°N point, that speed drops down to just 1,180 km/h https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/how-fast-does-earth-spin
🖼️ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Latitude_lines_color.svg
🌍 #Djibouti revealed a $1 billion plan in 2023 to build #Africa's first orbital #spaceport with two PRC-based 🇨🇳 companies.Djibouti launched its first satellite in 2023, on a #SpaceX rocket https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF11304
🇨🇳 Chinese products are often cheaper and come with more perks than Western ones.
“#China cares about the commercial aspect, but that’s not the main driver. They know how important the Global South is for a long-term #geopolitical play. These are developing economies, and in the future, may be important markets.” https://payloadspace.com/whos-working-with-china-on-space/
#SpaceEconomy #SpaceIndustry #Africa #Pakistan #Egypt #Venezuela
Zhao Mo@spaceflight Camp Lemonnier has been there since 2002. the commercial spaceport is new. apparently one of these is a security concern.