This Week in Space 221

Rod Pyle is out this week, so Rick Jenet of the National Space Society joins Tariq Malik this week to talk about SpaceX's Starship Flight 13, which deployed new Starlink V3 satellites and stunned viewers when the ship survived reentry intact enough to float in the ocean for days afterward. They also discuss NASA's Roman Space Telescope, now just a month from launch, and an in-progress emergency effort to save the ailing Swift Space Observatory using a servicing spacecraft that is itself now experiencing technical trouble. Finally, they look into Boeing's continued Starliner delays and India's first successful private orbital launch via Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1 rocket. Tune in!

Headlines:

• SpaceX Starship Flight 13 Splashdown and Recovery Efforts
• Starlink V3 Satellite Deployment Updates
• SpaceX Wins $1.6 Billion Space Force Contract
• NASA's Roman Space Telescope Countdown and Origin Story
• Urgent Swift Space Observatory Rescue Mission Faces Technical Setbacks
• Boeing Starliner Faces More Delays and Uncertainty
• India's First Commercial Rocket Launch Enters Global Market
• Artemis II Astronaut Questions South Pole as Lunar Landing Target
• Astronomers Detect Possible First-Ever Exomoon
• Upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 Impact Experiment on the Moon
• Preview: August Almost Total Solar Eclipse and Night Sky Events

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• Transcripts: This Week in Space 221 Transcript

Links

• SpaceX's Starship megarocket makes the 'softest splashdown' ever after launching next-gen Starlink satellites in Flight 13 test
• X: Landing burn and splashdown of Starship on Flight 13
• X: The Starship Recovery team has continued gathering imagery of the vehicle, which is still afloat in the Indian Ocean
• Experts warn current Starship heat shield tech is a “dead end” for rapid reuse
• SpaceX wins $1.6 billion in launch orders for military satellite networks
• 'It's going to do things that currently are impossible': The Roman Space Telescope, NASA's next great observatory, is ready to launch Aug. 30
• NASA Fuels Roman Space Telescope for Late August Launch
• Actually, Starliner might fly into space this year
• 'The dawn of a new space era': Vikram-1, India's 1st private orbital rocket, aces debut launch
• Should Artemis IV astronauts actually land near the moon's south pole? Artemis II pilot says the lunar equator might be better
• Astronomers may have discovered the 1st moon outside of our solar system — or is it something weirder?
• A SpaceX rocket will crash into the moon next week, and scientists aren't sure what to expect
• An 'almost blood moon' is coming on Aug. 27 and it'll be the best lunar eclipse until NYE 2028
• Perseid meteor shower 2026 — When, where and how to see it