UK Space Milestone, NASA’s Rock and Roll Challenge, and Lessons from Lunar Trailblazer

0:00 Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your

0:03 daily dive into the cosmos, where we bring

0:05 you the latest and greatest from the world of

0:08 space and astronomy. I'm Anna.

0:11 Avery: And I'm Avery. We've got a packed show for

0:14 you today, covering everything from the UK's

0:16 first orbital launch license to a fascinating

0:19 crowdsourcing challenge from NASA and a look

0:22 at a very busy week in launches.

0:24 Anna: Plus, we'll discuss the unfortunate end of a

0:27 promising lunar mission. So buckle up,

0:30 because we're heading out among the stars.

0:33 Avery: First up, some big news from the UK space

0:35 scene. British company Skyrora has

0:38 officially secured the first ever launch

0:41 license from the UK's Civil Aviation

0:43 Authority. This is a huge milestone for

0:46 them.

0:46 Anna: It really is, Avery. They've been granted a

0:49 license for up to 16 launches of their

0:52 Skylark L suborbital rocket from

0:55 Saxavoord spaceport in Scotland.

0:57 Skylark L is an 11 meter rocket

1:00 capable of carrying a 50 kilogram payload.

1:04 Avery: But there's a bit of a hitch, isn't there?

1:06 Despite having the license and a rocket

1:08 ready, they're facing delays due to a lack of

1:11 available launch pads at Saxavoord,

1:13 potentially pushing their first uk flight

1:15 into 2026.

1:17 Anna: That's right. Alan Thompson, Skyrora's

1:20 head of government affairs, mentioned that

1:22 they were told there's no longer availability

1:24 at either of the pads and it's quite a

1:27 setback after the long licensing process.

1:30 Avery: And speaking of that process, Thompson noted

1:32 it took longer than anticipated, but he

1:35 understands it's an industry first and

1:37 prioritizing getting it right over, doing it

1:40 quickly, which makes sense, especially in

1:42 space.

1:43 Anna: Absolutely. This Skylark L

1:45 rocket, while Suborbital, is designed to

1:48 de risk technologies for their much larger

1:51 Skyrora XL, which aims to put

1:54 315kg into low earth

1:56 orbit. They're already making good progress

1:59 on, um, the XL stages, with integration

2:01 tests planned for next year.

2:03 Avery: It's interesting to see how these smaller

2:06 suborbital flights serve as crucial testbeds

2:08 for research. And Skyrora is also seeing

2:11 rising demand for Skylarkail's ability to

2:14 provide up to six minutes of microgravity for

2:16 experiments at a fraction of the cost of an

2:19 orbital mission. That's a nice secondary

2:21 market, they found.

2:22 Anna: It highlights the growing ecosystem around

2:25 space launches beyond just putting satellites

2:27 into orbit. But this pad availability issue

2:30 at Saxavoord seems to be a recurring theme.

2:33 Germany's rocket factory Augsburg, or

2:36 rfa, also postponed their maiden flight due

2:39 to a launch pad explosion. Scotland based

2:42 Orbix is also aiming for a launch from

2:44 Saxavoord this year, though, they're still

2:47 awaiting a license.

2:48 Avery: It sounds like Saxavoort is going to be quite

2:51 the busy hub once those pads are available

2:53 and the infrastructure is settled. Hopefully

2:55 Skyrora can secure a spot soon and continue

2:58 paving the way for the UK's domestic launch

3:00 capabilities.

3:02 Anna: Moving from future launches to the very

3:04 recent past. What a week it's been for

3:07 rocket launches. Avery, give us the rundown.

3:10 Avery: It certainly has, Anna. Uh, we had a packed

3:12 schedule, especially from the us, but let's

3:15 start in. New Zealand Rocket Lab continued

3:17 their impressive cadence with the launch of

3:19 an Electron rocket.

3:21 Anna: The Harvest Goddess Thrives mission.

3:23 Avery: Right, that's the one. It successfully

3:26 launched a, uh, 100 kilogram Earth

3:28 observation satellite for a Japanese company

3:30 called IQPS. This was

3:33 Electron's 11th mission of 2025

3:36 and its 69th overall. A truly

3:38 rapid launch cadence.

3:40 Anna: That's an incredible pace for a small launch

3:42 provider. Electron is known for its

3:45 unique electric pump fed Rutherford,

3:49 which are largely 3D printed.

3:51 Very innovative design using carbon composite

3:54 construction for its stages.

3:56 Avery: Absolutely. And then, as expected, SpaceX

3:59 had a busy week with four scheduled launches,

4:01 three of which were successfully completed.

4:04 They had two Starlink missions and one

4:06 mission for Amazon's Project Kuiper.

4:08 Anna: The Kuiper mission was significant.

4:11 KF0UH2 carrying another

4:14 24 Kuiper Internet satellites into low

4:16 Earth orbit. The this was the second time a

4:19 Falcon 9 has launched per Project Kuiper,

4:22 following an earlier Atlas V launch.

4:24 Avery: That's right. The Booster

4:26 B1091 was a new one,

4:29 making its first flight and successfully

4:32 landed on a drone ship. It just shows

4:34 the continued scale and efficiency of

4:37 SpaceX's operations with their reusable

4:40 Falcon 9s.

4:42 Anna: And the Starlink launches just keep coming.

4:44 We had group 174 from

4:47 Vandenberg putting 24 satellites into

4:50 a Sun synchronous orbit, and group

4:52 1020 from Cape Canaveral with 28

4:55 satellites for insertion into low Earth

4:57 orbit.

4:58 Avery: What's notable there is the boosters being

5:01 used. B1093 on the

5:04 Vandenberg flight was on its

5:06 fifth flight. And

5:09 B1085 on the Cape

5:11 Canaveral mission completed its 10th

5:14 flight. That reusability is

5:16 truly astounding and sets a new

5:19 standard for operational efficiency.

5:22 Anna: It really is. It demonstrates the maturity

5:25 of their reusability program. And

5:28 finally, a big one from United Launch

5:30 Alliance. Their new Vulcan rocket had its

5:33 first launch of 2025, which was also

5:36 its third mission in total.

5:38 Avery: Indeed, the USSF1 uh06

5:41 mission, which included a classified Space

5:43 Force payload and a navigation technology

5:47 demonstrator called NTS3.

5:50 This was Vulcan's first US national

5:53 security mission. An intricate

5:55 marathon lasting over seven hours

5:58 to deliver two satellites more than

6:01 22,000 miles above

6:03 Earth.

6:04 Anna: Vulcan is ULA's answer to the heavy lift

6:07 market. Powered by twin BE4

6:10 main engines and in this mission's

6:13 VC4S configuration for four

6:16 side mounted GEM 63XL

6:18 solid rocket boosters. It's exciting to see

6:21 ULA ramping up operations with their

6:24 new flagship rocket.

6:26 Avery: A, uh, truly diverse week in space. From

6:29 Earth observation to global

6:31 Internet constellations and vital national

6:34 security missions, the pace of launches

6:37 just keeps accelerating, pushing the

6:40 boundaries of what's possible in space.

6:43 Now for something a bit different, but just

6:46 as exciting. NASA is literally

6:49 calling on the public to help design

6:51 the wheels for their next generation

6:54 of lunar vehicles.

6:56 Anna: I love this. It's called the rock and roll

6:59 challenge. And they're inviting engineers and

7:01 innovators from around the world to develop

7:04 a lightweight, flexible and long

7:07 lasting wheel and tire system capable of

7:10 navigating the moon's harsh terrain.

7:13 Avery: The Moon's terrain is no joke. We're

7:16 talking extreme temperatures, craters,

7:18 boulders, steep inclines, and

7:21 that super abrasive ultrafine dust

7:24 called regolith. Traditional rigid

7:27 wheels just won't cut it for the long

7:29 duration Artemis missions NASA is planning.

7:31 Especially at higher speeds.

7:34 Anna: Exactly. They need something that can handle

7:37 higher speeds and absorb impacts

7:39 going beyond what current rover wheels can

7:42 do. The goal is to support sustained

7:45 surface operations and reliably transport

7:48 payloads across the challenging lunar

7:51 surface.

7:52 Avery: And there's a real incentive for

7:54 participants with up to

7:56 $150,000 in prizes

7:58 for the most promising designs that meet

8:01 NASA's technical and performance criteria.

8:04 This is a fantastic example of

8:06 crowdsourcing, solving real world space

8:09 technology problems.

8:10 Anna: We've seen NASA do this successfully before

8:13 with things like space food and radiation

8:15 shielding. It really taps into global

8:18 ingenuity. Submissions for detailed

8:20 concepts for wheel tire assemblies are due

8:23 later this year. And they need to prioritize

8:26 durability, flexibility, low

8:29 mass and resistance to lunar dust.

8:31 Avery: Infiltration and minimal maintenance,

8:34 which is crucial when you're operating on

8:37 the moon. Finalists will even get a

8:40 chance to test their designs in

8:42 simulated lunar environments next year,

8:45 mounting them to NASA's microchariat

8:48 ground test unit and testing them up

8:51 to 15 miles per hour.

8:53 Anna: That's incredible. Imagine your design

8:56 being integrated into future lunar rovers

8:59 or even influencing designs for Mars and

9:01 beyond. These next gen wheels will be

9:04 essential for everything from lightweight

9:07 transport vehicles, ferrying astronauts and

9:09 supplies to robotic rovers, cargo

9:12 haulers, autonomous construction vehicles,

9:14 and specialized equipment like lunar drills.

9:18 Avery: As NASA pushes forward with its Artemis

9:20 missions, aiming to return humans to the moon

9:23 and establish a sustainable presence by the

9:26 end of the decade, reliable mobility

9:28 systems are absolutely critical. This

9:31 challenge is a direct response to that need.

9:35 Anna: It's inspiring to think that everyday

9:37 innovators could contribute to humanity's

9:40 return to the moon. Over

9:42 150 innovators have already signed

9:45 up to participate in the challenge, which

9:47 really shows the enthusiasm for these kinds

9:49 of open innovation initiatives. If

9:52 you'd like to get involved and find out more,

9:55 I'll leave a link in the show notes for you.

9:57 But wouldn't it be cool if an

9:59 Astronomy Daily listener won the competition?

10:03 Now for a more somber note. NASA's

10:06 Lunar Trailblazer mission unfortunately

10:09 has officially ended without achieving its

10:12 primary science goals.

10:14 Avery: Yes, it's really disappointing news.

10:17 The small satellite was designed to produce

10:19 high resolution maps of water on the Moon's

10:22 surface, where it is, what form it's in,

10:25 and how it changes over time. This

10:28 data would have been invaluable for future

10:30 robotic and human exploration of the moon.

10:33 Anna: The mission launched on February 26,

10:36 sharing a ride on the second intuitive

10:39 machine's robotic lunar lander mission

10:42 IM2 aboard a SpaceX Falcon

10:45 9 rocket. They established communications

10:48 shortly after separation, about 48

10:51 minutes after launch, but then lost

10:54 contact the very next day on February

10:57 27th.

10:58 Avery: And despite extensive efforts, including

11:01 help from collaborating organizations around

11:03 the world who volunteered their assistance to

11:06 listen for its radio signal and track its

11:08 position, they were unable to re

11:11 establish two way communications.

11:13 Anna: The limited data they did receive indicated

11:16 the spacecraft's solar arrays weren't

11:19 properly oriented towards the sun, causing

11:22 its batteries to become depleted. Ground

11:25 radar and optical observations

11:27 indicated Lunar Trailblazer was in a slow

11:30 spin as it headed farther into deep space.

11:33 Avery: Nikki Fox, Associate administrator for the

11:36 Science Mission Directorate at uh, NASA

11:39 Headquarters, noted that NASA undertakes

11:42 high risk, high reward missions like Lunar

11:45 Trailblazer to find revolutionary waves of

11:48 doing new science.

11:49 Anna: It underscores the inherent risks in

11:52 space exploration, especially with these

11:54 lower cost small satellite missions

11:57 like Lunar Trailblazer, which was part of

12:00 NASA's Simple X competition. They

12:03 accept a higher risk posture to test

12:06 pioneering approaches which

12:08 sometimes sadly don't pay off.

12:11 Avery: It's a, uh, tough lesson, but as NASA

12:14 emphasizes, the knowledge gained from a

12:17 mission like this, even in failure, helps

12:19 reduce risk for future endeavors. The team

12:22 put in months of effort trying to regain

12:24 contact, but eventually it drifted too far

12:27 for its telecommunications signals to be

12:30 strong enough to receive telemetry or

12:32 command.

12:33 Anna: While the mission didn't reach the moon. The

12:35 two science instruments developed for it,

12:38 like JPL's High Resolution

12:40 Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper,

12:43 or HVM3, and the University

12:46 of Oxford's Lunar Thermal Mapper,

12:49 uh, are world class. And that technology

12:51 isn't lost.

12:53 Avery: That's the silver lining, isn't it? Bethany

12:55 Elman, the mission's principal investigator

12:57 at Caltech, highlighted that the collective

13:00 knowledge and developed technology will cross

13:03 pollinate to other projects. In fact, an

13:06 instrument with an identical spectrometer

13:08 design to HVM3 called

13:10 UCIS Moon has already been selected

13:13 for a future lunar orbital flight

13:15 opportunity.

13:16 Anna: So while Lunar Trailblazer itself

13:19 couldn't blaze its trail, its legacy

13:22 will certainly contribute to our

13:24 understanding of lunar water in the future.

13:27 It's a testament to the perseverance of the

13:29 scientific community in the face of setbacks.

13:32 Avery: And that brings us to the end of another

13:35 fascinating episode of Astronomy Daily.

13:38 It's clear that whether it's challenges and

13:40 launch infrastructure, the the sheer volume

13:42 of rockets heading to space, or the

13:45 ingenuity required for lunar exploration,

13:48 the universe never ceases to amaze.

13:50 Anna: It truly doesn't. From the UK's

13:53 first launch license to crowdsourcing

13:56 moonwheel designs, and the critical lessons

13:59 learned from every mission, successful or

14:02 otherwise, the journey of space

14:04 exploration is always moving forward.

14:08 Avery: Thanks for joining us for Astronomy Daily. We

14:10 hope you enjoyed our look at the latest space

14:12 news.

14:13 Anna: Be sure to tune in tomorrow for more updates

14:16 from beyond our world. Until then, keep

14:19 looking up