Rocket Report: A 5-ton satellite fell off a Japanese rocket, but it's not just a simple launch failure. The Michibiki 5 navigation satellite was supposed to be placed into an orbit over 20,000 miles above the Earth, but something went wrong during the jettison of its payload fairing. Video footage shows debris showering around the satellite as it wobbled and leaned after fairing separation. Sensors detected sudden accelerations at the attachment point between the spacecraft and the rocket.
This is an entirely new failure mechanism, and experts are still trying to understand what caused it. Japan's space agency, JAXA, released new information about the incident, including footage of the satellite falling off the rocket. The FAA expects continued growth in launches, with a 25% increase in licensed operations expected by the end of 2025.
In other news, SpaceX is in talks to merge with xAI, a company that develops AI technology. The merger would give SpaceX's data center launch program fresh momentum as Elon Musk battles tech giants like Google and Meta for supremacy in the rapidly escalating AI race.
The European Space Agency has published a call to tender for a study examining the reentry and breakup of a SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage over Poland, where it broke apart in February last year. The agency hopes to use data collected during this incident to help predict the risks associated with the re-entry of elongated upper stages.
Finally, SpaceX targets mid-March for its next Starship launch, which will be the first of the bigger and more powerful "Version 3" iteration of the vehicle. The new engine, Raptor 3, promises to loft over 100 tons of payload to low-Earth orbit compared to about 35 tons in previous versions.
Looking ahead, here are three launches to watch: Falcon 9 launching Starlink 6-101 on January 30, Falcon 9 launching Starlink 17-32 on February 2, and Falcon 9 launching Starlink 6-103 on February 3.
This is an entirely new failure mechanism, and experts are still trying to understand what caused it. Japan's space agency, JAXA, released new information about the incident, including footage of the satellite falling off the rocket. The FAA expects continued growth in launches, with a 25% increase in licensed operations expected by the end of 2025.
In other news, SpaceX is in talks to merge with xAI, a company that develops AI technology. The merger would give SpaceX's data center launch program fresh momentum as Elon Musk battles tech giants like Google and Meta for supremacy in the rapidly escalating AI race.
The European Space Agency has published a call to tender for a study examining the reentry and breakup of a SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage over Poland, where it broke apart in February last year. The agency hopes to use data collected during this incident to help predict the risks associated with the re-entry of elongated upper stages.
Finally, SpaceX targets mid-March for its next Starship launch, which will be the first of the bigger and more powerful "Version 3" iteration of the vehicle. The new engine, Raptor 3, promises to loft over 100 tons of payload to low-Earth orbit compared to about 35 tons in previous versions.
Looking ahead, here are three launches to watch: Falcon 9 launching Starlink 6-101 on January 30, Falcon 9 launching Starlink 17-32 on February 2, and Falcon 9 launching Starlink 6-103 on February 3.
Like seriously, this Michibiki 5 satellite thing? I don't get what happened lol. One sec it's all good, next second it's like, bye! 
And the footage is straight fire btw, who knew things could go so wrong in space 
. The scientists are still trying to figure out what went down, and honestly I'm kinda curious to know if they can fix this before it happens again. 
. Like, can you imagine the data centers they'll be able to power? 
It's going to be lit! 
And the European Space Agency is on it too, trying to figure out how to break apart those upper stages without anyone getting hurt 
.
. Like, over 100 tons of payload? That's insane! 
That's some crazy tech talk, and I'm low-key excited to see how this AI thing shakes up the space game! 
By the way, did you catch those Falcon 9 Starlink launches in February? 
Can't wait to see what these rockets can do! 
. They're releasing some vids, but it's clear they don't know what went down 
. Maybe we'll never get to the bottom of this 
!
and it just fell off into space! That's a new one for me. Can't wait to see how JAXA explains this one... probably some kind of design flaw or something 
. I mean, Elon's already been talking up the importance of AI in space exploration, and now they're getting that tech on board. Can't wait to see what kinda innovations come outta this... might just give Google and Meta some competition 
.
and now they're gonna launch Starlink 6-103 and it's gonna be huge! 
. Hope it doesn't affect the growth of launches in the US, though - we need more space travel & innovation 
... sensors are detecting weird accelerations 
experts need to figure out wut happened 
JAXA is being super transparent about the whole thing 
can't wait 2 c how it all plays out 
I'm only commenting now because I missed the thread when it was live 
. So, this Michibiki satellite thing is kinda weird... like, what's gonna happen to all that space debris? 
I can imagine how stressful that must be for the JAXA team who are trying to figure out what went wrong with their satellite launch. It's like, one minute everything is going smoothly, and then BAM! Something goes haywire and you're left wondering what happened. 
. JAXA's slow response to this incident is giving me some serious deja vu, you know when they're all like "oh, it's just a minor setback" but really, what about accountability? What's the plan to prevent this from happening again?
or else they'll be drifting into the darkness forever 
. JAXA should really double-check their launch prep before it's too late 
. And what's up with this new failure mechanism? Sounds like a big ol' mystery to me 
. More transparency, pls 
! I guess that's what they call 'payload separation'... bad luck for JAXA, though 
. Anyway, I'm not surprised SpaceX is merging with xAI, Elon Musk needs all the AI he can get to deal with those tech giants 
. And those Starlink launches? Count me in on the excitement... or should I say, counting down to launch 
!
. What do you guys think? Should we be more cautious with our space exploration or just push forward with innovation? 