Honda says it is accelerating research at its new 27,000 square-meter demo facility set up in Sakura City, Japan, and is shortening the time required to make a single unit. The site has full-scale equipment that is split between three buildings: the first for cathode formation and cell assembly; the second for anode formation; and the third for electrolyte activation and module assembly.

The plan includes using a continuous inline mixer that Honda says is “three times faster” than typical cell batch processing. Honda plans to make batteries on this line in January.

Honda is readying its solid-state tech for mass production in the second half of the 2020s. The company’s CEO Toshihiro Mibe has eluded that solid-state batteries will also be the key to unlocking cheaper EVs.

Starlink Group 6-66 launch out of SLC-40 in Florida currently scheduled for 2024-11-21 16:07 UTC, or 2024-11-21 11:07 local time (EST). Booster 1069-20 to land on A Shortfall of Gravitas.

• NextSpaceflight page
• SpaceX mission page

Webcasts:

• Space Affairs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3JBoubQ7qY
• Spaceflight Now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PpxSk6RjWc
• NASASpaceflight: https://www.youtube.com/@NASASpaceflight/streams
• The Launch Pad: https://www.youtube.com/@TheLaunchPad/streams
• SpaceX:
• The Space Devs:

Another three months, another Progress resupply to the International Space Station.

| Scheduled for (UTC) | 2024-11-21, 12:22 | |

|

| | Scheduled for (local) | 2024-11-21, 17:22 (AQTT) | | Docking scheduled for (UTC) | 2024-11-23, 14:40 | | Mission | Progress MS-29 | | Launch site | Site 31/6, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | | Launch vehicle | Soyuz 2.1a | | Spacecraft | Progress | | Mission success criteria | Successful launch and docking to the ISS |

Livestreams

| Stream | Link | |

|

| | Roscosmos | (launch) https://www.youtube.com/@tvroscosmos/streams | | Roscosmos | (docking) https://www.youtube.com/@tvroscosmos/streams | | NASA+ | (launch) https://plus.nasa.gov/scheduled-video/progress-90-cargo-ship-launch/ | | NASA+ | (docking) https://plus.nasa.gov/scheduled-video/progress-90-cargo-ship-docking/ | | The Launch Pad | https://www.youtube.com/@TheLaunchPad/streams | | Space Affairs | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUYMPbgXLPM |

Mission Details

• NASA
• NextSpaceflight

Yes, it is real: https://x.com/jinsprucker/status/1859460984861229335 (his first post in over a year)

Context: Infamous verbal slip on the Intelsat 35e launch webcast (T+4:07)

Source: AlienVibezx

Context: S26 is finally being scrapped.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/28406616

French launch vehicle startup Latitude has signed a multi-launch contract with Atmos Space Cargo, a company developing commercial reentry vehicles.

In a deal announced at Space Tech Expo Europe here Nov. 19, Atmos will buy a minimum of five launches a year of Latitude’s Zephyr rocket between 2028 and 2032. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Each launch will place a Phoenix spacecraft into very low Earth orbit, or VLEO. The spacecraft are designed to accommodate payloads for microgravity research in fields like pharmaceuticals and manufacturing, returning them to Earth.

China has taken another step toward its crewed lunar goals by successfully testing fairing separation for its Long March 10 moon rocket series.

The fairing separation test was conducted recently, according to a Nov. 20 statement from the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT). CALT is a major rocket developer under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the country’s main space contractor.

A short clip of the separation test shows the 5.0-meter-diameter, 5.0-meter-high fairing—which is designed to protect spacecraft from the atmosphere during ascent—falling away to reveal a structural test article.

The fairing is not in a conical, nose cone-like shape, as with typical fairing for spacecraft. This is due to the Long March 10 series being designed to launch a new generation crew spacecraft. This will include an escape tower and the return module may be exposed at the tip of the launcher. The fairing is thus similar in shape to that used for the Orion spacecraft. CALT plans static and joint vibration tests in the future.

Defense giant Lockheed Martin announced Nov. 19 that its new mid-size satellite platform will make its orbital debut next year aboard a Firefly Aerospace rocket.

The LM 400 satellite bus — roughly the size of a household refrigerator — represents Lockheed’s bid to capture a sweet spot in the satellite market: missions requiring more power and payload capacity than small satellites can provide, but not demanding the complexity of traditional large satellites.

French launch vehicle startup Latitude has signed a multi-launch contract with Atmos Space Cargo, a company developing commercial reentry vehicles.

In a deal announced at Space Tech Expo Europe here Nov. 19, Atmos will buy a minimum of five launches a year of Latitude’s Zephyr rocket between 2028 and 2032. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Each launch will place a Phoenix spacecraft into very low Earth orbit, or VLEO. The spacecraft are designed to accommodate payloads for microgravity research in fields like pharmaceuticals and manufacturing, returning them to Earth.

Smallsat launch integrator SEOPS has purchased a Falcon 9 launch for a dedicated rideshare mission to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).

SEOPS announced at Space Tech Expo Europe here Nov. 19 that it signed a contract with SpaceX for the mission, planned for late 2028 from Florida. It is also acquiring capacity on unspecified other SpaceX launches through 2028.

“With the surge demand for access to cislunar space, we’re approaching a pivotal moment where prolific access to GTO is a must,” Chad Brinkley, CEO of SEOPS, said in a statement, describing the contract as a way to “proactively generate the options the market demands” for rideshare missions.

Brinkley said at the conference that the company does not have any firm customers yet for that mission. However, the strong interest SEOPS has seen from commercial and government customers was enough to warrant signing a contract.