Keith’s note: ICYMI missed the NASA CLD Directive post the other day NASA Commercial LEO Space Stations Acquisition Strategy you are not alone since NASA is not talking about it either. No mention of this major change is made by @NASA or NASA.gov or here on their CLD page. In a nutshell:

• Upon performing a reassessment, Space Operations Mission Directorate (SOMD) and CLDP have determined the CLD acquisition strategy must be altered. Instead of moving forward in Phase 2 with a firm fixed price contract for CLD certification and services, NASA will continue to support U.S industry’s design and demonstration of CLDs with multiple funded SAAs for the next phase. NASA will shift the formal design acceptance and certification planning acceptance from this SAA phase to a follow-on certification phase.
• Utilizing SAAs for the next phase better aligns with enabling development of US industry platforms. It provides greater resources for industry to align schedule with NASA’s needs. SAAs also provide more flexibility to deal with possible variations in funding levels without the need of potentially protracted and inefficient contract renegotiations.

Keith’s note: Multiple sources have mentioned ongoing discussion at NASA HQ, NASA Goddard, and NASA Wallops that consider the option of moving toward a Government-Owned, Contractor-Operated (GOCO) model for the future of Wallops.

Keith’s note: according to a 31 July 2025 NASA Directive titled “Directive on Revised Commercial Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Destinations (CLD) Phase 2 Acquisition Strategy“ (see below) says “To ensure mission continuity, affordability, and national alignment, this directive includes accountability measures, transition planning, and performance metrics for industry participation. The CLD Program shall support commercial viability while enabling NASA’s safe and sustainable transition from ISS operations.”

Keith’s note: I was just on CNN International doing live commentary during the launch of Crew 11 to the International Space Station on board a SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon [Audio]. I was on CNN again at 6:40 pm EDT. [Audio]

Keith’s note: I was just on Bloomberg TV for the SpaceX Crew 11 launch which was scrubbed due to weather. I stayed on and talked about NASA layoffs, budget issues, and Ted Cruz’s support for the International Space Station – and moving the Space Shuttle to Texas. Let’s see what happens tomorrow. [Audio]

Keith’s note: a few minutes ago, during a routine pre-flight test, SpaceX Ship 36 blew up. Video below.

Keith’s note: Space analyst Laura Seward Forczyk just tweeted that the ISS Research & Development Conference has been cancelled. If this is true (and my sources tell me that it really is true) then NASA has decided to stop telling people why LEO research is important. The FY 2026 budget reduces research on ISS – but does not cancel it. OMB documents talk about commercial LEO space stations picking up on that work from ISS. So why not promote a generation of ISS research – the basis upon which the next LEO effort will be based? Clearly NASA has absolutely no idea what they are going to do after the budget cuts take effect and 1/3 of its work force has been RIFed. Oddly there’s the ‘Beat China’ meme in these budget documents and White House rhetoric. Fine. The best way to let China win in LEO is to diminish ISS as fast as possible and let China attract more customers in the interim years. This is baffling in the extreme. Embrace The Challenge y’all.

Keith’s 28 May Update: I just did an interview with Al Jazeera about the SpaceX Starship 9 flight Audio. Keith’s 27 May note: I just did live coverage of the SpaceX Starship Flight 9 mission on Bloomberg Radio. After two last minute holds the rocket lifted off re-using a first stage that had already flown – 29 engines were being re-flown – and one of them was being flown for its third flight. After staging the first stage was brought back – but under heightened stress loads to test the vehicle. Just as the landing burn was going to happen telemetry stopped and SpaceX confirmed that “Heavy just demised” in SpaceX lingo. The Ship (second stage) made its way into space and tested some engines. The plan was to deploy 8 Starlink demonstrators but the payload door would not open properly so that task was aborted. Upon re-entry the vehicle lost control and spun and was eventually lost.

Keith’s note: I give up. When female space youtubers like Eliana Sheriff @esherifftv go out of their way to mock a mission with women going into space – comparing them to chimpanzees – why should the rest of us even bother trying to knock down all the space misogyny. Here’s the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-B_ISPE3mc

Keith’s note: Yesterday 6 people on the Blue Origin NS-31 flight crossed the Kármán line and entered “space”. More people – some of prominence – now speak of the value of – and the awe encountered in – space. Alas, lots of space folks on social media say that they’re not “astronauts”. I wonder how many space fans would change their mind if they had a chance to do the same thing. Just sayin’. FWIW soon-to-be NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman (an astronaut) said this from a more lofty perspective:

Keith’s note: Apparently the crew of the Blue Origin NS-31 suborbital flight had a great time today. I did live launch/landing coverage on Bloomberg radio/YouTube and then did an interview on Deutsche Welle TV [audio].Video below Every now and then some of that space conference swag comes in useful as a prop when you need to illustrate some rocket science. In this case the squishy Blue Origin capsule.

Keith’s note: For all of you Space Symposium fans who think we’re on the verge of a commerce golden age in space or that U.S. will #MakeSpaceGreatAgain and devote big bucks to space science, Moon, Mars, new space stations, Space Force etc. Just look at what the tariff thing did in mere days to our economy. Do the math. Where is the money going to come from? Discuss this among yourselves.

Keith’s note: The Fram2 crew and their SpaceX ship “Resilience” are in orbit after a flawless ride uphill. I did launch commentary on Bloomberg Radio [audio] and was also on Deutsche Welle TV [audio].

Keith’s note: The Aerospace Industries Association just put put their self-serving and totally anodyne “Space Priorities 2025“. Its all bland happy talk – as if nothing was really happening these days when it comes to the health and well being of the aerospace sector. With all of the swirling concern over budget cuts, program cancellations, and layoffs, you’d think that a non-profit established to be concerned about the aerospace sector would be a little more proactive in discussing these threats. Guess again.

Keith’s note: The Starship 8 launch resulted in yet another flawless catch of the Heavy booster first stage and the loss of the Ship upper stage.

Keith’s note: I was just on Deutsche Welle TV talking about the IM-2 landing [audio]. The Intuitive Machines Athena Lander is on the Moon. They are shutting down things that are not needed and safing the spacecraft. Power is being generated from solar panels and surface ops have begun. Mission control is waiting for some images and other data so as to see how the vehicle is oriented on the lunar surface. Things were a little confusing to those of us looking over the team’s shoulder as the landing occurred. They apparently had multi-path issues i.e. radio waves taking multiple paths bouncing off of mountains and craters and possibly confusing things a bit. This was expected in places such as the lunar South Pole. I was also on Bloomberg Radio during the landing. I’ll be back on Bloomberg radio and television tonight for the SpaceX Starship 8 launch.

Keith’s note: Dear Trump Transition Team (whoever you are): America always has been ‘Great in Space’. No “again” is needed. Just sayin’ Ad Astra y’all.

Keith’s note: I was just on Bloomberg TV for live coverage of the SpaceX Starship 7 flight. [Audio] They recovered the first stage perfectly but they lost comms near the end of the Starship burn. This was an upgraded version of Starship. So they’ll just try again to get it right.

Keith’s note: According to Blue Origin: “New Glenn safely reached its intended orbit during today’s NG-1 mission, accomplishing our primary objective. New Glenn’s seven BE-4 engines ignited on January 16, 2025, at 2:03 a.m. EST (0703 UTC) from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The second stage is in its final orbit following two successful burns of the BE-3U engines. The Blue Ring Pathfinder is receiving data and performing well.We lost the booster during descent.”