The Space Show

Embargoed until Thursday, 11 September 2025: Prof. Eric Thrane, School of Physics and Astronomy at Monash University, Clayton, explains the significance of the Stephen Hawking Black Hole Area Theorem confirmation in a Space Show exclusive.MONASH UNIVERSITY — MEDIA RELEASE11/09/2025 | 08:13 AM AESTAustralian astrophysicists help prove Stephen Hawking's landmark black hole prediction A global team of astrophysicists, including Australians, has witnessed a collision between two black holes that was so loud, they were able to use it to test and prove Stephen Hawking's Theory of Black Hole Thermodynamics.The event, observed by the LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA collaborations, involved two black holes merging to form a single, larger one, strikingly reminiscent of the historic first detection in 2015.The research has been published in Physical Review Letters: doi.org/10.1103/kw5g-d732(Image credit: OzGrav - ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 10 September 2025: Merging Black Holes and Gravitational Waves:The Space Show is in conversation with Prof. Eric Thrane, School of Physics and Astronomy at Monash University, Clayton. When scientists at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) recently announced they had seen a bizarre pair of rapidly spinning black holes, the astrophysics community agreed it defied expectations – and may rewrite our understanding of the universe. The announcement — “GW231123: A Binary Black Hole Merger” — describes unusually large black holes essentially smashing into each other. Each weighs more than 100 times more than our sun, and are spinning, where they would be expected to rotate more slowly, taking them to near the limits of what scientists understand to be physically possible. The questions now are: How did these black holes form? Why are they so massive? And why are they spinning so fast?

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 3 September 2025: Eric Philips: Australian Polar Explorer to Polar Orbiting AstronautEric Philips OAM (born 30 April 1962) is an Australian polar explorer, adventurer, polar guide and now private astronaut aboard the Fram2 mission.To learn more about Eric Philips and the Fram2 mission, listen to our two-part special episodes of The Space Show from October 2024: * 2024.10.02 | Fram2 Polar Mission — Part 1: One More Orbit * 2024.10.09 | Fram2 Polar Mission — Part 2: Greenland & Polar OrbitPlanet Earth: Season 6 — Episode 69 * Dr Karen St. Germain, Earth Science Division Director, NASA, Washington D.C. speaking at COP26 in 2021.The UK hosted the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) in Glasgow on 31 October – 13 November 2021. * 50th Anniversary of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) Program Since 1975, NOAA's GOES Satellites have provided continuous imagery and data on atmospheric conditions and solar activity (space weather). They have even aided in search and rescue of people in distress. GOES data products have led to more accurate and timely weather forecasts and better understanding of long-term climate conditions. * The Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) on the International Space Station studies air glow caused by Atmospheric Gravity Waves. * Global Precipitation Measurement or GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) * Aerosols with Erika Podest, Carbon Cycle and Ecosystem Scientist at Jet Propulsion Laboratory * Gavin Schmidt, Climate Scientist answers the question: How do we know what the climate of the Earth was like in the distant past?Gavin Schmidt is a British climatologist, climate modeler and Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York, and co-founder of the climate science blog RealClimate.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 28 May 2025: The State of Space: My PerspectiveSir Peter Beck, Rocket Lab Founder & CEO at the SmallSat Symposium, 4-6 February 2025, Mountain View, California.Speaking from Auckland, New Zealand, Sir Peter Beck gives his personal views on the state of space in 2025, including launch vehicles, large constellations of satellites, funding, company failures, China, and his predictions for the international space industry in 2025. (Courtesy SmallSat Symposium 2025 and Rocket Lab)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 27 August 2025: Turn Back Time: * Sixty years since the record-breaking flight of Gemini V.* Fifty years since the launch of the Viking 1 & 2 missions to Mars.Space Show News:* Starship Flight 10.* NOAA's Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) satellites and other Earth observation satellites.The five satellites scheduled in the fleet are the currently-flying NOAA/NASA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite, NOAA-20, previously known as JPSS-1, NOAA-21, previously known as JPSS-2, and the upcoming JPSS-3 and JPSS-4 satellites.(Audio insert courtesy of NESDIS)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 20 August 2025: James (Jim) A. Lovell Jr (1928-2025) was an American astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot, and mechanical engineer. This two-part special episode of The Space Show celebrates the 97-year life of the Gemini 7 & 12 and Apollo 8 & 13 astronaut. Largely told in his own words, hear how the flight of Apollo 8, which saw the first crewed mission to leave the Earth and orbit the Moon in 1968, became the highlight and pinnacle of his space career. (Jim Lovell in conversation with TV reporter Ron Stone on 25 May 1999, at the NASA Oral History Unit, Johnson Space Centre, Clear Lake, Houston. Audio inserts courtesy of the Johnson Space Center)Archibald MacLeish - Bubble of Blue AirFurther reading on Archibald MacLeish and his reflections on the Apollo voyages to the Moon: Riders on Earth Together, Brothers in Eternal ColdFantastic Voyage: In the words of Archibald MacLeish LL.B. 1919.Turn Back Time: The Flight of the Gemini 5 Mission, sixty years on.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 13 August 2025: James (Jim) A. Lovell Jr (1928-2025) was an American astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot, and mechanical engineer. This two-part special episode of The Space Show celebrates the 97-year life of the Gemini 7 & 12 and Apollo 8 & 13 astronaut. Largely told in his own words, listen out for his story about how he was almost “selected” to be the 7th astronaut of the original Mercury Seven.As fate would have it, Jim Lovell was instead to be the last surviving member of NASA Astronaut Group 2 (nicknamed the "Next Nine" or the "New Nine"), the group of astronauts selected after the Mercury Seven in September 1962. In addition to Lovell, the nine astronauts included: Neil Armstrong, Frank Borman, Pete Conrad, James McDivitt, Elliot See, Tom Stafford, Ed White, and John Young(Jim Lovell in conversation with TV reporter Ron Stone on 25 May 1999, at the NASA Oral History Unit, Johnson Space Centre, Clear Lake, Houston. Audio inserts courtesy of the Johnson Space Center)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 6 August 2025: A Retrospective (2016): Searching for Life in the Outer Solar SystemA discussion of the proposed BRINE Discovery Mission to Enceladus and the status of the United States' commercial space projects with the late Dr David Wilson, then Vice President of the Mars Society Australia and a research and development engineer at the Space Science and Astrobiology Division of the NASA Ames Research Center in California.In 2012 and 2013, NASA's Ames Research Center undertook a series of studies using a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on Mars, defining possible payloads including deep drills for astrobiology missions and Earth return rockets for Mars sample return. In 2015 Ames proposed the IceBreaker search for life mission to Mars for NASA's Discovery Program and then a mission to Saturn's moon Enceladus, called BRINE. (Recorded by The Space Show at a joint meeting of the Mars Society Australia and the Space Association of Australia in June 2016)Planet Earth — Episode 67: The Earth's geocentre SWOT and Australia Five Queensland projects to accelerate the growth of the Earth observation industry Cloudsat. (Inserts courtesy GSFC, JPL)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 30 July 2025: Eris TestFlight-1: Gilmour Space takes first step towards Australian sovereign launch capability.Bowen, Queensland, Australia - 30 July 2025: Gilmour Space Technologies has completed the maiden test launch of Australia's first locally designed and built orbital rocket — a major milestone toward offering low-cost, responsive launch services for small satellites globally.The 23-meter, 30-tonne Eris rocket, powered by new hybrid propulsion technology, successfully lifted off from the Bowen Orbital Spaceport in North Queensland, achieving approximately 14 seconds of flight.BONUS: A 2019 Space Show interview with Adam Gilmour, CEO and Founder of Gilmour Space Technologies.Adam provides a company profile and describes the aspirations of the company to develop an Australian space launch vehicle. (Interviewer: Peter Aylward) Australian Space Industry 2025 — Part 10: * Skykraft mission 4 * Artemis 2 Australian laser * Optimus satellite factory * Kanyini.Planet Earth — Episode 66: * NISAR launch due soon * MethaneSAT fail * TRACERS in orbit * SWOT update.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 23 July 2025: A Cold War Handshake in Space — The 50th Anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project: * Apollo 7 astronaut, Walter Cunningham, shares his unique and candid perspective on the first international joint mission with America's Soviet adversaries. * Terry Virts (@AstroTerry), another former NASA astronaut, shares his forthright reflections on training and working with his Russian counterparts on the International Space Station in more recent times.10th Anniversary of the New Horizons flyby of Pluto:Astrobiologist, Dr David Grinspoon, Senior Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute and NASA, reflecting on Pluto and the human imagination. A talk about Pluto and the New Horizons spacecraft that flew past the dwarf planet ten years ago. (Courtesy PSI)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 16 July 2025: Space Show News:The U.S. Globalchange.gov website has been shutdown.Remembering space historian Dr Eric M. Jones (1944—2025):Marking the death of Eric Jones, the founder and chief editor of the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, with an interview with Eric about the artefacts left behind by Neil Armstrong. (Interviewer, Peter Aylward)For more interviews with Eric Jones and information about the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, go to The Space Show website and click on the Alphabetical List of People (who have been on, or discussed on, the Show) and select "J" for Jones.Turn Back Time:The stories of Proton 1, Zond 3 and Mariner 4 told in narration and contemporary news reports.Mariner 4 video and PDF tribute by Glen Nagle on the Honeysuckle Creek website:Video - https://youtu.be/haM4We_QdPUPDF - https://honeysucklecreek.net/other_stations/tidbinbilla/Mariner_4_index.html

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 9 July 2025: Medicine and the Moon:A Moon Village Association event introduced and moderated by Dr Marc Jurblum, Doctor of Psychiatry, St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne.Speakers:Prof. Gordon Cable, Specialist in Aerospace Medicine, University of Adelaide.Dr Omar Eduardo Rodriguez, Neuro-radiology Registrar, Royal Melbourne Hospital.Dr Rowena Christiansen, Medical Educator, University of Melbourne Medical School.Quinlan Buchlak, Data Scientist in Space Medicine.Topics discussed: * Oxygen toxicity * Gut health * Planetary protection * Human evolution * Fluid-filled EVA suit * Altered mental state * The “overview effect”. (Recorded by The Space Show at Deakin Edge, Federation Square, Melbourne)Australian Space Industry 2025 — Part 9: * Lunaria One Moon plant funding * Aussie payloads and technology on the SpaceX Transporter 14 rideshare mission * Gilmour Space and Japan's Space BD announce a new collaboration * Winnebago. (Audio insert courtesy Rocket Lab)It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World:The Space Shuttle Orbiter Discovery is to be moved from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, to Space Center Houston, the official visitor center for NASA's Johnson Space Center in Texas.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 2 July 2025: Prompted by the destruction of Kosmos 1408, a history of anti-satellite tests, and a discussion from the European Space Agency on the problem of space debris and mitigation efforts. (Audio inserts courtesy ESA) * The Kessler Syndrome, also known as the Kessler Effect, describes a situation in which the density of objects in low Earth orbit (LEO) becomes so high due to the accumulation of space pollution that collisions between these objects cascade, exponentially increasing the amount of space debris over time. The scenario was first proposed by NASA scientists Donald J. Kessler and Burton G. Cour-Palais in 1978.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 25 June 2025: Space Show News:The explosion of Starship 36 on the test stand at Starbase, Texas.(Insert courtesy NSF) Turn Back Time: NASA's Scout small satellite launcher program(Feature courtesy The Space Story, NASA 1989)Is Elon Musk's plan to settle Mars a visionary dream, or a nightmare folly? * Elon Musk outlines his plan for using Starships to put a human settlement on Mars * Reactions to that plan by the Planetary Society's Bill Nye and the Mars Society's founder and president, Robert Zubrin.(Inserts courtesy SpaceX and Humans to the Moon & Mars Summit)Listen to the late David Willson, Research and Development Engineer, Space Science and Astrobiology Division, NASA Ames Research Center and Vice President of the Mars Society Australia talk about SpaceX Red Dragon — a collaboration between SpaceX and NASA. (Recorded by The Space Show in Melbourne, Australia at a joint meeting of the Mars Society Australia and the Space Association of Australia in 2016. Note: Red Dragon was cancelled in July 2017).See Dr Robert Zubrin's full presentation, “How to Make the Mars Initiative Successful”, at the 2025 Humans to the Moon and Mars Summit.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 18 June 2025: Australian Space Industry 2025 Part 8: * A panel discussion about the emerging Australian space industry as it stood just before the formation of the Australian Space Agency on 1 July 2018. (Recorded by The Space Show for the Space Association of Australia) * Also, the recently launched Defence Science and Technology Group's Buccaneer Main Mission satellite gives an insight into how far the Australian space industry has come since 2018. Turn back time: The future of the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO) after the Europa 1 F-9 failed 55 years ago this week.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 11 June 2025: Dr Naomi Mathers, Aerospace Engineer with Geospatial Intelligence and the Space Industry Association of Australia; Andrea Boyd, European Space Agency; and Mike Thompson, amateur astronomer with Backyard AstroScience, discussing Australian space technology applications: * puncture repair kit * using satellites * space situational awareness * 3D printing * skinsuits; and * other spinoffs. (Recorded by The Space Show at Scienceworks, Spotswood in 2018)Space Show News: * Jared Isaacman comments on the proposed NASA budget and his withdrawal of his nomination as NASA Administrator. (Inserts courtesy All-In. See the whole interview here — Jared Isaacman: What went wrong at NASA | The All-In Interview) * Another one bites the (lunar) dust: The failed lunar landing attempt by iSpace's Hakuto R-M2 “Resilience” on Mare Frigoris. (Inserts courtesy iSpace)Turn back Time: The 50th anniversary of the launch of Venera 9 and Venera 10 towards Venus and a report on their findings.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 4 June 2025: Breaking News: Jared Isaacman vs the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill'.The 60th anniversary of the first two extravehicular activities (EVAs), or 'space walks': Alexei Leonov exited Voskhod 2 and Ed White floated out of Gemini 4. Neither mission went as planned.The 60th anniversary of the ill-fated Luna 6 in the context of the other Soviet Luna missions.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 7 May 2025: Tell him he's dreaming: Jared Isaacman's confirmation hearing — Part 2 vs the Trump Administration's NASA Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request — Part 1We examine President Trump's nominee for NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman's promises to Congress, compared with the reality of the Trump Administration's recently announced NASA budget request.Space and Australia: Opportunities in the second Trump administrationAn exclusive interview with Dr Malcolm Davis, Senior Analyst, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, discussing his January 2025 article in The Strategist.Dr Davis discusses both civilian and military space activity in low-Earth orbit and cislunar space, and the need for Australia to develop sovereign capabilities, even advocating for an Australian astronaut on the Moon.You can read the article here: https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/space-and-australia-opportunities-in-the-second-trump-administration/

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 26 March 2025: Australian Federal Budget 2025—2026: Some space and astronomy aspects of yesterday's Australian Federal Budget. The item includes Professor Peter Quinn (Director, International Centre for Radio Astronomy research, Perth) answering questions about the Square Kilometre Array, and a feature on Landsat and Landsat Next. (Prof. Quinn recorded at a Space Association of Australia meeting)Fram 2:The pending launch of the Fram 2 polar orbiting mission with Australian Eric Philips as pilot.Maria Xygkaki, Senior Business Developer, Saber Astronautics, Adelaide:Discussion of a potential Australian astronaut programme with Axiom Space. (Recorded at a Space Association of Australia meeting)Australian Space Industry 2025 — Part 6: Waratah Seed 1 successfully completes six months in orbit; and a progress report on the ELO2 lunar rover, Roo-ver.Planet Earth: Season 6 — Episode 65:Season 6 of our Planet Earth series begins with a report from New Zealand on control of the MethaneSAT.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 19 March 2025: Blue Ghost 1 Completes Mission The successful conclusion of the Blue Ghost 1 lunar landing mission, with a description of the experiments carried. (Inserts courtesy NASA and Firefly) Athena VolatilesThe objectives of the Volatile Contamination experiment on the failed Athena lunar lander. (Insert courtesy IM) Sun and Butch Return to EarthMarking this morning's return of the Crew 9 Dragon with the Starliner Crew Flight Test crew, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, after nine months in orbit. Australian Space Industry 2025 Part 5 The launch of Buccaneer Main Mission for the Australian Defence Force; Droid 02 and LizzieSat 3 carrying HEO Robotics's cameras; and Varda's Winnebago 3.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 12 March 2025: SPHEREx and PUNCH: The launch of the Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere satellites and the SPHEREx observatory.Athena Crash: The crash landing of the Athena spacecraft on Mons Moutan in the South Polar region of the Moon, and the purpose of the Hopper Gracie and Trident drill.The Nova-C lunar lander, named Athena, reached the surface of the Moon on 6 March 2025, at 17:28:50 UTC. Contact was temporarily lost during the landing process; when it was re-established, it indicated that the spacecraft was not in the correct orientation and one of the two radio antennas was not operating.Lunar Trailblazer Lost: Bethany Ehlman (Principal Investigator, Caltech) describes the Lunar Trailblazer and a series of status reports following its loss of attitude control.Australian Space Industry 2025 Part 4: Launch due for Buccaneer Main Mission for the Australian Defence Force; Droid 02 and LizzieSat 3 to carry HEO Robotics's cameras; Varda's Winnebago 3 to follow Winnebago 2 to land in the Koonibba Test Range in South Australia.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 5 March 2025: Elaine Hyde & New Shepard 30 missionThe suborbital spaceflight of Melbourne raised but now Florida resident Elaine Chia Hyde aboard the New Shepard 30 mission; biography, interviews and an analysis of comments posted on Channel 9's Instagram page.Australian Space Industry 2025 Part 3: * Neumann thruster successfully tested aboard the Edison satellite * Varda's Winnebago 2 parachutes into Koonibba* Transporter 13 mission with the Inovor built Buccaneer Main Mission satellite and the U.S. Turion Space Droid 02 satellite bearing two cameras from HEO Robotics has been postponed for several days.Changing the guard and language at NASA: NASA to "dominate" rather than "lead" in lunar space; Administrator change.More on PUNCH and SPHEREx: An overview of the Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere satellites and the SPHEREx observatory. (Inserts courtesy GSFC and JPL)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 26 February 2025: Athena:The Intuitive Machine's second lunar mission, Athena with a NASA PRIME-1 (a payload consisting of a drill and mass spectrometer), the Micro Nova Hopper "Gracie", Lunar Outpost's Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP) and Dymon's Yaoki rover. (Insert courtesy NASA HQ) PUNCH:A briefing on the four Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere satellites. (Insert courtesy NASA HQ) Lunar Trailblazer:Bethany Ehlmann of Caltech describes the goals and objectives of the Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft which aims to distinguish water types on the Moon. Blue Ghost Mission 1:As Firefly's Blue Ghost nears it lunar landing, a progress report on the mission. (Inserts courtesy Firefly and NASA)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 5 February 2025:Stellar Fireworks: Novae and SupernovaeCoronal mass ejections and the SunRISE satellitesStellar flares seen by SwiftNovae — T Coronae BorealisSupernovae — SN1987a and Eta CarinaSPHEREx.(Audio inserts courtesy GSFC, CXC)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 29 January 2025:Update: Perseverance and IngenuityThe Mars Perseverance rover has left Jezero Crater but what is the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter doing now that it is unable to fly? — you might be surprised.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 22 January 2025: Australia and Transporter 12 The Australian involvement in the Transporter 12 mission, including statements from Fleet Space, HEO Robotics, Impulse Space, Varda Space Industries and Dawn Aerospace.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 15 January 2025: Australia and Transporter 12 The launch this morning of the Transporter 12 mission, carrying Australian satellites Centauri 7 and Centauri 8 from Fleet Space, and satellites carrying Australian parts, including: * Impulse 2 with a Holmes-007 camera from HEO Robotics * Edison with Neuman Space's ND-50 second generation electric-ion thruster. Also launched was the U.S. Varda's Winnebago 2 pharmaceutical manufacturing satellite, built by Rocket Lab, and which will land at Southern Launch's Koonibba Test Range in South Australia.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 15 January 2025: Blue Ghost 1 by Firefly & Hakuto R M2 by ispace The launch this afternoon of Blue Ghost 1 and Hakuto R M2 towards the Moon, and a description of Blue Ghost 1's ten NASA experiments.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 8 January 2025: Mars Sample Return Mission: From NASA HQ, Bill Nelson (Administrator) and Nicky Fox (Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate), outline a new plan to retrieve the Mars surface samples collected by the Perseverance rover. Mars Sample Return, is a joint campaign being planned by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), which would see multiple missions and components with the goal of bringing Mars rock, loose surface material, and gas samples to Earth for detailed laboratory analysis.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 18 December 2024: Australian Space Industry 2024 — Part 21 (final) * DSTG Buccaneer liquid lens * Australia - New Zealand Collaborative Space Program * Varda to land in Koonibba test range in South Australia * Duckweed in space * Starlink satellites interfere with the Square Kilometre Array * Australia - Greece space agreement * Lunasa to fly its StarLogic Rendezvous Proximity Operations payload aboard the Space Machines' Optimus 2 satellite. Perseverance out of Jezero: The Mars 2020 rover Perseverance, has climbed out of the Jezero crater reports Ken Farley (Project Scientist, Caltech, California). (Insert courtesy AGU) Ingenuity Crash Investigation Report: Travis Brown (Chief Engineer, Ingenuity, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena) delivers the first aviation crash report from Mars, about the fate of the Mars helicopter Ingenuity. (Insert courtesy AGU)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 11 December 2024: Space Show News: * Artemis II and Artemis III delayed to no earlier than 2026 and 2027 respectively Australian Space Industry 2024 — Part 20: * Fleet Space Technologies and its involvement in the SEVEN SISTERS project – Australia's First Lunar Exploration Mission * HEO Robotics * Impulse Space * Rio Tinto * Kanyini * Paladin Space * Australian Space Agency sustainability policy * ZBLAN * ADF Red Star * SmartSat CRC Maya Nula. (Audio inserts courtesy SD, APAC)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 4 December 2024: Australian Space Industry 2024 - Part 19 Tim Parsons, Co-Founder X-Lab: We take a look back at the state of the Australian space industry before the establishment of the Australian Space Agency — has much changed? * Changing global space trends; start-up companies questioning space regulatory requirements; and educational needs. * Defence space in Australia. (Recorded at a meeting of the Space Association of Australia, Elsternwick) Twinkle: The University of Southern Queensland is involved in the commercial Twinkle astronomy satellite planned for launch in 2025. (Inserts courtesy BSSL, USQ) Hypersonic test vehicles: * The Hypersonix Launch Systems DART hypersonic test vehicle is to be launched on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket. * Meanwhile, Gilmour Space is entering the hypersonics market with its own hypersonic flight test service scheduled to launch in 2025.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 27 November 2024: Australian Space Industry 2024 - Part 18: iLAuNCH UK-Australia Space Bridge Myriota. (Inserts courtesy ABC, BNSC, SMC, iLAuNCH, Grundfos)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 20 November 2024: Solar System Missions — Part 3: A survey of the currently active spacecraft studying our Solar System. Today, Jupiter, Kuiper Belt and Uranus.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 13 November 2024: Try SCE to Aux: Marking the 55th anniversary of the Apollo 12 mission, with a detailed account of the lightning strikes during ascent, and profiles of astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean. When Shirley Bassey met Apollo 12 astronaut Pete Conrad. The history of space tracking in Australia by space historian, Colin MacKellar.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 6 November 2024: Australian Space Industry 2024 — Part 17: Southern Launch's Whalers Way launch site approved Gilmour Space receives Eris orbital launch permit JP9102 project for a military geostationary communications satellite cancelled STaR Shot overview (Rod Smith, Leader, STaR Shot, DSTG, Adelaide) Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG's) small satellite programme Skykraft forges ahead with its aeronautical satellite constellation. (Audio inserts courtesy ABC, Sky, DSTG, SIAA)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 30 October 2024: Solar System Missions - Part 2: A survey of the currently active spacecraft studying our Solar System. Today Mars, Asteroids and Jupiter. Australian Space Industry 2024 - Part 16: Buccaneer Main Mission due as Buccaneer Risk Mitigation Mission reenters on 2024 October 4 SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre and New Zealand joint projects SatPing Takahe Mission Centauri satellites.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 23 October 2024: Australian Space Industry 2024 - Part 15: * Scott Morrison joins Space Centre Australia * Equatorial Launch Australia signs up Sirius Space Services * Neuman Space teams with Inovor * Space Machines' Optimus 2 to be launched by New Space in 2026 * Australian Defence Force Space Command takes up residency at Adelaide's Lot 14. Solar System Missions - Part 1: A survey of the currently active spacecraft studying our Solar System. Today, the Sun, Mercury and Venus.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 16 October 2024: Astrophysics miscellany: * Gamma-ray bursts * Chandra X-ray Observatory sees big explosion * Black hole outflow * NuSTAR. What sedimentary rock layers can reveal about the evolution of the solar system with Prof. Walter Alvarez UC Berkley, California (Courtesy UA) Large space structures: Dr Alexey Kondyurin, an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the School of Physics, University of Sydney, discusses large space structures of volume 7000 cubic metres made of composite materials cured in space. TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) is designed to discover thousands of exoplanets in orbit around the brightest dwarf stars in the sky (Inserts courtesy CXC, GSFC, NASA)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 9 October 2024: Fram2 Polar Mission — Part 2: Greenland & Polar Orbit The strange and convoluted story of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Fram2 private polar orbiting space mission and of its crew members. Eric Philips, an Australian polar explorer, is on the crew of Fram2. Space Show News: Presidential candidate and ex-president Donald Trump wants the U.S. to send a crewed mission to Mars by 2028!

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 2 October 2024: Space Show News:* Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS: Having emerged intact from behind the Sun, it is now being observed from Australia and may become a daytime comet.* A French-China cooperative satellite, the Space Variable Objects Monitor or SVOM, has been placed into orbit to monitor gamma-ray bursts.From The Space Show Archive: The Fermi satellite with MAGIC (Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cerenkov) experiment and VERITAS (the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System).Early findings of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have been revised:According to a new study in the Astronomical Journal led by University of Texas at Austin graduate student Katherine Chworowsky, early galaxies are in fact much less massive than they first appeared in the JWST data. Black holes in some of these galaxies make them appear much brighter and bigger than they really are.Fram2 Polar Mission — Part 1: One More OrbitThe strange and convoluted story of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Fram2 private space polar orbiting mission, and of its crew members.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 25 September 2024: Space Show News: * Asteroid 2024 PT5 — The tiny asteroid 2024 PT5 will be temporarily 'captured' by Earth's gravity and become a ‘mini-Moon'. * MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) mission orbits Mars for 10 years. * Perseverance continues to investigate Mars, collect and cache rock samples. Mars and Europa — Ocean Worlds?: Debunking reports that the InSight lander has discovered Mars has a subterranean global ocean, and how the Europa Clipper mission will characterise the suspected global ocean beneath the frozen crust on Jupiter's moon, Europa. From the archives: What do we know about galaxy formation from the Chandra X-ray Observatory? Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS: Having emerged intact from behind the Sun, it is now being observed from Australia and may become a daytime comet. Fourteen Day Limit Busted! — Cosmonauts return to Earth after 373 days, further disproving a Soviet scientist's 1965 claim that the limit for human spaceflight would be fourteen days. In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa by Ada Limón, dedicated to NASA's Europa Clipper mission.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 18 September 2024: Starlink and the Ionosphere: An alarming scientific paper by Sierra Solter points to possible disastrous effects on the Earth's magnetosphere caused by Starlink and other satellite constellations. Polaris Dawn mission: * Comparing the full extra vehicular activities by Alexi Leonov and Ed White with the stand-up EVA on the Polaris Dawn mission. * Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke, visits SpaceX to meet with the Polaris Dawn crew. (Inserts courtesy NZBC, VOA, SpaceX) * Music from space: The Harmony of Resilience. Australian Space Industry 2024 - Part 14: The Bogong thruster flown on an Australian Skykraft 3 satellite.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 11 September 2024: Australian Binar satellites: * A detailed report on the fate of Curtin University's Binar-1 cubesat in 2021 * The deployment of the Binar-2, Binar-3 and Binar-4 cubesats on 29 August 2024 * Plans for Binar Prospector Europa Clipper mission: * After rigorous testing of suspect transistors, it has been decided to proceed with the launch next month of the Europa Clipper spacecraft to fly the originally planned trajectory to the icy moon of Jupiter. (Insert courtesy NASA HQ) Polaris Dawn crew: * Profiles of the crew of the privately funded Polaris Dawn mission in a rented SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. (Insert courtesy SpaceX)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 4 September 2024: Space Show News: * Boeing, boing, boing — strange pulsing noise emanates from the speakers on the Boeing CST-100 Starliner. A collection of reports from The Space Show archive about astronomy and space science: European Southern Observatory HARPS telescope discovers a Solar twin in an open cluster hosting exoplanets. A look back at the discovery of the first Earth-like exoplanet. Hubble Space Telescope used to observe the formation of young stars with dynamic gas jets. Research into stellar magnetism reveals the origins of geo-magnetic storms on Earth. Secrets of the super-massive black hole Sagittarius A* orbiting the centre of our Milky Way galaxy revealed.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 28 August 2024: Space Show News: * Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test update —Starliner to return uncrewed and the crew to return on Crew Dragon 9 in February 2025 Astronomical Miscellany: ALMA (Atacama Large Millimetre Array) — European Southern Observatory, Chile HARPS (High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher) — European Southern Observatory Europa Clipper being prepared for launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida Luna H-Map results JWST discovers most distant galaxy Solar spicules ESA's Solar Orbiter sheds light on solar wind Plasma oscillations around Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko The van Allen Radiation belts Exoplanets (Audio inserts courtesy JSC, ESO, JPL, ASU, GSFC)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 21 August 2024: SpaceX Falcon 9 Transporter 11 ridshare mission: The launch of Kanyini, CUAVA-2, and Waratah Seed 1 (Inserts courtesy SpaceX) An update on the University of Melbourne's SpIRIT satellite tests of the Neuman Drive. Findings from the DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) crash into the double asteroid have been published and reveals Didymos and Dimorphos origin. Space Show News: * Binary star system fuels pulsar transformation * VIPER cancellation impact on Artemis 3 landing site selection * AROSE Moon rover design revealed. Astrobotic mobility service for planetary surfaces and Cube Rover explained. Jupiter-sized exoplanet experiences atmospheric erosion due to X-ray bursts from its nearby parent star. Vice President Kamala Harrris discusses three space priorities of the United States National Space Council. A development update on the Neutron rocket and its Archimedes engine with Peter Beck, CEO, Rocket Lab. (Courtesy Rocket Lab)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 14 August 2024: Southern Positioning Augmentation Network (SouthPAN): SouthPAN is a joint initiative of the Australian and New Zealand Governments that provides Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) for position, navigation and timing services for Australia and New Zealand. Geoscience Australia as the Australian Government lead agency, is working in collaboration with Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand on the development, deployment, and operation of SouthPAN, the first SBAS in the Southern Hemisphere.SouthPAN is comprised of reference stations, telecommunications infrastructure, computing centres, signal generators, and satellites that provide improved positioning and navigation services in Australia, New Zealand, and its maritime region.A trio of Aussie cubesatsKANYINI — South Australian Space Services Mission: ​SmartSat CRC (Cooperative Research Centre)​Myriota ​Inovor Technologies ​Government of South Australia: South Australian Space Industry Centre CUAVA 2: ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre for CubeSats, UAVs, and their Applications (CUAVA)Waratah Seed 1 SpaceMAITRI.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 7 August 2024: Boeing Starliner Crewed Flight Test: The details of the Starliner CFT and some of the headlines and stories about it. Also, scheduling of traffic at the International Space Station. (Inserts courtesy JSC) Satellite-based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) for Position, Navigation and Timing SBAS panel session recorded at the Space Industry Association of Australia Conference, Melbourne Exhibition Centre, chaired by Roger Franzen: Roger Franzen, Principal, Earthspace John Dawson, Section Leader, National Positioning Infrastructure Branch, Geoscience Australia Andrew Anderson, Co-chair SBAS Sub-group, Australian Strategic Air Traffic Management Group Julia Mitchell, SBAS Test-Bed Project Manager, Frontier SI Alan Smart, Senior Consultant, ACIL Allen Consulting ⁠Southern Positioning Augmentation Network (SouthPAN)⁠

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 31 July 2024: The cancellation of the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover or VIPER mission: Details of the rover's objectives and instrumentation by Anthony Colaprete (Project Scientist, VIPER, Ames Research Center, Mountain View, California), and the cancellation announcement and explanation by Niki Fox and Joel Kearns (NASA HQ, Washington). (Inserts courtesy NASA)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 17 July 2024: Remembering Joe Engle: To mark the death last week of Joe Engle, a recounting of his experiences flying the X-15 and the Space Shuttle. Searching for Skylab: Remembering the 45th anniversary of the crash of Skylab near Esperance in Western Australia, Skylab 2 astronaut Joe Kerwin and Australian film maker Dwight Steven-Boniecki discuss Skylab and the documentary film Searching For Skylab. Kerwin discusses his time in Australia as NASA representative. (Interviewer: Peter Aylward).