Michael Sheetz - Space Reporter

@michaelsheetz.bsky.social

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Space Reporter at CNBC | send anonymous tips via Proton to [email protected] or Signal to +1 (201) 730-2511

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SpaceX suffered a rare inflight failure of its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket, now grounded pending FAA sign-off on the company's investigation. The rocket chocked up more than 300 consecutive successful launches since its previous inflight failure nearly a decade ago: www.cnbc.com/2024/07/12/s...

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket suffers rare inflight failure, is grounded during investigationwww.cnbc.com A SpaceX rocket carrying Starlink satellites failed midflight, in a rare misfire for the company's workhorse Falcon 9 vehicle.

I spoke with Polaris Dawn commander Jared Isaacman for this week’s newsletter, for a thorough discussion about the mission plan and details of the first SpaceX spacewalk. Sign up to get the Q&A in your inbox, coming out shortly today! www.cnbc.com/lander?id=in...

NASA's Steve Stich: "We have two vehicles ... we can use to return crew and and so we have a little bit more time to go through the data and then make a decision. But the prime option today is to return Butch and Suni on Starliner." www.cnbc.com/2024/07/10/n...

NASA still expects Boeing's Starliner to return astronauts from ISS, but notes SpaceX backup optionwww.cnbc.com NASA leadership on Wednesday acknowledged potential alternatives to Boeing's Starliner for returning a pair of astronauts from the International Space Station.

Butch and Suni are speaking to the public from the ISS for the first time since launching on Starliner more than a month ago: www.youtube.com/watch?v=737z...

NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test Astronaut News Conference From Space Stationwww.youtube.com YouTube video by NASA Video

Frustrating that NASA only gave press 10 minutes for 5 questions.

Europe's inaugural Ariane 6 rocket launched and reached orbit, as the long-awaited vehicle marks the continent and ARIANESPACE rejoining the heavy launch market that's dominated by SpaceX. www.cnbc.com/2024/07/09/f...

First Ariane 6 rocket launches, as Europe rejoins a market dominated by Musk's SpaceXwww.cnbc.com The European Space Agency has prepared its newest heavy-lift Ariane 6 rocket to launch from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana on Tuesday.

Exclusive – Space station module builder Gravitics landed a $125 million order from Axiom for a pressurized spacecraft to attach to the planned Axiom Station, the first major deal for the Washington-based startup: www.cnbc.com/2024/07/09/g...

Space station startup Gravitics lands $125 million order from Axiomwww.cnbc.com Gravitics aims to become a manufacturer of private space stations, with designs for modules that have the "largest interior volume in a standalone spacecraft."

Newsletter: The Rockets' Unavoidable Glare My impression is that, outside of the industry, “space" for most people comes with connotations of science and exploration – not "warfighting domain" and military contracts. Unpacking that intrinsic connection: www.cnbc.com/2024/07/03/i...

Investing in Space: Why military contracts are crucial for space companieswww.cnbc.com Military contracts often represent "we made it" moments for space companies.

Space Force's SSC adds Blue Origin and Stoke Space to the experimental and small launch program OSP-4, making the companies eligible for future contracts:

SpaceX awarded $69 million NASA contract to launch the COSI telescope in Aug. 2027: COSI (Compton Spectrometer and Imager) is a wide-field gamma-ray telescope. www.nasa.gov/news-release...

Thanks Scott!

You’re welcome! It’s hard to figure which social app is worth posting on these days. My new strategy is to post on most of them and hopefully one emerges as the best place for news.

SpaceX will use a design based on its Dragon capsules to build the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle, a NASA official confirmed today. The USDV will guide the International Space Station through its reentry destruction after retiring in 2030. Background on the USDV: www.cnbc.com/2024/06/26/s...

Boeing's Starliner crew flight test will stay docked to the ISS for at least "a couple of weeks" longer, officials say, to complete more testing before it's returned to Earth. "We're not stuck on the ISS. The crew is not in any danger." www.cnbc.com/2024/06/28/b...

Reply to

Katrin Bretscher 💛💙

What's writing about rockets without a little humor? 🚀

Boeing says Starliner "worked exceptionally well" as a safe haven after NASA ordered astronauts to shelter-in-spacecraft yesterday. "Starliner remains available for return in case of an emergency on the space station that would require the crew to leave." starlinerupdates.com/starliner-wo...

Newsletter: Vulcan Takes Centaur Stage ULA's Cert-2 rocket may no longer have a customer payload on board, but the mission still has a customer. Here's why: www.cnbc.com/2024/06/27/i...

Investing in Space: Why ULA needs to launch its second Vulcan rocket as soon as possiblewww.cnbc.com United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno announced that his company will bite the bullet and fly Cert-2 without a customer payload.

Amazon's Project Kuiper expects "to ship our first completed production satellites this summer." Now targeting Q4 for the first commercial Kuiper launch on a ULA Atlas V: www.aboutamazon.com/news/innovat...

Project Kuiper's new satellite facility: A peak into production ramp up for Its first launchwww.aboutamazon.com Senator Maria Cantwell and local leaders highlight Puget Sound’s role in creating advanced manufacturing jobs and helping close the digital divide.

NASA gave astronauts on the ISS a shelter-in-spacecraft order yesterday as a precautionary measure due to the threat of debris from a non-operational Russian satellite, RESURS-P1, in low Earth orbit.

NYC earthquake! Just felt here in Brooklyn.

USGS says 4.8 magnitude

Newsletter: The Space Railroad SpaceX is selling the Optical Inter-Satellite Links that it's been deploying on Starlink, so I caught up with one of the company's former directors and Mynaric CEO's for their takes on the implications for the "space lasers" market. www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/i...

Investing in Space: What to make of SpaceX selling satellite laserswww.cnbc.com Earlier this week SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell announced the company will begin selling

Intuitive Machines is now in "a position of financial strength" after its first moon mission and a NASA services contract, with the lunar company aiming to fly its second cargo mission later this year and bidding on a trio of potential new contract opportunities: www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/i...

Intuitive Machines improves cash position to best since IPO after historic moon missionwww.cnbc.com Intuitive Machines is building on the successes of its inaugural moon mission.

Newsletter: InFlight WiFi Fights A catch up with my colleague Leslie Josephs on the evolving IFC market, as airlines and satellite companies steadily forge new deals: www.cnbc.com/2024/03/07/i...

Investing in Space: The evolving market for airline Wi-Fi via satelliteswww.cnbc.com Satellite companies providing internet service to commercial airlines is one of the most mish-mashed sub-sectors of the space industry.

NASA is shutting down the OSAM-1 project, for which Maxar was a prime contractor. OSAM-1 (On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1) was years behind schedule and expected to cost over $2 billion. NASA's Inspector General details the missteps: oig.nasa.gov/docs/IG-24-0...

Newsletter: Sweater weather As Odysseus continues to survive on the moon, I spoke with Columbia EVP Joe Boyle about how the sportswear company's thermal reflective fabric became a key part of Intuitive Machines' spacecraft. www.cnbc.com/2024/02/29/i...

Investing in Space: How Columbia's fabric tech landed on the surface of the moonwww.cnbc.com The concept was pretty simple, if ambitious: Take Columbia's "Omni-Heat Infinity" fabric and apply it to Intuitive Machines' Nova-C spacecraft.

Intuitive Machines' lander Odysseus sent back its first photos from the moon after Thursday's historic landing: www.cnbc.com/2024/02/26/m...

Lunar landing photos: Intuitive Machines' Odysseus sends back first images from the moonwww.cnbc.com Intuitive Machines' cargo moon lander Odysseus returned its first images from the surface.

Intuitive Machines stock is surging in premarket trading after the company's historic moon landing. Buckle up, the market's about to open. www.cnbc.com/2024/02/23/i...

Intuitive Machines stock set to rip higher after moon landingwww.cnbc.com Shares of Intuitive Machines surged in premarket trading on Friday after the company's successful first moon landing.

Newsletter: Moon shots on goal With IM-1 hours away from attempting to land, I spoke with Dr. Z to unpack why NASA is willing to tolerate failed cargo landings under the CLPS program – and how far that tolerance goes: www.cnbc.com/2024/02/22/i...

Investing in Space: Former NASA official explains 'shots on goal' approach to cargo moon landingswww.cnbc.com We're just hours away from the first potential American moon landing in over 50 years.

I spoke to the few Wall Street analysts covering Intuitive Machines' stock, to unpack the 300% moon-fueled rally. Here's what investors should know ahead of today's IM-1 landing attempt: www.cnbc.com/2024/02/22/i...

Intuitive Machines stock has surged 300%. How Wall Street reads the moon-fueled rallywww.cnbc.com It's a rally that Wall Street analysts describe as fueled by retail investors' excitement for the space company's progress toward an unprecedented goal.