Hello and welcome back to TechCrunch Space. Mark your calendars, everyone:
Boeing and
NASA are planning to conduct the first crewed Starliner mission as soon as May 1. Want to reach out with a tip? Email Aria at aria.techcrunch@gmail.com or send me a message on Signal at 512-937-3988. You also can send a note to the whole TechCrunch crew at tips@techcrunch.com . For more secure communications , click here to contact us , which includes SecureDrop ( instructions here ) and links to encrypted messaging apps.
SpaceX is in the final stages of certifying a second pad for
astronaut launches, which should ease launch site congestion and help the company scale the number of humans it sends to space. As a preliminary step, the company used that second pad to launch an uncrewed Dragon capsule to the
International Space Station. Next step: crew. Image Credits: SpaceX (opens in a new window) Rocket Lab completed its fourth launch from
Virginia last Thursday, with the Electron rocket carrying a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office. This is the fifth and final mission Rocket Lab has performed for NRO under a contract the company was awarded back in 2020. Watch the launch replay here. Image Credits: Rocket Lab (opens in a new window) I’ve always privately wondered about how the rise of NewSpace companies has impacted hiring and retention at places like NASA — so I was really excited to see this story from Bloomberg looking into exactly that question. The situation is a little more complex than it might seem at first glance. Image Credits: NASA On March 30, 1982, the space shuttle Columbia touched down at the White Sands
missile Range in New Mexico. The shuttle was carrying astronauts Jack R. Lousma and C. Gordon Fullerton, who were returning home after a successful eight-day mission. The Space Shuttle Columbia, STS 3, after weather prohibited it from landing at Edwards Air Force Base in
California, landing at White Sands Missile Range New
Mexico with its escort T-38 jet, on March 30, 1982. Image Credits: Photo by Buddy Mays/Getty Images.