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SSTL to supply flight platform for privately funded Lazuli telescope

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) will provide the spacecraft platform for Lazuli, a privately funded space telescope led by Schmidt Sciences. The platform will handle attitude control, propulsion and communications for a 3‑meter primary mirror telescope slated to launch by mid‑2028 as part of the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Observatory System, which includes three ground‑based observatories. Lazuli will use off‑the‑shelf components with heritage spaceflight tech and final assembly near a Florida launch site. The project’s overall cost is expected in the hundreds of millions, about one‑tenth the cost of a NASA flagship astrophysics mission.

1 month ago•Source: SpaceNews

Blue Origin pauses New Shepard flights to focus on lunar exploration

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15.1 min•2 months ago

Blue Origin pauses New Shepard flights to focus on lunar exploration

Blue Origin announced on Jan. 30 that it will halt all New Shepard suborbital flights for at least two years to devote resources to its lunar program, including the Blue Moon lander for NASA's Human Landing System. The pause follows NS-38 and comes with a remaining backlog of customers, though the company did not specify how resources or staffing will be redirected. NASA is pressing acceleration of lunar lander development to meet an Artemis 3 launch target by 2028, a context that underpins Blue Origin's shift toward lunar exploration.

via SpaceNews

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SSTL to supply flight platform for privately funded Lazuli telescope

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