Space Stuff and Launch Info

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Daylight pictures (very high resolution, zoom in!)
The launch pad is a big mess of steel from the collapsed tower, remains of the transporter/erector and soot. The rocket is just gone. Looks like the integration facility (big white building) is fine overall but the tents near it are damaged. Not sure why the next booster is outside.

Yield estimates are somewhere from 1000 to 3000 tonnes of TNT equivalent total, although not everything reacted simultaneously so it wasn't as destructive as a single explosion with that yield. It's in the top 10 largest unplanned explosions in history.

Discussion of impact on US spaceflight
If this is an engine problem then Vulcan is affected, too. If it was caused by the ground infrastructure then Vulcan can fly again once it solved its booster issues. Either way, for now SpaceX is the only one with available medium- and heavy-lift launch capability (ULA can fly its remaining Atlas rockets but they are all booked out).

 

[nsaspook]

 

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That's a big dent in the tower that's still standing. They probably have to rebuild that as well. Even if something looks like it's still intact, it could have taken internal damage from the explosion, making it weaker and more likely to fail later. All the exposed plumbing can't be trusted any more.

Someone combined explosion footage with an estimate how fast Dragon's escape system would have moved away from it: Video
It's probably the worst-case scenario in terms of how late it launches, but it still avoids the fireball.

 

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Surprise maiden launch of Long March 12B. No announced launch date, no hazard areas for aircraft to avoid, it just launched.
This rocket is designed to reuse its booster in the future, but the first flight made no recovery attempt. The launch was successful.

Good news from Blue Origin. They can repair the damaged tower and the more complicated infrastructure is still fine. They plan to launch again this year. That probably means early next year but it's still quick for a massive launch pad explosion.

 

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The air leak on the ISS is getting worse. Looks like it doubled its leak rate on Monday.
The Soyuz crew was trying to fix it while the Dragon crew was ordered to suit up and wait in Dragon as there was some risk of a rapid pressure loss.
They paused the work now.

 

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Update on SpaceX's computing satellites
16:00 shows the satellite concept with some numbers. Around 2 tonnes per satellite, 120 kW average computing power. Two large solar panels, a central computing point and then some smaller radiators.

Google pays SpaceX $0.9 billion/month for ~250 MW of Colossus if I understand the numbers right, assuming the satellites are as effective as computing on Earth and assuming that rate will stay the same then each satellite could generate $0.9 billion/month * 120 kW/(250 MW) = $400,000/month in revenue, or $200,000/month per tonne of payload. SpaceX launches their own payloads for around $1000/kg so even on Falcon 9, launch costs would only need 5 months to recover, and the rest goes into building the satellite and then profit.

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Amazon got a complete waiver for its Leo constellation deployment speed.
Originally they had to deploy 50% of the constellation by the end of July 2026 and the full constellation three years later. They are currently at 10%. The 50% deployment milestone is gone. They can apply for a waiver or delay of the 2029 deadline in the future.

 

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Artemis III crew announcement

Randolph Bresnik (previously flew on the Space Shuttle and Soyuz)
Luca Parmitano (ESA, previously flew two Soyuz missions)
Francisco Rubio (previously flew a Soyuz mission) - no relation to Marco Rubio as far as I can tell
Andre Douglas (no flight yet) - was already backup for Artemis II

Artemis III will stay in Low Earth orbit. The plan is to dock with a Starship that has a docking adapter, but it looks like it won't have anything else. Practice approach and docking, fly around Earth to test Orion in more detail, then land again.

I missed some earlier discussion, I think they also announced some plan changes to Artemis IV (i.e. the Moon landing). Will update this post later.
Edit: At 26:00. Starship and Orion will dock in Earth orbit, Starship will fly both to low lunar orbit. It moves the critical docking maneuver to Earth orbit, it saves Starship propellant, and it means the crew can return much faster in an emergency as low lunar orbit has a much shorter period than the original NRHO plan.

 

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China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) has approved a plan to use the Lijian-2 rocket as the upper stage and the Long March 10A as the first stage (booster stage) to launch navigation satellites into lunar transfer orbit (LTO), or trans-lunar injection (TLI), in mid-2026, Chinastarmarket.cn reported, citing Lian Jie, deputy chief engineer of the Lijian-2 program.

This will be the first mission for Long March 10A, signaling a clear push to accelerate China’s crewed lunar mission. Besides, the mid-2026 launch will mark the first time a commercial Chinese firm’s rocket enters cislunar space – the area “on this side of the Moon” where Earth and Moon gravity interact.

Source:
https://asiatimes.com/2026/04/us-china-space-race-shifts-into-a-higher-lunar-gear/