burble

As much crap as I give the incumbents, Maia is looking like Europe's best bet at the moment.

It's a bad sign that PLD isn't targeting a Miura Next launch until 2030. Hopefully Miura 5 goes well for them in 2026.

If ULA can finally get those two NSSL launches off this year then it'll be a win. Dreamchaser would be cool? It'll be interesting to see how many SDA launches actually happen between Falcons and Vulcans this year.

Most SUVs are just less practical minivans for people in denial

I drove a new Hyundai Sonata hybrid and was pretty annoyed by how flaky the lane keeping and adaptive cruise control were, plus the shift knob thing and clunky hybrid/EV switching after a red light.

I had wireless Android Auto in a rental car last month and loved it. My car just has the wired version. With wireless, I just sat down and it had locations up already that I was looking at and picked up the music or podcast I was playing. I'm a fan.

🅱️

I'm glad that a bunch of startups made the cut. It makes sense that Maiaspace got in, as an arm of Ariane, but they're probably less strapped for cash. And thank goodness at least two have reusable concepts, PLD and Maia.

Yeah, I tried their configurator and was thinking about this. Once it has the bed cover and 2nd row of seats, bigger battery, speakers, power windows, fog lights...

• New Glenn 2: ESCAPADE (fall 2025)
• New Glenn 3: Firefly's Elytra orbital transfer vehicle (end of 2025, early 2026)
• New Glenn 4: Blue Moon MK1 lander (first half of 2026)
• New Glenn 5: First batch of 49 Amazon Project Kuiper satellites (mid-2026)

Escapade going to chill at L2 for awhile is odd, but decoupling their transfer window from a new rocket's schedule isn't the worst.

There's no way that Firefly rideshare is going to make them any money. Actually, these are basically all Bezos subsidized demo missions until the first Kuiper launch. Blue is just completely averse to making money.

What kills me about this is that they did the long pause and reset and infrastructure buildup between the hoppers and the first full stack.

Yeah, some of the problems are not Block 2 specific. Maybe the resonance and disappearing Raptor 2s are, but some of the leaks, blown up COPVs, and heat shield issues will destroy Block 3s, too.

My first aid kit always has some Aquatabs! They're such a small thing to easily leave in there just in case. In that same vein, I have some pull apart fire starters about the size of earplugs in there as well.