Artemis 2 Setback, SpaceX's Trillion-Dollar Orbital Vision & X8.3 Solar Flare

0:00Tyler Reddick here from 2311 Racing. Victory Lane? Yeah, it's even better with Chamba by my side. Race to chumpacaceno.com. Let's Chamba. No purchase necessary, VTW Group. Void we're prohibited by law. CTNCs, 21 plus sponsored by Chamba Casino. Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your source for the latest space and astronomy news. I'm Anna. And I'm Avery. We're bringing you Tuesday, February 3rd's biggest stories from across to Cosmos. Today we're covering a setback in NASA's Artemis II preparations, a bold new vision from Elon Musk that's raising eyebrows across the space industry, and NASA's announcement of a fifth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. We'll also explore some dramatic solar activity that's lighting up our sun, NASA's newest mission to map the boundaries of our solar system, and an exciting opportunity for aspiring space professionals in Europe. Let's dive right in with our top story today. NASA's Artemis II mission hit a snag

1:00during a critical pre-launch test over the weekend. The wet-tress rehearsal countdown was terminated at the T5 minute and 15 second mark due to a liquid hydrogen leak. For anyone not familiar, a wet-tress rehearsal is essentially a full-launched emulation, where they load the rocket with propellant and run through the entire countdown sequence, stopping just short of ignition. It's one of the final major tests before an actual launch. Exactly. And this particular leak occurred at the interface of the tail service mast umbilical, which had already experienced high concentrations of liquid hydrogen earlier in the countdown. The launch control team had to work to ensure the space launch system rocket was in a safe configuration and begin draining its tanks. Now, it's worth putting this in perspective. Hydrogen leaks are notoriously challenging to deal with in rocketry. Hydrogen is the smallest molecule, which means it can escape through incredibly tiny gaps. NASA actually dealt with similar issues

2:01during the Artemis I countdown back in 2022. That's a good point. And while this is definitely a setback, it's exactly why we do these rehearsals to catch problems and fix them before astronauts are on board. The Artemis II crew of Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hanson are scheduled to become the first humans to fly around the moon in over 50 years. The team at Kennedy Space Center will now need to analyze what went wrong, make repairs and potentially schedule another wet dress rehearsal. This could impact the launch timeline, though NASA hasn't announced any official changes to the mission schedule yet. We'll definitely be keeping a close eye on this one. Moving on to our next story, which involves some pretty ambitious claims from SpaceX. Elon Musk has announced that SpaceX has acquired his artificial intelligence company XAI and with that acquisition comes a vision that sounds like something straight out of science fiction, orbital data centers. The numbers here are staggering, Anna.

3:03The information quoted unnamed sources saying XAI was valid at $250 billion, while SpaceX was valid at a trillion dollars. That would make SpaceX the most valuable private company in the world. Though as one investment advisor quipped, Musk essentially had a short negotiation with himself since he held controlling interests in both companies. But the real story here is what Musk plans to do with this combined entity. Right, Musk is proposing to put up to a million satellites in low-earth orbit to create a constellation of orbital data centers. The idea is that these would address the major challenges facing ground-based data centers, the massive electricity requirements and the water needed for cooling. His pitch is compelling from an engineering standpoint. In space, you have mere constant solar power with no nighttime interruptions, no atmospheric interference, and no need for water cooling. As Musk wrote, it's always sunny in space.

4:03He's framing this as a step towards becoming a Kardashev Type II civilization, one that can harness the sun's full power. He even suggested that future AI satellites could be built on and launched from the moon using electromagnetic mass drivers. But here's where the skepticism comes in. Industry observers are raising serious questions. Jim Cashel, author of the Greek Connecting, suggested the million satellite figure might be more about publicity and the potential SpaceX IPO than realistic planning. And Martin Pierce from the information pointed out the headspinning array of technical and financial impediments. Those challenges include protecting computers from radiation, maintaining hardware in orbit, the enormous expanse of getting everything into space, and competing with tech giants like Google and Metta who have cast-generating advertising businesses. Some analysts suggest this move is financially motivated, a way to throw a lifeline to XAI,

5:03which merged with X last year and has been facing financial troubles. The timing ahead of a possible SpaceX IPO is certainly interesting. It's definitely an ambitious vision, whether it's brilliant foresight or science fiction remains to be seen. Either way, it sparked a fascinating debate about the future of space-based infrastructure. Speaking of space infrastructure, let's talk about something that's actually happening right now. NASA's commercial crew program. NASA has ordered a fifth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station from Axiom Space with a launch targeted for no earlier than January 2027 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This continues the series of commercially sponsored crewed missions to the orbital laboratory under NASA's commercial space strategy. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman emphasized that commercial space activity has become a present reality rather than a distant prospect. This mission, designated Axiom Mission 5,

6:04is expected to spend up to 14 days aboard the station. The final launch date will depend on overall spacecraft traffic and other operational planning factors. Basically, coordinating the busy schedule of visiting vehicles. Dana Weagle, manager of NASA's International Space Station program, noted that these private astronaut missions allow the station to serve as a proving ground for new markets and technologies while supporting science, research, and outreach that contribute to a growing space economy. Under this mission order, Axiom Space will propose four crew members for review by NASA and its international partners. Once approved, though undergo joint training with NASA, partner agencies, and the launch provider. What's particularly interesting about this arrangement is the exchange of services. Axiom Space will purchase mission services from NASA like crew consumables, cargo delivery, and storage. In return, NASA will acquire from Axiom Space the capability to return scientific samples

7:06that must remain cold during transit. Jonathan Certain, president and CEO of Axiom Space, said the four earlier Axiom missions have expanded the global community of human space explorers and yielded insights supporting development of the planned Axiom Station. That's the key here. Axiom Station is intended to succeed the International Space Station as a next-generation commercial platform once the current laboratory is retired. These missions are helping build towards that future. It's a great example of NASA's strategy to transition low-earth orbit services to private providers while the agency concentrates on deep space exploration like the Artemis missions to the moon. Absolutely. Now let's turn our attention to some dramatic activity happening much closer to home on our own star. The sun has been putting on quite a show over the past 24 hours. A rapidly growing sunspot has fired off at least 18 M-class flares and three X-class flares,

8:07including an intense X-8.3 eruption. The strongest solar flare of 2026 so far. To put that in perspective for our listeners, solar flares are ranked from A, B, and C up to M and X with each letter representing a 10-fold increase in energy. So X-class flares are the most powerful explosions the sun can produce. And the number after the X tells you how intense it is within that class. The culprit is sunspot region 4366, which spaceweather.com described as a solar flare factory. This region has grown rapidly in just a few days and shows no signs of slowing down. The X-8.3 flare peaked at 6.57 pm Eastern time on February 1, unleashing a blast of extreme ultraviolet and X-ray radiation that ionized Earth's upper atmosphere. This triggered strong R-3 radio blackouts across parts of the South Pacific.

9:08Eastern Australia and New Zealand reported shortwave radio disruptions. These blackouts happen because the intense radiation from the flare alters the ionosphere, which radio signals bounce off of for long-distance communication. Now, what everyone wants to know is, will we see auroras from this? Scientists are watching for coronal mass ejections that could follow these flares. Early analysis of a CME linked to the X-8.3 eruption suggests most of the solar material will pass north and east of Earth. There's a possibility of a glancing blow around February 5, which could briefly elevate geomagnetic activity and increase the chances of auroras at high latitudes. But forecasters stress it's too early to know for certain. The bigger concern is that some spot AR-4366 remains highly active and continues to rotate into an Earth-facing position. That raises the chance that future eruptions could launch CMEs more directly toward our planet.

10:11Noah forecasters expect more exciting space weather activity from this region in the coming days. So aurora casers should definitely keep an eye on space weather forecasts over the next week. It's a great reminder that we're still in solar maximum, the period of greatest solar activity in the sun's 11 year cycle. We can expect more of these dramatic events over the next year or so. Absolutely. From watching the sun, let's zoom out to the boundaries of our entire solar system. DASA's IMAP mission, that's the interstellar mapping and acceleration probe, officially began its two-year primary science mission on February 1. IMAP's job is to explore and map the boundaries of our heliosphere, which is the protective bubble created by the solar wind that encapsulates our entire solar system. Think of it as our cosmic shield against interstellar radiation. The mission launched on September 24th, 2025, and relies on 10 scientific instruments

11:12to chart what's happening in space. That includes high energy particles from the sun, magnetic fields in interplanetary space, and even dust from exploded stars in interstellar space. What makes this particularly exciting is that IMAP is investigating some of the most important questions in heliophysics, how charged particles from the sun get energized, and how the solar wind interacts at its boundary with interstellar space. And there's a practical benefit, too. Some of IMAP's data is being fed into the eyelert system, which stands for IMAP active link for real time. This broadcasts near real time observations of space weather headed toward Earth. That data can inform forecasters who issue warnings about potential adverse space weather effects on spacecraft and astronauts. Though IMAP is both advancing or scientific understanding and providing practical benefits for space operations. The mission is led by David McComis, a principal investigator and professor at Princeton University

12:14with an international team of 27 partner institutions. Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory managed development and operates the mission. It's the fifth mission in NASA's Solar Terrestrial Probes program, and it's going to give us unprecedented insights into the edge of our solar neighborhood over the next two years. Beaking of opportunities to advance our understanding of space, let's wrap up with some news for aspiring space professionals. The European Space Agency has opened applications for its 2026 graduate trainee program, offering an incredible opportunity for recent graduates passionate about engineering, science, IT, or business. This is a unique professional experience where trainees become part of teams of scientists, engineers, and business professionals from all over Europe, working together on inspiring space missions in an international, multicultural environment. The positions are one-year contracts with possible extension to a second year.

13:14trainees get 2.5 days of paid leave per month and receive a monthly salary that's exempt from national income tax and ESA member states. ESA also reimburses travel expenses at the beginning and end of the contract. Provides an expatriation or installation allowance for those moving from another country and includes affiliation to ESA's comprehensive social security and pension schemes. To be eligible, you need to be a student in the final year of a master's degree or a recent graduate. You must have graduated by the time you start your traineeship and be able to provide a copy of your diploma within three months of starting. Important note, you shouldn't have more than one year of professional experience after graduation. And you must be a citizen of one of the ESA member states, associate members, European cooperating states, or Canada as a cooperating state. ESA is holding three information sessions in early February where prospective applicants can learn more

14:14about the program and ask questions. The first one is February 5th. There is another on February 12th and a third on February 17th. Each candidate can submit up to three applications. So it's worthwhile exploring multiple opportunities that match your academic background and aspirations. All the details in application portal can be found at jobs.esa.int. I'll be sure to add that link in the show notes. This is genuinely a fantastic opportunity for anyone looking to start a career in Europe space sector. ESA has a long history of groundbreaking missions and continues to be at the forefront of space exploration, earth observation, and space science. It's programs like this that help develop the next generation of space professionals who will be working on tomorrow's missions to explore our solar system and beyond. And that wraps up today's episode of Astronomy Daily. We've covered everything from challenges with Artemis II preparations to ambitious visions for orbital data centers.

15:15On going commercial space station missions, dramatic solar activity, the start of a new NASA mission mapping our cosmic neighborhood and opportunities for the next generation of space professionals. As always, there's never a dull moment in space exploration. If you want to stay connected with us and get more space news throughout the week, visit our website at astronomydaily.io. You can also find us on social media at AstroDailyPod on X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Tumblr. Thanks for joining us today. Keep looking up and we'll see you tomorrow with more news from the cosmos. Until then, clear skies everyone. Astronomy day, the story's the toll. The story's the toll.

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