Space and Astronomy News 15th May 2026
SpaceX Starship V3 to fly from a new launch pad
The flight is expected NET (Not Earlier Than) 19th May
First full test of the upper parts of the new Starship V3 stack. Image via SpaceX
SpaceX is returning to launching their Starship mega rocket, with the next flight expected this coming week. This will be the new "V3" stack that has a number of major changes including upgrades to fuel transfer systems, new version of the Raptor 3 Engines and big upgrades to the avionics to streamline the launch process especially.
It will also launch from a new launchpad. SpaceX stated this week that they are looking at building Starship launch facilities in other parts of the world.
Selfie time
Part of this test mission will be the deployment of 22 dummy, small spacecraft of a similar size to the next generation of Starlink satellites, which is a major upgrade to the 10 carried on previous Starship flights. Two of these will be able to transmit images of Starship back to mission controllers so expect better views of the rocket's mission during its sub-orbital flight path.
Given SpaceX's record with flying new hardware, there could be further delays or possibly even major "malfunctions" on the launchpad. More news next week!
NASA's Psyche spacecraft flies past Mars on the way to a metal asteroid
Will swing by Mars at 19,848 kph
Navigation in the Solar System is often not just a simple matter of launching directly from the Earth to a destination beyond the Moon. It can involve looping around the inner planets and even flying past larger bodies to get a gravitational boost along the way.
Since its launch in 2023, NASA's Psyche has been doing just that on its way to learn about the asteroid of the same name. It's one of the stranger objects in the Solar System.
Psyche orbits in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and is thought to contain large amounts of primeval metals. We don't have the technology to bore into the Earth's core and study the metals thousands of kilometres directly beneath our feet. We can though visit a chunk of these types of metals as they orbit the Sun. The spacecraft will arrive in 2029 where it will spend two years photographing and analysing this strange, metal asteroid.
This weekend our time the Psyche spacecraft will make its closest approach to Mars where it will pick up speed due to the red planet's gravity. There should be close ups of the approach appearing online soon. You can check out the NASA Psyche site here where you can keep track of this fascinating mission.
Congrats to BINTEL's Jess Gilmore!
We celebrated this week the recent graduation of BINTEL team member, Jess Gilmore, who was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in Astronomy and Astrophysics from Macquarie University in Sydney.
If you'd like to know more about telescopes and astronomy, members of the BINTEL crew are not just fanatical hobbyists but also have formal professional qualifications in the area too!
What's a Blue Moon?
Everyone knows the expression "Once in a blue moon!" that means hardly ever, but where did it come from?
A Blue Moon is when two full Moons occur in a single calendar month. As each Lunar cycle is approx. 29.5 days long and months are 30 or 31 days with the exception of February, you can see how it's possible to squeeze two Full Moons into a single calendar month. This is going to happen in May 2026, with a Full Moon on the 2nd of May, a New Moon this coming weekend and another Full Moon, which will be "Blue Moon" on the 31st of May. (Sydney time). You won't be able to spot a Blue Moon visually as it's purely a naming convention. It certainly won't appear blue in colour! They're not that rare as well, with a Blue Moon occurring every 2 or 3 years.
However, this particular Blue Moon coincides with a "Micro Moon".
We've mentioned "Super Moons" in previous blogs. As the Moon orbits the Earth in a slightly elliptical orbit, its distance varies by a small amount. When the Moon is at its closest during a Full Moon, it's a Super Moon. When it's further away, it's called a Micro Moon.
There's not a lot between the largest and smallest sizes that the Moon we see, less than 15% difference in size which means about a 30% difference in brightness.
If you see social media posts or news reports about the Blue Moon or Blue Micromoon this month, it won't actually be blue nor will it be that "micro".
As always though, a Full Moon is a wonderful time to enjoy the night sky, so make sure you head outside to catch it!
ZWO Seestar S30 Pro scores an APOD
The Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) is a website run by NASA and Michigan Technological University which has featured since 1995 a daily astronomy image. Having your image featured on this site and having an APOD is regarded as a big thing by astronomers of all calibres.
Yesterday, APOD Sylvain Villet featured his wonderful entire Messier Catalog that he'd taken using a ZWO Seestar S30 Pro Smart Telescope across 148 hours of exposure. While many APOD winners have been images from professional astronomers and observatories, efforts like this from Sylvain are a reminder that amazing results are achievable using astro gear that's accessible to everyone. You can see his APOD here and make sure you check out his Instagram page too.
You can see the full resolution image at the APOD site here.
Ok, so let's chat about the US Government release of UFO files...
There was, umm, an interesting "release" from the US government last weekend. This is the first drop of what they say will be on ongoing series of files that are related to phenomena that are unexplained at this stage.
They can be found at:
Many of these had been previously seen with others new to the general public. There are a few that have been debunked in the past, while others feature videos of objects moving across landscapes that are harder to come up with firm conclusions about what they are. There are some old news items, reports going back to the 1940s and even testimonies from Gemini and Apollo astronauts.
An image showing a zoomed in section of photo taken from the Moon's surface showing three objects taken during the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972. The US government has stated that "While this photo has been previously released and discussed by keen observers, there is no consensus about the nature of the anomaly." More here.
These especially are interesting as they're first-hand reports from experienced, hard-nosed astronauts with thousands of hours of flight experience and had already seen countless examples of reflections off paint flecks, flares off glass windows and much more.
There's also a large collection of videos of more recent times, often taken using infrared sensors, from military aircraft showing unknown objects flying through their field of view and sometimes making extremely high speed turns and other changes of direction.
It's a diverse collection of what promises to be an ongoing series of images, personal accounts and videos.
So what am I seeing or reading about?
Nowhere in these files is there a firm suggestion that aliens are involved.
There's also a good chance that a large percentage of these files will be eventually explained as being of fairly prosaic and possibly pretty boring in nature. Others might turn out to be new technology that was captured by existing aircraft.
With this information being released to the public and the stated aim that much more is to come, it's an interesting site to explore and come up with your own ideas about these materials. There's also going to be a few reports however that we might be all pondering deeply over for some time....
Cheers,
Earl White
BINTEL
15th May 2026