Launch Scrubs, Voyager's Milestone Journey, and 3D Exoplanet Mapping

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Avery: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast

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that brings you the universe one story at

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a time. I'm Avery.

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Anna: And I'm Anna. Uh, today we've got an update

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on a story we brought you yesterday. A second

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launch attempt for a massive communication

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satellite.

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Avery: Fingers crossed for that one.

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Anna: Celebrating an incredible milestone for a

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deep space explorer and witnessing a first

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in US China space cooperation.

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Plus a stunning 3D map of a distant

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world from J and a look

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at Europe's ambitious launch plans.

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Avery: It's a busy day in the cosmos. Let's get

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right to it.

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Starting with that nail biter down at Cape

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Canaveral. So United Launch

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alliance was planning on giving it another go

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tonight with their Atlas V rocket.

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Anna: That's right. They were hoping to launch the

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Viasat 3F2 satellite.

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Liftoff had been scheduled from Cape

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Canaveral at 10:16pm M. Eastern,

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right at the start of a 44min window.

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Avery: However, the launch had to be scrubbed the

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second time this week. The first attempt last

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night was also scrubbed.

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Anna: The valve issue that prevented a launch

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Wednesday night remained persistent on

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Thursday. Launch director James Whelan

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scrubbed the launch attempt Wednesday night

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when a vent valve on the Atlas 5's first

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stage liquid oxygen tank failed to work

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properly during final pre launch checkouts.

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Then again, a little more than an hour before

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the Thursday night window opened, ULA

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said it was foregoing the launch attempt with

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the same valve issue causing the problem.

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Avery: A, uh, third attempt has already been touted,

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but no date or time just yet.

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So tell us about the passenger. This is a

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pretty significant satellite.

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Anna: Isn't really is. The Viasat

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V3F2 is a hefty communication

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satellite weighing in at 6 metric

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tons. Its job will be to provide K

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network capabilities, essentially high speed

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Internet over the Americas.

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Avery: And um, this is the second in a series.

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Right. How did the first one fare?

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Anna: That's the part that adds a little pressure.

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The first one launched in 2023

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unfortunately suffered an antenna deployment

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issue that significantly reduced its

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capacity. So there's a lot riding on this

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mission for viasat.

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Avery: Absolutely. Well, we'll be watching for news

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on the third attempt.

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Anna: Details from a new beginning.

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Let's turn to an incredible

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decades long journey. We have a milestone

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coming up for one of humanity's greatest

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explorers.

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Avery: Oh, you have to be talking about one of the

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Voyagers.

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Anna: Exactly. In November of

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2026, Voyager 1 will become

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the first human made object to

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travel a full light day away from Earth.

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Avery: A light day. That is just staggering to

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think about. That's about

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25.9 billion kilometers.

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Anna: It is remember, this spacecraft was

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launched way back in 1977.

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It's already in interstellar space, having

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left the Sun's direct influence behind.

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Now it's heading towards the Oort Cloud.

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Avery: The Oort Cloud, the great icy shell

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at the very edge of our solar system. And

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it's still talking to us after all this time.

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It's hard to fathom. How is it even powered

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after all these decades?

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Anna: That's the one. And the timescales are

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mind boggling. It will take Voyager

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about 300 years just to reach the

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inner edge of the Oort Cloud.

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Avery: Wow.

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Anna: And another 30,000 years to pass

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completely through it. The journey is almost

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eternal. And what happens after that?

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In about 40,000 years, it'll make a

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relatively close pass of another star,

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Gliese 445. It will actually

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be closer to that star than it is to our own

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sun.

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Avery: And all that time, it's carrying its message

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in the bottle. The golden record.

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Anna: That's right. A message from humanity. Just

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in case any extraterrestrial intelligence

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ever finds it. It's a testament to our

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curiosity and our hope to connect with the

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cosmos. A truly profound legacy,

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an incredible mission.

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Avery: It really puts our own sense of time into

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perspective.

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Well, from reaching out to the unknown, let's

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talk about connecting a little closer to

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home. There's been a really interesting

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development in orbit between the US and

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China.

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Anna: This M is a significant first. For the first

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time, the China National Space Administration

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proactively reached out to NASA to

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coordinate a satell maneuver.

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Avery: Right. To avoid a potential collision. So

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what's the big deal here? How did this work

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before?

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Anna: Well, previously, NASA's orbital tracking

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would identify a potential conjunction and

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they would notify China. It was then

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typically NASA or the US Space Force that

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would perform any necessary avoidance

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maneuvers.

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Avery: So this is a reversal. China reached out

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first and handled the coordination. What does

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that tell us?

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Anna: It suggests that China's own space

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situational awareness capabilities have

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improved dramatically. They are now able to

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track, predict, and act on these threats with

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high confidence.

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Avery: That's crucial, especially now. The number of

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satellites up there is just exploding.

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Anna: Exactly. We have mega constellations like

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SpaceX's Starlink and China's own

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Guoang Network being deployed. Low

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Earth orbit is getting very crowded very

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fast.

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Avery: So more communication and coordination is

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essential to prevent disaster.

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Anna: Absolutely. This move is a really positive

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step for the safety and sustainability of

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space operations for everyone.

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Speaking of seeing things more clearly, let's

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jump from low Earth orbit to a world hundreds

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of light years away. The James Webb Space

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Telescope has Given us another incredible

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first.

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Avery: JWST is the gift that keeps on

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giving. What has it found now?

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Anna: Astronomers have used it to create the very

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first three dimensional map of an

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exoplanet's atmosphere.

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Avery: A 3D map of the air on another planet.

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That sounds like science fiction. Which

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planet did they look at?

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Anna: The target was a fascinating one called Wasp

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18B. It's what's known as an

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ultra hot Jupiter. It orbits its

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star so closely that its atmosphere

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reaches temperatures hot enough to destroy

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water vapor.

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Avery: Wow. Okay, so how do you even begin to

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map something like that?

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Anna: They used a brilliant technique called

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spectroscopic eclipse mapping. As

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the planet passes behind its star,

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JWST carefully measures the changes

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in light. By analyzing this data, they can

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build a picture of the temperature at, ah,

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different altitudes and locations.

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Avery: A, uh, temperature profile in three

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dimensions. What did it show?

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Anna: It revealed some really significant

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temperature variations across the planet's

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atmosphere, giving us insights into its

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weather and energy circulation. Far

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more complex than our previous 2D models

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suggested.

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Avery: That's amazing. And I assume this technique

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isn't just for hot Jupiters.

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Anna: That's the most exciting part. This new

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method opens the door to studying the

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atmospheres of many other exoplanets

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in much more detail, including

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potentially smaller rocky worlds like our

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own.

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Avery: Incredible.

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From 3D maps to launch manifestos, Our

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final story today takes us back to Earth,

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focusing on Europe's ambitions in the launch

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industry. Ariane Ace is looking to seriously

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ramp things up.

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Anna: They certainly are. The company is aiming

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to double, uh, its Ariane 6 launch cadence in

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the year 2026.

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Avery: Double it? The Ariane 6 is still

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relatively new, having debuted in 2024.

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How many flights are we talking about?

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Anna: Well, after flying three times in

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2025, the plan for 2026 is to

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conduct between six and eight missions. It's

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a very ambitious.

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Avery: What's enabling this increase in pace?

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Anna: They're getting more efficient with launch

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processing. But more importantly, they're

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introducing an upgraded block 2

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version of the rocket in 2026 which will

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boost its performance.

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Avery: More power, more launches. Do we know what

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they'll be launching?

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Anna: We do. The very first launch of

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2026 will be the more powerful

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Ariane 64 variant. Its

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primary payload will be a batch of satellites

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for Amazon's Project Cooper Constellation.

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Avery: Ah, uh, another megaconstellation driving the

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market. So what's the long term goal

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for Arianespace?

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Anna: Ultimately, they're aiming for a maximum

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launch cadence of nine to 10 flights per

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year, driven entirely by customer

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demand. It's a clear sign that the global

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launch market is hotter than ever.

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Avery: And that's a wrap on the big stories from

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around the cosmos today. From another launch

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scrubbed at the Cape and Voyager's lonely

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journey to new cooperation in orbit,

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3D alien atmospheres, and the

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bustling European launchpad, it's a

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reminder that.

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Anna: There is always something new to discover,

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both near and far. Thank you so

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much for joining us.

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Avery: Be sure to subscribe to Astronomy Daily

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wherever you get your podcasts so you don't

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miss an episode. Until next time, keep

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looking up.