As the costs of commoditization and access to space decrease, entire categories of products and services will emerge “that we can’t even imagine yet and that will become household names,” Space Florida’s Ron Lau predicts.
One of these emerging categories includes space traffic management, orbital debris removal and satellite security, Lau – the agency’s senior vice president of business development and capital programs – said in a video released on social media on Wednesday.
“Another area that is emerging is advanced aerospace manufacturing. So it could be some kind of 3D or additive printing. They are materials: many innovative materials are now being developed. And also robotics and automation to enable this production in space,” Lau said.
Rocket Photography: FLORIDA TODAY’s 2025 space launch calendar is here
One brand in low Earth orbit — SpaceX’s Starlink internet constellation — grew by another two dozen satellites with a Falcon 9 rocket launch Saturday at noon EST from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
After taking off from Launch Complex 40 along a southeasterly trajectory, the Falcon 9’s first stage booster touched down aboard the SpaceX drone ship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean about eight minutes after liftoff, completing its sixth flight.
The Starlink 6-65 midnight mission lifted off after SpaceX’s historic Starlink launch on Tuesday evening, which represented the company’s 400th successful Falcon 9 mission and 375th overall booster landing.
On the West Coast, SpaceX crews also targeted a Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California early Saturday morning. That NROL-126 mission would launch five National Reconnaissance Office satellites and twenty Starlink satellites.
Looking ahead to the Space Coast launch calendar, another 4½-hour Starlink window will open early Wednesday morning, according to an advisory on the Federal Aviation Administration’s operations plan. Opening hours: 3:29-8am
Visit floridatoday.com/space for the latest news and launch schedules from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
Rick Neale is a space reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at Rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Space Commoditization: SpaceX Launches Starlink Night Mission Saturday
