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Ep246: SpaceX News · Kidcast Daily

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Spin the wheel, let's take a ride.
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Sports and science bursting from inside a world of wonder.
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Open wide. Come on kids, let's amplify kid
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cats. Daily starts yours.
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Welcome to Kick Ass Daily, where we bring news, trivia, fun
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facts, and more just for curious kids like you.
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I'm so glad you're here today because we have some absolutely
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amazing stories to share about space exploration and the
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companies making it happen. If you love rockets, space
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travel, and learning about what's happening beyond our
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planet, you're going to love today's episode.
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So stick around as we explore some incredible news from the
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world of space technology. Let's start with something
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really exciting. Have you ever heard of SpaceX?
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It's a company that builds rockets and spacecraft, and
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they're doing some pretty incredible things up in space.
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Well, get ready for this because 2026 is shaping up to be one of
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the biggest years ever for space launches.
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That's right, this year that just started is going to be
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absolutely packed with rocket launches and space missions.
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Scientists and space experts are saying that 2026 could be the
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biggest year ever in the history of space exploration.
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Can you imagine that? More rockets launching than ever
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before in a single year? That's pretty mind blowing when
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you think about it. Now you might be wondering, why
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is 2026 going to be so special? Well, there are several reasons.
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One of the biggest reasons is that SpaceX is planning to
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launch their famous Starship rocket.
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SpaceX is preparing for multiple Starship launches with Flight 12
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expected in the February to March time frame.
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At the same time, NASA, which is the United States space agency,
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is preparing to launch something called the SLS, which stands for
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Space Launch System. This is one of the most powerful
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rockets ever built. When you have two of the biggest
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rocket programs in the world launching around the same time,
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that's going to create a lot of activity and excitement at the
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spaceports. Speaking of spaceports, did you
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know that there's a really important launch facility in
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Florida called Cape Canaveral? This is where many of America's
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rockets take off. The people who work at Cape
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Canaveral are getting ready for this huge year of launches.
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In fact, the commander of the Space Launch Operations at Cape
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Canaveral said that they're expecting more than 100 launches
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IN2026100 launches. That's almost 2 launches every
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single week. To put that in perspective,
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that's a lot more launches than we've seen in previous years.
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The space industry is growing faster than ever before, and
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2026 is going to show just how much progress we've made in
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space technology to handle all these launches.
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The people at Cape Canaveral are making some big improvements and
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upgrades. They're not just preparing the
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launch pads where the Rockets sit before they blast off.
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They're also upgrading the roads that lead to the launch pads,
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the communication systems that help control the Rockets, and
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all kinds of other important equipment.
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Think about it like this. If you were getting ready for
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the biggest party ever, you wouldn't just decorate your
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living room. You'd make sure your front door
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was nice, your driveway was clean, and all your systems for
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inviting people and communicating with them were
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working perfectly. That's what the space launch
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teams are doing. They're getting everything ready
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so that they can handle the increased number of launches
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safely and successfully. Now let's talk about why this
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matters and why it's so exciting.
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Space exploration isn't just about launching rockets into the
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it's about discovering new things, learning more about our
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universe, and developing technology that can help people
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here on Earth. Every time a rocket launches,
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scientists and engineers are testing new ideas and pushing
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the boundaries of what's possible.
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SpaceX, in particular has been working on making rockets that
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can be reused. Imagine if you could use the
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same airplane over and over again instead of building a new
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one every single time you wanted to fly somewhere.
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That's kind of what SpaceX is trying to do with rockets.
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This makes space travel cheaper and more practical, which means
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more people and more companies can participate in space
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exploration. The Starship rocket that SpaceX
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is developing is especially important because it's designed
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to carry people and cargo to the moon and eventually to Mars.
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This is a huge deal because it means that in the future, humans
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might actually live on other planets.
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Scientists and engineers are working hard to make this dream
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a reality. Every launch and every test
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helps them get closer to that goal.
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When you think about it, the work being done right now, in
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2026 and beyond, might be part of the journey that eventually
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takes humans to Mars. That's something that kids your
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age might actually see happen during your lifetime.
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How cool is that? There's also exciting news about
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Spacex's future plans. The company is looking ahead to
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something called an IPO, which stands for Initial Public
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Offering. This is when a private company
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decides to sell shares of itself to the public, which means
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regular people can own a piece of the company.
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SpaceX is considering doing this in 2026, which would be a really
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big moment for the company. If SpaceX goes public, it would
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allow more people to invest in the company and support its
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mission to make space travel more accessible and affordable.
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This is another sign of how important and successful SpaceX
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has become in the space industry.
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What's really interesting about all of this is that we're living
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in a time when space exploration is becoming more exciting and
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more active than ever before. When your grandparents were
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kids, space travel was something that only astronauts could do,
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and it happened very rarely. Now, companies like SpaceX are
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working to make space more accessible.
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They're launching rockets regularly, and they're planning
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to take tourists to space. The technology is advancing so
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quickly that things that seemed impossible just a few years ago
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are becoming real. As we look ahead to 2026 and
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beyond, there's so much to be excited about.
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We're going to see more rockets launching than ever before.
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We're going to see new technology being tested and
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improved. We're going to see companies
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like SpaceX pushing the boundaries of what's possible,
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and we're going to be one step closer to a future where humans
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can explore and live in space. Every launch, every mission, and
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every test is part of this incredible journey.
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So that's what's happening in the world of space exploration
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right now. 2026 is going to be an amazing year for anyone who
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loves space and rockets. We've learned that this year is
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expected to have more than 100 launches, that both NASA and
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SpaceX have major rockets ready to go, and that the
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infrastructure at launch facilities is being upgraded to
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handle all this activity. We've also learned about
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Spacex's plans for the future and how space exploration is
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becoming more important and more active than ever before.
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The future of space travel is bright, and it's something that
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all of us can be excited about. Thanks for joining us on Kick
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Cast Daily and keep looking up at the stars because amazing
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things are happening in space. Grab your breakfast.
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Feeling fine? Adventures waiting?
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Don't be late. Today's the day we.
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Celebrate Kick Cast Daily starts your day.