CHINA LAUNCHES CLASSIFIED TJS-16 SPACECRAFT, COMPANION OBJECT EMERGES ALONGSIDE EARLIER TJS-15 SATELLITE - China launched the new TJS-16 classified satellite on Saturday aboard a Long March 7A rocket, continuing the opaque series of experimental missions. A Long March 7A rocket lifted off at 12:05 p.m. Eastern (1605 UTC) March 29 from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on the island province of Hain... More (Source: SpaceNews - Mar 30)
CHINA ROUNDUP: THIRD SUCCESSFUL EVA AND DEEP-SPACE AMBITIONS AS CHINA’S SPACE ECONOMY SURGES - The Shenzhou-19 crew recently conducted their third spacewalk this month as the China National Space Administration announced it is open to including international scientific payloads aboard a forthcoming Mars mission. Meanwhile, bold plans for planetary exploration have been revealed and a design h... More (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Mar 30)
SPACEX TO LAUNCH 28 STARLINK V2 MINI SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - SpaceX is hoping to close out the weekend with a Falcon 9 rocket launching a batch of 28 Starlink V2 Mini satellites. The weather forecast on Sunday, however, is quite problematic, with meteorologists tracking storms that “may pack strong wind gusts and even small hail.” Liftoff of the Starli... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 30)
CYGNUS DEPARTS STATION AFTER RELEASE FROM ROBOTIC ARM - At 6:55 a.m. EDT, the S.S. Richard “Dick” Scobee Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft was released from the Canadarm2 robotic arm, which earlier detached Cygnus from the Earth-facing port of the International Space Station’s Unity module. At the time of release, the station was flying about 260 ... More (Source: NASA - Mar 29)
CYGNUS SET TO DEPART FROM INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - The uncrewed Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to undock from the International Space Station Friday after having delivered more than 4 tons of supplies, scientific instruments used in experiments, commercial products, hardware, and other cargo. The undocking is scheduled to begin for 6:30 a.m. EDT ... More (Source: UPI - Mar 28)
NASA CANCELS CARGO LAUNCH TO ISS DUE TO DAMAGED CYGNUS SPACECRAFT - NASA has called off a planned cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) due to a damaged spacecraft. The spacecraft is a robotic Cygnus freighter, built by the Virginia-based company Northrop Grumman. It had been scheduled to launch several tons of food, fuel and other supplies to th... More (Source: Space.com - Mar 28)
CHINA LAUNCHES NEW DATA RELAY SATELLITE - China successfully sent a new data relay satellite into orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province on Wednesday. The Tianlian II-04 satellite was launched at 23:55 p.m. (Beijing Time) aboard a Long March-3B carrier rocket and entered its planned orbit. ... More (Source: www.gov.cn - Mar 28)
U.S. SPACE FORCE CERTIFIES ULA’S VULCAN ROCKET TO BEGIN LAUNCHING NATIONAL SECURITY MISSIONS - In an announcement highly anticipated by United Launch Alliance and others in the spaceflight community, the U.S. Space Force’s Assured Access to Space (AATS) office affirmed that the Vulcan rocket is now fully certified to launch national security payloads. The completion of this multi-year pr... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 28)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 27 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM VANDENBERG SFB - SpaceX sent a batch of 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites into low Earth orbit on a Falcon 9 rocket launch Wednesday afternoon. The flight tied the record for the most number of these types of satellites launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California to date. The Starlink 11-7 mission lifted... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 28)
ROCKET LAB LAUNCHES 8 WILDFIRE-HUNTING SATELLITES INTO ORBIT FROM NEW ZEALAND - Rocket Lab has launched its workhorse Electron rocket for the third time in two weeks. The New Zealand-based company successfully launched eight wildfire detection satellites on the "Finding Hot Wildfires Near You" mission for German-based company OroraTech today (March 26), from Rocket Lab's New... More (Source: Space.com - Mar 27)
SPACEX TO LAUNCH 27 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM VANDENBERG SFB - SpaceX is preparing to send a batch of 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites into low Earth orbit. This flight ties the record for the most number of these types of satellites launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California to date. The Starlink 11-7 mission is targeting a liftoff from Space Lau... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 27)
US SPACE FORCE CELEBRATES RETURN OF 1ST GUARDIAN TO LAUNCH TO SPACE - U.S. Space Force Col. Nick Hague is back on Earth after living on the International Space Station (ISS) for the last five-plus months. On March 18, Hague splashed down in the SpaceX Crew-9 Dragon capsule "Freedom" with fellow NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore and Russian cosmonaut A... More (Source: Space.com - Mar 27)
U.S. SPACE FORCE CERTIFIES ULA’S VULCAN ROCKET TO BEGIN LAUNCHING NATIONAL SECURITY MISSIONS - In an announcement highly anticipated by United Launch Alliance and others in the spaceflight community, the U.S. Space Force’s Assured Access to Space (AATS) office affirmed that the Vulcan rocket is now fully certified to launch national security payloads. The completion of this multi-year pr... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 27)
SPIRAL IN THE SKY LIKELY TO BE FROM SPACEX LAUNCH - A large glowing spiral visible in the night sky on Monday is believed to have been caused by a SpaceX rocket launch in the US. The Met Office said the shape was likely produced by a frozen plume of fuel from the rocket's exhaust, which reflected the sunlight and appeared to spin in the atmosphere... More (Source: BBC - Mar 26)
SHENZHOU-19 ASTRONAUTS COMPLETE THIRD SPACEWALK, INSTALL FINAL DEBRIS SHIELDING ON TIANGONG - A pair of Chinese astronauts embarked on an extravehicular activity outside the Tiangong space station Friday, as the crew approaches the end of their six-month-long stay in orbit. Astronauts Cai Xuzhe and Song Lingdong returned to the Wentian science module at 8:50 a.m. Eastern (1250 UTC) March ... More (Source: SpaceNews - Mar 26)
NASA INVITES MEDIA TO SPACEX’S 32ND RESUPPLY LAUNCH TO SPACE STATION - Media accreditation is open for the next launch to deliver NASA science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than Monday, April 21, to launch the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Launch... More (Source: NASA - Mar 26)
STARLINK RIVAL AST SPACEMOBILE TIPS NEW SATELLITE PROTOTYPE - AST SpaceMobile—a rival to SpaceX’s cellular Starlink system—is requesting permission to launch a new prototype satellite that differs from the company’s original plans. On Friday, AST asked the FCC for experimental authority to launch and operate an "FM1" satellite. At first glance, it ... More (Source: PCMag - Mar 25)
THIS SATELLITE COULD ONE DAY BE USED TO EAT OTHER SATELLITES - Space junk left over from the tens of thousands of satellites we’ve launched into orbit is a real problem. It not only affects researchers on the International Space Station, which has to dodge debris to avoid a hole-punched hull, but sometimes crash-lands here on Earth, as it recently did when so... More (Source: VICE - Mar 25)
SPACEX LAUNCHES NATIONAL SECURITY SATELLITE FOR NRO ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - The National Reconnaissance Office, which manages the American military’s spy satellites, launched its fifth mission of the 2025 out of roughly a dozen planned for the year. The flight, dubbed NROL-69, lifted off onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to an undisclosed orbital location. The launch fr... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 25)
