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)
CZECH REPUBLIC, UKRAINE LAUNCH SPY SATELLITE PROJECT - The Czech Republic is moving forward with the creation of a joint satellite reconnaissance constellation with Ukraine designed to provide high-resolution optical surveillance capabilities in support of Ukraine’s defense needs. According to Militarnyi outlet, the project stems from an October 20... More (Source: Defence Blog - Mar 24)
NASA TO COVER NORTHROP GRUMMAN'S 21ST CARGO SPACE STATION DEPARTURE - After delivering more than 8,200 pounds of supplies, scientific investigations, commercial products, hardware, and other cargo to the orbiting laboratory for NASA and its international partners, Northrop Grumman's uncrewed Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to depart the International Space Station on F... More (Source: PR Newswire - Mar 23)
CHINA IS PRACTICING ‘DOGFIGHTING’ WITH SATELLITES AS IT RAMPS UP SPACE CAPABILITIES: US SPACE FORCE - China is practicing “dogfighting” satellites as part of its expanding capabilities in space, according to the United States Space Force, which warned that Washington’s key rivals are closing the technology gap as space becomes increasingly critical to security on Earth. The Space Force obse... More (Source: CNN - Mar 22)
NASA DEFENDS DECISIONS ABOUT ASTRONAUTS, SAYS THEY NEVER WERE 'STRANDED' - After the safe return Tuesday of two astronauts left behind for months on the International Space Station, the White House characterized the pair as "stranded" and trumpeted their return as a "rescue." Those are words that NASA has been resisting for months. It made for an awkward situation in a ... More (Source: Phys.org - Mar 21)
SATELLITE OPERATORS WANT BETTER SPACE WEATHER MODELS - Satellite operators need better space weather models to maximize the life of their satellites and to avoid collisions in low Earth orbit. The growth in the population of satellites and debris in orbit, driven by megaconstellations like SpaceX’s Starlink, has provided a new impetus to efforts to... More (Source: SpaceNews - Mar 21)
SPACEX TO LAUNCH RECONNAISSANCE SATELLITES FOR THE NRO ON A FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM VANDENBERG - The National Reconnaissance Office is preparing to launch its eighth batch of satellites to support its proliferated architecture constellation. The mission includes a number of notable milestones for the Falcon 9 rocket program, including a record-fast turnaround time for its booster. A SpaceX F... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 21)
MINI-SATELLITE PAVES THE WAY FOR QUANTUM MESSAGING ANYWHERE ON EARTH - Researchers have broken a distance record in quantum communication by sending a secret encryption key nearly 13,000 km from China to South Africa, using a cheap, lightweight ‘microsatellite’. The satellite was able to send pulses of laser light, put into special quantum states, from a rooftop... More (Source: Nature - Mar 20)
ROCKET LAB LAUNCHES FINAL SET OF KINéIS SATELLITES - Rocket Lab has completed the deployment of a constellation of Internet-of-Things satellites for French company Kinéis with a launch March 17. An Electron rocket lifted off from Pad A of Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 9:31 p.m. Eastern. The payload of five satellites for Kinéi... More (Source: SpaceNews - Mar 19)
SWARMS OF SATELLITES ARE HARMING ASTRONOMY. HERE’S HOW RESEARCHERS ARE FIGHTING BACK - In the next few months, from its perch atop a mountain in Chile, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will begin surveying the cosmos with the largest camera ever built. Every three nights, it will produce a map of the entire southern sky filled with stars, galaxies, asteroids and supernovae — and swarms... More (Source: Nature - Mar 19)
SATELLITES POWERED BY SOLID METAL COULD ONE DAY USE SPACE JUNK FOR FUEL - Space is getting crowded — humans have now placed over 20,000 satellites into orbit since the start of the space age, and there are plans to launch thousands more over the next few years. Some of those satellites have already burned up in the atmosphere or fallen back to Earth, often into the o... More (Source: CNN - Mar 19)
