SPACEX LAUNCHING PROTOTYPE GOOGLE AI SATELLITE NEXT WEEK - The age of the orbital data center may be about to dawn. Google announced today (Sept. 24) that a prototype satellite for its planned Project Suncatcher AI constellation will fly on SpaceX's Transporter-18 rideshare mission, which is currently scheduled to launch on Oct. 1. The main goal is to see how core Suncatcher hardware — Google chips known as tensor processing units (TPUs) — perform in the final frontier, according to the company.   More
(Source: Space.com - Sep 26)

NASA SHARES SPACEX CREW-14 ASSIGNMENTS FOR SPACE STATION MISSION - Four crew members from three space agencies will launch to the International Space Station no earlier than spring 2027 for a long-duration science expedition as part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-14 mission. NASA astronauts Kayla Barron and Chris Birch will serve as spacecraft commander and pilot, with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Makoto Suwa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Arutyun Kiviryan as mission specialists. After docking, Crew-14 will join the space station’s Expedition 75/76.   More
(Source: NASA - Sep 26)

GOOGLE’S FIRST SUNCATCHER ORBITAL DATA CENTER TEST LAUNCHES OCTOBER 1 - Google is taking its first step toward making Project Suncatcher a reality. Announced last year, Suncatcher is Google’s “moonshot” effort to design orbital AI data centers, which AI boosters like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have pitched as an alternative to divisive terrestrial data centers. Google’s first experimental satellite will launch on October 1 with the aim of validating Google’s vision for a constellation of AI satellites.   More
(Source: Ars Technica - Sep 25)

CHINA LAUNCHES ITS FIRST COMMERCIAL RADIO-TRACKING SATELLITES IN ELECTRONIC WARFARE LEAP - China has just taken a quiet but critical step in space-based electronic warfare. A Lijian-1 Y18 rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northern China at noon on Sunday, carrying nine satellites. Among them were three Diting-01 satellites, which successfully entered their planned orbit.   More
(Source: South China Morning Post - Sep 24)

STATION NEARS UPCOMING CREW SWAP DURING BIOMEDICINE, CARGO DUTIES - Four Expedition 75 crewmates are preparing for their return to Earth aboard a SpaceX Dragon next month as their replacement crew gets ready for launch. Meanwhile, aboard the International Space Station the orbital residents continued studying biomedicine, activating Earth imagery hardware, and unpacking a cargo craft.   More
(Source: NASA - Sep 24)

SPACEX’S SUPER HEAVY BOOSTER ARRIVES AT PAD AHEAD OF FIRST ORBITAL STARSHIP LAUNCH - SpaceX placed a Super Heavy booster on the launch pad at Starbase in Texas Monday, as it continues testing and preparations for the first planned orbital flight of Starship, scheduled for launch as soon as Sept. 28, pending final approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The Super Heavy booster, with the tail number B21, departed its assembly building shortly before midnight local time and was placed on the launch mount at Pad 2, roughly two hours later. The stainless-steel booster stands 236 feet tall (72 meters) and boasts a diameter of 9 m (29.5 ft). By comparison, a Falcon 9 rocket has a diameter of 3.7 m (12 ft).    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 23)

FINAL VIASAT-3 SATELLITE ENTERS SERVICE, COMPLETING HIGH-CAPACITY TRIO - The final ViaSat-3 satellite entered service late last week, completing deployment of Viasat’s high-capacity satellite trio. This satellite, ViaSat-3 F2, was actually the second satellite to launch, and it launched in November of last year. All three satellites are now in service and the ViaSat-3 constellation is fully operational after the F3 satellite entered service about a month ago in late August.    More
(Source: Via Satellite - Sep 22)

CHINA LAUNCHES NEW SATELLITES - China launched a group of satellites on Saturday from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern Shanxi Province. Launched at 6:50 p.m. (Beijing Time) aboard a Long March-2D carrier rocket, the satellite group, the PIESAT-2 13-16 satellites, entered the preset orbits successfully.   More
(Source: Global Times - Sep 21)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 27 STARLINK V2 MINI SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM VANDENBERG - An early-evening Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base Saturday will add another 27 satellites to SpaceX’s Starlink constellation. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East happened at 6:47 p.m. PDT (9:47 p.m. EDT / 0147 UTC). The rocket hugged the Californian coast line and should’ve been visible to millions as it soars on southeasterly trajectory upon leaving the pad. It was the 81st Starlink mission of the year.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 20)

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