SPACEX LAUNCHES EUROPEAN COMMISSION’S GALILEO SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - SpaceX launched the latest pair of Galileo spacecraft for the European Union’s navigation satellite constellation. The mission marked the second time that Galileo satellites will launch from U.S. soil, following the so-called L-12 mission, which flew on another Falcon 9 rocket back in April 2024. Liftoff of the L-13 mission from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 6:50 p.m. EDT (2250 UTC). Deployment is expected a little more than 3.5 hours after liftoff.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 18)

RUSSIAN MILITARY SATELLITE(S) PAYLOAD IDENTITY HIGHLY UNCERTAIN TOP SECRET LAUNCH ON TUESDAY - On Tuesday, September 17th Russia’s Angara 1.2 rocket is launching a Russian military satellite(s) of unknown identity from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation at a cost of $31,000,000, weather permitting. The forecast calls for a temperature of 61°F, overcast clouds, 100% cloud cover and a wind speed of 3mph.   More
(Source: SatNews - Sep 17)

POLARIS DAWN CREW RETURNS TO EARTH WITH SPLASHDOWN IN GULF OF MEXICO - The Polaris Dawn crew closed out a record-setting commercial spaceflight and packed up Saturday for re-entry and a pre-dawn splashdown early Sunday in the Gulf of Mexico northwest of Key West, Florida. Flying along a southwest-to-northeast trajectory, the Crew Dragon capsule, carrying billionaire Jared Isaacman, pilot Scott Poteet and company engineers Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis, is expected to fire its braking rockets at 2:40 a.m. EDT Sunday to drop out of orbit.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 15)

'WE JUST RAN OUT OF TIME': BOEING STARLINER ASTRONAUTS ON WHY THEIR SPACESHIP RETURNED TO EARTH WITHOUT THEM - Boeing's Starliner capsule might have been able to finish its mission as planned if time had been on its side. Starliner launched June 5 on its first-ever crewed flight, a trial run that sent NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to the International Space Station (ISS). The duo were supposed to live on the orbiting lab for just a week or so, but NASA extended their stay to about three months while studying thruster issues that cropped up during Starliner's rendezvous with the ISS.   More
(Source: Space.com - Sep 15)

IRAN SAYS IT SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED A SATELLITE IN ITS PROGRAM CRITICIZED BY WEST OVER MISSILE FEARS - Iran launched a satellite into space Saturday with a rocket built by the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, state-run media reported, the latest for a program the West fears helps Tehran advance its ballistic missile program. Iran described the launch as the second such launch to put a satellite into orbit with the rocket. Independent scientists later confirmed the launch and that the satellite reached orbit.   More
(Source: AP News - Sep 15)

NASA’S SPACEX CREW-9 TO CONDUCT SPACE STATION RESEARCH - NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are headed to the International Space Station for the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission in September. Once on station, these crew members will support scientific investigations that include studies of blood clotting, effects of moisture on plants grown in space, and vision changes in astronauts.   More
(Source: NASA - Sep 14)

AST SPACEMOBILE DEPLOYS FIRST PRODUCTION DIRECT-TO-SMARTPHONE SATELLITES - SpaceX launched the first five production satellites for AST SpaceMobile’s direct-to-smartphone broadband constellation Sept. 11. A Falcon 9 carrying the Block 1 BlueBird spacecraft lifted off 4:52 a.m. Eastern from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, and finished releasing all five satellites into low Earth orbit about 68 minutes later. AST SpaceMobile founder, chair and CEO Abel Avellan said the operator established full contact with all five spacecraft post-launch.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Sep 13)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 21 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM WEST COAST - SpaceX launched its latest batch of 21 Starlink satellites on a Thursday night Falcon 9 launch from California. The Falcon 9 rocket launch set a new record for Vandenberg Space Force Base, marking the first time that 31 orbital missions have taken off in a calendar year. Thirty of those launches were from SpaceX and one was from Firefly Aerospace. Liftoff of the Starlink 9-6 mission from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) happened at 6:45 p.m. PDT (9:45 p.m. EDT, 0145 UTC).   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 13)

POLARIS DAWN ASTRONAUTS PERFORM SPACEWALK - Astronauts on the Polaris Dawn mission conducted the first spacewalk on a non-governmental mission Sept. 12, briefly emerging from their Crew Dragon spacecraft. Jared Isaacman, commander of the four-person crew, emerged from the hatch in the nose of the capsule at approximately 6:52 a.m. Eastern. Using a set of handholds and rails called a “skywalker” by SpaceX, he tested the mobility of the SpaceX-designed extravehicular activity (EVA) suit while standing in the hatch. “Congrats to the huge team effort that it took to get us to this point. We know it’s just the start,” he said shortly before returning inside the spacecraft.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Sep 12)

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