CHINA SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES NEW TEST SATELLITE - China sent a new test satellite into space on ThursdaChina sent a new test satellite into space on Thursday from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan. The Shiyan-28B 01 satellite was launched at 5:35 p.m. (Beijing Time) aboard a Long March-4C carrier rocket and entered the preset orbit successfully.y from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan. The Shiyan-28B 01 satellite was launched at 5:35 p.m. (Beijing Time) aboard a Long March-4C carrier rocket and entered the preset orbit successfully.   More
(Source: English.gov.cn - Jul 4)

NEARLY 500 STARLINK SATELLITES HAVE INCINERATED IN EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE SO FAR THIS YEAR - According to a filing with the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday, 472 Starlink satellites burned up in the atmosphere between December 2024 and May 2025, as SpaceX deorbited around 6% of its active fleet. Starlink satellites are built to last around five years. After that, they're steered into the Earth's atmosphere to burn up. SpaceX, the rocket company owned by Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk, launched the first Starlink satellites in 2019, which means we're now seeing its first full-scale deorbiting. More than 1.4 million homes use Starlink's internet service in the US, and in many rural areas, the technology has been an absolute gamechanger.   More
(Source: CNET - Jul 4)

BEZOS-FUNDED SATELLITE TRACKING METHANE EMISSIONS LOSES POWER IN SPACE - MethaneSAT, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) methane-tracking satellite backed by the Bezos Earth Fund, is lost in space. Its ground team lost contact with the spacecraft on June 20 but tried to reestablish a connection until it learned in the morning of July 1 that MethaneSAT had lost power altogether. The team believes that the satellite is likely not recoverable.    More
(Source: Engadget - Jul 3)

SPACEX LAUNCHES ITS 500TH FALCON 9 ROCKET - SpaceX launched its 500th Falcon 9 rocket to date with an overnight Starlink flight on Wednesday. The first stage booster used on the mission also flew for a record-setting 29th time. The mission, dubbed Starlink 10-25, lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 2:28 a.m. EDT (0628 UTC) with the rocket flying on a north-easterly trajectory.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 3)

NASA, SPACEX INVITE MEDIA TO WATCH CREW-11 LAUNCH TO SPACE STATION - Media accreditation is open for the launch of NASA’s 11th rotational mission of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft carrying astronauts to the International Space Station for a science expedition. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission is targeted to launch in the late July/early August timeframe from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission includes NASA astronauts Zena Cardman, serving as commander; Mike Fincke, pilot; JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, mission specialist; and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, mission specialist.    More
(Source: NASA - Jul 3)

EUMETSAT, ESA LAUNCHES COMBO MTG-S1, SENTINEL-4 SATELLITE ON SPACEX FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM NASA’S KENNEDY SPACE CENTER - A European satellite designed to augment both weather monitoring and assessments of air quality and pollution for Europe and North Africa took flight from Florida on Tuesday evening. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lofted the Meteosat Third Generation Sounder (MTG-S1) satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit, setting the spacecraft up to operate in a geostationary Earth orbit, roughly 36,000 km (~22,369 mi) above the equator.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 2)

NASA TO PROVIDE COVERAGE OF PROGRESS 92 LAUNCH, SPACE STATION DOCKING - NASA will provide live coverage of the launch and docking of a Roscosmos cargo spacecraft delivering approximately three tons of food, fuel, and supplies to the Expedition 73 crew aboard the International Space Station. The unpiloted Roscosmos Progress 92 spacecraft is scheduled to launch at 3:32 p.m. EDT, Thursday, July 3 (12:32 a.m. Baikonur time, Friday, July 4), on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.   More
(Source: PR Newswire - Jul 2)

CHINESE SPACECRAFT BEGIN RENDEZVOUS AND PROXIMITY OPERATIONS IN GEOSTATIONARY ORBIT - China’s Shijian-21 and Shijian-25 are conducting proximity operations for a second time high above the Earth as a precursor to an expected on-orbit refueling test. Shijian-21 and Shijian-25 spacecraft, operating in geostationary orbit (GEO), approximately 35,786 km above Earth’s equator, appeared to come together June 30, according to optical ground tracking from S2a systems, a Swiss company which develops and operates customized systems for optical space surveillance worldwide.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jul 1)

METEOSAT-12 SATELLITE TAKES OVER FROM METEOSAT-10 IN DELIVERING EUROPE’S PRIME SERVICE - EUMETSAT’s Meteosat-12 satellite, formerly Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) Imager 1, has now taken over from Meteosat-10 to deliver Europe’s prime data service from GEO—orbiting at an altitude of around 36,000 kilometers, Meteosat-12 is the first imaging satellite in the MTG program and now moves into its key position above the equator at 0° longitude, directly over the Gulf of Guinea.   More
(Source: SatNews - Jun 30)

Previous Next