SWISSTO12 TO BUILD SMALL ASIA-FOCUSED DIRECT-TO-DEVICE GEO SATELLITE - Singapore’s Astrum Mobile has ordered a small satellite from Swissto12 to deliver resilient, low-bandwidth multimedia and connectivity services directly to devices across Asia from geostationary orbit (GEO). Announcing its third customer for the HummingSat platform March 10, Switzerland-based Swissto12 said the deal reflects growing demand for smaller, regionally focused satellites — closer in size to a washing machine than traditional school bus-sized GEO spacecraft.”   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Mar 11)

SPACEX SCRUBS LAUNCH OF TWO NASA SATELLITE MISSIONS - Two NASA missions will have to wait longer for a launch aboard a single rocket. Both aim to unravel mysteries about the universe — one by peering far from Earth, the other by looking closer to home. SpaceX on Saturday night announced on the social platform X about two hours before the scheduled launch time of 10:09 p.m. Eastern that it needed to continue checking the Falcon 9 rocket that was to lift the vehicles to orbit. The company said it would announce the next launch attempt from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California when it was possible to do so.   More
(Source: The Japan Times - Mar 10)

SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH OF NORWAY’S NEW SATELLITE - During the night leading into Wednesday, the control room established contact with the satellite, and everything looks good. The launch was carried out by SpaceX using a Falcon-9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The Transport-12 mission carried several small satellites of varying sizes into space. NorSat-4, like the other national satellites NorSat-1, NorSat-2, and NorSat-3, will primarily monitor maritime traffic from orbit.   More
(Source: SatNews - Mar 10)

CHINA EXPANDS SECRETIVE SATELLITE SERIES WITH LAUNCH OF TJS-15 - China launched the latest in a series classified satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbit Sunday while disclosing little about the spacecraft. A Long March 3B rocket lifted off at 12:17 p.m. Eastern (1717 UTC) March 9 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, southwest China. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced launch success within an hour of liftoff. While the launch was anticipated due to airspace closure notices, the payload was unknown. CASC’s announcement revealed the mission payload to be communication technology experiment Satellite-15, or Tongxin Jishu Shiyan-15 (TJS-15).   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Mar 10)

FOR NASA ASTRONAUTS ON A 10-DAY SPACE MISSION THAT LASTED 9 MONTHS, A LANDING DATE AT LAST - Two NASA astronauts who launched on a short mission to the International Space Station last year that turned into a 10-month marathon finally know when they'll be coming home. The Boeing Starliner astronauts, who launched on the spacecraft's Crewed Flight Test on June 5, have been living aboard the International Space Station (ISS) ever since their capsule returned to Earth without them. On Friday (March 7), NASA cleared a relief crew to launch on SpaceX Dragon next week, clearing the way for their long-awaited return to Earth.   More
(Source: Space.com - Mar 10)

NASA LAUNCH OF SPHEREX AND PUNCH SPACE MISSIONS DELAYED - Two NASA missions called "SPHEREx" and "PUNCH" will not be sharing a ride to space this weekend. The agency had planned to launch both missions at the same time on Saturday (March 8) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket; SpaceX is continuing to complete vehicle checkouts, delaying the liftoff. A new launch date will be announced once confirmed, according to an update posted to SpaceX's website.   More
(Source: Space.com - Mar 9)

ROCKET LAB UNVEILS PLAN TO LAND NEUTRON ROCKETS AT SEA, 1ST LAUNCH IN 2025 - The private space company Rocket Lab is on track to launch the first of its new reusable Neutron Rocket in the second half of 2025 and will eventually land them at sea, the company revealed. Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck shared updates on Neutron during the company’s Feb. 26 earnings call, saying its Neutron rocket will address the growing demand for launch services from defense, security, and science communities.   More
(Source: Space.com - Mar 9)

SPACEX DRAGON CAPSULE ARRIVES AT LAUNCH SITE FOR CREW-10 ASTRONAUT FLIGHT TO ISS - The capsule that will carry the next crew to the International Space Station has reached the SpaceX hangar at the mission's launch pad. The Crew Dragon Endurance will ferry the next set of astronauts to the International Station (ISS). That mission, called Crew-10, is set to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than March 12, with NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov on board. The quartet are headed for a roughly six-month stay aboard the orbital lab, relieving the Crew-9 astronauts currently wrapping up their rotation.   More
(Source: Space.com - Mar 8)

X-37B ORBITAL TEST VEHICLE CONCLUDES SEVENTH SUCCESSFUL MISSION - The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle-7 (OTV-7), the U.S. Space Force’s dynamic unmanned spaceplane, successfully deorbited and landed at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, March 7, 2025 at 02:22 a.m. EST. The U.S. Space Force landed the X-37B at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, to exercise its rapid ability to launch and recover its systems across multiple sites. X-37B’s Mission 7 was the first launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket to a Highly Elliptical Orbit. While on orbit, Mission 7 accomplished a range of test and experimentation objectives intended to demonstrate the X-37B’s robust maneuver capability while helping characterize the space domain through the testing of space domain awareness technology experiments.    More
(Source: United States Space Force - Mar 7)

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