VEGA-C ROCKET LAUNCHES EUROPEAN FOREST-MONITORING 'BIOMASS' SATELLITE TO ORBIT - A European forest-monitoring satellite headed toward orbit from South America early Tuesday morning (April 29). The European Space Agency's (ESA) Biomass spacecraft lifted off atop a Vega-C rocket from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana on Tuesday at 5:15 a.m. EDT (0915 GMT; 6:15 a.m. lo... More (Source: Space.com - Apr 30)
CHINA LAUNCHES THIRD BATCH OF GUOWANG MEGACONSTELLATION SATELLITES - China launched a third batch of Guowang megaconstellation satellites Tuesday, advancing its ambitious low Earth orbit communications network to rival Starlink and other global systems. A Long March 5B heavy lift rocket with a Yuanzheng-2 upper stage lifted off at 4:10 p.m. Eastern (2010 UTC) Apri... More (Source: SpaceNews - Apr 30)
VETERAN NASA ASTRONAUT SAYS ISS CAN OPERATE PAST 2030 - A veteran NASA astronaut just back from the International Space Station believes the orbiting facility can operate well past its planned 2030 retirement date — and he wouldn’t mind another trip there. Don Pettit returned to Earth April 19 (U.S. time) on a Soyuz spacecraft, completing his thi... More (Source: SpaceNews - Apr 30)
CHINA'S SHENZHOU 20 ASTRONAUTS TAKE CONTROL OF TIANGONG SPACE STATION - China's outgoing Shenzhou 19 crew have handed over the reins of the Tiangong space station to a new set of astronauts. The Shenzhou 20 mission launched on a Long March 2F rocket from Jiuquan spaceport in northwest China on April 24. The spacecraft arrived at the Tiangong space station 6.5 hours l... More (Source: Space.com - Apr 30)
NEW SATELLITE WILL SEE THROUGH CLOUDS TO 'WEIGH' EARTH'S FORESTS - A first-of-its-kind satellite due to launch on Tuesday will be able to see through clouds and leafy canopies to assess how they are protecting the planet from climate change. The Biomass satellite, from the European Space Agency, will "weigh" the Earth's forests, revealing how much planet-warming... More (Source: BBC - Apr 29)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 23 STARLINK SATELLITES ON 50TH FALCON 9 ROCKET OF 2025 - SpaceX completed its second Falcon 9 rocket launch in less than half a day. The Starlink 12-10 mission took flight from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center about six hours after another Starlink flight took off from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A happened at 10:34 p.m. EDT... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 29)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 27 STARLINK LAUNCH FROM CALIFORNIA - SpaceX launched the Starlink 11-9 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base with 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites onboard on Monday afternoon, following a one-day delay. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East happened Monday, April 28 at 1:42 p.m. PDT (4:42 p.m. EDT, 2042 UTC).... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 29)
ULA LAUNCHES FIRST PRODUCTION AMAZON KUIPER SATELLITES ON ATLAS 5 ROCKET FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - Against the setting Sun, United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket thundered off the pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force State to begin the flight of the first production satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellite internet constellation. Five solid rocket boosters helped propel the rocket a... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 29)
AMAZON TO LAUNCH 1ST SATELLITES INTO ORBIT: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT PROJECT KUIPER - Amazon is preparing to launch its debut batch of satellites into orbit as it seeks to establish its own internet service for customers worldwide. Project Kuiper, a subsidiary of billionaire Jeff Bezos' online commerce behemoth, is meant to one day rival the satellite constellation that SpaceX fou... More (Source: USA Today - Apr 28)
LONG MARCH 3B LAUNCHES TIANLIAN-2 (05) SATELLITE TO BOOST SPACE DATA RELAY NETWORK - China added a new satellite to its geostationary Tianlian data tracking and relay communications satellite series Sunday with its latest launch. A Long March 3B lifted off at 11:54 a.m. Eastern (1554 UTC) April 27 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, southwest China. The China Aerospace Scie... More (Source: SpaceNews - Apr 28)
SPACEX DELAYS STARLINK LAUNCH FROM CALIFORNIA - SpaceX delayed by a day the Starlink 11-9 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base with 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites onboard. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East is now targeting Monday, April 28 at 1:39 p.m. PDT (4:39 p.m. EDT, 2039 UTC). Assuming Firefly Aerospace is able to launch its A... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 28)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 23 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Sunday night carrying 23 Starlink satellites, including 13 capable of direct to cell phone service. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 came at 10:09 p.m. EDT (0209 UTC). It was SpaceX’s 48th Falcon 9 launch of 2025.... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 28)
SPACEX TO LAUNCH 27 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM VANDENBERG SFB - SpaceX is preparing to launch back-to-back Falcon 9 rockets on Sunday from both California and Florida. Up first is the Starlink 11-9 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base with 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites onboard. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East is targeting 3:41 p.m. PDT (6:41 p.m... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 27)
RUSSIAN SATELLITE LINKED TO NUCLEAR WEAPON PROGRAM APPEARS OUT OF CONTROL, U.S. ANALYSTS SAY - The secretive Russian satellite in space that U.S. officials believe is connected to a nuclear anti-satellite weapon program has appeared to be spinning uncontrollably, suggesting it may no longer be functioning in what could be a setback for Moscow's space weapon efforts, according to U.S. analysts... More (Source: Reuters - Apr 26)
SHENZHOU-20 CREWED SPACECRAFT ARRIVES AT TIANGONG SPACE STATION - Three Chinese astronauts arrived at the Tiangong space station Thursday aboard the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft, hours after launching from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Shenzhou-20 docked with the radial port of the Tianhe core module of the Tiangong space station at around 11:49 a.m. Eastern (... More (Source: SpaceNews - Apr 26)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 28 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - SpaceX launched another 28 optimized Starlink V2 Mini satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Thursday night. Liftoff of the Starlink 6-74 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 happened at 9:52 p.m. EDT (0152 UTC). The rocket followed a south-easterly trajectory onc... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 25)
CREW UNLOADS DRAGON AND KICKS OFF NEW SPACE EXPERIMENTS - The Expedition 73 crew is beginning its first full week together unpacking the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft and activating new science experiments. The International Space Station residents are also gearing up for next week’s spacewalk while ensuring the ongoing operations of the orbiting laboratory.... More (Source: NASA - Apr 25)
CHINA LAUNCHES SHENZHOU 20 ASTRONAUTS TO TIANGONG SPACE STATION - China's latest human spaceflight mission headed for orbit on Thursday morning (April 24). A Long March 2F rocket topped with the Shenzhou 20 crew spacecraft lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on April 24 at 5:17 a.m. EDT (0917 GMT; 5:17 p.m. Beijing time). S... More (Source: Space.com - Apr 25)
SPACEX’S RIDESHARE BANDWAGON-3 MISSION MARKS THE 300TH ORBITAL FLIGHT FROM CAPE CANAVERAL’S PAD 40 - SpaceX completed its third Falcon 9 rocket launch in less than 48 hours with a rideshare mission carrying payloads to a mid-inclination orbit. Liftoff of the Bandwagon-3 mission happened at 8:48 p.m. EDT (0048 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. It was the 245... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 22)
