IN PIECES? SPACEX MYSTERIOUSLY LOSES CONTACT WITH STARLINK SATELLITE - A Starlink satellite has suffered a mysterious “anomaly” that seems to have caused it to eject debris into Earth’s orbit—an apparent repeat of a similar incident in December. On Monday, SpaceX tweeted that it had lost contact with Starlink satellite 34343, which launched in May 2025. The... More (Source: PCMag - Mar 31)
ARTEMIS 2 MOON MISSION LATEST NEWS: T-2 DAYS TO NASA'S APRIL 1 LAUNCH - NASA is preparing to launch Artemis 2, its first astronaut mission to the moon since 1972, with liftoff set for no earlier than April 1. Liftoff is set for 6:24 p.m. EDT (2224 GMT). Artemis 2 will launch four astronauts on a 10-day voyage around the moon. Below, you'll find complete coverage of t... More (Source: Space.com - Mar 31)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 119 PAYLOADS ON SMALLSAT RIDESHARE MISSION FROM CALIFORNIA - SpaceX launched 119 payloads to a Sun-synchronous, low Earth orbit on a rideshare mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Liftoff of the Transporter-16 mission from Space Launch Complex 4 East aboard a Falcon 9 rocket occurred at 4:02 a.m. PDT (7:02 a.m. EDT / 1102 UTC).... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 30)
SPACEX TO LAUNCH 119 PAYLOADS ON SMALLSAT RIDESHARE MISSION FROM CALIFORNIA - SpaceX is gearing up to launch its third largest smallsat rideshare mission on Monday morning. The Transporter-16 mission will fly 119 payloads to a Sun-synchronous, low Earth orbit on a Falcon 9 rocket launching from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East is sch... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 30)
ASTRONAUT’S CONDITION THAT LED TO SPACE STATION EVACUATION REMAINS A MYSTERY - The astronaut who was inexplicably left unable to talk during an International Space Station mission and whose medical episode prompted an unusual evacuation back to Earth said this week that doctors still don’t know what happened. In multiple interviews on Friday, Michael Fincke identified him... More (Source: The New York Times - Mar 30)
POLAND’S SECOND MILITARY SATELLITE SET TO LAUNCH, BUILDING ‘SPACE ADVANTAGE’ - The second of three satellites from the Polish-Finnish tech firm ICEYE is set to launch on Monday as Poland looks to build its “advantage in space”, the country’s deputy defense minister has announced. In May 2025, Poland’s defense ministry signed a €202 million contract to acquire thre... More (Source: TVP World - Mar 30)
SPACEX LAUNCHES BATCH OF STARLINK SATELLITES FROM THE WEST COAST - SpaceX launched another batch of satellites for its Starlink internet service Thursday. Liftoff of the Starlink 17-17 mission occurred at 4:03:19 p.m. PDT (7:03:19 p.m. EDT / 230319: UTC). The mission was originally scheduled for March 24 but was delayed two days for unknown reasons, presumably p... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 29)
IOD-2 SATELLITE, BUILT BY THALES ALENIA SPACE FOR ESA’S CELESTE MISSION, LIFTED OFF TODAY FROM NEW ZEALAND - Two satellites, part of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Celeste in orbit demonstration mission, were launched at 10:14 CET today, atop a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from New Zealand. The two satellites separated from the launcher about an hour later. This marks the beginning of their early operat... More (Source: Thales Alenia Space - Mar 29)
CHINA LAUNCHES TEST SATELLITE FOR SPACE ENVIRONMENT EXPERIMENT - China launched a new test satellite from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Friday. A Long March-2C rocket, attached with the Yuanzheng-1S (Expedition-1S) upper stage, blasted off at 12:11 p.m. It has sent the Shiyan-33 satellite into the preset orbit.... More (Source: CGTN - Mar 28)
EUROPE PLANS EPIC SPACEX MISSION TO SEND 4 ASTRONAUTS TO THE ISS BEFORE ITS RETIREMENT - The European Space Agency is planning to buy a dedicated SpaceX Crew Dragon mission to send its astronauts to the International Space Station to boost their time and experience in space. European Space Agency (ESA) Director General Josef Aschbacher announced the plan to charter a SpaceX Crew Drag... More (Source: Space.com - Mar 27)
CHINESE SATELLITE PERFORMS LANDMARK REFUELLING TEST IN LOW EARTH ORBIT - A Chinese commercial satellite has completed a refuelling test in low Earth orbit using a flexible “octopus tentacle” robotic arm, advancing efforts to extend spacecraft lifespans and develop in-orbit servicing abilities. The Hukeda-2, or Yuxing-3 06, demonstration satellite used its flexible a... More (Source: South China Morning Post - Mar 27)
THOUSANDS OF PICO-SATELLITES MAY TRANSFORM HOW PHONES CONNECT TO SPACE - Swarms of pico-satellites could work together as a single large antenna for direct-to-smartphone communications, as reported by researchers from Japan. Instead of relying on a single large satellite with a phased-array antenna, the team showed that pico-satellites orbiting Earth in formation could e... More (Source: Tech Xplore - Mar 26)
DDNRO WARNS OF RISKS FROM SPACE DEBRIS AT TECH SYMPOSIUM - A dramatic rise in the number of satellites on orbit is increasing the amount of space debris, posing a critical threat to the capabilities of America’s national space systems, Maj. Gen. Chris Povak, deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office, said Monday.... More (Source: NRO.gov - Mar 25)
RUSSIAN AEROSPACE COMPANY LAUNCHES FIRST BATCH OF STARLINK RIVAL SATELLITES - A Russian aerospace company has launched the first batch of low-orbit satellites that will eventually make up a vast satellite internet constellation under a project meant to rival SpaceX’s Starlink, the business newspaper Kommersant reported Tuesday. The first elements of the state-funded sate... More (Source: The Moscow Times - Mar 25)
BRITAIN LAUNCHES SATELLITE THAT CAN SEE INSIDE BUILDINGS - A British-made satellite that can look inside buildings will be launched into space this week. The satellite, made by London-based SatVu, can pick up detailed heat signatures of human activity even behind roofs and walls. It could help intelligence services to see “inside” Iran’s nuclear... More (Source: The Telegraph - Mar 25)
CHINA'S SMART DRAGON-3 ROCKET LAUNCHES SATELLITES FROM SEA - A Smart Dragon-3 rocket lifted off on Sunday in east China's Shandong Province, sending the satellite group CentiSpace 02 into the planned orbit. The rocket blasted off at 11:49 p.m. (Beijing Time) from the sea near the city of Haiyang. Taiyuan Satelli... More (Source: Global Times - Mar 24)
A UNIQUE NASA SATELLITE IS FALLING OUT OF ORBIT—THIS TEAM IS TRYING TO RESCUE IT - One of NASA’s oldest astronomy missions, the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, has been out of action for more than a month as scientists await the arrival of a pioneering robotic rescue mission. The 21-year-old spacecraft is falling out of orbit, and NASA officials believe it’s worth saving—... More (Source: Ars Technica - Mar 24)
PROGRESS CARGO CRAFT LAUNCHES TO RESUPPLY STATION CREW - The unpiloted Roscosmos Progress 94 spacecraft is safely in orbit and headed to the International Space Station following its launch at 7:59 a.m. EDT (4:59 p.m. Baikonur time) on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Following launch, one of the Progress spacecraft’s two K... More (Source: NASA - Mar 24)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 29 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - SpaceX launched a mid-morning flight of its Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, its 37th launch of the year. The Starlink 10-62 mission features 29 of SpaceX’s Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites, which were deployed into low Earth orbit about an hour after lift... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 23)
