SPACEX BREAKS PAD TURNAROUND RECORD AT CAPE CANAVERAL WITH MIDDAY STARLINK LAUNCH - SpaceX’s launch of its Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday afternoon broke the turnaround record at its launchpad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station by more than five hours. The Starlink 6-98 mission lifted off at 1:08 p.m. EST (1808 UTC), just 45 hours after the launch of the Starlink 6-97 mission at... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 15)
CHINA HAS APPLIED TO LAUNCH 200,000 SATELLITES, BUT WHAT ARE THEY FOR? - China has applied to launch nearly 200,000 satellites into Earth orbit, but the move may be an attempt at merely reserving orbital space rather than a genuine effort to build the largest mega-constellation in existence.... More (Source: New Scientist - Jan 15)
ISS ASTRONAUT MEDICAL EVACUATION LATEST NEWS: CREW-11 ASTRONAUTS PREPARE FOR SPACEX DRAGON DEPARTURE - The four astronauts of SpaceX's Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) are officially "go" to return to Earth on Wednesday (Jan. 14). Mission managers gave the go-ahead for undocking today (Jan. 13), NASA officials announced in an update. NASA's Zena Cardman will command Crew-11... More (Source: Space.com - Jan 14)
EUTELSAT ORDERS 340 ADDITIONAL SATELLITES TO REPLENISH ONEWEB CONSTELLATION - Eutelsat has ordered the remaining 340 satellites needed to replenish its OneWeb satellite constellation from Airbus Defence and Space. The companies announced Jan. 12 that Eutelsat will purchase 340 satellites for the OneWeb system, with deliveries beginning at the end of 2026. The order foll... More (Source: Space News - Jan 14)
EUROPE GETS READY FOR A NEW POLAR SATELLITE CONSTELLATION - Europe is to get a new polar satellite constellation, EPS-Sterna, that could provide up to 30 billion euros ($35 billion) in economic value to Europe over the course of its lifetime. The first satellites from this key new European program will likely be deployed in 2029. The program secured near ... More (Source: Via Satellite - Jan 14)
U.S. SPACE FORCE SWITCHES ROCKETS FOR UPCOMING GPS SATELLITE LAUNCH - The next Global Positioning System satellite is switching from a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket to a SpaceX Falcon 9, a spokesperson for the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command System Delta 80 said Tuesday. SpaceX could launch the GPS III Space Vehicle 09 (SV09) within the next few w... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 14)
NASA, SPACEX INVITE MEDIA TO WATCH CREW-12 LAUNCH TO SPACE STATION - NASA announced it is targeting no earlier than Thursday, Jan. 15, for a splashdown of its Crew-11 mission. The agency also is working with SpaceX and international partners to advance the launch of Crew-12, which is currently slated for Sunday, Feb. 15. The crew includes NASA astronauts Jessica M... More (Source: NASA - Jan 13)
AIRBUS AWARDED EUTELSAT CONTRACT FOR FURTHER 340 LOW EARTH ORBIT ONEWEB SATELLITES - Airbus Defence and Space has been awarded a contract by Eutelsat to build a further 340 OneWeb low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. Together with the previous batch of 100 satellites procured in December 2024, the total number of satellites ordered by Eutelsat amounts to 440. These new satellites will ... More (Source: Airbus - Jan 13)
INDIA’S PSLV SUFFERS SECOND CONSECUTIVE LAUNCH FAILURE, 16 SATELLITES LOST - India’s first launch of 2026 ended in failure due to an issue with the third stage of its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The mission, designated PSLV-C62, was also the second consecutive failure of this four-stage rocket with both anomalies affecting the third stage. This time, 16 satel... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 13)
ISRO TO LAUNCH ANVESHA SATELLITE ON PSLV-C62: WHY NO ONE CAN HIDE FROM IT - Imagine having a superpower that lets you see beyond what the human eye can detect, revealing hidden details in everything from forests to battlefields. That's hyperspectral remote sensing (HRS) in a nutshell. Think of it as turning ordinary satellite photos into a high-tech detective tool.... More (Source: India Today - Jan 12)
SPACEX DEPLOYS NASA’S PANDORA, OTHER SMALLSATS AMID 1ST ‘TWILIGHT’ RIDESHARE MISSION - SpaceX debuted a new class of rideshare mission on Sunday with the launch of its first Twilight flight. The mission was described by the company as flying to a “dawn-dusk Sun-synchronous orbit” after departing from Vandenberg Space Force Base. There were 40 spacecraft jettisoned from the Falc... More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 12)
CHANGE OF COMMAND OF INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION TO OCCUR - NASA will provide live coverage of the International Space Station change of command ceremony starting at 2:35 p.m. EST Monday, Jan. 12. on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency’s YouTube channel. As Crew-11 prepares to depart from the space station, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke will hand command of E... More (Source: NASA - Jan 11)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 29 STARLINK SATELLITES ON ITS 3RD MISSION OF 2026 - SpaceX's third mission of 2026 is in the books. A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 29 of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Friday (Jan. 9) at 4:41 p.m. EST (2141 GMT). About 8.5 minutes later, the rocket's first stage landed in the... More (Source: Space.com - Jan 11)
NASA CONSIDERING BRINGING ASTRONAUTS HOME EARLY FROM INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION DUE TO MEDICAL ISSUE - The health issue affecting an astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) may be serious enough to end his or her orbital stay early. On Wednesday afternoon (Jan. 7), NASA announced that it has postponed a planned Thursday (Jan. 8) spacewalk outside the ISS due to an astronaut "medical... More (Source: Space.com - Jan 10)
FCC APPROVES SPACEX PLAN TO DEPLOY AN ADDITIONAL 7,500 STARLINK SATELLITES - The Federal Communications Commission said on Friday it has approved SpaceX's request to deploy another 7,500 second-generation Starlink satellites as it works to boost internet service worldwide. The FCC said Elon Musk's SpaceX can now operate an additional 7,500 Gen2 Starlink satellites, bringing... More (Source: Reuters - Jan 10)
SPACEX SCRUBS MIDDAY STARLINK MISSION LAUNCH FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - SpaceX scrubbed its planned early afternoon Falcon 9 launch on Thursday without citing a reason for the slip. The flight will deliver a new batch of its Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station when it does fly. While an explanation for the delay to the Sta... More (Source: VWttUD8HkaU - Jan 9)
NASA POSTPONES JAN. 8 SPACEWALK DUE TO 'MEDICAL CONCERN' WITH AN ASTRONAUT - NASA has postponed a planned Jan. 8 spacewalk outside the International Space Station due to a "medical concern" with an unnamed crew member. Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman had been scheduled to step outside the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday at about 8:00 a.m. EST (1300 GMT), kickin... More (Source: Space.com - Jan 8)
SATELLITE OVERLOAD: ASTRONOMERS LOOK TO UN TO PRESERVE THE NIGHT SKY - As satellite launches surge toward 1.7 million by 2030, astronomers and space companies are turning to multilateralism to mitigate satellite brightness and radio interference and keep astronomy alive. Last month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on “American space superiorit... More (Source: Geneva Solutions - Jan 8)
CHINA SPACE STATION CONDUCTS IN-ORBIT EXPERIMENT ON LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES, AIMING TO ENHANCE PERFORMANCE OF SPACECRAFT ENERGY SYSTEM: REPORT - The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) revealed that the project titled "In-situ electrochemical optical research on lithium-ion batteries for space applications" has been carried out on the China Space Station, with an ultimate goal to enhance the performance of spacecraft energy system. The Shen... More (Source: Global Times - Jan 7)
