CREW KICKS OFF WEEK PREPPING FOR CYGNUS CARGO MISSION - The Expedition 74 crew continues preparing for the next U.S. cargo mission due to visit the International Space Station. The orbital residents also serviced spacesuits, configured scientific hardware, and studied how microgravity affects blood pressure at the beginning of the week. NASA Flight Engineers Chris Williams and Jack Hathaway joined each other in the cupola on Monday and practiced maneuvering the Canadarm2 robotic arm to capture the Cygnus XL when it arrives to the space station. After the cargo spacecraft’s capture, ground controllers will remotely command Canadarm2 to install Cygnus XL on the Unity module’s Earth-facing port. More (Source: NASA - Apr 7)
ARTEMIS 2 ASTRONAUTS FLY AROUND THE MOON IN RECORD-BREAKING LUNAR LOOP BY NASA - Artemis 2's historic, action-packed lunar flyby is in the books. Artemis 2 looped around the moon's far side today (April 6), in a nearly seven-hour encounter that gave its four astronauts views of Earth's nearest neighbor that human eyes had never seen before. The Artemis 2 crewmembers also observed a total solar eclipse from beyond the moon and set a big spaceflight record, traveling farther from their home planet than anyone ever had before. More (Source: Space.com - Apr 7)
ARTEMIS ASTRONAUTS SEND DOWN EASTER MESSAGE, PREP FOR LUNAR FLY AROUND MONDAY - Taking time out to send Easter greetings down to Earth, the four Artemis 2 astronauts closed in on the moon Sunday, already seeing unexpected detail on the surface and giving scientists a taste of things to come during a pass over the lunar far side Monday evening. Artemis 2 commander Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch also presented “astronaut wings” to Canadian crewmate Jeremy Hansen, making his first space flight, before getting down to work carrying out planned tests of new Artemis pressure suits. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 6)
ULA’S ATLAS 5 ROCKET LAUNCHES ITS HEAVIEST PAYLOAD EVER WITH FIFTH AMAZON LEO MISSION - United Launch Alliance launched its latest Atlas 5 rocket, which carried a batch of 29 Amazon Leo satellites to low Earth orbit. The mission was the largest and heaviest payload carried to orbit by an Atlas 5 rocket to date, according to ULA. The mission was called Amazon Leo 5 by ULA and Leo Atlas 5 (LA-05) by Amazon. This was the fifth launch of operational satellites by ULA and the ninth for the constellation, which included one flight by Arianespace’s Ariane 6 rocket and three flights on SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 5)
SPACEX TO LAUNCH MILITARY MISSILE TRACKING SATELLITES THROUGH NEW SPACE FORCE CONTRACT - The U.S. Space Force awarded SpaceX a $178.5 million task order on April 1, 2026 to launch missile tracking satellites for the Space Development Agency. The contract, designated SDA-4, covers two Falcon 9 launches beginning in Q3 2027, one from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and one from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The satellites, built by Sierra Space, are designed to bolster the nation’s ability to detect and track missile threats from orbit. More (Source: Teslarati - Apr 4)
ARTEMIS 2 ASTRONAUTS HEAD FOR THE MOON AFTER MAKE-OR-BREAK ENGINE BURN - Artemis 2 is on its way to the moon. The mission's Orion capsule aced a crucial translunar injection (TLI) burn this evening (April 2), firing its main engine to leave Earth orbit and head toward our planet's natural satellite. It was a huge milestone for the Artemis 2 mission, and one of its crewmembers marked it with some poignant words. More (Source: Space.com - Apr 3)
NASA LAUNCHES 4 ASTRONAUTS TO THE MOON ON HISTORIC ARTEMIS 2 VOYAGE, A LUNAR LEAP FOR THE 21ST CENTURY - For the first time in over 50 years, astronauts from Earth have launched to the moon. NASA's most powerful rocket, the Space Launch System, lit up the evening sky over Florida's Space Coast today (April 1) in a stunning liftoff to send four astronauts on a 10-day voyage around the moon. The historic Artemis 2 mission launched at 6:35 p.m. EDT (2235 GMT) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, beginning the first astronaut voyage to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972 More (Source: Space.com - Apr 1)
WEATHER FOR NASA’S ARTEMIS II MISSION LAUNCH 80% FAVORABLE - Ahead of call to stations at 4:34 p.m. EDT on Monday, and the countdown clock beginning at 4:44 p.m., engineers continue preparations toward the launch of the Artemis II mission from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The agency is targeting no earlier than Wednesday, April 1, for launch. The weather forecast shows an 80% chance of favorable weather conditions, with cloud coverage and potential for high winds on the ground as primary weather concerns. More (Source: NASA - Apr 1)
SECOND STARLINK SATELLITE SUFFERS ANOMALY, GENERATING DEBRIS - For the second time in just over three months, a SpaceX Starlink satellite has generated debris from an apparent on-orbit malfunction. SpaceX confirmed March 30 that Starlink-34343 “experienced an anomaly” March 29, causing a loss of communications with the spacecraft. The satellite, launched in May 2025, was in orbit at an altitude of 560 kilometers. More (Source: SpaceNews - Apr 1)
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