NASA SHARES SPACEX CREW-12 ASSIGNMENTS FOR SPACE STATION MISSION - As part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission, four crew members from three space agencies will launch no earlier than Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, to the International Space Station for a long-duration science expedition. NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway will serve as spacecraft commander and pilot, respectively, and will be accompanied by ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, who will both serve as mission specialists. Crew-12 will join Expedition 74 crew members currently aboard the space station.   More
(Source: NASA - Dec 20)

AST SPACEMOBILE CONFIRMS 2026 LAUNCH SCHEDULE - Jennifer Manner, SVP/Regulatory Affairs at AST SpaceMobile, told a Congress Committee (the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology of the Committee on Energy & Commerce) that the satellite Direct-to-Cell business would launch between 45 and 60 of its second-generation BlueBird 2 satellites during 2026. She confirmed that the satellites were under manufacture at its two factories (in Maryland and Florida), and at the rate of six per month.   More
(Source: Advanced Television - Dec 20)

A STARLINK SATELLITE SEEMS TO HAVE EXPLODED - SpaceX says it has lost control of a Starlink satellite that’s now falling back to Earth after suffering an anomaly. The sudden loss of communications, drop in altitude, “venting of the propulsion tank,” and “release of a small number of trackable low relative velocity objects,” suggests the anomaly was some kind of explosion. SpaceX says it poses no threat to the crew of the ISS and will burn up in the atmosphere “within weeks.” This mishap comes a week after SpaceX reported a near miss with a Chinese satellite.   More
(Source: The Verge - Dec 20)

ROCKET LAB LAUNCHES 4 EXPERIMENTAL 'DISKSATS' FOR THE US MILITARY - Rocket Lab launched a new type of satellite for the U.S. Space Force early Thursday morning (Dec. 18). An Electron rocket carrying four "DiskSats" lifted off from Rocket Lab's pad on Wallops Island, Virginia on Thursday at 12:03 a.m. EST (0503 GMT). The launch, which Rocket Lab called "Don't Be Such a Square," kicked off the Space Test Program (STP)-S30 mission for the U.S. Space Force's Space Systems Command.   More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 19)

EUROPE'S ARIANE 6 ROCKET LAUNCHES ITS 1ST PAIR OF GALILEO NAVIGATION SATELLITES - Europe's towering Ariane 6 rocket is gaining momentum in the heavy-lift launch market. The first pair of Galileo navigation satellites to launch on an Ariane 6 lifted off from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana on Wednesday (Dec. 17) at 12:01 a.m. EST (0501 GMT; 2:01 a.m. local time in Kourou). Galileo Launch 14 (L14) is sending the spacecraft pair to join 26 other active satellites in the constellation, which is Europe's equivalent to the Global Positioning System (GPS) used by the United States   More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 18)

'CRASH CLOCK' WARNS EARTH ORBIT IS NEARING DISASTER AS MEGACONSTELLATIONS PUSH SPACE TRAFFIC TO BRINK - Earth’s orbital overcrowding is approaching a breaking point, according to a new analysis using a warning metric called the Crash Clock. The study authors examined the rapidly increasing density of satellites in low-Earth orbit, revealing that a catastrophic collision could unfold in as little as 2.8 days if satellite operators suddenly lost the ability to maneuver. The findings underscore growing concerns about space sustainability, space weather risks and the long-term reliability of GPS and communications networks.   More
(Source: AccuWeather - Dec 18)

RUSSIA SAYS DAMAGED LAUNCH PAD CRUCIAL TO ITS SPACE PROGRAMME WILL BE FIXED BY FEBRUARY - Russia's space agency said on Tuesday that work was underway to repair a damaged launch pad at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan that underpins its space programme and that the facility should be back in use by February of next year. The pad was badly damaged in November when a Russian Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft with two Russian cosmonauts and one NASA astronaut on board blasted off.   More
(Source: CNA - Dec 17)

ULA ATLAS 5 LAUNCH PUTS AMAZON’S 180TH BROADBAND SATELLITE IN LOW EARTH ORBIT - United Launch Alliance aced its final launch of 2025, a predawn flight of an Atlas 5 rocket carrying 27 satellites for Amazon’s recently re-branded Leo broadband internet service. The on time liftoff from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 3:28 a.m. EST (0828 UTC), as the RD-180 engine on the booster roared to lift alongside five solid rocket boosters. The rocket flew on a north-easterly trajectory upon leaving the launch pad. The mission, referred to by ULA as Amazon Leo 4 and dubbed Leo Atlas 4 (LA-04) by Amazon, was ULA’s fourth launch for the venture, previously known as Project Kuiper.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 17)

SURPRISE! 2 PRIVATE SPACECRAFT RENDEZVOUS IN ORBIT ON NEWLY REVEALED 'REMORA' MISSION - Two commercial spacecraft pulled off a surprise rendezvous in Earth orbit recently, showcasing skills that could pave the way for satellite servicing missions down the road. The milestone came on a mission called Remora, a newly revealed collaboration between the companies Starfish Space and Impulse Space. One of Impulse Space's dishwasher-sized Mira orbital transfer vehicles used Starfish software to get within a mere 4,100 feet (1,250 meters) of another Mira, in a key demonstration of autonomous rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) tech.   More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 16)

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