JAPAN TO LAUNCH SATELLITE IN FEBRUARY TO COMPLETE 7-ORBITER GEOLOCATION SYSTEM - Japan's space agency will launch a satellite in February to enable the country to stably operate its own geolocation system akin to the U.S. Global Positioning System. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd said that the Michibiki No. 7 satellite will be launched on an H3 rocket from Tanegashima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture on Feb 1. Together with another scheduled to be launched Dec 7, the satellite will complete Japan's seven-orbiter geolocation system, called the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System.   More
(Source: Japan Today - Dec 11)

SPACEX LAUNCHES CLASSIFIED PAYLOAD FOR THE NATIONAL RECONNAISSANCE OFFICE - SpaceX launched its final national security payload of the year for the nation’s secretive spy satellite agency, the National Reconnaissance Office. The Tuesday afternoon flight was also the final Falcon 9 booster recovery at Landing Zone 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The mission, dubbed National Reconnaissance Office Launch 77 (NROL-77), includes at least one payload, which the intelligence-gathering agency only described as being “designed, built, and operated by NRO.”   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 10)

SPACEX LAUNCHES STARLINK SATELLITES ON RECORD 32ND FLIGHT OF FALCON 9 ROCKET - The first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket just set a new record for a "flight-proven" booster, landing for the 32nd time after helping loft Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. The company's Booster 1067 lifted off on Monday (Dec. 8), accelerating an upper stage and 29 broadband internet satellites skyward. The 5:26 p.m. EST (2226 GMT Dec. 8) launch from Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida proceeded as planned after a one-day stand down due to poor weather conditions.   More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 10)

SOYUZ SAFELY LANDS IN KAZAKHSTAN - A NASA astronaut and two cosmonaut crewmates strapped into their Soyuz ferry ship Monday evening, undocked from the International Space Station and plunged to an on-target landing on the frigid steppe of Kazakhstan early Tuesday to wrap up an eight-month mission. With Soyuz commander Sergey Ryzhikov strapped into the descent module’s center seat, flanked on his left by cosmonaut Alexey Zubritsky and on the right by NASA’s Jonny Kim, the Soyuz MS-27/73S spacecraft undocked from the lab complex at 8:41 p.m. EST.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 10)

AST SPACEMOBILE AIMS TO LAUNCH FM2, ITS SECOND PROTOTYPE SATELLITE, IN JANUARY - AST SpaceMobile is hoping to launch a second next-generation prototype satellite "as early as January" as it races to compete with SpaceX’s cellular Starlink service. The company disclosed the launch timing in a new Federal Communications Commission filing. AST is already on track to launch its first prototype satellite, FM1, later this month. However, it appears that it's also scrambling to launch the FM2 as soon as possible.    More
(Source: PCMag Australia - Dec 9)

CHINA'S LONG MARCH-8A ROCKET LAUNCHES NEW INTERNET SATELLITE GROUP - China launched a Long March-8A carrier rocket on Saturday in the southern island province of Hainan, sending a group of internet satellites into space. The rocket lifted off at 3:53 p.m. from the Hainan commercial spacecraft launch site. It successfully placed the payloads, the 14th group of low-orbit internet satellites, into preset orbit.   More
(Source: Global Times - Dec 8)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 28 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM VANDENBERG SFB - SpaceX closed out the weekend with a mid-morning Falcon 9 rocket launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The Starlink 11-15 mission added another 28 broadband internet satellites to its massive low Earth orbit constellation. This was SpaceX’s 115th launch of Starlink satellites so far in 2025. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East happened at 9:58 a.m. PST (12:58 p.m. EST / 1758 UTC). The rocket flew on a south-easterly trajectory upon leaving the launch pad.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 8)

BOEING STARLINER MISSIONS CUT AFTER BOTCHED ASTRONAUT FLIGHT - NASA cut the planned missions of Boeing Co.’s Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station from six to four, following a highly publicized botched test flight last year and as the orbiting lab heads for retirement by the end of the decade. Originally, NASA had contracted Starliner to perform six missions that would carry crew to and from the ISS for months-long stays. Now, NASA and Boeing are mutually modifying the contract, the space agency said on Monday, with Starliner now tasked with performing four definitive missions and two optional ones.    More
(Source: MSN - Dec 7)

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION PREPARES FOR NEW COMMANDER, HEADS INTO FINAL FIVE YEARS OF PLANNED OPERATIONS - After 25 years of continuous human presence, the International Space Station is heading into its final half decade of planned habitation. NASA and its international partners are planning to intentionally deorbit the orbiting laboratory around 2030 or shortly thereafter. SpaceX was contracted valued at up to $843 million to build the United States Deorbit Vehicle (USDV), which will help guide the space station towards a splashdown in an uninhabited portion of the Pacific Ocean.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 6)

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