FIREFLY LAUNCHES SPACE FORCE ‘VICTUS NOX’ MISSION - The U.S. Space Force announced that Firefly Aerospace successfully launched a Millennium Space small satellite Sept. 14 — a mission designed to demonstrate capabilities to launch in a much shorter timeline than is typical for national security missions. The Space Force mission, known as Victus Nox, flew on a Firefly Alpha rocket. It lifted off at 7:28 p.m. Pacific from Space Launch Complex 2 West at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, the Space Systems Command said in a news release. More (Source: SpaceNews - Sep 16)
SOYUZ SPACECRAFT WITH US ASTRONAUT, TWO RUSSIAN COSMONAUTS DOCKS AT ISS - A Russian spacecraft blasted off from Kazakhstan's Baikonur cosmodrome on Friday carrying two Russian cosmonauts and a U.S. astronaut to join the crew of the International Space Station (ISS), live TV images showed. At 1853 GMT the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft with American Loral O'Hara and Russians Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub on board docked at the ISS, Russia's Roscosmos space agency said. They will join the current crew of NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Frank Rubio, Russian cosmonauts Dmitry Petelin, Konstantin Borisov and Sergei Prokopyev, as well as Denmark's Andreas Mogensen and Japan's Satoshi Furukawa. More (Source: Reuters - Sep 16)
RUSSIA ROLLS SOYUZ ROCKET TO THE PAD AHEAD OF SEPT. 15 ASTRONAUT LAUNCH TO ISS - Tuesday was an active day at Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, as the Soyuz rocket for the next astronaut launch to the International Space Station was rolled to the launchpad. A Soyuz 2.1a rocket will launch the Soyuz MS-24 mission on Sept. 15, at 11:44 a.m. EDT (1544 GMT). The spacecraft will carry three crew members of ISS Expedition 70 to relieve crewmembers delayed aboard the International Space Station (ISS) more than six months past their scheduled return to Earth. More (Source: Space.com - Sep 14)
NASA SETS COVERAGE FOR LAUNCH, DOCKING OF NEW SPACE STATION CREW - A NASA astronaut and two Roscosmos cosmonauts are set to launch to the International Space Station on Friday, Sept. 15. The U.S. space agency will provide full coverage of launch and crew’s arrival at the microgravity laboratory. NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub are scheduled to lift off on the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11:44 a.m. EDT (8:44 p.m. Baikonur time). Coverage will begin at 10:45 a.m. on NASA Television... More (Source: NASA - Sep 14)
HOW COULD RUSSIA HELP NORTH KOREA BUILD A SATELLITE? - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday toured Russia's most modern space launch centre, where President Vladimir Putin promised to help Pyongyang build satellites. The unprecedented visit comes as North Korea seeks to put its first spy satellite into orbit, an effort that has seen two failed attempts this year. The promised Russian aid comes as North Korea's scientists have vowed to try another launch of the new Chollima-1 booster in October. More (Source: Reuters - Sep 14)
NORTH KOREA’S LAST REMAINING SATELLITE TO BURN UP IN ATMOSPHERE SOON - North Korea’s first-ever satellite is likely to soon fall out of orbit and disintegrate in the atmosphere after over a decade in space, experts assessed this week. Available evidence suggests the Kwangmyongsong-3-2 (KMS-3-2) satellite has not been operational since shortly after the DPRK launched it in 2012, while the country has failed to place a new military spy satellite into orbit twice this year. More (Source: North Korea News - Sep 13)
ARIANESPACE TO LAUNCH INTELSAT SMALL GEO SATELLITE - Arianespace will launch a small geostationary communication satellite for Intelsat on an Ariane 6 in 2026, a sign of a stable, but diminished, role for such satellites in the commercial launch market. Arianespace announced Sept. 12 it signed a contract with Intelsat to launch the IS-45 satellite in the first half of 2026. The satellite will fly with unnamed co-passengers on the more powerful version of the Ariane 6, the Ariane 64. More (Source: SpaceNews - Sep 13)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 21 NEW STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET - SpaceX launched another batch of its Starlink internet satellites early Tuesday (Sept. 12) and landed the returning rocket on a ship at sea. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 21 Starlink craft from California's foggy Vandenberg Space Force Base on Tuesday at 2:57 a.m. EDT (0657 GMT; 11:57 p.m. Sept. 11 local California time). The Falcon 9's first stage returned to Earth as planned for a landing in the Pacific Ocean, on the SpaceX droneship Of Course I Still Love You, about 8.5 minutes after launch. More (Source: Space.com - Sep 13)
CANADA'S TELESAT TAPS SPACEX TO LAUNCH ITS BROADBAND SATELLITES IN ORBIT - Canada's Telesat (TSAT.TO) on Monday said it has sealed an agreement with SpaceX to launch its low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites from 2026, with the aim of providing global broadband service from space in late 2027. LEO satellites operate 36 times closer to Earth than traditional ones so they take less time to send and receive information, leading to better and faster broadband service even in remote areas. More (Source: Reuters - Sep 13)
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