SPACE DEBRIS MAY HAVE HIT A CHINESE SPACECRAFT, DELAYING RETURN OF SHENZHOU 20 ASTRONAUTS - Three Chinese astronauts will live in space a little longer, after their return vehicle was hit by a suspected space debris impact. The astronauts are part of the Shenzhou 20 mission, which launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on April 24 and arrived at Tiangong after a six-hour orbital chase. More (Source: Space.com - Nov 6)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 29 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM CAPE CANAVERAL - SpaceX launched its first batch of Starlink satellites of the month Wednesday night. The company has at least seven such missions planned before the Thanksgiving Day holiday. The mission, dubbed Starlink 6-81, saw 29 Starlink V2 Mini satellites sent to low Earth orbit. The spacecraft were deployed all at once a little more than an hour after launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 6)
SENTINEL-1D REACHES ORBIT ON ARIANE 6 - The Sentinel-1 mission – which provides radar vision for the Copernicus Earth observation programme – has a new addition to its family of satellites, with the arrival in orbit of Sentinel-1D, the last of the groundbreaking first generation. The launch took place at 22:02 CET (18:02 local time), on Tuesday, 4 November, on board an Ariane 6 launcher from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. More (Source: European Space Agency - Nov 6)
ULA SCRUBS ATLAS V ROCKET LAUNCH DUE TO TECHNICAL ISSUE - United Launch Alliance scrubbed the planned launch of the ViaSat-3 F2 mission tonight (Nov. 5) due to a technical issue. The next opportunity will come Thursday (Nov. 6) at 10:16 p.m. EDT (0316 GMT on Nov. 7). ViaSat-3 F2, which weighs about 13,000 pounds (5,900 kilograms), was scheduled to lift off atop an Atlas V today from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, during a 44-minute window that opens at 10:24 p.m. EST (0324 GMT on Nov. 6). More (Source: Space.com - Nov 6)
A COMMERCIAL SPACE STATION STARTUP NOW HAS A FOOTHOLD IN SPACE - A pathfinder mission for Vast’s privately owned space station launched into orbit Sunday and promptly extended its solar panel, kicking off a shakedown cruise to prove the company’s designs can meet the demands of spaceflight. Vast’s Haven Demo mission lifted off just after midnight Sunday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, and rode a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket into orbit. Haven Demo was one of 18 satellites sharing a ride on SpaceX’s Bandwagon 4 mission, launching alongside a South Korean spy satellite and a small testbed for Starcloud, a startup working with Nvidia to build an orbital data center. More (Source: Ars Technica - Nov 5)
THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION WILL FALL TO EARTH IN 2030. CAN A PRIVATE SPACE STATION REALLY FILL ITS GAP? - When the International Space Station plunges to its fiery doom in 2030, its loss to science will be incalculable, even if it remains an open question as to whether its successes matched humanity's ambitions for it. By the time that the International Space Station (ISS) is safely and deliberately de-orbited over the Pacific Ocean, the station will have been permanently crewed for 30 years — it has had visitors ever since the first Expedition 1 mission (consisting of one astronaut and two cosmonauts) first docked with the fledgling, half-built station on November 2, 2000. More (Source: Space.com - Nov 5)
ROCKET LAB READY TO LAUNCH JAPAN’S “THE NATION GOD NAVIGATES” SATELLITE - “The Nation God Navigates” is the name of a Rocket Lab mission launching on November 5, 2025, which will deploy a Japanese satellite for its operator, iQPS. The mission’s name and the satellite’s nickname, YACHIHOKO-I, are inspired by YACHIHOKO, the Japanese god of nation-building and navigation. Rocket Lab Corporation (Nasdaq: RKLB), a global provider in launch services and space systems, announced the launch window for its next mission for multi-launch customer Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space, Inc. (iQPS), a Japan-based Earth imaging company. More (Source: SatNews - Nov 5)
COPERNICUS SENTINEL-1D EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITE SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED - The Copernicus Sentinel-1D Earth observation satellite, built by prime contractor Thales Alenia Space, the joint company between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), was successfully launched by Arianespace with an Ariane 6 rocket from Europe’s spaceport, in French Guiana. Sentinel-1D is part of Copernicus, the Earth Observation component of the European Union’s Space Programme. This program is managed by the European Commission and co-funded by the European Union and the European Space Agency. More (Source: Thales Alenia Space - Nov 5)
TURKISH FIRM LAUNCHES ITS 2ND SATELLITE INTO SPACE - Turkish private space company, Fergani Space, founded by Baykar’s Selçuk Bayraktar, launched its second fully domestic satellite, FGN-100-D2, into space, it announced on Monday. "FGN-100-D2, the second satellite fully developed with national resources by Fergani Space and also Türkiye’s largest private-sector satellite, has successfully embarked on its journey into space," the company said. More (Source: Daily Sabah - Nov 4)
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