SPACEX DRAGON CAPSULE ARRIVES AT LAUNCH SITE FOR CREW-10 ASTRONAUT FLIGHT TO ISS - The capsule that will carry the next crew to the International Space Station has reached the SpaceX hangar at the mission's launch pad. The Crew Dragon Endurance will ferry the next set of astronauts to the International Station (ISS). That mission, called Crew-10, is set to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than March 12, with NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov on board. The quartet are headed for a roughly six-month stay aboard the orbital lab, relieving the Crew-9 astronauts currently wrapping up their rotation.   More
(Source: Space.com - Mar 8)

X-37B ORBITAL TEST VEHICLE CONCLUDES SEVENTH SUCCESSFUL MISSION - The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle-7 (OTV-7), the U.S. Space Force’s dynamic unmanned spaceplane, successfully deorbited and landed at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, March 7, 2025 at 02:22 a.m. EST. The U.S. Space Force landed the X-37B at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, to exercise its rapid ability to launch and recover its systems across multiple sites. X-37B’s Mission 7 was the first launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket to a Highly Elliptical Orbit. While on orbit, Mission 7 accomplished a range of test and experimentation objectives intended to demonstrate the X-37B’s robust maneuver capability while helping characterize the space domain through the testing of space domain awareness technology experiments.    More
(Source: United States Space Force - Mar 7)

EUROPE'S ARIANE 6 DEPLOYS SPY SATELLITE IN FIRST FULL MISSION - Europe's new Ariane 6 rocket successfully deployed a French spy satellite in its first fully operational launch on Thursday, completing a return to space for a continent facing questions over its role amid a security rift with the United States. The uncrewed launcher lifted off from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, at 1:24 p.m. local time (1624 GMT). Controllers later said its CSO-3 reconnaissance satellite had separated smoothly, completing a trio of military platforms.   More
(Source: Reuters - Mar 7)

STARSHIP UPPER STAGE LOST IN SECOND MISHAP IN A ROW - SpaceX launched its huge Starship rocket on the program’s eighth test flight Thursday, but a malfunction of some sort triggered multiple upper stage engine shutdowns and for the second flight in a row, the vehicle failed to reach its planned sub-orbital altitude and broke apart in a shower of debris. “Obviously, a lot to go through, a lot to dig through. We’re going to go right at it,” said SpaceX launch commentator Dan Huot. “The primary reason we do these flight tests is to learn. We have some more to learn about this vehicle, but we’re going to be right back here in the not-too-distant future, and we’re going to get a ship to space.”   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 7)

ISS ASTRONAUTS REJECT CALL FOR EARLY RETIREMENT OF THE STATION - Astronauts on the International Space Station said they disagreed with Elon Musk’s claim that the station was past its prime and should be deorbited in as soon as two years. Speaking to reporters March 4, NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been on the station since June on a flawed Starliner test flight, and Nick Hague, the commander of the Crew-9 mission that will bring the two back with him later this month, addressed political issues like an early retirement of the ISS and Musk’s claim he offered NASA an early return of the Starliner crew.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Mar 7)

NASA’S SPACEX CREW-9 SCIENTIFIC MISSION ON SPACE STATION CONCLUDES - NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission with agency astronauts Nick Hague, Butch Wilmore, and Suni Williams, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov is preparing to return to Earth following their science mission aboard the International Space Station. Hague, Williams, and Wilmore completed more than 900 hours of research between over 150 unique scientific experiments and technology demonstrations during their stay aboard the orbiting laboratory.   More
(Source: NASA - Mar 7)

APEX’S FIRST SATELLITE MARKS ONE YEAR IN ORBIT - The first spacecraft built by satellite manufacturing startup Apex continues to work well after a year in orbit as the company leverages that experience for future spacecraft. The Aries SN1 spacecraft launched last March on the SpaceX Transporter-10 rideshare mission. The spacecraft was a demonstration of the design of the Aries spacecraft, which can accommodate 150 kilograms of payload, and was also used by several customers that included Anduril and Booz Allen Hamilton.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Mar 6)

AS SATELLITE COLLISION RISKS INCREASE, EPHEMERIS SHARING IS VITAL - As the number of satellites in LEO continues to grow exponentially, when it comes to a satellite’s location, sharing is caring. Varying predictions have the satellite population in LEO increasing by two- to six-fold by the end of this decade. That is a phenomenal growth rate that will provide an abundance of new services and capabilities here on Earth, but it is not without consequences. More sats zooming around means more collision warnings and more maneuvering in orbit—something companies could help avoid by sharing precise location data with other operators.   More
(Source: - Mar 5)

STRANDED US ASTRONAUTS EXPECTED TO RETURN HOME AFTER NINE MONTHS IN SPACE - Two NASA astronauts are expected to come home this month after being stranded in space since June. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were originally scheduled for an eight-day mission, but their return was complicated when the Boeing Starliner spacecraft was deemed unsafe for the journey home.   More
(Source: ABC News - Mar 5)

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