CREW 10 RETURNS TO EARTH WITH PACIFIC OCEAN SPLASHDOWN - Two NASA astronauts, a Japanese flier and a Russian cosmonaut plunged back to Earth Saturday, safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego to wrap up a five-month mission. Strapped into SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endurance, commander Anne McClain, pilot Nichole Ayers, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi and cosmonaut Kirill Peskov gently splashed down in calm seas at 11:33 a.m. EDT, 17-and-a-half hours after undocking from the International Space Station.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 10)

HAM RADIO USERS EXPLAIN WHY THEY'RE WORRIED ABOUT AST SPACEMOBILE'S SATELLITE PLANS - Ham radio enthusiasts have raised concerns about AST Spacemobile’s upcoming satellite operations, warning that expanded satellite communications might interfere with amateur radio frequencies and disrupt established communication channels. The debate centers on the technical challenges of frequency overlap and potential regulatory gaps that could weaken emergency response frameworks and the longstanding tradition of ham radio’s open, interference-free airwaves. Both communities are calling for transparent dialogue and collaborative solutions to balance innovation with the preservation of reliable, unencumbered communication for hobbyists and public safety alike.   More
(Source: PCMag - Aug 10)

CHINA LAUNCHES NEW SATELLITES FROM SEA - A Smart Dragon-3 (SD-3) rocket lifted off on Saturday morning from east China's Shandong Province, sending the Geely-04 constellation of 11 satellites into planned orbit. The rocket blasted off from sea at 12:31 a.m. (Beijing Time) near the city of Rizhao. The Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center conducted the offshore launch mission. It was the 6th flight mission to use an SD-3 rocket, according to the launch center.   More
(Source: Global Times - Aug 10)

DRAGON UNDOCKS, CREW-10 DEPARTS STATION FOR EARTH RETURN - At 6:15 p.m. EDT, NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, along with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov undocked from the forward-facing port of International Space Station’s Harmony module aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.   More
(Source: NASA - Aug 10)

EUROPEAN WEATHER SATELLITE READIED FOR LAUNCH ON ARIANE 6 ROCKET - The European Space Agency has cleared another hurdle on the road to launching the second generation of the MetOp (Meteorological Operational) Earth-studying weather satellites. In early August 2025, the team sealed the MetOp-SG-A1 within the fairing of its Arianespace Ariane 6 rocket.    More
(Source: Space.com - Aug 9)

ULA’S TORY BRUNO LAYS OUT PLANS FOR RAMPING UP LAUNCH CADENCE - United Launch Alliance is on the cusp of a significant milestone for its Vulcan rocket. The 202-foot-tall (61 m) launch vehicle is poised to take flight on its first national security mission as soon as Tuesday, August 12. Atop the two-stage rocket are a pair of missions for that are part of the U.S. Space Force’s National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program. The launch will be the first post-certification flight for a Vulcan rocket.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 8)

NASA TO PROVIDE LIVE COVERAGE OF CREW-10 RETURN, SPLASHDOWN - NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than 6:05 p.m. EDT, Friday, Aug. 8, for the undocking of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission from the International Space Station. Pending weather conditions, splashdown is targeted at 11:33 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 9. Crew-10 will be the first mission to splash down off the California coast for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.   More
(Source: NASA - Aug 8)

FIRST NEXT-GEN GEO-BASED MISSILE WARNING SATELLITE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES ENVIRONMENTAL TESTING, ON TRACK FOR DELIVERY TO SPACE FORCE - The first of a new, more capable, more survivable missile warning satellite, designed by Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) for today’s highly contested space domain, has successfully completed environmental testing. The first Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next-Gen OPIR) Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) Block 0 missile warning satellite recently completed thermal vacuum (TVAC) and acoustic testing. Completion of both tests, performed at Lockheed Martin Space’s facility in Sunnyvale, California, keeps the satellite on track for delivery.   More
(Source: Lockheed Martin - Aug 7)

LOCKHEED MARTIN AIMS TO TEST A MISSILE-KILLING SATELLITE BY 2028 - With hundreds of billions of dollars potentially at stake, weapons maker Lockheed Martin said Monday it hopes to achieve a historic first: the test of a satellite weapon capable of destroying a highly-maneuverable hypersonic missile, within the next three years. The concept is perhaps the most pivotal and ambitious portion of the Golden Dome missile defense shield plan, though Pentagon leaders are still considering key aspects of the shield’s overall architecture and few details are known about what it will look like.   More
(Source: Defense One - Aug 6)

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