'WE JUST RAN OUT OF TIME': BOEING STARLINER ASTRONAUTS ON WHY THEIR SPACESHIP RETURNED TO EARTH WITHOUT THEM - Boeing's Starliner capsule might have been able to finish its mission as planned if time had been on its side. Starliner launched June 5 on its first-ever crewed flight, a trial run that sent NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to the International Space Station (ISS). The duo were supposed to live on the orbiting lab for just a week or so, but NASA extended their stay to about three months while studying thruster issues that cropped up during Starliner's rendezvous with the ISS.   More
(Source: Space.com - Sep 15)

IRAN SAYS IT SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED A SATELLITE IN ITS PROGRAM CRITICIZED BY WEST OVER MISSILE FEARS - Iran launched a satellite into space Saturday with a rocket built by the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, state-run media reported, the latest for a program the West fears helps Tehran advance its ballistic missile program. Iran described the launch as the second such launch to put a satellite into orbit with the rocket. Independent scientists later confirmed the launch and that the satellite reached orbit.   More
(Source: AP News - Sep 15)

NASA’S SPACEX CREW-9 TO CONDUCT SPACE STATION RESEARCH - NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are headed to the International Space Station for the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission in September. Once on station, these crew members will support scientific investigations that include studies of blood clotting, effects of moisture on plants grown in space, and vision changes in astronauts.   More
(Source: NASA - Sep 14)

AST SPACEMOBILE DEPLOYS FIRST PRODUCTION DIRECT-TO-SMARTPHONE SATELLITES - SpaceX launched the first five production satellites for AST SpaceMobile’s direct-to-smartphone broadband constellation Sept. 11. A Falcon 9 carrying the Block 1 BlueBird spacecraft lifted off 4:52 a.m. Eastern from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, and finished releasing all five satellites into low Earth orbit about 68 minutes later. AST SpaceMobile founder, chair and CEO Abel Avellan said the operator established full contact with all five spacecraft post-launch.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Sep 13)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 21 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM WEST COAST - SpaceX launched its latest batch of 21 Starlink satellites on a Thursday night Falcon 9 launch from California. The Falcon 9 rocket launch set a new record for Vandenberg Space Force Base, marking the first time that 31 orbital missions have taken off in a calendar year. Thirty of those launches were from SpaceX and one was from Firefly Aerospace. Liftoff of the Starlink 9-6 mission from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) happened at 6:45 p.m. PDT (9:45 p.m. EDT, 0145 UTC).   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 13)

POLARIS DAWN ASTRONAUTS PERFORM SPACEWALK - Astronauts on the Polaris Dawn mission conducted the first spacewalk on a non-governmental mission Sept. 12, briefly emerging from their Crew Dragon spacecraft. Jared Isaacman, commander of the four-person crew, emerged from the hatch in the nose of the capsule at approximately 6:52 a.m. Eastern. Using a set of handholds and rails called a “skywalker” by SpaceX, he tested the mobility of the SpaceX-designed extravehicular activity (EVA) suit while standing in the hatch. “Congrats to the huge team effort that it took to get us to this point. We know it’s just the start,” he said shortly before returning inside the spacecraft.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Sep 12)

NASA ASTRONAUT, 2 COSMONAUTS ARRIVE AT ISS ABOARD RUSSIAN SOYUZ CAPSULE - A NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) this afternoon after a brief orbital chase. A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying NASA's Don Pettit and Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner of the Russian space agency Roscosmos docked with the ISS today at 3:32 p.m. EDT (1932 GMT), as the two spacecraft flew 260 miles (418 kilometers) over central Ukraine. That was just three hours, and two orbits of Earth, after their launch atop a Soyuz rocket from the Russia-run Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.   More
(Source: Space.com - Sep 12)

SOYUZ ROCKET LAUNCHES NEW US-RUSSIAN CREW OF 3 TO ISS - A NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts launched toward the International Space Station today (Sept. 11). NASA astronaut Don Pettit joined Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, which lifted off atop a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan today at 12:23 p.m. EDT (1623 GMT; 9:23 p.m. local Baikonur time). The trio will join the Expedition 71 crew for a half-year mission aboard the ISS.   More
(Source: Space.com - Sep 12)

BOEING PLOTS 2026 QUANTUM NETWORKING SATELLITE DEMO - Boeing plans to deploy a small satellite in 2026 to test technology needed for a quantum internet capable of connecting more advanced sensors and computers worldwide, the company announced Sept. 10. The microwave-sized Q4S satellite is being designed to demonstrate quantum entanglement swapping, a communication technique that transfers information between particles without physically moving them across a distance.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Sep 11)

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