EVERY SPACEX STARLINK SATELLITE HAS TO DODGE A COLLISION ALMOST WEEKLY, AND EXPERTS FEAR THE WORST - SpaceX's Starlink satellites made over 355,000 collision avoidance maneuvers throughout the past year, with each satellite now dodging debris and other spacecraft on an almost weekly basis. The numbers are based on disclosures made by SpaceX in its latest semiannual report to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). According to the latest report, Starlink satellites performed an overall 207,152 avoidance maneuvers between December 2025 and May 2026, up nearly 60,000 from the 148,696 reported in the previous half year. That brings the yearly total to over 355,000, more than three times as many as the constellation performed in 2024.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jul 16)

A SATELLITE LAUNCHED IN 1958 IS STILL THE OLDEST HUMAN-MADE OBJECT CIRCLING EARTH — AND IT IS EXPECTED TO KEEP QUIETLY ORBITING OVERHEAD FOR ANOTHER FEW CENTURIES - )n 17 March 1958, a three-stage rocket lifted a polished aluminium sphere from Cape Canaveral and placed it in a long, elliptical orbit around Earth. Vanguard 1 was only 16.3 centimetres across and weighed about 1.5 kilograms. Six thin aerials made it look larger, but the spacecraft itself really was close to the size of a grapefruit.   More
(Source: Space Daily - Jul 16)

SPACEX TO DEPLOY FIRST STARLINK V3 SATELLITES ON SUBORBITAL STARSHIP-SUPER HEAVY FLIGHT - SpaceX will debut its long-promised Starlink Version 3 satellites during a suborbital test flight of its Starship rocket on Thursday evening. The Starship Flight 13 mission is the second launch of a third-generation Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle and the second mission for the program this year. Liftoff from Pad 2 at SpaceX’s Starbase facilities in southern Texas is scheduled during a 90-minute window that opens at 5:45 p.m. CDT (6:45 p.m. EDT / 2245 UTC).   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 16)

SPACEX LAUNCHES A FLIGHT-PROVEN FALCON BOOSTER FOR 600TH TIME - SpaceX flew a flight-proven Falcon rocket booster for a 600th time when it launched the Starlink 10-45 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Tuesday morning. This was the 28th flight for the booster with the tail number 1080. The predawn flight added another 29 broadband internet satellites to SpaceX’s low Earth orbit constellation. The company has more than 10,800 spacecraft in low Earth orbit.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jul 16)

EXPEDITION 74 STAYS BUSY AND AWAITS TUESDAY’S NEW CREW ARRIVAL - Expedition 74 is poised to welcome three new crew members to the International Space Station who are counting down to their launch aboard a Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft. The trio, comprised of NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina will launch at 10:47 a.m. EDT on Tuesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and dock to the Prichal module at 1:56 p.m. the same day. About two hours later, the hatches will open and the new crew will enter the orbital outpost officially beginning an eight-and-a-half-month research mission.   More
(Source: NASA - Jul 14)

SPACE JUNK DEBRIS CLOUD DISCOVERED IN HIGH-TRAFFIC ORBIT 'IS A POTENTIAL MINEFIELD' FOR THE COSTLIEST SATELLITES - Tiny pieces of space junk only 2 inches (5 centimeters) in size are cluttering a valuable orbital region where some of the costliest satellites reside, a new study has found. Researchers from the University of Warwick in the U.K. found that the geostationary orbit — a region of space at the altitude of 22,000 miles (36,000 kilometers) — is full of dangerous, previously unseen bits of space junk that could destroy satellites.   More
(Source: - Jul 14)

THE FCC JUST GAVE REFLECT ORBITAL PERMISSION TO LAUNCH ITS 1ST SPACE MIRROR TO ORBIT. TENS OF THOUSANDS MORE COULD FOLLOW - The first of perhaps tens of thousands of sunlight-directing space mirrors just got cleared for liftoff. California-based startup Reflect Orbital just got a license from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch and operate its first demonstration satellite, a spacecraft that will unfurl a reflective surface that measures about 60 feet (18 meters) on a side.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jul 14)

VANTABLACK: WORLD'S BLACKEST PAINT COULD SOLVE A MAJOR PROBLEM FOR ASTRONOMY - Low Earth orbit is becoming increasingly crowded with satellites, and they're quietly erasing our view of the Universe. There are currently over 14,000 of them in orbit, a number that's rising quickly. That's a real issue for astronomers. So-called satellite-induced light pollution is already interfering with a significant number of images captured by observatories on Earth, and with thousands more low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites planned, the problem is only going to get worse.   More
(Source: Science Alert - Jul 13)

FCC APPROVES FIRST REFLECT ORBITAL SATELLITE - The Federal Communications Commission has given its approval for a satellite that will test the ability to reflect sunlight into nighttime regions, a project sharply criticized by astronomers and environmentalists. The FCC on July 9 formally authorized the launch of Eärendil-1, a satellite developed by Reflect Orbital that will deploy a thin-film reflector 18 meters on a side in low Earth orbit, reflecting sunlight to the ground.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jul 11)

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