Space Gallery

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! Last week saw six orbital launches taking place globally, with human spaceflight missions using two. News from the week has seen China preparing to debut three reusable launch vehicles and the European Space Agency securing funding for the next three years. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

November 23rd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-30

Twenty-eight Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying out of Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Supporting this mission was booster B1100 for its first flight, with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

November 25th - Long March 2F/G with Shenzhou-22

An uncrewed Shenzhou-22 spacecraft rode into orbit toward China's Tiangong Space Station atop of Long March 2F/G out of Launch Area 4 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. This launch was to provide the Shenzhou-21 taikonauts with a way to return to Earth alongside scientific cargo after the Shenzhou-20 crew took their spacecraft back to Earth following a debris strike involving the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft.

November 25th - Angara 1.2 with unknown payloads

An Angara 1.2 rocket blasted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome heading for low Earth orbit, carrying payloads for military communications.

November 26th - KSLV-2 with CAS500-3

South Korea launched its CAS500-3 (Compact Advanced Satellite 500-3) Earth observation technology verification spacecraft into sun-synchronous orbit atop of the first KSLV-2 rocket in two and a half years, flying from the Naro Space Center. Twelve CubeSats were also onboard, from national universities, institutions, and enterprises.

November 27th - Soyuz 2.1a with MS-28

Out of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, a Soyuz 2.1a chased down the International Space Station while carrying the MS-28 mission, with cosmonauts Sergei Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev, as well as NASA astronaut Christopher Williams. The three crew are planned to stay onboard the station for eight months.

November 28th - Falcon 9 with Transporter-15

SpaceX performed its fifteenth Transporter rideshare mission to sun-synchronous orbit out of Space Launch Complex 4E with a Falcon 9, carrying 140 satellites from a handful of countries for a variety of different uses. Booster B1071 supported this mission, for its thirtieth flight, with a landing on the drone ship 'Of Couese I Still Love You' downrange.

In Other Space News

China to debut three reusable launch vehicles

During December, three reusable rockets developed by Chinese space enterprises will take flight for the first time, with one of them becoming China's first as well as the first outside of the United States. The three rockets are:

• Long March 12A: A two-stage liquid methane and liquid oxygen burning launch vehicle, powered by seven engines on its first-stage and one on its second-stage, developed by the state-owned Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology. It stands about 70 meters tall and is 3.8 meters in diameter, with four small strakes next to its four landing legs, used to touchdown after unpowered guidance via four grid fins. The Long March 12A is expected to have a payload capacity of up to 12,000 kilograms.
• Zhuque-3: Also a two-stage liquid methane and liquid oxygen burning launch vehicle, but powered by nine engines on the first-stage with one on the second-stage, developed by the commercial space leader LandSpace. In its debut flight configuration, it stands approximately 66 meters tall, with a diameter of 4.5 meters. Two strakes are located near the base of the rocket, where four landing legs are attached, while four grid fins are positioned on the inter-stage. Up to 11,800 kilograms can be delivered with the rocket in its current configuration.
• Tianlong-3: A two-stage rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen burning launch vehicle, with nine engines on the first-stage and one on the second-stage, developed by the commercial space company Space Pioneer. When prepared for launch, it stands 72 meters tall with both stages being 3.8 meters in diameter, with four landing legs at the base and four grid fins on the interstage set to be added. Around 17,000 kilograms can be delivered to orbit with the rocket.

At the moment, all three launch vehicles are at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on dedicated launch pads. The Long March 12A and Tianlong-3 are believed to be conducting pre-launch testing, including potential static fires, while Zhuque-3 completed testing a few months ago.

ESA funding increased for next three years

The European Space Agency and its member states recently concluded their 2025 Ministerial, where a new three-year budget for the space agency was agreed upon. Originally proposed to be 22.25 billion Euros, member states opted to commit 22.1 billion for space science, sovereign launch, security, and a slightly defunded exploration.

Speaking on the budget, European Space Agency Director General Josef Aschbacher stated:

"This is a great success for Europe, and a really important moment for our autonomy and leadership in science and innovation. I’m grateful for the hard work and careful thought that has gone into the delivery of the new subscriptions from the Member States, amounting to a 32% increase, or 17% increase if corrected for inflation, on ESA’s 2022 Ministerial Council," – "In the face of a challenging geopolitical situation all the States contributing to the ESA budget, and indeed the European Commission, have put their faith in ESA to keep delivering programmes that will support European leadership in space, and help stretch our capabilities on Earth, in orbit, and into deep space. While we celebrated 50 years of achievements this year, the work is only beginning."

With the new budget, Germany made the largest contribution at 23.11%, followed by France at 16.42% and Italy at 15.79%. Those three countries account for over 55% of the total. Spain contributes 8.46%, making it the fourth-largest contributor, while the United Kingdom adds 7.78%. Belgium provides 5.06%, and the Netherlands contributes 2.60%. Poland accounts for 3.34%, and Switzerland adds 3.52%. Canada contributes 1.86%, which is higher than several European nations. Austria provides 1.53%, Sweden 1.37%, Norway 1.33%, Denmark 1.16%, Finland 1.06%, and Hungary 0.93%. Portugal and the Czech Republic both contribute around 0.93% and 0.85% respectively. Ireland adds 0.71%, Luxembourg 0.64%, and Greece 0.58%. The smallest contributors include Romania at 0.36%, Estonia at 0.27%, Slovenia at 0.21%, and Slovakia, Lithuania, and Latvia each contributed less than 0.1%.

What to Expect Next Week

November 30th - Long March 7A with an unannounced payload

A Long March 7A is set to fly from the Wenchang Space Launch Site heading for beyond low Earth orbit with a to-be-announced payload.

December 1st - Faclon 9 with Starlink Group 6-86

A Falcon 9 is set to launch from Launch Complex 39A carrying a batch of Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit.

December 1st - Vega-C with KOMPSAT-7

KOMPSAT-7 (Korean Multi-purpose Satellite 7) is planned to head into a sun-synchronous orbit via a Vega-C flying from the Guiana Space Center, in French Guiana.

December 2nd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-10

Another Falcon 9 is preparing to fly from Space Launch Complex 4E while heading into low Earth orbit to deliver another batch of Starlink satellites.

December 2nd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-95

More Starlink satellites are set to be placed into low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 launching from Space Launch Complex 40.

December 4th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-25

SpaceX is planning to fly Falcon 9 out of Space Launch Complex 4E to put another batch of Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit.

December 5th - Electron for 'RAISE And Shine'

Rocket Lab's Electron rocket is set to head into sun-synchronous orbit carrying the RAISE-4 (RApid Innovative payload demonstration Satellite-4) mission for its various on-orbit demonstrations.

Yesterday, November 27th, a Soyuz 2.1a rocket blasted off from Site 31 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan carrying the Soyuz MS-28 mission, with cosmonauts Sergei Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev as well as NASA astronaut Christopher Williams onboard. Following a successful launch, the MS-28 spacecraft docked with the Rassvet module, allowing its crew to join the seven onboard the International Space Station.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, during or after the launch process, damage was incurred to Site 31's mobile service platform underneath it. The platform is used to access the base of a Soyuz 2 series rocket ahead of launch and is rolled out of the way before launch. Roscosmos, managing state enterprise for the Russian space program, released a brief comment via Telegram about the damage:

"The launch pad was inspected, as is done every time a rocket is launched. Damage to several launch pad components was identified." – "The launch pad's condition is currently being assessed. All necessary space components are available for repair, and the damage will be repaired shortly"

Images and video of Site 31 show that claimed damage to components is evident as the service platform is sitting at the bottom of a flame diversion pit in a collapsed and charred pile. With the service platform off its rails under the launch pad, repairs to Site 31 won't be fast, with Anatoly Zak of RussianSpaceWeb estimating the process could take up to two years.

A long repair process may be a major problem for the International Space Station as the crewed Soyuz and cargo Progress (which also refuels/replaces the station's Russian-operated attitude control systems) spacecraft currently launch atop of the Soyuz 2 series of rockets, which only has Site 31 in Baikonur. Other launch facilities for the Soyuz 2 series exist in the northern Plestesk and far-eastern Vostochny cosmodromes but dedicated facilities for spacecraft processing don't. As such, missions could be delayed depending on how long repairs take, with the cargo-carrying Progress MS-33 mission set for late December now likely in 2026. Another crewed Soyuz mission isn't planned until July 2026.

Depending on how fast Roscosmos is looking to fix Site 31, other Soyuz launch pads in Kazakhstan and Russia may contribute parts, but taking those other pads offline for a while. Neighbouring the now-damaged pad is 'Gagarin's Start' Site 1, which has been mothballed since 2019, with some hardware said to have been reused at Site 31 already. Up north in Russia, there are at least two Soyuz pads active in Plesetsk alongside an unused one. Over in the far east of Vostochny, there is a single launch pad for the rocket.

A wildcard option to repair Site 31 would be the dissessambly and shipping of the mobile service platform for the Soyuz 2 series launch pad at the Guiana Space Center, located in French Guiana in South America, with some efforts underway to remove hardware to make way for a single-stick reusable rocket. Russia currently cannot access the Guianan launch site due to sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine, but the European Space Agency, who own the land of the site, and other international partners are invested in the continued operation of the International Space Station into the 2030s, which requires Russian cargo and fuel deliveries. Therefore, it is plausible, although a low possibility, that some hardware from South America could make its way to Baikonur.

Of course, there is the chance that Site 31 remains offline for several years due to underfunding and financial stresses on the Russian space program. That scenario would have the International Space Station limp toward its planned 2030s retirement, if not an earlier one with no refueling of its attitude control system.

NASA announced on November 24th that it and Boeing have agreed to modify the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contract relevant to the Starliner spacecraft. That modification is reducing the number of missions contracted to head to the International Space Station.

As part of the announcement, it was disclosed that Starliner's next flight, for the Starliner-1 mission in April 2026, will no longer have astronauts on board. Instead the spacecraft will carry cargo, restocking space station supplies and delivering new experiments. Alongside acting as a cargo delivery, the Starliner-1 mission will validate improved systems, which had issues in the second half of 2024.

NASA’s Manager of the Commercial Crew Program, Steve Stich, explained the reasoning for modifying the contract as:

"This modification allows NASA and Boeing to focus on safely certifying the system in 2026, execute Starliner’s first crew rotation when ready, and align our ongoing flight planning for future Starliner missions based on station’s operational needs through 2030."

If Starliner-1 is successful, the following Starliner-2 mission will carry astronauts for the first of three contracted crew flights to the International Space Station. That means, with the modified contract, Boeing will be paid for four Starliner missions between 2026 and 2029, with one mission per year.

Originally, Boeing had been contracted to fly up to six operational crewed Starliner flights. So far, the spacecraft has flown three times with only one complete success. Its first mission flew in December 2019 for an uncrewed test flight that failed to reach the space station, but returned to Earth afterward. The next mission was successful, taking place in May 2022 to reattempt the uncrewed test. Most recently, between June and September 2024, Starliner flew its crewed flight test with two astronauts, but returned to Earth without them due to thruster issues and a helium leak. Those astronauts returned to Earth in March 2025 on board a SpaceX Crew Dragon.

With two Starliner missions now withdrawn by NASA, the spacecraft's launch vehicle, United Launch Alliance's Atlas V, has two unallocated sets of flight hardware. That hardware includes a standardized first-stage, two solid rocket boosters, and a specially modified second-stage to include two liquid hydrogen-burning RL10C-1 engines. What now happens to those launch vehicles is unknown, as United Launch Alliance has yet to disclose relevant information. Of course that hardware may find a path to flight if Starliner-1 goes awry.

Boeing is also one of two remaining customers using Atlas V before its retirement, delaying it out to 2030 too. The other customer is Amazon with its 'Leo' constellation.

Further reliance on SpaceX

As a consequence of modifying Boeing's contract, NASA has increased its reliance on SpaceX and its fleet of Crew Dragon spacecraft to bring astronauts to the International Space Station. As Starliner has floundered, only Crew Dragon brings crews of four to the station every six months, with its eleventh mission currently underway.

With Starliner-1 being uncrewed, SpaceX will bag two operational missions in 2026. If Starliner-1 succeeds, Crew Dragon will fly once in 2027, 2028, and 2029 as Starliner flies alongside it, as Boeing and SpaceX alternate for crewed missions every six months.

Current reliance on SpaceX has seen the five total Crew Dragon spacecraft quickly reaching their limit of five launches and returns to Earth, for twenty-five total possible missions across the fleet. Alongside the eleven operational NASA missions and two demonstration flights, Crew Dragon has performed four missions for Axiom Space, a polar tourism flight, and two trips for billionaire Jared Isaacman. As a consequence, SpaceX and NASA are looking into flying each Crew Dragon spacecraft up to fifteen times, to triple the fleet's total mission count to seventy-five.

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week saw eight orbital launches worldwide, with half performed by Falcon 9. News of the week had a failure with SpaceX's Starship-Super Heavy during a basic test and Amazon's mega-constellation preparing more launches following a rebrand. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

November 17th - Falcon 9 with Sentinel-6B

Out of Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, a Falcon 9 carried the Sentinel-6B mission into low Earth orbit on behalf of NASA, the European Space Agency, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites to study climate change. Supporting this mission was booster B1097 for its third flight, returning to Landing Zone 4 at the Vandenberg Space Force Base.

November 18th - Electron for 'Prometheus Run'

Rocket Lab flew its Electron rocket in its suborbital HASTE (Hypersonic accelerator suborbital test electron) configuration from Wallops Island, in Virginia, on behalf of various U.S.-government-linked payloads related to missile defense.

November 19th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-94

A Falcon 9 carried twenty-nine Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit out of Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. Booster B1085 supported this mission for its twelfth flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

November 19th - Long March 2C with Shijian-30 trio

From the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center's Launch Area 4, a Long March 2C flew into low Earth orbit carrying Shiyan-30A, 30B, and 30C. The three satellites are planned to verify space environment monitoring technologies.

November 20th - Electron for 'Follow My Speed'

A surprise Electron flew into low Earth orbit from Launch Complex 1A, on the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand. Rocket Lab did not reveal the identity of the customer or how many satellites were onboard.

November 21st - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-78

Another twenty-nine Starlink satellites were launched into low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Launch Complex 39A, in Florida. Supporting this mission was booster B1080 for its twenty-third flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

November 21st - Long March 3B/E with TJSW-21

A Long March 3B/E flew from Launch Complex 2 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center carrying the TJSW-21 spacecraft into an orbit peaking above the geostationary orbit belt. TJSW-21 is set to be used for communications, radio, television, and data transmission while demonstrating multi-band high-speed throughput communication technologies.

November 22nd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-79

Twenty-nine more Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit atop of Falcon 9, flying out of Space Launch Complex 40. Booster B1090 supported this mission for its ninth flight, landing on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas' downrange.

In Other Space News

'Upgraded' Starship-Super Heavy booster fails first test

On November 20th, SpaceX rolled out Super Heavy Booster 18, the reusable first-stage of the 'Block 3' fully reusable Starship launch system, for basic testing at the Massey's test site ahead of the twelfth flight test from South Texas. For those tests, none of the thirty-three Raptor engines or three grid fins were installed.

During a basic test using gaseous nitrogen and oxygen to prove that the booster can hold pressure early on November 21st, it suddenly failed and ruptured its liquid oxygen tank, unzipping it two-thirds of the way up. That deformed Booster 18's lower half while making it structurally unsafe, now being mostly held up by internal plumbing.

In the aftermath of the failed test, SpaceX wrote the following on Twitter:

"Booster 18 suffered an anomaly during gas system pressure testing that we were conducting in advance of structural proof testing. No propellant was on the vehicle, and engines were not yet installed. The teams need time to investigate before we are confident of the cause."

Booster 18 was planned to prove out a new launch pad at Starbase and accelerate Starship-Super Heavy's test campaign, ahead of basic architectural proving flights (Starship-to-Starship refueling) for a NASA-contracted lunar lander. According to media around SpaceX's South Texas site, a possible replacement booster to fulfil Booster 18's role has not begun stacking with hardware scattered around.

About a week ago, Politico obtained a schedule for major Starship missions that SpaceX plans to present to NASA regarding its lunar lander contract. That would have a single Starship-to-Starship refueling test by June 2026, an uncrewed lunar lander proving mission by June 2027, and a crewed lander for the Artemis III mission ready by September 2028. Those milestones have likely moved back after this week, as the twelfth flight of Starship-Super Heavy, planned to use Booster 18, was targeted for early January 2026.

Amazon's mega-constellation rebrands, prepares more launches

Amazon shared on November 13th that its low Earth orbit connectivity mega-constellation, previously known as 'Project Kuiper', is rebranding to 'Amazon Leo', as a reference to the orbital regime. The rebrand does not affect the constellations rollout or previously stated plans, according to the company.

This week, now rebranded, Amazon shared that its Leo teams have begun shipping satellites to French Guiana for the constellation's first launch with Arianespace, atop of the first Ariane 64 rocket in early 2026. Before that, a fourth launch atop of United Launch Alliance's Atlas V is planned for mid-December.

To date, six groups of Amazon Leo satellites have been delivered to low Earth orbit for a total of 153 operational satellites. The latest additions were added on October 14th.

What to Expect Next Week

November 23rd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-30

A Falcon 9 is set to deploy a batch of Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E.

November 25th - Long March 2F/G with Shenzhou-22

The Shenzhou-22 spacecraft is being sent up to China's Tiangong Space Station, via a Long March 2F/G flying from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, next week to restore the capability to return scientific cargo alongside crews, following a debris strike to the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft. Taikonauts Zhang Lu, Wu Fei, and Zhang Hongzhang will be receiving the new spacecraft.

November 25th - Angara 1.2 with an unknown payload

From the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, an Angara 1.2 is set to launch into low Earth orbit carrying a currently unknown payload.

November 26th - KSLV-2 with CAS500-3

South Korea's CAS500-3 (Compact Advanced Satellite 500-3) Earth observation technology verification will head into sun-synchronous orbit atop of the country's KSLV-2 launch vehicle.

November 26th - Falcon 9 with Transporter-15

SpaceX is preparing to launch its Transporter-15 sun-synchronous orbit rideshare mission from Space Launch Complex 4E atop of Falcon 9.

November 27th - Soyuz 2.1a with MS-28

Out of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, a Soyuz 2.1a is planning to chase the International Space Station while carrying the MS-28 mission, with cosmonauts Sergei Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev, as well as NASA astronaut Christopher Williams.

About five days ago, New Glenn's first-stage booster 'Never Tell Me The Odds' successfully touched down on the drone ship 'Jacklyn' for the first time, becoming the second orbital-class rocket booster to do so in history. That landing, after being guided by two aerodynamic strakes and four fins, was enabled by three BE-4 engines igniting to decelate the booster, before swapping to just one for a precise landing.

During the landing, 'Never Tell Me The Odds' wasn't targeting 'Jacklyn' initially, with Blue Origin's owner Jeff Bezos explaining:

"We nominally target a few hundred feet away from Jacklyn to avoid a severe impact if engines fail to start or start slowly. We’ll incrementally reduce that conservatism over time."

Quickly after the landing, the first-stage booster was secured via energetic welding of New Glenn's landing legs to the deck while a remotely controlled vehicle safing robot attached to it to offload leftover propellant and commodities.

Since November 15th, 'Jacklyn' has been sailing back to its home base, Port Canaveral at Cape Canaveral, with it slowing just before coming within one hundred miles. On November 17th, the drone ship was in a holding pattern just beyond the horizon, slowly peaking just over it.

Finally, on November 18th, 'Jacklyn' entered Port Canaveral with 'Never Tell Me The Odds' towering over it and other vessels. Now in the port, the first-stage booster will be removed from the drone ship for transportation back to Blue Origin's New Glenn production and refurbishment site next to the Kennedy Space Center for post-flight inspections. Those inspections will determine what hardware needs to be replaced or repaired before a second mission for the booster.

The next flight of New Glenn is currently being eyed for early 2026 for the first mission with the Blue Moon Mk1 lunar lander, which will see the rocket send it toward a trans-lunar trajectory while landing the booster on 'Jacklyn' again. It remains to be seen if 'Never Tell Me The Odds' will fly that mission, as a new booster is reportedly close to completion.

New Glenn's beautiful second launch

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week had nine orbital launch attempts taking place, with six different rockets flying. News during the week had the Shenzhou-20 taikonauts returning to Earth and damage to NASA's Deep Space Network. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

November 9th - Kinetica-1 with Chutian-2-01 & 02

From Launch Area 130 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, CAS Space’s Kinetica-1 flew into sun-synchronous orbit carrying the Chutian-2-01 and Chutian-2-02 satellites. Both satellites are technology tests for a very-low Earth orbit remote sensing constellation.

November 9th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-51

A Falcon 9 blasted off from Launch Complex 39A, in Florida, carrying twenty-nine Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. Supporting this mission was booster B1069 for its twenty-eighth mission, landing on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas' downrange.

November 10th - Long March 12 with GuoWang Group 13

A Long March 12 flew from Commercial Launch Pad 2 at the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site carrying nine GuoWang satellites into low Earth orbit. With this launch, the state-backed internet connectivity constellation has 104 satellites in space.

November 10th - Ceres-1 with three satellites

Galactic Energy attempted to launch its Ceres-1 rocket into sun-synchronous orbit from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, but the rocket's fourth stage shut down earlier than planned, resulting in the loss of the rocket and the three satellites onboard. The satellites atop of the rocket were Jixing Gaofen 04C, Jixing Platform 02A04, and North China University of Technology Satellite-1.

November 11th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-87

Twenty-nine more Starlink satellites were delivered into low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. Booster B1096 supported this mission for its third flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

November 13th - New Glenn with ESCAPADE

Blue Origin launched its New Glenn rocket from Launch Complex 36, in Florida, for the second time, setting the twin ESCAPADE spacecraft on a long trek toward Mars. During this launch, New Glenn's booster, 'Never Tell Me The Odds', landed on the drone ship 'Jacklyn' for the first time!

November 14th - Atlas V with ViaSat-3 F2

United Launch Alliance launched its Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41, in Florida, carrying the second ViaSat-3 satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit. ViaSat-3 F2 is planned to be capable of rapidly shifting capacity throughout its coverage area to best deliver bandwidth to users on Earth below.

November 15th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-89

Another Falcon 9 delivered twenty-nine Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A. Supporting this mission was booster B1092, for its eighth flight with a landing on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas' downrange.

November 15th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-85

Twenty-nine more Starlink satellites were put into low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying out of Space Launch Complex 40. Booster B1078 supported this mission for its twenty-fourth flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

In Other Space News

Shenzhou-20 crew returns after debris concern

The Shenzhou-20 crew of Commander Chen Dong, Operator Chen Zhongrui, and Science Operator Wang Jie safely returned to Earth on November 14th after 204 days onboard China's Tiangong Space Station. After being extracted by recovery teams, Wang quipped:

"Well, after half a year and finally safely return home and feel gravity again feels great."

For their return, the crew swapped over to the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft after theirs was hit by a small piece of debris around November 5th, which resulted in a concerning crack on a window's outer layer. The Shenzhou spacecraft's windows consist of multiple layers of impact-resistant glass, but only the outer layer is resistant to the heat of reentry, bringing concern that if the damaged outer layer fails that the others will too. During reentry, the three crew members wear pressure suits, allowing them to remain safe, but a depressurization would ruin much of the science being brought back alongside them.

Shenzhou-20's crew were aware of concerns about them during the latter days of their mission, with Chen Dong reassuring:

"Taking the Shenzhou-21 spaceship has reassured our steps to discover the universe; space exploration will never stop and is full of challenges and uncertainties, but that’s exactly why we’re taking this road. I believe this mission is a great test for all of us, and we are very proud to have finished our mission completely and successfully."

With the Shenzhou-20 crew taking the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft back to Earth, the Shenzhou-21 crew has the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft. That spacecraft is suitable for an emergency return to Earth, but for a nominal return, the Shenzhou-22 spacecraft will be sent up to Tiangong in the near future. Shenzhou-22 and its Long March 2F/G rocket are currently preparing for launch.

Deep Space Network antenna damaged

A 70-meter antenna, dubbed DSS-14, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in California, that is part of NASA's Deep Space Network, has been damaged since September 16th, according to SpaceNews, which received confirmation on November 10th. The antenna was reportedly damaged due to over-rotation, stressing cabling and piping, leading to damage to the fire suppression system, which briefly flooded it.

DSS-14 is one of three 70-meter antennas in the Deep Space Network for communicating with spacecraft across the solar system, it can also be used for high-bandwidth data transmission with missions close to Earth. At the moment, there is no timetable to return DSS-14 to operation, putting strain on the over-subscribed network.

What to Expect Next Week

November 16th - Electron for 'Van'

Rocket Lab is planning to fly its Electron rocket in its suborbital HASTE (Hypersonic accelerator suborbital test electron) configuration for a confidential customer out of Wallops Island, in Virginia.

November 17th - Falcon 9 with Sentinel-6B

SpaceX's Falcon 9 is preparing to launch from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, carrying the Sentinel-6B mission into low Earth orbit on behalf of NASA.

November 18th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-94

Twenty-nine Starlink satellites are set to be launched atop of a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40 into low Earth orbit.

November 19th - Long March 8A with to-be-annouced payloads

A Long March 8A is preparing to fly from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site for a mission heading into low Earth orbit.

November 19th - Falcon 9 with Transporter-15

SpaceX is preparing to launch its Transporter-15 sun-synchronous orbit rideshare mission from Space Launch Complex 4E atop of Falcon 9.

November 20th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-78

Another set of Starlink satellites are set to be placed into low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 out of Launch Complex 39A.

November 22nd - Hanbit-Nano for 'Spaceward'

South Korean startup Innospace is preparing to launch its solid-hybrid rocket Hanbit-Nano into low Earth orbit for the first time, from the Alcântara Launch Center in Brazil.

November 22nd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-79

Falcon 9 with again fly from Space Launch Complex 40 carrying a batch of Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit.

Blue Origin has sent two spacecraft toward Mars for NASA and successfully landed New Glenn's first-stage for the first time!

For the second time, New Glenn lifted off from Launch Complex 36, in Florida, under the power of its seven BE-4 engines to carry the vehicle out of the atmosphere and its payloads on a trajectory away from Earth.

New Glenn's first ascent in daylight saw all seven engines running again for the duration of the three-minute ascent burn, followed by a nominal separation of the two stages.

Following a perfect ascent, first-stage booster 'Never Tell Me The Odds' began its journey toward the Atlantic Ocean. Just outside of the atmosphere, the booster relit three of its engines to rapidly decelerate and to protect itself from the heat of reentry. Moments later, the same three engines lit again for another deceleration before shutting down all but one, then deploying six landing legs for a first successful touchdown on the drone ship 'Jacklyn'!

That touchdown was followed by a planned energetic welding of New Glenn's landing legs to the drone ship to secure it, as well as the rollout and attachment of 'Jacklyn's autonomous vehicle safing robot.

The landing of booster 'Never Tell Me The Odds' has also made Blue Origin the second company in history to land a first-stage of an orbital rocket, after SpaceX with Falcon 9 and ahead of Chinese startup LandSpace with its soon-to-debut Zhuque-3.

While New Glenn's first-stage was landing back on Earth, its second-stage was completing its ascent towards a brief parking orbit, before then performing its escape burn to place ESCAPADE onto its path to the L2 Lagrange point. A half-hour after launch from Florida, the twin spacecraft separated from New Glenn for their trek to Mars.

Long trek to Mars

Now in space, the twin ESCAPADE spacecraft are heading toward the Earth-Sun L2 Lagrange point to wait for the 2026 Mars transfer window to open. That point in space allows the spacecraft to maintain position without needing to expend much of its propellant, while allowing for a cheap departure.

Once the 2026 window opens, both ESCAPADE spacecraft will dive back toward Earth before performing Mars transfer orbits. After that, they will spend several months traveling through interplanetary space, ending with maneuvers to enter Mars' orbit.

After reaching Mars, the ESCAPADE mission is set to study the interaction of solar wind with the red planet's upper atmosphere, in how it interacts with the magnetosphere and the weak atmosphere. To do so, both spacecraft have a magnetometer, an electrostatic analyzer, a suite of Langmuir probes, as well as visual and infrared cameras.

Both of the 535-kilogram 1.2 by 1.65 by 1.09 meter spacecraft have a single main engine, burning monoxides of nitrogen and monomethyl hydrazine, as well as a set of cold gas nitrogen thrusters for orientating them. For communicating with Earth, the Mars-bound twins have a series of low-gain, medium-gain, and high-gain X-band antennas, with power provided by two solar wings of two panels.

The ESCAPADE mission is NASA-supported, led by the University of California, Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory, with the spacecraft designed by Advanced Space, and the twins manufactured by Rocket Lab.

What is New Glenn?

New Glenn is Blue Origin's partially reusable heavy-lift launch vehicle. The rocket currently flies solely from Launch Complex 36 in Cape Canaveral, located in Florida.

The payload capacity of New Glenn, when recovering the booster downrange, is currently as follows:

• 45,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit
• 13,600 kilograms to geostationary transfer orbit
• 7,000 kilograms to a trans-lunar trajectory

The first-stage is planned to be powered by seven BE-4 engines burning liquid methane and liquid oxygen to generate 1,746 tons of thrust. The second-stage is planned to be powered by two BE-3U engines burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to generate 145 tons of thrust.

For recovery, New Glenn plans to use four fins located near the top of the booster, to control the boosters' descent when unpowered, and six landing legs that are stowed at the bottom of the booster during flight. It is currently believed that Blue Origin only plans to land the first-stage booster downrange on a drone ship.

On the launch pad, the rocket is 98 meters tall and 7 meters in diameter, Blue Origin has not yet said how much the launch vehicle weighs fully fuelled.

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week saw eight launches taking place worldwide, with missions from low Earth to geostationary orbit. News from the week had a renomination for NASA's Administrator and a delay of crewed missions' return to Earth. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

November 2nd - Falcon 9 with Bandwagon-4

SpaceX launched its fourth mid-inclination low Earth orbit rideshare mission, carrying eighteen payloads, atop of a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. Supporting this mission was booster B1091, for its third flight with a landing back in Cape Canaveral at Landing Zone 2.

November 2nd - LVM-3 with GSAT-7R

India's LVM-3 rocket launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre carrying the GSAT-7R communication satellite to geostationary transfer orbit on behalf of the Indian Navy. Once operational, the satellite will provide secure multi-band communications services.

November 3rd - Long March 7A with Yaogan-46

A Long March 7A blasted off from Launch Complex 201 at the Wenchang Space Launch Site, carrying the Yaogan-46 remote sensing satellite into medium Earth orbit. Yaogan-46 is planned to be used for land resource surveys, crop yield estimation, meteorology, hydrology, scientific experiments, as well as disaster prevention and relief efforts.

November 4th - Ariane 6 with Sentinel-1D

Arianespace launched its Ariane 6 rocket from the Guiana Space Centre into sun-synchronous orbit carrying the Sentinel-1D weather satellite on behalf of the European Space Agency. The satellite will be used for sea ice, tracking icebergs, glaciers, subsidence, and oil spills.

November 5th - Electron for 'The Nation God Navigates'

Rocket Lab's Electron flew from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B on the Māhia Peninsula, in New Zealand, into low Earth orbit with a synthetic aperture radar satellite on behalf of iQPS. This satellite is planned to be part of a thirty-six-spacecraft constellation for regular monitoring of Earth below.

November 6th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-81

Twenty-nine Starlink satellites were launched into low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 atop of a Falcon 9. Booster B1094 supported this mission for its fifth flight, with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

November 6th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-14

Twenty-eight more Starlink satellites were sent into low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying out of Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Supporting this mission was booster B1093, on its eighth flight with a landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

November 8th - Long March 11 with Shiyan-32 trio

A Long March 11 blasted off from a sea-launch platform near Haiyang, in Shandong province, carrying three Shiyan-32 satellites into low Earth orbit. The Shiyan-32 trio is set to test new optical technologies.

In Other Space News

Isaacman renominated to lead NASA

Jared Isaacman, a fintech billionaire space tourist, previously nominated by then-President Elect Donald Trump in December 2024 to head NASA, getting so far as a Senate hearing in April before support from the Administration was pulled, has been renominated for the top job at the space agency on November 4th. With the renomination, Trump wrote:

"Sean Duffy has done an incredible job as Interim Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This evening, I am pleased to nominate Jared Isaacman, an accomplished business leader, philanthropist, pilot, and astronaut, as Administrator of NASA. Jared’s passion for Space, astronaut experience, and dedication to pushing the boundaries of exploration, unlocking the mysteries of the universe, and advancing the new Space economy, make him ideally suited to lead NASA into a bold new Era."

Isaacman quickly responded on Twitter, thanking the President and members of the space industry, stating:

"Thank you, Mr. President, for this opportunity. It will be an honor to serve my country under your leadership. I am also very grateful to Secretary Sean Duffy, who skillfully oversees NASA alongside his many other responsibilities." – "NASA will never be a caretaker of history–but will forever make history." – "Godspeed, President Donald J. Trump, and Godspeed NASA, as America leads the greatest adventure in human history."

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, also Acting Administrator of NASA, also took to Twitter to write:

"Thank you Donald Trump for the honor to lead NASA. We’ve made giant leaps in our mission to return to the Moon before China. It’s critical for our national security and national pride that we win the next space race." – "Congratulations to Jared Isaacman. I wish him all the success and will ensure the transition is seamless."

In the resumed nomination process, Isaacman's position for Administrator of NASA has been sent to a Senate vote, with no time set for it. Any consequences of the disastrous 'Project Athena' plan on the vote are yet to be understood.

Shenzhou-20 return delayed

The Shenzhou-20 mission, with Commander Chen Dong, Operator Chen Zhongru, and Science Operator Wang Jie, was set to return to Earth on November 5th following a six-month mission aboard the Tiangong Space Station. The morning of the return it was postponed, with the China Manned Space Agency stated:

“The Shenzhou-20 manned spacecraft is suspected of being struck by a small piece of space debris, and impact analysis and risk assessment are underway. To ensure the safety of the taikonauts and the successful completion of the mission, it has been decided that the return mission of Shenzhou-20, originally scheduled for November 5, will be postponed.”

Since the postponement, the three taikonauts have remained onboard the space station with the recently arrived Shenzhou-21 crew, allowing for a lighter schedule. Life support systems on Tiangong are suitable to host both crews for a few weeks, along with supplies onboard.

Depending on the outcome of the risk assessment, the Shenzhou-20 crew may return to Earth with their spacecraft, or onboard Shenzhou-21 after Shenzhou-22 launches as a backup. That may be concluded in the coming days, with a launch or return to Earth after November 10th.

What to Expect Next Week

November 9th - Kinetica-1 with a to-be-annouced payloads

CAS Space is preparing to launch its Kinetica-1 rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, carrying unannounced payloads into sun-synchronous orbit.

November 9th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-51

A Falcon 9 is set to send twenty-nine Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A.

November 9th - New Glenn with ESCAPADE

Blue Origin is set to launch its New Glenn rocket for the second time from Launch Complex 36, launching two small satellites towards Mars for NASA's ESCAPADE mission.

November 10th - Long March 12 with a to-be-announced payload

A Long March 12 is planned to launch from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site and head into low Earth orbit carrying a currently unknown payload.

November 10th - Ceres-1 with to-be-annouced payloads

Galactic Energy's Ceres-1 may launch from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying a few unknown payloads.

November 11th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-87

A batch of Starlink satellites is set to be launched atop Falcon 9 into low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40.

November 11th - Falcon 9 with Transporter-15

SpaceX is preparing to launch its Transporter-15 sun-synchronous orbit rideshare mission from Space Launch Complex 4E atop of Falcon 9.

November 13th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-89

Falcon 9 will send another batch of Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A.

November 14th - Atlas V with ViaSat-3 F2

United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket is set to carry the ViaSat-3 F2 satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit from Space Launch Complex 41.

November 14th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-85

Another Falcon 9 will send a batch of Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40.

Politico released a report yesterday, November 3rd, outlining Jared Isaacman's, Trump's original pick for NASA Administrator, plans for the space agency. Isaacman's full plans were detailed in a sixty-two-page document known as 'Project Athena'.

While never intended for public release, the fintech billionaire space tourists' plans would have been catastrophic for the American space program, with a major section co-authored with a former SpaceX propulsion engineer. Politico's insiders, speaking anonymously, viewed the plan as fundamentally misunderstanding how and why the agency operates and exists.

Isaacman's plans would have demolished the very systems that have made NASA a global leader in space exploration. Consolidating specialized centres like the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which has successfully landed every American Mars rover, reduces decades of collected expertise to throwaway bureaucracy. It would be utterly disastrous to relocate or eliminate facilities that sustain irreplaceable institutional knowledge, specialized interplanetary clean rooms, and teams that have worked together for years to perfect world-leading missions.

Centralizing everything would create new bottlenecks and drive engineers and scientists to either relocate or leave the organisation entirely, taking their skills with them. The loss of institutional knowledge alone would throw U.S. space exploration back years, as new personnel struggle to replicate the invaluable knowledge that departing experts carry with them.

Meanwhile, Isaacman's 'science-as-a-service' model completely misunderstands what makes scientific discovery valuable. Commercial companies collect data with direct market value. They will not support speculative missions to investigate faraway asteroids, look for biosignatures on ocean worlds, or track long-term climate changes that do not generate income. NASA exists to do science that the private sector will not pursue because it is too risky, expensive, or too far from profitability.

Purchasing data from commercial suppliers involves giving up authority over what questions are asked and what phenomena are investigated. As a result, the space program would be massively geared for quarterly earnings rather than incredible breakthroughs, with fundamental research abandoned in favour of commercial applications. The greatest breakthroughs in the study of space have resulted from missions, like those by NASA's telescopes in orbit, that no commercial enterprise would ever support.

Furthermore, eliminating the Space Launch System (the only part of the Artemis program proven to work) and the Gateway lunar space station while simultaneously suggesting an investigation of the 'relevance' of NASA sites will set up a political firestorm that would immobilize the agency for years. These programs employ thousands of people across multiple states, and the members of Congress who represent them will battle to preserve them. Rather than streamlining NASA, this approach will imprison the agency in more budget and authorization battles, while China pursues its space station and lunar base plans.

Cancelling active programs before alternatives are demonstrated leads to significant capability gaps, as best shown by the nine years between the final Space Shuttle flight and the first crewed demonstration mission, the Commercial Crew Program. It is entirely stupid to end America's only lunar-lift solution and hope commercial replacements materialise soon after. The document's nuclear propulsion aspirations also remain decades away, keeping astronauts grounded and America's human spaceflight endeavours in limbo.

Luckily for the U.S. Space Agency, Isaacman isn't in charge or heading it yet.

In recent weeks, Isaacman has been wooing pro-Trump figures and donating to MAGA projects, going so far as to support illegal use of military force in international waters, in the hopes of possibly leading NASA. In April, he got as far as a U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation hearing before Trump pulled his support, citing donations to Democrat candidates at the time.

It remains to be seen if Isaacman will be renominated for the role of Administrator.

Before his original nomination was pulled, he was one of many nominations supported by the fascist head of SpaceX known as Elon Musk.

Is Duffy better?

At the moment, NASA is headed by Sean Duffy as its Acting Administrator, while he is also the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Since entering the role in July, he has said that the space agency will illegally claim regions of the Moon, will win the one-participant space race, and will abandon climate sciences. Basically being the usual Trump appointee.

It is being said that Duffy is trying to remain in his NASA role until at least after the Artemis II mission around the Moon, set for no earlier than February 2026.

Whoever ends up leading NASA will be guiding a greatly defunded and damaged space agency. The agency is already losing critical employees and may lose thousands while the U.S. government is shut down.

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week again had seven launches taking place, with spacecraft heading for the two space stations in low Earth orbit. News of the week had two crews meeting in space and potential hiccups ahead for Artemis II. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

October 26th - H3 with HTV-X

Japan launched its H3 rocket, with four solid rocket boosters for the first time, into low Earth orbit from the Tanegashima Space Center for the HTV-X's first resupply mission to the International Space Station. HTV-X will remain with the station for about six months.

October 26th - Long March 3B/E with Gaofen-14-02

A Long March 3B/E launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center carrying the Gaofen-14-02 satellite into sun-synchronous orbit. Gaofen-14-02 is set to work with the existing Gaofen-14 to create digital topographical maps, elevation models, and other kinds of geographic maps.

October 26th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-21

SpaceX launched twenty-eight Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit atop of its Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. Booster B1077 supported this mission for its twenty-fourth flight, with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

October 28th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-21

Another twenty-eight Starlink satellites were sent into low Earth orbit via a Falcon 9 out of Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Supporting this mission was booster B1082, for its seventeenth flight with a landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

October 29th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-37

Falcon 9 sent twenty-nine more Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit out of Space Launch Complex 40. Booster B1083 supported this launch for its fifteenth flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

October 31st - Long March 2F/G with Shenzhou-21

From the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, the Shenzhou-21 mission blasted off atop of a Long March 2F/G heading for the Tiangong Space Station in low Earth orbit. Taikonauts flying for this sixth-month mission are Commander Zhang Lu, Flight Engineer Wu Fei, and Payload Expert Zhang Hongzhang.

October 31st - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-23

Out of Space Launch Complex 4E, yet another twenty-eight Starlink satellites were sent into low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9. Supporting this mission was booster B1063, for its twenty-ninth launch with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

In Other Space News

Shenzhou-21 crew boards Tiangong

Having lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on October 31st, the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft flew a new speedy rendezvous route to the Tiangong Space Station in low Earth orbit, carrying Commander Zhang Lu, Flight Engineer Wu Fei, and Payload Expert Zhang Hongzhang.

Just over three and a half hours after launch, the Shenzhou spacecraft docked with the station. A few hours later, following leak checks and various tests, hatches between Shenzhou's orbital module and Tiangong's Tianhe module's forward docking port were opened, allowing the new crew to be greeted by Shenzhou-20's Commander Chen Dong, Operator Chen Zhongrui, and Science Operator Wang Jie.

Now inside the space station, the Shenzhou-21 trio will spend about five days with the Shenzhou-20 crew to adjust to life in microgravity before a handover of duties takes place. That will allow the Shenzhou-20 mission to conclude in about five days with a return to Earth.

While onboard Tiangong for the next six months, the Shenzhou-21 crew is set to perform experiments in the fields of space life science and biotechnology, space medicine, space material science, microgravity fluid physics and combustion, and new space technology. One of those experiments has Tiangong hosting its first rodent residents, with two male and two female mice being sent up to study behaviours in microgravity before returning with Shenzhou-20.

U.S. shutdown may delay Artemis II

Since October 1st, the U.S. government has been shut down due to the inability of American lawmakers to agree on funding plans for the government. At the start of the shutdown, NASA was proceeding with preparations for the Artemis II mission, but now hiccups may be about to appear.

According to a recent report in SpaceNews, contractors working on the mission may begin to reduce or cease work as they run through the last of their financial cushion as the shutdown starts its second month. Citing a panel appearance of Kirk Shireman, Vice President of Human Space Exploration and Orion Program Manager at Lockheed Martin, the outlet stated that smaller contractors are not going to be able to continue working.

So far for the Artemis II mission, NASA has fully stacked the Space Launch System rocket and placed the Orion spacecraft atop it. Joint tests of both vehicles are set to be underway for many more weeks, with NASA's Artemis teams not expected to be affected by the shutdown for now.

What to Expect Next Week

November 2nd - Falcon 9 with Bandwagon-4

SpaceX is planning to perform its Bandwagon-4 low Earth orbit rideshare mission via a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40.

November 2nd - LVM-3 with GSAT-7R

India's LVM-3 rocket is set to launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre carrying the GSAT-7R communication satellite to geostationary transfer orbit on behalf of the Indian Navy.

November 3rd - Long March 7A with a to-be-annouced payload

A Long March 7A is preparing to fly from the Wenchang Space Launch Site into an orbit higher than low Earth orbit with a currently unannounced payload.

November 4th - Ariane 6 with Sentinel-1D

Arianespace is planning to launch the Ariane 6 rocket from the Guiana Space Centre into sun-synchronous orbit carrying the Sentinel-1D weather satellite.

November 5th - Electron for 'The Nation God Navigates'

Rocket Lab's Electron is set to fly from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B on the Māhia Peninsula, in New Zealand, into low Earth orbit with a synthetic aperture radar satellite on behalf of iQPS.

November 5th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-81

A Falcon 9 is set to launch a batch of Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40.

NET November 5th - Zhuque-3 for its debut flight

If the Shenzhou-20 mission returns to Earth on November 5th, LandSpace may be cleared to launch its partially reusable Zhuque-3 launch vehicle for the first time out of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The first-stage booster may also softly touchdown downrange on a landing pad.

November 6th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-14

Another batch of Starlink satellites is set to head into low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 4E.

November 8th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-51

Even more Starlink satellites will be launched into low Earth orbit via Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A.

Welcome to our twenty-fifth Monthly Dose of Space! In this monthly newsletter, we bring you major news from the past month. October heads toward the end of a busy 2025 worldwide, so let's jump into the past month!

News of the Month

Last month has seen the first flight of Japan's new cargo spacecraft, the advance of the Artemis Accords, New Glenn preparing to fly toward Mars, and an update about SpaceX's lunar lander.

Hungary, Malaysia, Philippines join Artemis Accords

On October 22nd, Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy shared online that Hungary has signed onto the U.S.-led non-binding Artemis Accords. With the signing, Duffy wrote:

"Building on the strong relationship between President Trump and Prime Minister Orbán, I’m proud to expand America’s space partnership with Hungary." – "Their decision to join the Artemis Accords affirms a shared commitment to peaceful, transparent exploration."

Almost a week later, on October 28th, Malaysia and the Philippines joined the accords according to a 'fact sheet' shared by the Trump White House. The U.S. State Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs also tweeted the following statement:

"The Philippines and Malaysia have committed to principles of safe and transparent space exploration by signing onto the Artemis Accords, bringing the number of signatories to 59. The United States is continuing our long tradition of leadership in space exploration."

No proper statements about the signings by the three countries have been shared due to the ongoing U.S. government shutdown.

With the signing of the accords, Hungary, Malaysia, and the Philippines join Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, the Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Peru, Poland, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Senegal, Thailand, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay as signatories.

Japan's HTV-X arrives at International Space Station

Japan launched its new cargo spacecraft, HTV-X, toward the International Space Station atop of a H3 rocket flying out of the Tanegashima Space Station on October 26th.

HTV-X took about three days to reach close proximity to the space station. Once near the space station, the robotic Canadarm2, operated by Japanese astronaut Kimiyu Yui, attached to HTV-X to berth it to the U.S. segments Harmony module, specifically its Earth-facing docking port.

Cargo onboard HTV-X for its first trip to the International Space Station includes various fresh foods, experiment materials for the Japanese Experiment Module Kibo, and the Demonstration System for CO2 Removal, among others.

The HTV-X spacecraft will remain docked to the International Space Station for about six months before remaining in low Earth orbit for a year and a half to complete technical demonstration objectives. HTV-X is planned to eventually resupply NASA's Moon orbiting Gateway space station.

New Glenn near second flight

Blue Origin announced on October 31st that its New Glenn rocket completed a first-stage static fire, lighting all seven of its liquid methane and liquid oxygen burning BE-4 engines. The test lasted for 38 seconds, with them being at full thrust for 22 seconds.

Dave Limp, the company's Chief Executive Officer, provided more details on the static fire, stating:

"We extended the hotfire duration this time to simulate the landing burn sequence by shutting down the non-gimballed engines after ramping down to 50 percent thrust, then shutting down the outboard gimballed engines while ramping the center engine to 80 percent thrust. This helps us understand fluid interactions between active and inactive engine feedlines during landing."

Before testing at the launch site, Dave Limp revealed the name of New Glenn's second first-stage booster, calling it 'Never Tell Me The Odds'. He also shared:

"I think the odds of landing this booster are a lot better than 3,720-to-1. Both strakes are in place, and BE-4 installation is well underway. Great job by the team as we continue getting our second booster ready for launch."

Previously, on October 8th, 'Never Tell Me The Odds' was moved toward the launch pad, equipped with its seven BE-4 engines with thermal protective fabric and panels installed. Several hours later, the booster arrived at Launch Complex 36 for connection to New Glenn's second-stage.

At the moment, New Glenn's second flight is believed to be targeting a launch date of no earlier than November 9th. This flight will send two satellites towards Mars for NASA.

In the lead-up to a second launch, Blue Origin was awarded 78.2 million United States Dollars from the United States Space Force to expand satellite processing facilities in Florida. That facility should be open by 2028 for use by multiple launch providers.

SpaceX shares some lunar lander updates

On October 30th, SpaceX shared a lengthy post on its website about its Starship human-rated lunar lander, commonly known as Starship HLS. Within the post, the company boasted about the vehicle's potential capabilities, limited progress through Starship flight tests, and a handful of milestones. Those milestones included:

• Lunar environmental control and life support system tests in a full-scale cabin with multiple occupants, validating oxygen/nitrogen injection, air distribution, sanitation, humidity, thermal control, and acoustic environments
• Docking adapter qualification for the androgynous SpaceX system that will connect Starship and Orion, based on Dragon's active docking system
• Full-scale landing leg drop test at flight energies onto simulated lunar regolith to verify performance and study foot-regolith interaction
• Raptor engine lunar landing throttle test demonstrating the thrust profile needed for lunar touchdown
• Micrometeoroid and debris testing of various shielding, insulation, and window materials to protect against impacts and thermal extremes
• Landing software, sensor, and radar tests for navigation hardware that will enable precise lunar descent and landing
• Raptor cold start tests using pre-chilled sea-level and vacuum engines to simulate post-space thermal conditions
• Integrated lunar mission operations plan review covering SpaceX-NASA collaboration, flight rules, crew procedures, and mission planning
• Depot power module demonstration testing electrical generation and distribution systems for the propellant depot variant
• Ground station and communications demonstration between flight-equivalent ground and vehicle systems
• Elevator and airlock demonstration with pressurized space suits to practice crew and cargo transfer operations
• Medical system demonstration testing onboard capabilities and ground-to-crew telemedicine
• Hardware-in-the-loop testbed activation using flight-representative hardware to simulate the propellant transfer flight test

Along with mentioning the milestones above, SpaceX said that they plan to perform a Starship-to-Starship in-space propellant transfer demonstration and to produce a non-flight-bound Starship HLS cabin. That cabin is proposed to be used for training and testing as well as for demonstrating design maturity.

Toward the end of the post, SpaceX also wrote the following:

"[NASA selected] through fair and open competition which determined that SpaceX’s bid utilizing Starship had the highest technical and management ratings while being the lowest cost by a wide margin." – "In response to the latest calls, we’ve shared and are formally assessing a simplified mission architecture and concept of operations that we believe will result in a faster return to the Moon while simultaneously improving crew safety."

That is in response to Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy recently saying that he plans to open up the Artemis III lunar landing contract, which will send two astronauts to the lunar surface after mid-2027, to accelerate its timelines to land ahead of China's planned crewed lunar missions.

Launches of the Month

This month saw 27 launches worldwide, continuing a busy year. If you want to know what each launch was we have them all listed below!

October 3rd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-39

Wrapping out the week as it began, SpaceX launched another 28 Starlink V2 satellites to LEO aboard Falcon 9 B1097, the boosters 2nd flight. Drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You" once again was the down range landing pad, its 155th successful Falcon 9 recovery.

October 7th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-59

SpaceX's Falcon 9 delivered twenty-eight Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. Booster B1090 supported this launch, flying for the eighth time and landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

October 8th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-17

Another twenty-eight Starlink satellites were launched atop of Falcon 9 into low Earth orbit out of Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Supporting this mission was booster B1071 for its twenty-ninth flight, with a landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

October 8th - New Shepard for NS-36

Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket flew a suborbital tourism mission from the company's West Texas launch site, carrying Aaron Newman, Jeff Elgin, Vitalii Ostrovsky, Danna Karagussova, William Lewis, and Clint Kelly (a repeat customer) above the Kármán line. Booster NS4 supported this flight, for its sixteenth mission, along with capsule RSS First Step, flying for the fifteenth time.

October 11th - Gravity-1 with three satellites

Orienspace's Gravity-1 launch vehicle performed its second flight, after a twenty-one-month gap, from a sea-launch platform in the Yellow Sea near the city of Haiyang for a flight into sun-synchronous orbit. Atop of the rocket were the Shutianyu 01 and 02 space monitoring satellites, planned to image orbital debris, and the remote sensing Jiangsu Geological Satellite for measuring mineral resources as well as monitoring land usage.

October 13th - Long March 2D with Shiyan-31

A Long March 2D launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying Shiyan-31 into a polar orbit. Shiyan-31 is said to be for verifying new optical imaging technologies.

October 14th - Starship-Super Heavy for its eleventh flight test

SpaceX had its in-development fully-reusable Starship-Super Heavy perform its eleventh flight test, lifting off from South Texas. Flying for the test was Ship 38, for its first flight and the final launch of a 'Block 2' Starship, and Super Heavy Booster 15, flying for the second time. Both vehicles successfully splashed down afterwards.

October 14th - Falcon 9 with KF-03

From Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, on October 14th, SpaceX's Falcon 9 flew into low Earth orbit carrying 24 satellites for Amazon's Kuiper constellation, bringing it up to 153 spacecraft. Supporting this mission was booster B1091, flying for the second time and landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

October 14th - Electron for 'Owl New World'

Rocket Lab launched its Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1A, on the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand, carrying a StriX satellite into low Earth orbit from Synspective. The new StriX satellite is planned to collect data of the Earth below at a resolution between one and three meters.

October 16th - Falcon 9 with a Tranche 1 mission

Falcon 9 launched from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, carrying twenty-one satellites into polar orbit for the U.S. military. Booster 1093 supported this mission for its seventh flight, landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

October 16th - Long March 8A with GuoWang Group 12

A Long March 8A lifted off from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site carrying nine satellites into low Earth orbit for China's Central Government-backed GuoWang constellation. This constellation now has 95 spacecraft in orbit, with it planned to provide internet connectivity services.

October 16th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-52

Another Falcon 9 flew from Space Launch Complex 40, carrying twenty-eight Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. Flying in support of this mission was booster B1095, making its third flight and landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

October 17th - Long March 6A with Qianfan Polar Group 18

Following a seven-month deployment pause, the Shanghai-supported Qianfan constellation saw its sixth launch to date with the deployment of its 'Polar Group 18'. That launch brought the constellation up to 108 spacecraft in orbit, ahead of plans to provide space-based internet services.

October 19th - Kinetica-1 with three satellites

CAS Space's Kinetica-1 blasted off from Launch Area 130 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, carrying two Chinese and one Pakistani satellites into sun-synchronous orbit. Pakistan's satellite onboard was PRSC-HS1, the country’s first hyperspectral imaging satellite, which is expected to support crop monitoring, natural resource monitoring, disaster responses, and city planning. The two Chinese satellites were AIRSAT-03 and AIRSAT-04, both X-band synthetic aperture radar remote sensing spacecraft with a similar task to PRSC-HS1.

October 19th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-17

A Falcon 9 launched from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, carrying twenty-eight Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. Supporting this mission was booster B1067 for its record-leading thirty-first flight, with a landing on the drone ship 'A Shortfall of Gravitas' downrange.

October 19th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-19

Another batch of twenty-eight Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Booster B1088 supported this mission, for its eleventh flight with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

October 22nd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-5

Yet another set of twenty-eight Starlink satellites were flown into low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 out of Space Launch Complex 4E. Supporting this launch was booster B1075 for its twenty-first flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' afterward.

October 23rd - Long March 5 with TJSW-20

A Long March 5 with an 18.5-meter-long fairing lifted off from Launch Complex 101 at the Wenchang Space Launch Site, carrying the TJSW-20 spacecraft into a geostationary transfer orbit. Uses for the satellite are set to be communications, radio, television, and data transmission, with other tasks planned to be for verifying multi-band high-speed throughput communications technologies.

October 24th - Falcon 9 with SpainSat-NG II

SpaceX launched SpainSat-NG II into geostationary transfer orbit on behalf of the Spanish government from Space Launch Complex 40 atop of a Falcon 9. Booster B1076 supported this launch for its twenty-second and final flight. Spainsat-NG II is set to advance and expand the capacity of secure military communications.

October 25th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-12

Yet another Falcon 9 delivered twenty-eight Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E. Supporting this mission was booster B1081 for its nineteenth flight, landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

October 26th - H3 with HTV-X

Japan launched its H3 rocket, with four solid rocket boosters for the first time, into low Earth orbit from the Tanegashima Space Center for the HTV-X's first resupply mission to the International Space Station. HTV-X will remain with the station for about six months.

October 26th - Long March 3B/E with Gaofen-14-02

A Long March 3B/E launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center carrying the Gaofen-14-02 satellite into sun-synchronous orbit. Gaofen-14-02 is set to work with the existing Gaofen-14 to create digital topographical maps, elevation models, and other kinds of geographic maps.

October 26th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-21

SpaceX launched twenty-eight Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit atop of its Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40. Booster B1077 supported this mission for its twenty-fourth flight, with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

October 28th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-21

Another twenty-eight Starlink satellites were sent into low Earth orbit via a Falcon 9 out of Space Launch Complex 4E. Supporting this mission was booster B1082, for its seventeenth flight with a landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

October 29th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-37

Falcon 9 sent twenty-nine Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit out of Space Launch Complex 40. Booster B1083 supported this launch for its fifteenth flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

October 31st - Long March 2F/G with Shenzhou-21

From the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, the Shenzhou-21 mission blasted off atop of a Long March 2F/G heading for the Tiangong Space Station in low Earth orbit. Taikonauts flying for this sixth-month mission are Commander Zhang Lu, Flight Engineer Wu Fei, and Payload Expert Zhang Hongzhang.

October 31st - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-23

Out of Space Launch Complex 4E, yet another twenty-eight Starlink satellites were sent into low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9. Supporting this mission was booster B1063, for its twenty-ninth launch with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

Launches to look out for in November!

November will head toward the end of a busy year for worldwide launches. Listed below are all of the launches expected or likely to happen next month, launches on the 1st of September may have already occurred due to when this newsletter is published.

November 2nd - Falcon 9 with Bandwagon-4

SpaceX is planning to perform its Bandwagon-4 low Earth orbit rideshare mission via a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40.

November 2nd - LVM-3 with GSAT-7R

India's LVM-3 rocket is set to launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre carrying the GSAT-7R communication satellite to geostationary transfer orbit on behalf of the Indian Navy.

November 3rd - Long March 7A with a to-be-annouced payload

A Long March 7A is preparing to fly from the Wenchang Space Launch Site into an orbit higher than low Earth orbit with a currently unannounced payload.

November 4th - Ariane 6 with Sentinel-1D

Arianespace is planning to launch the Ariane 6 rocket from the Guiana Space Centre into sun-synchronous orbit carrying the Sentinel-1D weather satellite.

November 5th - Electron for 'The Nation God Navigates'

Rocket Lab's Electron is set to fly from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B on the Māhia Peninsula, in New Zealand, into low Earth orbit with a synthetic aperture radar satellite on behalf of iQPS.

November 5th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-81

A Falcon 9 is set to launch a batch of Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40.

NET November 5th - Zhuque-3 for its debut flight

If the Shenzhou-20 mission returns to Earth on November 5th, LandSpace may be cleared to launch its partially reusable Zhuque-3 launch vehicle for the first time out of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The first-stage booster may also softly touchdown downrange on a landing pad.

November 6th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-14

Another batch of Starlink satellites is set to head into low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 4E.

November 8th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-51

Even more Starlink satellites will be launched into low Earth orbit via Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A.

November 9th - New Glenn with ESCAPADE

Blue Origin is preparing to launch its New Glenn rocket for the second time from Launch Complex 36, launching two small satellites towards Mars for NASA's ESCAPADE mission.

November 10th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-87

Yet another batch of Starlink satellites are set to be launched atop of Falcon 9 into low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40.

November 10th - Falcon 9 with Transporter-15

SpaceX is preparing to launch its Transporter-15 sun-synchronous orbit rideshare mission from Space Launch Complex 4E atop of Falcon 9.

November 14th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-89

Falcon 9 will send more Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A.

November 14th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-85

Another Falcon 9 will send a batch of Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40.

November 16th - Falcon 9 with Sentinel-6B

SpaceX is preparing to launch the Sentinel-6B weather satellite into low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E.

November 18th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-94

More Starlink satellites will head to low Earth orbit via a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40.

November 19th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-30

Falcon 9 will again launch a batch of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit out of Space Launch Complex 4E.

November 26th - KSLV-2 with CAS500-3

South Korea's CAS500-3 (Compact Advanced Satellite 500-3) Earth observation technology verification will head into sun-synchronous orbit atop of the country's KSLV-2 launch vehicle.

November 27th - Soyuz 2.1a with MS-28

A Soyuz 2.1a is set to fly out of the Baikonur Cosmodrome carrying the MS-28 cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station.

SpaceX currently operates the world's only partially reusable rocket with its Falcon 9, having landed its first-stage boosters over five hundred times since December 2015. Now, almost a decade later, two companies from different nations are racing to be the second* to achieve the feat.

In Florida, Blue Origin has been preparing to fly its giant New Glenn rocket for the second time, following a largely successful debut flight in January. In that mission, the rocket carried a demonstrator payload, and its first-stage failed to reenter the atmosphere after ascent.

The second flight of New Glenn is set to have the 98-meter-tall and 7-meter-wide rocket lob two small Mars orbiting spacecraft, for the ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) mission, out of Earth orbit and toward the red planet. Since April, preparations and tests have been underway for the second flight, like a static fire of the second-stage with its twin liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen burning expander cycle BE-3U engines.

While the rocket's payloads will be off to Mars, the first-stage will be coming back down towards Earth. More specifically, it will be targeting a landing on Blue Origin's 'Jacklyn' drone ship downrange in the Atlantic Ocean.

As of October 29th, New Glenn's second flight is at Launch Complex 36, awaiting a first-stage static fire of its seven oxygen-rich staged combustion liquid methane and liquid oxygen burning BE-4 engines.

Over in China, LandSpace is preparing to fly its Zhuque-3 launch vehicle for the first time. While being smaller than New Glenn, the vehicle is still very capable, with a payload capacity of low Earth orbit of 11,800 kilograms in its current configuration.

LandSpace opted to build the 66-meter-tall and 4.5-meter-wide Zhuque-3 out of stainless steel while fueling it with liquid methane and liquid oxygen, which is then burned in nine engines on the first-stage and one on the second-stage. The engine powering both stages is the company's self-developed TQ-12A and TQ-15A gas generator cycle engines (proven on their smaller rocket).

For recovering the first-stage booster, Zhuque-3 resembles Falcon 9, with four grid fins attached near the top of it for unpowered descent through the atmosphere and four landing legs for a soft touchdown after engines relight for landing. Unlike SpaceX and Blue Origin, LandSpace will land its boosters on an inland pad built downrange from the launch site.

At the time of writing, Zhuque-3 is fully equipped for its debut launch from Launch Area 96B at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

At the moment, New Glenn could launch first with a target date of no earlier than November 9th. Meanwhile, Zhuque-3 is waiting for the return of the Shenzhou-20 mission, which has priority in the Jiuquan range, for its chance to launch, after the 5th of November at the earliest. Which of the rockets lands successfully remains to be seen.

*Starship's Super Heavy booster, also developed by SpaceX, was caught. It is also not used on a commercially operational launch vehicle.

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week had seven launches into Earth orbit, with the majority carrying Starlink satellites. News in the week had China gearing up for another crewed mission to its space station and an important space merger in Europe. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

October 19th - Kinetica-1 with three satellites

CAS Space's Kinetica-1 blasted off from Launch Area 130 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, carrying two Chinese and one Pakistani satellites into sun-synchronous orbit. Pakistan's satellite onboard was PRSC-HS1, the country’s first hyperspectral imaging satellite, which is expected to support crop monitoring, natural resource monitoring, disaster responses, and city planning. The two Chinese satellites were AIRSAT-03 and AIRSAT-04, both X-band synthetic aperture radar remote sensing spacecraft with a similar task to PRSC-HS1.

October 19th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-17

A Falcon 9 launched from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, carrying twenty-eight Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. Supporting this mission was booster B1067 for its record-leading thirty-first flight, with a landing on the drone ship 'A Shortfall of Gravitas' downrange.

October 19th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-19

Another batch of twenty-eight Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Booster B1088 supported this mission, for its eleventh flight with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

October 22nd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-5

Yet another set of twenty-eight Starlink satellites were flown into low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 out of Space Launch Complex 4E. Supporting this launch was booster B1075 for its twenty-first flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' afterward.

October 23rd - Long March 5 with TJSW-20

A Long March 5 with an 18.5-meter-long fairing lifted off from Launch Complex 101 at the Wenchang Space Launch Site, carrying the TJSW-20 spacecraft into a geostationary transfer orbit. Uses for the satellite are set to be communications, radio, television, and data transmission, with other tasks planned to be for verifying multi-band high-speed throughput communications technologies.

October 24th - Falcon 9 with SpainSat-NG II

SpaceX launched SpainSat-NG II into geostationary transfer orbit on behalf of the Spanish government from Space Launch Complex 40 atop of a Falcon 9. Booster B1076 supported this launch for its twenty-second and final flight. Spainsat-NG II is set to advance and expand the capacity of secure military communications.

October 25th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-12

Yet another Falcon 9 delivered twenty-eight Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E. Supporting this mission was booster B1081 for its nineteenth flight, landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

In Other Space News

Shenzhou-21 prepares for launch

China's space agencies and enterprises are currently preparing to launch the Shenzhou-21 mission on a Long March 2F/G from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The mission, working toward an October 31st launch, will carry three taikonauts into low Earth orbit for a six-month mission on board the orbiting laboratory.

After arriving on board Tiagong, the Shenzhou-21 crew will spend about a week with the Shenzhou-20 trio, Commander Chen Dong, Operator Chen Zhongrui, and Science Operator Wang Jie, before they return to Earth in early November.

As is standard for China’s crewed missions, the names of the Shenzhou-21 crew are not currently known and will be announced in the days leading up to launch through two press conferences, first from management of the China Manned Space Agency and then when they meet the press.

Airbus, Leonardo, Thales to combine space businesses

European aerospace giants Airbus, Leonardo, and Thales have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on October 23rd aimed at creating a leading space enterprise by combining each of their space activities. Once created, the new enterprise will:

"[Aim] to strengthen Europe’s strategic autonomy in space, a major sector that underpins critical infrastructure and services related to telecommunications, global navigation, earth observation, science, exploration and national security. This new company also intends to serve as the trusted partner for developing and implementing national sovereign space programmes."

"This new company will pool, build and develop a comprehensive portfolio of complementary technologies and end-to-end solutions, from space infrastructure to services (excluding space launchers). It will accelerate innovation in this strategic market, in order to create a unified, integrated and resilient European space player, with the critical mass to compete globally and grow on the export markets."

To set up the new enterprise, Airbus will contribute with its Space Systems and Space Digital businesses, coming from Airbus Defence and Space, Leonardo will contribute with its Space Division, including its shares in Telespazio and Thales Alenia Space, and Thales will mainly contribute with its shares in Thales Alenia Space, Telespazio, and Thales SESO.

Once established, the company will be jointly owned by the three giants, with Airbus, Leonardo, and Thales owning respectively 35%, 32.5% and 32.5% stakes

What to Expect Next Week

October 26th - H3 with HTV-X

Japan is planning to launch its H3 rocket, with four solid rocket boosters for the first time, into low Earth orbit from the Tanegashima Space Center for the HTV-X's first resupply mission to the International Space Station.

October 26th - Long March 3B/E with an unannounced payload

A Long March 3B/E is preparing to launch from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center carrying a currently unconfirmed satellite into sun-synchronous orbit.

October 26th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-21

Falcon 9 is planning to launch from Space Launch Complex 40 carrying a batch of Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit.

October 27th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-21

Another batch of Starlink satellites are set to be delivered into low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E.

October 28th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-37

Yet more Starlink satellites will be sent to low Earth orbit out of Space launch Complex 40 atop of Falcon 9.

October 28th - Hanbit-Nano for 'Spaceward'

South Korean startup Innospace is preparing to launch its solid-hybrid rocket Hanbit-Nano into low Earth orbit for the first time, from the Alcântara Launch Center in Brazil.

October 30th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-23

Falcon 9 will fly again, carrying even more Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E.

October 21st - Long March 2F/G with Shenzhou-21

China's Tiangong Space Station will have its latest crew of three astronauts carried into orbit onboard the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft atop of a Long March 2F/G flying out of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

An American spacecraft will fly people around the Moon next year, but the next step has new doubts ahead of it.

As the U.S. government shutdown heads into its third week, NASA is continuing work at the Kennedy Space Center to prepare the Artemis II mission for its crewed lunar mission, set for no earlier than February 2026.

Last week, on October 17th, the Orion spacecraft, dubbed 'Integrity', was rolled over from the Launch Abort System Facility and into the Vehicle Assembly Building. After spending the weekend next to the towering Space Launch System (SLS) rocket (which was stacked between November 2024 and September 2025), Orion was lifted up to the top of the rocket and bolted to it, making the completed vehicle 98 meters tall.

Now joined as one, Orion and SLS will perform joint tests to verify that interfaces can communicate between the two vehicles, ground systems and controllers, as well as in frequencies for the Tracking Data Relay Satellites and the Deep Space Network to ensure that mission control at the Johnson Space Center can remain in contact. Other tests of SLS have been gradually conducted throughout the year.

Sometime in early 2026, SLS and Orion will roll out to Launch Complex 39B for a few weeks of testing and a wet-dress rehearsal of a launch attempt. Artemis II's crew of four, with NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canada's Jeremy Hansen, will also train on the launch pad with the complete vehicle.

Opening up Artemis III

Following Artemis II, the currently set for mid-2027 Artemis III will fly to perform the U.S.'s first crewed lunar landing this decade. That mission will use SLS and Orion alongside dozens of SpaceX Starship vehicles to put the Starship Human Landing System (HLS) on the lunar surface. But SpaceX has experienced repeated delays with developing the vehicle, as a preceding variant of Starship that isn't even flying into orbit is repeating the same few tests to prove out fundamental parts of the fully reusable launch solution.

Delays with Starship have seemingly led NASA to lose some confidence in SpaceX's ability to fulfil its contract for a lunar lander, which NASA has paid just over four billion dollars for, as Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy said the following on CNBC:

"SpaceX had the contract for Artemis III ..., the problem is they're behind, they've pushed their timelines out–and were in a race against China. The President and I want to get to the Moon in this term, so I'm gonna open up the contract, I'm gonna let other space companies compete with SpaceX–like Blue Origin. Whatever one can get us there first, to the Moon, we're gonna take."

On Fox News, Duffy added that he was confident that opening the contract up would see an American lunar landing before 2029. Due to the government shutdown, NASA has yet to provide any details on how the companies may be incentivised to provide alternative lunar landers, but Ars Technica's Eric Berger suggests that internally Duffy is aiming for a landing in 30 months (April 2028) on a potential cost-plus contract.

One alternative lander may be sourced from Blue Origin, but not its currently contracted crewed lander. Ars Technica revealed on October 2nd, based on government sources, that Blue Origin is exploring modifying the cargo-carrying Blue Moon Mark 1 lander with a pressurized crew module, at the request of an unnamed NASA official. The modified lander would reportedly not require refueling, but still need multiple flights, to bring astronauts to the surface and back into orbit afterwards.

Lockheed Martin, which is behind the Orion spacecraft, is also looking at providing a lunar lander, sending the statement below to multiple media outlets:

"Throughout this year, Lockheed Martin has been performing significant technical and programmatic analysis for human lunar landers that would provide options to NASA for a safe solution to return humans to the Moon as quickly as possible. We have been working with a cross-industry team of companies and together we are looking forward to addressing Secretary Duffy's request to meet our country’s lunar objectives."

SpaceX is yet to comment on any potential changes to its lunar lander contract, but Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk went and hurled insults at NASA leadership on social media.

Acting Administrator Duffy's move to source another lunar lander is part of a panic that China, with its own crewed lunar landing program that's on schedule with realistic hardware development, could put a person on the Moon before a U.S. effort. China's current landing target is before 2030, although October 2028 is probably the proper aim (the People's Republic's 80th birthday), and more critically, the country isn't participating in what American policy makers perceive as a space race.

Fight to lead NASA

As the Artemis III mission may switch landers, there's an ongoing battle for the leadership and future of NASA occurring. The Wall Street Journal has recently reported that Sean Duffy and previously Trump-nominated billionaire space tourist Jared Isaacman have both been lobbying President Trump for the space agency's top job.

In the background, Duffy has been pushing for NASA to be moved under the Department of Transportation (which he also heads), likely meaning the agency wouldn't need an administrator. He also suggested that NASA might benefit of being part of the U.S. cabinet, ignoring that space science and research programs would then need to be managed in a federal agency with no experience doing so.

Meanwhile. Isaacman has been wooing pro-Trump figures and donating to MAGA projects, going so far as to support internationally illegal killings, in the hopes of possibly leading the space agency. In April, he got as far as a U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation hearing before Trump pulled his support, citing donations to Democrat candidates.

Whoever ends up leading NASA will be guiding a greatly defunded and damaged space agency. The agency may lose thousands of employees while the U.S. government is shut down.

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week saw eight launches into orbit, with four in support of deploying space-based connectivity constellations. News from the week had one of China's first reusable rockets heading to the launch site while Ariane 6 lines up for two more missions this year. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

October 13th - Long March 2D with Shiyan-31

A Long March 2D launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying Shiyan-31 into a polar orbit. Shiyan-31 is said to be for verifying new optical imaging technologies.

October 14th - Starship-Super Heavy for its eleventh flight test

SpaceX had its in-development fully-reusable Starship-Super Heavy perform its eleventh flight test, lifting off from South Texas. Flying for the test was Ship 38, for its first flight and the final launch of a 'Block 2' Starship, and Super Heavy Booster 15, flying for the second time. Both vehicles successfully splashed down afterwards.

October 14th - Falcon 9 with KF-03

From Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, on October 14th, SpaceX's Falcon 9 flew into low Earth orbit carrying 24 satellites for Amazon's Kuiper constellation, bringing it up to 153 spacecraft. Supporting this mission was booster B1091, flying for the second time and landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

October 14th - Electron for 'Owl New World'

Rocket Lab launched its Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1A, on the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand, carrying a StriX satellite into low Earth orbit from Synspective. The new StriX satellite is planned to collect data of the Earth below at a resolution between one and three meters.

October 16th - Falcon 9 with a Tranche 1 mission

Falcon 9 launched from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, carrying twenty-one satellites into polar orbit for the U.S. military. Booster 1093 supported this mission for its seventh flight, landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

October 16th - Long March 8A with GuoWang Group 12

A Long March 8A lifted off from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site carrying nine satellites into low Earth orbit for China's Central Government-backed GuoWang constellation. This constellation now has 95 spacecraft in orbit, with it planned to provide internet connectivity services.

October 16th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-52

Another Falcon 9 flew from Space Launch Complex 40, carrying twenty-eight Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. Flying in support of this mission was booster B1095, making its third flight and landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

October 17th - Long March 6A with Qianfan Polar Group 18

Following a seven-month deployment pause, the Shanghai-supported Qianfan constellation saw its sixth launch to date with the deployment of its 'Polar Group 18'. That launch brought the constellation up to 108 spacecraft in orbit, ahead of plans to provide space-based internet services.

In Other Space News

Zhuque-3 nears debut flight

LandSpace's partially reusable liquid methane and liquid oxygen burning Zhuque-3 launch vehicle is closing in on its debut flight, with the company recently sharing a short video of hardware heading to its facility at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The first flight-bound Zhuque-3 vehicle has been at the launch site for most of the month, with it being spotted on the launch pad earlier in the week.

Almost two months ago, LandSpace's Chief Executive Officer Zhang Changwu said that the company was hoping to fly Zhuque-3 in September optimistically or in November if challenges were faced, as October launches have to move aside for Shenzhou mission preparations. Back in June, Zhuque-3 had its booster design and control systems verified with a 45-second nine-engine static fire.

In the now likely November debut flight, Zhuque-3 will carry a few satellites for bullish customers, with the first-stage booster equipped to attempt China's first booster recovery on a landing pad prepared downrange.

2025 to see two more Ariane 6s

Arianespace announced on October 16th that a fourth Ariane 6 vehicle, in the 62 configuration (two solid rocket boosters), is planned to fly this year, carrying a pair of Galileo satellites. The mission after that is planned to see Ariane 6's first 64 configuration (four solid rocket boosters), with the company writing:

"The first launch of the Ariane 6 with four boosters, the Ariane 64, is next to be launched after Galileo. Called mission VA267, it will orbit satellites of Amazon's Project Kuiper broadband constellation."

Dates for the last mission of 2025 and the first of 2026 are expected to be announced around a month before flight.

Ahead of both of those missions, Ariane 6 will launch the Copernicus Sentinel-1D satellite on November 4th. Once delivered to a sun-synchronous orbit, Sentinel-1D will provide free Earth observation data to worldwide users.

What to Expect Next Week

October 19th - Kinetica-1 with a to-be-annouced payload

CAS Space's Kinetica-1 is preparing to fly from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center with a currently unconfirmed payload.

October 19th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-17

A Falcon 9 is planned to launch from Space Launch Complex 40 with a batch of Starlink satellites bound for low Earth orbit.

October 21st - H3 with HTV-X

Japan is planning to launch its H3 rocket, with four solid rocket boosters for the first time, into low Earth orbit from the Tanegashima Space Center for the HTV-X's first resupply mission to the International Space Station.

October 21st - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-5

Another batch of Starlink satellites is set to head into low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E atop of a Falcon 9.

October 23rd - Falcon 9 with SpainSat-NG II

SpaceX's Falcon 9 is set to launch SpainSat-NG II into geostationary transfer orbit from Space Launch Complex 40.

October 24th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-12

Yet another Falcon 9 is preparing to launch from Space Launch Complex 4E, carrying a batch of Starlink satellites.

October 25th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-21

Even more Starlink satellites are planned to head into low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 flying out of Space Launch Complex 40.

Founded in 2012, Dhruva Space is a full-stack space engineering solution company based in Hyderabad, India, and has a growing European presence in Graz, Austria.

From satellite platforms to separation systems, as well as ground infrastructure and mission operations, Dhruva is one of the few, and the only Indian based full-stack space company. Since its founding, the company has operated eight satellites across four launches.

The most recent mission from Dhruva was for the company’s “Launching Expeditions for Aspiring Payloads” or LEAP program. Following a successful test demonstration during LEAP-TD, the company embarked on a critical mission this August: launching its first two customer payloads to orbit via a Falcon 9 rocket.

With the success of Leap-1 in their rear view mirrors and in a nation rapidly defining its role in the global space economy, Dhruva Space represents more than a company; it is a crucial piece of the next chapter of Indian space exploration.

Charting India’s Role in the Global Space Economy and Dhruva's Vision for Space Access

As Dhruva Space is growing both technically and internationally, we were interested in learning more about the company’s underlying goals and how it sees India’s changing place in the global space economy.

In this interview with the team at Dhruva, we asked a handful of questions, from engineering philosophy to the future of the Indian space industry. Let's dive in!

What excites you most about the “final frontier”?

Sanjay Nekkanti, CEO & Co-founder, Dhruva Space: For Dhruva Space, Space is about exploration and building infrastructure that supports various impact areas such as climate monitoring, secure communications, global connectivity, disaster management, and scientific discovery. Our work spans satellite platforms, subsystems, ground systems, and mission services. Every element contributes to making access to space more routine and highlights the tremendous impact of space tech. So, the excitement comes from enabling others — whether it’s a research institute validating critical research, a Defense agency strengthening our borders, or an Enterprise scaling a new innovation. Every satellite we build, every payload we integrate, and every ground station we establish, adds a new capability, expanding the ecosystem and lowering the barrier for those sectors that have not yet gone to Space or leveraged Space-based data.

That sense of compounding impact motivates us.

How does Dhruva differentiate itself from others in India and globally?

Sanjay Nekkanti, Chief Executive Officer & Co-founder, Dhruva Space: One of the biggest challenges in the current Space ecosystem is complexity and fragmentation in realizing a Space mission. It is a complex, costly, and time-intensive process experience by customers to secure a satellite bus with subsystems, launch facilitation, integration services, and ground infrastructure.

Dhruva Space’s USP solves that customer pain point. We are one of the few companies globally, and the only one in India, offering end-to-end mission delivery under one roof. From satellite platforms and subsystems to launch facilitation and separation systems, as well as ground infrastructure and mission operations, we provide either an integrated solution or individual offerings depending on the requirement. Customers don’t have to manage multiple contracts; they can work with one partner who takes responsibility from design through launch and operations. This approach makes lead times for missions faster, more reliable, and more scalable. Globally, this positions us uniquely: we bring the agility of NewSpace companies, but with the systems discipline and reliability that Governments and Tier-1 OEMs expect.

What is Dhruva’s vision for India’s role in the global Space economy over the next 10-20 years, and how does Dhruva itself seek to contribute?

Chaitanya Dora Surapureddy, Chief Financial Officer & Co-founder: I think the future is very bright. The Decadal Vision released by India’s Space Regulatory body, IN-SPACe, envisions that satellite manufacturing shall comprise over 10% of the US$44 billion Indian space economy’s share in the global markets. With the country’s continued emphasis on expanding the space economy by five times in the next decade, Dhruva Space is well-positioned to capitalize on the dynamic Indian and global markets, driving innovation and delivering impactful solutions. It is clear that, to the Government and private sector alike, Space is a sector integral to nation-building.

Dhruva Space’s mission is to help India get there. Today, we are industrializing satellite platforms, subsystems, and ground services so that customers can access Space faster, more reliably, and on a cost-effective basis. Tomorrow, these same capabilities will evolve into the building blocks of interplanetary infrastructure, including modular satellites, scalable operations, and ground systems that extend from Earth to the Moon and beyond. Our vision is that when humanity looks back twenty years from now, whether at constellations circling Earth or the first steps on Mars, Indian infrastructure will have been part of the backbone that made it possible.

We also see Dhruva Space as an enabler for industries that have yet to tap into Space or leverage Space-based data in their operations, for example, fisheries & aquaculture, forestry & wildlife management, banking & finance.

What were the biggest hurdles on your path to orbit? 

Abhay Egoor, Chief Technology Officer & Co-founder, Dhruva Space: Getting to orbit has been as much about solving systemic challenges as it has been about advancing technology. In our early years, the lack of accessible testing infrastructure was a significant hurdle. For the first three to four years, we had no launches and instead were focused on building foundational technologies. When the time came to test and qualify them, access to facilities was limited. We addressed this through a hybrid approach, working with both ISRO and private facilities, and were among the first private companies to sign formal agreements with IN-SPACe and ISRO. Even today, while Dhruva Space continues to invest in establishing our own facilities, infrastructure access remains an industry-wide bottleneck.

Regulatory processes also required perseverance. Securing authorizations for spectrum, RF systems, and launch clearances often involved long timelines. However, because Dhruva Space was maturing alongside India’s evolving Space policy ecosystem, we built compliance into our mission design from the outset. Today, we have one of the strongest in-house Regulatory teams in India, and that capability has become a core part of our resilience.

Additionally, a decade ago, it was rare to find engineers with direct experience in building and testing Space systems. We invested heavily in building talent pipelines, pairing talent with experienced professionals, and today our 200+-member team has become one of the most capable satellite engineering cohorts in India. For me, each of these hurdles was an opportunity to pivot and has enabled us to become more resourceful, making Dhruva stronger and more competitive.

From Vision to Engineering Reality

Now that we have a more comprehensive understanding of the space business and Dhruva's fast expanding mission, let's look at the engineering philosophy that enable it all.

Dhruva has emphasized building an end-to-end Space infrastructure. From an engineering standpoint, how do you balance modularity and standardization with the need to tailor systems for specific customer missions?

Abhay Egoor: At Dhruva Space, our philosophy has always been to design satellite platforms that are application-agnostic. This means they can host a wide variety of payloads across use cases such as Earth Observation, RF communications, technology demonstrations, or multiple payloads combined, without requiring a redesign each time.

To make this possible, we have invested in developing three core classes of satellites. Each platform is sized and engineered to suit a particular spectrum of missions, whether that means a compact satellite for universities and technology demos, a nanosatellite capable of Earth Observation and RF applications, or a larger microsatellite able to host complex payloads that require fine point accuracy and higher power budgets. By doing so, we avoid reinventing the wheel for every mission and instead start from a standardized, flight-proven platform.

Standardization, however, is only part of the solution. We combine it with modularity at the subsystem level, so every satellite is inherently customizable. For instance, one mission may demand a high-data-rate transmitter capable of handling 500 Mbps, while another may only need a transmitter operating at 50 Mbps. Rather than redesigning an entire spacecraft, we simply swap subsystems to deliver the most optimized and cost-effective configuration. It’s similar to how the automobile industry operates: a hatchback, sedan, and SUV each provide a familiar platform, but customers can choose variants based on their needs without altering the core design.

This balance of standardization and modularity allows us to offer missions that are scalable, adaptable, and fast to deploy. Customers benefit from faster timelines, reduced cost, and proven reliability, while still receiving satellites tailored to their specific requirements.

Following the successful deployment of LEAP-1, what is next for Dhruva, and what did you learn from previous missions that influenced it?

Sanjay Nekkanti: LEAP-1 is an essential milestone as Dhruva Space’s first commercial mission, with more companies leveraging our LEAP initiative in the coming years. Tier 1 global OEMs such as Sodern, ArianeGroup, and emerging startups are lined up for future LEAP missions.

Of course, to realize these many missions in these on-demand TATs, we have noted the need for the necessary infrastructure. That said, construction is underway for Dhruva Space’s 280,000-square-foot facility in Hyderabad, with the first phase being operational in early 2026. This site will allow us to scale production of satellites in the 300–500 kg class while supporting a broader portfolio of mission-critical subsystems, including Space-grade Solar Panels. The facility is designed not just for scale, but also for speed and repeatability, bringing Space manufacturing practices closer to industrial production standards.

We are also actively doubling down on our Ground segment capabilities. As the first Indian company to be authorized by the GOI to provide GSaaS, we are expanding our sovereign ground station network and advancing our proprietary mission operations software, Integrated Space Operations & Command Suite (ISOCS), which will enable customers to truly own, track, and command their Space assets in orbit.

Abhay Egoor: LEAP-1 marked a significant milestone for Dhruva as our first complete standalone commercial mission using the P-30 satellite platform. Nearly all subsystems were indigenized in-house, from the ADCS and solar panels to onboard computers and communications chains. The mission was as much a validation of our engineering as it was a demonstration of our operational maturity.

The lessons we carried into LEAP-1 came directly from earlier missions. Ground testing had to be exhaustive, because designs that worked in the lab could still fail under the stresses of launch. As a result, we developed highly detailed test plans to validate every function before flight. We also recognized the importance of operational readiness. LEAP-1 was a mission where we operated end-to-end, in terms of mission planning, ground station communications, and the satellite’s in-orbit modes. That experience expanded our role from manufacturer to full mission partner.

Most importantly, LEAP-1 confirmed the value of our modular design philosophy. Because subsystems were swappable and integration-friendly, assembly was streamlined and scalable. And because the platform was designed to accept customer payloads without modification, we were able to integrate a third-party payload seamlessly in terms of structure, electrical connections, and thermal compatibility. That ability to take responsibility for the entire mission validated Dhruva’s model and set the tone for future missions.

Additive manufacturing, composites, and sustainability are transforming spacecraft production. Which advanced manufacturing techniques is Dhruva integrating into your supply chain, and how are you designing for responsible de-orbiting or on-orbit servicing?

Abhay Egoor: We see additive manufacturing as a powerful tool, but we are deliberate in how we use it. While we do not yet rely heavily on metal additive manufacturing for Spacecraft, we are actively exploring multi-material approaches where a single component can be fabricated with different materials in one build. For instance, a polymer structure with embedded metal inserts can be manufactured as a single part, eliminating joints, reducing weight, and improving reliability.

We also make extensive use of carbon-fiber composites. Their strength-to-weight ratio makes them ideal for reducing mass while maintaining structural integrity. Our engineers have developed innovative ways to apply them to optimize subsystems where every gram counts.

Regardless of the method, every part undergoes rigorous validation. Additive and composite components are subjected to the same environmental, thermal, and mechanical testing as traditional parts. There are no shortcuts. In Space, every piece of hardware must be proven flight-ready. For us, advanced manufacturing is about enabling smarter, lighter, and more reliable designs that ultimately expand the capability of our satellites without compromising dependability.

Abhay Egoor: Sustainability is not an afterthought for us, but is embedded in how we design satellites. Even though there is not yet a strict mandate in India for de-orbiting, Dhruva Space has made a conscious decision that all satellites above a specific mass class will be equipped with propulsion systems. This capability serves two vital purposes. First, it enables collision avoidance, allowing satellites to maneuver away from potential conjunctions and reduce the risk of in-orbit collisions. Second, it ensures responsible end-of-life management. By dedicating propellant mass specifically for de-orbiting, we guarantee that our satellites re-enter the atmosphere and burn up, rather than lingering as Space debris.

We are also closely tracking advancements in on-orbit servicing and debris removal, and we design our platforms with the flexibility to integrate with these frameworks as they mature. The principle is simple – every satellite we put up should also have a clear and responsible plan for how it comes down. That way, our customers benefit from reliable missions, and the industry as a whole benefits from cleaner, safer orbits.

Ground Stations are often the unsung heroes of Space missions. How are you approaching RF challenges like interference, bandwidth demand, and antenna design? 

Abhay Egoor: Ground stations are critical — a mission is only as good as the data you can get back. Dhruva today has access to 13 ground stations across 10 countries, through its own infrastructure in Hyderabad and partnerships with companies like Infostellar and SSC. This global footprint provides redundancy during critical phases like the Launch Early Orbit Phase (LEOP), resilience against local interference, and broader coverage for data-intensive missions.

From an engineering standpoint, we address challenges on both the Avionics and Software sides. High-gain dual-band antennas provide reliable links for both telemetry and high-speed downlink, while adaptive filtering and software-defined radios let us optimize signals in real time. The aim is straightforward: to make the ground segment as scalable, resilient, and dependable as the satellites it supports.

And lastly, if you had unlimited resources to send a spacecraft anywhere in our solar system, where would you send it? Why?

Abhay Egoor: If resources were unlimited, I would look beyond our solar system. We already know a great deal about our immediate planetary neighbors, but what fascinates me most is the unknown that lies outside. 

For me, exploration has never been only about finding answers; it has always been about asking bigger, better questions. The James Webb Space Telescope has shown us breathtaking glimpses of galaxies, star systems, and cosmic phenomena we barely understand. Those images are humbling and exhilarating at the same time. They remind us of how small we are, and how much remains to be discovered.

The Future Looks Bright

As India continues to push the envelope in the rapidly growing and evolving space industry, Dhruva Space is setting itself up to be a key player, both for India and nations abroad. The vision Dhruva has for the future is nothing short of awe inspiring. Like many others who look to the stars, Dhruva seeks to open the doors to space and to peer into our cosmos like never before.

Its massive facility that is under construction in Hyderabad and a growing international presence signals what is to come: more missions, more innovation and a new area of space accessibility.

As India begins its trek towards the stars, Dhruva Space stands at the heart of this movement—quietly building the infrastructure on Earth and in-space, that will make such endeavors possible.

Closing Remarks

A special thanks to Siddharth Varanasi for his communication and to Vikranth for helping us land the interview!

If you would like to stay up to date on Dhruva Space and their missions, give them a follow on their social medias, or head to their website, here!

Amazon's network of Kuiper satellites has seen another group reach orbit via a Falcon 9 launch earlier today.

From Space Launch Complex 40 on October 14th, SpaceX's Falcon 9 flew into low Earth orbit carrying 24 satellites for the Kuiper constellation, Amazon's space-based internet providing service. About an hour after launch, the group of satellites, for Kuiper's sixth overall, was released in under eight minutes.

With Falcon 9 being a partially reusable launch vehicle, booster B1091 was flying for the second time in support of Kuiper deployments. After providing the ascent through most of the atmosphere, B1091 landed downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

Following this launch, Amazon has 153 Kuiper satellites in orbit for its planned 3,236 constellation. The third group of 24 satellites launched with SpaceX was the constellation's sixth overall, with the other three delivered via United Launch Alliance.

The launch of Amazon's sixth set of Kuiper satellites was also the final time the constellation will fly with SpaceX, as the launch company has successfully provided the three booked launches. Launches of Kuiper satellites with SpaceX were the result of a shareholder lawsuit.

Today's and other Kuiper satellites are heading toward an orbital altitude of around 630 kilometers to start providing internet services to customers. Following the deployment of further satellites, services from Kuiper are planned to be available later this year at speeds of up to one gigabit per second, a feat demonstrated last month.

In order to meet a deadline with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, half of the Kuiper constellation, approximately 1,600 satellites, will need to be launched by mid-2026. Currently, Amazon has bought over eighty launches to deploy the constellation from a variety of American and European launch providers.

Competition over Kazakhstan

Toward the end of September, Amazon announced that the Kuiper constellation is expanding into Kazakhstan through a partnership with Kazakhtelecom. Through their partnership, Kazakhtelecom will connect its service offerings to Amazon's satellites to provide connectivity to households, businesses, and schools. Speaking on the agreement, Lisa Scalpone, Kuiper’s Head of Worldwide Consumer, shared:

"Project Kuiper is designed to provide fast, reliable internet to customers and communities around the world. We’re proud to be working with Kazakhtelecom as our first partner in the Central Asia and Caucasus region." – "We look forward helping spur technology adoption and economic growth across the country through our collaboration."

Kuiper is not the first U.S. internet-providing constellation operating in the Central Asian nation, with SpaceX's Starlink being granted permission to operate in August. With over 8,000 spacecraft, Starlink is the premier connectivity constellation, leading it to have over seven million users after a few years of being commercially available.

Besides the two American options, the Chinese Shanghai government-supported Qianfan constellation is preparing to offer connectivity services in Kazakhstan sometime in 2026. Ahead of that, a subsidiary has been set up in the nation, along with testing between satellites and consumer equipment in remote regions to demonstrate real-world services. To date, Qianfan has deployed 90 satellites out of a planned 15,000.

Privately-backed Chinese constellations are also moving into the country, with automaker Geely's Future Mobility Constellation, currently boasting 64 satellites, having signed a cooperation agreement with Kazakh company SATLAS. Through their agreement, the Kazakh side will work through Central Asian regulatory approvals, frequency coordination, and licensing to provide Geely's space-based connectivity and positioning services.

With the four constellations operating in the country, their operators will compete with each other to offer the most compelling service, likely driving down prices to the benefit of Kazakh consumers.

What is Falcon 9?

Falcon 9 is currently the world's only operational partially reusable medium-lift launch vehicle. The rocket is manufactured and operated by the American space company SpaceX. Falcon 9 currently launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base, in California, and Cape Canaveral, in Florida.

For recovery, Falcon 9 has four grid fins and four landing legs on the first-stage. The first stage either lands vertically on a drone ship or a landing pad back near its launch site, landing back at the launch site causes a reduction in payload capacity.

SpaceX claims that Falcon 9 can send up to 22,800 kilograms into low Earth orbit when expended or 18,400 kilograms when reused. Similarly, it can send up to 8,300 kilograms into geosynchronous transfer orbit when expended or 5,500 kilograms when reused.

The first-stage is powered by nine Merlin 1D engines burning rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen to generate 771 tons of thrust. The second-stage is powered by a single Merlin 1D vacuum engine burning rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen to generate 95 tons of thrust.

On the pad, the rocket is 70 meters tall with the first and second stages 3.7 meters in diameter, the fairing is 5.2 meters in diameter and tapers out from the top of the second-stage. Fully fuelled Falcon 9 weighs approximately 549,000 kilograms.

Starship-Super Heavy performed the vehicle's second and final successful 'Block 2' flight ahead of a critical design change.

Two weeks ago, SpaceX announced that Ship 38, for its first flight and the final launch of a 'Block 2' Starship, and Super Heavy Booster 15, flying for the second time, were set to perform Starship-Super Heavy's eleventh flight test and the final flight from Pad 1 in its current design. Details shared before the test flight said that Ship 38 would release eight dummy Starlink satellites and perform an in-space demonstration burn, before splashdown in the Indian Ocean, with Booster 15 demonstrating a new landing burn above the Gulf of Mexico.

With Pad 1's deluge system activated, thirty-three Raptor engines ignited under Booster 15 to carry it and Ship 38 skyward. No engines went out on ascent this flight.

After a nominal ascent, Booster 15 shut down all but three of its engines while angling into a staging position. A few moments later, Ship 38 ignited its three sea-level and three vacuum-optimized Raptor engines to separate and continue up toward space.

Following vehicle separation, the booster began to mostly head back toward the launch site, with all but one of the thirteen engines relighting. Despite that the booster performed its unpowered descent toward the Gulf as planned, it then ignited thirteen engines, dropping to five, then three for a hard splashdown.

Meanwhile, Ship 38 was heading toward space for its suborbital trajectory. That was achieved when three vacuum-optimized engines shut down, followed by the three sea-level Raptors for Starship 'Block 2's second and final successful ascent.

After the ascent, Ship 38 began performing its in-space demonstration. The first of which was the deployment of eight dummy Starlink satellites through a small door on the vehicle.

Once the dummy satellites were released, a single sea-level Raptor relit to demonstrate an in-space burn.

With the demonstrations completed, Ship 38 powered towards its descent, entering through the heat of atmospheric reentry.

During the descent, Ship 38 performed the first controlled banking following atmospheric reentry. That guided the vehicle toward a selected spot in the Indian Ocean.

Following the second and final toasty reentry of Starship 'Block 2', Ship 38 transitioned into its 'bellyflop' position to slow the vehicle for the final few kilometers of flight. With seconds left in descent, three sea-level Raptors reignited for the 'flip-and-burn', bringing the vehicle to a soft splashdown. Seconds later, the vehicle fell sideways and exploded, sending its nose flying.

What's next for Starship?

With Starship-Super Heavy having conducted its final 'Block 2' test flight, all development efforts for the launch vehicle are being shifted toward 'Block 3', with its taller Ships, Boosters, alongside production Raptor 3 engines, and a brand new launch pad. It remains to be seen if a 'Block 3' Starship will have any changes to the flight plan. Test flight thirteen of the Starship program could be the earliest an orbital flight could occur, likely sometime in 2026.

This year was previously planned to be a key year for the Starship program, as a Ship-to-Ship propellant transfer was expected by NASA, now moved many months into 2026 as this year saw three failures before success. Propellant transfer between two vehicles is critical for getting the Starship lunar lander out to the Moon, and returning American astronauts to the surface through the Artemis program.

What is Starship-Super Heavy?

Starship-Super Heavy is SpaceX's in-development fully reusable super heavy-lift launch vehicle and the largest rocket currently flying. SpaceX is currently aiming to have the launch vehicle deliver one-hundred and fifty tons to low Earth orbit while reused or two-hundred and fifty tons when expended, although there are rumors from SpaceX of an expendable payload capacity of three-hundred tons.

On the launch pad, Starship-Super Heavy is one-hundred and twenty-four meters tall and weighs 5,000,000 kilograms fully fuelled. The diameter of both vehicles is nine meters, excluding aerodynamic control surfaces.

What is Starship?

Starship is the second-stage of the Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle and is planned to be capable of multiple missions into orbit, after a short refurbishment. The vehicle is fifty meters tall and nine meters in diameter, excluding its four aerodynamic control surfaces. Fully fuelled with liquid methane and liquid oyxgen Starship is believed to weigh 1,300,000 kilograms with an approximate weight of 100,000 kilograms unfuelled.

The Starship second-stage is powered by three sea-level Raptor engines along with three vacuum-optimized Raptor engines. These sea-level engines are believed to generate 230 tons of thrust each with the vacuum-optimized engines generating 258 tons of thrust each for a total combined 1,500 tons of thrust for Starship. The vacuum-optimized Raptors are unable to gimbal requiring the sea-level Raptors for control of the second-stage on ascent and landing.

In order to survive re-entry for reuse, Starship has several thousand thermal protection tiles on one side of the vehicle and on all four of its aerodynamic control surfaces. The four control surfaces help guide the vehicle during re-entry and prior to landing inside the atmosphere at a pre-determined location. Starship also has a series of small thrusters to control the vehicle in space before re-entry.

SpaceX is believed to be working on a few variants of Starship for use as a Moon lander, propellant tanker, space station, Mars lander, and as a crewed spacecraft.

What is Super Heavy?

Super Heavy, also called 'the Super Heavy booster', is the first-stage of SpaceX's Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle. The giant Super Heavy first-stage is planned to be capable of multiple flights per day with minimal refurbishments and inspections. The vehicle is seventy-one meters tall and nine meters in diameter, excluding its four grid fins and chines. Fully fuelled with liquid methane and liquid oyxgen Super Heavy is believed to weigh 3,600,000 kilograms with an approximate mass of 200,000 kilograms unfuelled.

The Super Heavy first-stage is powered by thirty-three sea-level Raptor engines generating a combined thrust of 7,590 tons, with each engine generating 230 tons of thrust. The outer twenty Raptor engines are unable to gimbal with the inner thirteen being able to for control of the first-stage.

To enable the reuse of Super Heavy, the vehicle has four large grid fins placed in the interstage to assist in guiding and controlling during descent. Super Heavy also has four chines running along the lower third of it to generate lift and assist in stabilization.

Shortly after completing the ascent, Super Heavy relights ten engines, as three were running during staging, and performs a 'boost back' burn in order to return to the launch site. After the 'boost back' burn is completed the engines shut down with Super Heavy being guided by a series of small thrusters and its grid fins. Once Super Heavy is at the correct altitude above its landing location three engines start back up for the landing burn. SpaceX currently plans to have Super Heavy land back at the launch site, or at sea if a problem is detected during descent

Super Heavy also features a hot-staging ring atop of it to allow for a faster and simpler staging process, according to SpaceX. The hot-staging ring has dozens of gaps on the sides to allow for the Raptor engine exhaust of Starship to escape.

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week had just four launches worldwide, including a rocket that hasn't flown in many months. News from the week had New Glenn moving toward its second flight, a private launch company in China stepping toward their debut reusable rocket flight, and Stoke Space raising new funding. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

October 7th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-59

SpaceX's Falcon 9 delivered twenty-eight Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. Booster B1090 supported this launch, flying for the eighth time and landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

October 8th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-17

Another twenty-eight Starlink satellites were launched atop of Falcon 9 into low Earth orbit out of Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Supporting this mission was booster B1071 for its twenty-ninth flight, with a landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

October 8th - New Shepard for NS-36

Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket flew a suborbital tourism mission from the company's West Texas launch site, carrying Aaron Newman, Jeff Elgin, Vitalii Ostrovsky, Danna Karagussova, William Lewis, and Clint Kelly (a repeat customer) above the Kármán line. Booster NS4 supported this flight, for its sixteenth mission, along with capsule RSS First Step, flying for the fifteenth time.

October 11th - Gravity-1 with three satellites

Orienspace's Gravity-1 launch vehicle performed its second flight, after a twenty-one-month gap, from a sea-launch platform in the Yellow Sea near the city of Haiyang for a flight into sun-synchronous orbit. Atop of the rocket were the Shutianyu 01 and 02 space monitoring satellites, planned to image orbital debris, and the remote sensing Jiangsu Geological Satellite for measuring mineral resources as well as monitoring land usage.

In Other Space News

New Glenn prepares for second flight

Nine months ago, Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket flew its debut mission from Launch Complex 36, in Florida. Recently, the company has been moving toward flying the vehicle second mission, this time carrying NASA's ESCAPADE duo toward Mars.

Just over two weeks ago, the company's Chief Executive Officer, Dave Limp, revealed the name of New Glenn's second first-stage booster, calling it 'Never Tell Me The Odds'. He also shared:

"I think the odds of landing this booster are a lot better than 3,720-to-1. Both strakes are in place, and BE-4 installation is well underway. Great job by the team as we continue getting our second booster ready for launch."

On October 8th, 'Never Tell Me The Odds' was on the move toward the launch pad, equipped with its seven BE-4 engines with thermal protective fabric and panels installed. Several hours later, the booster arrived at Launch Complex 36 for connection to New Glenn's second-stage.

A few steps are left before New Glenn can fly for a second time, with major milestones being integration of the two ESCAPADE spacecraft and a static fire of the first-stage, firing up all seven of its engines for a few seconds.

In the lead-up to a second launch, Blue Origin was awarded 78.2 million United States Dollars from the United States Space Force to expand satellite processing facilities in Florida. That facility should be open by 2028 for use by multiple launch providers.

iSpace opens Hyperbola-3 refurbishment facility

iSpace shared on October 9th that its Hyperbola-3 launch vehicle processing and refurbishment facility, neighbouring the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site, has completed construction. The 28,800 square meter typhoon-resistant facility is claimed to be China’s first reusable rocket refurbishment plant, with its opening ceremony attended by Hainan province’s government and party committee, Wenchang’s government and party committee, and relevant officials from the region’s space administration.

At the ceremony, company Chairman Peng Xiaobo expressed his thanks for government support in the facilities construction and efforts to have it completed on time. He also added that the processing and refurbishment facility will be the foundation of iSpace’s reusable rocket operations.

In news related to the opening ceremony, it was announced that Hyperbola-3, iSpace’s two-stage partially reusable rocket, is planned to fly for the first time in the fourth quarter of the year. Hyperbola-3’s debut flight is expected to be prepared in the new facility, before heading to the nearby Commercial Launch Pad 2 for launch.

Stoke Space raises 510 million

Stoke Space announced on October 8th that they have completed their Series D funding round, raising 510 million United States Dollars. Investors in this round include the US Innovative Technology Fund, Washington Harbour Partners LP, General Innovation Capital Partners 776, Breakthrough Energy, Glade Brook Capital, Industrious Ventures, NFX,  Sparta Group, Toyota Ventures, Woven Capital, and others.

With the new funding, the company plans to expand production capacity for the Nova launch vehicle, complete activation of Launch Complex 14, in Florida, and prepare for high-cadence launch operations. Stoke Space's Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Andy Lapsa, added:

"This funding gives us the runway to complete development and demonstrate Nova through its first flights" – "We’ve designed Nova to address a real gap in launch capacity, and the National Security Space Launch award, along with our substantial manifest of contracted commercial launches, affirms that need. The fresh support from our investors and government partners enables our team to remain laser focused on bringing Nova’s unique capabilities to market."

One of the company's investors, the US Innovative Technology Fund, also noted:

"Stoke’s pioneering approach to reusable launch systems directly advances our national security and commercial access to orbit. Their vision for resilient, high-frequency launch operations is the kind of innovation essential to maintaining leadership in the space industry. We’re proud to support their mission in defining the next chapter of U.S. aerospace."

What to Expect Next Week

October 13th - Falcon 9 for KF-03

SpaceX is preparing to launch twenty-four Kuiper satellites into low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 to expand Amazon's internet constellation.

October 14th - Starship-Super Heavy for its eleventh flight test

SpaceX is planning to launch Starship-Super Heavy's eleventh flight test using Booster 15, for its second flight, and Ship 38, flying for the first time.

October 14th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-52

Twenty-eight Starlink satellites are planned to be launched atop of a Falcon 9 into low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40.

October 14th - Electron for 'Owl New World'

Rocket Lab's Electron rocket is set to fly from Launch Complex 1A, on the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand, carrying a single satellite into low Earth orbit for Synspective.

October 15th - Falcon 9 for a Tranche-1 mission

Falcon 9 is planned to launch from Space Launch Complex 4E carrying twenty-one satellites into low Earth orbit for the U.S. military.

October 16th - Long March 8A for a mega-constellation?

A Long March 8A is preparing to fly from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site, and may carry either a group of satellites for the GuoWang or Qianfan into low Earth orbit.

October 17th - Falcon with Starlink Group 10-17

Another twenty-eight Starlink satellites are preparing to head into low Earth orbit via a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40.

October 18th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-19

Even more Starlink satellites will be sent to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E.

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week in space saw four launches taking place worldwide, with the majority supporting connectivity constellations. Notable news from the week includes Intuitive Machines acquiring Kinetix, Inversion Space unveiling a new spacecraft, and the first time a protoplanet has been directly observed. We'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule looks like next week.

Launches This Week

This week was a bit slower when it came to launches than the previous one with four launches taking place around the world.

September 28th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-20

Kicking things off, on Sunday SpaceX launched another 28 V2 Starlink's to LEO onboard Booster 1063. This was the boosters 28th overall flight which saw the booster land safely down range on the "Of Course I still Love You" drone ship.

September 28th - Long March 2D with Shiyan 30 01-02

Across the pacific, in China, a Long March 2D carried two experimental Shiyan satellites to Low Earth Orbit. While little is known about the exact purpose of these satellites, they are likely going to test hardware for future missions; from sensors and cameras to communication equipment.

September 30th - Electron for Justin (HASTE)

Following last weeks successful "Jenna" launch, Rocket Lab launched Justin on a suborbital trajectory for an unknown customer with an unknown payload. This is apart of the companies HASTE (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron) program.

October 3rd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-39

Wrapping out the week as it began, SpaceX launched another 28 Starlink V2 satellites to LEO aboard Falcon 9 B1097, the boosters 2nd flight. Drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You" once again was the down range landing pad, its 155th successful Falcon 9 recovery.

In Other Space News

Inversion Unveil Arc

On October 1st, Inversion, a California-based aerospace startup, unveiled Arc, a compact, reusable spacecraft. Building off their first successful mission, Arc promises rapid delivery of supplies to nearly anywhere on the planet. At just 1.2M wide and 2.4M long, Arc will use its lifting body, along with control surfaces at its aft, to soar back down to Earth from orbit. To land, the spacecraft will deploy a parachute and control itself like a hang glider, similar to how NASA's experimental X-38 did.

Inversion claims Arc can stay on-orbit for up to five years, acting as a reusable satellite. Currently, the company is planning for a 2026 flight of Arc.

Intuitive Machines Acquires Kinetix

While hype and anticipation were growing for Inversion's reveal of their secret spacecraft, Intuitive Machines finalized their acquisition of Kinetix that same morning. Kinetix specializes in in-space navigation, constellation mission design, and systems engineering. The talent and information from Kinetix will provide Intuitive Machines with more know-how on how to develop its emerging technology.

Kinetix and its experience with constellation management and space navigation will come in handy, as the company was awarded a $4 billion contract over a year ago to build an orbital communication relay around the Moon.

Intuitive Machines CEO, Steve Altemus, said the following after the finalization of the acquisition:

"With KinetX's navigation expertise now paired with our lunar-proven spacecraft and data network, we believe Intuitive Machines is positioned to lead in cislunar space and carry that advantage forward to Mars."

Astronomers Observe Newly Born Planet

Around the young star WISPIT 2, located roughly 437 light-years away, a newly born proto-planet (WISPIT 2b) has been spotted between rings of dust and gas. This is the first time astronomers have observed a planet in its earliest stages of development. As WISPIT 2b is still accumulating material, when it is done accreting material, it is estimated to be about 5x as massive as Jupiter.

To detect the newborn planet, astronomers used the MagAO-X instrument on the Magellan 2 Telescope in Chile. [To read the full breakdown, click here!]

What to expect Next Week

Looking ahead, if all things go to plan, next week will feature five launches, one of which will be a crewed sub-orbital flight.

October 6th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-59

SpaceX is planning to kick things off with another 28 v2 mini satellites to LEO on Monday.

October 7th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-17

Following the launch from the Cape, SpaceX will again launch another batch of v2 mini Starlink's into LEO, this time from Vandenberg.

October 8th - New Shepard Flight 36

Out of Launch Site One in Texas, Blue Origin plans to launch the 15th crewed New Shepard flight on Wednesday. This flight will see six people flying to the edge of our atmosphere and back.

October 9th - Falcon 9 with Kuiper (KF-03)

SpaceX's Falcon 9 is set to launch even more mega constellation satellites to orbit, this time for Amazon's Kuiper. Onboard the Falcon 9 are 24 Kuiper satellites who will grow the constellation from 129 to 153.

October 9th - Long March 8A 'Unknown Payload'

Out of Wenchang a Long March 8A will light up the skies, flying an unknown payload to orbit.

Welcome to our twenty-fourth Monthly Dose of Space! In this monthly newsletter, we bring you major news from the past month. September continues a busy 2025 worldwide, so let's jump into the past month!

News of the Month

This past month has been up and down in the world of spaceflight. From plans in Europe to push on with reusable rockets, NASA continuing to shed directors, and Uranus' Moon Ariel likely had a massive subsurface ocean in the past.

Europe pushes ahead with reuse efforts

The European Space Agency and Arianespace have placed Europe's first reusable first-stage test vehicle on its launch pad in Sweden, on September 19th. The test vehicle, known as Themis, arrived at the Esrange Space Center several weeks ago ahead of its testing campaign.

In the coming weeks and months, Themis is set to demonstrate technologies for domestic reusable boosters by performing a series of hops using its Prometheus engine, a variant of Ariane 6's main engine for greater throttling and in-flight restarts. It's currently unclear when the 30-meter-tall, 3.5-meter-wide test vehicle will hop before touching down on three landing legs.

Meanwhile at the 76th International Astronautical Congress in Sydney, Australia, the European Space Agency and Avio have signed a 40 million Euro contract for performing a mission to demonstrate technologies needed for a reusable rocket's upper-stage. The contract is expected to refine the understanding of what systems will be needed for routinely flying a completely reusable launch vehicle. Toni Tolker-Nielsen, Director of Space Transportation at the European Space Agency, commented on the importance of the contract:

"I am glad to sign this contract since its importance is two-fold: on one side it addresses technological criticalities in the short-term, on the other side it paves the way for the preparation of Europe’s long-term future in space."

Marshall's Director leaves NASA

On September 25th, Joseph Pelfrey, Center Director of the Marshall Space Flight Center, announced via an email to employees that he is stepping down from his position, one he has held since February 2024. In his departure message, Pelfrey wrote:

"As the Agency continues to embark on a bold mission to return humans to the moon, it will take the full attention of its leaders and the people they serve. It will also be important for Agency leadership to move forward with a team they choose to execute the tasks at hand."

"With that in mind, it’s time for me to step out of the Center Director role. I will work with Agency leadership to pursue new ways I can serve our space program and our great Nation. Leading Marshall these last few years has been the honor of a lifetime and I couldn’t be prouder of how you have endeavored to persevere, delivered on the mission and created a bright future for years to come."

Pelfrey's departure comes as the Trump Administration threatens to remove anyone disagreeing with massive cuts to the space agency, the possible departure of thousands of employees, and after other directors leave NASA too.

Uranus Moon Ariel Likely Had a Massive Subsurface Ocean

Ariel, Uranus' second largest and brightest Moon has been a topic of interest for a while. It's unique geography and surface features, from new craters next to old ones, fractures, and ridges, all point to one thing—a subsurface ocean. While it is likely the Moon still has a subsurface ocean, scientists believe in the past it could have been up to 170km (100mi) deep. For comparison, the deepest (known) part of Earth's ocean, the Mariana trench is 11km (7mi).

To account for such surface features and such a deep subsurface ocean, Ariel would of needed to have an eccentricity of 0.40, which is 40x greater than it is now and 4x the eccentricity of Europa. This much higher eccentricity would of allowed for the necessary flexing and internal heating needed to create the features we see on Ariel today.

However, to truly uncover the mysteries of the Uranus system, another spacecraft would need to be sent to the ice giant. In the words of Tom Nordheim of Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory:

"We are finding evidence that the Uranus system may harbor twin ocean worlds. Unfortunately, we’ve only seen the southern hemispheres of Ariel and Miranda. But our results can give us predictions of what a future spacecraft might see on the moons’ unimaged northern hemispheres—such as the location of fractures and ridges there. Ultimately, we just need to go back to the Uranus system and see for ourselves."

Firefly Aerospace's Alpha Rocket First Stage RUDs on Pad

On Monday, the first stage to be used for Alpha's seventh flight experienced an anomaly during normal pre-flight testing. This resulted in the loss of both the vehicle and likely substantial damage to the pad and other ground stage equipment. While little is currently known about why this rapid unscheduled disassembly occurred, Firefly released a statement saying the following:

"During testing at Firefly’s facility in Briggs, Texas, the first stage of Firefly’s Alpha Flight 7 rocket experienced an event that resulted in a loss of the stage. Proper safety protocols were followed, and all personnel are safe. The company is assessing the impact to its stage test stand, and no other facilities were impacted. Regular testing is part of Firefly’s philosophy – we test each critical component, engine, and vehicle stage to ensure it operates within our flight requirements before we ship to the launch pad. We learn from each test to improve our designs and build a more reliable system. We will share more information on the path forward at a later date."

Following news of this setback, Firefly's stock ($FLY) dropped 20% in one day, an extreme reaction from investors.

Launches of the Month

This month saw 32 launches worldwide, continuing a busy year. If you want to know what each launch was we have them all listed below!

September 2nd - Shavit-2 with Ofek-19

Israel's military launched a Shavit-2 rocket, based on the country's intercontinental ballistic missiles, into a retrograde low Earth orbit carrying the Ofek-19 satellite. Ofek-19 is believed to be a synthetic aperture radar reconnaissance satellite.

September 3rd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-8

Twenty-four Starlink satellites were sent to low Earth orbit via a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Booster B1097 supported this mission for its first flight, landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

September 3rd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-22

Another twenty-eight Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 via a Falcon 9. Supporting this launch was booster B1083, for its fourteenth flight with a downrange landing on the drone ship 'A Shortfall of Gravitas'.

September 5th - Long March 3C/E with Shiyan-29

A Long March 3C/E carried Shiyan-29, boosted by a Yuanzheng-1 upper-stage, directly into geostationary orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center for the rocket's second flight this year. Shiyan-29 is planning to conduct space environment monitoring the related technology tests.

September 5th - Ceres-1 with three satellites

Galactic Energy's Ceres-1 blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying three customer satellites into sun-synchronous orbit, along with its Eros orbital test platform (based on the rocket's fourth-stage). The customer payloads were:

• Kaiyun-1, for Earth observation and space awareness tasks
• Yuxing-3-08, for remote sensing via a 5-meter resolution camera
• Yunyao-1-27, for meteorological tasks as well as testing an electric hall-effect propulsion system, a fiber optic gyro, a high-performance computer, and a Compton telescope for gamma-ray particle detection.

Meanwhile, the Eros platform is set to carry out experiments related to studying atmospheric conditions along with optical and visible light imaging tests.

September 5th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-57

Yet another twenty-eight Starlink satellites were sent to low Earth orbit by Falcon 9 flying out of Launch Complex 39A, in Florida. Booster B1069 supported this mission for its twenty-seventh flight, landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange.

This was also the 500th landing of a Falcon 9 first-stage booster.

September 6th - Long March 6A with Yaogan-40 Group-03

Three Yaogan-40 satellites, for the third group overall, were sent into a polar orbit by a Long March 6A flying from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. The three satellites are expected to perform electromagnetic environment detection over areas of Earth below, along with related technology tests.

September 6th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-9

Another Falcon 9 delivered twenty-four Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit, out of Space Launch Complex 4E. This mission was supported by booster B1075 for its twentieth flight, landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

September 8th - Jielong-3 with Geely Group 05

A Jielong-3 blasted off from a sea launch platform off the coast of Haiyang, Shandong province, heading into low Earth orbit with eleven satellites for Geespace's Geely Future Mobility Constellation. With this launch, the constellation now has fifty-two satellites for providing communication, connectivity, and positioning services.

September 9th - Long March 7A with Yaogan-45

Out of Launch Complex 201 at the Wenchang Space Launch Site, a Long March 7A flew into a medium Earth orbit carrying the Yaogan-45 remote sensing satellite. Yaogan-45 will reportedly be used for scientific experiments, land resource surveys, crop yield estimation, as well as disaster prevention and relief efforts.

September 10th - Falcon 9 for Tranche 1

For the U.S. Space Development Agency, a Falcon 9 launched from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, for the Tranche 1 Transport Layer B mission carrying twenty-one satellites into polar orbit. Supporting this mission was booster B1093 for its sixth flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

September 11th - Soyuz 2.1a with MS-32

A Soyuz 2.1a launched the Progress MS-32 cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Onboard the resupply spacecraft were consumables for the crew as well as scientific experiments.

September 12th - Falcon 9 with Nusantara Lima

SpaceX launched Indonesia's Nusantara Lima telecommunications satellite to a geostationary transfer orbit from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, atop of a Falcon 9. Booster B1078 supported this mission for its twenty-third flight, landing on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

September 13th - Soyuz 2.1b with Cosmos 2595 & 2596

Two Cosmos satellites were launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome atop of a Soyuz 2.1b. One satellite is said to be a Glonass-K satellite while the other is an experimental spacecraft.

September 13th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-10

Twenty-four Starlink satellites were sent into low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E. Supporting this mission was booster B1071 for its twenty-eighth flight, with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

September 14th - Falcon 9 with NG-23

Northrop Grumman's twenty-third Cygnus resupply mission was launched atop of a Falcon 9, flying out of Space Launch Complex 40 in Florida, to head to the International Space Station. Supporting this launch was booster B1094 for its fourth flight, landing at Landing Zone 2 back in Cape Canaveral.

September 16th - Long March 2C with four internet test satellites

A Long March 2C, with a Yuanzheng-1S upper-stage, flying from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center sent four satellites for internet technology testing into low Earth orbit. Three spacecraft manufacturers contributed the satellites onboard, two commercial ventures and one state-owned enterprise, which may improve the GuoWang and Qianfan constellations.

September 18th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-61

Twenty-eight Starlink satellites were sent to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40. Booster B1092 supported this mission for its seventh flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

September 18th - New Shepard for NS-35

Blue Origin launched its New Shepard rocket on a suborbital flight from its West Texas site for a research and commercial payload-carrying mission. Capsule RSS H.G. Wells flew for the twelfth time on this mission while booster NS-5 flew for the fifth time.

September 19th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-12

Another Falcon 9 sent twenty-four Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Supporting this mission was B1088, flying for the tenth time and landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

September 21st - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-27

SpaceX's Falcon 9 launched twenty-eight Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. Supporting this mission was booster B1085 for its eleventh flight, with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

September 22nd - Falcon 9 with NROL-48

A batch of military reconnaissance satellites was launched from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, atop of a Falcon 9. Booster B1081 supported this launch, flying for the eighteenth time and landing back at Landing Zone 4 at the Vandenberg Space Force Base.

September 23rd - Electron for 'Jenna'

Rocket Lab flew its Electron rocket in its HASTE (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron) configuration for a suborbital military test flight out of Wallops Island, in Virginia.

September 24th - Jielong 3 with Geely Group 06

A Jielong-3 flew from a sea-launch platform off the coast of China's Shandong province, carrying twelve satellites to low Earth orbit for automaker Geely's Future Mobility Constellation, bringing the total satellite count to sixty-four. The constellation is set to provide communication, connectivity, and positioning services worldwide, with an accuracy at a centimeter level.

September 24th - Falcon 9 with three satellites

From Launch Complex 39A, in Florida, a Falcon 9 flew toward the Sun-Earth L1 point carrying NASA's Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) and Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, as well as NOAA's Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1). This launch was supported by booster B1096, performing its second flight and landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange.

September 25th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-15

Another twenty-eight Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 out of Space Launch Complex 40. Supporting this mission was booster B1080 for its twenty-second flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

September 25th - Atlas V with KA-03

Out of Space Launch Complex 41 atop of United Launch Alliance's Atlas V, twenty-seven Kuiper satellites, for the constellation's fifth group, were sent into low Earth orbit. This launch brought Amazon's constellation up to 129 satellites.

September 26th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-11

Falcon 9 delivered twenty-four more Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E. This launch was supported by booster B1082 for its sixteenth flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

September 26th - Long March 4C with Fengyun-3H

A Long March 4C flew to sun-synchronous orbit out of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying the Fengyun-3H satellite. Fengyun-3H is set to monitor and research activities in weather forecasting, atmospheric chemistry, and climate change.

September 27th - Long March 6A with GuoWang Group 11

Five satellites for the GuoWang internet mega-constellation were launched atop of a Long March 6A flying from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. This launch brought the constellation up to eighty-six spacecraft.

September 29th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-20

Twenty-eight more Starlink satellites were sent into low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E. Supporting this mission was Booster 1063 for its twenty-eighth flight, with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

September 29th - Long March 2D with Shiyan-30 01 & 02

China's 100th overall Long March 2D mission carried two Shiyan-30 test satellites into low Earth orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. The satellite's tasks are reported to be for Earth observation tasks and related technology verification tests.

Launches to look out for in October!

October will continue a busy year for worldwide launches. Listed below are all of the launches expected or likely to happen next month, launches on the 1st of October may have already occurred due to when this newsletter is published.

October 1st - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-59

A batch of Starlink satellites is expected to head to low Earth orbit via a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40.

October 3rd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-39

Falcon 9 is set to launch from Space Launch Complex 4E carrying more Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit.

October 6th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-59

Another group of Starlink satellites are planned to launch atop of a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40.

October 7th - Falcon 9 for KF-03

SpaceX is preparing to launch twenty-four Kuiper satellites into low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 to expand Amazon's internet constellation.

October 8th - New Shepard for NS-36

Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket may perform a suborbital mission carrying either research payloads or tourists above the Kármán line.

October 9th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-17

More Starlink satellites are set to head into low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 4E.

October 10th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-52

Yet another group of Starlink satellites will launch via a Falcon 9 to be deployed in low Earth orbit, flying out of Space Launch Complex 40.

October 13th - Starship-Super Heavy for its eleventh flight test

SpaceX is planning to launch Starship-Super Heavy's eleventh flight test using Booster 15, for its second flight, and Ship 38, flying for the first time.

October 16th - LVM-3 with GSAT-7R

India's LVM-3 rocket is set to launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre carrying the GSAT-7R communication satellite to geostationary transfer orbit on behalf of the Indian Navy.

October 21st - H3 with HTV-X

Japan is planning to launch its H3 rocket, with four solid rocket boosters for the first time, into low Earth orbit from the Tanegashima Space Center for the HTV-X's first resupply mission to the International Space Station.

October 22nd - Falcon 9 with SpainSat-NG II

A Falcon 9 is set to launch SpainSat-NG II into geostationary transfer orbit from Space Launch Complex 40.

President Donald Trump wants to cut NASA activities; a new report details how much damage that would do to the agency and America.

The U.S. Senate's Committee on Science, Space and Technology released a report on September 29th from its Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (Democrat, California). Lofgren's report, leaning on whistleblower testimony and leaked documents, outlines the Trump White House's Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) plans to gut the American space agency.

For its most important finding, the report alleges that NASA's leadership intends to treat the President's Budget Request for 2026 as the space agency's budget, regardless of restored funding to various missions facing cancellation. According to whistleblowers, the agency's Trump-appointed Chief of Staff, Brian Hughes, has been leading the charge to end programs outlined by the President's 2026 budget, which would slash 6 billion United States Dollars in funding and ending over forty science missions and canceling America's only Moon rocket and the Orion capsule after the Artemis III mission (the first American Moon landing since 1972). Instructions from Hughes to NASA's staff were to drop any programs not funded in the budget.

Agency leadership has been working to follow the President's budget since mid-June under Janet Petro's brief leadership, the report outlines, despite it being illegal, as it was not approved by Congress. One whiteblower knowledgeable about the legal process was quoted in the report as stating:

"NASA's legal office should know better. They should know that what this Administration is doing is breaking NASA procedures, NASA regulations, and not following the will of Congress."

Ignoring restored funding has been suggested by Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy for several weeks now. Although Ars Technica reported on September 19th that funding restored would be used for science missions. With the reports' presented findings, funding may remain ignored.

While enacting the Trump budget's cuts, agency leaders are leaving no digital or paper trails, with the reports sources saying that everything is being communicated verbally while limiting contact to direct supervisors, blocking off NASA's human resources office. To the reports' understanding, compliance with the President's budget has been enforced with the threat of losing jobs at the agency.

In another key discovery, the report puts forward that agency operations are being made unsafe, with reforms put in place after the losses of the Space Shuttle's Challenger and Columbia being ignored. Some whistleblowers told in the report that the agency's Ombuds Program, used to highlight lackluster safety or organization without fear of retaliation, has been muzzled. One of the whistleblowers explained:

"We're expected not to bring safety concerns forward and to not use good judgment. I see safety issues around us all the time."

An example brought up was, due to currently implemented cuts, that just two employees were left monitoring a physically dangerous process all hours of the day, every day, with a tiny number of qualified individuals able to take over. A whistleblower warned in the report, with a degrading safety culture under the Trump budget, that the chance of an astronaut's death has risen to a point of high concern.

As previously reported, a U.S. government shutdown is looming too, and if not avoided, potentially thousands of employees could be abruptly removed from NASA. At the time of publication, a shutdown appears likely as U.S. lawmakers cannot agree on a way forward following unproductive meetings with President Trump. Further cuts to the workforce will likely worsen the agency's new problems.

Additionally, multiple internship programs at NASA were closed, shutting off a pipeline for the space agency to renew its workforce, while firing interns working on various programs. NASA-funded projects, another way to join the agency, are also being turned away, the report highlights.

In the grand scheme of U.S. industry, cuts to NASA are expected to remove 46.4 billion United States Dollars from the country's gross domestic product, see 866 less PhD graduates, and result in over ten thousand fewer researchers in American institutions, the report concludes without measuring potential private sector losses. Those losses would also affect the Artificial Intelligence, quantum computing, and other high-tech industries.

SpaceX's in-development fully reusable launch vehicle is set to fly one more time in its current iteration.

SpaceX announced on September 29th that Starship-Super Heavy's next flight test, flight eleven, will take place no earlier than October 13th. This flight test will be the fifth and final flight of the 'Block 2' Starship upper-stage, hopefully for its second success. With this being the final mission for the current iteration of the launch vehicle, SpaceX outlined areas for testing via its website:

"The upcoming flight will build on the successful demonstrations from Starship’s tenth flight test with flight experiments gathering data for the next generation Super Heavy booster, stress-testing Starship’s heatshield, and demonstrating maneuvers that will mimic the upper stage’s final approach for a future return to launch site."

Flying the upcoming test in two weeks will be Ship 38, for its first mission, and Super Heavy Booster 15, for its second flight.

As Booster 15 is flying for the second time, SpaceX has swapped out many of its engines, with twenty-four of its thirty-three Raptor engines being flight-proven. The mix of flight-proven and new Raptors will be used to demonstrate a new landing burn profile, with thirteen engines lighting for landing, before dropping down to five, before keeping three running for the final moments of controlled descent. Booster 15 will not be recovered after the flight, as it will land in the Gulf of Mexico.

For the final mission of 'Block 2' Starship, SpaceX is aiming to demonstrate deployment of dummy Starlink satellites and an in-space Raptor relight again, as well as a new reentry profile, with Ship 38. The new reentry profile is planned to demonstrate a dynamic banking maneuver for understanding what a return-to-launch-site reentry may be like. Various thermal protection system tiles will be removed from the upper-stage to stress test vulnerable areas on the vehicle.

Like the previous ten flight tests, this mission will fly from Starbase, Texas, using SpaceX's only operational launch pad at its Starship test site.

In the lead-up to this flight test, both Booster 15 and Ship 38 have conducted pre-flight static fires. On September 7th, Booster 15 fired its thirty-three Raptor engines, and Ship 38 lit its six engines on September 23rd.

'Block 2's sole success so far

During Starship-Super Heavy's tenth flight test, back on August 27th, Super Heavy Booster 16 and Ship 37 performed the first successful mission with a 'Block 2' upper-stage. Booster 16 lofted Ship 37 through most of the atmosphere, before splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico, where the upper-stage went on to successfully and stably reaching engine cutoff. While coasting through space, Ship 37 also released a series of dummy Starlink satellites onto its sub-orbital trajectory.

Later on in the flight test, Ship 37 underwent atmospheric reentry, with a bumpy start as an unknown explosion took place in the engine bay. Despite that, the vehicle passed through the brunt of reentry heating, allowing for a slow bellyflop descent, being saved by its 'flip-and-burn' to splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

Before the successful flight test, the Starship program regressed significantly in terms of progress through the first half of the year. In June, Ship 36 unexpectedly exploded during a routine test, wiping out a critical pre-flight test stand with it. Meanwhile, during flight tests of the vehicle, Ship 33 was lost due to a fire in its engine section in January. Next in March, Ship 34 was again lost in a fire. Then in May, Ship 35 was destroyed during atmospheric reentry following leakages across the vehicle.

This year was previously planned to be a key year for the Starship program, as a Ship-to-Ship propellant transfer was expected by NASA, now moved months into 2026. Propellant transfer between two vehicles is critical for getting the Starship lunar lander out to the Moon, and returning American astronauts to the surface through the Artemis program.

What is Starship-Super Heavy?

Starship-Super Heavy is SpaceX's in-development fully reusable super heavy-lift launch vehicle and the largest rocket currently flying. SpaceX is currently aiming to have the launch vehicle deliver one-hundred and fifty tons to low Earth orbit while reused or two-hundred and fifty tons when expended, although there are rumors from SpaceX of an expendable payload capacity of three-hundred tons.

On the launch pad, Starship-Super Heavy is one-hundred and twenty-four meters tall and weighs 5,000,000 kilograms fully fuelled. The diameter of both vehicles is nine meters, excluding aerodynamic control surfaces.

What is Starship?

Starship is the second-stage of the Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle and is planned to be capable of multiple missions into orbit, after a short refurbishment. The vehicle is fifty meters tall and nine meters in diameter, excluding its four aerodynamic control surfaces. Fully fuelled with liquid methane and liquid oyxgen Starship is believed to weigh 1,300,000 kilograms with an approximate weight of 100,000 kilograms unfuelled.

The Starship second-stage is powered by three sea-level Raptor engines along with three vacuum-optimized Raptor engines. These sea-level engines are believed to generate 230 tons of thrust each with the vacuum-optimized engines generating 258 tons of thrust each for a total combined 1,500 tons of thrust for Starship. The vacuum-optimized Raptors are unable to gimbal requiring the sea-level Raptors for control of the second-stage on ascent and landing.

In order to survive re-entry for reuse, Starship has several thousand thermal protection tiles on one side of the vehicle and on all four of its aerodynamic control surfaces. The four control surfaces help guide the vehicle during re-entry and prior to landing inside the atmosphere at a pre-determined location. Starship also has a series of small thrusters to control the vehicle in space before re-entry.

SpaceX is believed to be working on a few variants of Starship for use as a Moon lander, propellant tanker, space station, Mars lander, and as a crewed spacecraft.

What is Super Heavy?

Super Heavy, also called 'the Super Heavy booster', is the first-stage of SpaceX's Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle. The giant Super Heavy first-stage is planned to be capable of multiple flights per day with minimal refurbishments and inspections. The vehicle is seventy-one meters tall and nine meters in diameter, excluding its four grid fins and chines. Fully fuelled with liquid methane and liquid oyxgen Super Heavy is believed to weigh 3,600,000 kilograms with an approximate mass of 200,000 kilograms unfuelled.

The Super Heavy first-stage is powered by thirty-three sea-level Raptor engines generating a combined thrust of 7,590 tons, with each engine generating 230 tons of thrust. The outer twenty Raptor engines are unable to gimbal with the inner thirteen being able to for control of the first-stage.

To enable the reuse of Super Heavy, the vehicle has four large grid fins placed in the interstage to assist in guiding and controlling during descent. Super Heavy also has four chines running along the lower third of it to generate lift and assist in stabilization.

Shortly after completing the ascent, Super Heavy relights ten engines, as three were running during staging, and performs a 'boost back' burn in order to return to the launch site. After the 'boost back' burn is completed the engines shut down with Super Heavy being guided by a series of small thrusters and its grid fins. Once Super Heavy is at the correct altitude above its landing location three engines start back up for the landing burn. SpaceX currently plans to have Super Heavy land back at the launch site, or at sea if a problem is detected during descent

Super Heavy also features a hot-staging ring atop of it to allow for a faster and simpler staging process, according to SpaceX. The hot-staging ring has dozens of gaps on the sides to allow for the Raptor engine exhaust of Starship to escape.

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week saw ten launches taking place worldwide, with the majority supporting connectivity constellations. News from the week was from both orbiting space stations, with a spacewalk and an orbital boost. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

September 21st - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-27

SpaceX's Falcon 9 launched twenty-eight Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. Supporting this mission was booster B1085 for its eleventh flight, with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

September 22nd - Falcon 9 with NROL-48

A batch of military reconnaissance satellites was launched from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, atop of a Falcon 9. Booster B1081 supported this launch, flying for the eighteenth time and landing back at Landing Zone 4 at the Vandenberg Space Force Base.

September 23rd - Electron for 'Jenna'

Rocket Lab flew its Electron rocket in its HASTE (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron) configuration for a suborbital military test flight out of Wallops Island, in Virginia.

September 24th - Jielong 3 with Geely Group 06

A Jielong-3 flew from a sea-launch platform off the coast of China's Shandong province, carrying twelve satellites to low Earth orbit for automaker Geely's Future Mobility Constellation, bringing the total satellite count to sixty-four. The constellation is set to provide communication, connectivity, and positioning services worldwide, with an accuracy at a centimeter level.

September 24th - Falcon 9 with three satellites

From Launch Complex 39A, in Florida, a Falcon 9 flew toward the Sun-Earth L1 point carrying NASA's Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) and Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, as well as NOAA's Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1). This launch was supported by booster B1096, performing its second flight and landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange.

September 25th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-15

Another twenty-eight Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 out of Space Launch Complex 40. Supporting this mission was booster B1080 for its twenty-second flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

September 25th - Atlas V with KA-03

Out of Space Launch Complex 41 atop of United Launch Alliance's Atlas V, twenty-seven Kuiper satellites, for the constellation's fifth group, were sent into low Earth orbit. This launch brought Amazon's constellation up to 129 satellites.

September 26th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-11

Falcon 9 delivered twenty-four more Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E. This launch was supported by booster B1082 for its sixteenth flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

September 26th - Long March 4C with Fengyun-3H

A Long March 4C flew to sun-synchronous orbit out of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying the Fengyun-3H satellite. Fengyun-3H is set to monitor and research activities in weather forecasting, atmospheric chemistry, and climate change.

September 27th - Long March 6A with GuoWang Group 11

Five satellites for the GuoWang internet mega-constellation were launched atop of a Long March 6A flying from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. This launch brought the constellation up to eighty-six spacecraft.

In Other Space News

Dragon boosts International Space Station orbit

SpaceX's Cargo Dragon spacecraft demonstrated a boost to the International Space Station's orbit on September 26th, utilizing a 'boost kit' with dedicated propellant tanks and Draco thrusters. According to SpaceX's Vice President of Falcon and Dragon, Jon Edwards, details of the boost test were:

"Dragon and its new “boost trunk” performed a 15 minute burn yesterday, providing 1.62 m/s of delta-v to the ISS for station-keeping."

The day before the fifteen-minute demonstration burn, an earlier attempt was manually aborted three minutes and forty-five seconds into a nineteen-minute planned burn.

Shenzhou-20 crew conduct fourth spacewalk

On September 25th, the Shenzhou-20 mission onboard China's Tiangong Space Station had its crewmembers, Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie, conducting their fourth spacewalk in the six-month-long mission. For this spacewalk, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie exited the station for around six hours while Chen Dong supported the duo, alongside the station's robotic arm and teams on Earth.

While outside of the station, the two spacewalkers installed debris protection devices on top of potentially vulnerable systems for continued operation of the space station. Ensuring the station can operate for at least another decade, inspections of the Tianhe, Wentian, and Mengtian modules were performed too.

This spacewalk has also tied the Shenzhou-20 mission with Shenzhou-15 for total spacewalks, both having their crews venture outside Tiangong four times.

At the moment, the Shenzhou-20 crew is expected to return to Earth in mid-to-late October after a handover period with the Shenzhou-21 crew, currently unnamed but set to launch atop a Long March 2F/G from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

What to Expect Next Week

September 29th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-20

A Falcon 9 is preparing to launch twenty-eight Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E.

September 29th - Long March 2D with a to-be-announced payload

A Long March 2D is expected to launch from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center with a currently unknown payload.

September 30th - Electron for 'Justin'

Rocket Lab's Electron rocket is set to fly in its HASTE configuration for a military test mission off of Wallops Island.

October 1st - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-59

Another batch of Starlink satellites is expected to head to low Earth orbit via a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40.

October 3rd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-39

Falcon 9 is set to launch from Space Launch Complex 4E carrying more Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit.

October 4th - Falcon 9 for KF-03

SpaceX is preparing to launch twenty-four Kuiper satellites into low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 to expand Amazon's internet constellation.

As a government shutdown looms, federal employees may be let go, including an untold number at NASA.

Politico reported on September 24th that the Trump White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) wants to reduce the American federal agency workforces nationwide if a government shutdown is not averted before September 30th. Politico's reporting on the matter states:

"OMB told agencies to identify programs, projects and activities where discretionary funding will lapse on Oct. 1 and no alternative funding source is available. For those areas, OMB directed agencies to begin drafting [reduction in force] plans that would go beyond standard furloughs, permanently eliminating jobs in programs not consistent with President Donald Trump’s priorities in the event of a shutdown."

It is unknown what programs or missions NASA's leadership may eliminate, but it may mean a shrinkage of the space agency's workforce during a period where the White House is already cutting. So far, at least 2,100 employees have left, with an attempted 6 billion United States Dollars in funding cuts, since the start of President Trump's second term eight months ago.

In recent weeks, Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy has said repeatedly that NASA won't use funds restored to it by lawmakers, but Ars Technica recently reports that science missions have now been directed to use that funding.

However, funding is only half of the effort to materialize space missions. NASA Watch has reported on September 26th that NASA's California-based Jet Propulsion Laboratory, America's hub for missions to other planets, is preparing for a reduction in force that would be implemented by October 15th. That layoff could see up to 4,000 of the lab's 5,500 employees leaving, according to NASA Watch's sources.

Before the news of a potentially massive layoff at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Zoe Lofgren (Democrat, California), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, criticised the White House's move, stating:

"The Trump administration continues to use public servants as pawns in their game to distract and destroy our federal agencies," – "This threat of further [reduction in force] is shortsighted and stupid. The government can’t be run like a deal-making game show—people behind critical agency efforts provide services that benefit all Americans. Why does Trump want to punish Americans?"

Amazon's low Earth orbit internet constellation has received its latest batch of satellites, delivered by an Atlas V.

Out of Space Launch Complex 41 atop of United Launch Alliance's Atlas V, on September 25th, 27 Kuiper satellites, for the constellation's fifth group, were sent into low Earth orbit. About twenty minutes after launch, the group of satellites began to be released over fifteen minutes.

With today's launch, Amazon has 129 Kuiper satellites in orbit out of a planned 3,236. The fifth group of satellites followed two sets of 24 launched by Falcon 9, and two previous Atlas V missions, also with 27.

Those and the new Kuiper satellites are heading toward an orbital altitude of around 630 kilometers to start providing internet services to customers. Following the deployment of further satellites, services from Kuiper are planned to be available later this year at speeds of up to one gigabit per second, a feat recently demonstrated ahead of the fifth launch.

In order to meet a deadline with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, half of the Kuiper constellation, approximately 1,600 satellites, will need to be launched by mid-2026. Currently, Amazon has bought over eighty launches to deploy the constellation from a variety of American and European launch providers.

Ahead of its latest launch, Amazon announced with JetBlue that the two companies are partnering to provide in-flight internet connectivity, starting in 2027. As the first airline set to utilize Kuiper, JetBlue plans to use the constellation to improve its free Fly-Fi service. Speaking on the constellation capabilities services, Amazon's Senior Vice President of Devices & Services, Panos Panay, boasted:

"Staying connected is part of everyday life, even when you're traveling," – "With Project Kuiper, we're working to ensure you have a high-speed connectivity experience wherever you are—at home or 35,000 feet in the air."

To provide services to JetBlue flights, select aircraft in the company's fleet will be equipped with a skyward-facing antenna, communicating on the same frequency as the Kuiper satellites. This will be similar to what Amazon is doing in partnership with Airbus, to provide other airliners with in-flight connectivity too.

Furthering its competition against other internet mega-constellations, Amazon has also partnered with Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, America's Verizon, and the UK's Vodafone to bring services directly to consumers.

What is Atlas V?

Atlas V is United Launch Alliance's oldest two-stage rocket in service. The rocket is currently planned to be replaced by Vulcan when it retires before 2030.

The first-stage is powered by a single RD-180 generating 390 tons of thrust burning rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen for four minutes and thirteen seconds. The RD-180 is manufactured by NPO Energomash in Russia.

The second-stage is powered by either one or two RL-10 engines generating 10 tons of thrust each while burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen for up to fourteen minutes and two seconds. Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies Company, manufactures the RL-10 engines.

Atlas V can also launch with between zero and five GEM-63 solid rocket motors to augment the rocket's thrust and payload capability. Each booster burns a solid propellant, consisting of Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene and Aluminum-Ammonium perchlorate, generating 169 tons of thrust each for a believed one minute and thirty-four seconds. Northrop Grumman manufactures the solid rocket boosters for use with United Launch Alliance.

Atlas V also has eleven different configurations with the following payload capacities: up to 18,814 kilograms to low Earth orbit, up to 8,900 kilograms to geostationary transfer orbit, or up to 3,850 kilograms to geostationary orbit.

Former officials and NASA's safety panel have warned that Starship may delay the Artemis III mission, which should have been anticipated.

NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel is warning that SpaceX's Starship Human Landing System (HLS), set to carry astronauts to the Moon during the Artemis III mission, could be delayed beyond a mid-2027 target for the mission. A major technical challenge that could cause the delay would be Starship-to-Starship cryogenic propellant transfer, originally set to be tested this year but now pushed into 2026. With current target dates, panelist and former Johnson Space Center Director of Mission Operations, Paul Hill, noted:

"The HLS schedule is significantly challenged and–in our estimation–could be years late for a 2027 Artemis III moon landing."

That warning reportedly comes after the advisory panel visited Starbase, where SpaceX tests its Starship vehicles in southern Texas, back in August.

Similarly, a New York Times report, based on interviews with former NASA officials, suggests that Starship HLS may not be ready until 2032 due to technical challenges associated with propellant transfer plans. Former NASA Administrator has also been critical of Starship HLS, saying that the then-leaderless space agency chose a big rocket over a lunar lander.

These concerns about readiness stem from the ambitious timeline established for the program. Selected back in April 2021 through a 2.89 billion United States Dollar contract, Starship HLS was assigned to the Artemis III mission, then set for 2024. At that point, Starship was yet to fly for the first time with the Super Heavy booster, still conducting in-atmosphere hops. For the crewed lunar landing, SpaceX is contractually obligated to fly an uncrewed demonstration before the 2024 mission. But toward the end of the year, Artemis III was delayed in 2025, affording Starship HLS another year. In a further vote of confidence in HLS, NASA awarded SpaceX 1.15 billion in late 2022 to also provide the lunar lander for the Artemis IV mission, set for 2027 (now 2028).

As of NASA's current Artemis schedule, SpaceX needs to perform a Starship HLS demonstration ahead of a mid-2027 date for Artemis III, while also having another ready for that mission. Within two years, the massive lunar lander, and its needed refueling and depot spacecraft, need to demonstrate reliable in-orbit operations, regular cryogenic refueling, minimal propellant boiloff while loitering, and lunar operations (descent, landing, and ascent). Both flights of Starship HLS for Artemis III are estimated to need up to twenty refueling flights within a few months (SpaceX has so far demonstrated Starship-Super Heavy can fly about five times a year). Those testing timelines would also be assuming Starship constantly progressed forward and didn't face a period of repeated failure.

Unfortunately for Starship HLS, 2025 was going to be a critical year for demonstrating Starship-to-Starship propellant transfer, but all chances of that were written off through repeated hardware failures. Most recently in June, Ship 36 unexpectedly exploded during a routine test, wiping out a critical pre-flight test stand with it. Before that, during flight tests of the vehicle, Ship 33 was lost due to a fire in its engine section in January; next in March, Ship 34 was again lost in a fire again; then in May, Ship 35 was destroyed during atmospheric reentry following leakages across the vehicle. Finally in August, Starship's first successful flight test of the year was performed, although only with one more current version of the vehicle ready before a design overhaul to meet the capabilities needed for the fully reusable Starship-Super Heavy rocket to work as designed.

As a result of this year's events, any transfer testing is now expected many months into 2026 at the soonest. SpaceX's President and Chief Operating Officer, Gwynne Shotwell, briefly spoke on some of the challenges associated with Starship's propellant transfer on September 17th:

"We know we can attach two vehicles, we’ve put Dragon on the International Space Station dozens of times. But can we transfer propellant? And is that propellant still basically cryogenic—is it still cold enough? Hopefully, it’s not as hard as some of my engineers think it’s going to be. All of this is hard."

Naturally, with the technical complexity of the Starship HLS architecture and short timeline to prove the spacecraft, the likelihood of delaying Artemis III due to issues with the lander should have been expected. This year's period of repeat failures has only increased the chance of SpaceX-caused delays.

Earlier today, September 22nd, NASA introduced its astronaut class of 2025, consisting of ten Americans.

At an event at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy introduced the agency's twenty-fourth astronaut class to the world, stating:

"I’m honored to welcome the next generation of American explorers to our agency! More than 8,000 people applied – scientists, pilots, engineers, dreamers from every corner of this nation. The 10 men and women sitting here today embody the truth that in America, regardless of where you start, there is no limit to what a determined dreamer can achieve – even going to space."

The class of astronauts has recently begun training for missions to the International Space Station and for exploration around the Moon, in orbit onboard the Gateway space station or down on the lunar surface. Training for NASA's various missions is set to cover robotics, land and water survival, geology, foreign language, space medicine, and physiology.

Following training, the ten new astronauts could be assigned to missions into Earth orbit, onto the Moon, or as far out as Mars in the future.

Who's in NASA's 2025 astronaut class?

Ben Bailey

Ben Bailey is a chief warrant officer in the U.S. Army and was born and raised in Charlottesville, Virginia. He earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Virginia and is completing a master's in systems engineering at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

Bailey is a U.S. Naval Test Pilot School graduate with more than 2,000 flight hours in more than 30 different rotary and fixed-wing aircraft. At the time of his selection, he was responsible for the developmental testing of emerging technologies aboard Army rotary wing aircraft, specializing in the UH-60 Black Hawk and CH-47F Chinook.

Lauren Edgar

Lauren Edgar considers Sammamish, Washington, her hometown. She earned a bachelor's degree in Earth sciences from Dartmouth College, and her master's and doctorate in geology from the California Institute of Technology.

Edgar has served as the deputy principal investigator for the Artemis III Geology Team, helping define lunar science goals, geology activities NASA astronauts will conduct, and science operations for NASA's return to the Moon. She also spent more than 17 years supporting Mars exploration rovers and was working at the U.S. Geological Survey at the time of her selection.

Adam Fuhrmann

Adam Fuhrmann is a major in the U.S. Air Force and is from Leesburg, Virginia. He holds a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and master's degrees in flight test engineering and systems engineering from the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and Purdue University, respectively.

Fuhrmann has accumulated more than 2,100 flight hours in 27 aircraft, including the F-16 and F-35, and has deployed in support of Operations Freedom's Sentinel and Resolute Support, logging 400 combat hours. At the time of his selection, he served as the director of operations for an Air Force flight test unit.

Cameron Jones

Cameron Jones is a major in the U.S. Air Force and is a native of Savanna, Illinois. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is a graduate of both the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California and the U.S. Air Force Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

Jones is an experienced test pilot with more than 1,600 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft, including 150 combat hours, with the majority of his flight time in the F-22 Raptor. At the time of his selection, he was an Air Force Academic Fellow at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Yuri Kubo

Yuri Kubo is a native of Columbus, Indiana. He earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and a master's in electrical and computer engineering from Purdue University.

Kubo spent 12 years working across various teams at SpaceX, including as launch director for Falcon 9 rocket launches, director of avionics for the Starshield program, and director of Ground Segment. Earlier in his career, he was a co-op student at NASA Johnson, where he completed multiple tours supporting the Orion spacecraft, the International Space Station, and the Space Shuttle Program, and at the time of his selection was the senior vice president of Engineering at Electric Hydrogen.

Rebecca Lawler

Rebecca Lawler is a native of Little Elm, Texas, and a former lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy. She holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and master's degrees from Johns Hopkins University and the National Test Pilot School.

Lawler is a former Navy P-3 pilot and experimental test pilot with more than 2,800 flight hours in more than 45 aircraft and is a U.S. Naval Test Pilot School graduate. She also flew as a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hurricane hunter and during NASA's Operation IceBridge, and was a test pilot for United Airlines at the time of selection.

Anna Menon

Anna Menon is from Houston and earned her bachelor's degree from Texas Christian University with a double major in mathematics and Spanish. She also holds a master's in biomedical engineering from Duke University.

Menon previously worked in the Mission Control Center at NASA Johnson, supporting medical hardware and software aboard the International Space Station. In 2024, she flew to space as a mission specialist and medical officer aboard SpaceX's Polaris Dawn, a mission that saw a new female altitude record, the first commercial spacewalk, and the completion of approximately 40 research experiments, and at the time of her selection was a senior engineer at SpaceX.

Imelda Muller

Imelda Muller considers Copake Falls, New York, her hometown, and was formerly a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. She earned a bachelor's degree in behavioral neuroscience from Northeastern University and a medical degree from the University of Vermont College of Medicine.

Muller served as an undersea medical officer after training at the Naval Undersea Medical Institute, with experience providing medical support during Navy operational diving training at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. At the time of her selection, she was completing a residency in anesthesia at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore.

Erin Overcash

Erin Overcash is a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy and is from Goshen, Kentucky. She holds a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering and a master's in bioastronautics from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Overcash is a U.S. Naval Test Pilot School graduate and an experienced F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet pilot with multiple deployments, having logged more than 1,300 flight hours in 20 aircraft, including 249 carrier arrested landings. She was part of the Navy's World Class Athlete Program and trained full-time at the Olympic Training Center with the USA Rugby Women's National Team, and was training for a squadron department head tour at the time of selection.

Katherine Spies

Katherine Spies is a native of San Diego and holds a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Southern California and a master's in design engineering from Harvard University. She is a former Marine Corps AH-1 attack helicopter pilot and experimental test pilot, with more than 2,000 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft.

Spies is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and served as UH-1Y/AH-1Z project officer and AH-1W platform coordinator during her time on active duty. At the time of her selection, she was the director of flight test engineering at Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation.

Last year at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) technical symposium, Agile Space Industries, a Colorado-based startup, introduced a groundbreaking rocket engine currently in development. This innovative propulsion system aims to bridge the gap between two primary forms of in-space propulsion: chemical propulsion, known for its high thrust but lower efficiency, and electric propulsion, which offers higher efficiency but lower thrust.

The Problem With In-Space Propulsion

Selecting the right propulsion system can be challenging, as many missions require high thrust and high efficiency at different stages. It is so crucial that some mission objectives cannot be met at all, as you have to settle for one or the other. For instance, electric propulsion is king if you have a long-duration burn. However, chemical propulsion is superior when a rapid change is needed to avoid debris or a significant burn is required for orbital insertion. That is why Agile Space seeks to overcome this dilemma by developing a chemical-electric, dual-mode rocket engine that utilizes hydrazine as its propellant. This engine will also feature Reaction Control Thrusters (RCS), creating a versatile three-in-one propulsion system that is ideal for a wide range of spacecraft missions.

Breakthroughs in Ion Propulsion

Since NASA’s SERT-1 spacecraft successfully tested the first electric engine in 1964, engineers have made significant advances in ion propulsion technologies. Traditionally, ion engines have relied on rare and expensive noble gases, such as Astra's Spacecraft Engine which uses xenon and krypton. However, recent innovations have explored more common gases, such as argon. One of the most fascinating developments in the industry is that of “air-breathing electric propulsion” (ABEP). This approach involves a spacecraft collecting air molecules, particularly nitrogen, in the upper parts of the atmosphere while in a very low Earth orbit.

Organizations like the European Space Agency (ESA) and NewOrbit Space are actively researching ABEP systems. In 2017, ESA, in collaboration with Italian company SITAEL, conducted the first successful laboratory tests of such systems. Meanwhile, NewOrbit Space achieved positive results from vacuum chamber tests, reporting an impressive specific impulse (ISP) of 6,380 for its engine—substantially higher than that of the renowned RL-10 hydrolox rocket engine, which has an ISP of 465. By utilizing the abundant nitrogen in Earth’s atmosphere, ion propulsion systems could become significantly more cost-effective and capable.

Why Noble Gasses Reign Supreme for Ion Propulsion

Despite the promise of air-breathing propulsion systems, there are some notable challenges. Most ion engines traditionally utilize noble gases due to their stability and low reactivity. In contrast, air-breathing systems would use trace amounts of nitrogen and oxygen found in the upper atmosphere. Oxygen’s reactivity poses a risk of engine damage over time, which is exacerbated by the fact that ion engines operate continuously at low thrust. While nitrogen is also somewhat damaging, further research is needed to understand its long-term effects on engine performance.

Comparing Chemical and Electric Propulsion Systems

While ion engines boast remarkable efficiency, up to four times greater than chemical rockets, they produce significantly lower thrust. For instance, Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) generates approximately 1.7 newtons of thrust and has an ISP of around 2,300. In contrast, the RL-10, as mentioned earlier, is one of the most efficient chemical rocket engines ever built, producing a staggering 106 kilonewtons, equivalent to 60,000 times the thrust of the AEPS, with an ISP of approximately 450.

This fundamental disparity highlights the core issue in selecting propulsion systems: striking a balance between low thrust efficiency and high thrust power. But what if you could have both with little sacrifice?

The Advantages of a Dual-Mode System

That is where Dual-mode electric propulsion comes in. The benefits of having a single power pack have been a topic of discussion among space agencies and universities for some time. Achieving high efficiency and high thrust with a single power pack offers immense potential for more flexible and varied missions, minimizing the need for design modifications. However, the challenge lies in identifying a suitable fuel for both chemical and electric propulsion.

Agile Space Industries, the United States’ leader in hydrazine propulsion, aims to capitalize on this need by leveraging their expertise on the propellant. The byproduct of hydrazine is primarily nitrogen, accounting for approximately 78% by weight, and hydrogen. This combination reduces corrosive wear on the system compared to the aforementioned air-breathing systems that rely on more reactive gases. Furthermore, hydrazine’s reactivity as a chemical propellant makes it an excellent choice for high-thrust applications, while also being simpler in design than other chemical systems, such as those that use cryogenic propellants.

While little is known about this new engine, we should expect to hear more from Agile about its development in the coming months! Blue Origin’s “Blue Ring” system is also set to use a duel-mode propulsion system powered by hydrazine and xenon.

About Agile Space Industries

Founded in 2009 under the moniker "Advanced Mobile Propulsion Test" and later incorporated into Agile Space Industries in 2019, Agile is an in-space propulsion company based in Colorado, developing a wide variety of hydrazine thrusters for various applications. Throughout their years, the company has created a wide variety of engines, from the small A110 (111N of thrust) to the giant A2200 (2220N).

The company has also been selected to provide Astrobotic with engines for their upcoming Griffith lander.

With its dual-mode rocket engine, Agile Space Industries is poised to revolutionize in-space propulsion, offering a solution that combines the strengths of both chemical and electric systems. As the aerospace industry continues to evolve, innovations like these will pave the way for more ambitious missions and the exploration of new frontiers.

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week had five launches heading above the Kármán line, with most for internet satellites. News during the week had a space station resupply arrive a day late, while the VIPER rover is heading to the Moon again. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

September 14th - Falcon 9 with NG-23

Northrop Grumman's twenty-third Cygnus resupply mission was launched atop of a Falcon 9, flying out of Space Launch Complex 40 in Florida, to head to the International Space Station. Supporting this launch was booster B1094 for its fourth flight, landing at Landing Zone 2 back in Cape Canaveral.

September 16th - Long March 2C with four internet test satellites

A Long March 2C, with a Yuanzheng-1S upper-stage, flying from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center sent four satellites for internet technology testing into low Earth orbit. Three spacecraft manufacturers contributed the satellites onboard, two commercial ventures and one state-owned enterprise, which may improve the GuoWang and Qianfan constellations.

September 18th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-61

Twenty-eight Starlink satellites were sent to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40. Booster B1092 supported this mission for its seventh flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

September 18th - New Shepard for NS-35

Blue Origin launched its New Shepard rocket on a suborbital flight from its West Texas site for a research and commercial payload-carrying mission. Capsule RSS H.G. Wells flew for the twelfth time on this mission while booster NS-5 flew for the fifth time.

September 19th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-12

Another Falcon 9 sent twenty-four Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Supporting this mission was B1088, flying for the tenth time and landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

In Other Space News

Cygnus XL arrives at International Space Station

Northrop Grumman's first Cygnus XL spacecraft, for its twenty-third International Space Station resupply mission, arrived at the International Space Station on September 18th. The spacecraft was captured by the Canadarm2 robotic arm and berthed to the station by NASA astronauts Jonny Kim and Zena Cardman.

11,000 pounds (about 4,989.5 kilograms) of consumables and research experiments were delivered aboard Cygnus, which will be unpacked and stored onboard the orbiting lab. Some of the experiments delivered include ways to fine-tune the production of semiconductor crystals in-space, how microgravity alters crystal structures in medical drugs, and ways to keep cryogenic propellants cold while remaining a liquid.

While en route to the space station, Cygnus XL suffered from a shorter-than-planned engine burn, leading to a one-day delay to its arrival. Northrop Grumman was given the go-ahead to continue heading toward the station on September 17th with a new plan of several engine burns.

Blue Moon to deliver VIPER

NASA announced on September 19th that Blue Origin will deliver the VIPER rover to the Moon's surface in 2027, onboard the company's second mission with its Blue Moon Mk-1 lander. Once delivered, VIPER will search the lunar south pole region for resources like water ice in support of the Artemis program. Speaking on the rover's possible findings, Joel Kearns, Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration in the Science Mission Directorate, shared:

"[VIPER] could show us where ice is most likely to be found and easiest to access, as a future resource for humans. And by studying these sources of lunar water, we also gain valuable insight into the distribution and origin of volatiles across the solar system, helping us better understand the processes that have shaped our space environment and how our inner solar system has evolved."

VIPER had been canceled in July 2024 due to cost overruns and delays beyond its original 2023 launch date, which was set for September 2025. In the over a year since, NASA was looking to sell the rover to interested companies that would share its findings for free. Now the space agency is paying Blue Origin 190 million United States to put the rover on the Moon through a Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contract.

What to Expect Next Week

September 21st - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-27

Twenty-eight more Starlink satellites are planned to be sent to low Earth orbit via a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40.

September 22nd - Falcon 9 with NROL-48

A Falcon 9 is set to fly from Space Launch Complex 4E carrying a group of military satellites into Earth orbit for the U.S. government.

September 23rd - Electron for 'JENNA'

Rocket Lab's Electron may fly in its HASTE (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron) off of Wallops Island, in Virginia, for a military customer.

September 23rd - Jielong-3 with Geely Group 06?

A Jielong-3 is preparing to launch from a floating platform in the waters surrounding Shandong province, possibly carrying eleven satellites into low Earth orbit for Geespace's communication, connectivity, and positioning constellation.

September 23rd - Falcon 9 with three satellites

From Launch Complex 39A, a Falcon 9 will fly toward the Sun-Earth L1 point carrying NASA's Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) and Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, as well as NOAA's Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1).

September 25th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-15

Another twenty-eight Starlink satellites are set to be launched to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 out of Space Launch Complex 40.

September 25th - Altas V with KA-03

Twenty-seven satellites for Amazon's Kuiper internet constellation are preparing to launch atop of United Launch Alliance's Atlas V from Space Launch Complex 41, in Florida.

September 26th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-11

SpaceX is planning to launch twenty-four Starlink satellites from Space Launch Complex 4E into low Earth orbit.

September 26th - Long March 2D with a to-be-annouced payload

A Long March 2D may launch from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying a currently unannounced payload into sun-synchronous orbit.

While still in development, Impsule Space's methane upper-stage is already securing key contracts.

Impulse Space and Astranis announced on September 15th that they had signed a contract to launch atop a Falcon 9 in 2027, to send the Helios upper-stage into low Earth orbit, where it will then fly to geostationary orbit carrying a few approximately 400-kilogram MicroGEO communication satellites. Through using Helios, the MicroGEO satellites will be near their intended orbit within a day, rather than several months.

John Gedmark, Chief Executive Officer of Astranis, spoke on the advantages of flying via Helios, stating:

"We selected Impulse’s Helios vehicle for this mission because it offers a faster, more reliable, and more cost-effective way for us to get our satellites operational and delivering service to customers," – "Demonstrating new methods of rapidly deploying satellites to geostationary orbit is important for both our government and commercial customers, and Impulse is the perfect partner for us in this effort."

Eric Romo, Chief Operating Officer at Impulse Space, boasted about Helios' capabilities, adding:

"This is exactly the type of mission that Helios is designed for," – "By providing rapid transport to higher energy orbits, we help operators like Astranis to begin delivering on their mission promise sooner."

Meanwhile, on September 16th, military contractor Anduril Industries provided an update on its near-geostationary space rendezvous and proximity operations mission, flying on Impluse Space's Mira spacecraft, boosted to its target orbit by Helios. That mission, slated for 2026, will be built upon Mira and include an internally developed long-wave infrared imager for inspecting spacecraft in nearby orbits.

Stated goals for the mission are to achieve long-wave acquisition tracking and relatively high-precision navigation for close-range rendezvous and proximity operations. Through distant and up-close monitoring, images will be captured of targeted spacecraft for in-space processing and later analysis on the ground (using Andruil's software).

At the moment, Helios is yet to fly on its debut mission set for 2026, carrying various spacecraft into geostationary space while demonstrating its liquid methane and liquid oxygen propulsion system.

Impulse Space is developing Helios to bring at least 4,000 kilograms into geostationary orbit, or up to 7,500 kilograms on a lunar transfer trajectory, while launching on most American rockets. The 4.5-meter-wide, 6.5-meter-tall upper-stage is set to be powered by a single restartable Deneb engine generating 6.8 tons of thrust through an oxidizer-rich stage combustion cycle.

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week saw seven orbital launches taking place, with several for constellations. News from the week had progress towards the Dragonfly spacecraft, China testing its Moon rocket again, and SpaceX spending billions for Starlink. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

September 8th - Jielong-3 with Geely Group 05

A Jielong-3 blasted off from a sea launch platform off the coast of Haiyang, Shandong province, heading into low Earth orbit with eleven satellites for Geespace's Geely Future Mobility Constellation. With this launch, the constellation now has fifty-two satellites for providing communication, connectivity, and positioning services.

September 9th - Long March 7A with Yaogan-45

Out of Launch Complex 201 at the Wenchang Space Launch Site, a Long March 7A flew into a medium Earth orbit carrying the Yaogan-45 remote sensing satellite. Yaogan-45 will reportedly be used for scientific experiments, land resource surveys, crop yield estimation, as well as disaster prevention and relief efforts.

September 10th - Falcon 9 for Tranche 1

For the U.S. Space Development Agency, a Falcon 9 launched from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, for the Tranche 1 Transport Layer B mission carrying twenty-one satellites into polar orbit. Supporting this mission was booster B1093 for its sixth flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

September 11th - Soyuz 2.1a with MS-32

A Soyuz 2.1a launched the Progress MS-32 cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Onboard the resupply spacecraft were consumables for the crew as well as scientific experiments.

September 12th - Falcon 9 with Nusantara Lima

SpaceX launched Indonesia's Nusantara Lima telecommunications satellite to a geostationary transfer orbit from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, atop of a Falcon 9. Booster B1078 supported this mission for its twenty-third flight, landing on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

September 13th - Soyuz 2.1b with Cosmos 2595 & 2596

Two Cosmos satellites were launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome atop of a Soyuz 2.1b. One satellite is said to be a Glonass-K satellite while the other is an experimental spacecraft.

September 13th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-10

Twenty-four Starlink satellites were sent into low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E. Supporting this mission was booster B1071 for its twenty-eighth flight, with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

In Other Space News

Dragonfly passes through development activities

NASA reported on September 8th that its car-sized, nuclear decay-powered flying spacecraft, Dragonfly, is proceeding through development and testing activities ahead of its mission to Saturn's moon Titan. Providing an overview of recent activity, Dragonfly principal investigator from Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Elizabeth 'Zibi' Turtle, shared:

"Dragonfly has moved far beyond a concept on a computer screen – the components of the rotorcraft lander are being built as scientists and engineers transform this bold exploration idea into reality," – "From the cleanrooms to the wind tunnels, we’re performing critical tests that are informing our next steps of development and demonstrating how Dragonfly will perform on and above Titan’s surface."

Some recent testing and development activities include testing the spacecraft's rotors in Titan-like conditions within a transonic wind tunnel, completing parts of Dragonfly's mass spectrometers, testing thermal insulation that will keep the vehicle warm, and assembling flight radios that will allow Dragonfly to talk to Earth. Lockheed Martin has also recently passed the first milestones in building the heat shield that will carry Dragonfly into Titan's atmosphere.

Back in April, Dragonfly passed its critical design review, with its integration and test phase set to begin in January 2026. At the moment, the spacecraft is set to launch in 2028, for an arrival on Titan in 2034.

Long March 10 completes second static fire

At the Wenchang Space Launch Site on Launch Complex 301, the Long March 10 series' static fire article completed its second set of static fires on September 12th, following an earlier one in August.

According to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology and the China Manned Space Agency, the test firing verified the parallel working of the seven engines at various low and high throttle settings, as well as understanding hardware stress while gimbaling, alongside demonstrating engine restarts. A total cumulative firing time of the test articles' seven YF-100K engines was stated to be 320 seconds.

Following the test firings, involved enterprises and agencies stated the following regarding the Long March 10's test campaign:

“To date, the two planned tethered ignition tests have been completed, comprehensively verifying the performance of the rocket's first-stage seven-engine power system and the correctness and reliability of the recovery phase operating procedure design, marking a breakthrough in the development of the prototype of the Long March 10 series carrier rocket.” – “The tethered ignition test of the Long March 10 series of launch vehicles is carried out in steps according to the idea of ​​gradual and step-by-step verification, focusing on the two goals of performance verification of the power system of the seven-engine parallel engine of the first stage and recovery and reuse verification.”

This week's static fire and the one in August were key development milestones for China's Long March 10 Moon rocket, set to fly in late 2026 or early 2027, and the smaller Long March 10A, likely to fly in the first half of 2026.

SpaceX spends 17 billion for Starlink

SpaceX announced on September 8th that it is buying out EchoStar's licenses for the 50 MHz S-band spectrum and global Mobile Satellite Service to consolidate its Starlink internet constellation business. The deal has SpaceX spending 8.5 billion United States Dollars in cash as well as 8.5 billion in its stock, for a total deal value of 17 billion.

With the new licenses, SpaceX expects to expand its Direct to Cell offerings from the Starlink constellation, providing coverage to mobile devices nearly worldwide. According to the company, the new licensees enable a step change in performance for Starlink Direct to Cell.

What to Expect Next Week

September 14th - Falcon 9 with NG-23

Northrop Grumman's twenty-third Cygnus resupply mission is set to fly to the International Space Station atop a Falcon 9, departing from Space Launch Complex 40.

September 15th - Long March 2C with a to-be-announced payload

A Long March 2C is expected to launch out of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying an unannounced payload.

September 17th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-12

A batch of Starlink satellites are planned to be launched on top of Falcon 9, flying from Space Launch Complex 4E to low Earth orbit.

September 18th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-61

From Space Launch Complex 40, another batch of Starlink satellites will head to low Earth orbit via a Falcon 9.

September 18th - New Shepard for NS-35

Blue Origin is planning to fly its New Shepard rocket from its West Texas site on a suborbital mission carrying several commercial and scientific payloads.

Out of the grave of the Jet Propulsion Lab’s Mars Telecommunications Orbiter, a few actors in the U.S. space sector are aiming to win a lucrative contract for a Mars orbiting relay. That orbiter could, when deployed, be a key part of NASA's Moon to Mars program, as well as SpaceX's plans for the Red Planet.

Rocket Lab

Initially put forth as part of an architecture for reorganizing NASA's Mars Sample Return mission, Rocket Lab's telecommunications orbiter leans on the company's spacecraft expertise. Rocket Lab is angling for its proposal to be the cost-effective solution, stating:

"The [Mars Telecommunications Orbiter] will be built using Rocket Lab’s vertically integrated components and subsystems that have long-standing heritage at the Red Planet. Our vertically integrated approach reduces complexity, controls cost and provides schedule certainty, all under a firm-fixed price."

The expertise Rock Lab is leaning on includes the ESCAPADE Mars twins, the MAVEN orbiter, the Insight lander, as well as rovers Curiosity and Perseverance, with the Ingenuity helicopter too. Other than ESCAPADE, experience on those missions was brought in through strategic business acquisitions.

Blue Origin

Meanwhile, Blue Origin's proposal for the Mars relay builds off of its Blue Ring spacecraft, equipping it with a massive antenna for talking with Earth. Alongside the main relay satellite, Blue also proposes deploying a few smaller spacecraft to talk to more missions across the planet's surface.

Alongside performing its role as a communication relay, Blue envisions using the spacecraft as a platform for deep-space computing for the missions it's communicating with, as well as hosting up to 1,000 kilograms of science onboard.

Blue Origin says its proposal will be ready to support missions in 2028 if selected.

SpaceX

In sharp contrast to the others, SpaceX's plan is set to consist of many satellites, forming a Starlink constellation for Mars, nicknamed 'Marslink', to bring communication coverage to the entire planet.

'Marslink' satellites would use proven Starlink designs, giant solar arrays, and optical laser interconnects, with an additional large antenna for Mars-to-Earth connections alongside the standard phased arrays to communicate with surface missions. With potentially dozens of 'Marslinks' in orbit, SpaceX has also proposed equipping the spacecraft with imaging and monitoring payloads (used on the Starsheild spy satellites) to regularly observe changes to the planet.

SpaceX's 'Marslink' would be deployed in batches through Starship-Super Heavy, the company's in-development fully reusable rocket, on missions to the red planet.

Lockheed Martin

Few details are available on Lockheed Martin's solution for a Mars relay, but according to a NASA study, it would utilize the proven design of the MAVEN orbiter and other relevant systems. Unlike MAVEN, the relay would feature two antennas, one to be fixed on Earth and the other with missions on the planet below where needed.

This is a press release republished from NASA, under their policy for news media. Scientific studies can be found for further reading on this discovery.

A sample collected by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover from an ancient dry riverbed in Jezero Crater could preserve evidence of ancient microbial life. Taken from a rock named “Cheyava Falls” last year, the sample, called “Sapphire Canyon,” contains potential biosignatures, according to a paper published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

A potential biosignature is a substance or structure that might have a biological origin but requires more data or further study before a conclusion can be reached about the absence or presence of life.

“This finding by Perseverance, launched under President Trump in his first term, is the closest we have ever come to discovering life on Mars. The identification of a potential biosignature on the Red Planet is a groundbreaking discovery, and one that will advance our understanding of Mars,” said acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy. “NASA’s commitment to conducting Gold Standard Science will continue as we pursue our goal of putting American boots on Mars’ rocky soil.”

Perseverance came upon Cheyava Falls in July 2024 while exploring the “Bright Angel” formation, a set of rocky outcrops on the northern and southern edges of Neretva Vallis, an ancient river valley measuring a quarter-mile (400 meters) wide that was carved by water rushing into Jezero Crater long ago.

“This finding is the direct result of NASA’s effort to strategically plan, develop, and execute a mission able to deliver exactly this type of science — the identification of a potential biosignature on Mars,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “With the publication of this peer-reviewed result, NASA makes this data available to the wider science community for further study to confirm or refute its biological potential.”

The rover’s science instruments found that the formation’s sedimentary rocks are composed of clay and silt, which, on Earth, are excellent preservers of past microbial life. They also are rich in organic carbon, sulfur, oxidized iron (rust), and phosphorous.

“The combination of chemical compounds we found in the Bright Angel formation could have been a rich source of energy for microbial metabolisms,” said Perseverance scientist Joel Hurowitz of Stony Brook University, New York and lead author of the paper. “But just because we saw all these compelling chemical signatures in the data didn’t mean we had a potential biosignature. We needed to analyze what that data could mean.”

First to collect data on this rock were Perseverance’s PIXL (Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry) and SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals) instruments. While investigating Cheyava Falls, an arrowhead-shaped rock measuring 3.2 feet by 2 feet (1 meter by 0.6 meters), they found what appeared to be colorful spots. The spots on the rock could have been left behind by microbial life if it had used the raw ingredients, the organic carbon, sulfur, and phosphorus, in the rock as an energy source.

In higher-resolution images, the instruments found a distinct pattern of minerals arranged into reaction fronts (points of contact where chemical and physical reactions occur) the team called leopard spots. The spots carried the signature of two iron-rich minerals: vivianite (hydrated iron phosphate) and greigite (iron sulfide). Vivianite is frequently found on Earth in sediments, peat bogs, and around decaying organic matter. Similarly, certain forms of microbial life on Earth can produce greigite.

The combination of these minerals, which appear to have formed by electron-transfer reactions between the sediment and organic matter, is a potential fingerprint for microbial life, which would use these reactions to produce energy for growth. The minerals also can be generated abiotically, or without the presence of life. Hence, there are ways to produce them without biological reactions, including sustained high temperatures, acidic conditions, and binding by organic compounds. However, the rocks at Bright Angel do not show evidence that they experienced high temperatures or acidic conditions, and it is unknown whether the organic compounds present would’ve been capable of catalyzing the reaction at low temperatures.

The discovery was particularly surprising because it involves some of the youngest sedimentary rocks the mission has investigated. An earlier hypothesis assumed signs of ancient life would be confined to older rock formations. This finding suggests that Mars could have been habitable for a longer period or later in the planet’s history than previously thought, and that older rocks also might hold signs of life that are simply harder to detect.

“Astrobiological claims, particularly those related to the potential discovery of past extraterrestrial life, require extraordinary evidence,” said Katie Stack Morgan, Perseverance’s project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “Getting such a significant finding as a potential biosignature on Mars into a peer-reviewed publication is a crucial step in the scientific process because it ensures the rigor, validity, and significance of our results. And while abiotic explanations for what we see at Bright Angel are less likely given the paper’s findings, we cannot rule them out.”

The scientific community uses tools and frameworks like the CoLD scale and Standards of Evidence to assess whether data related to the search for life actually answers the question, Are we alone? Such tools help improve understanding of how much confidence to place in data suggesting a possible signal of life found outside our own planet.

Sapphire Canyon is one of 27 rock cores the rover has collected since landing at Jezero Crater in February 2021. Among the suite of science instruments is a weather station that provides environmental information for future human missions, as well as swatches of spacesuit material so that NASA can study how it fares on Mars.

The Chinese space program has had a growing issue regarding launch capacity and especially with capable modern launchers, but that has been rapidly changing with this recent year. 2025 has proven to be a very pivotal year for many key construction projects.

Haiyang Spaceport

Arguably, the most interesting part of China's coastal launch site expansion has been the growth of the Haiyang spaceport. The Haiyang spaceport has helped facilitate many tests, such as the Long March 12 reusable rocket demonstrator, and soon the Tianlong-3 static fire. It has also had many launches from small ships just off its coast.

For instance, Yu Zhaojun, head of the Ship Management Department at Haishangfa and other officials at Haiyang announced the creation of a ship meant for the launch and recovery of medium lift launch vehicles in August of this year.

They have also recently released very ambitious development plans for Haiyang to reach 100 annual launches by 2030. The plans involve 8 pads: 4 normal ground pads and 4 at sea, along with a dedicated static fire area.

These plans are also not only theoretical, as they have already broken ground on this project, and the plans are definitely grand. Many of these pads are meant to support some very powerful launch vehicles and have gotten increased investments from multiple private and state-owned companies.

Haiyang has unexpectedly started positioning themselves as a major launch center for the future of China's launch industry. It also has a strong starting off point with already facilitating many small lift launch vehicles.

The Haiyang facilities support in rocket assembly and testing, with plans to produce up to 20 solid rockets annually, along with increasing launch capabilities, making it a very appealing choice for many launch providers in China

Why sea launch?

China has experienced a huge boost in demand with the launch of many mega-constellation projects and the effort to create a modern satellite network comparable to others globally. However, China’s launch industry has recently been dominated by hypergolic vehicles launching from inland sites that lack ground support equipment (GSE) to support cryogenic rockets at the same capacity as hypergolic ones.

This led to the creation of the Wenchang Space Launch Site, a modern coastal launch site primarily built for cryogenic vehicles. This launch bottleneck happened to coincide with a booming small launch industry in China, incentivizing new private launch providers and encouraging the undertaking of more international launch missions. China aims to position itself as an international launcher rather than just serving domestic payloads, and growing launch capacity supports this goal.

This situation led companies and institutions to seek novel solutions, one of which was sea launch. This was a highly attractive option as it lifts many restrictions associated with launching from Jiuquan or even Wenchang. As investment in this area expanded, its feasibility increased, facilitating the unexpected rise.

Hainan Commercial Site

The unexpected rise of Haiyang does not mean that Wenchang has slowed down; on the contrary, construction there has been very intense, highlighted by the recent inauguration and growth of a commercial launch site.

In 2024, China unveiled the Hainan Commercial Spacecraft Launch Site, a $1.5 billion expansion adjacent to Wenchang. Designed to accommodate private aerospace firms, the complex features two dedicated pads, one exclusively for Long March 8 and the other for over 12 different launch vehicles. There is also a shared technical center for payload integration. State-owned enterprises like the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation have partnered with startups to streamline licensing and operations.

The site had its first launch at the end of 2024 but has recently seen some intense expansion with the announcement of Pads 3 and 4 in January of 2025.

The foundations for pads 3 and 4 began construction this year and are expected to be completed in the latter half of 2026. Pads 1 and 2 continue to mature with increasing launch activity. At the Wenchang Space Launch Site, general growth in support facilities is underway. Meanwhile, for the Long March 10 rocket, two vehicle assembly buildings are being finalized, and a launch pad is scheduled for completion this year. Many companies are also building their own support facilities for purposes ranging from satellite production to rocket refurbishment.

To conclude, the year 2025 has marked a pivotal turning point for China’s space launch capabilities and infrastructure. The rapid expansion of sites like Haiyang and Wenchang, along with the emergence of the Hainan Commercial Spacecraft Launch Site, reflects China's commitment to addressing launch capacity bottlenecks. Haiyang's ambitious growth, including its future goal of 100 annual launches and integration of sea launch platforms, positions it as a crucial hub for both private and state-backed launch providers. Simultaneously, Wenchang and Hainan continue to evolve with new pads, assembly buildings, and international launch ambitions. Together, these developments underscore China’s strategic drive to become a global leader in space access, supporting an unprecedented surge in satellite deployments and commercial launch activity for the coming decade.

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week saw nine launches taking place, with spacecraft sent into a variety of orbits. News during the week included a promotion at NASA, the initiation of a future planetary defense mission, and a boost for the International Space Station. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

August 31st - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-14

SpaceX's Falcon 9 launched twenty-eight Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. Supporting this launch was booster B1077, for its twenty-third flight, with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

September 2nd - Shavit-2 with Ofek-19

Israel's military launched a Shavit-2 rocket, based on the country's intercontinental ballistic missiles, into a retrograde low Earth orbit carrying the Ofek-19 satellite. Ofek-19 is believed to be a synthetic aperture radar reconnaissance satellite.

September 3rd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-8

Twenty-four Starlink satellites were sent to low Earth orbit via a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Booster B1097 supported this mission for its first flight, landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

September 3rd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-22

Another twenty-eight Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 via a Falcon 9. Supporting this launch was booster B1083, for its fourteenth flight with a downrange landing on the drone ship 'A Shortfall of Gravitas'.

September 5th - Long March 3C/E with Shiyan-29

A Long March 3C/E carried Shiyan-29, boosted by a Yuanzheng-1 upper-stage, directly into geostationary orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center for the rocket's second flight this year. Shiyan-29 is planning to conduct space environment monitoring the related technology tests.

September 5th - Ceres-1 with three satellites

Galactic Energy's Ceres-1 blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying three customer satellites into sun-synchronous orbit, along with its Eros orbital test platform (based on the rocket's fourth-stage). The customer payloads were:

• Kaiyun-1, for Earth observation and space awareness tasks
• Yuxing-3-08, for remote sensing via a 5-meter resolution camera
• Yunyao-1-27, for meteorological tasks as well as testing an electric hall-effect propulsion system, a fiber optic gyro, a high-performance computer, and a Compton telescope for gamma-ray particle detection.

Meanwhile, the Eros platform is set to carry out experiments related to studying atmospheric conditions along with optical and visible light imaging tests.

September 5th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-57

Yet another twenty-eight Starlink satellites were sent to low Earth orbit by Falcon 9 flying out of Launch Complex 39A, in Florida. Booster B1069 supported this mission for its twenty-seventh flight, landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange.

This was also the 500th landing of a Falcon 9 first-stage booster.

September 6th - Long March 6A with Yaogan-40 Group-03

Three Yaogan-40 satellites, for the third group overall, were sent into a polar orbit by a Long March 6A flying from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. The three satellites are expected to perform electromagnetic environment detection over areas of Earth below, along with related technology tests.

September 6th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-9

Another Falcon 9 delivered twenty-four Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit, out of Space Launch Complex 4E. This mission was supported by booster B1075 for its twentieth flight, landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

In Other Space News

Amit Kshatriya named associate administrator

NASA announced on September 3rd that Amit Kshatriya, previously the Deputy Associate Administrator for the Moon to Mars Program, has become the Associate Administrator of the space agency. According to the agency, Kshatriya's promotion puts the Artemis program at the core of American exploration strategy under the Trump Administration. Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy further underscored that by stating:

"Amit has spent more than two decades as a dedicated public servant at NASA, working to advance American leadership in space. Under his leadership, the agency will chart a bold vision to return to the Moon during President Trump’s term," – "Amit’s knowledge, integrity, and unwavering commitment to pioneering a new era of exploration make him uniquely qualified to lead our agency as associate administrator. With Amit we’ll continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible."

After making Kshatriya Associate Administrator, he and Sean Duffy appeared on an internal NASA town hall to repeat the point that agency leadership intends to ignore restored funding and win the 21st-century "Moon race", which the U.S. is the only participant of.

China to perform planetary defense mission

China Daily and CGTN are reporting that China is initiating a planetary defense mission project this year. According to Wu Weiren, the Chief Designer of China's highly successful Lunar Exploration Program and Director of the nation's Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, the defense mission will target a near-Earth asteroid and aim to move its orbit by three to five centimeters.

A mission to do so would use a fly-along–impact–fly-along architecture with two spacecraft, an observer and an impactor. An observer would arrive first to survey the target, then an impactor would hit at high speed, followed by the observer and Earth-based instruments measuring the results.

Alongside conducting a planetary defense mission, China also envisions establishing a comprehensive planetary defense architecture. That would see an integrated space-ground monitoring and alert network to enable an early warning system for potentially dangerous asteroids heading for the Earth or Moon, then followed by an in-orbit response.

At the moment, China is flying its first asteroid sample return mission, Tianwen-2, which is en route to asteroid 2016HO3/469219 Kamoʻoalewa, with a planned arrival in the summer of 2026, where it will gather between 200 and 1,000 grams of samples. Around 2029, those samples will be returned to Earth during a flyby.

Dragon boosts International Space Station

SpaceX's Cargo Dragon spacecraft, as part of the company's thirty-third resupply mission, provided a small boost to the International Space Station's orbit on September 3rd as part of a demonstration.

For the boost, two Draco engines in Dragon's trunk section fired for five minutes and three seconds, drawing propellant from a brand new boost kit (also in the trunk). After the boost, the space station was left in a 260.9 by 256.3 mile (around 420.0 by 412.5 kilometers) altitude orbit, raised by about a mile at the lowest point.

With the demonstration boost complete, additional burns from Dragon may take place to periodically maintain the International Space Station's orbit.

What to Expect Next Week

September 8th - Jielong-3 with Geely Group 05?

Geespace's Geely Future Mobility Constellation could see its fifth group of satellites, likely with eleven onboard, launched into low Earth orbit by a Jielong-3 from a floating sea-launch platform.

September 9th - Falcon 9 with Nusantara Lima

A Falcon 9 is planned to carry Indonesia's Nusantara Lima telecommunications satellite to a geostationary transfer orbit from Space Launch Complex 40.

September 9th - Long March 7A with a to-be-announced payload

From the Wenchang Space Launch Site, a Long March 7A is preparing to launch towards geostationary space, carrying a currently unknown spacecraft.

September 10th - Falcon 9 with a Tranche 1 mission

For the U.S. Space Development Agency, a Falcon 9 is expected to launch from Space Launch Complex 4E for the Tranche 1 Transport Layer B mission.

September 11th - Soyuz 2.1a with Progress MS-32

A Soyuz 2.1a is planned to launch the Progress MS-32 cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

September 13th - Soyuz 2.1b with a Glonass-K satellite

A Glonass-K satellite is set to head to medium Earth orbit via a Soyuz 2.1b flying from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome.

If you know anything about the launch industry, you have likely heard of Astra Space. Whether through memes or their stock market antics, you probably figured out one crucial thing: they cannot catch a break.

However, despite being on the brink of bankruptcy for years now, the company just won't die, and a part of that is due to Astra's Spacecraft Engine, or ASE for short.

Humble Beginnings of ASE

In 2021, Astra made what could be its most significant financial and business move yet—a move so crucial that it may just be keeping the launch provider afloat. For $50 million, the company acquired Apollo Fusion, a startup specializing in advanced electric propulsion systems. This move according to Chris Kemp, Astra’s CEO and Founder, would add a,

Really core piece of technology to Astra’s platform. It’ll unlock a whole new set of customer opportunities for us.”

Thus begins the journey of ASE.

What is Astra Spacecraft Engine?

So, what exactly is ASE? Astra's Spacecraft Engine is a Hall-effect electric propulsion (EP) system for orbital maneuvers. Unlike chemical engines, electric propulsion engines use electricity to ionize gases, shooting them off at high velocities. This gives the engines extreme efficiency but low thrust, which makes them perfect for long burns that orbiting satellites may need to conduct.

To better meet customer needs, Astra offers two propellant options for ASE: one that utilizes Krypton and the other, Xenon. The Xenon configuration allows for higher thrust and specific impulse (ISP). Think of this as the "fuel efficiency," so to speak, of a propulsion system. At 400W of input, ASE's Xenon-powered version has an ISP of 1,400 seconds and a thrust of ~25mN. The Krypton version is slightly less capable, with the same 400W input; it achieves an ISP of 1,300 and a thrust of ~18mN. To put how little thrust these engines make into perspective, the force ASE produces is about the same as a bug landing on your skin.

Xenon vs Krypton: The Tradeoffs

For the longest time, most electric propulsion systems were powered by Xenon. However, with the rise of private space flight and costs being a concern, the more capable, but vastly more expensive, Xenon fuel was ditched in favor of Krypton and Argon. During Starlink’s infancy, the constellation used Krypton ion engines. Despite being less dense than Xenon, which required larger fuel tanks, Krypton was far more abundant and thus, cheaper. Pair this with a lower atomic mass, and you have a propellant that, on paper, appears more efficient. So while Krypton may not produce as much thrust as Xenon, it has a higher theoretical ISP. It is worth noting that SpaceX ultimately switched from Krypton to Argon, a first for in-space propulsion. According to SpaceX, the switch to Argon allowed for 2.4 times more thrust and 1.5 times more ISP, all while being even cheaper than Krypton.

So, why did Astra Space choose Krypton and Xenon over the growing industry standard Argon? Well, the decision wasn’t up to them. Apollo Fusion had already been working on the ion engine long before Astra bought them out. While Argon has some strengths, at the time of ASEs inception, Argon wasn't even a proven propellant for satellite propulsion.

Add to that the sheer number of Starlink satellites (>8k) currently in orbit, with tens of thousands more planned, this may lead to a rise in Argon prices. Argon can also erode materials within the engine at a faster rate than alternatives, which, for SpaceX and other Mega-constellations with shorter satellite lives, is fine. However, other satellites with longer lives and more burns may favor an engine that can last.

ASE vs Its Competitors: ExoTerra and Phase Four

As the small satellite industry is growing year in and year out, many companies across the globe are working on manufacturing in-space propulsion systems to cater to the sector. Astra may be in a good position with ASE, but they know more than most that things can go sideways quickly. Some of Astra's main competitors, such as Phase Four and ExoTerra, are hot on Astra's tail.

With its scalable and manufacturable microwave electrothermal thrusters, Phase Four adopts a different strategy. Microwave electrothermal thrusters essentially work by superheating a neutral gas into plasma with microwaves. The superheated gas is then expelled through a nozzle creating thrust through thermal expansion.

In contrast, ExoTerra specializes in extremely modular Hall-effect devices, such as the Halo and Halo12, to meet the needs of missions requiring variable power ranges. Collectively, these businesses pose a significant threat to Astra in the expanding market for small-satellite propulsion.

Phase Four's Valkyrie and ExoTerra's Halo systems, like Astra's ASE, are powered by both Xenon and Krypton. ASE's 300–400 W, ~18–25mN, and ~1,400 seconds of ISP are closely matched by Phase Four's Valkyrie, which runs at around 400–600W and produces 20–34mN of thrust with an ISP of about 1,200–1,300 seconds. In contrast, ExoTerra's Halo has a far greater operating range (85–1,500 W), which helps smaller satellites with more constrained power budgets while still allowing it to scale up for bigger missions. ExoTerra is a more comprehensive rival because it also offers integrated propulsion buses and complete system solutions in addition to engines.

Making good hardware and shipping it is what separates those who live, to those who flounder in the space industry. Currently, Astra has supplied more than 60 ASE units, many of which have completed burns in orbit. ExoTerra has already completed dozens of flights, and Phase Four is gradually increasing deliveries, demonstrating that all three have actual hardware experience in space. While it is far too early to call anything, and the space industry is only growing in demand, it will be interesting to see how all three companies and others not mentioned, continue to push the envelope. While exact costs for ExoTerra and Phase Four engines aren’t public, Astra’s standard ASE comes in at roughly $275,000 per unit.

Astra Systems

To allow for higher capabilities, Astra also offers multi-engine configurations to allow for higher thrust and more performance overall. These systems are comprised of two, three, or four strings, enabling up to 100mNs of thrust at 1.6kW. While these systems may be overkill for LEO constellations, they have massive implications for cis-lunar missions and interplanetary ones.

Of course, consumers are what sustain a business, not specs alone. ASE's ability to garner adoption throughout the satellite industry has always been its true test. So, who is utilizing ASE, and what purpose does electric propulsion hold?

The Market for Electric Propulsion

From Earth orbit and beyond, Electric propulsion has revolutionized the space industry and it isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Astra has deployed more than a dozen ASE units in orbit, achieving hundreds of successful burns in just the past few years. These burns have supported missions across commercial, government, and defense sectors, solidifying ASE's track record that cannot be overlooked.

Constellation/Private Sector

The lifeblood of the modern space industry, constellations, will be the biggest customer of ion engines. Electric propulsion is perfectly suited for both low-orbit satellites that need near-constant burns to stay in a stable orbit.

While giants like SpaceX make their engines in-house, companies across the globe that are working on much smaller scales don't need to make their own propulsion; rather, they can buy it from companies like Astra. According to Astra themselves in a technical document going over ASE MAX specs, the company claims ASE MAX has already been chosen for use on a constellation with hundreds of satellites.

During the Transporter-12 and 13 launch, a handful of ASEs were launched into orbit according to Astra. While more recently, two Planet Lab Pelican satellites were seen sporting these ASE engines on SpaceX's NAOS launch.

Government/DoD

Beyond the private sector, ASE is also reportedly being used on the Oracle M Lunar Satellite, currently being developed by the United States Air Force Research Laboratory for in-space situational awareness around both the Earth and the Moon. This isn't the only time the US government has invested in Astra. At the tail end of 2024, Astra was awarded a $44 million contract from the Defense Innovation Unit.

Astra has also been selected, in collaboration with companies such as York Space and Maxar, to help the SDA develop a 1,000 strong satellite constellation for the US government. This mega-constellation will field disruptive technology to better protect the US and her allies, such as space-based missile tracking.

Deep Space

While nothing has been said about ASE being used for interplanetary or deep space missions, ion engines are becoming increasingly popular for such missions. NASA's DART spacecraft demonstrated NEXT-C, which is poised to enable a wide variety of missions beyond Earth's sphere of influence at a low cost. The Psyche spacecraft is using four SPT-140 electric propulsion for its mission to 16 Psyche. As the industry grows, it is not crazy to assume companies will look to Astra when planning long-term missions that perfectly suit ion engines.

Astra is positioning itself solidly for dominance in the electric propulsion sector for Earth SOI applications and beyond.

Challenges Ahead for Astra and ASE

Astra’s Spacecraft Engine may be buying the company time, but the road ahead is still uncertain.

One basket, too many eggs

Astra remains, first and foremost, a launch company, pouring millions into Rocket 4. Diversification helps, but survival still depends on more than a single product line. The saying "don't put all your eggs in one basket" pertains here. While things are starting to look up for the company--they aren't out of the weeds yet.

Ion engines have plenty of benefits beyond the realm of Earth, but planet-side, it is a different story. Xenon, Krypton, and even Argon are all rare, tightly controlled, and subject to volatile pricing. Demand spikes or geopolitical strains could ripple through Astra’s supply chain and the already lengthy and expensive process of sourcing these rare gases certainly doesn't help. For a company still recovering, even a few bad years in the noble gas market could sting.

Rocket Four development presses forward

Luckily, in the past year and a half, Astra has raised nearly 80 million, with the bulk of it coming from the aforementioned DIU contract. This has enabled the company to restructure its finances, pay legal fees, and repurchase shares.

Those funds are stabilizing operations and giving engineers room to push Rocket Four forward. A little over a month ago, its first-stage engine “Chiron” cleared a static fire in Atwater. Moving Astra closer to a 2026–27 launch window, with full-stage testing likely to pick up in mid-2026.

Final notes

Astra has become this sort of embodiment of the "indomitable human spirit" and while I am sure ASE has played a part in keeping the company alive, I want to take a second and give a huge congratulations to all the engineers, technicians and managers who are pushing to get the company back on its feet. Space is hard, but Astra is proving that even when things are bleak, the peak is never out of reach.

Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy is convinced the U.S. will win the 21st-century "Moon race", despite massive defunding and being the only participant.

In a recent internal NASA town hall, Acting Administrator Duffy told agency employees that he and the Trump Administration are committed to beating China to the Moon (a point he constantly tells Fox News), with Duffy declaring:

"I’ll be damned if that is the story that we write. We are going to beat the Chinese to the moon. We are going to make sure that we do this safely. We’re going to do it fast. We’re going to do it right."

Newly appointed NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya vowed to push back on statements saying that the U.S. could or will be second to land this century, signaling a level of ideological agreement at the top levels of the agency seven months into the new American administration.

Duffy's comments were provoked by a recent testimony by former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstein, although not mentioned by name, from Trump's first term. Bridenstein has been critical of the choice of SpaceX with Starship (which only recently started succeeding again after writing off a potential year of progress) for the Artemis program's first lunar lander, and its selection being approved while no administrator was confirmed. In his view, needing to launch a depot Starship, followed by an unclear number of refueling Starships before a crew-rated lunar lander Starship even launches, allows China to land on the Moon before America.

America landing before China will also be critical for Trump-Duffy plans to violate the outer space treaty to claim parts of the Moon for America's sole use via nuclear reactors.

During the same town hall, Duffy defended Trump's NASA cuts for fiscal year 2026, slashing 6 billion United States Dollars in funding and ending over forty science missions and canceling America's only Moon rocket and the Orion capsule after the Artemis III mission (the first Moon landing). In a pushback against Artemis mission cuts, other U.S. lawmakers added funding for the Artemis IV and Artemis V missions through the 'One Big, Beautiful Bill', along with fully funding the sometimes crewed Gateway lunar orbiting space station.

Restoring funding is all well and good, but NASA leadership intends to ignore that funding, again, with Duffy saying:

"The president, though we have a reduced budget, he gave us more money for space exploration. That’s what we’re going to do. At this point, I think we have enough money to accomplish our mission."

Those cuts have led to thousands of employees leaving the agency, alongside the White House clamping down on unions at NASA.

With less funding and fewer employees, it will become increasingly impossible to "beat" China to landing people on the Moon in a race the Chinese lunar program isn't even participating in.

China's not racing

Despite recent strides in hardware testing for China's crewed Moon missions, the nation does not view its lunar program as in a race with America's Artemis due to political factors. China treats its lunar program as part of long-term national development plans with a centralized system that allows for stable, multi-year planning through multiple government organisations and advisory bodies that set consistent objectives. This contrasts sharply with America, where NASA faces shifting political priorities every four to eight years, meaning the lunar program and others must win support from changing administrations and Congress, making long-term planning difficult. Chief Designer of China's Lunar Exploration Program, Wu Weiren, observed this and noted:

“When the president changes, his policies change,” — “We in China may anchor our goals and always draw a blueprint until the end, so we have always moved forward smoothly and firmly, which is the difference between our two countries.”

The only advantage America boasts over China is its fifty-six nation non-binding Artemis Accords, which aims to rewrite the space law through its lackluster points. China's international lunar agreement is instead for cooperative construction and research on the International Lunar Research Station.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a hearing on September 3rd, titled "There’s a Bad Moon on the Rise: Why Congress and NASA Must Thwart China in the Space Race", aimed at figuring out how to win the 21st-century "Moon race".

Much of the hearing was focused on maintaining American preeminence in the so-called ultimate high ground of space, fear-mongering about a loss of that preeminence, and maintaining jobs through an active industrial base supporting space. Vague and unspecific mentions were made on how to improve or accelerate the U.S. lunar program, known as Artemis.

However during the hearing, former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine was particularly critical of the choice of SpaceX with Starship for the Artemis program's first lunar lander, and its selection being approved while no administrator was confirmed. In his view, needing to launch a depot Starship, followed by an unclear number of refueling Starships before a crew-rated lunar lander Starship even launches, allows China to land on the Moon before the U.S. this century.

These discussions to win a perceived space race, not even putting forward concepts of a plan to do so, come after the current NASA leadership stated that it wants to violate international space laws to claim parts of the Moon for America's sole use. That was followed by a swift self-gutting of the space agency via the ignoring of federally allocated funding, at the levels of the Trump Administration cuts for the coming fiscal year.

With the Artemis program on its current course, it's possible China may land on the Moon ahead of an American effort this century, largely due to problems with U.S. hardware development and the political environment.

Artemis' problems

So far, the Artemis program has only two pieces of mission-critical hardware flying: the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion crew capsule. Both vehicles flew the program's debut mission in late 2022, working almost flawlessly throughout (unexpected char loss during reentry). The two vehicles are almost ready to fly again, this time with crew, having just a few more integration operations left ahead of launch in early 2026. Hardware is also being prepared for the third mission, one to land on the surface, for a 2027 launch.

Of course, SLS and Orion are only half of the process of getting American astronauts to the lunar surface, with a lunar lander version of SpaceX's Starship set to carry out a Moon landing in 2027 at the earliest, following an uncrewed demonstration. Despite being of critical importance, Starship has regressed on any potential progress this year, as in June, Ship 36 unexpectedly exploded during a routine test, wiping out a critical pre-flight test stand with it. Before that, during flight tests of the vehicle, Ship 33 was lost due to a fire in its engine section in January; next in March, Ship 34 was again lost in a fire again; then in May, Ship 35 was destroyed during atmospheric reentry following leakages across the vehicle. Finally in August, 2025's first successful flight test was performed, although only with one more vehicle ready before another design overhaul to meet the capabilities needed for the fully reusable rocket to work as designed. As such the next flight test will likely be a repeat of August's, before another may be performed with new vehicle designs on the same trajectories flown so far.

Making things worse, Starship is not the only part of the U.S. lunar program facing issues. One of NASA's commercial spacesuit providers, initially producing suits for the International Space Station with plans to evolve it for lunar use, dropped out in 2024 due to falling behind set schedules. The remaining space suit provider for lunar missions, Axiom Space, is also facing schedule issues, alongside financial challenges from its many programs.

China is going

Meanwhile, China is taking gradual steps towards sending people to the Moon, having flown a highly successful robotic program. Following various smaller individual tests, the Mengzhou crew capsule performed an abort test in June, the Lanyue lunar lander completed various take-off and descent tests in August, and the Long March 10 completed its first static-fire in August too. That is all alongside utilizing existing hardware for bringing existing reliability into the lunar program, and testing critical hardware elsewhere first as well.

Despite recent strides in hardware testing for the country's Moon missions, China does not view its lunar program as in a race with the U.S. one, due to political factors. China treats its lunar program as part of long-term national development plans with a centralized system that allows for stable, multi-year planning through the Communist Party, National People's Congress, and advisory bodies that set consistent objectives. This contrasts sharply with America, where NASA faces shifting political priorities every four to eight years, meaning the lunar program and others must win support from changing administrations and Congress, making long-term planning difficult. Chief Designer of China's Lunar Exploration Program, Wu Weiren, observed this and noted:

“When the president changes, his policies change,” — “We in China may anchor our goals and always draw a blueprint until the end, so we have always moved forward smoothly and firmly, which is the difference between our two countries.”

Thanks to the political support of China's lunar program, the nation already has a rough roadmap to build its International Lunar Research Station, with various global partners, from 2026 through to the 2040s. Beginning with Chang'e 7 next year, that mission will investigate the lunar south pole environment and catalogue its resources, followed by Chang'e 8 in 2028 to test in-situ resource utilization. In the 2030s, at least five missions will conduct a plethora of scientific experiments to better understand the Moon and its resources, while being supported by a comprehensive communication and navigation constellation. Lastly around the 2040s, long-term human stays are set to be possible to expand the areas of scientific research performed.

Over in the U.S., plans for a sustained lunar presence are small and limited, with an occasionally crewed lunar space station and small commercial robotic landers that fail more often than not. America does boast its fifty-six nation non-binding Artemis Accords however, although not an international effort to build a lunar base, rather to rewrite the space law through its lackluster points.

Welcome to our twenty-third Monthly Dose of Space! In this monthly newsletter, we bring you major news from the past month. The end of August concludes a busy two-thirds of the year, so let's jump into the past month!

News of the Month

August was filled with wild stories around the globe and beyond! China has started testing key components of its crewed Lunar program, SpaceX launching its 10th Starship flight, and a new moon has been found around Uranus!

Lanyue Lunar Lander begins full-scale testing

China's Lanyue lunar lander, which is expected to transport humans to the Moon's surface in 2029, completed tests on August 7. The spaceship was connected to an extraterrestrial gravity simulator to simulate lunar gravity.

In order to confirm control coordination among the numerous thrusters, a full-scale Lanyue spacecraft equipped with its different thrusters and four main engines—minus its nozzles for vacuum optimization—flew within the gravity simulator for the tests, which were reportedly conducted by more than 10 people. Regarding the tests that were conducted, Sun Xingliang of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said the following.

"Among these, ignition tests are the top priority. The tests needed to complete over 10 ignition tests including normal flight, emergency flight, and takeoff from different lunar surface slopes, fully verifying the lander's landing and takeoff control scheme, propulsion system, electrical system, and interface compatibility between systems."

While nothing has been confirmed, further tests are planned for the Lanyue spacecraft. Ranging from in-space tests (similar to that of Apollo 9) and even a demo lunar landing, to safely test all aspects of the mission profile.

China's Moon Rocket Roars

On August 15, the China Manned Space Agency and the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology completed a major milestone for the nation's Lunar program. Atop Launch Complex 301, at the Wenchang Space Launch Site in the Hainan region of China, the Long March 10 core stage completed a 30-second static fire. During this test, seven YF-100K engines roared to life, generating upwards of 892 tons of thrust. 

The test showed and confirmed that all seven engines, along with their propellant feed systems, ignition timing, and engine gimbal control mechanisms, could be started, controlled, and operated simultaneously, according to the agencies and businesses involved. Following the test, the China Manned Space Agency added:

“The successful test laid an important technical foundation for the manned lunar exploration mission. In the future, the Long March 10 series of carrier rockets will be fully used in manned space engineering missions, together with the Mengzhou manned spacecraft, to realize the upgrading and development of [China’s] manned space-to-earth transportation system.”

The Long March 10 rocket's under-construction launch pad, Launch Complex 301, was purportedly chosen for this test because current test stands are unable to handle the enormous thrust loads—roughly 892 tons—that are anticipated. Engineers can also test the rocket's systems in the launch environment from where it will eventually launch.

Large Binary Star System discovered in the Galaxy

Recently, Astronomers have used legacy Hubble data and new recordings to further peer into the NGC 3603 Nebula. Within this sliver of the Milky Way, stars are being born at a rapid rate compared to other regions, attributed to more compressed gas. These zones of intense star formation are called "starburst regions." Thus, for scientists and researchers across the world, these corners of our galaxy hold immense importance as hotbeds for data to refine our models of the universe. A team at Lowell University, spearheaded by Sarah Bodansky, noticed a faint flicker in the core of the cluster when looking at archival Hubble data. This would later turn out to be a binary star system—but not just any, rather one of the largest ever found.

Two stars, one weighing 93 times that of our Sun, the other 70, are orbiting each other in extreme proximity. Every 3.8 days, the two giant stars complete an orbit around each other. Meaning for the time it takes Earth to complete an orbit around the Sun, the stars in NGC 3603-A1 have completed 100. While studying the binary system is ongoing, this is living proof of how chaotic dense stellar regions are, and why they are vital to study.

Starship Flight 10

Following a tricky few months and launches for the program, with disaster striking in space and on the pad, SpaceX took to the skies once more with Starship. This time, things were different. This launch saw the V2 vehicle finally make it to re-entry for the first time. We also saw the first payload deploy from the rocket, using dummy satellites, validating the dispenser system. While some hiccups were still experienced along the way, such as an energetic event at T+46:59, and some heavy aft-flap damage, Ship 37 safely landed in the Indian Ocean–missing its mark by just three meters.

Click here to read our full breakdown.

Uranus has a new Moon!

The discovery of a new moon orbiting Uranus was announced on August 19th by astronomers using images captured with the James Webb Space Telescope's NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera). The new moon, known as S/2025 U1, orbits close inside the planet's rings and is thought to be around 10 kilometers in diameter.

S/2025 U1 hadn't been found in previous years because of its small size and poor brightness. However, with the help of James Webb and ten 40-minute long-exposure pictures of Uranus, a small, dim speck of light can be seen orbiting the ice giant.

With this new finding, Uranus now has twenty-nine moons in total, giving it the third-highest moon count in our solar system.

Launches of the Month

This month saw 30 launches worldwide, continuing a busy year. If you want to know what each launch was we have them all listed below!

August 1st - Falcon 9 for Crew-11

NASA's Crew-11 mission, with astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, as well as JAXA's Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos' Oleg Platanov, to the International Space Station blasted off atop of a Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A, in Florida. Supporting this mission was booster B1094, for its third mission, and landing at Landing Zone 1 back at Cape Canaveral.

August 3rd - New Shepard for NS-34

Blue Origin conducted the NS-34 suborbital tourism mission from its West Texas launch site, carrying Arvi Bahal, Gökhan Erdem, Deborah Martorell, Lionel Pitchford, J.D. Russell, and Justin Sun. The vehicles performing this mission were booster NS4, flying for the fifteenth time, and capsule RSS First Step, making its fourteenth flight.

August 4th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-30

A Falcon 9 launched from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, carrying twenty-eight Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. Booster B1080 supported this mission, flying for the twenty-first time and landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange.

August 4th - Long March 12 with GuoWang Group 07

Atop a Long March 12 from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site, the seventh batch of GuoWang satellites, with 9 onboard, headed to low Earth orbit. With that launch, the GuoWang constellation had 57 spacecraft in orbit.

August 5th - Electron for 'The Harvest Goddess Thrives'

Rocket Lab launched a synthetic aperture radar satellite to low Earth orbit for iQPS, from Launch Complex 1B on the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand. This launch carried the twelfth satellite of thirty-six for iQPS' imaging constellation that aims to image the same spot on Earth every ten minutes.

August 8th - Jielong-3 with Future Mobility Group 04

A Jielong-3 flew into low Earth orbit, from a sea launch ship off the coast of Rizhao, carrying 11 satellites for Geespace, a subsidiary of automaker Geely, to expand the Geely Future Mobility Constellation. With its launch, the constellation now has 41 spacecraft in orbit.

August 11th - Falcon 9 with KF-02

From Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, 24 satellites for Amazon's Kuiper constellation were sent into low Earth orbit, bringing it to 102 spacecraft in orbit. Supporting the deployment of more Kuiper satellites was Falcon 9 booster B1091, performing its first flight and landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

August 13th - Ariane 6 with MetOp-SG-A1

Flying out of French Guiana, Ariane 6 headed to sun-synchronous orbit carrying the first of six MetOp-SG satellites from EUMETSAT. The MetOp-SG-A1 weather satellite is designed to improve the accuracy of European weather forecasts.

August 13th - Vulcan with USSF-106

United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket launched from Space Launch Complex 41, in Florida, to begin the secretive USSF-106 mission with a flight direct to geostationary space. At least two military spacecraft were onboard, with one being Navigation Technology Satellite-3, set to perform positioning, navigation, and timing experiments.

August 13th - Long March 5B with GuoWang Group 08

A Long March 5B, China’s most capable launch vehicle, flew from Launch Complex 101 at the Wenchang Space Launch Site, carrying ten satellites into polar orbit for the GuoWang constellation. With the flight, the state-backed constellation has expanded to 67 satellites in orbit.

August 14th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-4

Falcon 9 flew from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, carrying twenty-four Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. Booster B1093 supported this mission, for its fifth flight with a landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

August 14th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-20

Twenty-eight more Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40. Supporting this mission was booster B1085 for its tenth flight, with a landing downrange on the done ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

August 15th - Zhuque-2E for an unknown customer

LandSpace launched its third Zhuque-2E rocket from Launch Area 96A at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, heading for low Earth orbit. Sadly, during its flight, the vehicle suffered from a failure, that the company is yet to disclose, resulting in a loss of the rocket and its payload.

August 17th - Long March 4C with Shiyan-28B-02

Out of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, a Long March 4C flew into low Earth orbit carrying the Shiyan-28B-02 satellite. The satellite is expected to work with its counterpart, Shiyan-28B-01, for space environment monitoring and detection as well as related technical tests.

August 17th - Long March 6A with GuoWang Group 09

Five satellites for China's GuoWang mega-constellation were launched to a near-polar orbit atop of a Long March 6A from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. This launch brought the constellation up to 72 satellites in orbit.

August 18th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-5

Twenty-four Starlink satellites were sent into low Earth orbit via a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Booster B1088 supported this mission for its ninth flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

August 19th - Kinetica-1 with seven satellites

CAS Space's Kinetica-1 flew into sun-synchronous orbit from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, carrying seven customer satellites. Two of those were ThumbSats from Mexico for space education outreach programs, while the rest were remote sensing satellites, AIRSAT-05, Tianyan-26, as well as three Duogongneng Shiyan-2 spacecraft.

August 20th - Soyuz 2.1a with Bion-M No. 2

A Soyuz 2.1a launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome carrying a recoverable satellite carrying various experiments and instruments to low Earth orbit.

August 21st - Angara 1.2 with a Cosmos spacecraft

An Angara 1.2 blasted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome carrying a classified payload into Earth orbit.

August 22nd - Falcon 9 with USSF-36

From Launch Complex 39A, in Florida, a Falcon 9 flew into Earth orbit carrying the U.S. Space Forces' secretive X-37B spaceplane into Earth orbit. Supporting this mission was booster B1092 for its sixth flight, landing back at Landing Zone 2 in Cape Canaveral afterwards.

August 22nd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-6

Another twenty-four Starlink satellites were sent into low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E. Booster B1081 supported this mission, flying for the seventeenth time and landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

August 23rd - Electron for 'Live, Laugh, Launch'

Rocket Lab's Electron flew from Launch Complex 1A, on the Māhia Peninsula, carrying five satellites into a sun-synchronous orbit. Four of those satellites are on confidential missions, but one of them was EchoStar's Lyra-2 Internet of Things spacecraft.

August 24th - Falcon 9 with CRS-33

SpaceX launched its thirty-third resupply mission to the International Space Station from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, later arriving on August 25th. Flying for the mission is Cargo Dragon C211, for its thrid mission, with launch supported by booster B1090, making its seventh flight, which landed downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

August 25th - Long March 8A with GuoWang Group 10

A Long March 8A lifted off from Commercial Launch Pad 1 at the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site, heading for low Earth orbit carrying 9 satellites for the GuoWang internet mega-constellation. With the launch, the constellation has expanded to 81 satellites.

August 26th - Falcon 9 with eight satellites

Falcon 9 heads to sun-synchronous orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, carrying Luxembourg's National Advanced Optical System, LEAP-1 from Dhruva Space, two Pelican satellites from Planet Labs, Capella Space's Acadia-6, and three satellites for Pixxel's hyperspectral imaging constellation. Supporting this mission was booster B1063, performing its twenty-seventh flight and landing back a Landing Zone 4.

August 27th - Starship-Super Heavy for its tenth flight test

SpaceX's in-development fully reusable Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle flew its tenth flight test from Starbase, Texas, utilizing Ship 37 and Super Heavy Booster 16. Both vehicles successfully splashed down after the flight and completed their test objectives.

August 27th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-56

Another Falcon 9 flew from Space Launch Complex 40, carrying twenty-eight Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. Booster B1095 supported this mission for its second flight, landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange.

August 28th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-11

Another twenty-eight Starlink satellites were carried into low Earth orbit via a Falcon 9 flying from Launch Complex 39A. Supporting this mission was booster B1067, flying for a record-setting thirtieth time and landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

August 30th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-7

Out of Space Launch Complex 4E, a Falcon 9 carried twenty-four Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. Booster B1082 supported this mission for its fifteenth flight, landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

August 31st - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-14

Yet another Falcon 9 launched twenty-eight more Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40. Supporting this launch was booster B1077, for its twenty-third flight, with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

Launches to look out for in September!

September will continue a busy year for worldwide launches. Listed below are all of the launches expected or likely to happen next month, launches on the 1st of September may have already occurred due to when this newsletter is published.

September 3rd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-8

Another batch of Starlink satellites are expected to head to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E atop of Falcon 9.

September 3rd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-22

Falcon 9 will fly again from Space Launch Complex 40, heading for low Earth orbit with a batch of Starlink satellites.

September 4th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-57

Yet more Starlink satellites are planned to be send to low Earth orbit atop of Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A.

September 5th - Long March 3C with a to-be-annouced payload

A Long March 3C is said to be preparing to lift off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, carrying a currently unannounced payload to geostationary space.

September 6th - Long March 6A with a to-be-annouced payload

A Long March 6A is expected to launch from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, heading for a near-polar orbit.

September 6th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-9

From Space Launch Complex 4E, a Falcon 9 is expected to carry more Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit.

September 8th - Falcon 9 with Nusantara Lima

A Falcon 9 is planned to carry Indonesia's Nusantara Lima telecommunications satellite to a geostationary transfer orbit from Space Launch Complex 40.

September 10th - Falcon 9 with a Tranche 1 mission

For the U.S. Space Development Agency, a Falcon 9 is expected to launch from Space Launch Complex 4E for the Tranche 1 Transport Layer B mission.

September 11th - Soyuz 2.1a with Progress MS-32

A Soyuz 2.1a is planned to launch the Progress MS-32 cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

September 15th - Falcon 9 with NG-23

Northrop Grumman's twenty-third cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station, using its Cygnus spacecraft, is set to launch atop of a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40.

September 23rd - Falcon 9 with three satellites

From Launch Complex 39A, a Falcon 9 will fly toward the Sun-Earth L1 point carrying NASA's Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) and Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, as well as NOAA's Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1).

September 25th - Altas V with KA-03

Twenty-seven Kuiper satellites are preparing to launch atop of United Launch Alliance's Atlas V from Space Launch Complex 41.

September 29th - New Glenn with ESCAPADE

Blue Origin is preparing to launch its New Glenn rocket for the second time, carrying NASA's twin Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE) spacecraft to Mars.

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week had seven launches taking place, the majority for low Earth orbit mega-constellations. News from the week has Rocket Lab's newest launch pad opening along with an end to unions at NASA. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

August 24th - Falcon 9 with CRS-33

SpaceX launched its thirty-third resupply mission to the International Space Station from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, later arriving on August 25th. Flying for the mission is Cargo Dragon C211, for its thrid mission, with launch supported by booster B1090, making its seventh flight, which landed downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

August 25th - Long March 8A with GuoWang Group 10

A Long March 8A lifted off from Commercial Launch Pad 1 at the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site, heading for low Earth orbit carrying 9 satellites for the GuoWang internet mega-constellation. With the launch, the constellation has been expanded to 81 satellites.

August 26th - Falcon 9 with eight satellites

Falcon 9 heads to sun-synchronous orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, carrying Luxembourg's National Advanced Optical System, LEAP-1 from Dhruva Space, two Pelican satellites from Planet Labs, Capella Space's Acadia-6, and three satellites for Pixxel's hyperspectral imaging constellation. Supporting this mission was booster B1063, performing its twenty-seventh flight and landing back a Landing Zone 4.

August 27th - Starship-Super Heavy for its tenth flight test

SpaceX's in-development fully reusable Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle flew its tenth flight test from Starbase, Texas, utilizing Ship 37 and Super Heavy Booster 16. Both vehicles successfully splashed down after the flight and completed their test objectives.

August 27th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-56

Another Falcon 9 flew from Space Launch Complex 40, carrying twenty-eight Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. Booster B1095 supported this mission for its second flight, landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange.

August 28th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-11

Another twenty-eight Starlink satellites were carried into low Earth orbit via a Falcon 9 flying from Launch Complex 39A. Supporting this mission was booster B1067, flying for a record-setting thirtieth time and landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

August 30th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-7

Out of Space Launch Complex 4E, a Falcon 9 carried twenty-four Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. Booster B1082 supported this mission for its fifteenth flight, landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

In Other Space News

Rocket Lab opens Neutron launch pad

Rocket Lab declared its newest and largest launch pad open on August 28th with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, in Virginia. The pad, designated Launch Complex 3, will support the company's soon-to-debut partially reusable Neutron rocket.

Peter Beck, Rocket Lab's Chief Executive Officer, was present for the ceremony, taking the opportunity to state:

"Launch Complex 3 is our commitment to providing assured access to space and the launch site diversity that’s needed in the United States for its most important missions. Our Neutron rocket, with its ability for responsive space access as a high cadence reusable launch vehicle, expands Virginia’s aerospace capabilities to enable the United States to quickly and reliably reach the International Space Station and low Earth orbit, as well as explore beyond Earth and on to the Moon and Mars. Together with the Commonwealth of Virginia, [the Virginia Spaceport Authority], and NASA, we’re strengthening the nation’s leadership in space while creating new opportunities for innovation and growth in the state and beyond, and I’m thankful for their continued support of Rocket Lab in Virginia."

Government officials were also invited for the ribbon-cutting, including the Governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin, who, as part of a speech, said:

"The opening of Launch Complex 3 at Pad 0-D is not only an engineering achievement, but a bold step forward for Virginia’s growing role in our nation’s commercial space industry. From right here on Virginia’s beautiful Eastern Shore, Neutron will deliver reliable and responsive launch capabilities, supporting national security while creating opportunities for innovation and economic growth. Thank you to Sir Peter Beck and the Rocket Lab team for choosing to invest and grow right here in the Commonwealth."

At present, Neutron is preparing to perform its debut flight later this year, pending regulatory approval, with final qualification tests of the Archimedes engines and first-stage needed, along with a static fire of the stage as well as the second-stage.

White House bans NASA unions

On August 28th, the Trump Administration signed an executive order ending collective bargaining agreements for its employees across the federal workforce, citing national security and intelligence concerns. Agencies affected include the National Weather Service, the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, and NASA, as well as others.

According to NASA's own union page (as of August 30th 2025), 53 percent of the space agency's workforce is represented by a union, either the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers or the American Federation of Government Employees. Unions at NASA enabled employees to address unfair labor practices and grievances, as well as collectively bargain for improvements in workplace safety and wage increases.

Bloomberg Law reports that the order comes in the wake of a US Supreme Court victory, which allows the administration to eliminate collective bargaining at some agencies, and is another advancement of Trump’s campaign to exert control over the federal workforce, by weakening the career civil service, eliminating barriers between presidential politics and day-to-day governing, and disbanding federal unions.

What to Expect Next Week

August 31st - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-14

A Falcon 9 is planned to fly from Space Launch Complex 40 carrying a batch of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit.

September 3rd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-8

Another batch of Starlink satellites are expected to head to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E atop of Falcon 9.

September 3rd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-22

Falcon 9 will fly again from Space Launch Complex 40, heading for low Earth orbit with a batch of Starlink satellites.

September 4th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-57

Yet more Starlink satellites are planned to be send to low Earth orbit atop of Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A.

September 5th - Long March 3C with a to-be-annouced payload

A Long March 3C is said to be preparing to lift off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, carrying a currently unannounced payload to geostationary space.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 has surpassed another reuse milestone while competitors are racing to fly their own reusable rockets.

In the early morning hours at Cape Canaveral, Florida, a Falcon 9 took off from Launch Complex 39A, on August 28th, carrying twenty-eight Starlink satellites aboard the Starlink Group 10-11 mission. The rocket successfully headed into low Earth orbit, delivering the satellites via an ascent atop of a booster and two burns with the second-stage.

While the second-stage was flying into orbit, Falcon 9's booster, B1067 for this mission, was conducting its routine landing profile, performed hundreds of times so far across the rocket's fleet. Aiming for the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas', positioned a few hundred miles away from Florida, B1067 performed a brief atmospheric entry burn to protect itself from the intense heat before continuing to glide towards its target. Moments later, booster B1067 reignited its center engine to slow itself down to a soft touchdown onboard the drone ship, landing for its 30th time!

Since its debut flight in June 2021, booster B1067 has supported a variety of missions, including CRS-22, Crew-3, Turksat 5B, Crew-4, CRS-25, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13G, O3B mPOWER-A, PSN SATRIA, Telkomsat Merah Putih 2, Galileo L13, Koreasat-6A, and eighteen other Starlink missions. Through its flight history, the booster has landed on 'A Shortfall of Gravitas' sixteen times previously, the other Atlantic Ocean drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' eleven times, the now Pacific-based 'Of Course I Still Love You' once, as well as having performed one return to launch site landing.

A prior milestone for B1067, and the wider Falcon 9 fleet, came in January of this year when the booster landed for the 25th time.

The day before B1067's record-breaking landing, a Falcon 9 booster landed on a drone ship for the 400th time. In December 2024, a total of 350 first-stage boosters had been reflown and recovered, which was also the 300th drone ship landing. In June 2024, Falcon 9 boosters had landed 300 times, the year before the rocket had touched down 200 times, and in December 2021 100 first-stages had landed. As of writing, Falcon 9 boosters have landed 495 times and reflown 460 times.

Where are the competitors?

With Falcon 9 now having surpassed reuse of a booster well over two dozen times, and overall milestones measured in the hundreds, it begs the question of where are its competitors? (excluding SpaceX's other reusable rocket program).

The first non-SpaceX company arguably closest to landing an orbital class first-stage booster is Blue Origin with its massive New Glenn. The rocket has already flown once at the start of the year, making it as far as an atmospheric entry burn before being lost. A second flight of New Glenn is targeting September 29th, off to Mars for NASA, and once again aiming to land on drone ship 'Jacklyn' downrange. Should that mission evade a booster landing, a third flight is already in testing.

Rocket Lab's Neutron may follow shortly after New Glenn, currently with a few milestones left to go ahead of launch, although no target month has been released. At the moment, final qualification tests of the Archimedes engines and first-stage are needed, along with a static fire of the stage as well as the second-stage. Neutron's launch pad is ready however, meaning once those tests are complete, the rocket can be integrated for its debut flight, pending regulatory approval.

Meanwhile across the Pacific in China, a few privately backed launch companies are heading to the launch pad this year. LandSpace, with its Zhuque-,3 is likely the closest, targeting a September or November debut flight. Tianlong-3 from Space Pioneer is may follow afterwards, currently preparing for a static fire campaign after implementing fixes following events last year. Lastly, Galactic Energy with its Pallas-1 and iSpace with Hyperbola-3 are hoping to fly before the end of the year. All four launch vehicles utilize a Falcon 9-esque design, with differing materials and propellant uses to compete against one another.

What is Falcon 9?

Falcon 9 is currently the world's only operational partially reusable medium-lift launch vehicle. The rocket is manufactured and operated by the American space company SpaceX. Falcon 9 currently launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base, in California, and Cape Canaveral, in Florida.

For recovery, Falcon 9 has four grid fins and four landing legs on the first-stage. The first stage either lands vertically on a drone ship or a landing pad back near its launch site, landing back at the launch site causes a greater reduction in payload capacity.

SpaceX claims that Falcon 9 can send up to 22,800 kilograms into low Earth orbit when expended or 18,400 kilograms when reused. Similarly, it can send up to 8,300 kilograms into geosynchronous transfer orbit when expended or 5,500 kilograms when reused.

The first-stage is powered by nine Merlin 1D engines burning rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen to generate 771 tons of thrust. The second-stage is powered by a single Merlin 1D vacuum engine burning rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen to generate 95 tons of thrust.

On the pad, the rocket is 70 meters tall with the first and second stages 3.7 meters in diameter, the fairing is 5.2 meters in diameter and tapers out from the top of the second-stage. Fully fuelled Falcon 9 weighs approximately 549,000 kilograms.

SpaceX has performed Starship-Super Heavy's latest flight test, for its first largely successful launch this year.

Last week, SpaceX shared that Ship 37 and Super Heavy Booster 16 were performing this flight test, both making their first flights. Details provided by the company stated that Ship 37 could release eight dummy Starlink satellites and aim to perform an in-space burn, while Booster 16 would splash down in the Gulf of Mexico to perform reentry experiments.

The tenth flight test had previously attempted to begin late on August 24th and 25th, standing down due to propellant loading issues and weather, respectively. On August 26th, the flight test occurred.

Under the power of thirty-three Raptor engines, Booster 16 lifted off from the Orbital Launch Mount, carrying Ship 36 up towards space. During ascent, one engine shut down early at T+1:33.

With a mostly nominal ascent, Booster 16 pitched downrange to bring the vehicle towards its staging position, shutting down all but three of its engines to do so. At T+2:50, Ship 37 lit its three sea-level and three vacuum Raptor engines to hot-stage off of the booster.

During hot-staging, Booster 16 performed its flip and began its boostback burn, relighting nine of the ten engines needed, with the failed engine remaining off. Despite being one engine short, the boosterback burn was performed as needed, then jettisoning the hot-staging ring.

Now without its hot-staging ring, Booster 16 descended toward the Gulf, relighting twelve engines to slow its ascent, then dropping down to three engines (two center and one mid-ring), before leaving two engines running to hover about two hundred meters up. Afterwards, the last two engines shut down to drop Booster 16 onto the ocean surface, ultimately exploding.

While the Super Heavy Booster 16 was heading down, Ship 37 was heading up into space, reaching engine cutoff as planned. During its coast through space, Ship 37 deployed eight dummy Starslink satellites from its 'Pez dispenser', for Starship-Super Heavy's first payload deployed into space (but flying on the same suborbital trajectory), and performed a short in-space Raptor burn.

During the coast phase, however, something, it's unclear what, appeared to blow up randomly in the engine section.

For the first time this year, Starship reached atmospheric reentry under its own control, successfully passing through peak heating and maximum stress. During the reentry, the aft flaps suffered from extensive burn-through, but managed to retain control.

Following a toasty reentry, burning off much of the heat shield, Ship 37 began its atmospheric descent in its bellyflop position for several minutes. Moments before hitting the Indian Ocean, three sea level Raptors reignited for the 'flip-and-burn', bringing the vehicle to a soft splashdown. Seconds later, the vehicle fell sideways and exploded.

Back on Track?

With Ship 37 making it through to a largely successful splashdown and Booster 16 demonstrating the desired reentry and landing tests, Starship-Super Heavy is heading back towards being on track. Although only one more 'Block 2' Starship is left to fly, before another new version of the vehicle is switched to, possibly for a repeat of today's flight. It remains to be seen if a 'Block 3' Starship will head straight into orbit, but the upper-stage requires a brand new version of the Super Heavy Booster, a new launch pad at Starbase, and the still-in-development Raptor-3 engines.

2025 had previously been poised to be a key year for the Starship program with a Ship-to-Ship propellant transfer demonstration for NASA. The propellant transfer between two vehicles is critical for getting the Starship lunar lander out to the Moon, and returning American astronauts to the surface through the Artemis program.

Shortly after the end of the flight test, Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy took to Twitter to say:

"Congratulations to SpaceX on its Starship test. Flight 10's success paves the way for the Starship Human Landing System that will bring American astronauts back to the Moon on Artemis III."

However, during the three launch attempts for the tenth flight test, no mention of Starship's crewed lunar lander variant was made or of NASA's Artemis program. In contrast, dozens of mentions of missions to Mars were made.

In the first half of the year, the Starship program had regressed significantly in terms of progress. In June, Ship 36 unexpectedly exploded during a routine test, wiping out a critical pre-flight test stand with it. Meanwhile, during flight tests of the vehicle, Ship 33 was lost due to a fire in its engine section in January. Next in March, Ship 34 was again lost in a fire. Then in May, Ship 35 was destroyed during atmospheric reentry following leakages across the vehicle.

What is Starship-Super Heavy?

Starship-Super Heavy is SpaceX's in-development fully reusable super heavy-lift launch vehicle and the largest rocket currently flying. SpaceX is currently aiming to have the launch vehicle deliver one-hundred and fifty tons to low Earth orbit while reused or two-hundred and fifty tons when expended, although there are rumors from SpaceX of an expendable payload capacity of three-hundred tons.

On the launch pad, Starship-Super Heavy is one-hundred and twenty-four meters tall and weighs 5,000,000 kilograms fully fuelled. The diameter of both vehicles is nine meters, excluding aerodynamic control surfaces.

What is Starship?

Starship is the second-stage of the Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle and is planned to be capable of multiple missions into orbit, after a short refurbishment. The vehicle is fifty meters tall and nine meters in diameter, excluding its four aerodynamic control surfaces. Fully fuelled with liquid methane and liquid oyxgen Starship is believed to weigh 1,300,000 kilograms with an approximate weight of 100,000 kilograms unfuelled.

The Starship second-stage is powered by three sea-level Raptor engines along with three vacuum-optimized Raptor engines. These sea-level engines are believed to generate 230 tons of thrust each with the vacuum-optimized engines generating 258 tons of thrust each for a total combined 1,500 tons of thrust for Starship. The vacuum-optimized Raptors are unable to gimbal requiring the sea-level Raptors for control of the second-stage on ascent and landing.

In order to survive re-entry for reuse, Starship has several thousand thermal protection tiles on one side of the vehicle and on all four of its aerodynamic control surfaces. The four control surfaces help guide the vehicle during re-entry and prior to landing inside the atmosphere at a pre-determined location. Starship also has a series of small thrusters to control the vehicle in space before re-entry.

SpaceX is believed to be working on a few variants of Starship for use as a Moon lander, propellant tanker, space station, Mars lander, and as a crewed spacecraft.

What is Super Heavy?

Super Heavy, also called 'the Super Heavy booster', is the first-stage of SpaceX's Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle. The giant Super Heavy first-stage is planned to be capable of multiple flights per day with minimal refurbishments and inspections. The vehicle is seventy-one meters tall and nine meters in diameter, excluding its four grid fins and chines. Fully fuelled with liquid methane and liquid oyxgen Super Heavy is believed to weigh 3,600,000 kilograms with an approximate mass of 200,000 kilograms unfuelled.

The Super Heavy first-stage is powered by thirty-three sea-level Raptor engines generating a combined thrust of 7,590 tons, with each engine generating 230 tons of thrust. The outer twenty Raptor engines are unable to gimbal with the inner thirteen being able to for control of the first-stage.

To enable the reuse of Super Heavy, the vehicle has four large grid fins placed in the interstage to assist in guiding and controlling during descent. Super Heavy also has four chines running along the lower third of it to generate lift and assist in stabilization.

Shortly after completing the ascent, Super Heavy relights ten engines, as three were running during staging, and performs a 'boost back' burn in order to return to the launch site. After the 'boost back' burn is completed the engines shut down with Super Heavy being guided by a series of small thrusters and its grid fins. Once Super Heavy is at the correct altitude above its landing location three engines start back up for the landing burn. SpaceX currently plans to have Super Heavy land back at the launch site, or at sea if a problem is detected during descent

Super Heavy also features a hot-staging ring atop of it to allow for a faster and simpler staging process, according to SpaceX. The hot-staging ring has dozens of gaps on the sides to allow for the Raptor engine exhaust of Starship to escape.

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week saw nine launches worldwide, using a variety of rockets. News from the week had discoveries around Uranus, final hardware deliveries for Artemis II, and a space agency change over in Europe. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

August 17th - Long March 4C with Shiyan-28B-02

Out of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, a Long March 4C flew into low Earth orbit carrying the Shiyan-28B-02 satellite. The satellite is expected to work with its counterpart, Shiyan-28B-01, for space environment monitoring and detection as well as related technical tests.

August 17th - Long March 6A with GuoWang Group 09

Five satellites for China's GuoWang mega-constellation were launched to a near-polar orbit atop of a Long March 6A from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. This launch brings the constellation up to 72 satellites in orbit.

August 18th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-5

Twenty-four Starlink satellites were sent into low Earth orbit via a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Booster B1088 supported this mission for its ninth flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

August 19th - Kinetica-1 with seven satellites

CAS Space's Kinetica-1 flew into sun-synchronous orbit from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, carrying seven customer satellites. Two of those were ThumbSats from Mexico for space education outreach programs, while the rest were remote sensing satellites, AIRSAT-05, Tianyan-26, as well as three Duogongneng Shiyan-2 spacecraft.

August 20th - Soyuz 2.1a with Bion-M No. 2

A Soyuz 2.1a launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome carrying a recoverable satellite carrying various experiments and instruments to low Earth orbit.

August 21st - Angara 1.2 with a Cosmos spacecraft

An Angara 1.2 blasted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome carrying a classified payload into Earth orbit.

August 22nd - Falcon 9 with USSF-36

From Launch Complex 39A, in Florida, a Falcon 9 flew into Earth orbit carrying the U.S. Space Forces' secretive X-37B spaceplane into Earth orbit. Supporting this mission was booster B1092 for its sixth flight, landing back at Landing Zone 2 in Cape Canaveral afterwards.

August 22nd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-6

Another twenty-four Starlink satellites were sent into low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E. Booster B1081 supported this mission, flying for the seventeenth time and landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

August 23rd - Electron for 'Live, Laugh, Launch'

Rocket Lab's Electron flew from Launch Complex 1A, on the Māhia Peninsula, carrying five satellites into a sun-synchronous orbit. Four of those satellites are on confidential missions, but one of them was EchoStar's Lyra-2 Internet of Things spacecraft.

In Other Space News

Final part for Artemis II arrives

On August 21st, NASA shared that Orion's stage adapter arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, from the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, after a trip covering nearly 700 miles. The stage adapter is the final piece to be delivered ahead of the Artemis II mission.

Built of lightweight aluminum, the stage adapter for Orion is 1.5 meters tall and 5.4 meters in diameter to allow the spacecraft to be placed atop of the Space Launch System's Interim Cryogenic Propulsion System for launch and Moon-bound burns. Along with allowing Orion to be positioned at the top of the rocket, the stage adapter also protects the spacecraft from potential fuel or gas leaks with its diaphragm inside. Free space inside the adapter is also utilized by any CubeSats riding along for Orion's mission; four are set to be onboard for Artemis II.

At present, the Artemis II mission is set to fly no later than April 2026 for a ten-day mission around the Moon on a free-return trajectory to verify the Orion spacecraft for its first crewed mission. Flying on board will be NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, as well as Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency.

UK Space Agency to be absorbed

The government of the United Kingdom announced on August 20th that the UK Space Agency will be absorbed into the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology by April 2026.

According to the government, the change will cut governance duplication and reduce bureaucracy. Despite the absorption, the UK Space Agency name and brand will be retained, but as a unit of the absorbing agency. Staff, experts, and existing contracts are also planned to be retained. The government's reasoning for ending the agency's independence was explained by Space Minister Chris Bryant, stating:

"Bringing things in house means we can bring much greater integration and focus to everything we are doing while maintaining the scientific expertise and the immense ambition of the [space] sector."

Bleddyn Bowen, Associate Professor in Astropolitics at Durham University, highlighted in The Conversation that the UK Space Agency has consistently lacked a clear overarching focus, regulatory powers, and policy plans. Alongside that, the agency receives little funding with direction to use it in far too many projects.

New moon of Uranus found

Announced on August 19th, astronomers have discovered a new moon orbiting Uranus using images taken with the James Webb Space Telescope's NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera). The new moon, designated S/2025 U1, is estimated to be about ten kilometers in diameter and orbits just inside the planet's rings.

Due to its small size and low brightness, S/2025 U1 has remained undiscovered until today. Spotting the moon required ten 40-minute long-exposure images centered on Uranus, with it then still being quite dim in those photos.

The recent discovery brings Uranus' total moon count to twenty-nine.

What to Expect Next Week

August 24th - Falcon 9 with CRS-33

SpaceX is preparing to launch, via a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40, its thirty-third resupply mission to the International Space Station via its Cargo Dragon V2 spacecraft.

August 24th - Long March 8A with GuoWang Group 10?

A Long March 8A is preparing to launch from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site, carrying a currently unannounced payload.

August 25th - Starship-Super Heavy for its tenth flight test

The in-development fully-reusable Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle is preparing to perform its tenth flight test, from Starbase, Texas, with Super Heavy Booster 16 and Ship 37.

August 26th - Falcon 9 with eight satellites

Another Falcon 9 will head to sun-synchronous orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E, carrying Luxembourg's National Advanced Optical System, LEAP-1 from Dhruva Space, two Pelican satellites from Planet Labs, Capella Space's Acadia-6, and three satellites for Pixxel's hyperspectral imaging constellation.

August 27th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-11

A batch of Starlink satellites is expected to head to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 flying from Launch Complex 39A.

August 27th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-56

From Space Launch Complex 40, a Falcon 9 will carry another batch of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit.

August 30th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-7

Another batch of Starlink satellites will head to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E via a Falcon 9.

August 30th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-14

Yet more Starlink satellites will be launched by a Falcon 9 to low Earth orbit out of Space Launch Complex 40.

The U.S. Space Force's secretive X-37B spaceplane is back in Earth orbit for a classified mission and technology demonstrations.

Out of Launch Complex 39A in Florida at 03:50 am Universal Coordinated Time, a Falcon 9 began its journey into Earth orbit for the U.S. Space Force's USSF-36 mission. First-stage ascent was nominal, with the second-stage starting up cleanly along with separation of the two fairing halves, but not long after, live feeds of ascent were cut at the request of the Space Force.

Supporting USSF-36's trek to orbit was booster B1092 for its sixth flight, landing back at Landing Zone 2 in Cape Canaveral afterwards. This booster has previously supported the launches for NROL-69, CRS-32, GPS III-7, and two Starlink missions. Additionally, this was the third time SpaceX has supported X-37B missions.

Riding Falcon 9 into orbit was X-37B Vehicle 1, made by Boeing, which also produced its twin. The spaceplane is around one-fourth the scale of the Space Shuttle and, unlike the Space Shuttle, launches inside a conventional rocket's fairing. But, Much like the Space Shuttle, the majority of the craft's stowage space is contained within a horizontally-laid payload bay, with hinged doors allowing for exposure to the vacuum of space and deployment of free-flying payloads.

Owing to its military nature, much of what takes place from the time X-37B lifts off the ground on its launch vehicle to the moment it touches down on the runway at the end of its mission is extremely unclear.

The X-37B's eighth mission is set to complete various objectives for the U.S. military, including technology demonstrations. Two technology tests are known to be onboard and are a laser communications demonstration and a quantum inertial sensor planned to measure the spaceplane's acceleration and rotation.

Testing of laser communications during the mission is set to improve the resilience, security, and efficiency of American space-based communications through low Earth orbit satellite networks (i.e., Starlink and Starshield). Laser communications are also being pushed by the U.S. Space Force as key to next-generation military communications.

Meanwhile, tests of the quantum inertial sensor could broadly benefit space navigation, providing accurate positioning in cislunar space and beyond. The test demonstration onboard the X-37B itself will measure the accuracy of unaided navigation in orbit. Commander of the Colorado-based Space Delta 9, Colonel Ramsey Horn, spoke on the military significance of the quantum sensor demonstration, stating:

"[The mission]'s quantum inertial sensor demonstration is a welcome step forward for operational resilience in space. Whether navigating beyond Earth based orbits in cislunar space or operating in GPS-denied environments, quantum inertial sensing allows for robust navigation capabilities when GPS navigation is not possible."

It is unknown when the X-37B will return to Earth to end its mission, usually spending multiple months in orbit. When it does, the spaceplane will land on a runway at either the Kennedy Space Center or Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Since 2010, the two X-37B spaceplanes have performed missions in orbit seven times, largely speculated to be reconnaissance missions in low Earth orbit. In its previous mission, launched atop a Falcon Heavy, the spaceplane flew around high Earth orbit for the first time, performing aerobrake maneuvers before its return as well.

Powered by defunding efforts and a lack of clear, unified plans, Trump's NASA is a mess of rhetoric and proposals.

In recent days, it has become increasingly clear that NASA leadership intends to ignore restored funding from lawmakers and work based on Trump's budget cut of six billion dollars. As part of that, the agency intends to eliminate positions or fire employees, numbered in the thousands. This comes after 4,000 people left the agency this year already.

Meanwhile, NASA's Commercial Low Earth Orbit Destinations program has recently been rewritten to no longer have the agency continue its human presence in space. Instead, space station providers, renting their orbiting outposts to NASA, will be required to support month-long missions, something that appears to substantially benefit Vast.

Then, last week on August 13th, President Trump signed an executive order aimed at reorganizing regulations for commercial space activity and for a rhetoric win after the cuts and losses. According to an accompanying fact sheet, the order:

• Directs the Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, to eliminate or expedite environmental reviews for launch and reentry licenses and permits.
• Directs the Secretary of Transportation to review regulatory requirements to eliminate outdated, redundant, or overly restrictive rules for launch and reentry vehicles.
• Instructs the Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Transportation, and the Administrator of NASA, to evaluate State compliance with the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) and whether States are hindering spaceport infrastructure development under the CZMA, or otherwise placing limitations on spaceport development that are inconsistent with Federal law.
• Directs the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Transportation, and the Administrator of NASA to align their review processes to eliminate duplicative regulations and expedite spaceport development.

A press release from NASA was also sent out after the signing, repeating many of the same points but highlighting that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation will become a political appointee, while the Office of Space Commerce will be moved to the Office of the Commerce Secretary.

Despite official rhetoric about unleashing American superiority in space, it is highlighted that the order weakens NASA's position, already under budget troubles, and largely benefits private companies like SpaceX, who are accused of damaging ecosystems across the Gulf of Mexico.

Not long after that executive order, Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy made vague comments about wanting America to do all of the business in space. That would be an impossibility unless China, Europe, and Russia stopped going to space and no longer wished to be sovereign nations in orbit.

That comment comes after Duffy let slip that he wants the U.S. to claim parts of the Moon via nuclear reactors, a clear violation of the Outer Space Treaty.

Duffy also perceived the order as a green light for NASA to no longer perform critical Earth sciences, telling Fox Business:

"All the climate science and all of the other priorities that the last administration had at NASA, we’re going to move aside, and all of the science that we do is going to be directed towards exploration, which is the mission of NASA ... not to do all these Earth sciences."

If Duffy's perception of the order turns into action, he will be ignoring a key part of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, which says that the American space agency must expand human knowledge of phenomena in the atmosphere alongside in space. Human-caused climate change is one such phenomenon.

Sadly, as The Hill highlighted, moves to abandon climate research is not surprising as the second Trump Administration has moved to deny and downplay climate change and sought to dismantle scientific research into it.

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week saw seven launches globally, sadly with one failure. News during the week saw China firing up its Moon rocket and the U.S. President reorganizing commercial space governance. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

August 11th - Falcon 9 with KF-02

From Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, 24 satellites for Amazon's Kuiper constellation were sent into low Earth orbit, bringing it to 102 spacecraft in orbit. Supporting the deployment of more Kuiper satellites was Falcon 9 booster B1091, performing its first flight and landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

August 13th - Ariane 6 with MetOp-SG-A1

Flying out of French Guiana, Ariane 6 headed to sun-synchronous orbit carrying the first of six MetOp-SG satellites from EUMETSAT. The MetOp-SG-A1 weather satellite is designed to improve the accuracy of European weather forecasts.

August 13th - Vulcan with USSF-106

United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket launched from Space Launch Complex 41, in Florida, to begin the secretive USSF-106 mission with a flight direct to geostationary space. At least two military spacecraft were onboard, with one being Navigation Technology Satellite-3, set to perform positioning, navigation, and timing experiments.

August 13th - Long March 5B with GuoWang Group 08

A Long March 5B, China’s most capable launch vehicle, flew from Launch Complex 101 at the Wenchang Space Launch Site, carrying ten satellites into polar orbit for the GuoWang constellation. With the launch, the state-backed constellation has expanded to 67 satellites in orbit.

August 14th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-4

Falcon 9 flew from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, carrying twenty-four Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. Booster B1093 supported this mission, for its fifth flight with a landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

August 14th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-20

Twenty-eight more Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40. Supporting this mission was booster B1085 for its tenth flight, with a landing downrange on the done ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

August 15th - Zhuque-2E for an unknown customer

LandSpace launched its third Zhuque-2E rocket from Launch Area 96A at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, heading for low Earth orbit. Sadly, during its flight, the vehicle suffered from a failure, that the company is yet to disclose, resulting in a loss of the rocket and its payload.

In Other Space News

China fires up Moon rocket!

At the Wenchang Space Launch Site in China's Hainan province, the China Manned Space Agency and the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology fired up a static fire test article of the Long March 10 Moon rocket on August 15th, atop Launch Complex 301. For the test, seven YF-100K engines were ignited and burned for about thirty seconds.

According to the involved agencies and enterprises, the test demonstrated and validated simultaneous ignition, control, and operation of all seven engines along with their propellant feed systems, ignition timing, and engine gimbal control mechanisms. After the test, the China Manned Space Agnecy also noted:

“The successful test laid an important technical foundation for the manned lunar exploration mission. In the future, the Long March 10 series of carrier rockets will be fully used in manned space engineering missions, together with the Mengzhou manned spacecraft, to realize the upgrading and development of [China’s] manned space-to-earth transportation system.”

Launch Complex 301, the under-construction launch pad for the Long March 10 rocket, was supposedly selected for this test as existing test stands can't accommodate the massive thrust loads expected, around 892 tons. The choice to use the rocket's launch pad also allows engineers to validate the rocket's systems in the actual launch environment where it will eventually fly from.

Trump signs commercial space executive order

On August 13th, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at reorganizing regulations for commercial space activity. According to an accompanying fact sheet, the order:

• Directs the Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, to eliminate or expedite environmental reviews for launch and reentry licenses and permits.
• Directs the Secretary of Transportation to review regulatory requirements to eliminate outdated, redundant, or overly restrictive rules for launch and reentry vehicles.
• Instructs the Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Transportation, and the Administrator of NASA, to evaluate State compliance with the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) and whether States are hindering spaceport infrastructure development under the CZMA, or otherwise placing limitations on spaceport development that are inconsistent with Federal law.
• Directs the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Transportation, and the Administrator of NASA to align their review processes to eliminate duplicative regulations and expedite spaceport development.

A press release from NASA was also sent out after the signing, repeating many of the same points but highlighting that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation will become a political appointee, while the Office of Space Commerce will be moved to the Office of the Commerce Secretary.

Despite official rhetoric about unleashing American superiority in space, it is highlighted that the order weakens NASA's position, already under threat of massive budget cuts by Trump, and largely benefits private companies like SpaceX, who are accused of damaging ecosystems across the Gulf of Mexico.

What to Expect Next Week

August 17th - Long March 4C with a to-be-annouced payload

From the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, a Long March 4C may fly to low Earth orbit, carrying an undisclosed payload.

August 17th - Long March 6A with a to-be-annouced payload

A Long March 6A is expected to launch from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, carrying a currently unknown payload to polar orbit.

August 18th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-5

SpaceX is preparing to launch twenty-four Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit via a Falcon 9.

August 20th - Soyuz 2.1a with Bion-M No. 2

A Soyuz 2.1a is set to launch a recoverable satellite carrying various experiments and instruments to low Earth orbit.

August 21st - Falcon 9 with USSF-36

A Falcon 9 is planned to launch the USSF-36 mission from Launch Complex 39A, carrying the secretive X-37B spaceplane.

August 22nd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-6

Another group of Starlink satellites is planned to head to low Earth orbit atop of Falcon 9, flying out of Space Launch Complex 4E.

SpaceX is hoping to perform the tenth flight test of its in-development fully reusable Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle as soon as next week.

On August 24th, SpaceX is aiming to launch another flight test of Starship, following three back-to-back failures of a new 'Block 2' version of the Starship upper-stage. A successful flight should resume progress in developing the reusable rocket.

Flying the upcoming flight test will be Super Heavy Booster 16 and Ship 37, both making their first flights.

SpaceX detailed a few areas it hopes to make progress in the upcoming flight test through an update on its website. For the booster's mission plan, the company detailed:

"[Primary] test objectives for the booster will be focused on its landing burn and will use unique engine configurations. One of the three center engines used for the final phase of landing will be intentionally disabled to gather data on the ability for a backup engine from the middle ring to complete a landing burn. The booster will then transition to only two center engines for the end of the landing burn, entering a full hover while still above the ocean surface, followed by shutdown and drop into the Gulf of Mexico."

For Ship 37, it is hoped that the vehicle will make it to engine cutoff while maintaining control over its attitude. In space, the vehicle is planned to deploy eight Starlink simulators and perform a burn with a Raptor engine.

Reentry tests are once again being performed, with a descent profile designed to stress the structural limits of Starship. Various heat shield tiles have been removed as well, with some replaced with alternative solutions, including active cooling.

At the end of the tenth flight test, Ship 37 may splash down in the Indian Ocean, a feat not seen since the vehicle's sixth flight test.

As with the previous nine flight tests, this mission will fly from Starbase, Texas, using SpaceX's only operational launch pad at its Starship test site.

If the tenth flight test is successful, flight eleven could head into orbit, potentially for the first tower catch of a Starship.

2025 was previously planned to be a key year for the Starship program, as a Ship-to-Ship propellant transfer is expected this year by NASA. Propellant transfer between two vehicles is critical for getting the Starship lunar lander out to the Moon, and returning American astronauts to the surface through the Artemis program.

Starship keeps blowing up

This year, the Starship program has regressed significantly in terms of progress. In June, Ship 36 unexpectedly exploded during a routine test, wiping out a critical pre-flight test stand with it. Meanwhile, during flight tests of the vehicle, Ship 33 was lost due to a fire in its engine section in January. Next in March, Ship 34 was again lost in a fire. Then in May, Ship 35 was destroyed during atmospheric reentry following leakages across the vehicle.

SpaceX believes they have solved many of these issues, sharing many details via an August 15th update. Regarding the previous flight test, in May, the company believes Ship 35 and Super Heavy Booster 14 were lost due to:

"Super Heavy flew at a significantly higher angle of attack than previous flights during its descent back to Earth, reaching a peak angle of approximately 17 degrees. This trajectory was a flight experiment to gather data on the limits of the booster’s performance. Once it reached the planned splashdown area, the booster relit 12 of the planned 13 engines for its landing burn. Shortly after the burn started, an energetic event was observed near the aft end of the vehicle followed by loss of telemetry. Final data was received from the booster approximately 382 seconds into flight and at approximately 1 kilometer in altitude over the designated clear zone."

"The most probable cause for the failure at landing burn was higher than predicted forces on the booster structure, specifically on the booster’s fuel transfer tube, due to the increased angle of attack experiment. Post-flight analysis showed that vehicle loads exceeded the capabilities of the transfer tube which is believed to have experienced a structural failure, resulting in a mixing of methane and liquid oxygen and subsequent ignition."

"Following a successful stage separation, the Starship upper stage lit all six of its Raptor engines and flew along its expected trajectory. Approximately three minutes into the burn, sensors in the nosecone detected a steady increase in methane levels. This continued until approximately five minutes into the burn when pressure began to rapidly decrease in the main fuel tank while pressure simultaneously increased in the nosecone. Starship’s systems were able to compensate for the drop in main tank pressure and completed the ascent burn, achieving the planned velocity and Second Stage Engine Cutoff."

"After engine shutdown, the elevated nosecone pressure combined with planned nosecone venting led to a large amount of attitude error, which continued to build up until the vehicle’s automatic fault systems disabled nosecone venting. The attitude error resulted in the ship automatically skipping the payload deploy objective, which was also unable to be completed as the higher nosecone pressure resulted in adverse loads on the mechanism responsible for opening the payload door."

"The most probable root cause for the loss of the Starship upper stage was traced to a failure on the main fuel tank pressurization system diffuser. Cameras inside the vehicle showed a visible failure on the fuel diffuser canister, which is located inside the nosecone volume on the forward dome of the main fuel tank."

Meanwhile, the company shared much less detail regarding the Ship 36 explosion, stating:

"The most probable root cause was identified as undetectable or under screened damage to a composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV) in Starship’s payload bay section, which failed and resulted in structural failure of the vehicle causing subsequent propellant mixing and ignition. The COPVs in the payload section store gaseous nitrogen for use in the Starship environmental control system."

In order to prevent a similar explosion in the near future, SpaceX says they will use Starship's composite overwrapped pressure vessels at a reduced pressure level, alongside performing extra inspections and testing.

What is Starship-Super Heavy?

Starship-Super Heavy is SpaceX's in-development fully reusable super heavy-lift launch vehicle and the largest rocket currently flying. SpaceX is currently aiming to have the launch vehicle deliver one-hundred and fifty tons to low Earth orbit while reused or two-hundred and fifty tons when expended, although there are rumors from SpaceX of an expendable payload capacity of three-hundred tons.

On the launch pad, Starship-Super Heavy is one-hundred and twenty-four meters tall and weighs 5,000,000 kilograms fully fuelled. The diameter of both vehicles is nine meters, excluding aerodynamic control surfaces.

What is Starship?

Starship is the second-stage of the Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle and is planned to be capable of multiple missions into orbit, after a short refurbishment. The vehicle is fifty meters tall and nine meters in diameter, excluding its four aerodynamic control surfaces. Fully fuelled with liquid methane and liquid oyxgen Starship is believed to weigh 1,300,000 kilograms with an approximate weight of 100,000 kilograms unfuelled.

The Starship second-stage is powered by three sea-level Raptor engines along with three vacuum-optimized Raptor engines. These sea-level engines are believed to generate 230 tons of thrust each with the vacuum-optimized engines generating 258 tons of thrust each for a total combined 1,500 tons of thrust for Starship. The vacuum-optimized Raptors are unable to gimbal requiring the sea-level Raptors for control of the second-stage on ascent and landing.

In order to survive re-entry for reuse, Starship has several thousand thermal protection tiles on one side of the vehicle and on all four of its aerodynamic control surfaces. The four control surfaces help guide the vehicle during re-entry and prior to landing inside the atmosphere at a pre-determined location. Starship also has a series of small thrusters to control the vehicle in space before re-entry.

SpaceX is believed to be working on a few variants of Starship for use as a Moon lander, propellant tanker, space station, Mars lander, and as a crewed spacecraft.

What is Super Heavy?

Super Heavy, also called 'the Super Heavy booster', is the first-stage of SpaceX's Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle. The giant Super Heavy first-stage is planned to be capable of multiple flights per day with minimal refurbishments and inspections. The vehicle is seventy-one meters tall and nine meters in diameter, excluding its four grid fins and chines. Fully fuelled with liquid methane and liquid oyxgen Super Heavy is believed to weigh 3,600,000 kilograms with an approximate mass of 200,000 kilograms unfuelled.

The Super Heavy first-stage is powered by thirty-three sea-level Raptor engines generating a combined thrust of 7,590 tons, with each engine generating 230 tons of thrust. The outer twenty Raptor engines are unable to gimbal with the inner thirteen being able to for control of the first-stage.

To enable the reuse of Super Heavy, the vehicle has four large grid fins placed in the interstage to assist in guiding and controlling during descent. Super Heavy also has four chines running along the lower third of it to generate lift and assist in stabilization.

Shortly after completing the ascent, Super Heavy relights ten engines, as three were running during staging, and performs a 'boost back' burn in order to return to the launch site. After the 'boost back' burn is completed the engines shut down with Super Heavy being guided by a series of small thrusters and its grid fins. Once Super Heavy is at the correct altitude above its landing location three engines start back up for the landing burn. SpaceX currently plans to have Super Heavy land back at the launch site, or at sea if a problem is detected during descent

Super Heavy also features a hot-staging ring atop of it to allow for a faster and simpler staging process, according to SpaceX. The hot-staging ring has dozens of gaps on the sides to allow for the Raptor engine exhaust of Starship to escape.

United Launch Alliance's first Vulcan mission for the U.S. government took off from Space Launch Complex 41, at 00:56 am Universal Coordinated Time on August 13th, heading toward geostationary space.

To begin the classified USSF-106 mission, two BE-4 engines cleanly lit before four GEM-63XL solid rocket boosters roared to life to carry the rocket out of Florida. About one minute and forty seconds later the four boosters had burned out, leaving the BE-4 powered first-stage to burn up until five minutes after launch. Following the separation and start-up of the Centuar upper-stage, the mission became secretive with live feeds from the rocket cut, and the live stream ended shortly afterwards.

Despite the plans of the Centaur upper-stage being unknown, it is likely headed directly for geostationary space, performing maneuvers on behalf of its payloads, due to comments from United Launch Alliance's top boss.

Two missions are believed to have been atop Vulcan for today's launch, the primary one unknown, and the other was Navigation Technology Satellite-3 (NTS-3). NTS-3 is stated to be a positioning, navigation, and timing experiment performing on-orbit demonstrations for its systems. Those experiments will take place for around one year near geostationary space.

With the first successful launch of Vulcan for the U.S. military, the Space Force's Chief of Space Operations, General Chance Saltzman, celebrated the work performed by involved teams, stating:

"Guardians and [United Launch Alliance] just executed the first National Security Space Launch on a Vulcan rocket. Congrats to the entire team!"

Today's Vulcan flight was its first in 2025, following two missions in 2024, as part of United Launch Alliance's gradual increase in flight cadence to replace the Atlas V rocket. As such, Vulcan may perform a few more missions this year for the U.S. government and for Amazon to expand its Kuiper constellation. A first launch of the rocket from California may occur this year as well.

What is Vulcan?

Vulcan, sometimes called Vulcan-Centaur, is United Launch Alliance's in-development two-stage rocket. Vulcan is planned to replace the company's Atlas V and launch vehicle in the coming decade.

The first-stage is powered by two BE-4 engines generating 500 tons of thrust, burning liquid methane and liquid oxygen for about four minutes and fifty-nine seconds. Blue Origin manufactures the BE-4 engines for use with United Launch Alliance.

The second-stage is powered by two RL-10 engines generating 22 tons of thrust, burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. Aerojet Rocketdyne manufactures the RL-10 engines for use with United Launch Alliance. This stage is also called Centaur V due to the rocket stages' heritage.

Vulcan-Centaur can launch with either zero, two, four, or six GEM-63XL solid rocket motors to augment the rocket's thrust and capabilities. Each booster burns a solid propellant, consisting of Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene and Aluminum-Ammonium perchlorate, generating 224 tons of thrust each for a believed one minute and fifty seconds. The solid rocket boosters are manufactured by Northrop Grumman for use with United Launch Alliance.

Two fairing sizes are offered for Vulcan to suit customer needs, both 5.4 meters in diameter. The standard fairing is 15.5 meters long, while the extended long fairing is 21.3 meters long. A 'multi-manifest' version of the 21.3-meter-long fairing is also available for launching multiple spacecraft on a single launch.

In the table below, United Launch Alliance claims Vulcan-Centaur can deliver the following amount of payload in its four potential configurations.

The naming scheme of each Vulcan-Centaur configuration is as follows: V stands for Vulcan, C stands for Centaur, 0/2/4/6 stands for the number of solid rocket motors, and S/L stands for the payload fairing length.

Europe's Ariane 6 departed French Guiana at 00:37 am Universal Coordinated Time on August 13th, carrying a weather satellite into sun-synchronous orbit.

Under the power of a single Vulcain 2.1 engine on the first-stage and two large solid rocket boosters, Ariane 6 began its lengthy journey toward its 800-kilometer orbit. Shortly into the flight, the boosters were dropped approximately 2 minutes and fifteen seconds after igniting, followed quickly by the payload fairing three and a half minutes after liftoff. The sole Vulcain 2.1 engine powered on for a while longer, ending its job almost eight minutes into flight to allow the second-stage to separate and ignite its Vinci engine. To end its first burn, the Vinci engine shut down twenty minutes into flight, before igniting just over thirty minutes later to enter its payload's desired orbit.

Heading to space atop of Ariane 6 today was the first of six MetOp-SG (Meteorological Operational Satellite - Second Generation) satellites from EUMETSAT, with Sentinel-5A integrated into it. MetOp-SG-A1 is designed to improve the accuracy of European weather forecasts through its instrument suite, consisting of: an infrared atmospheric sounder, a microwave sounder, a multispectral imaging radiometer, a novel multiviewing, multichannel, multipolarisation imager, a radio occultation sounder, and Sentinel-5A's spectrometer.

MetOp-SG-A1 arrived at the Guiana Space Center in June, completed propellant loading in July, and was encapsulated inside Ariane 6's fairing a week ago.

Following the separation of MetOp-SG-A1, Phil Evans, Director-General of EUMETSAT, underscored the importance of it and the upcoming satellite fleet by stating:

"[This] is a–not just a launch–it's a huge leap forward for the meteorological world with the launch of the satellite, a satellite that, as we heard, is full of innovations that will have a concrete impact on our societies and the people who live in it. It will help protect people's lives, it will protect livelihoods, it's such a significant event." – "For us at EUMETSAT, this is a start of a new chapter–a new chapter that will benefit societis in Europe and around the world."

Rüdiger Hartwich from Airbus, the spacecraft's manufacturer, added to the importance of today's launch:

"It's more than a ten-year journey on Earth to develop, design, and build a spacecraft. And now, thanks to the fantastic job of Arianespace, we are in orbit." – "Next year we will have [MetOp-SG-B1], the sister satellite, following, which will be another tremendous effort."

Further launches of Ariane 6 are expected to occur later this year, with almost thirty missions in the rocket's backlog over the coming years. Launches later this year will be for government and institutional customers, as well as Amazon, which plans to utilize the Ariane 64 configuration for the first time with its Kuiper constellation.

What is Ariane 6?

Ariane 6 is ArianeGroup's latest launch vehicle in the Ariane family of rockets. ArianeGroup has been manufacturing and marketing the Ariane launch vehicles on behalf of the European Space Agency since Ariane 4. Two versions of the Ariane 6 rocket are available, Ariane 62 and Ariane 64.

These two versions share the first and second stages. The first stage of Ariane 6 burns liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in a single Vulcain 2.1 engine, producing 139 tons of thrust. The second stage of Ariane 6 also burns liquid hydrogen and oxygen, but in a single Vinci engine that generates 18 tons of thrust.

Each of the solid rocket boosters burns a mixture of aluminum and hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene to produce 474 tons of thrust each. This allows Ariane 62 to generate 1088 tons of thrust at liftoff, while Ariane 64 can generate 2036 tons of thrust.

Ariane 62

Ariane 62 is the cheaper of the two configurations because it opts to use two solid rocket boosters. The lift capacity of Ariane 62 is as follows: 10,350 kilograms to low Earth orbit, 7,200 kilograms to a sun-synchronous orbit, 4,500 kilograms to geostationary transfer orbit, or 3,500 kilograms to a lunar transfer orbit.

On the launch pad, Ariane 62 weighs approximately 530,000 kilograms with a first-stage, second-stage, and faring diameter of 5.4 meters. Ariane 62 stands 56 meters tall ahead of launch.

Ariane 64

Ariane 64 is the more capable of the two configurations due to its utilization of four solid rocket boosters. The lift Capacity of Ariane 64 is as follows: 21,650 kilograms to low Earth orbit, 15,500 kilograms to a sun-synchronous orbit, 11,500 kilograms to geostationary transfer orbit, 8,600 kilograms to a lunar transfer orbit, or 5,000 kilograms to geostationary orbit.

On the launch pad, Ariane 62 weighs approximately 860,000 kilograms with a first-stage, second-stage, and faring diameter of 5.4 meters, exactly the same as Ariane 62. Ariane 64 is eight meters taller than Ariane 62 and is 62 meters tall ahead of launch.

What Is Aerospace Engineering?

The design, development, testing, and manufacturing of vehicles that go through the atmosphere and beyond are the main objectives of aerospace engineering, a specialist area of mechanical engineering. There are two primary disciplines within this field: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering.

• Aeronautical engineering deals with aircraft that operate within Earth’s atmosphere, such as planes, helicopters, and drones.
• Astronautical engineering focuses on spacecraft and systems that travel beyond the atmosphere, including rockets, satellites, probes, and rovers.

History of Aerospace Engineering

Since the first flight of the Wright brothers, Gagarin's first trek beyond our atmosphere, and Armstrong's step on another world; aerospace engineering has rapidly evolved in the 20th century. Early advancements focused on aviation, while the mid-20th century saw the rapid rise of astronautics during the Space Race. Today, the field spans everything from uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) to interplanetary exploration missions.

Branches of Aerospace Engineering

Aeronautical Engineering

• Design and optimization of aircraft for commercial, military, and recreational use
• Focus on aerodynamics, propulsion, avionics, and structural integrity.
• Applications: passenger jets, fighter aircraft, helicopters, UAVs

Astronautical Engineering

• Development of spacecraft, launch vehicles, and orbital systems
• Emphasis on propulsion, spacecraft design, guidance, and navigation
• Applications: satellites, planetary probes, space stations, crewed missions

Skills Needed in Aerospace Engineering

Aerospace engineers blend creativity with technical expertise. Common skills include:

• Advanced mathematics and physics
• Computer-aided design (CAD) and simulation software
• Knowledge of materials science and structural analysis
• Understanding of propulsion systems and aerodynamics
• Problem-solving and project management abilities

Careers in Aerospace Engineering

Aerospace engineers can work in:

• Commercial aviation companies (Boeing and Airbus)
• Commercial space companies (SpaceX)
• Space agencies (NASA, ESA, ISRO, JAXA, CNSA)
• Defense contractors (Lockheed Martin)
• Research laboratories and universities
• Emerging space startups

Typical roles include:

• Design engineer
• Flight systems engineer
• Propulsion engineer
• Structural analyst
• Mission planner

Future of Aerospace Engineering

The field is about to undergo a period of rapid change. Important trends consist of:

• Reusable rockets and lower-cost space access
• Electric and hybrid aircraft for sustainable aviation
• Supersonic and hypersonic flight revival
• Deep space exploration with crewed Mars missions
• AI-assisted flight systems and autonomous vehicles

Frequently Asked Questions

Is aerospace engineering hard?

Yes, it requires strong skills in math, physics, and engineering principles, along with creativity and problem-solving abilities.

What distinguishes mechanical engineering from aerospace engineering?

Aerospace engineering is a subfield of mechanical engineering that focuses on aircraft and spacecraft. Mechanical engineering, on the other hand, deals with a wider variety of systems.

What is the salary of an aerospace engineer?

Although salaries vary, the median yearly salary for engineers in the United States is approximately $125,000, with experienced engineers making much more.

Amazon's Kuiper constellation has surpassed 100 satellites in orbit with the launch of a Falcon 9 on August 11th.

For the second Kuiper mission atop Falcon 9, 24 Kuiper satellites were sent to an orbital altitude of about 465 kilometers. Following the separation process for around eight minutes, the constellation operations team took over control of the satellite group.

Supporting the deployment of more Kuiper satellites was Falcon 9 booster B1091, a future Falcon Heavy booster, performing its first flight and landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

With the launch of the fourth group of satellites, Amazon now has 102 spacecraft in orbit, out of a planned total of 3,236. The group of 24 follows another in July, and two groups of 27 launched atop of United Launch Alliance's Atlas V in April and June.

Those and the new Kuiper satellites are currently headed to an orbital altitude of around 630 kilometers to begin offering internet services to customers. Following the deployment of further satellites, services from Kuiper are planned to be available later this year at speeds of up to one gigabit per second.

Deployment of further Kuiper satellites is critical for potential government and enterprise customers, as demonstrated by a recent outage of SpaceX's Starlink internet constellation.

In order to meet a deadline with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, half of the Kuiper constellation, approximately 1,600 satellites, will need to be launched by mid-2026. Currently, Amazon has bought over eighty launches to deploy the constellation from a variety of American and European launch providers.

Ahead of the recent launch, Amazon and Australia's government-owned NBN Co announced that they are joining forces to provide internet services in rural regions of the country, set to begin around the middle of 2026. Through leveraging NBN Co's presence and recognition in Australia, Amazon is hoping to provide high-speed and reliable connectivity to rural communities, with the company's Country Manager for Australia and New Zealand, Joe Lathan, stating:

"Australia's vast geography presents unique connectivity challenges that traditional infrastructure often can't overcome," – "This partnership with NBN Co represents our commitment to solving these challenges through innovation and collaboration. Beyond just connecting devices, we're focused on the human impact - helping small businesses reach global markets, ensuring students have the same educational resources as their city counterparts, and keeping families connected during emergencies. We believe every Australian deserves world-class internet access, regardless of their postcode."

To further assist in competing against other internet mega-constellations, Amazon has also partnered with Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, America's Verizon, and the UK's Vodafone to bring services directly to consumers. Furthermore, the company is teaming up with Airbus to provide its airliners with in-flight connectivity.

Keeping Kuiper launching

Within the Kennedy Space Center, Amazon has built up a satellite processing site for Kuiper. For the facility, the company has invested over 140 million United States Dollars to streamline the constellations launch process, ensuring more missions are ready to go to build the constellation.

Within the site, Kuiper satellites undergo final system health checks before being loaded with electrical power and krypton propellant for their electric propulsion system. After that, the satellites are loaded onto one of the available rockets' payload adapters.

Amazon has planned for the Florida facility to be able to process over 100 satellites per month in support of three different launches. Launch preparation pace is already picking up for deployment, with Steve Metayer, Vice President of Production Operations at Project Kuiper, sharing:

"We’ve completed three missions in less than three months, and we’re continuing to pick up the pace as we prepare to begin delivering service to customers. Our facilities and team in Florida play a critical role in that process," – "At full capacity, this building will house three dispenser systems stacked full of Kuiper satellites, and a combination of fairings from rockets like Atlas V, Vulcan, New Glenn, and Falcon 9. There’s nothing else like it on the Space Coast."

Beyond Florida, in Kirkland, Washington, Amazon has established its production facility for the Kuiper satellites. At peak, the facility can produce five satellites per day, around one satellite batch per week (as of the fourth Kuiper launch).

What is Falcon 9?

Falcon 9 is currently the world's only operational partially reusable medium-lift launch vehicle. The rocket is manufactured and operated by the American space company SpaceX. Falcon 9 currently launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base, in California, and Cape Canaveral, in Florida.

For recovery, Falcon 9 has four grid fins and four landing legs on the first-stage. The first stage either lands vertically on a drone ship or a landing pad back near its launch site, landing back at the launch site causes a reduction in payload capacity.

SpaceX claims that Falcon 9 can send up to 22,800 kilograms into low Earth orbit when expended or 18,400 kilograms when reused. Similarly, it can send up to 8,300 kilograms into geosynchronous transfer orbit when expended or 5,500 kilograms when reused.

The first-stage is powered by nine Merlin 1D engines burning rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen to generate 771 tons of thrust. The second-stage is powered by a single Merlin 1D vacuum engine burning rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen to generate 95 tons of thrust.

On the pad, the rocket is 70 meters tall with the first and second stages 3.7 meters in diameter, the fairing is 5.2 meters in diameter and tapers out from the top of the second-stage. Fully fuelled Falcon 9 weighs approximately 549,000 kilograms.

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week had five launches worldwide, with the orbital missions supporting constellations. News from the week had Firefly going public, China testing its lunar lander and launching a drone ship, and Jim Lovell sadly passing away. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

August 3rd - New Shepard for NS-34

Blue Origin conducted the NS-34 suborbital tourism mission from its West Texas launch site, carrying Arvi Bahal, Gökhan Erdem, Deborah Martorell, Lionel Pitchford, J.D. Russell, and Justin Sun. The vehicles performing this mission were booster NS4, flying for the fifteenth time, and capsule RSS First Step, making its fourteenth flight.

August 4th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-30

A Falcon 9 launched from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, carrying twenty-eight Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. Booster B1080 supported this mission, flying for the twenty-first time and landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange.

August 4th - Long March 12 with GuoWang Group 07

Atop a Long March 12 from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site, the seventh batch of GuoWang satellites, with 9 onboard, headed to low Earth orbit. With the launch, the GuoWang constellation has 57 spacecraft in orbit.

August 5th - Electron for 'The Harvest Goddess Thrives'

Rocket Lab launched a synthetic aperture radar satellite to low Earth orbit for iQPS, from Launch Complex 1B on the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand. This launch carried the twelfth satellite of thirty-six for iQPS' imaging constellation that aims to image the same spot on Earth every ten minutes.

August 8th - Jielong-3 with Future Mobility Group 04

A Jielong-3 flew into low Earth orbit, from a sea launch ship off the coast of Rizhao, carrying 11 satellites for Geespace, a subsidiary of automaker Geely, to expand the Geely Future Mobility Constellation. With the launch, the constellation now has 41 spacecraft in orbit.

In Other Space News

China tests crewed lunar lander

On August 7th, China's various space agencies and enterprises announced the conclusion of a series of tests with the country's Lanyue lunar lander, set to carry crew to the Moon's surface around 2029. To test the spacecraft, it was attached to an extraterrestrial gravity simulator to simulate lunar gravity.

For the tests, said to be over ten, a full-scale Lanyue vehicle outfitted with its various thrusters and four main engines, without their nozzles for vacuum optimization, flew within the gravity simulator to verify control coordination across the many thrusters. Sun Xingliang, of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, stated the following regarding what tests were performed.

"Among these, ignition tests are the top priority. The tests needed to complete over 10 ignition tests including normal flight, emergency flight, and takeoff from different lunar surface slopes, fully verifying the lander's landing and takeoff control scheme, propulsion system, electrical system, and interface compatibility between systems."

Further tests of Lanyue are planned for the near future, although a timeline was not disclosed. Those tests include in-space missions to verify spacecraft systems, along with a possible unmanned lunar landing to prove the entire vehicle, including its braking stage.

Lanyue's tests in the gravity simulator follows a launch pad abort test performed by the Mengzhou crew capsule, designed to carry taikonauts around the Moon, in late June.

Jim Lovell passes away at 97

Jim Lovell, Commander of the Apollo 13 and Gemini 12 missions, along with flying for the Apollo 8 and Gemini 7 missions, passed away at the age of 97 on August 8th, in Lake Forest, Illinois. NASA celebrated his life with the following statement:

"NASA sends its condolences to the family of Capt. Jim Lovell, whose life and work inspired millions of people across the decades. Jim’s character and steadfast courage helped our nation reach the Moon and turned a potential tragedy into a success from which we learned an enormous amount. We mourn his passing even as we celebrate his achievements."

"From a pair of pioneering Gemini missions to the successes of Apollo, Jim helped our nation forge a historic path in space that carries us forward to upcoming Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond."

"As the Command Module Pilot for Apollo 8, Jim and his crewmates became the first to lift off on a Saturn V rocket and orbit the Moon, proving that the lunar landing was within our reach. As commander of the Apollo 13 mission, his calm strength under pressure helped return the crew safely to Earth and demonstrated the quick thinking and innovation that informed future NASA missions."

"Known for his wit, this unforgettable astronaut was nicknamed Smilin’ Jim by his fellow astronauts because he was quick with a grin when he had a particularly funny comeback."

"Jim also served our country in the military, and the Navy has lost a proud academy graduate and test pilot. Jim Lovell embodied the bold resolve and optimism of both past and future explorers, and we will remember him always."

China launches first rocket recovery ship

Chinese launch company iSpace launched its first drone ship, also China's first, on August 5th in Jiangsu province. The drone ship is stated to be 42 meters wide and 100 meters long, with a booster landing area of 40 by 60 meters for Hyperbola-3 boosters, while displacing 17,000 tons.

At the launch ceremony of the drone ship, Peng Xiaobo, iSpace's Chairman, shared:

"As China's first launch vehicle recovery ship, the 'Interstellar Homecoming' has explored and established new standards for the integration of our country's aerospace and shipbuilding industries, serving as a typical demonstration and leading role for the construction of subsequent launch vehicle recovery ships in our country. It fills a gap in domestic offshore engineering vessel types. From today forward, our country's offshore engineering fleet adds launch vehicle recovery ships as a new vessel category. The 'Interstellar Homecoming' is the concrete embodiment of our dream to explore the stars and seas, giving us confidence and strength."

iSpace's drone ship may recover a Hyperbola-3 first-stage booster toward the end of the year during the rocket's debut flight. Before then, the ship will undergo sea trials to ensure its mechanical and electrical systems are functioning as expected.

Firefly raises 868 million through IPO

Having announced its initial public offering in early July, Firefly Aerospace went public on August 6th through the sale of about 19.3 million shares, allowing the company to raise around 868.3 million United States Dollars. Sale of shares began at 45 dollars, before rising to seventy dollars, then falling to around 50 on August 8th.

What to Expect Next Week

August 10th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-4

Twenty-four more Starlink satellites are preparing to head to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, via a Falcon 9.

August 12th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-20

Another twenty-eight Starlink satellites are expected to launch on a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40, heading for low Earth orbit.

August 13th - Vulcan with USSF-106

United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket is preparing to launch the USSF-106 mission to geostationary space on behalf of the U.S. military. This mission will have Vulcan fly with four solid rocket boosters for the first time.

August 13th - Ariane 6 with METOP-SG A1

Europe's Ariane 6 is planning to launch a second-generation polar-orbiting operational meteorological satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit.

August 13th - Long March 5B with GuoWang Group 08?

A Long March 5B, with a Yuanzheng-2 upper-stage, is preparing to launch to low Earth orbit from the Wenchang Space Launch Site. This launch may carry the eighth group of GuoWang satellites.

August 13th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-5

More Starlink satellites are planned to be delivered to low Earth orbit via a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 4E.

August 15th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-11

Another Falcon 9 is set to carry a batch of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40.

Sean Duffy wants NASA to place nuclear reactors on the Moon to claim regions of it, in clear violation of the Outer Space Treaty.

Some time in the coming week, Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy, also U.S. Transportation Secretary, is expected to announce plans for American to build a nuclear reactor on the Moon, expediting a pre-existing program. According to Politico, the announcement will detail a timeline for a launch before 2030 to ensure the U.S. wins its perceived second space race, with a plan outlined sixty days later. Following the announcement, private industry will be open to bid on developing a 100-kilowatt lunar nuclear reactor, with a contract six months after.

Leaked NASA documents state that the lunar nuclear reactor plans will be managed by a designated 'Fission Surface Power Program Executive' who will control procurement, technology integration, interagency coordination, and performance oversight. The documents also disclose that this is in response to Sino-Russian proposals for the International Lunar Research Station, currently with thirteen nation-level members, in the late 2030s.

Despite the announcement being yet to come, Duffy shared a few details on August 5th while speaking at a press conference deregulating autonomous drone flights. Whole there, the Acting Administrator let slip that he wants to claim parts of the Moon, sharing:

"We're in a race to the Moon, in a race against China." – "There’s a certain part of the Moon that everyone knows is the best [(the lunar south pole)]. We have ice there - we have sunlight there. We want to get there first and claim that for America."

Further emphasizing his point earlier, ahead of Crew-11's first launch attempt on July 31st, Duffy stated:

"We're not planting our flags and leaving. We're going to stay and learn and then go to Mars. There's critical real estate on the Moon. We want to claim that real estate for ourselves and our partners, which is going to be critical to being successful in that mission."

No one from NASA has clarified what Duffy meant during his statements, per NASA Watch, meaning that it is currently part of American plans.

Rules of the Moon

Duffy's plan for setting up a nuclear reactor on the Moon to claim the south pole would violate numerous articles of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty. Most obviously, it would violate Article II, which expressly prohibits national takeover of celestial bodies via claims of sovereignty, occupation, or any other means. The treaty states that the Moon and other celestial bodies are the realm of all humanity, which means that no nation can claim ownership over any part of them, regardless of what is built there.

The act of claiming territory through reactor placement would also contradict Article IV, which states that celestial bodies must be used for peaceful purposes. While nuclear reactors for power generation are legal in other circumstances, deploying them to create territorial claims moves the objective from peaceful exploration to occupation, which the treaty prohibits.

Furthermore, any territorial claims would violate Article I's notion that space exploration should be conducted for the benefit and interests of all countries. By claiming exclusive control of the South Pole region, which contains important water ice deposits, the U.S. would prevent other countries from accessing those resources and conducting their own scientific research, directly contradicting the treaty's vision of space as a common realm for humanity.

The Trump Administration, however, may see no issue with violating the Outer Space Treaty, as it attempts to rewrite it with the non-binding U.S.-led Artemis Accords. So far, the accords have gathered fifty-six countries as signatories, motivated by removal limits on non-government space activity and ownership of celestial assets, alongside being a requirement of joining Artemis missions.

No Moon race

In the American plans to head out to the Moon, it suffers from excessive complexity, requiring coordination between multiple contractors and up to twenty Starship flights alongside the Space Launch System with the Orion capsule carrying astronauts just to get to the lunar surface. As initial Artemis missions with Starship need dozens of launches, delays or failure with one supporting mission will have a large knock-on effect, while the overall program is already facing delays and issues with both vehicles.

In comparison, China's approach is more streamlined, with only two Long March 10 launches carrying the specifically designed Mengzhou capsule and Lanyue lander vehicles. This simpler architecture reduces complexity and reduces chances for failure while maintaining unified control for better schedule predictability and technical coordination. With only two launches needed, delays have smaller repercussions on the schedule.

As such, the U.S. frames its return to the Moon as a race against China, with officials routinely 'warning' that China could land there first. This rhetoric often veers into sinophobic territory, portraying China's space achievements as inherently threatening rather than natural technological progress. But China doesn't see it as a race.

While the U.S. uses rhetoric of competition to secure political support, China treats its lunar program as part of long-term national development plans. China's centralized system allows for stable, multi-year planning through the Communist Party, National People's Congress, and advisory bodies that set consistent objectives.

This contrasts sharply with America, where NASA faces shifting political priorities every four to eight years, like Trump's massive defunding attempts. The Artemis program must repeatedly win support from changing administrations and Congress, making long-term planning difficult. With Wu Weiren, Chief Designer of China's Lunar Exploration Program, observing:

“When the president changes, his policies change,” — “We in China may anchor our goals and always draw a blueprint until the end, so we have always moved forward smoothly and firmly, which is the difference between our two countries.”

Framing Artemis as a race helps NASA build urgency and secure funding, but this stems from structural political limitations that China's system avoids through consistent, long-term policy continuity.

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week saw ten launches worldwide, with half dedicated to supporting internet mega-constellations. News during the week had progress toward Starship-Super Heavy's tenth flight made, another crew boarding the International Space Station, and a Chinese launch company looking to go public. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

July 27th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-2

From Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, a Falcon 9 launched twenty-four Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. Supporting this mission was B1075, making its nineteenth flight and landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

July 27th - Long March 6A with GuoWang Group 05

A Long March 6A flew from Launch Complex 9A at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center into a polar orbit carrying five satellites for the GuoWang constellation. GuoWang aims to provide space-based internet services, with 39 spacecraft in orbit following the launch.

July 29th - Hyperbola-1 with Kunpeng-03

iSpace’s Hyperbola-1 rocket soared from Launch Area 95A at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, for its return-to-flight, carrying the Kunpeng-03, also called Enshi Selenium Capital Mountain Spring Satellite, to sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite is planned to gather data for natural resources monitoring, agricultural planning, and ocean resource management.

July 29th - Eris-1 for its debut flight

Gilmour Space's Eris-1 rocket performed its debut flight from the Bowen Orbital Spaceport in northeastern Australia. During the flight, the rocket headed skyward momentarily, before falling back toward the ground and destroying itself next to its launch pad.

July 30th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-29

Another Twenty-eight Starlink satellites were launched atop of a Falcon 9 to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. Booster B1069 supported this mission for its twenty-sixth flight, with a landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange.

July 30th - Long March 8A with GuoWang Group 06

For the first time, a Long March 8A flew from Commercial Launch Pad 1 at the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site carrying nine satellites into low Earth orbit. The nine satellites are the latest addition to the GuoWang constellation, bringing it up to 48 spacecraft in orbit.

July 30th - GSLV Mk-II with NISAR

The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) spacecraft blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, heading to sun-synchronous orbit atop of a GSLV Mk-II. NISAR is planned to gather data on ecosystem disturbances, polar ice changes, natural hazards, sea level rise, and groundwater issues.

July 31st - Kuaizhou-1A with PRSC-S1

ExPace performed Kuaizhou-1A's return-to-flight mission with the rockets 'Pro' variant with a launch out of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center carrying Pakistan’s PRSC-S1 to low Earth orbit. The spacecraft is planned to provide monitoring for natural disasters, including floods, landslides, earthquakes, glacier melting, and deforestation, as well as aiding in agricultural monitoring, natural resource management, urban planning, infrastructure development, and mapping of transportation networks.

July 31st - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 13-4

Nineteen Starlink satellites were sent into low Earth orbit by Falcon 9 yet again, flying from Space Launch Complex 4E. The booster supporting this mission was B1071, flying for the twenty-seventh time and landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

August 1st - Falcon 9 for Crew-11

NASA's Crew-11 mission, with astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, as well as JAXA's Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos' Oleg Platanov, to the International Space Station blasted off atop of a Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A, in Florida. Supporting this mission was booster B1094, for its third mission, and landing at Landing Zone 1 back at Cape Canaveral.

In Other Space News

Crew-11 boards International Space Station

Following launch on August 1st, Crew Dragon 'Endeavour' carrying Zena Cardman, Michael Fincke, Kimiya Yui, and Oleg Platonov onboard arrived at the International Space Station on August 2nd.

Docking to the space-facing port of the Harmony module, part of the U.S. segment, occurred at 06:27 am Universal Coordinated Time, with leak checks between Crew Dragon and the module beginning shortly after. Just over an hour later, at 07:46 am, the hatches between the space station and Crew Dragon were opened, allowing the Crew-11 team to enter and be greeted by the seven astronauts already onboard.

Now onboard the International Space Station, the Crew-11 astronauts are now part of the 73rd Expedition to the station and will be part of the 74th. The crew will also spend around six months on board, but their stay could be extended due to budgetary pressures.

Ship 37 completes static fires

Ahead of the tenth test flight of Starship-Super Heavy, Ship 37 has recently completed two static fires. A single sea-level Raptor fired up on July 31st, followed by a multiple-engine firing on August 1st (SpaceX did not disclose how many engines were lit).

The two static fires of Ship 37 took place on the Orbital Launch Mount, modified to have the Ship sit higher than a Super Heavy booster would, along with modifying propellant lines to reach the vehicles' quick disconnect ports for fueling.

Those modifications were necessary for SpaceX to continue with Starship-Super Heavy's test campaign after the vehicle previously set for the tenth flight, Ship 36, exploded ahead of its second static fire. That explosion heavily damaged the Massey's test site used to perform static fires of the Starship upper-stage.

LandSpace eyes Shanghai IPO

Chinese launch company LandSpace, currently flying the Zhuque-2E rocket and developing the reusable Zhuque-3 (both burning liquid methane and liquid oxygen), has submitted the necessary filings to begin the multi-month process for an initial public offering. If approved by regulators, following the submittal of further paperwork, the company will be public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Science and Technology Innovation Board.

At the current stage of the process to go public, it is unknown how much of LandSpace will be available to buy on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, along with how much dilution of shares will take place with prior investors. One of the larger shareholders in the company is LandSpace’s Founder Zhang Changwu, who owns about 14.68 percent.

A listing on Shanghai's Science and Technology Innovation Board could be advantageous for LandSpace, as it does not require the company to be profitable yet, so long as the company has demonstrated good growth potential via a foundation of technological innovation. This can be helpful for LandSpace and companies like it that need investment over a long period of time to develop and field innovative technologies.

What to Expect Next Week

August 3rd - New Shepard for NS-34

Blue Origin is planning to conduct a sub-orbital tourism mission using its New Shepard vehicle to carry Arvi Bahal, Gökhan Erdem, Deborah Martorell, Lionel Pitchford, J.D. Russell, and Justin Sun.

August 4th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-30

SpaceX is preparing to launch twenty-eight Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40.

August 4th - Long March 12 with a to-be-announced payload

A Long March 12 may be preparing to launch from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site, carrying a currently unknown payload to Earth orbit.

August 5th - Electron for 'The Harvest Goddess Thrives'

Rocket Lab is preparing to launch a synthetic aperture radar satellite to low Earth orbit for iQPS, from Launch Complex 1B on the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand.

August 5th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-25

More Starlink satellites are planned to be launched to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E via a Falcon 9.

August 7th - Falcon 9 with KF-02

Another twenty-four Kuiper satellites are set to be launched to low Earth orbit atop of Falcon 9 for Amazon, from Space Launch Complex 40.

Welcome to our twenty-second Monthly Dose of Space! In this monthly newsletter, we bring you major news from the past month. The end of July continues a busy year, so let's jump into the past month!

News of the Month

News during July had China update its commercial space regulation, NASA funding restoration efforts being delayed, New Glenn preparing to fly again, Axiom Space testing its lunar spacesuit, and findings from Betelgeuse.

Axiom tests spacesuit with astronaut

Axiom Space announced on July 8th that two months ago, astronaut Koichi Wakata, also the company's Chief Technology Officer, tested the AxEMU spacesuit for the first time with a human inside, in NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory used for spacewalk training.

According to the company, Wakata's testing of the AxEMU saw him accompanied by engineers to properly test the operations and capabilities of the communications, breathing, and cooling systems of the spacesuit in the facility. Axiom did not disclose the outcomes of its testing, but it is believed to have gone well.

At the moment, the AxEMU spacesuit is expected to have its Critical Design Review later this year, ahead of the Artemis III mission to the lunar surface in 2027. Further testing and training with the spacesuit are planned to support the mission and its crew.

New Glenn targets Mars!

Blue Origin shared on July 17th that the second flight of its New Glenn rocket will target Mars later this year. It is currently expected that the flight will occur no earlier than mid-August.

The mission will carry two Rocket Lab-built spacecraft for NASA's ESCAPADE mission to study the planet's magnetosphere, while demonstrating low-cost exploration missions. Also set to be onboard is a technology demonstration from Viasat in support of NASA's Communications Services Project, aiming to develop relay services near Earth.

In recent weeks, Blue Origin Chief Executive Officer, Dave Limp, has shared that the seven first-stage BE-4 engines for the mission were ready to be installed on the second New Glenn vehicle, while the two second-stage BE-3U engines were fired up in April and ready to fly.

NASA funding held up

Currently, U.S. politicians are moving to restore science funding to NASA slashed by the Trump Administration, through a series of bills signed. The Commerce-Justice-Science bill to do so has been progressing through the legislative process.

However, House Speaker Mike Johnson (Republican) has sent American lawmakers off to an early five-week summer recess, on July 22nd, that will last until September 2nd, just four weeks until agency funding deadlines. The early recess was called due to political upheaval, on both sides of the U.S. political aisle, that could have seen the release of files related to the notorious disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which would have fully detailed President Donald Trump's involvement.

If the bill is not passed before a deadline of October 1st, Ars Technica reports that officials from the Trump Administration intend to go with its intended cuts to NASA. That would cut NASA science by half and end many working and almost ready-to-launch missions.

Commercial space regulations updated in China

The China National Space Administration shared updates to China's commercial space regulations on Just 21st, with the new rules approved a few days prior on July 16th. These rules update laws around quality control, accountability, and requirements for the nation’s growing commercial space sector.

The new regulations are made up of thirty-nine points across eight key areas: General Requirements, Quality Management Systems, Research and Development and Production, Ground Testing, Launch Implementation, On-Orbit Operations, Services, Recovery, and Decommissioning, Product Quality Supervision, and Accident Investigation and Disposal. Officials from the China National Space Administration told Xinhua that the new regulations standardize responsibilities across the mentioned areas.

Betelgeuse companion star found

Betelgeuse, a supergiant star best known for being expected to go supernova anytime between now and one hundred thousand years from now, has been found to have a companion star this month. The companion star is yet to be named, although informally called the Betelbuddy.

Fluctuations in the brightness of Betelgeuse had puzzled scientists with what's happening with the star, those fluctuations were found to be the companion star moving in front. For many decades, Betelgeuse's overpowering brightness hid its companion, with observations of it only being possible in certain parts of the smaller star's orbit around the supergiant.

Better observations of Betelgeuse's companion will be possible around November 2027, when they are at their furthest separation from one another.

Launches of the Month

This month saw 24 launches worldwide, continuing a busy year. If you want to know what each launch was we have them all listed below!

July 1st - Falcon 9 with MTG-S1

A Falcon 9 launched the MTG-S1 spacecraft from Launch Complex 39A, in Florida, to a geostationary transfer orbit. Supporting this mission was booster B1085, for its ninth flight, with a landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange.

July 2nd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-25

Another Falcon 9 launched twenty-seven Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. Booster B1067 supported this launch for its twenty-ninth flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

July 3rd - Long March 4C with Shiyan-28B-01

A Long March 4C blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center carrying Shiyan-28B-01 to low Earth orbit. Shiyan-28B-01 is planned to be utilized for space environment detection and related technical tests, which may include tracking other spacecraft and debris.

July 3rd - Soyuz 2.1a with Progress MS-31

A Soyuz 2.1a launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome carrying the Progress MS-31 spacecraft toward the International Space Station. Following launch, Progress MS-31 docked to the Poisk module on the Russian segment of the space station.

July 8th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-28

A Falcon 9 launched from Space Launch Complex 40, in Floirda, carrying twenty-eight Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. Supporting this mission was booster B1077 for its twenty-second flight, with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

July 13th - Falcon 9 with Dror-1

Heading to a geostationary transfer orbit, a Falcon 9 launched the Israel Aerospace Industries' Dror-1 communications satellite from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. Supporting this mission was booster B1083 for its thirteenth flight, with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

This was also Falcon 9's 500th mission.

July 14th - Long March 7 with Tianzhou-9

From Launch Complex 201 at the Wenchang Space Launch Site, a Long March 7 blasted off carrying the Tianzhou-9 cargo resupply spacecraft, heading for low Earth orbit and eventually the Tiangong Space Station (docking about three hours after launch). Onboard the spacecraft are scientific experiments, two new and improved Feitian spacesuits, along with food and other consumables. Propellant will also be transferred to the space station for its maneuvering and attitude control systems.

July 16th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-2

Twenty-six Starlink satellites headed to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Booster B1093 supported this launch for its fourth flight, landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

July 16th - Falcon 9 with KF-01

A Falcon 9 launched from Space Launch Complex 40 headed for low Earth orbit, carrying twenty-four Kuiper satellites for Amazon, bringing the constellation up to seventy-eight satellites. In support of the mission was a brand new Falcon 9 booster, B1096, was performing its first flight, and landing in the Atlantic Ocean on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

July 19th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-3

Another twenty-four Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E. Booster B1082 supported the mission, for its fourteenth flight, along with a landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

July 22nd - Falcon 9 with two O3b mPOWER satellites

SpaceX launched two O3b mPOWER communications satellites to a medium Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, atop of a Falcon 9. Supporting this mission was booster B1090, for its sixth flight and landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

July 23rd - Falcon 9 for multiple missions

A Falcon 9 is to lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, carrying NASA's TRACERS (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites), PExT (Polylingual Experimental Terminal), and Athena EPIC (Economical Payload Integration Cost) missions to sun-synchronous orbit alongside Dartmouth College's REAL (Realistic Electron Atmospheric Loss) mission. Booster B1081 supported this mission for its sixteenth flight, landing back at Landing Zone 4 inside the Vandenberg Space Force Base.

July 25th - Soyuz 2.1b with two Ionosfera-M satellites

A Soyuz 2.1b launched two Ionosfera-M ionospheric and magnetospheric research satellites to sun-synchronous orbit from the Vostochny Cosmodrome. Eighteen other small spacecraft were also onboard, including the Iranian Nahid-2 telecommunications satellite.

July 26th - Vega-C with CO3D & MicroCarb

Vega-C launched from the Guiana Space Centre carrying five satellites to sun-synchronous orbit for CO3D and MicroCarb missions. Four CO3D spacecraft for Earth observations were onboard, while the MicroCarb satellite is planned to map sources and sinks of carbon dioxide.

July 26th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-26

Twenty-eight Starlink satellites were launched to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 via a Falcon 9. Booster B1078 supported this mission for its twenty-second flight, landing on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas' downrange.

July 27th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-2

From Space Launch Complex 4E, a Falcon 9 launched twenty-four Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. Supporting this mission was B1075, making its nineteenth flight and landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

July 27th - Long March 6A with GuoWang Group 05

A Long March 6A flew from Launch Complex 9A at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center into a polar orbit carrying five satellites for the GuoWang constellation. GuoWang aims to provide space-based internet services, with 39 spacecraft in orbit following the launch.

July 29th - Hyperbola-1 with Kunpeng-03

iSpace’s Hyperbola-1 rocket soared from Launch Area 95A at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Area, for its return-to-flight, carrying the Kunpeng-03, also called Enshi Selenium Capital Mountain Spring Satellite, to sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite is planned to gather data for natural resources monitoring, agricultural planning, and ocean resource management.

July 29th - Eris-1 for its debut flight

Gilmour Space's Eris-1 rocket performed its debut flight from the Bowen Orbital Spaceport in northeastern Australia. During the flight, the rocket headed skyward momentarily, before falling back toward the ground and destroying itself next to its launch pad.

July 30th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-29

Another Twenty-eight Starlink satellites were launched atop of a Falcon 9 to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40. Booster B1069 supported this mission for its twenty-sixth flight, with a landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange.

July 30th - Long March 8A with GuoWang Group 06

For the first time, a Long March 8A flew from Commercial Launch Pad 1 at the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site carrying nine satellites into low Earth orbit. The nine satellites are the latest addition to the GuoWang constellation, bringing it up to 48 spacecraft in orbit.

July 30th - GSLV Mk-II with NISAR

The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) spacecraft blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, heading to sun-synchronous orbit. NISAR is planned to gather data on ecosystem disturbances, polar ice changes, natural hazards, sea level rise, and groundwater issues.

July 31st - Kuaizhou-1A with PRSC-S1

ExPace performed Kuaizhou-1A's return-to-flight mission with the rockets 'Pro' variant with a launch out of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center carrying Pakistan’s PRSC-S1 to low Earth orbit. The spacecraft is planned to provide monitoring for natural disasters, including floods, landslides, earthquakes, glacier melting, and deforestation, as well as aiding in agricultural monitoring, natural resource management, urban planning, infrastructure development, and mapping of transportation networks.

July 31st - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 13-4

Nineteen Starlink satellites were sent into low Earth orbit by Falcon 9 yet again, flying from Space Launch Complex 4E. The booster supporting this mission was B1071, flying for the twenty-seventh time and landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

Launches to look out for in August!

August will continue a busy year for worldwide launches. Listed below are all of the launches expected or likely to happen next month, launches on the 1st of August may have already occurred due to when this newsletter is published.

August 1st - Falcon 9 for Crew-11

NASA's Crew-11 mission, with astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, as well as JAXA's Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos' Oleg Platanov, to the International Space Station is expected to launch atop of a Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A.

August 3rd - New Shepard for NS-34

Blue Origin is planning to conduct a sub-orbital tourism mission using its New Shepard vehicle to carry Arvi Bahal, Gökhan Erdem, Deborah Martorell, Lionel Pitchford, J.D. Russell, and Justin Sun.

August 4th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-30

SpaceX is preparing to launch twenty-eight Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40.

August 4th - Long March 12 with a to-be-announced payload

A Long March 12 may be preparing to launch from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site, carrying a currently unknown payload to Earth orbit.

August 5th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-25

More Starlink satellites are planned to be launched to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E via a Falcon 9.

August 9th - Vulcan with USSF-106

United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket is preparing to launch the USSF-106 mission to geostationary space on behalf of the U.S. military.

August 10th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-4

A Falcon 9 is set to carry a batch of Starlink satellties to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E.

August 13th - Ariane 6 with METOP-SG A1

Europe's Ariane 6 is planning to launch a second-generation polar-orbiting operational meteorological satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit.

August 20th - Soyuz 2.1a with Bion-M No. 2

A Soyuz 2.1a is set to launch a recoverable satellite carrying various experiments and instruments to low Earth orbit.

August 21st - Falcon 9 with CRS-33

SpaceX is preparing to launch its thirty-third cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station via a Cargo Dragon V2 spacecraft, launched atop of a Falcon 9.

August 21st - Falcon 9 with USSF-36

Another Falcon 9 is set to launch the USSF-36 mission, carrying the U.S. military's X-37B spaceplane, to low Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A.

August 24th - Falcon 9 with Bandwagon-4

From Space Launch Complex 4E, a Falcon 9 will launch SpaceX's fourth mid-inclination dedicated rideshare mission.

Zena Cardman, Michael Fincke, Kimiya Yui, and Oleg Platonov are heading to the International Space Station following a launch from the Kennedy Space Center, in Florida.

Liftoff of the Crew-11 mission occurred at 15:43 pm Universal Coordinated Time when a Falcon 9 headed skyward, carrying Crew Dragon spacecraft, from Launch Complex 39A, beginning a roughly nine-minute flight into low Earth orbit.

Almost ten minutes after launch atop Falcon 9, Crew Dragon C206 'Endeavour' separated from the Falcon 9's second stage to begin its sixth mission, and a chase to the space station. 'Endeavour' has previously flown for Demo-2, Crew-2, Axiom-1, Crew-6, and Crew-8.

The astronauts on board 'Endeavour' are expected to enter the International Space Station via the U.S. segment's Harmony module around twenty hours following launch, on August 2nd.

Supporting the launch of the four astronauts atop Falcon 9 was booster B1094, for its third mission, and landing at Landing Zone 1 back at Cape Canaveral. This booster has previously supported the Starlink Group 12-10 mission in April and Axiom-4 in June.

While spending around six months in space, a few members of the crew as set to participate in a series of simulated Moon landings to fly through simulated scenarios resembling the lunar South Pole region that the Artemis program will visit. The experiment is expected to allow researchers to evaluate how different gravitational forces may disorient astronauts and affect their ability to pilot a lunar lander. Some simulated landings have been performed before launch, with others set to come after a return to Earth.

Other experiments and studies planned for the crew are CIPHER (Complement of Integrated Protocols for Human Exploration Research), which measures how systems within the human body change in space, and Spaceflight Standard Measures, which collects physical data and biological samples from astronauts for other comparative studies. The space station's broad science portfolio will also be attended to by the Crew-11 team.

A prior attempt to launch Crew-11 occurred on July 31st, but was scrubbed due to weather. Before the first launch attempt, Roscosmos Chief Dmitry Bakanov visited the crew during a trip to the Kennedy Space Center. Reuters reports that Bakanov met with Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy, the first time the two space agencies' heads have met since 2018, to discuss a seat-swap agreement between the two (where NASA astronauts fly on Russian rockets and Roscosmos cosmonauts fly on American rockets) and other areas for cooperation.

Who's onboard?

Zena Cardman, from the U.S., is the Commander of the Crew-11 mission, flying to space for the first time. She was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017 after having worked with the Palmer Long-Term Ecological Research group in Antarctica. Before that, she was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow at the Pennsylvania State University

Mike Fincke, also from the U.S., is the Pilot for the Crew-11 mission as part of his fourth trip to space. He has previously flown to the International Space Station onboard Soyuz TMA-4, Soyuz TMA-13, and STS-134, with a total time in space of 381 days. Fincke has also spent over two days performing spacewalks.

Kimiya Yui, from Japan, is a Mission Specialist for the Crew-11 mission, for his second trip to the space station. He previously headed to the station on board Soyuz TMA-17M, which lasted 141 days. Before a career in space, Yui served in the Japan Air Self-Defense Force where he achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Oleg Platonov, from Russia, is also a Mission Specialist for the Crew-11 mission, as part of his first trip to space. He was selected by Roscosmos as a cosmonaut in 2018. Before selection, Platonov served in the Russian Air Force and achieved the rank of Major.

What is Crew Dragon?

Crew Dragon, or Dragon 2, is a partially reusable spacecraft developed by SpaceX. The primary use for Crew Dragon is to send crew to and from the International Space Station. SpaceX also performs free-flight missions with the spacecraft.

Crew Dragon consists of the capsule and trunk. The trunk is used to store unpressurized cargo as well as to have solar panels mounted on one side, to generate power, and radiators on the other, to dissipate heat generated inside. The trunk is not reused and burns up in the atmosphere after each mission. The capsule is where the crew is during launch, landing, and while on their way to space.

Unlike the original Dragon capsule, the Crew Dragon capsule has a launch abort system consisting of eight SuperDraco engines. This abort system can also be used to bring the capsule to a soft touchdown in the event of four parachute failures. The capsule also has a nosecone that will fold out of the way in space to protect the docking hardware and forward-facing thrusters during launch and landing. The forward-facing thrusters are the main propulsion system for performing maneuvers while in flight. Up to four parachutes will deploy from the capsule during descent to allow it to splash down for recovery.

Crew Dragon was developed as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program to regain crew access to the International Space Station from the United States of America after the retirement of the Space Shuttle. SpaceX currently has five active Crew Dragon capsules: Endeavour, Resilience, Endurance, Freedom, and Grace.

The joint 1.5 billion United States Dollar, 2,393 kilogram NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) spacecraft was carried to a 747-kilometer, 98.4-degree sun-synchronous orbit earlier today.

Launch of NISAR atop of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark II occurred at 12:10 Universal Coordinated Time from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre's Second Launch Pad, located on the coast of Andhra Pradesh.

The flight to get into orbit took about nineteen minutes using the rocket's three stages, the first a combination of hypergolic liquid-fueled and solid boosters, followed by a hypergolic fuel second-stage, and completed with a liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen stage. Moments after reaching orbit, NISAR was separated from the rocket's third-stage, to substantial celebrations in the launch control rooms.

Now floating free in space, NISAR will gradually power on and deploy its various systems, including its massive twelve-meter Radar Antenna Reflector held by a nine-meter-long deployable boom. A commissioning period for the spacecraft is planned to last ninety days to ensure all systems are functioning as designed.

The spacecraft's reflector will focus radar signals sent out by the L-Band (24 centimeter wavelength) and S-Band (12 centimeter wavelength) synthetic aperture radars and bounce them toward the Earth. After reaching the ground, the signals will be returned up to the spacecraft for processing and measurements.

Once operating as designed, NISAR will gather data on ecosystem disturbances, polar ice changes, natural hazards, sea level rise, and groundwater issues. Data collected is expected to help understand natural disasters such as landslides and earthquakes, and assist in responses to disasters like hurricanes, floods, and volcanic eruptions.

NISAR will observe the entire Earth every twelve days, repeating the process over at least three years to watch for changes. With the satellite being in a sun-synchronous orbit, all areas of the planet will be observed along a perpetual sunrise.

Throughout its mission, NISAR will gather around one hundred petabytes of data, for around eighty terabytes a day. To ensure as much of the data as possible can be utilized, the spacecraft has a high-capacity solid-state recorder as well as a 3.5 gigabit per second Ka-band communication system.

The NISAR mission is part of a recent flurry of an American-Indian partnership in space. In June 2023, India joined the U.S.-led non-binding Artemis Accords while a NASA payload got a ride to the lunar surface onboard the Chandrayaan-3 Moon mission. Most recently, an Indian astronaut, Shubhanshu Shukla, flew to the International Space Station on board a SpaceX Crew Dragon.

Leaders in India and the U.S. expect further space cooperation between the two countries in the future.

Australia's first domestically-made rocket, Eris-1, developed by Gilmour Space, made its first brief debut test flight earlier on July 29th.

The debut mission of Eris-1 has been in work for several years, with the Bowen Orbital Spaceport in northeastern Australia opening in April 2024, with Gilmour Space receiving a launch permit in November 2024. Back in May, the company began preparing for flight attempts, with early attempts scrubbed due to weather and a premature payload fairing deployment.

Liftoff of Eris-1 finally occurred at 22:35 pm Universal Coordinated Time when the rocket ignited its four Sirius hybrid motors to generate enough thrust to carry the vehicle skyward for a few dozen meters.

Not long after liftoff, Eris-1 began to drift away from the launch pad and lose thrust with a short hover. Following the hover, the vehicle quickly lost altitude before contacting the ground, and then falling over. The test flight ended when the rocket appeared to have been severely damaged or destroyed itself.

In total, the test flight lasted around fourteen seconds, with thrust generated by the rocket for about twenty-three seconds.

Due to Eris-1 being a rocket utilizing hybrid rocket motors, it needs to flow a liquid fuel over a solid propellant to generate the thrust required for flight. With enough thrust generated for liftoff, it's probable that motor systems lacked the necessary flow of fuel needed for proper ignition or sustained thrust.

Shortly after the test flight, Adam Gilmour, Chief Executive Officer of Gilmour Space, wrote the following on LinkedIn:

"Got off the Pad, I am happy. Of course I would have liked more flight time but happy with this"

Several hours after the flight, the Australian Space Agency added that the vehicle was lost and came down within a set safe area, while congratulating the company for their efforts.

This mission was the first time a launch was conducted from Australia since 1971, when the United Kingdom's Black Arrow delivered the Prospero satellite into low Earth orbit.

It is currently unknown when Gilmour Space will attempt another flight of Eris-1.

Gilmour Space's Eris-1 rocket is on the smaller side for an orbital rocket, being just 25 meters tall but consisting of three stages. Stage one has a diameter of 2 meters, while the second-stage has a diameter of 1.5 meters along with the fairing. For payload capacity, Eris-1 is claimed to be able to lift around 300 kilograms to low Earth orbit.

Powering Eris-1's first-stage at liftoff are four Sirius hybrid rocket motors, burning a mixture of solid propellant and liquid fuel, to generate a combined 46.9 tons of thrust. A single Sirius motor powers the second-stage to generate 11.7 tons of thrust. Both the first and second stages burn for around 100 seconds. For reaching orbit, a Phoenix liquid propellant engine burns for around 120 seconds.

In later flights, as soon as 2026, Eris-1 is planned to be improved via a 'Block 2' version, boosting its payload capacity to 1,000 kilograms. An even more capable variant of the rocket, Eris Heavy, is planned to lift 4,000 kilograms into orbit several years from now.

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week, once again, had five launches worldwide, with the majority performed by Falcon 9. News during the week saw the Artemis Accords gaining another member, some details on the first Blue Ring mission, and the launch pad for Rocket Lab's Neutron nearing completion. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

July 22nd - Falcon 9 with two O3b mPOWER satellites

SpaceX launched two O3b mPOWER communications satellites to a medium Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, atop of a Falcon 9. Supporting this mission was booster B1090, for its sixth flight and landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

July 23rd - Falcon 9 for multiple missions

A Falcon 9 is to lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, carrying NASA's TRACERS (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites), PExT (Polylingual Experimental Terminal), and Athena EPIC (Economical Payload Integration Cost) missions to sun-synchronous orbit alongside Dartmouth College's REAL (Realistic Electron Atmospheric Loss) mission. Booster B1081 supported this mission for its sixteenth flight, landing back at Landing Zone 4 inside the Vandenberg Space Force Base.

July 25th - Soyuz 2.1b with two Ionosfera-M satellites

A Soyuz 2.1b launched two Ionosfera-M ionospheric and magnetospheric research satellites to sun-synchronous orbit from the Vostochny Cosmodrome. Eighteen other small spacecraft were also onboard, including the Iranian Nahid-2 telecommunications satellite.

July 26th - Vega-C with CO3D & MicroCarb

Vega-C launched from the Guiana Space Centre carrying five satellites to sun-synchronous orbit for CO3D and MicroCarb missions. Four CO3D spacecraft for Earth observations were onboard, while the MicroCarb satellite is planned to map sources and sinks of carbon dioxide.

July 26th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-26

Twenty-eight Starlink satellites were launched to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 via a Falcon 9. Booster B1078 supported this mission for its twenty-second flight, landing on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas' downrange.

In Other Space News

Senegal signs the Artemis Accords

Senegal has signed the U.S.-led non-binding Artemis Accords on July 24th, becoming the fifty-sixth country to do so. Director General of the Senegalese space agency Maram Kairé signed the Artemis Accords on behalf of Senegal, hosted by NASA chief of staff Brian Hughes. Commenting after the signing, Kairé shared:

"Senegal’s adherence to the Artemis Accords reflects our commitment to a multilateral, responsible, and transparent approach to space," – "This signature marks a meaningful step in our space diplomacy and in our ambition to contribute to the peaceful exploration of outer space."

Although not present at the signing, Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy added the following via the NASA press release:

"Following a meeting between Senegal President Faye and President Trump, today, NASA built upon the strong relations between our two nations as the Senegalese Agency for Space Studies signed the Artemis Accords," – "With Senegal as the 56th signatory, I am proud to further President Trump’s strong legacy of global cooperation in space."

With the signing of the accords, Senegal joins Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, the Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Peru, Poland, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay as a signatory.

First Blue Ring To Demonstrate Space Awareness Sensor

Blue Origin announced on July 24th that the first mission of its Blue Ring spacecraft will support a next-generation space domain awareness sensor from Scout Space onboard. This mission is expected to begin in Spring 2026 via a launch into a geostationary transfer orbit followed by operations in geostationary orbit.

Scout Space's space domain awareness sensor, called Owl, is designed to enhance real-time tracking, characterization, and assessment of space objects via advanced optical sensing, onboard artificial intelligence-driven processing, and autonomous decision-making capabilities to deliver intelligence in space in support of U.S. government customers. Speaking on using the Owl sensor on Blue Ring,  Paul Ebertz, Senior Vice President of Blue Origin’s In-Space Systems business unit, stated:

"Integrating Scout’s Owl sensor on this first mission marks a significant step forward in advancing [space domain awareness] capabilities and underscores our commitment to supporting the nation’s mission requirements," – We’re thrilled to bring Blue Ring to market and support Scout with unmatched mission maneuverability, versatility, and capacity in [geostationary orbit] and beyond."

Philip Hover-Smoot, Chief Executive Officer of Scout Space, added:

"We’ve always believed that no single company can bring the best space superiority capabilities to the market alone," – "We’re thrilled to work with Blue Origin to bring Scout’s secure solutions onboard this historic first Blue Ring mission."

Work continues at Launch Complex 3

Since announcing its partially reusable Neutron rocket, fuelled by liquid methane and liquid oxygen, Rocket Lab has been busy building the vehicle's launch pad in Wallops, Virginia. Recently, the company has shared new images of the launch pad, taken from above, with work on the rocket's launch mount, propellant systems, and water deluge equipment appearing complete or near complete.

According to the company's Principal of Environmental Innovation and Sustainability, the launch pad should be ready for an official opening next month.

This follows a series of various updates on Neutron, including tests of the launch pad, as well as the vehicle's Archimedes engines, payload fairing systems, and guidance fins. The company also announced a sea-based landing platform, dubbed 'Return On Investment'.

What to Expect Next Week

July 27th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-2

SpaceX intends to launch a batch of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit via a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E.

July 27th - Long March 6A with GuoWang satellites

A Long March 6A will liftoff from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center carrying a group of GuoWang satellites into polar orbit.

July 28th - Eris for its debut flight

Gilmour Space is planning to perform the debut flight of its Eris rocket from the Bowen Orbital Spaceport, in Australia.

July 29th - Hyperbola-1 with a to-be-annouced payload

iSpace is preparing to perform its second return-to-flight mission with its small, solid-fuelled Hyperbola-1 rocket for its eighth overall mission.

July 30th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-29

Another Falcon 9 is planning to launch a batch of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40.

July 30th - Long March 8A with a to-be-annouced payload

A Long March 8A is preparing to liftoff from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site, possibly with either a batch of GuoWang or Qianfan internet mega-constellation satellites.

July 30th - GSLV MK II with NISAR

The Indian Space Research Organisation is expecting to launch its joint spacecraft with NASA (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, or NISAR) to sun-synchronous orbit atop of a GSLV Mk II rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Center.

July 30th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 13-4

Yet more Starlink satellites are expected to be launched from Space Launch Complex 4E atop of a Falcon flying to low Earth orbit.

July 31st - Electron for a HASTE mission

Rocket Lab is believed to be preparing for an Electron flight in its HASTE (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron) configuration, flying out of Wallops, Virginia, on a suborbital trajectory.

July 31st - Falcon 9 for Crew-11

NASA's Crew-11 mission, with astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, as well as JAXA's Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos' Oleg Platanov, to the International Space Station is expected to launch atop of a Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A.

For around six million users, SpaceX's Starlink internet service, provided by almost 8,000 satellites, suddenly went down for two and a half hours globally, affecting civilian and government users yesterday.

The outage is the first in almost two years, when in September 2023, the network also went down worldwide.

According to SpaceX's Starlink Twitter account, the outage was acknowledged at 20:05 pm Universal Coordinated Time on July 24th. Just over four hours later, the issue was said to be resolved.

Following the first Starlink posts on the outage, Michael Nicolls, Vice President of Starlink Engineering, took to Twitter to state:

"Starlink has now mostly recovered from the network outage, which lasted approximately 2.5 hours.  The outage was due to failure of key internal software services that operate the core network.  We apologize for the temporary disruption in our service; we are deeply committed to providing a highly reliable network, and will fully root cause this issue and ensure it does not occur again."

In the day following the global outage, reports of problems via Downdetector are around sixty times that of normal services.

Among those affected by the outage were Ukrainian military forces, battling an invading Russia in the conflict's fourth year. According to Reuters, over fifty thousand Starlink terminals deployed across the frontline went down, causing communications and drone operations to stop with it.

Starlink has been an essential part in Ukraine's warfighting capabilities, often to the point of overreliance on SpaceX, which has led Elon Musk to shut down the service periodically to appease Russian President Vladimir Putin. This reliance has led Ukrainian forces to explore alternatives if available.

Other forces possibly affected by the outage include the U.S. Army and Navy. Hundreds of Starshield spacecraft, the military version of Starlink (which may interconnect with and hide in the Starlink constellation), used by the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office and Space Development Agency, may have been affected too.

Not the only internet constellation in orbit

The outage comes as Amazon's Kuiper space-based internet service, to be provided by up to 3,236 satellites, is ramping up its deployment rate. So far the constellation has 78 spacecraft in orbit, 24 deployed by a Falcon 9 and two groups of 27 launched by Atlas V. After deployment of further satellites, services from Kuiper are planned to be available later this year at speeds of up to one gigabit per second, giving Starlink its first capable western competitor.

To assist in competing against SpaceX's internet constellation, Amazon has partnered with Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, America's Verizon, and the UK's Vodafone to bring services directly to consumers. Furthermore, the company is teaming up with Airbus to provide its airliners with in-flight connectivity.

Alongside the two privately developed American constellations are two Chinese ones. One with more satellites in orbit, 90, is the Shanghai Government-backed Qianfan, and the Central Government-backed GuoWang, with 34 satellites in space.

China's approach to space-based internet constellations is fundamentally different from the U.S. one; rather than building out the constellations to generate revenue or to bolster existing services (AWS in Amazon's case), they are viewed as essential new infrastructures. As a new infrastructure, the constellations will not only provide internet services but enable 6G networks, smart autonomous ports, alongside general internet-of-things uses. With the constellations being viewed as infrastructure, it is believed that the Chinese government is willing to invest without a guaranteed return on investment, with both networks being a possible redundancy for the other.

However, the two Chinese constellations are massively trailing Starlink due to a bottleneck in launch opportunities, which is expected to be eased once reusable rockets begin to fly. Despite this, the operators of the Qianfan constellation have already signed agreements with Brazil, Kazakhstan, and Malaysia to introduce its services when available, while eying expansion throughout Africa, Central Asia, and South America.

Makenzie Lystrup, Director of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in the state of Maryland, shared on July 21st that she was resigning from the space agency.

In her letter of resignation, Lystrup did not mention why she was leaving, but stated:

"After much reflection, I have made the difficult decision that it is time for me to step aside as Director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. As mentioned in the official announcement, my last day will be August 1," – "I am grateful for the opportunity to have led during both triumphant moments and challenging times. Together we have achieved remarkable things, from returning samples from an asteroid, to supporting farmers and fellow citizens with critical Earth observations, to keeping the Roman Space Telescope on budget and on schedule, to starting the brilliant work for Habitable Worlds Observatory, the next step in a long line of breakthrough science, engineering, and technology." – "As I have said before, we are not in a sprint or a marathon – it’s a relay race in which each of us is handed a baton by someone, and after our run we hand it off to another. Thank you."

The full letter has been shared by NASA Watch.

NASA's Acting Associate Administrator Vanessa Wyche thanked Lystrup for her support of various agency missions, including the James Webb Space Telescope and the Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer. Before becoming Director of Goddard in April 2023, being the first woman to lead the center, Lystrup was previously Ball Aerospace's (today BAE Systems) Vice President and General Manager of Civil Space Programs.

Lystrup is the second head of a major NASA facility to leave under the Trump Administration, following Laurie Leshin's departure from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, announced in early March. Leshin left the laboratory for personal reasons but remains as a Professor of Geochemistry and Planetary Science at Caltech, which runs the facility for NASA.

The Goddard Space Flight Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratory are both heavily involved with NASA's broad science portfolio, which the Trump Administration is looking to cut. U.S. legislators are hoping to restore science funding to the space agency.

Meanwhile, the agency is losing thousands of employees due to a push by its former Acting Administrator. And NASA Chief of Staff Brian Hughes has ordered employees to stop issuing press releases celebrating new scientific results and achievements, and not to expect restorations to their programs' funding if cut.

The Voyager Declaration

In response to actions from the Trump Administration, 287 current and former NASA employees and scientists have issued The Voyager Declaration to lambast proposed wide-reaching cuts. In the declaration, the signatories, 131 public and 156 anonymous, affirm their support of NASA's mission while formally dissenting on:

• Changes to NASA's Technical Authority capacities that are driven by anything other than safety and mission assurance.
• The closing out of missions for which Congress has appropriated funding which represents a permanent loss of capability to the United States both in space and on Earth.
• Implementing indiscriminate cuts to NASA science and aeronautics research that will leave the American people without the unique public good that NASA provides.
• Non-strategic staffing reductions that will jeopardize NASA's core mission.
• Canceling NASA's participation in international missions that would abandon America's allies.
• The termination of NASA contracts and grants for reasons unrelated to performance which weakens state and local economies across the country.
• The elimination of programs aimed at developing and supporting NASA's workforce that undermines the agency's power to innovate for the benefit of humanity.

Alongside the above points, the signatories also highlight:

"Major programmatic shifts at NASA must be implemented strategically so that risks are managed carefully. Instead, the last six months have seen rapid and wasteful changes which have undermined our mission and caused catastrophic impacts on NASA's workforce. We are compelled to speak up when our leadership prioritizes political momentum over human safety, scientific advancement, and efficient use of public resources. These cuts are arbitrary and have been enacted in defiance of congressional appropriations law. The consequences for the agency and the country alike are dire."

The full letter is available on the Stand Up For Science website.

The declaration was also shared after employee protests on "Moon Day" in Washington D.C., the U.S. capital, took place regarding the NASA cuts. Those protests follow similar ones from late June outside the agency's headquarters and at Johnson Space Center in March.

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week had five launches occurring worldwide, the majority for internet mega-constellations. News from the week saw four astronauts returning to Earth, a new Acting Administrator for NASA, and continued possible budget perils. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

July 13th - Falcon 9 with Dror-1

Heading to a geostationary transfer orbit, a Falcon 9 launched the Israel Aerospace Industries' Dror-1 communications satellite from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. Supporting this mission was booster B1083 for its thirteenth flight, with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

This was also Falcon 9's 500th mission.

July 14th - Long March 7 with Tianzhou-9

From Launch Complex 201 at the Wenchang Space Launch Site, a Long March 7 blasted off carrying the Tianzhou-9 cargo resupply spacecraft, heading for low Earth orbit and eventually the Tiangong Space Station (docking about three hours after launch). Onboard the spacecraft are scientific experiments, two new and improved Feitian spacesuits, along with food and other consumables. Propellant will also be transferred to the space station for its maneuvering and attitude control systems.

July 16th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-2

Twenty-six Starlink satellites headed to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Booster B1093 supported this launch for its fourth flight, landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

July 16th - Falcon 9 with KF-01

A Falcon 9 launched from Space Launch Complex 40 headed for low Earth orbit, carrying twenty-four Kuiper satellites for Amazon, bringing the constellation up to seventy-eight satellites. In support of the mission was a brand new Falcon 9 booster, B1096, was performing its first flight, and landing in the Atlantic Ocean on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

July 19th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-3

Another twenty-four Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E. Booster B1082 supported the mission, for its fourteenth flight, along with a landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

In Other Space News

Axiom-4 crew return to Earth

Since June 26th, the Axiom-4 crew, consisting of Peggy Whitson, Shubhanshu Shukla, Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, and Tibor Kapu, were aboard the International Space Station for eighteen days, performing over sixty science experiments and returning astronauts to space for India, Poland, and Hungary after a decades-long gap. On July 14th, the four astronauts left the station inside Crew Dragon 'Grace'.

Following the undocking, Crew Dragon 'Grace' performed a series of burns to head to the East coast of America, eventually splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. After splashdown, Whitson, Shukla, Uznański-Wiśniewski, and Kapu were recovered by SpaceX personnel.

New Acting NASA Administrator appointed

In a surprise move, Donald Trump announced on July 9th that he was appointing Sean Duffy, already Secretary of Transportation, as Interim Administrator of NASA. It's unknown why Trump chose Secretary Duffy to lead NASA for the foreseeable future, although part of the reason may be that he previously stood up to Elon Musk regarding air traffic controllers.

As someone the Senate has already approved of, Duffy may continue some of previous Acting Administrator Petro's work on behalf of Trump, albeit as a pre-established loyalist. As of writing, Duffy has not halted the bleeding of talent from NASA, pushed by Petro.

Around July 18th, Sean Duffy is believed to have made his first visit to NASA in his new role, stating the following via a new Twitter account:

"Wrapping up my day at NASA - spoke with the smart leaders of our mission directorates. We agree - America MUST dominate space and our critical moon mission, ARTEMIS, must be as known & supported by America just as Apollo was! It's a race to the moon. Clock is ticking. I'm fired up and ready to launch!"

That message does not sound like someone who is heading an ostensibly civilian space agency.

NASA funding still in peril?

U.S. politicians have moved to restore funding to NASA slashed by the Trump Administration through a series of bills signed, and awaiting to be, by the President. Funding restored is directed toward two more Artemis Moon missions using the Space Launch System rocket and the agency's broad science portfolio.

Although some of the funding being restored still has to go through the lengthy process of getting to the President's desk, and it needs to do so before a deadline of October 1st. If not passed in time, Ars Technica reports, officials from the Trump Administration intend to go with its intended cuts to NASA.

In support of NASA, sources told Ars, legislators have been signaling that they intend to prevent the cuts and are not supportive of them, especially in states with NASA activities. As such, American legislators are attempting to restore funding before the deadline.

What to Expect Next Week

July 21st - Falcon 9 with two O3b mPOWER satellites

SpaceX is planning to launch two O3b mPOWER communications satellites to a medium Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40.

July 22nd - Falcon 9 for multiple missions

A Falcon 9 is planned to lift off from Space Launch Complex 4E carrying NASA's TRACERS (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites), PExT (Polylingual Experimental Terminal), and Athena EPIC (Economical Payload Integration Cost) missions to sun-synchronous orbit alongside Dartmouth College's REAL (Realistic Electron Atmospheric Loss) mission.

July 24th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-26

Another batch of Starlink satellites is planned to head to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40.

July 25th - Soyuz 2.1b with two Ionosfera-M satellites

Two Ionosfera-M ionospheric and magnetospheric research satellites are planned to launch to sun-synchronous orbit atop of a Soyuz 2.1b from the Vostochny Cosmodrome.

July 26th - Vega-C with CO3D & MicroCarb

A Vega-C is preparing to launch from the Guiana Space Centre carrying two missions to sun-synchronous orbit, CO3D for Earth observations and MicroCarb to map sources and sinks of carbon dioxide.

July 26th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-2

SpaceX intended to launch another batch of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit via a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E.

July 26th - Eris for its debut flight

Gilmour Space is planning to perform the debut flight of its Eris rocket from the Bowen Orbital Spaceport, in Australia.

A Falcon 9 launched from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, at 06:30 am UTC on July 16th, heading for low Earth orbit carrying a batch of Kuiper satellites for Amazon.

In support of the mission was a brand new Falcon 9 booster was performing its first flight, and landing in the Atlantic Ocean on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

For the mission, Falcon 9 delivered the 24 Kuiper satellites to an orbital altitude of 465 kilometers, where they were deployed from the rocket's second-stage over around eight minutes. Following the separation, the constellations operations team took over control of the satellite group.

With the launch of a third group of satellites, Amazon now has 78 spacecraft in orbit, out of a planned total of 3,236. The group of 24 follows two groups of 27 launched atop of United Launch Alliance's Atlas V in April and June.

Those and the new Kuiper satellites are currently headed to an orbital altitude of around 630 kilometers, with an inclination of 51.9 degrees, to begin offering internet services to customers. Following the deployment of further satellites, services from Kuiper are planned to be available later this year at speeds of up to one gigabit per second.

In order to meet a deadline with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, half of the Kuiper constellation, around 1,600 satellites, will need to be launched by mid-2026. Currently, Amazon has bought over eighty launches to deploy the constellation from a variety of American and European launch providers. Additionally, Amazon has invested 140 million United States Dollars in a spacecraft storage and integration facility at Cape Canaveral to streamline launch preparations.

To assist in competing against other internet mega-constellations, Amazon has partnered with Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, America's Verizon, and the UK's Vodafone to bring services directly to consumers. Furthermore, the company is teaming up with Airbus to provide its airliners with in-flight connectivity.

Rather ironically, the provider of today's Kuiper launch, SpaceX, has its own internet mega-constellation known as Starlink, which had a launch from California hours prior. The Starlink constellation is currently the dominant player for low Earth orbit-based satellite internet, with around 6,000 satellites in orbit and over five million customers receiving services. SpaceX's synergy of having both Starlink and Falcon 9 allows for more frequent additions to the constellation, with at least one launch per week.

Minimizing astronomical impacts

As Amazon expands its Kuiper constellation, its planned thousands of satellites could have an impact on astronomy. In June, the company announced that it had signed a coordination agreement with the U.S. National Science Foundation to support both the expansion of the constellation and the continuation of astronomical science.

The coordination agreement reportedly establishes clear protocols and processes to ensure Kuiper can deliver its services to customers worldwide while minimizing interference with astronomical observations. Ensuring this, the agreement is based on months of technical collaboration between Amazon's teams and the National Science Foundation's Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory and Radio Astronomy Observatory, alongside feedback from the astronomy community. Speaking on the collaboration, Chris Hofer, Head of Kuiper's International Spectrum Management and Strategy, stated:

"We’ve been engaged with the astronomy community since the initial design and development of Project Kuiper, and we’re pleased to build on that collaboration with a formal coordination agreement with [National Science Foundation]," – "This agreement underscores our commitment to responsible space operations and our belief that satellite broadband and ground-based astronomy can successfully coexist, and we look forward to continuing that work as we deploy our full satellite constellation."

To continue to mitigate impacts into the future, the agreement and its framework are set to evolve alongside technological advancements in both satellite operations and astronomical research.

What is Falcon 9?

Falcon 9 is currently the world's only operational partially reusable medium-lift launch vehicle. The rocket is manufactured and operated by the American space company SpaceX. Falcon 9 currently launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base, in California, and Cape Canaveral, in Florida.

For recovery, Falcon 9 has four grid fins and four landing legs on the first-stage. The first stage either lands vertically on a drone ship or a landing pad back near its launch site, landing back at the launch site causes a reduction in payload capacity.

SpaceX claims that Falcon 9 can send up to 22,800 kilograms into low Earth orbit when expended or 18,400 kilograms when reused. Similarly, it can send up to 8,300 kilograms into geosynchronous transfer orbit when expended or 5,500 kilograms when reused.

The first-stage is powered by nine Merlin 1D engines burning rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen to generate 771 tons of thrust. The second-stage is powered by a single Merlin 1D vacuum engine burning rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen to generate 95 tons of thrust.

On the pad, the rocket is 70 meters tall with the first and second stages 3.7 meters in diameter, the fairing is 5.2 meters in diameter and tapers out from the top of the second-stage. Fully fuelled Falcon 9 weighs approximately 549,000 kilograms.

Disclaimer: All funding figures are in United States Dollars. This article is not investment advice; consult a financial advisor before investing.

Firefly Aerospace announced on July 11th that it is filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of shares of its common stock.

Firefly intends to list its common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker symbol 'FLY'. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined.

Filings from the company for the initial public offering have revealed that Firefly has 176.9 million in cash and cash equivalents, which is expected to allow the company to operate for at least the next twelve months, alongside 1.1 billion in contract backlogs for launch and lunar missions. Although the filings also disclosed that the company operated at a net loss of 231.1 million during fiscal year 2024, while it has 173.6 million in debt, with 136.1 million of it part of a loan with a 13.87% interest rate.

Despite that, Firefly expects to experience growth in the years ahead, as part of a boom in the global space industry, via more launches of its Alpha rocket, its Elytra orbital transfer vehicle, and lunar missions, as well as its in-development larger, partially reusable rocket known as Eclipse, made in partnership with Northrop Grumman.

However, Firefly's Alpha rocket has had a rocky flight history since its debut in 2021. Alpha's debut ended shortly after launch in September 2021, followed by a partial failure in October 2022 when the rocket failed to reach its intended altitude, with a first success occurring in September 2023 for the rapid response VICTUS NOX mission. Another partial failure then followed in December 2023 when a target orbit was not achieved, but a quick bounce back to success happened in July 2024 for the launch of eight NASA CubeSats. The most recent flight of Alpha sadly failed due to a mishap during staging, where the second-stage's engine had its nozzle destroyed, resulting in the mission not reaching orbital speed.

Firefly's commercially operated lunar lander program has had more success than Alpha out of the gate. Blue Ghost Mission-1 breezed through all its milestones on its way out to the Moon and regarding a landing on the lunar surface, which occurred on March 2nd 2025. Two more Blue Ghost missions are set for 2026 and 2028 to reattempt the first mission's feats and prove the reliability of the lander.

Given Alpha's shaky launch history and the large gaps between lunar missions, along with possible delays to Eclipse, it remains to be seen if potential investors will act in the company's best interest. Missions with the Elytra orbital transfer vehicle may boost confidence with investors, due to contracts with the U.S. military.

Firefly Aerospace is not the first U.S. space company, where orbital launch is a substantial part of the company's portfolio, moving to become publicly traded. The first to do so was Astra in early 2021, although it was later delisted in early 2024 due to the company's failure on seven out of its nine launches with its small-lift orbital rocket. Following them was Virgin Orbit, with its Boeing 747-launched small-lift rocket, in December 2021. By mid-2023, the company had filed for bankruptcy, auctioning off its assets, following a launch failure and failure to secure additional financing.

So far, the only publicly traded company performing orbital launches to survive and thrive after an initial public offering is Rocket Lab, with its small-lift carbon fiber Electron launch vehicle. The company has managed to thrive thanks to a series of strategic acquisitions to position itself within the satellite manufacturing business, producing necessary components, instruments, or entire spacecraft. This has enabled the company to work with customers from satellite design to orbital deployment. However, following launch failures and complex hardware announcements, the stock does experience drops.

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week saw just one launch taking place. News from the week saw moves to restore more NASA funding, optical communication tests in deep space, a cargo resupply mission being prepared, and a space company preparing to go public. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

July 8th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-28

A Falcon 9 launched from Space Launch Complex 40, in Floirda, carrying twenty-eight Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. Supporting this mission was booster B1077 for its twenty-second flight, with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

In Other Space News

Tiangong resupply mission prepared for launch

On July 12th, China's latest resupply mission for its Tiangong Space Station, Tianzhou-9, was rolled out to the launch pad atop of a Long March 7 rocket. The rollout had the rocket head from its assembly building to Launch Complex 201 at the Wenchang Space Launch Site.

Cargo heading for the space station aboard the Tianzhou-9 resupply spacecraft includes food and other consumables for the current Shenzhou-20 crew and future Shenzhou-21 mission, along with scientific experiments that will be performed over the next few months and years. Two new spacesuits are also being delivered alongside improvements for microgravity exercise equipment. Scientific experiments that will be performed over the next few months and years are onboard too.

At the moment, the launch of the Tianzhou-9 mission to Tiangong is expected at around 21:40 pm Universal Coordinated Time on July 14th. In the hours after launch, the resupply spacecraft will dock to the aft port of the Tianhe module, which was recently vacated by the previous cargo resupply mission.

ESA performs deep-space optical communication link

The European Space Agency shared on July 10th that it has performed Europe's first optical communication link with a spacecraft in deep space. That optical link was made via two high-precision optical ground stations to NASA's Psyche spacecraft, around 265 million kilometers away, and its Deep Space Optical Communications experiment.

The optical ground stations for the communication link were the Kryoneri Observatory and Helmos Observatory, 37 kilometers apart and both in Greece. To test the optical link, a high-power laser beacon was directed toward Psyche, carrying no data, but designed to have a return signal sent back. Regarding the challenges of sending a signal to Psyche and back, Sinda Mejri, project manager of the ESA's Ground Laser Receiver system, stated:

"Enabling this two-way optical handshake meant overcoming two major technical challenges: developing a laser powerful enough to hit a distant spacecraft with pinpoint accuracy; and building a receiver sensitive enough to detect the faintest return signal, sometimes just a few photons, after a journey of hundreds of millions of kilometres."

Building on the optical link demonstration, the European Space Agency plans to build its Advancing Solar System Internet and GrouNd (ASSIGN) network. ASSIGN aims to federate existing and planned networks into a secure and resilient interoperable network of networks, a solar system internet, for ESA’s missions as well as institutional and commercial ones.

Senate moves to restore science funding

Through July 9th and 10th, a Senate Subcommittee Markup of the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act is aiming to keep NASA science funding at Fiscal Year 2024 levels, a full restoration from the proposed Trump cuts. This would see around 7.3 billion United States Dollars provided to the space agency for its science missions.

However, at the moment the bill currently remains in the Senate. In the coming weeks, the Senate's restoration of funding for science will have to pass through the House of Representatives, where it will likely experience cuts.

Firefly eyes initial public offering

Firefly Aerospace announced on July 11th that it is filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of shares of its common stock.

Firefly intends to list its common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker symbol 'FLY'. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, J.P. Morgan, Jefferies, and Wells Fargo Securities are acting as lead bookrunning managers for the proposed offering. Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank Securities, and Cantor are acting as joint bookrunners. Roth Capital Partners and Academy Securities will serve as co-managers.

What to Expect Next Week

July 13th - Electron with JAKE 4

Electron is believed to be preparing for a suborbital military-related mission from Wallops, Virginia.

July 13th - Falcon 9 with "Commercial GTO 1"

SpaceX may be preparing for a launch to geostationary transfer orbit with Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40.

July 14th - Long March 7 with Tianzhou-9

The China Manned Space Agency is preparing its Tianzhou-9 cargo resupply spacecraft for a launch to the Tiangong Space Station atop of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology's Long March 7 from the Wenchang Space Launch Site.

July 15th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-2

A batch of twenty-six Starlink satellites is planned to head to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California.

July 15th - Eris for its debut flight

Gilmour Space is planning to perform the debut flight of its Eris rocket from the Bowen Orbital Spaceport, in Australia.

July 16th - Falcon 9 with KF-01

Amazon may launch its first batch of Kuiper satellites atop of a Falcon 9, in a mission dubbed KF-01 (Kuiper Falcon-01), from Space Launch Complex 40 to low Earth orbit.

July 17th - Starlink Group 17-3

From Space Launch Complex 4E, a Falcon 9 is planning to launch a batch of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit.

Donald Trump returned to the White House back in January, promising lofty goals for the country's space agency, including sending astronauts to the Moon and Mars. In the six months since however, plans (if there are any) have gone awry due to massive defunding pushes and political spats.

Potential Mars plans began to derail in early June when Trump and Elon Musk, head of SpaceX, had a very public falling out and continued feud. That feud saw SpaceX's numerous government contracts threatened with cancellation, followed by Musk stating he would decommission the U.S.' only operational crewed spacecraft (he later backed out of decommissioning Crew Dragon).

The Trump-Musk feud also saw the President's nominee for NASA Administrator, billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman, pulled. Trump viewed Isaacman as not aligned with his political agenda and a tool of Musk.

Before and during the feud, the Trump Administration outlined 6 billion United States Dollars in cuts to NASA, to end over forty science missions, cancel the America's only Moon rocket after the Artemis III mission, and remove support for various international programs.

In a pushback against the Trump cuts, the recently passed 'One Big, Beautiful Bill' includes 10 billion dollars for NASA. Key funding for Artemis in the bill is; 4.1 billion for Space Launch System (SLS) rockets for Artemis IV and Artemis V, 2.6 billion to fully fund the Gateway lunar space station being built with international cooperation, and 20 million for a fourth Orion crew spacecraft for use with Artemis IV and reuse on subsequent missions, among other items.

Meanwhile, a Senate Subcommittee Markup of the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act is aiming to keep NASA science funding at Fiscal Year 2024 levels, a full restoration. But the bill currently remains in the Senate. In the coming weeks, the Senate's restoration of funding for science will have to pass through the House of Representatives, where it will likely experience cuts.

Despite the rush to return funding to NASA, agency employees are already leaving the agency after acting agency leadership began a push to remove over 5,500 people. As of July 9th, Politico reports that at least 2,145 employees have left, with those leaving at various stages of their careers. The majority of those who have left so far are reported to belong to science or human spaceflight mission directorates.

NASA, in the meantime, has been headed by Acting Administrator Janet Petro, previously Director of the Kennedy Space Center, since Trump returned to office. As Acting Administrator, Petro has signed off on an anti-diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility witchhunt along with attempting to reorganize the agency in vague and internally unpopular ways while pushing through Trump's budget cuts, despite them not yet being law.

Recently, in a surprise move, Donald Trump announced on July 9th that he was appointing Sean Duffy, already Secretary of Transportation, as Interim Administrator of NASA. It's unknown why Trump chose Secretary Duffy to lead NASA for the foreseeable future, although part of the reason may be that he previously stood up to Elon Musk regarding air traffic controllers. But as someone the Senate has already approved of, Duffy may continue some of Petro's work on behalf of Trump, albeit as a pre-established loyalist.

Six months in, with forty-two more to go, NASA and its personnel have gone from widely enjoying where they work to feeling like dirt while being pushed to leave. Over one in ten employees have already left the agency, likely forever, and taking their talents with them. Budgetary pressures are part of why NASA is shedding personnel, and with four more years of it ahead, many more people may leave.

Funding is on the way to being partly restored this year, but there's no stopping the Trump Administration from trying to push through its funding cuts again next year. Trump has many months ahead of him to try and win political support to his side to push through his national plans, of which NASA is a part.

The government of the United Kingdom announced on July 3rd that it is allocating 75.6 million British Pounds (around 102 million United States Dollars) for the country's first space debris mitigation mission.

That mission will launch a spacecraft before the end of 2028 to bring a defunct satellite from its orbit. Following the announcement of the tender, a single supplier for the spacecraft is being sought to commit to a five-year research and development contract.

Known as the Active Debris Removal (ADR) mission, the spacecraft for it will be equipped with robotic arms and autonomous orbital navigation technology. Utilizing the necessary hardware and software, the ADR spacecraft is planned to capture two non-functioning UK-licensed satellites from low Earth orbit. After capture, the satellites will be brought into Earth's atmosphere to safely burn up.

In deorbiting the satellites, further orbital debris won't be created or pose a threat to critical orbit infrastructure such as positioning, weather forecasting, and communications spacecraft. Currently, there is an estimated 140 million pieces of space debris smaller than 1 centimeter, and over 54,000 tracked objects larger than 10 centimeters currently orbiting Earth, which could cause catastrophic damage to satellites.

At the moment, ClearSpace is developing the necessary technologies for the ADR mission. As of May, the company has derisked the spacecraft’s robotic capture system and developed the image processing algorithms. Late last year, the company was moving toward a Critical Design Review, following a Preliminary Design Review in April 2024.

The UK government views the ADR mission as a critical step in addressing space debris, allowing for the long-term sustainability of the orbital environment and protecting space infrastructure. Speaking on the mission, UK Minister for Space, Sir Chris Bryant, commented: 

"By tackling the growing threat of space debris head-on, we are protecting the infrastructure that supports everything from national security to everyday connectivity whilst also creating high-skilled jobs and securing the UK’s leadership in the growing space economy."

The tender for the ADR mission follows an 11 million British Pound (about 14.9 million United States Dollars) investment in feasibility studies and design work into the mission's technologies. It also comes after the space agencies of New Zealand and the UK signed a blueprint in October 2024 for the removal and servicing of operational satellites that are at risk of creating debris.

Before the ADR mission, the UK was part of the RemoveDEBRIS spacecraft international consortium. Between 2018 and 2019, the spacecraft demonstrated the deployment of a debris-capturing net followed by a harpoon designed to retrieve target satellites.

If successful, the UK's ADR mission would be the second to prove it can move a non-cooperative satellite from one orbit to another. The first mission to demonstrate this was China's Shijian-21 between December 2021 and January 2022, towing a defunct BeiDou satellite from geostationary orbit.

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week saw five launches globally, with one suborbital mission. News from the week included NASA and the U.S. Space Force receiving additional funding, as well as Europe's reusable rocket program slowly progressing. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

June 29th - New Shepard with NS-33

Blue Origin performed New Shepard's suborbital NS-33 mission from its West Texas launch site, carrying Allie Kuehner, Carl Kuehner, Leland Larson, Freddie Rescigno, Owolabi Salis, and James Sitkin above the Kármán line. The vehicles used during the mission were booster NS5, flying for the fourth time, and capsule RSS Kármán Line, making its third flight.

July 1st - Falcon 9 with MTG-S1

A Falcon 9 launched the MTG-S1 spacecraft from Launch Complex 39A, in Florida, to a geostationary transfer orbit. Supporting this mission was booster B1085, for its ninth flight, with a landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange.

July 2nd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-25

Another Falcon 9 launched twenty-seven Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. Booster B1067 supported this launch for its twenty-ninth flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

July 3rd - Long March 4C with Shiyan-28B-01

A Long March 4C blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center carrying Shiyan-28B-01 to low Earth orbit. Shiyan-28B-01 is planned to be utilized for space environment detection and related technical tests, which may include tracking other spacecraft and debris.

July 3rd - Soyuz 2.1a with Progress MS-31

A Soyuz 2.1a launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome carrying the Progress MS-31 spacecraft toward the International Space Station. Following launch, Progress MS-31 docked to the Poisk module on the Russian segment of the space station.

In Other Space News

SLS funded in reconciliation bill

The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have recently passed President Trump's 'One Big, Beautiful Bill', with it being signed into law on July 4th. Over the next decade, the bill is expected to spend trillions on defence and tax cuts while cutting social security and healthcare programs to fund the former.

Also included in the bill is 10 billion dollars for NASA amid major budget cuts and agency restructuring. Funding for NASA includes the following, via SpacePolicyOnline.com:

• 4.1 billion for SLS rockets for Artemis IV and Artemis V. 
• 2.6 billion to fully fund the Gateway lunar space station being built in cooperation with Europe, Japan, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates as part of the Artemis program.
• 20 million for a fourth Orion crew spacecraft for use with Artemis IV and reuse on subsequent missions.
• 1.25 billion for the ISS to ensure there is no gap between when the ISS ends in 2030 and new commercial space stations are in orbit to replace it.
• 325 million for the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle to propel the ISS from orbit into the Pacific Ocean at the end of its lifetime.
• 1 billion in “improvements” at five NASA fields centers: Stennis in Mississippi (120 million), Kennedy in Florida (250 million), Johnson in Texas (300 million), Marshall in Alabama (100 million), and Michoud in Louisiana (30 million).
• 700 million for a Mars Telecommunications Orbiter (MTO) that would be delivered by December 31, 2028.
• 85 million for Space Vehicle Transfer for “a space vehicle” to be transferred to a NASA Center involved in the Commercial Crew Program and placed on public exhibition.

Meanwhile, 'One Big, Beautiful Bill' is providing the U.S. Space Force with 40.1 billion in funding for 2026. It is unknown what the Space Force will spend its new billions on, but options include the 'Golden Dome' system, itself unclear in use, or on-orbit military assets.

Funding provided through the bill is expected to last both agencies for ten years.

Europe's Themis moves closer to testing

Europe's Themis reusable booster demonstrator, built by ArianeGroup, has recently arrived at the Esrange Space Centre, located in Sweden, after completing a journey of over 3,000 kilometers (~1,860 miles) from France. At Esrange, the demonstrator is being prepared for a series of tests regarding reusability, like a wet dress rehearsal, static fires, and a series of hops.

According to Andrew Parsonson of EuropeanSpaceflight.com, Themis represents Europe’s first full-scale demonstrator of a reusable rocket's first-stage, and is part of an initiative to foster the key technologies of future reusable launch systems. The Themis demonstrator is said to be 28 meters long.

Alongside the demonstrator arriving in Sweden, the vehicle's engine, known as Prometheus, completed a series of tests in June but was announced on July 2nd. Those tests included four ignitions in one day, at a test facility in France, to advance the development of the reusable rocket engine.

What to Expect Next Week

July 8th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-28

A batch of Starlink satellites is expected to head to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40.

A newly found interstellar comet, called 3I/ATLAS, is currently whipping through the solar system at a speed of around 58 kilometers per second (130,000 miles per hour).

3I/ATLAS is believed to be coming through our solar system from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius and is around 670 million kilometers (420 million miles) away from Earth. Within our solar system, the comet will pass between the orbits of Earth and Mars. At its closest approach to Earth, the comet will be around 240 million kilometers (150 million miles) away due to the planet's orbit.

In a July 2nd blog post by NASA's Science Editorial Team, the U.S. space agency shared that the interstellar visitor was found to be from outside our solar system by the NASA-funded ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) survey telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile. Since then, further observations with ATLAS, located worldwide across Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Oceania, have taken place to better understand 3I/ATLAS. Although at the end of the blog post, NASA noted:

"The interstellar comet’s size and physical properties are being investigated by astronomers around the world. 3I/ATLAS should remain visible to ground-based telescopes through September, after which it will pass too close to the Sun to observe. It is expected to reappear on the other side of the Sun by early December, allowing for renewed observations."

Meanwhile, New Scientist has reported that the interstellar comet is around twenty kilometres wide and will accelerate as it comes closer to the sun, thanks to orbital mechanics. At the moment, 3I/ATLAS will come closest to the Sun in October, then passing Jupiter around March 2026, before leaving our solar system.

Spotting interstellar visitors is a difficult feat, but ATLAS is designed for challenging observations like it, and also for finding potentially dangerous asteroids within the solar system. Regarding the challenge, John Tonry, a University of Hawai'i Institute for Astronomy astronomer and professor, shared:

"Spotting a possible interstellar object is incredibly rare, and it’s exciting that our [University of Hawai'i]-operated system caught it," – "These interstellar visitors provide an extremely interesting glimpse of things from solar systems other than our own. Quite a few come through our inner solar system each year, although 3I/ATLAS is by far the biggest to date."

Sadly, any missions to possibly head to the interstellar comet are already too late with current technologies, due to the insane speeds needed in a short time.

Coincidentally, news of 3I/ATLAS is coming out at the same time as fans of the 1996 blockbuster 'Independence Day' are posting the film's events in real time.

3I/ATLAS is not our solar system's first interstellar visitor, and is believed to be the third (that we have observed). The first was the small asteroid ʻOumuamua (designated 1I/2017 U1), found in October 2017. Our first visitor is believed to have come from roughly around the direction of Vega in the constellation Lyra while reaching a peak speed of 87.71 kilometers per second (196,200 miles per hour), along with passing closer to the Sun than the orbit of Mercury.

Following ‘Oumuamua, comet 2I/Borisov (found in 2019) blazed through our solar system at over 32 kilometers per second (71,500 miles per hour), skimming the orbit of Mars, from the direction of the borders of constellations Cassiopeia and Perseus. 2I/Borisov was also a small visitor, but produced a tail over 160,000 kilometers (100,000 miles) long, about fourteen times the size of Earth.

NASA leadership, consisting of Janet Petro, Acting NASA Administrator, Brian Hughes, NASA Chief of Staff, Vanessa Wyche, Acting NASA Associate Administrator, Casey Swails, Deputy Associate Administrator, held an agency-wide 'Town Hall' meeting on June 25th to update the space agency's workforce on its reorganization.

The reorganization is due to Donald Trump's budget cuts at NASA for fiscal year 2026, slashing 6 billion United States Dollars from the space agency for the smallest amount since 1961. However, the Trump Administration has no discernible plans for the U.S. space program despite lofty rhetoric about returning to the Moon and reaching Mars.

Although the massive budget cut still needs to pass through the proper legislative process, acting NASA leadership is already moving to reorganize and downsize the agency. This reorganization, SpaceNews reports, is not expected to go below the center level, with three approaches being considered. The first would organize the agency through mission directorates, another would be based around NASA's centers across the U.S., while the final would be a product line model, with no explanation or elaboration. Closing some centers is being considered to facilitate these approaches.

Acting Administrator Janet Petro shared, in an internal memo on June 27th, her reasoning for reorganizing ahead of budget approval:

"Reorganizations are a process – and will take time. I expect to decide on the top-level structure and begin engaging our stakeholders in the coming weeks. That structure will only go down to the center level initially. What happens below that will take shape over time, and I ask for your patience as this reshaping effort takes place – it will take time before we know how this impacts individuals.  We are reorganizing to become the most efficient and effective organization we can be – aligned to the mission we are charged with and the resources we expect to receive."

Recently, NASAWatch has reported that agency leadership is pushing agencywide management to quietly 'encourage' more employees to leave without Congressional approval, with 1,600 people having left NASA already. The fiscal year 2026 budget looks to eliminate over 5,500 people. Related to this, Petro's memo stated:

"We are offering a limited window of voluntary workforce shaping tools to avoid any involuntary separations. For civil servants, the opt-in period for the Deferred Resignation Program, Voluntary Early Retirement Authority, and Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment is open through July 25. We do not plan to offer these programs again."

At present as well, NASA has no one nominated for its next Administrator, following the removal of White House support for the billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman. Janet Petro currently expects to remain Acting Administrator, likely into next year.

As part of plans to streamline NASA, acting leadership still expects to perform many science missions through various existing and future spacecraft despite a cut of almost half the agency's science budget. Those cuts would end over forty missions, active and close to launch, including Mars Sample Return (set to be years after China's equivalent mission), the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, OSIRIS-APEX, and Juno. Once offline, those missions won't be able to collect any more scientific data.

Effects of the reorganization and budget cuts are expected to be felt beyond NASA, as much of the agency's budget is used to pay contractors. Those contracts have many tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of employees of their own.

Meanwhile, under President Donald Trump's 'One Big, Beautiful Bill', the U.S. Space Force's budget will be increased to 39.9 billion United States Dollars in 2026, a massive increase from its 2025 budget of 28.7 billion. Contrasted against NASA's budget troubles, it is becoming rather clear where American priorities in space are.

Protests at NASA

While agency leadership yields to the White House, outside of NASA facilities, like the Glenn Research Center and the agency's headquarters (a similar one took place at Johnson Space Center in March), protests have been taking place in an attempt to bring more awareness to the budget cuts. These protests did not prevent anyone from entering the facilities and were not a picket line.

NASA Headquarters leadership was not happy with the protests, advising employees not to participate and to avoid members of the media. Alongside this, advocacy groups looking to reverse the NASA budget cuts made no mention of the protests.

Welcome to our twenty-first Monthly Dose of Space! In this monthly newsletter, we bring you major news from the past month. The end of June brings us to the midpoint of the year, so let's jump into the past month!

News of the Month

News during June has seen new discoveries and images of the universe beyond our solar system, new commercial launch systems progressing through key tests, the latest in a series of collaborative satellites, and a space-related budget increase?

Tianwen-2 photographs the Earth & Moon

The Tianwen-2 asteroid sample return mission is currently over 12 million kilometers away from Earth as it heads out to asteroid 2016HO3/469219 Kamoʻoalewa, with a planned arrival in the summer of 2026, where it will gather between 200 and 1,000 grams of samples. Around 2029, those samples will be returned to Earth during a flyby.

Recently, in the last hours of the month, the China National Space Administration shared two images captured by the spacecraft’s Asteroid Narrow Angle Camera. Those images were of the Earth and Moon, seen from a distance of 590,000 kilometers as the probe left the Earth-Moon system for interplanetary space.

The new images follow the first one shared from the mission in early June, of the spacecraft's circular solar panel fully unfurled. Further images are likely to come from Tianwen-2 in the future, as the mission is said to be housing deployable cameras that will image the spacecraft from a third-person perspective.

U.S. Space Force eyes 40 billion budget

SpaceNews is reporting that under President Donald Trump's 'One Big, Beautiful Bill', the U.S. Space Force's budget will be increased to 39.9 billion United States Dollars in 2026, a massive increase from its 2025 budget of 28.7 billion.

The 2026 budget would provide the military space branch with 26.1 billion in traditional funding, along with 13.8 billion through a reconciliation package. This major increase in funding is reportedly due to Trump wanting an overall budget of one trillion dollars for the U.S. military.

It is unknown what the Space Force will spend its new billions on, but options include the 'Golden Dome' system, itself unclear in use, or on-orbit military assets. Additionally, the funding provided through a reconciliation package is expected to last ten years.

A potentially massive funding increase for the Space Force comes as NASA is facing dramatic cuts across its scientific and exploration portfolio. It is also becoming rather clear where American priorities in space are.

Brazil, China begin work on Earth resource satellite

Brazil enacted the legal protocols for the sixth China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite, commonly shortened to CBERS, on June 10th formally authorizing joint development of the spacecraft. Prior legal documents were signed over the last two years.

Work on the satellite will be conducted by the China Academy of Space Technology and Brazil’s Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (National Institute for Space Research). A preliminary design review for the spacecraft was completed by both sides in mid-2024, and in December of the same year, Brazil approved the beginning of spacecraft production.

CBERS-6 is set to use Brazil’s Multi Mission Platform to support necessary spacecraft systems. Instruments planned to be onboard the spacecraft include an X-band synthetic aperture radar, provided by the Chinese side, with an imaging resolution as low as 1 meter, which will enable all-day, any-weather, any-condition imaging of the Earth's surface.

Following satellite development, CBERS-6 will head to a sun-synchronous orbit in 2028. Data collected by the spacecraft is planned to be used for planning, monitoring, and control of deforestation, border surveillance, urban planning, water resources and vegetation monitoring, coastal surveillance, and agricultural support. This data will also be complemented by previous CBERS satellites.

CAS Space performs static fires

CAS Space, one of China's commercial launch companies and operator of the Kinetica series of rockets, fired hardware for both its orbital and suborbital rockets during June.

Beginning on June 11th, CAS Space has fired up one of the first-stage boosters of its Kinetica-2 launch vehicle at the company’s dedicated engine firing center in Conghua, Guangzhou, Guangdong province. The test static fired one Kinetica-2’s first-stage booster equipped with three YF-102 engines burning rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen. For the test, the three engines fired for approximately 169 seconds while generating around 255 tons of thrust.

In its blog post about the static fire, the company stated that the test had:

"[Fully] verified the coordination and matching between the rocket's first-stage pressurization and delivery system and the engine system, as well as the correctness of the system interfaces such as power, structure, avionics, and launch support."

Just over a week later, CAS Space also fired up the engine for its Lihong-2 reusable suborbital tourist vehicle, known as Liqing-1 or Kinecore-1. The test firings saw the engine fired twice, a first firing lasted for 100 seconds while the second lasted for 80 seconds.

Liqing-1 burns liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene to generate 30 tons of thrust, via a gas generator cycle with a pintle injector to provide fuel and a regeneratively cooled nozzle. This is said to allow a throttle range between fifty to one hundred percent of the engine’s thrust while starting up to three times. Five Liqing-1 engines are designed to power the company’s Lihong-2 tourism vehicle.

Following those tests, on June 25th the company fired up Kinetica-2's second-stage for two static fires, on the same test stand used for the first-stage booster. The first static fire lasted for around 280 seconds while the second lasted for just 25 seconds.

Both test firings simulated flight conditions and durations while testing the YF-102V engine’s ability to gimbal while producing thrust, around 85 tons. During the test, two start-ups and shut-downs were performed to demonstrate the second-stage mission profile.

Kinetica-2 is currently expected to perform its debut flight from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in September of this year, while Lihong-2 may not fly until around 2026 or 2027. Lessons learned with Lihong-2 may be applied to Kinetica-2 once it is equipped for reusable operation around 2028.

Rubin Observatory shares first images

The U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science shared the first images from its Vera C. Rubin Observatory, located in Chile, on June 23rd. The observatory is named after U.S. astronomer Vera C. Rubin, who found conclusive evidence of vast quantities of invisible material known as dark matter.

Utilizing its 8.4-meter telescope, said to be the largest digital camera ever built, the Rubin Observatory revealed new ultra-high-definition images of galaxies, nebulae, and over 2,100 never-before-seen asteroids (found in just ten hours). Luckily, none of these asteroids are expected to pose a threat to Earth.

Speaking on the new observatory, Brian Stone, Acting Director of the National Science Foundation, said:

"[The] Rubin Observatory will capture more information about our Universe than all optical telescopes throughout history combined," – "Through this remarkable scientific facility, we will explore many cosmic mysteries, including the dark matter and dark energy that permeate the Universe."

This bounty of data will help scientists make new discoveries about the Universe and will serve as an become a resource for scientific exploration for years to come.

James Webb finds new exo-planet

Since its launch on Christmas Day, 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope has been a powerful asset to astronomers across the globe. Recently, the powerful eye in the sky found a new exoplanet, dubbed TWA 7b, orbiting around the (relatively) young CE Antilae star, which is just a few million years old.

Besides being Webb's first exoplanet find, TWA 7b is the smallest exoplanet humanity has directly imaged. The planet has a mass 100 times that of Earth or about 0.3 times that of Jupiter. Since the 1999s CE Antilae has been a closely studied star due to its unique "pole" position relative to Earth. Simply put, we see the CE Antilae system from a top-down view, allowing us to see structures we normally cannot.

Launches of the Month

This month saw 26 launches worldwide, continuing a busy year. If you want to know what each launch was we have them all listed below!

June 3rd - Electron for 'Full Stream Ahead'

Rocket Lab launched its Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1B on the Māhia Peninsula, in New Zealand, carrying a single satellite to low Earth orbit for BlackSky Technology. BlackSky's satellite will provide images with a 50-centimeter resolution to customers.

June 3rd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 12-19

Twenty-three Starlink satellites were launched atop of a Falcon 9 to low Earth orbit out of Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. In support of this mission was booster B1077, for its twenty-first flight with a landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange.

This was also the 500th launch for SpaceX's family of Falcon rockets, including Falcon 1, Falcon 9, and Falcon Heavy.

June 5th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-22

Twenty-seven Starlink satellites were sent to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Booster B1063 supported this launch for its twenty-sixth flight, with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

June 5th - Long March 6A with GuoWang Group 04

A Long March 6A launched from Launch Complex 9A at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center carrying five satellites into polar orbit for GuoWang's fourth satellite group. With this launch, the GuoWang mega-constellation has 34 satellites in orbit out of a possible 13,000, which will eventually provide worldwide internet services.

June 7th - Falcon 9 with SXM-10

SpaceX launched SiriusXM's SXM-10 satellite to geostationary transfer orbit with a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40. The SXM-10 satellite will be used to transmit SiriusXM's programming to its listeners' radios.

June 8th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-8

Twenty-six Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Supporting this mission was booster B1088 flying for the seventh time, and landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

June 10th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 12-24

Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, carrying twenty-three more Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. Booster B1083 supported this mission for its twelfth flight, landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange.

June 11th - Electron for 'The Mountain God Guards'

Rocket Lab once again flew its Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1A on the Māhia Peninsula, carrying a synthetic aperture radar satellite to low Earth orbit, on behalf of iQPS. The satellite is part of a planned thirty-six satellite constellation that can image a chosen part of the Earth every ten minutes.

June 13th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-6

Another twenty-six Starlink satellites headed to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 flying out of Space Launch Complex 4E. Supporting this mission was booster B1081, flying for the fifteenth time with a landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

June 13th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 12-26

Twenty-three more Starlink satellites rode into low orbit Earth atop of a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40. Booster B1078 supported this mission for its twenty-first flight, with a landing on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas' downrange.

June 14th - Long March 2D with Zhangheng-1-02

A Long March 2D blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying the Chinese-Italian Zhangheng-1-02, also known as China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite 02, to sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite is expected to provide natural disaster monitoring and prediction, as well as space environment monitoring and forecasting.

June 17th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-9

A Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, carrying twenty-six Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. Supporting this mission was booster B1093, making its third flight, and landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

June 18th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-18

Another twenty-eight Starlink satellites were sent to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. Booster B1090 supported this mission for its fifth flight, with a downrange landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

June 19th - Angara-A5 with an unknown payload

An Angara-A5 flew for what is believed to be its first operational flight from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The payload atop of the rocket is unknown, possibly a military satellite, but heading toward geostationary orbit.

June 20th - Long March 3B/E with ChinaSat-9C

A Long March 3B/E blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, for the rocket's ninth flight of the year, carrying ChinaSat-9C to a geostationary transfer orbit. ChinaSat-9C is planned to replace ChinaSat-9, currently residing over China, along with its radio, television, and communication services.

June 23rd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-23

A Falcon 9 flew from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, carrying twenty-seven Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. Supporting this mission was booster B1069, performing its twenty-fifth flight, and landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

June 23rd - Atlas V with KA-02

United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket roared from Space Launch Complex 41, in Florida, carrying the second batch of twenty-seven satellites for Amazon's Kuiper internet-providing mega-constellation into low Earth orbit. With the launch of a second group of satellites, Amazon now has 54 spacecraft in orbit, out of a planned total of 3,236.

June 23rd - Falcon 9 with Transporter-14

SpaceX performed its Transporter-14 rideshare mission, carrying seventy small satellites, with a Falcon 9 flying to sun-synchronous orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Booster B1071 supported this mission for its twenty-sixth flight, with a landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

June 25th - Falcon 9 with Axiom-4

Axiom Space's Axiom-4 mission departed from Launch Complex 39A, in Florida, atop of a Falcon 9, carrying Peggy Whitson, Shubhanshu Shukla, Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, and Tibor Kapu toward the International Space Station. Crew Dragon 'Grace' is flying for the first time during this mission, while the launch was supported by booster B1094, performing its second flight and landing back at Landing Zone 1 in Cape Canaveral. Details on the mission are available here.

June 25th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-16

Another twenty-seven Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 launching from Space Launch Complex 40. Supporting this mission was booster B1080, flying for the twentieth time, and landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange.

June 26th - Electron for 'Get The Hawk Outta Here'

Rocket Lab's Electron rocket flew again from Launch Complex 1A, carrying three satellites into low Earth orbit for HawkEye 360. The satellites aim to provide precise mapping of radio frequency emissions worldwide.

June 28th - Falcon 9 with Starlink 10-34

Falcon 9 once again launched twenty-seven Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40. Booster B1092, flying for the fifth time, supported this mission, with a landing on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas' downrange.

June 28th - Electron for 'Symphony In The Stars'

Another Electron flew from Launch Complex 1B for a mission to sun-synchronous orbit. The customer for this mission is unknown.

June 28th - H-IIA with GOSAT-GW

Japan's H-IIA rocket blasted off from the Tanegashima Space Center carrying a single payload to sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite riding atop of the rocket was GOSAT-GW (Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite, Greenhouse gases and Water cycle), which will monitor greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere.

This was also the final flight of Japan's H-II series of rockets.

June 28th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-7

Twenty-six more Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E by a Falcon 9. Booster B1088 supported this mission for its eighth flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

June 29th - New Shepard with NS-33

Blue Origin performed New Shepard's suborbital NS-33 mission from its West Texas launch site, carrying Allie Kuehner, Carl Kuehner, Leland Larson, Freddie Rescigno, Owolabi Salis, and James Sitkin above the Kármán line. The vehicles used during the mission were booster NS5, flying for the fourth time, and capsule RSS Kármán Line, making its third flight.

Launches to look out for in July!

July will continue a busy year for worldwide launches. Listed below are all of the launches expected or likely to happen next month, launches on the 1st of July may have already occurred due to when this newsletter is published.

July 1st - Falcon 9 with MTG-S1

A Falcon 9 is expected to launch the MTG-S1 spacecraft from Launch Complex 39A to a geostationary transfer orbit.

July 2nd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-25

Twenty-seven more Starlink satellites are planned to head to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40.

July 2nd - Eris for its debut flight

Gilmour Space is planning to perform the debut flight of its Eris rocket from the Bowen Orbital Spaceport, in Australia.

July 3rd - Long March 4B with a to-be-announced payload

A Long March 4B may lift off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, heading for low Earth orbit.

July 3rd - Soyuz 2.1a with Progress MS-31

A Soyuz 2.1a is preparing to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome with the Progress MS-31 spacecraft bound for the International Space Station.

July 16th - GLSV Mk II with NISAR

The Indian Space Research Organisation is expecting to launch its joint spacecraft with NASA (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, or NISAR) to sun-synchronous orbit atop of a GSLV Mk II rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Center.

July 25th - Soyuz 2.1b with two Ionosfera-M satellites

Two Ionosfera-M ionospheric and magnetospheric research satellites are planned to launch to sun-synchronous orbit atop of a Soyuz 2.1b from the Vostochny Cosmodrome.

July 26th - Vega-C with CO3D & MicroCarb

A Vega-C is preparing to launch from the Guiana Space Centre carrying two satellites to sun-synchronous orbit, CO3D for Earth observations and MicroCarb to map sources and sinks of carbon dioxide.

July 31st - Falcon 9 with Crew-11

NASA's Crew-11 mission, with astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, as well as JAXA's Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos' Oleg Platanov, to the International Space Station is expected to launch atop of a Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A.

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week had ten launches worldwide, with the majority heading to low Earth orbit. During the week, a new booster bound for SLS in the 2030s experienced an anomaly, and another spacewalk aboard the Tiangong Space Station was performed. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

June 23rd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-23

A Falcon 9 flew from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, carrying twenty-seven Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. Supporting this mission was booster B1069, performing its twenty-fifth flight, and landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

June 23rd - Atlas V with KA-02

United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket roared from Space Launch Complex 41, in Florida, carrying the second batch of twenty-seven satellites for Amazon's Kuiper internet-providing mega-constellation into low Earth orbit. With the launch of a second group of satellites, Amazon now has 54 spacecraft in orbit, out of a planned total of 3,236.

June 23rd - Falcon 9 with Transporter-14

SpaceX performed its Transporter-14 rideshare mission, carrying seventy small satellites, with a Falcon 9 flying to sun-synchronous orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Booster B1071 supported this mission for its twenty-sixth flight, with a landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

June 25th - Falcon 9 with Axiom-4

Axiom Space's Axiom-4 mission departed from Launch Complex 39A, in Florida, atop of a Falcon 9, carrying Peggy Whitson, Shubhanshu Shukla, Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, and Tibor Kapu toward the International Space Station. Crew Dragon 'Grace' is flying for the first time during this mission, while the launch was supported by booster B1094, performing its second flight and landing back at Landing Zone 1 in Cape Canaveral. Details on the mission are available here.

June 25th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-16

Another twenty-seven Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 launching from Space Launch Complex 40. Supporting this mission was booster B1080, flying for the twentieth time, and landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange.

June 26th - Electron for 'Get The Hawk Outta Here'

Rocket Lab's Electron rocket flew from Launch Complex 1A, on the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand, carrying three satellites into low Earth orbit for HawkEye 360. The satellites aim to provide precise mapping of radio frequency emissions worldwide.

June 28th - Falcon 9 with Starlink 10-34

Falcon 9 once again launched twenty-seven Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40. Booster B1092, flying for the fifth time, supported this mission, with a landing on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas' downrange.

June 28th - Electron for 'Symphony In The Stars'

Another Electron flew from Launch Complex 1B, also on the Māhia Peninsula, for a mission to sun-synchronous orbit. The customer for this mission is unknown.

June 28th - H-IIA with GOSAT-GW

Japan's H-IIA rocket blasted off from the Tanegashima Space Center carrying a single payload to sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite riding atop of the rocket was GOSAT-GW (Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite, Greenhouse gases and Water cycle), which will monitor greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere.

This was also the final flight of Japan's H-II series of rockets.

June 28th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-7

Twenty-six more Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E by a Falcon 9. Booster B1088 supported this mission for its eighth flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

In Other Space News

New SLS booster suffers anomaly

On June 26th, Northrop Grumman was firing a new booster bound for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, no earlier than the Artemis 9 mission in the mid-2030s currently, when an anomaly was experienced.

The anomaly saw the exhaust from the solid rocket motor escape before the nozzle, eventually obliterating the nozzle into thousands of pieces, around 100 seconds into the test. Despite the nozzle missing and the end of the motor heavily damaged, the motor burned for its planned duration, somewhat unaffected.

Speaking on the test, Northrop Grumman's Vice President of Propulsion Systems, Jim Kalberer, shared:

"Today’s test pushed the boundaries of large solid rocket motor design to meet rigorous performance requirements. While the motor appeared to perform well through the most harsh environments of the test, we observed an anomaly near the end of the two-plus minute burn. As a new design, and the largest segmented solid rocket booster ever built, this test provides us with valuable data to iterate our design for future developments."

The test where the anomaly was experienced was for the Booster Obsolescence and Life Extension (BOLE) five-segment solid rocket booster, planned to be the key part of SLS' 'Block 2' upgrade. That upgrade with see the boosters' burn profile be more optimized for the rocket, use carbon-fiber composites rather than steel for its casings, and switch to an electronic thrust vector control mechanism for the nozzle. All ultimately increasing the payload capacity of SLS.

Shenzhou-20 crew conducts second spacewalk

Also on June 26th, the Shenzhou-20 crew conducted their second spacewalk onboard the Tiangong Space Station. For the spacewalk, Chen Dong and Chen Zhongrui exited the station for around six and a half hours via the Wentian modules airlock, with crewmate Wang Jie supporting the duo from inside.

While outside the station, the two spacewalkers installed space debris protection devices, like their previous and many other Tiangong spacewalks, along with new interface and foot restraint adapters on external platforms. Alongside installing new hardware, inspections of the station's three modules were performed. Tiangong's robotic arm also helped with these tasks.

This spacewalk came just five weeks after the duo performed their previous spacewalk. At present, the three taikonauts of the Shenzhou-20 mission have over four months left in their mission.

What to Expect Next Week

June 29th - New Shepard with NS-33

Blue Origin is planning to fly New Shepard's suborbital NS-33 mission from its West Texas launch site, carrying Allie Kuehner and her husband, Carl Kuehner, Leland Larson, Freddie Rescigno, Owolabi Salis, and James Sitkin.

July 1st - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-25

Twenty-seven more Starlink satellites are planned to head to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40.

July 1st - Falcon 9 with MTG-S1

A Falcon 9 is expected to launch the MTG-S1 spacecraft from Launch Complex 39A to a geostationary transfer orbit.

July 1st - Eris for its debut flight

Gilmour Space is planning to perform the debut flight of its Eris rocket from the Bowen Orbital Spaceport, in Australia.

July 3rd - Soyuz 2.1a with Progress MS-31

A Soyuz 2.1a is preparing to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome with the Progress MS-31 spacecraft bound for the International Space Station.

Axiom Space's Axiom-4 mission blasted off from Launch Complex 39A, in Florida, atop of a Falcon 9 at 07:31 am Universal Coordinated Time on June 25th, carrying Peggy Whitson, Shubhanshu Shukla, Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, and Tibor Kapu into low Earth orbit to chase down the International Space Station.

Onboard the Axiom-4 mission are India, Hungary, and Poland's first astronauts in decades. Shubhanshu Shukla is the first Indian since Rakesh Sharma in 1984, a 41-year gap. Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski from Poland is the first since Mirosław Hermaszewski in 1978, a 47-year gap. Hungary's Tibor Kapu is the first since Bertalan Farkas in 1980, a 45-year gap. Those flights were all through the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics' Interkosmos program.

The crew of four spent around a day catching up to the space station in their Crew Dragon spacecraft, which they named 'Grace'. Whitson expanded on the name, sharing:

"We had an incredible ride uphill, and we now set our course for the International Space Station aboard the newest member of the Dragon fleet — our spacecraft, ‘Grace’. Grace is more than a name. It reflects the elegance with which we move through space against the backdrop of Earth. It speaks to the refinement of our mission, the harmony of science and spirit, and the unmerited favor we carry with humility. Grace reminds us that spaceflight is not just a feat of engineering, but an act of goodwill —for the benefit of every human, everywhere."

Supporting the crew and Crew Dragon 'Grace' into orbit was Falcon 9 booster B1094, performing its second flight and landing back at Landing Zone 1 in Cape Canaveral.

Crew Dragon 'Grace' safely carried its crew to the space station, docking to the Harmony modules space-facing port at 10:31 am Universal Coordinated Time on June 26th. Almost two hours later, following a series of leak and safety checks, Whitson, Shukla, Uznański-Wiśniewski, and Kapu entered the International Space Station.

While onboard the space station, the Axiom-4 crew will carry out a plethora of science. Research experiments from the Indian Space Research Organization focuses on microalgae studies and crop seed development in microgravity; the European Space Agency is researching extensive astronaut health monitoring, bone loss, and pharmaceutical testing; Hungary is looking into human microbiomes, cognitive function, and innovative propulsion systems; while Axiom Space's experiments specializes in supporting astronauts with medical conditions and cancer research in space. The full list of experiments is available here.

The Axiom-4 quartet is planned to spend two weeks on the International Space Station.

Who's onboard?

Peggy Whitson, from the U.S., is the Commander of the Axiom-4 mission, flying to space for the fifth time. She previously commanded the Axiom-2 mission in 2023 and participated in three long-duration spaceflights during her career at NASA. In total, she has spent 675 days in space.

Shubhanshu Shukla, from India, is the Pilot of the Axiom-4 mission for his first trip to space. He was selected in 2024 as one of India's first four astronauts in the 21st century, possibly to fly aboard the first crewed Gaganyaan mission within a few years. Prior to astronaut selection, he was a pilot in the Indian Air Force.

Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, from Poland, is a Mission Specialist for the Axiom-4 mission, as part of his first spaceflight. He was selected as a member of the European Space Agency’s Astronaut Reserve Class of 2022 for potential missions to the International Space Station. Notably before his space career, he was the Engineer in Charge for the Large Hadron Collider from 2018 to 2020.

Tibor Kapu, from Hungary, is a Mission Specialist for the Axiom-4 mission for his first trip to space. In 2023, he was one of four Hungarians chosen for the Hungarian to Orbit Astronaut Program. Before being selected, he focused on space radiation protection at an aerospace technology company.

What is Crew Dragon?

Crew Dragon, or Dragon 2, is a partially reusable spacecraft developed by SpaceX. The primary use for Crew Dragon is to send crew to and from the International Space Station. SpaceX also performs free-flight missions with the spacecraft.

Crew Dragon consists of the capsule and trunk. The trunk is used to store unpressurized cargo as well as to have solar panels mounted on one side, to generate power, and radiators on the other, to dissipate heat generated inside. The trunk is not reused and burns up in the atmosphere after each mission. The capsule is where the crew will be during launch, landing, and while on their way to space.

Unlike the original Dragon capsule, the Crew Dragon capsule has a launch abort system consisting of eight SuperDraco engines. This abort system can also be used to bring the capsule to a soft touchdown in the event of four parachute failures. The capsule also has a nosecone that will fold out of the way in space to protect the docking hardware and forward-facing thrusters during launch and landing. The forward-facing thrusters are the main propulsion system for performing maneuvers while in flight. Up to four parachutes will deploy from the capsule during descent to allow it to splash down for recovery.

Crew Dragon was developed as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program to regain crew access to the International Space Station from the United States of America after the retirement of the Space Shuttle. SpaceX currently has four other active Crew Dragon capsules: Endeavour, Resilience, Endurance, and Freedom.

United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket roared from Space Launch Complex 41, in Florida, carrying the second batch of 27 satellites for Amazon's Kuiper internet-providing mega-constellation into low Earth orbit on June 23rd.

In the hours following launch, it was announced that the KA-02 (for Kuiper Atlas 2) mission had deployed the satellites from Atlas V's Centaur upper-stage. This mission, like the previous Kuiper launch, utilized Atlas V's most powerful configuration, with five solid rocket boosters, a five-meter fairing, and a single RL-10 engine on Centaur, to lift the group of satellites.

Six more Atlas V's are being prepared to launch Amazon's Kuiper satellites, before switching to United Launch Alliance's new Vulcan rocket. Gary Wentz, United Launch Alliance Vice President of Government and Commercial Programs, commented on the partnership to deploy Kuiper, saying:

"We are proud to continue our strong partnership with Amazon and empower their mission to bridge the digital divide through reliable satellite technology," – "ULA, working as a catalyst to global connectivity in collaboration with Amazon, enables delivery of these critical satellites designed to drive innovation and connect the world."

With the launch of a second group of satellites, Amazon now has 54 spacecraft in orbit, out of a planned total of 3,236. Kuiper satellites are currently headed to an orbital altitude of around 630 kilometers, with an inclination of 51.9 degrees, to begin offering internet services to customers.

Following the deployment of further satellites, services from Kuiper are planned to be available later this year at speeds of up to one gigabit per second.

Teams working on Kuiper have been moving quickly to ensure routine launches for the constellation, with Rajeev Badyal, Vice President of Technology for Kuiper, noting:

"The success of our first full-scale Kuiper mission in April meant we could move immediately to our next launch. All 27 satellites for our KA-02 mission were fully integrated within 17 days of that first launch ... Thanks to the entire team for the quick turnaround."

In order to meet a deadline with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, half of the Kuiper's constellation, around 1,600 satellites, will need to be launched by mid-2026. Currently, Amazon has bought over eighty launches to deploy the constellation, including launches atop of Europe's Ariane 6, Blue Origin's New Glenn, United Launch Alliance's Atlas V and Vulcan, as well as SpaceX's Falcon 9. Additionally, Amazon has invested 140 million United States Dollars in a spacecraft storage and integration facility at Cape Canaveral to streamline launch preparations.

To assist in competing against other internet mega-constellations, Amazon has partnered with Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, America's Verizon, and the UK's Vodafone to bring services directly to consumers. Furthermore, the company is teaming up with Airbus to provide its airliners with in-flight connectivity.

RocketGPT

Ahead of today's Kuiper mission, SpaceNews reported that United Launch Alliance is trialing a version of OpenAI's government-compliant artificial intelligence chatbot to streamline the company's operations. Currently, the system, dubbed 'RocketGPT', is being utilized by about 150 employees via Microsoft's Azure cloud platform. Deploying 'RocketGPT' is reported to have taken several months to ensure security compliance requirements while fitting the company's specific needs.

Chief Executive Officer of United Launch Alliance, Tory Bruno, expects the tool to help with “tedious, time-consuming things” like report writing, government proposals, and flight telemetry analysis while boosting productivity. However, Bruno also emphasized that artificial intelligence functions as a research assistant rather than a job replacement, requiring extensive training on large datasets and human oversight for final products.

What is Atlas V?

Atlas V is United Launch Alliance's oldest two-stage rocket in service. The rocket is currently planned to be replaced by Vulcan when it retires before 2030.

The first-stage is powered by a single RD-180 generating 390 tons of thrust burning rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen for four minutes and thirteen seconds. The RD-180 is manufactured by NPO Energomash in Russia.

The second-stage is powered by either one or two RL-10 engines generating 10 tons of thrust each while burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen for up to fourteen minutes and two seconds. Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies Company, manufactures the RL-10 engines.

Atlas V can also launch with between zero and five GEM-63 solid rocket motors to augment the rocket's thrust and payload capability. Each booster burns a solid propellant, consisting of Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene and Aluminum-Ammonium perchlorate, generating 169 tons of thrust each for a believed one minute and thirty-four seconds. Northrop Grumman manufactures the solid rocket boosters for use with United Launch Alliance.

Atlas V also has eleven different configurations with the following payload capacities: up to 18,814 kilograms to low Earth orbit, up to 8,900 kilograms to geostationary transfer orbit, or up to 3,850 kilograms to geostationary orbit.

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week saw four launches globally, with an even split between low Earth and geostationary orbit missions. News of the week saw China performing tests of its new crewed spacecraft, Honda performing a rocket hop, and Zhuque-3 firing up! As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

June 17th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-9

A Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, carrying twenty-six Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. Supporting this mission was booster B1093, making its third flight, and landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

June 18th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-18

Another twenty-eight Starlink satellites were sent to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. Booster B1090 supported this mission for its fifth flight, with a downrange landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

June 19th - Angara-A5 with an unknown payload

An Angara-A5 flew for what is believed to be its first operational flight from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The payload atop of the rocket is unknown, possibly a military satellite, but heading toward geostationary orbit.

June 20th - Long March 3B/E with ChinaSat-9C

A Long March 3B/E blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, for the rocket's ninth flight of the year, carrying ChinaSat-9C to a geostationary transfer orbit. ChinaSat-9C is planned to replace ChinaSat-9, currently residing over China, along with its radio, television, and communication services.

In Other Space News

China's Mengzhou completes abort test

On June 17th, China took another step toward the Moon for its crewed lunar program with the launch pad abort test of the Mengzhou capsule at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

The test saw the capsule sever connections to a dummy service module and ignite the launch escape system, pulling the vehicle skyward for twenty seconds. After which the escape system separated. Free of the escape system, Mengzhou gradually rocked toward a stable descent angle before deploying two drogue parachutes to slow it enough to release the three large main parachutes.

Under the main parachutes, the capsule's heat shield was released to allow airbags underneath it to inflate. Two minutes after the launch escape system had ignited, Mengzhou touched down and awaited retrieval by recovery and test teams.

This test was regarded as a success by the China Manned Space Agency, which shared:

“Mengzhou spacecraft system assumes the overall function of escape and is fully responsible for the two tasks of escape and life-saving. Through the test, the escape life-saving subsystem and related large systems of the Mengzhou manned spacecraft were comprehensively assessed, and the correctness and matching of the design of escape timing, escape separation, escape ballistic closed-loop control were verified, and the escape real flight parameters were obtained.”

Later in the year, Mengzhou is expected to complete an in-flight abort test, likely on a customer vehicle akin to NASA’s Orion in-flight abort test, either at Jiuquan or the Wenchang Space Launch Sites.

LandSpace fires up Zhuque-3

LandSpace, one of China's leading commercial rocket firms, fired up its reusable stainless steel Zhuque-3 first-stage booster on June 20th on its launch pad at Jiuquan for a static fire, one of the few remaining tests ahead of the launch vehicle's debut flight.

For the static fire, the booster was fully loaded with liquid methane and liquid oxygen, to mimic its conditions at liftoff and to weigh the stage down, before its nine TQ-12A engines ignited. Once ignited, the nine engines burned together for forty-five seconds, generating around 769 tons of thrust.

This test was hailed as a success, verifying control systems for the nine engines, ensuring they’re generating the same level of thrust, starting up and shutting down at the same time, and gimbaling as wanted, as well as the first-stage’s structure, tank pressurization, and avionics. As such, following the test LandSpace stated:

“This test is not only a comprehensive system exercise that is highly close to the flight state, but also a powerful verification of LandSpace's overall integration capabilities in the research and development of liquid oxygen and methane launch vehicle propulsion systems. It marks that China's liquid rocket propulsion system has achieved important breakthroughs in key technologies such as multi-engine synchronous start-up, multi-engine propellant distribution and combustion stability. It also lays a solid foundation for the upcoming maiden flight of the Zhuque-3 reusable rocket and the engineering of China's reusable launch vehicle technology.”

LandSpace is hoping to fulfill an ambitious year with Zhuque-3 in 2025, targeting three flights and the landing of a first-stage, along with twelve flights in 2026 if all goes as planned this year.

Honda performs reusable rocket test

In a surprise entry for reusable rocket development, Honda, best known as an automaker, performed a hop test on June 17th with a small rocket in Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. The vehicle used for the test was developed by the company and stood 6.3 meters in height, 85 centimeters in diameter, while weighing 1,312 kilograms fully fuelled (900 kilograms without).

For the test, Honda's experimental reusable rocket flew for 56.6 seconds and reached a height of 271.4 meters. The landing saw the vehicle touch down 37 centimeters from its target. Additionally, in a rare occurrence for reusable rocket tests, the vehicles' landing legs tucked into the vehicle after liftoff and redeployed before landing (usually landing legs are fixed in place or a vehicle is launched from a stand with legs deployed for landing).

According to Honda, this test demonstrated key technologies essential for rocket reusability, such as flight stability during ascent and descent, as well as landing capabilities. Global Chief Executive Officer of Honda, Toshihiro Mibe, commented on the test, saying:

"We are pleased that Honda has made another step forward in our research on reusable rockets with this successful completion of a launch and landing test. We believe that rocket research is a meaningful endeavor that leverages Honda’s technological strengths. Honda will continue to take on new challenges—not only to offer our customers various services and value through our products, while addressing environmental and safety issues, but also to continue creating new value which will make people’s time and place more enjoyable."

What to Expect Next Week

June 22nd - Starlink Group 10-23

From Space Launch Complex 40, a Falcon 9 is expected to send twenty-seven Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit.

June 22nd - New Shepard with NS-33

Blue Origin is planning to fly New Shepard's suborbital NS-33 mission from its West Texas launch site, carrying Allie Kuehner and her husband, Carl Kuehner, Leland Larson, Freddie Rescigno, Owolabi Salis, and James Sitkin.

June 22nd - Falcon 9 with Transporter-14

SpaceX is preparing to fly its fourteenth Transporter sun-synchronous orbit small satellite rideshare mission with a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 4E.

June 23rd - Atlas V with KA-02

United Launch Alliance is preparing to launch Amazon's second group of twenty-seven Kuiper satellites to low Earth orbit to build the space-based internet mega-constellation.

June 25th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-34

Another batch of Starlink satellites is planned to head to low Earth orbit via a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40.

NET coming week? - Falcon 9 with Axiom-4

SpaceX is expecting to launch the Axiom-4 mission on a Crew Dragon spacecraft, carrying Peggy Whitson from the U.S., Shubhanshu Shukla from India, Sławosz Uznański from Poland, and Tibor Kapu from Hungary, to the International Space Station atop of a Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A.

In the early morning of June 19th, SpaceX was testing Ship 36 at the Massey's test site down the road from the company's South Texas launch site. This test was planned to build on a single-engine static fire from days prior, expecting to fire up all six Raptor engines on the vehicle.

In preparation for the test, propellant was loaded into Ship 36's liquid methane and liquid oxygen main and landing tanks. During that process, the vehicle experienced a rapid disassembly from the top of the vehicle downward.

Footage of the disassembly appears to show propellant bursting out from the heat shield near the top of the vehicle, then heading down toward the main propellant tanks. Once at the main tanks, the cloud of propellant quickly turned into a fireball, destroying the rest of Ship 36.

Shortly after Ship 36's testing anomaly, SpaceX shared the following statement:

"On Wednesday, June 18 at approximately 11 p.m. CT, the Starship preparing for the tenth flight test experienced a major anomaly while on a test stand at Starbase. A safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation and all personnel are safe and accounted for."

"Our Starbase team is actively working to safe the test site and the immediate surrounding area in conjunction with local officials. There are no hazards to residents in surrounding communities, and we ask that individuals do not attempt to approach the area while safing operations continue"

Despite SpaceX saying there are no hazards to the public, several tons of silica fiber from the vehicle's heat shield were ejected toward populated areas. Silica fiber can be hazardous if inhaled, similar to asbestos.

In the hours after the anomaly, the Massey's test site was on fire for a few hours before it subsided ahead of sunrise, thanks to emergency responders from nearby localities. Once the Sun was up, it was clear that plumbing to the test stand was gone, along with damage to much of the site.

Despite this, Elon Musk, head of SpaceX, took to Twitter to say:

"Just a scratch" – "Preliminary data suggests that a nitrogen COPV in the payload bay failed below its proof pressure. If further investigation confirms that this is what happened, it is the first time ever for this design."

Ship 36's testing anomaly is the latest setback for SpaceX's in-development fully reusable Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle this year. In January, Ship 33 was lost due to a fire in its engine section. Next in March, Ship 34 was also lost via a fire in the engine section. Then in May, Ship 35 was destroyed during atmospheric reentry following a spin induced by leakages in the engine section. All of the failures were using a 'Block 2' Starship upper-stage.

Before the loss of Ship 36 during testing, SpaceX was believed to be working toward June 29th for the tenth test flight of Starship-Super Heavy.

With the Massey's test site quite likely damaged following the testing anomaly, rebuilding and extensive repairs will be necessary before Ship 37 can complete its testing campaign before flying the tenth test flight. Those repairs will take anywhere from a few weeks to many months.

Arguably, the Starship program has regressed significantly in terms of progress this year. 2023 saw two failures of the launch system, followed by one in 2024 ahead of three successes that year, including the first tower catch of the Super Heavy booster. Whereas this year, all Starship upper-stages have succumbed to failures, with two out of three boosters repeating the feat of being caught.

2025 had been poised to be critical for the Starship program with a Ship-to-Ship propellant transfer demonstration for NASA. The propellant transfer between two vehicles is critical for getting the Starship lunar lander out to the Moon, and returning American astronauts to the surface, for one mission, through the Artemis program. SpaceX had also been hoping to fly Starships to Mars in 2026.

The lead image is compliant with NASASpaceflight's Content Use Policy.

China launched its Shijian-25 refueling spacecraft atop of a Long March 3B/E back at the beginning of the year. Since then, the spacecraft has been heading toward its likely target, Shijian-21, to dock.

Over the past week, Shijian-25 has been observed heading through the geostationary satellite belt toward the four-year-old Shijian-21, which itself was drifting for several months. The two spacecraft were expected to meet, based on observations, around June 11th, but slowed their approach as the distance closed. And as of June 14th, Slingshot Aerospace, a space situational awareness firm, noted:

"[The Shijian-25 and Shijian-21] spacecraft operate within 3 km of one another at an average altitude of 35,750 km and inclination of 10.6 degrees"

As the two Chinese spacecraft are heading toward each other, U.S. military satellites USA-270 and USA-271 are also nearby, likely to monitor them.

Shijian-25 is stated to be a technological demonstration mission for refueling other spacecraft in orbit, allowing for an extension in a satellite's operational life. Details on the spacecraft are scarce, however at the 2021 Zhuhai Airshow plans for a similar spacecraft boasted approximately 1,300 kilograms of propellant available for refueling services.

At the same time as the airshow, Shijian-21 was launched into geostationary orbit to prove space debris mitigation technologies and practices. Doing so in January of 2022 by towing a defunct BeiDou satellite to a graveyard orbit.

Shijian-21 is likely designed for the tests Shijian-25 is aiming to perform, with the airshow description indicating both satellites have robotic arms to allow either spacecraft to grab the other. Docking operations for the spacecraft described at the airshow say:

"When it arrives within about 2 meters of the satellite, with the cooperation of the robotic arm, it will achieve a close connection with the satellite refueling port and deliver fuel to the satellite.”

It's unknown when Shijian-25 is planned to dock with Shijian-21, as is expected with a mission from the Shijian program, along with when a spacecraft-to-spacecraft refueling test may take place. China's space agencies and enterprises may announce the success of the test anywhere from a few hours to several weeks afterwards.

China isn't the only country currently interested in developing in-space refueling capabilities. The United States currently has three companies pursuing the technology, namely SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Northrop Grumman, all of which are largely privately funded and developing it independently.

SpaceX is leading the U.S. efforts with a transfer of propellant between its Starship vehicles' landing and main tanks, but the vehicle has been stuck with regular failures, holding up orbital flights needed for the next major step in development like a Starship-to-Starship propellant transfer. Meanwhile, Northrop Grumman is in a similar stage of development to Shijian-21, with refueling in space set to come later. Lastly, Blue Origin is still undergoing development on Earth for its technology, planned to be used in support of its lunar landers.

The U.S. had tested an initial form of the technology, which Shijian-25 is set to demonstrate, back in 1984 aboard the Space Shuttle STS-41G mission with the Orbital Refueling System experiment. That experiment saw some propellant transferred via some astronaut-installed piping between two tanks to simulate a connection to another spacecraft. A Shijian-25-like U.S. mission was in development until March of 2024, when it was cancelled due to technical, cost, and schedule challenges.

Welcome Back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week saw six launches worldwide, with the majority carrying Starlink satellites. News from the week had demolition work taking place at Cape Canaveral as well as New Glenn moving toward its second flight, and the White House possibly moving against SpaceX. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

June 8th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-8

Twenty-six Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Supporting this mission was booster B1088 flying for the seventh time, and landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

June 10th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 12-24

Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, carrying twenty-three more Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. Booster B1083 supported this mission for its twelfth flight, landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange.

June 11th - Electron for 'The Mountain God Guards'

Rocket Lab launched its Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1A on the Māhia Peninsula, carrying a synthetic aperture radar satellite to low Earth orbit, on behalf of iQPS. The satellite is part of a planned thirty-six satellite constellation that can image a chosen part of the Earth every ten minutes.

June 13th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-6

Another twenty-six Starlink satellites headed to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 flying out of Space Launch Complex 4E. Supporting this mission was booster B1081, flying for the fifteenth time with a landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

June 13th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 12-26

Twenty-three more Starlink satellites rode into low orbit Earth atop of a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40. Booster B1078 supported this mission for its twenty-first flight, with a landing on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas' downrange.

June 14th - Long March 2D with Zhangheng-1-02

A Long March 2D blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying the Chinese-Italian Zhangheng-1-02, also known as China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite 02, to sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite is expected to provide natural disaster monitoring and prediction, as well as space environment monitoring and forecasting.

In Other Space News

White House reviewing SpaceX contracts

Reuters is reporting that the White House has directed the Department of Defense and NASA to collect details on the approximately 22 billion United States Dollars in government contracts bound for SpaceX, following a public feud between President Donald Trump and his major backer Elon Musk.

According to the report, the White House ordered the agencies to scrutinize Musk’s contracts to prepare possible retaliation against the businessman and his companies, while Pentagon officials are simultaneously considering whether to reduce the role that SpaceX may play in 'Golden Dome'. Nothing firm has been decided with SpaceX's government contracts yet, with Reuters being informed that the review is intended for quick retaliation against Musk should the need arise.

At present, SpaceX operates the only U.S. spacecraft capable of carrying astronauts to the International Space Station while being deeply involved with American intelligence gathering capabilities.

SLC-37 falls to make way for Starship

On June 12th, launch infrastructure at Space Launch Complex 37, used to support United Launch Alliance's Delta IV rockets, fell from the Cape Canaveral skyline thanks to explosives installed by Space Launch Delta 45. The infrastructure at the launch pad supported its final launch back in April 2024 for the last flight of Delta IV Heavy.

Plans for Space Launch Complex 37 will see SpaceX take over the launch complex, making it the company's third in Florida, for its Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle. Two launch pads are planned to be built in support of 76 launches per year.

SpaceX is currently expanding its Starship-Super Heavy operations in Florida, with the construction of a production facility for the vehicle underway. Completion of facilities at Cape Canaveral is set for 2026 at present.

New Glenn set for second flight in August

Blue Origin's Chief Executive Officer, Dave Limp, shared on June 9th that the company is aiming to fly New Glenn's second mission in August of this year, following the vehicle's debut flight in January. Sharing the launch target, Dave Limp wrote:

"New Glenn’s second mission will take place NET August 15th. Following in the footsteps of our first booster, we’ve chosen the name  “Never Tell Me The Odds” for Tail 2. One of our key mission objectives will be to land and recover the booster. This will take a little bit of luck and a lot of excellent execution. We’re on track to produce eight GS2s this year, and the one we’ll fly on this second mission was hot-fired in April."

It's currently unknown what payload will be atop of New Glenn in August but Ars Technica is reporting that NASA's ESCAPADE mission to Mars could be onboard.

Last year, Blue Origin's leadership expected New Glenn to fly eight times in 2025 and is now likely to fall short of that goal, while still producing enough second-stages for those flights.

What to Expect Next Week

June 16th - Atlas V with KA-02

United Launch Alliance is preparing to launch Amazon's second group of twenty-seven Kuiper satellites to low Earth orbit via an Atlas V from Space Launch Complex 41 to build the space-based internet mega-constellation.

June 17th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-9

SpaceX is planning to launch another batch of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E atop of Falcon 9.

June 18th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-18

Another Falcon 9 is planned to launch more Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40.

June 19th - Angara A5 with an unknown payload

An Angara A5 may launch from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome carrying a currently unknown satellite into Earth orbit.

June 20th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-23

Yet another batch of Starlink satellites are planned to head to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40.

June 20th - Long March 3B/E with a currently undisclosed payload

A Long March 3B/E may launch from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center carrying a currently unnaocued payload to geostationary transfer orbit.

June 20th - Falcon 9 with Transporter-14

SpaceX is preparing to fly its fourteenth Transporter sun-synchronous orbit small satellite rideshare mission with a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 4E.

Axiom Space, SpaceX, and NASA have been preparing for the launch of the Axiom-4 mission for the past week now, with liftoff atop of a Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A delayed multiple times now.

The latest delay to the mission stems from an issue onboard the International Space Station, particularly the aft of the Zvezda module in the Russian segment, with NASA sharing the following details:

"Cosmonauts aboard the space station recently performed inspections of the pressurized module’s interior surfaces, sealed some additional areas of interest, and measured the current leak rate. Following this effort, the segment now is holding pressure. The postponement of Axiom Mission 4 provides additional time for NASA and Roscosmos to evaluate the situation and determine whether any additional troubleshooting is necessary."

An air leak onboard the space station has been known for several years, but with Roscosmos and NASA disagreeing on the severity and root cause.

Previous delays to the mission were also related to a leak, but on Falcon 9's first-stage booster. SpaceX teams utilized the delay to install mitigations to the issue and swap out other faulty hardware.

Axiom Space is currently happy to wait on the ground while issues are resolved, with the company's executive Chairman, Kam Ghaffarian, stating:

"We appreciate all the incredible work of our customers, NASA, and SpaceX on this Mission. This is the right thing to do for Axiom Space, for NASA, and for our customers. We will continue to work with all of our partners to finalize a new launch date and look forward to flying the Ax-4 Mission soon."

Flying onboard the Axiom-4 mission are India, Hungary, and Poland's first astronauts in decades, along with a variety of customer payloads, scientific and commercial.

Axiom-4 is planned to spend two weeks docked to the International Space Station once the mission launches. While onboard, the crew is expected to perform lots of science, as well as outreach and commercial activities.

Who's onboard?

Peggy Whitson, from the U.S., is the Commander of the Axiom-4 mission, flying to space for the fifth time. She previously commanded the Axiom-2 mission in 2023 and participated in three long-duration spaceflights during her career at NASA. In total, she has spent 675 days in space.

Shubhanshu Shukla, from India, is the Pilot of the Axiom-4 mission for his first trip to space. He was selected in 2024 as one of India's first four astronauts in the 21st century, possibly to fly aboard the first crewed Gaganyaan mission within a few years. Prior to astronaut selection, he was a pilot in the Indian Air Force.

Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, from Poland, is a Mission Specialist for the Axiom-4 mission, as part of his first spaceflight. He was selected as a member of the European Space Agency’s Astronaut Reserve Class of 2022 for potential missions to the International Space Station. Notably before his space career, he was the Engineer in Charge for the Large Hadron Collider from 2018 to 2020.

Tibor Kapu, from Hungary, is a Mission Specialist for the Axiom-4 mission for his first trip to space. In 2023, he was one of four Hungarians chosen for the Hungarian to Orbit Astronaut Program. Before being selected, he focused on space radiation protection at an aerospace technology company.

What research will be performed?

The Axiom-4 mission is aiming to perform a bounty of science during the crew's brief stay onboard the International Space Station, with experiments from organizations in the U.S., India, Poland, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates, and much of Europe. Areas and items for study, along with what organizations or countries they're from, are as follows:

• Indian Space Research Organization:
  • Investigating the physical and cognitive impact of computer screens in microgravity.
  • Studying the growth, metabolism, and genetics of three microalgae strains in microgravity vs. ground.
  • Comparing growth, cellular responses, and biochemistry of two cyanobacteria strains in microgravity.
  • Identifying pathways of skeletal muscle dysfunction in microgravity and exploring therapies.
  • Examining spaceflight impacts on six crop seed varieties.
  • Investigating the impacts of spaceflight on the germination and growth of crop seeds.
  • Identifying molecular mechanisms of resilience in extreme environments.‍
• European Space Agency:
  • Studying astronauts' mental and behavioral health on the International Space Station.
  • Monitoring bone loss upon re-entry after space missions.
  • Examining bone markers to predict recovery behavior.
  • Evaluating neurofeedback for stress reduction and performance.
  • Investigating gut microbiome changes during short-term space stays.
  • Examining immune cell adaptation to microgravity.
  • Monitoring astronauts' soft tissue health during missions.
  • Exploring muscle electrical stimulation to protect muscle mass in microgravity.
  • Using brain imaging technology to develop a human-computer interface in microgravity.
  • Testing methods to extend pharmaceutical shelf-life in space.
  • Testing an acoustic monitor on the International Space Station.
  • Advancing onboard data processing for space and Earth applications.
  • Measuring space radiation levels with a monitor in the Columbus module.
  • Assessing six wearable biomonitor devices for function and stability in space.
  • Investigating red microalgae for long-duration space missions.
  • Investigating a tardigrade gene in yeast for microgravity protection.
• Hungary:
  • Examining how space conditions affect human bacterial, viral, and fungal microbiomes.
  • Investigating microgravity's effect on cognitive function and motor skills.
  • Demonstrating application of nanofibrous eye inserts in microgravity.
  • Examining low-melting-point metal behavior for next-generation ion-jet propulsion systems.
  • Monitoring crew radiation exposure and environmental conditions with a personal dosimetry device.
  • Mimicking planet-scale atmospheric dynamics with a novel way of spinning a water sphere in microgravity.
  • Investigating how fruit flies fight radiation-induced DNA damage with enhanced biochemical processes.
  • Studying plant germination, microgreen production, and leaf development.
  • Examining microfluidic drug testing chips in space.
  • Studying associative learning and visual processing in space.
  • Examining changes in cardiovascular and balancing systems.
  • Understanding cerebral blood flow adaptation to spaceflight.
  • Validating clothing heat transfer simulation in different gravity environments for improved astronaut thermal comfort.
  • Testing precise position tracking with standard inertial sensors in space.
  • Exploring spaceflight effects on 3D printed materials.
  • Studying upper atmospheric thunderstorms.
  • Demonstrating gravitational curiosities during a joint physics class with students from across Hungary.
• Axiom Space:
  • Researching how to support astronauts with insulin-dependent diabetes during short-duration missions in microgravity.
  • Examining microgravity's impact on the brain and cognitive risks.
  • Collecting physiological and psychological data from astronauts to understand how humans adapt to space.
  • Studying the effects of short spaceflights on joints and blood flow.
  • Assessing astronaut ‘readiness’ using a wearable device, iPhone software, and AWS Snowcone analytics.
  • Developing infrastructure for wearable device data processing during the Ax-4 mission.
  • Investigating cancer growth in space, focusing on triple-negative breast cancer.
  • Understanding the effects on blood stem cells during spaceflight.‍

Welcome Back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week saw five launches worldwide, with at least one from both hemispheres. News from the week had the U.S. Senate moving to guarantee future Artemis missions and Impulse Space raising a few hundred million dollars. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

June 3rd - Electron for 'Full Stream Ahead'

Rocket Lab launched its Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1B on the Māhia Peninsula, in New Zealand, carrying a single satellite to low Earth orbit for BlackSky Technology. BlackSky's satellite will provide images with a 50-centimeter resolution to customers.

June 3rd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 12-19

Twenty-three Starlink satellites were launched atop of a Falcon 9 to low Earth orbit out of Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. In support of this mission was booster B1077, for its twenty-first flight with a landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange.

This was also the 500th launch for SpaceX's family of Falcon rockets, including Falcon 1, Falcon 9, and Falcon Heavy.

June 5th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-22

Twenty-seven Starlink satellites were sent to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Booster B1063 supported this launch for its twenty-sixth flight, with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

June 5th - Long March 6A with GuoWang Group 04

A Long March 6A launched from Launch Complex 9A at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center carrying five satellites into polar orbit for GuoWang's fourth satellite group. With this launch, the GuoWang mega-constellation has 34 satellites in orbit out of a possible 13,000, which will eventually provide worldwide internet services.

June 7th - Falcon 9 with SXM-10

SpaceX launched SiriusXM's SXM-10 satellite to geostationary transfer orbit with a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40. The SXM-10 satellite will be used to transmit SiriusXM's programming to its listeners' radios.

In Other Space News

Senate looks to save SLS, Orion, Gateway

Senator Ted Cruz, Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, shared a proposal on June 5th to add 10 billion United States Dollars to NASA via a budget reconciliation bill to save key hardware critical to the Artemis program. This proposal was brought forward in response to major cuts from the Trump White House, which would retire major Artemis hardware after two more missions.

Cruz's proposal seeks to provide NASA with additional funding that would be available for the space agency to spend through to 2032, with the largest part of it, around 4.1 billion, going toward the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft to perform the Artemis 4 and Artemis 5 missions. The proposal would allocate 2.6 billion for the Gateway lunar space station, ensuring it launches and heads out to the Moon.

Smaller funding amounts in the proposal will provide 1 billion for improvements and repairs to the Kennedy, Johnson, Marshall and Stennis space centers, along with the Michoud Assembly Facility, where the SLS rocket is made. Additionally, 700 million would be set aside for a Mars Telecommunications Orbiter, with 250 million for extra International Space Station funding from 2025 through to 2029.

Impulse Space raises 300 million in new funding

Impulse Space announced on June 3rd that it has completed its Series C funding round, raising 300 million United States Dollars to bring the company's total capital raised to 525 million. This latest funding round was led by Linse Capital with DFJ Growth, Valor Equity Partners, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, RTX Ventures, DCVC, Airbus Ventures, Spring Tide, First Principles Group, Balerion Space Ventures, Tamarack Global, and Trousdale Ventures participating.

The new funding is expected to allow for the scaling up of production for the companies' Mira and Helios orbital vehicles, greater research efforts to explore electric propulsion for long-duration missions, and an increased headcount to allow for the extra production and research. Speaking on the new funding round and the future, Tom Mueller, Chief Executive Officer at Impluse Space, stated:

"We’ve proven that we can build fast and fly successfully. Now, the market is demanding more," – "This raise helps us scale production and technical capabilities to meet that demand head-on." – "Achieving a true space age is going to require new levels of in-space mobility to move payloads quickly and precisely, both within and between orbits. That capability is what we’re building at Impulse."

With prior funding, Impulse Space has launched two Mira vehicles, performed what the company believes were the two largest orbital maneuvers ever by a nitrous-based propulsion system, secured dozens of government and commercial contracts, and has begun preparing its Helios vehicle for a debut mission in 2026 ahead of geostationary orbit rideshare missions in 2027.

What to Expect Next Week

June 8th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-8

Twenty-six Starlink satellites is planned to head to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 4E.

June 10th - Falcon 9 with Axiom-4

SpaceX is expecting to launch the Axiom-4 mission on a Crew Dragon spacecraft, carrying Peggy Whitson from the U.S., Shubhanshu Shukla from India, Sławosz Uznański from Poland, and Tibor Kapu from Hungary, to the International Space Station atop of a Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A.

June 10th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 12-24

Another group of Starlink satellites are planned to launch from Space Launch Complex 40 and head to low Earth orbit via a Falcon 9.

June 10th - Electron for 'The Mountain God Guards'

Rocket Lab is expecting to launch a synthetic aperture radar satellite to low Earth orbit, on behalf of iQPS, with its Electron rocket, from Launch Complex 1A on the Māhia Peninsula.

June 13th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-6

From Space Launch Complex 4E, more Starlink satellites are set to go to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9.

June 13th - Long March 2D with a to-be-announced payload

A Long March 2D may launch from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying a currently unannounced payload.

June 13th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 12-26

Even more Starlink satellites are planned to be delivered to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40.

June 13th - Atlas V with KA-02

United Launch Alliance is preparing to launch Amazon's second group of twenty-seven Kuiper satellites to low Earth orbit to build the space-based internet mega-constellation.

ispace launched its second Hakuto-R spacecraft for a lunar landing mission back in mid-January, with the spacecraft spending the last five months heading to the Moon on a slow but fuel-efficient trajectory. On May 31st, the spacecraft entered lunar orbit in preparation for its landing attempt.

That landing attempt began on June 5th as planned, with Hakuto-R moving from an altitude of 100 to 20 kilometers before firing up its main engine for a powered descent toward the surface. The powered descent went as planned until around two minutes before a planned touchdown, with telemetry occasionally dropping out.

In the final two minutes of the mission, telemetry indicated that Hakuto-R was losing altitude fast but still maintaining a speed to high for a soft landing.

ispace currently believes that the laser rangefinder used to measure the distance to the lunar surface experienced delays in obtaining valid measurement values, leading to a higher-than-intended speed in the final moments of descent toward the lunar surface. Due to this, the company is assuming that the spacecraft performed a hard landing.

Following the hard landing, Takeshi Hakamada, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ispace, stated:

"Given that there is currently no prospect of a successful lunar landing, our top priority is to swiftly analyze the telemetry data we have obtained thus far and work diligently to identify the cause," – "We will strive to restore trust by providing a report of the findings to our shareholders, payload customers, HAKUTO-R partners, government officials, and all supporters of ispace."

ispace has previously flown one other Hakuto-R mission, which made it a few kilometers above the lunar surface before being lost after the spacecraft believed it was on the surface when it was actually five kilometers up. After the thrusters ran out of fuel from maintaining altitude, the spacecraft plummeted toward the surface.

What is Hakuto-R?

Hakuto-R is Japanese lunar exploration company ispace's privately developed lunar lander, capable of delivering various payloads, including rovers, to the Moon's surface. ispace explains the journey of developing Hakuto-R as follows:

"“HAKUTO” means “white rabbit” in Japanese. In legendary folklore in Japan, it is said that a white rabbit lives on the Moon. This was the inspiration for the name HAKUTO, one of the 5 finalists in the Google Lunar XPRIZE competition—a race for the first private lunar exploration mission."
"Managed by ispace, and supported by sponsors, a passionate crew of volunteers, a large fan club in Japan, HAKUTO competed in the race for the greater part of the past decade. In 2015, the team achieved a $500,000 milestone prize, and in 2017, it completed and delivered a flight-ready rover to its launch location. However, since ispace relied on a partner for the lander and launch, which were not fulfilled, and as no other contestants were capable of completing the mission, the competition ended in March 2018 without a winner. As a result, Team HAKUTO officially closed."
"Now, six months later, ispace has brought back the “HAKUTO” name as the Program Name for its first two lunar missions. Thus, the “R” stands for “Reboot” in the spirit of reenergizing our motivation and drive toward our goal. As an evolution of the HAKUTO logo, the HAKUTO-R logo combines the concepts of a lunar orbit and the Moon’s surface, which together forms the design of a white rabbit similar in shape to an “H” for HAKUTO."

Various payloads, including a UNESCO memory disk, were onboard the lander and were as follows:

• Water electrolyzer equipment: From Takasago Thermal Engineering Co.
• Food production experiment: A self-contained module from Euglena Co.
• Deep space radiation probe: Developed by the Department of Space Science and Engineering, National Central University, Taiwan
• Commemorative alloy plate: Developed by Bandai Namco Research Institute, Inc. and modeled after “Charter of the Universal Century” from the animation Mobile Suit Gundam UC
• TENACIOUS micro rover: Developed by ispace-EUROPE, this rover will explore the landing site, collect lunar regolith, and relay data back to the lander. It will be equipped with a forward-mounted HD camera and a shovel.
• Moonhouse: A model house by Swedish artist Mikael Genberg that will be mounted on the rover

Note: All funding figures are in United States Dollars.

NASA released details on its fiscal year 2026 budget on May 30th, confirming details on what the Trump Administration, which has few plans for space, would like to cut, first disclosed in a budget overview in early May. With the budget proposal, $6 billion in agency funding would be lost, along with major programs

However, before we touch on the budget, revealed amid the fallout of understanding the details of what's being cut, the Trump White House announced it was withdrawing its support for Jared Isaacman as the Administrator of NASA. Following the withdrawal, Donald Trump took to social media to state:

"After a thorough review of prior associations, I am hereby withdrawing the nomination of Jared Isaacman to head NASA. I will soon announce a new Nominee who will be Mission aligned, and put America First in Space."

The withdrawal came a week after the U.S. Senate planned to vote on his position. In the lead-up to a now-cancelled Senate vote, Isaacman was able to secure support from both sides of U.S. politics as well as from industry.

Coincidentally, or as planned, the withdrawal of White House support for Isaacman came as billionaire head of SpaceX Elon Musk was leaving his position in the U.S. government, having greatly benefited. Musk is a strong supporter of Jared Isaacman, with the two aligning politically since Trump's election win.

Now, for the bloodbath of a budget proposal. The proposed fiscal year 2026 budget for NASA is a dramatic 24 percent funding cut that would reduce the agency from $24.8 billion to $18.8 billion, while eliminating 5,538 jobs, nearly one-third of NASA's workforce. Science programs in particular face the steepest cuts with a nearly 50 percent reduction.

The proposed cuts restructure the agency's human spaceflight programs by canceling the Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule after the Artemis III mission in 2027, as well as the Gateway lunar space station before it can launch. Meanwhile, the International Space Station would see cuts exceeding $500 million. These systems would then be replaced with commercial alternatives as part of a redesigned program architecture, while the International Space Station would be wound down for retirement and replaced by privately owned space stations.

NASA's science programs face devastating reductions, with the Science Mission Directorate cut by nearly 50 percent and astrophysics slashed by 70 percent. Major active missions would be terminated, including Mars Sample Return, Mars Odyssey, MAVEN, Juno, New Horizons, and OSIRIS-APEX. Flagship telescopes aren't spared from the cuts, with the James Webb Space Telescope facing a 20 percent cut while Hubble's budget drops to around $85 million annually.

Earth science programs face severe cuts under the budget proposal, as the Earth Science Division is among those experiencing the biggest reductions as part of the overall science budget slash. The budget eliminates climate research programs and cancels the $2 billion Landsat Next mission, which was scheduled to launch by 2030-2031 to provide improved Earth observation capabilities. Instead, NASA is directed to find "more affordable ways to maintain the continuity of Landsat imagery" while deprioritizing what the administration considers "low-priority climate monitoring satellites", unsurprising for a White House that doesn't believe in climate change.

Like other programs, space technology is facing devastating cuts with funding slashed by $531 million, or approximately half the directorate's budget. Most significantly, the budget cancels the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) program, a joint NASA-DARPA initiative that awarded Lockheed Martin a $499 million contract in 2023 to develop nuclear thermal propulsion technology with testing planned for 2026-2027. The cuts eliminate NASA's development of nuclear thermal and nuclear electric propulsion technologies that could dramatically reduce travel times to Mars and other deep space destinations.

Alongside slashing items in space, NASA's Mission Support Directorate faces an over $1.1 billion cut in funding. This will force the agency to drastically reduce facility maintenance, construction, and center operations funding alongside the massive workforce cuts. Meaning the agencies' aging infrastructure at centers like Kennedy, Goddard, JPL, and Marshall would face deferred maintenance, reduced operational capacity, and potential facility closures or mothballing of less critical buildings.

Education and outreach programs would be completely eliminated under the budget, with all STEM engagement funding and diversity, equity, and inclusion programs cut entirely.

The effects of the budget cuts go beyond just affecting U.S. space efforts too. Notably, the European Space Agency has been contributing to the Orion spacecraft, providing its service module, and hardware for the Gateway space station in exchange for flight opportunities. Additionally, the budget proposes ending NASA’s involvement in the Rosalind Franklin Mars rover mission, leaving it without a rocket to head to Mars (again) and a radioisotope heater unit to generate power and survive the Martian night. Cancelling European hardware intended for Artemis and withdrawing support for the Rosalind Franklin rover is a major geopolitical upset that will undermine the continent's trust in U.S. space endeavors.

These cuts will gut institutional knowledge, terminate crucial climate and space missions, eliminate critical technologies like as nuclear propulsion, and upset a key international partner. Infrastructure cuts would further reduce NASA's operating capabilities, while growing reliance on commercial technologies could stifle innovation. The long-term consequences could be irreversible, transforming NASA from a world-class R&D agency to a contract management organisation with limited scientific and strategic capabilities.

Despite the overall reduction of $6 billion at NASA, some parts of the agency have a planned funding increase, primarily for commercial space systems and Mars exploration. The budget allocates over $7 billion for lunar exploration programs, maintaining substantial funding for moon missions while shifting from NASA-developed systems to commercial alternatives, as mentioned previously. This includes funding to replace the canceled Space Launch System and Orion capsule with "more cost-effective commercial systems", basically funding a new rocket and spacecraft.

The budget also introduces $1 billion in new investments specifically for Mars-focused programs, creating a new funding stream despite canceling existing Mars missions like Mars Sample Return and active planetary missions. This Mars funding appears designed to support future human exploration of the red planet through commercial partnerships rather than a traditional NASA mission architecture. However, few companies are actively developing hardware for potential crewed Mars missions, likely meaning human-rated lander and transfer vehicle contracts will go to SpaceX with its Starship-Super Heavy rocket.

Current Acting Administrator and yes-man of Trump wishes at NASA, Janet Petro, sent out two short agency-wide messages following the detailed fiscal year 2026 budget and the withdrawal of support for Jared Isaacman, ending with her standard "Embrace the Challenge". Those messages were grounded in the reality of the dramatic shifts, compared to her previous bizarre support of the cuts, where she stated:

“This proposal includes investments to simultaneously pursue exploration of the Moon and Mars while still prioritizing critical science and technology research,” – “I appreciate the President’s continued support for NASA’s mission and look forward to working closely with the administration and Congress to ensure we continue making progress toward achieving the impossible.”

At the moment, the 2026 budget proposal would need to pass through Congress to be enacted. However, Congress is Republican controlled so there's a good chance it will.

Surprisingly, the Miami Herald reports citing a Marquette Law School Poll, most Americans are in favor of slashing NASA's budget in order to relieve American debt, despite the space agency's budget making up under 0.5 percent of the U.S. government budget each year. Additionally, a majority of those questioned believe that sending astronauts to the Moon or Mars shouldn't be a priority.

Oh, and alongside the massive budget cuts, NASA is changing its performance criteria for agency personnel. Instead of being measured on innovation, collaboration, personnel growth, and program results, employees will now be evaluated on faithfulness to Presidential policies, efficiency, and organizational goals.

Welcome to our twentieth Monthly Dose of Space! In this monthly newsletter, we bring you major news from the past month. May has been another busy month, so let's jump into it!

News of the Month

News in May has seen another reusable rocket test vehicle performing a short hop, a first major contract for Impulse Space, the beginning of deployment for an AI compute constellation, and Firefly receiving new investment for its reusable rocket.

Tianwen-2 mission begins!

China's Tianwen-2 asteroid sample return mission has begun its journey out to asteroid 2016HO3/469219 Kamoʻoalewa following a launch from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on May 28th. With the launch, the spacecraft started its trek through deep space to its target asteroid, with arrival set for sometime in 2027.

After arriving, the probe will fly alongside the asteroid and search for a suitable sampling site before collecting between 200 and 1,000 grams of samples via touch-and-go as well as anchor-and-attach methods. The anchor-and-attach method will utilize four small robotic arms to secure the spacecraft, while a touch-and-go approach will be more akin to NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission.

Once samples are collected and secured in the spacecraft’s sample container, Tianwen-2 will head back toward Earth and drop off the samples around 2029 during a flyby.

After the sample canister is released for retrieval by teams back on Earth, Tianwen-2 will begin its extended mission to asteroid 311P/PanSTARRS out in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Throughout the early 2030s, Tianwen-2 is planned to thoroughly study 311P whilst doubling as a test of China’s deep space communications infrastructure ahead of the Tianwen-4 mission to Jupiter in the 2030s.

When the mission returns samples, China will be the third nation to collect samples from an asteroid, after the United States and Japan.

Space Epoch performs China's latest reusable rocket test

The latest reusable rocket test from China occurred on May 29th when Space Epoch flew its Yuanxingzhe-1 vertical takeoff vertical landing test vehicle from a launch stand on the coast of Haiyang.

This test had the vehicle in flight for 125 seconds, with a peak altitude of 2.5 kilometers achieved. During the test, the vehicle performed a powered ascent and in-flight engine shutdown, followed by an unpowered descent before the engine restarted to perform a hover and splashdown.

The vehicle used for the test was powered by a single Longyun engine burning liquid methane and liquid oxygen, which generates 70 tons of thrust, from commercial engine provider Jiuzhou Yunjian. It weighs approximately 57,000 kilograms, being made out of stainless steel, with a diameter of 4.2 meters and a height of 26.8 meters. Four fins are also on the test vehicle for improved stability during unpowered descent.

Space Epoch expects the recent hop test to inform the development of its two-stage, partially reusable, Yuanxingzhe-1 launch vehicle. That vehicle is planned to be 4.2 meters in diameter and 64 meters tall while utilizing nine engines on the first-stage and one on the second-stage, sourced from Jiuzhou Yunjian. Yuanxingzhe-1 is expected to lift 6,500 kilograms to a 1,100-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit and more to lower, less energy-costly orbits. Recovery of the vehicle's first-stage will have it land at sea while being oriented by a series of small thrusters.

Northrop Grumman invests in Firefly Aerospace

Firefly Aerospace shared on May 29th that Northrop Grumman has invested fifty million United States Dollars into the company to advance production and development of their joint reusable launch vehicle called Eclipse, which is set to debut in 2026.

Eclipse is based upon Northrop Grumman’s Antares and Firefly’s Alpha rockets while boasting improved lift capability and cost savings. According to Firefly Aerospace, the rocket maintains flight-proven avionics from the Antares program with additional upgrades, including a larger 5.4-meter payload fairing. Eclipse also utilizes the same first stage Firefly is developing for Antares 330 and retains scaled-up versions of Alpha’s propulsion systems and carbon composite structures, allowing the team to rapidly build and test Eclipse with significant production efficiencies and economies of scale. Speaking on Eclipse, Wendy Williams, Vice President and General Manager, launch and missile defense systems at Northrop Grumman, stated:

“Eclipse gives customers the right balance between payload capacity and affordability,” – “Our partnership with Firefly builds on our capacity to provide crucial space-based communication, observation, and exploration for civil and national security customers.”

Additionally, Jason Kim, Chief Executive Officer at Firefly Aerospace, added the following:

“Firefly is incredibly grateful for Northrop Grumman’s investment that further solidifies our first-of-its-kind partnership to build the first stage of Antares 330 and jointly develop Eclipse,” – “Eclipse represents two powerful forces coming together to transform the launch market with decades of flight heritage, a rapid, iterative approach, and bold innovation. With a 16 metric ton to orbit capability, Eclipse is a sweet spot for programs like NSSL Lane 1 and a natural fit to launch proliferated constellations in LEO, MEO, GEO, and TLI.”

Impulse Space and SES enter a multi-launch agreement, a first for the companies Helios tug

Impulse Space, an in-space transportation service provider founded by ex-SpaceX engineer Tom Mueller, has recently entered a multi-launch agreement with SES—a connectivity service provider. The contract will span multiple launches starting in 2027, with satellites being launched onboard a dedicated medium lift launcher into LEO. Once in a basic orbit, Impulse Space's Helios, an absurdly powerful and efficient tug will propel SES satellite's directly to a Geostationary orbit in mere hours. This will greatly speed up how SES is able to expand their constellation in GEO, with Impulse providing unparalleled performance.

"We believe MEO and GEO play a critical role in the space economy, but operators today face the challenges of slow, expensive, and inflexible access to these essential orbits. Helios changes that—it’s built to move large payloads to high-energy orbits quickly and reliably. SES has a long history of embracing innovation and pushing our industry forward, and we’re proud they’ve chosen Helios to support the next phase of their deployment strategy." - Tom Mueller, founder and CEO of Impulse Space

ADA Space begins building AI compute constellation

Chinese satellite manufacturer ADA Space started deploying satellites for its 'Three-Body Computing Constellation' on May 14th, with the launch of twelve satellites.

The twelve satellites are the first of up to two thousand eight hundred satellites for integrating space and ground computing into a single AI infrastructure, to allow for faster spacecraft data utilization across multiple industries. In regulatory filings, ADA Space explains why they are building the constellation:

"[Our satellites are] designed to interconnect space-based computing network supported by AI satellites with ground-based computing network, forming an integrated infrastructure that enables high-quality algorithm deployment, seamless satellite remote sensing data processing, advanced computing power and efficient communication between space and ground. Through [the satellites], we aim to drive the intelligent transformation of industries worldwide, enhancing our industry impact and solidifying our market position.”

Research enterprise Zhejiang Lab is providing additional expertise for the computing constellation.

In order for the satellites to operate as intended, each spacecraft is equipped with onboard artificial intelligence processors, laser inter-satellite communication links capable of speeds up to 100 gigabits per second, and space-based computing systems capable of performing up to 744 trillion operations per second. The satellites also carry large-scale AI models with up to eight billion parameters.

To deploy the few thousand satellites planned, two types of spacecraft are being utilized. One type is stackable, allowing numerous spacecraft of the same design to be placed on top of each other. The other design is a more conventional CubeSat, allowing it to be a secondary payload for other missions with extra payload capacity left.

Similar efforts to ADA Space's exist in the West, with Relativity Space's Eric Schmidt wanting to put data centers in orbit.

Launches of the Month

This month saw 30 launches worldwide, speeding up a busy year. If you want to know what each launch was we have them all listed below!

May 2nd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-75

Twenty-eight Starlink satellites were launched to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40. Booster B1080 supported this mission for its eighteenth flight, with a landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

May 4th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-84

From Launch Complex 39A, in Florida, a Falcon 9 blasted off carrying twenty-nine Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. Supporting this mission was booster B1078, for its twentieth flight with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

May 7th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-93

Twenty-eight more Starlink satellites headed to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. Booster B1085 supported this mission for its seventh flight, with a landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange.

May 10th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-3

Another twenty-six Starlink satellites departed from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, atop of a Falcon 9 to low Earth orbit. In support of this mission was booster B1081 for its fourteenth flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

May 10th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-91

Falcon 9 launched another twenty-eight Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40. Flying for the eleventh time was booster B1083, which landed downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

May 11th - Long March 6A Yaogan-40 Group-02

A Long March 6A lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center carrying three satellites into polar orbit for Yaogan-40 Group-02. The three satellites are expected to perform electromagnetic environment monitoring of areas of the Earth below.

May 12th - Long March 3C/E with TJSW-19

The first Long March 3C/E in almost four years blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center carrying the TJSW-19 satellite to geostationary orbit. TJSW-19 is said to provide communications, radio, television, and data transmission, as well as testing and verification for multi-band high-speed throughput communications technologies.

May 13th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-4

A Falcon 9 departed from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, carrying twenty-six Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. Supporting this mission was booster B1088, for its sixth flight, and landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

May 13th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-83

Another batch of twenty-eight Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Launch Complex 39A, in Florida. Booster B1067 supported this mission on its twenty-eighth flight, with a landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange'.

May 14th - Long March 2D with Three-Body Computing Constellation Group-01

A Long March 2D blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying the first 12 satellites for ADA Space's Three-Body Computing Constellation into sun-synchronous orbit. This constellation could have up to 2,800 satellites in orbit for AI-enabled processing of spacecraft data in space.

May 14th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-67

Twenty-eight more Starlink satellites were sent to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, atop of a Falcon 9. In support of this mission was booster B1090, performing its fourth flight and landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

May 16th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-5

Yet another Falcon 9 delivered another twenty-six Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E. Booster B1093, on its second flight, supported this mission, with a landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

May 17th - Zhuque-2E with six Tianyi satellites

LandSpace's Zhuque-2E rocket performed its second flight from Launch Area 96A at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, carrying six Tianyi satellites to a sun-synchronous orbit. The satellites, developed by Spacety, are Tianyi-29, Tianyi-34, Tianyi-35, Tianyi-42, Tianyi-45, and Tianyi-46. They will be used for Earth imaging, geological monitoring, radar-based change detection, laser communication tests, and space science research.

May 17th - Electron for 'The Sea God Sees'

Rocket Lab launched its Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1A, on the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand, carrying one of iQPS' synthetic aperture radar satellites to low Earth orbit. The satellite is planned to be part of a constellation of thirty-six satellites that will repeatedly image parts of Earth every ten minutes.

May 18th - PSLV-XL with RISAT-1B

A PSLV-XL rocket launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, in India, hoping to deliver the RISAT-1B synthetic aperture radar imaging satellite to low Earth orbit. Sadly during the third-stage underperformed during its burn, leading in a failure to reach orbit.

May 19th - Ceres-1S with four Tianqi satellites

Galactic Energy's Ceres-1S delivered four Tianqi satellites to a 850-kilometer 45-degree inclination low Earth orbit from the coast of Rizhao in the Yellow Sea. The satellites being launched were Tianqi-16, Tianqi-17, Tianqi-19, and Tianqi-20 for Guodian Gaoke's Internet-of-Things constellation.

May 20th - Long March 7A with ChinaSat-3B

A Long March 7A lifted off from Launch Complex 201 at the Wenchang Space Launch Site carrying the ChinaSat-3B satellite to geostationary transfer orbit. ChinaSat-3B is expected to provide communications, radio, and television transmission services, while complementing ChinaSat-3A.

May 21st - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 12-15

Twenty-three Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. Booster B1095 supported this mission, believed to be on its first flight, with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

May 21st - Kinetica-1 for its return-to-flight mission

CAS Space's Kinetica-1 rocket performed its return to flight mission from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, carrying six satellites to sun-synchronous orbit. The satellites onboard were Taijing-3-04, Taijing-4-02A, Xingrui-11, Xingjiyuan-1, Lifang108-001 (also known as Tadahuyang-1), and Xiguang-1-02.

May 23rd - Soyuz 2.1b with Kosmos 2588

A Soyuz 2.1b launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome carrying a military spacecraft into low Earth orbit.

May 23rd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-16

Twenty-seven more Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Supporting this launch was booster B1075 for its eighteenth flight, with a landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' down range.

May 24th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 12-22

Another twenty-three Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit with SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40. Booster B1069 supported this launch on its twenty-fourth flight, landing on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas' downrange.

May 27th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-1

Twenty-four Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Supporting this mission was booster B1082 on its thirteenth flight, and landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

May 27th - Starship-Super Heavy for its ninth flight test

SpaceX launched its in-development fully reusable Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle on its ninth flight test, using Ship 35 and Booster 14, from its south Texas launch site. During the flight test, Booster 14 exploded very shortly into its landing burn and Ship 35 lost control following the shutdown of its engines.

May 28th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-32

From Launch Complex 39A, in Florida, another Falcon 9 sent twenty-seven Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. Booster B1080, flying for the nineteenth time, supported this mission, landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' afterwards.

May 28th - Long March 3B/E with Tianwen-2

China's Tianwen-2 asteroid sample return mission Tianwen-2 blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center atop of a Long March 3B/E, flying out of the Earth-Moon system. Tianwen-2 is journeying to asteroid 2016HO3/469219 Kamoʻoalewa to gather between 200 and 1,000 grams of samples.

May 29th - Long March 4B with Shijian-26

A Long March 4B lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying the Shijian-26 spacecraft to a sun-synchronous orbit. Shijian-26 is expected to serve land census and environmental monitoring efforts to inform agricultural policy.

May 30th - Falcon 9 with GPS-III SV08

SpaceX's Falcon 9 flew to medium Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, carrying the GPS-III SV08 satellite for the U.S. military. In support of this mission was booster B1092, flying for the fourth time, with a landing on the drone ship 'A Shortfall of Gravitas' downrange.

May 31st - New Shepard for NS-32

Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket conducted another suborbital tourist mission from the company's West Texas launch site. Onboard were Aymette Medina Jorge, Dr. Gretchen Green, Jaime Alemán, Jesse Williams, Mark Rocket, and Paul Jeris.

May 31st - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-18

Another Falcon 9 launched a batch of twenty-seven Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E. Booster B1071 supported this mission for its twenty-fifth flight, with a landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

Launches to look out for in June!

June will continue a busy year for worldwide launches. Listed below are all of the launches expected or likely to happen next month, launches on the 1st of June may have already occurred due to when this newsletter is published.

June 2nd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 12-19

SpaceX is planning to launch another batch of Starlink satellites from Space Launch Complex 40 to low Earth orbit.

June 3rd - Electron for 'Full Stream Ahead'

Rocket Lab is aiming to launch its Electron rocket from the company's launch site on the Māhia Peninsula, in New Zealand, carrying a single satellite to low Earth orbit for BlackSky Technology.

June 4th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-22

Another Falcon 9 is expected to launch from Space Launch Complex 4E carrying more Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit.

June 7th - Falcon 9 with SXM-10

A Falcon 9 is planning to launch SiriusXM's SXM-10 satellite to geostationary transfer orbit with a launch from Space Launch Complex 40.

June 8th - Falcon 9 with Axiom-4

SpaceX is expecting to launch the Axiom-4 mission on a Crew Dragon spacecraft, carrying Peggy Whitson from the U.S., Shubhanshu Shukla from India, Sławosz Uznański from Poland, and Tibor Kapu from Hungary, to the International Space Station atop of a Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A.

June 8th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-8

Yet another group of Starlink satellites is planned to head to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 4E.

June 13th - Atlas V with KA-02

United Launch Alliance is preparing to launch Amazon's second group of twenty-seven Kuiper satellites to low Earth orbit to build the space-based internet mega-constellation.

June 18th - GSLV Mk-II with NISAR

The Indian Space Research Organization is planning to launch its GSLV Mk-II rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Center carrying the NISAR satellite, developed with NASA, to sun-synchronous orbit.

June 21st - Falcon 9 with Transporter-14

SpaceX is preparing to fly its fourteenth Transporter sun-synchronous orbit small satellite rideshare mission with a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 4E.

June 23rd - H-2A with GOSAT-GW

A H-2A rocket is planning to fly from the Tanegashima Space Center for the final time carrying GOSAT-GW (Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite Greenhouse gases and Water cycle) to sun-synchronous orbit.

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week saw eight launches taking place, including one flying into deep space. News from the week has more details on NASA's budget cuts and SpaceX's Starship plans. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

May 27th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-1

Twenty-four Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Supporting this mission was booster B1082 on its thirteenth flight, and landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

May 27th - Starship-Super Heavy for its ninth flight test

SpaceX launched its in-development fully reusable Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle on its ninth flight test, using Ship 35 and Booster 14, from its South Texas launch site. During the flight test, Booster 14 exploded very shortly into its landing burn and Ship 35 lost control following the shutdown of its engines.

May 28th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-32

From Launch Complex 39A, in Florida, another Falcon 9 sent twenty-seven Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. Booster B1080, flying for the nineteenth time, supported this mission, landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' afterwards.

May 28th - Long March 3B/E with Tianwen-2

China's Tianwen-2 asteroid sample return mission Tianwen-2 blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center atop of a Long March 3B/E, flying out of the Earth-Moon system. Tianwen-2 is journeying to asteroid 2016HO3/469219 Kamoʻoalewa to gather between 200 and 1,000 grams of samples.

May 29th - Long March 4B with Shijian-26

A Long March 4B lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying the Shijian-26 spacecraft to a sun-synchronous orbit. Shijian-26 is expected to serve land census and environmental monitoring efforts to inform agricultural policy.

May 30th - Falcon 9 with GPS-III SV08

SpaceX's Falcon 9 flew to medium Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, carrying the GPS-III SV08 satellite for the U.S. military. In support of this mission was booster B1092, flying for the fourth time, with a landing on the drone ship 'A Shortfall of Gravitas' downrange.

May 31st - New Shepard for NS-32

Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket conducted another suborbital tourist mission from the company's West Texas launch site. Onboard were Aymette Medina Jorge, Dr. Gretchen Green, Jaime Alemán, Jesse Williams, Mark Rocket, and Paul Jeris.

May 31st - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-18

Another Falcon 9 launched a batch of twenty-seven Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E. Booster B1071 supported this mission for its twenty-fifth flight, with a landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

In Other Space News

Isaacman's NASA Administrator bid withdrawn

In a highly surprising move, the Trump White House announced on May 31st that Jared Isaacman would no longer be moving forward to become NASA's next Administrator. It's unclear why the White House is no longer moving forward with Jared Isaacman, but a spokesperson stated:

“The Administrator of NASA will help lead humanity into space and execute President Trump’s bold mission of planting the American flag on the planet Mars,” – “It’s essential that the next leader of NASA is in complete alignment with President Trump’s America First agenda and a replacement will be announced directly by President Trump soon.”

The withdrawal comes a week after the U.S. Senate planned to vote on whether Jared Isaacman would be the NASA Administrator.

NASA gutted under new budget

NASA released details on its fiscal year 2026 budget on May 30th, confirming details on what the Trump Administration would like to cut, first disclosed in a budget overview. With the budget proposal, six billion dollars in agency funding would be lost, along with the layoff of thousands of employees.

Jeff Foust for SpaceNews has a solid overview of the cuts, with some extracts as follows:

"[Cuts] include the Mars Sample Return (MSR) program, which the skinny budget highlighted for cancellation, and Landsat Next, a future Earth observation program that was the other science mission mentioned in the skinny budget. NASA will instead work to restructure Landsat Next in unspecified ways through a separate program, Sustainable Land Imaging."

"In Earth science, the budget proposes to cancel missions in the Earth System Observatory line of missions recommended by the most recent decadal survey other than GRACE-Continuity, the latest in a series of missions to monitor the planet’s gravity field."

"In addition to MSR, the budget proposes to end funding for the Mars Odyssey and MAVEN missions orbiting Mars. It would also cancel NASA’s support for the European Space Agency’s Rosalind Franklin Mars rover mission, where NASA agreed to provide thrusters, radioisotope heating units and a launch vehicle."

"The budget would terminate many ongoing astrophysics missions, including the Chandra X-Ray Observatory and Fermi. It would cancel the Astrophysics Probe program, which was studying concepts for a billion-dollar space telescope, as well as smaller Explorer-class missions in development such as the Compton Spectrometer and Imager as well as Ultraviolet Explorer."

If you have the time, please do read the full SpaceNews article, or the NASA budget proposal itself.

The Proxima Report team is currently short on time to cover the budget properly, a dedicated article on the budget is in the early stages of writing.

SpaceX wants five Mars landings in 2026

SpaceX Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk delivered a presentation on May 29th regarding the future of the Starship program. This talk had been planned to take place live ahead of Starship's ninth flight test, but was pushed back to afterward before being released as a recording following the failed flight test.

Although details were scarce, Musk shared that he hopes the Starship will perform a catchback at the launch site this year, which will require an orbital flight, along with the debut of the 'Block 3' Starship-Super Heavy vehicle. The 'Block 3' vehicle we see both the booster and ship lengthened, and utilizing the Raptor 3 engine, along with a matured hot-staging ring design that won't be separated following a booster boost-back burn. A 'Block 4' vehicle was also hinted at with a boasted increase in thrust, propellant onboard, and likely payload capacity.

Musk also stated that SpaceX teams are working on increasing the production capacity of its Starship-Super Heavy production facility in Starbase, Texas, to produce one thousand vehicles per year. This would be complemented by a second production site in Florida.

Regarding Mars, Musk is hopeful that five Starships will head to Mars in 2026 carrying ten tons of payload each to the planet. This would be followed by twenty Starships in 2028 with seventy-five tons of payload, then one hundred Starships in 2030 with one hundred and fifty tons of cargo, and next five hundred Starships with three hundred tons of payload each. The flights in the 2030s are hoped to be sufficient to allow a Mars outpost to begin to become self-sustaining.

Missions in support of NASA's Artemis program were not mentioned, a Moon base was briefly touched on. However, it was disclosed that the Ship-to-Ship propellant transfer has been delayed to next year.

What to Expect Next Week

June 2nd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 12-19

SpaceX is planning to launch another batch of Starlink satellites from Space Launch Complex 40 to low Earth orbit.

June 3rd - Electron for 'Full Stream Ahead'

Rocket Lab is aiming to launch its Electron rocket from the company's launch site on the Māhia Peninsula, in New Zealand, carrying a single satellite to low Earth orbit for BlackSky Technology.

June 4th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-22

Another Falcon 9 is expected to launch from Space Launch Complex 4E carrying more Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit.

June 7th - Falcon 9 with SXM-10

A Falcon 9 is planning to launch SiriusXM's SXM-10 satellite to geostationary transfer orbit with a launch from Space Launch Complex 40.

Congratulations to the People's Republic of China on returning humans to the lunar surface! But they haven't performed a crewed lunar mission yet? No, China hasn't, but the United States' plans for NASA are an utter mess of underfunding and headlessness.

Imminent budget changes eliminate the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion capsule, along with the Gateway lunar space station. And now with Jared Isaacman likely no longer heading toward NASA leaves the agency directionless at the whims of the White House.

For those outside of the know, SLS is the only rocket in the U.S. capable of delivering the Orion capsule to a trans-lunar trajectory. This capability made it critical for plans to send astronauts around the Moon in 2026, followed by a rendezvous with SpaceX's Starship Human Landing System (HLS) in lunar orbit for the crewed mission to the lunar surface since 1972.

However, the program to return American astronauts to the Moon, known as Artemis, is rife with delays. And now it appears that these delays have killed the only parts of the program proven to work.

With SLS heading toward retirement and no alternative ready, how might the U.S. send astronauts to the Moon, after China does? The simplest option would be to put Orion atop of another rocket capable of sending it to low Earth orbit where it would then rendezvous with another stage to send it out to the Moon. Currently, the two options capable of putting Orion in low Earth orbit are Blue Origin's New Glenn and SpaceX's Falcon Heavy. Another New Glenn, launching with no payload, would likely then be used to send Orion out toward the Moon.

Another option, if more cuts to Artemis are on the table, is to get rid of Orion altogether and use just SpaceX vehicles instead. In this approach, a Starship HLS would be sent to lunar orbit as planned for Artemis III, while another stripped-down HLS is placed in low Earth orbit, with both fully refueled. The crew would then launch aboard Crew Dragon on a Falcon 9 and dock with the HLS in low Earth orbit. From there, the HLS carrying the crew would perform a trans-lunar burn to rendezvous with the other HLS in lunar orbit, where the landing mission would proceed as planned. After completing the surface mission, the crew would return to lunar orbit and then back to low Earth orbit aboard the same HLS that initially transported them. Finally, Crew Dragon would dock with the returning HLS and bring the astronauts safely back to Earth. This option, which seemed unrealistic just a few years ago, is shockingly realistic as Elon Musk, head of SpaceX, bought the second Trump presidency.

Both of those options would take considerable time, capital, and resources. None of which will help another landing occur before 2030. And Orion would not need to be retired along with SLS.

SLS' winding down also begs the question: does the U.S. actually want to return to the Moon? NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative has been trying to cultivate a commercial ecosystem for sending payloads to the Moon, but its success is questionable. So far, all of the CLPS missions, and many future missions, are dependent on NASA funding to deliver a few hundred kilograms of cargo, sometimes to the Moon.

If a return is not desired, the U.S. could alternatively abandon its Moon plans and go all in on a crewed Mars mission. This mission has long been a dream of Elon Musk, and now, having brought a presidency, Trump wants to see it happen too. In Trump's inauguration speech, he mentioned a crewed Mars mission stating:

"The United States will once again consider itself a growing nation, one that increases our wealth, expands our territory, builds our cities, raises our expectations and carries our flag into new and beautiful horizons. And we will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars."

Now, with SLS retiring and no replacement ready, the next missions with hardware almost ready are Chinese. China announced a few years ago that it would send taikonauts to the Moon and return them to Earth before 2030. However, those close to the program believe it can occur sooner than the 2030 target.

Both the Mengzhou crew capsule and Lanyue lunar lander are currently undergoing testing, with steady progress, on the ground for testing in space in the coming years. In addition, the Long March 10A, a single-core version of the Long March 10 Moon rocket, will fly for the first time in 2026, while the three-core Long March 10 will fly in 2027.

Additionally, China's crewed lunar program is not only just meant for short-term surface exploration missions, it is also aiming to develop stations for long-term Moon missions. These stations will be implemented by the various members of the International Lunar Research Station, at least one will be on the lunar surface while another may be in lunar orbit.

"The United States now sleeps under a [red] moon"
- Nikita Khrushchev

Lead image is photoshopped, the original is U.S. astronaut David Scott saluting the American flag during the Apollo 15 mission on August 1st 1971. You can find the original image here.

Disclaimer: Parts of this post have been ready for release since January 21st 2025 when rumours around a new direction began. Additionally, there is still time for the U.S. to change course via direction from Congress, assuming Donald Trump doesn't end any bill hoping to do so.

SpaceX's prototype fully-reusable Starship-Super Heavy blasted off from South Texas on May 27th at 23:36 pm Universal Standard Time for the vehicle's ninth test flight. This test flight utilized Ship 35, the third 'Block 2' Starship upper-stage, and Super Heavy Booster 14, flying for a second time.

Prior to the flight, SpaceX shared that Booster 14 would not perform a catch due to a number of reuse experiments onboard, while Ship 35 would aim to deploy eight dummy Starlink satellites and perform an in-space burn before splashing down in the Indian Ocean.

As is routine for the Super Heavy boosters now, all thirty-three of Booster 14's Raptor engines, with twenty-nine having flown before, along with one flying for the third time, ignited carrying the vehicle skyward over the Gulf of Mexico.

All of Booster 14's engines remained running throughout its second ascent to space, with all but three shutting down for hot-staging where Ship 35 ignited its six engines to head onward without the booster.

During the boost-back burn, all thirteen engines needed to be restarted to send Booster 14 back toward land relit and burned as planned. After a few minutes of unpowered flight, Booster 14 relit twelve out of thirteen engines for a splashdown, momentarily slowing down before the vehicle exploded.

While the booster was heading toward the Gulf of Mexico, Ship 35 was powering through its ascent. During that ascent, propellant was seen leaking from the engine section, but the vehicle flew through to engine cutoff to place it on its desired trajectory. However, with the engine cutoff a spin of Ship 35 occurred due to the propellant leak.

Due to an issue with the payload bay door, the eight dummy Starlink satellites could not be deployed and remained onboard. The in-space Raptor engine restart was also forgone.

By the time Ship 35 reached atmospheric re-entry, it was still suffering from a spin, with attitude control lost and surrounded by what appeared to be its propellant that had leaked out. Due to the uncontrolled re-entry, Ship 35 was lost on descent.

Flight ten had been expected to head into orbit, had the ninth flight put 'Block 2' Starship upper-stage development back on track. An orbital flight is now likely pushed back to flight eleven at the earliest, toward the end of the year.

2025 had been poised to be a key year for the Starship program with a Ship-to-Ship propellant transfer demonstration for NASA. The propellant transfer between two vehicles is critical for getting the Starship lunar lander out to the Moon, and returning American astronauts to the surface, for one mission, through the Artemis program.

How does it compare to flight eight?

In good news for the Super Heavy booster but bad news for the Starship upper-stage, flight eight was a repeat of the prior test flight. During that flight, Booster 15 ignited all thirty-three Raptor engines, propelling the vehicle toward space. All engines ran until 'most engines cut-off,' at which point Ship 34 lit its six engines for hot staging. Booster 14 then headed back to the launch site via a boost back burn.

Following the boost back burn, Booster 15 fell back toward the launch site, lighting thirteen engines and then shutting down all but three for a third successful catch of the Starship program.

While the booster was flying as planned, Ship 34, like Ship 33, was encountering several problems. Over the course of a few minutes, Ship 34's Raptor engines gradually failed, some together, and almost nine minutes into the flight, telemetry from the vehicle was lost for good. SpaceX currently believes the loss of Ship 34 was due to unintended propellant mixing within the Raptor engines, despite occurring near the same point in flight as Ship 33 was lost to harmonic stresses, which damaged propulsion systems.

What is Starship-Super Heavy?

Starship-Super Heavy is SpaceX's in-development fully reusable super heavy-lift launch vehicle and the largest rocket currently flying. SpaceX is currently aiming to have the launch vehicle deliver one-hundred and fifty tons to low Earth orbit while reused or two-hundred and fifty tons when expended, although there are rumors from SpaceX of an expendable payload capacity of three-hundred tons.

On the launch pad, Starship-Super Heavy is one-hundred and twenty-four meters tall and weighs 5,000,000 kilograms fully fuelled. The diameter of both vehicles is nine meters, excluding aerodynamic control surfaces.

What is Starship?

Starship is the second-stage of the Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle and is planned to be capable of multiple missions into orbit, after a short refurbishment. The vehicle is fifty meters tall and nine meters in diameter, excluding its four aerodynamic control surfaces. Fully fuelled with liquid methane and liquid oyxgen Starship is believed to weigh 1,300,000 kilograms with an approximate weight of 100,000 kilograms unfuelled.

The Starship second-stage is powered by three sea-level Raptor engines along with three vacuum-optimized Raptor engines. These sea-level engines are believed to generate 230 tons of thrust each with the vacuum-optimized engines generating 258 tons of thrust each for a total combined 1,500 tons of thrust for Starship. The vacuum-optimized Raptors are unable to gimbal requiring the sea-level Raptors for control of the second-stage on ascent and landing.

In order to survive re-entry for reuse, Starship has several thousand thermal protection tiles on one side of the vehicle and on all four of its aerodynamic control surfaces. The four control surfaces help guide the vehicle during re-entry and prior to landing inside the atmosphere at a pre-determined location. Starship also has a series of small thrusters to control the vehicle in space before re-entry.

SpaceX is believed to be working on a few variants of Starship for use as a Moon lander, propellant tanker, space station, Mars lander, and as a crewed spacecraft.

What is Super Heavy?

Super Heavy, also called 'the Super Heavy booster', is the first-stage of SpaceX's Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle. The giant Super Heavy first-stage is planned to be capable of multiple flights per day with minimal refurbishments and inspections. The vehicle is seventy-one meters tall and nine meters in diameter, excluding its four grid fins and chines. Fully fuelled with liquid methane and liquid oyxgen Super Heavy is believed to weigh 3,600,000 kilograms with an approximate mass of 200,000 kilograms unfuelled.

The Super Heavy first-stage is powered by thirty-three sea-level Raptor engines generating a combined thrust of 7,590 tons, with each engine generating 230 tons of thrust. The outer twenty Raptor engines are unable to gimbal with the inner thirteen being able to for control of the first-stage.

To enable the reuse of Super Heavy, the vehicle has four large grid fins placed in the interstage to assist in guiding and controlling during descent. Super Heavy also has four chines running along the lower third of it to generate lift and assist in stabilization.

Shortly after completing the ascent, Super Heavy restarts ten engines, as three were running during staging, and performs a 'boost back' burn in order to return to the launch site. After the 'boost back' burn is completed the engines shut down with Super Heavy being guided by a series of small thrusters and its grid fins. Once Super Heavy is at the correct altitude above its landing location three engines start back up for the landing burn. SpaceX currently plans to have Super Heavy land back at the launch site, or at sea if a problem is detected during descent

Super Heavy also features a hot-staging ring atop of it to allow for a faster and simpler staging process, according to SpaceX. The hot-staging ring has dozens of gaps on the sides to allow for the Raptor engine exhaust of Starship to escape.

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week saw seven launches taking place worldwide, with one failure. News from the week saw the Shenzhou-20 taikonaut trio conducting their first spacewalk, China's Tianwen-2 asteroid sample return probe preparing for launch, and Jared Isaacman moving closer to being NASA Administrator. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

May 18th - PSLV-XL with RISAT-1B

A PSLV-XL rocket launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, in India, hoping to deliver the RISAT-1B synthetic aperture radar imaging satellite to low Earth orbit. Sadly during the third-stage underperformed during its burn, leading in a failure to reach orbit.

May 19th - Ceres-1S with four Tianqi satellites

Galactic Energy's Ceres-1S delivered four Tianqi satellites to a 850-kilometer 45-degree inclination low Earth orbit from the coast of Rizhao in the Yellow Sea. The satellites being launched were Tianqi-16, Tianqi-17, Tianqi-19, and Tianqi-20 for Guodian Gaoke's Internet-of-Things constellation.

May 20th - Long March 7A with ChinaSat-3B

A Long March 7A lifted off from Launch Complex 201 at the Wenchang Space Launch Site carrying the ChinaSat-3B satellite to geostationary transfer orbit. ChinaSat-3B is expected to provide communications, radio, and television transmission services, while complementing ChinaSat-3A.

May 21st - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 12-15

Twenty-three Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. Booster B1095 supported this mission, believed to be on its first flight, with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

May 21st - Kinetica-1 for its return-to-flight mission

CAS Space's Kinetica-1 rocket performed its return to flight mission from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, carrying six satellites to sun-synchronous orbit. The satellites onboard were Taijing-3-04, Taijing-4-02A, Xingrui-11, Xingjiyuan-1, Lifang108-001 (also known as Tadahuyang-1), and Xiguang-1-02.

May 23rd - Soyuz 2.1b with Kosmos 2588

A Soyuz 2.1b launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome carrying a military spacecraft into low Earth orbit.

May 23rd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-16

Twenty-seven more Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Supporting this launch was booster B1075 for its eighteenth flight, with a landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' down range.

May 24th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 12-22

Another twenty-three Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit with SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40. Booster B1069 supported this launch on its twenty-fourth flight, landing on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas' downrange.

In Other Space News

Shenzhou-20 crew conducts first spacewalk

Chen Dong and Chen Zhongrui conducted the Shenzhou-20 mission's first spacewalk on May 22nd, spending eight hours outside of the space station. Their crewmate, Wang Jie, stayed inside the Tianhe module to support the two spacewalkers.

While outside the space station, the spacewalkers installed various space debris protection devices, having collected them from the Mengtian modules cargo airlock, which placed them outside the station prior. Additionally, inspections of the space stations three modules were conducted to ensure Tiangong is operating as expected, allowing it to remain in orbit into the late 2030s.

In a rarity on Tiangong, the Shenzhou-20 crews spacewalk was performed from the Tianhe module. The last time Tianhe's airlock was used was in December 2021 as all spacewalks since have used the Wentian modules airlock.

Currently, the Shenzhou-20 crew has spent just over one month onboard the space station, with five months left in their mission. Additional spacewalks may occur before the three taikonauts return to Earth in October.

Tianwen-2 prepares for launch

On May 18th, the China Academy of Space Technology shared that the Tianwen-2 probe, which will collect samples from a near-Earth asteroid, was moved to Launch Complex 2 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. In the weeks prior, the spacecraft was loaded with its propellant to perform its mission and wrapped up final testing.

Tianwen-2 has been at Xichang since late February for launch preparations. Hazard notices indicate that liftoff for Tianwen-2 atop of the Long March 3B/E could occur as soon as May 28th.

Following launch the spacecraft will begin its long journey out to asteroid 2016HO3, arriving sometime in 2027. While flying alongside the asteroid Tianwen-2 will search for a suitable sampling site before collecting between 200 and 1,000 grams of samples via touch-and-go as well as anchor-and-attach methods. Once these samples are secured in a sample container, the spacecraft will head back toward Earth and drop off the samples around 2029 during a flyby.

After the sample canister is released for retrieval by teams back on Earth, Tianwen-2 will begin its extended mission to asteroid 311P out in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Throughout the early 2030s, Tianwen-2 is planned to thoroughly study 311P whilst doubling as a test of China’s deep space communications infrastructure ahead of the Tianwen-4 mission to Jupiter.

If the mission is successful, China will be the third nation to collect samples from an asteroid, after the United States and Japan. With more samples on Earth, greater scientific breakthroughs related to the birth and creation of the solar system can be made.

Senate plans Isaacman nomination vote

SpaceNews is reporting that the U.S. Senate is planning its vote on confirming Jared Isaacman as Administrator of NASA in June.

This vote follows a hearing by the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation, where Jared Isaacman denied that Elon Musk, Head of SpaceX, was present during his meetings with then-President-elect Donald Trump regarding NASA.

It is unknown how Isaacman, as NASA Administrator, will manage the space agency with a massively reduced budget and no firm plans.

What to Expect Next Week

May 27th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-1

A batch of Starlink satellites is planned to launch to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 4E.

May 27th - Starship-Super Heavy for its ninth flight test

SpaceX is planning to conduct Starship-Super Heavy's ninth flight test from Starbase, Texas, to put development back on track for the 'Block 2' Starship upper-stage after two back-to-back failures.

May 28th - Electron for 'Full Stream Ahead'

Rocket Lab is aiming to launch its Electron rocket from the company's launch site on the Māhia Peninsula, in New Zealand, carrying a single satellite to low Earth orbit for BlackSky Technology.

May 28th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-32

Another batch of Starlink satellites are expected to head to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A.

May 28th - Long March 3B/E with Tianwen-2

The Tianwen-2 asteroid sample return mission is planning to launch from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center atop of a Long March 3B/E. Following launch, the spacecraft will head to asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa and return samples in 2029.

May 29th - Long March 2D with a to-be-annouced payload

A Long March 2D may launch from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying a currently unknown payload into Earth orbit.

May 30th - Falcon 9 with GPS-III SV08

A Falcon 9 is planning to launch from Space Launch Complex 40 carrying the GPS-III SV08 satellite to medium Earth orbit for the U.S. military.

May 30th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-18

Yet another batch of Starlink satellites is planned to launch to low Earth orbit via a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 4E.

SpaceX is currently working toward the ninth flight test of its in-development fully reusable Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle. This flight test is hoped to put development back on track for the 'Block 2' Starship upper-stage after two back-to-back, eerily similar, failures.

Following the failure of the eighth flight test, similar to the previous flight, SpaceX is conducting a length anomaly investigation. So far, the company believes the following is the root cause of the two failures:

"The most probable root cause for the loss of Starship was identified as a hardware failure in one of the upper stage’s center Raptor engines that resulted in inadvertent propellant mixing and ignition. Extensive ground testing has taken place since the flight test to better understand the failure, including more than 100 long-duration Raptor firings at SpaceX’s McGregor test facility."

"To address the issue on upcoming flights, engines on the Starship’s upper stage will receive additional preload on key joints, a new nitrogen purge system, and improvements to the propellant drain system. Future upgrades to Starship will introduce the Raptor 3 engine which will include additional reliability improvements to address the failure mechanism."

"While the failure manifested at a similar point in the flight timeline as Starship’s seventh flight test, it is worth noting that the failures are distinctly different. The mitigations put in place after Starship’s seventh flight test to address harmonic response and flammability of the ship’s attic section worked as designed prior to the failure on Flight 8."

An investigation into the eighth flight test is still ongoing, with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration approving of mitigations in place for the ninth test flight. Additionally, larger and more numerous airspace closures are in place for this flight test.

SpaceX currently expects to fly the ninth flight test as soon as May 27th, utilizing Ship 35 and Booster 14, which is flying for a second time. Some details on the next flight test are as follows:

"The upcoming flight test marks the first launch of a flight-proven Super Heavy booster, which previously launched and returned on Starship’s seventh flight test. In addition to the reuse milestone, Super Heavy will fly a variety of experiments aimed at generating data to improve performance and reliability on future boosters. The Starship upper stage will repeat its suborbital trajectory and target objectives not reached on the previous two flight tests, including the first payload deployment from Starship and multiple reentry experiments geared towards returning the vehicle to the launch site for catch."

"After the conclusion of the boostback burn, the booster will attempt to fly at a higher angle of attack during its descent. By increasing the amount of atmospheric drag on the vehicle, a higher angle of attack can result in a lower descent speed which in turn requires less propellant for the initial landing burn. Getting real-world data on how the booster is able to control its flight at this higher angle of attack will contribute to improved performance on future vehicles, including the next generation of Super Heavy."

Meanwhile, Ship 35 is aiming to perform a full mission profile, not seen since flight six, and hopefully becoming the first 'Block 2' Starship upper-stage to do so. During a coast phase in space, Ship 35 will also attempt to deploy eight dummy Starlink satellites and perform an in-space Raptor engine relight.

As with the other eight flight tests, this mission will fly from Starbase, Texas, using SpaceX's only operational launch pad at its Starship test site.

If the ninth flight test is successful, flight ten could head into orbit, potentially for the first tower catch of a Starship.

2025 is a key year for the Starship program as a Ship-to-Ship propellant transfer is expected this year by NASA. Propellant transfer between two vehicles is critical for getting the Starship lunar lander out to the Moon, and returning American astronauts to the surface, for one mission, through the Artemis program.

What is Starship-Super Heavy?

Starship-Super Heavy is SpaceX's in-development fully reusable super heavy-lift launch vehicle and the largest rocket currently flying. SpaceX is currently aiming to have the launch vehicle deliver one-hundred and fifty tons to low Earth orbit while reused or two-hundred and fifty tons when expended, although there are rumors from SpaceX of an expendable payload capacity of three-hundred tons.

On the launch pad, Starship-Super Heavy is one-hundred and twenty-four meters tall and weighs 5,000,000 kilograms fully fuelled. The diameter of both vehicles is nine meters, excluding aerodynamic control surfaces.

What is Starship?

Starship is the second-stage of the Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle and is planned to be capable of multiple missions into orbit, after a short refurbishment. The vehicle is fifty meters tall and nine meters in diameter, excluding its four aerodynamic control surfaces. Fully fuelled with liquid methane and liquid oyxgen Starship is believed to weigh 1,300,000 kilograms with an approximate weight of 100,000 kilograms unfuelled.

The Starship second-stage is powered by three sea-level Raptor engines along with three vacuum-optimized Raptor engines. These sea-level engines are believed to generate 230 tons of thrust each with the vacuum-optimized engines generating 258 tons of thrust each for a total combined 1,500 tons of thrust for Starship. The vacuum-optimized Raptors are unable to gimbal requiring the sea-level Raptors for control of the second-stage on ascent and landing.

In order to survive re-entry for reuse, Starship has several thousand thermal protection tiles on one side of the vehicle and on all four of its aerodynamic control surfaces. The four control surfaces help guide the vehicle during re-entry and prior to landing inside the atmosphere at a pre-determined location. Starship also has a series of small thrusters to control the vehicle in space before re-entry.

SpaceX is believed to be working on a few variants of Starship for use as a Moon lander, propellant tanker, space station, Mars lander, and as a crewed spacecraft.

What is Super Heavy?

Super Heavy, also called 'the Super Heavy booster', is the first-stage of SpaceX's Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle. The giant Super Heavy first-stage is planned to be capable of multiple flights per day with minimal refurbishments and inspections. The vehicle is seventy-one meters tall and nine meters in diameter, excluding its four grid fins and chines. Fully fuelled with liquid methane and liquid oyxgen Super Heavy is believed to weigh 3,600,000 kilograms with an approximate mass of 200,000 kilograms unfuelled.

The Super Heavy first-stage is powered by thirty-three sea-level Raptor engines generating a combined thrust of 7,590 tons, with each engine generating 230 tons of thrust. The outer twenty Raptor engines are unable to gimbal with the inner thirteen being able to for control of the first-stage.

To enable the reuse of Super Heavy, the vehicle has four large grid fins placed in the interstage to assist in guiding and controlling during descent. Super Heavy also has four chines running along the lower third of it to generate lift and assist in stabilization.

Shortly after completing the ascent, Super Heavy relights ten engines, as three were running during staging, and performs a 'boost back' burn in order to return to the launch site. After the 'boost back' burn is completed the engines shut down with Super Heavy being guided by a series of small thrusters and its grid fins. Once Super Heavy is at the correct altitude above its landing location three engines start back up for the landing burn. SpaceX currently plans to have Super Heavy land back at the launch site, or at sea if a problem is detected during descent

Super Heavy also features a hot-staging ring atop of it to allow for a faster and simpler staging process, according to SpaceX. The hot-staging ring has dozens of gaps on the sides to allow for the Raptor engine exhaust of Starship to escape.

Elon Musk, the billionaire head of SpaceX, annouced recently that he will become less involved with politics following around a year long effort to have Trump returned to the White House. This effort has cost him almost 300 million United States Dollars during the election campaign, and an additional 25 million in Wisconsin for its Supreme Court election. Musk's reasoning for cutting back?

"I think I've done enough."

It's not clear what Musk considers 'enough' to be, following the 'Department of Government Efficiency's' failure to save 2 trillion dollars per year, and with the debt raised by another 4 trillion. But 'enough' may be policies that have benefited Musk's companies, including SpaceX.

Following the announcement of sweeping tariffs from the Trump Administration, and with Musk's closeness to the administration, a handful of countries quickly cozied up to SpaceX. One nation was the small African nation of Lesotho, hit with 50 percent tariffs, which quickly approved services of the Starlink constellation with a decade-long license. The granting of Starlink's license was not part of a wider agreement with the U.S., but instead to build goodwill with the administration. Another nation was India, with a population of 1.4 billion people and thus a massive potential market. Pakistan and Bangladesh also approved a license for Starlink, with Vietnam removing a rule until 2030 that requires SpaceX to partner with a local company. Across more of Africa too, Starlink is entering new nations markets, with aggressive support from the U.S. State Department. All of these nations have granted licenses for the same reason as Lesotho: to build goodwill with Trump and his allies.

Related to Starlink's push aboard with the Trump Administration, the constellation is reported to be replacing the Federal Aviation Administration's communications systems. Officials have suggested that Starlink will be used in the short term, but that remains to be seen.

Alongside benefits from tariffs, there's also the 'Golden Dome' pipe dream, which will cost anywhere between 175 to 542 billion dollars if not more. SpaceX has reportedly emerged as a frontrunner for 'Golden Dome', utilizing its Starlink and Starshield constellations to support a new constellation solely tracking missiles and hosting weapon systems. Criticism of 'Golden Dome' has been aplenty from both inside the U.S. and abroad, with Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning noting that the project was a gross violation of the Outer Space Treaty, which the U.S. spearheaded the creation of.

Meanwhile at NASA, Trump is looking to cut back on billions for scientific programs in order to allocate money towards a crewed Mars mission. Trump notably endorsed the idea during his inauguration speech, but has no clue how to go about it. This would likely end up with SpaceX being the sole or major contracted enterprise to put a few people on Mars. In favour of this, SpaceX will have two stronger supporters, in NASA's Administrator and Chief Financial Officer, who will move in benefit of the company.

With new contracts flowing SpaceX's way from the Trump Administration, the company stands to receive billions more dollars in government funds.

Not all easy business

Despite the new money coming from the U.S. government, Trump's policies are hurting SpaceX's commercial customers. The tariffs in early April hit everything, including satellites headed to space atop of Falcon 9. One customer, Canada-based satellite startup Galaxia, got hit with a 25 percent duty to send its spacecraft to SpaceX for a launch in June. While not disclosing the cost, Galaxia chose to absorb the cost for one satellite while considering options for the future.

Additionally, due to Musk's support of Trump's rhetoric toward Canada and Mexico has led to the company losing a 100 million dollar contract in Ontario and potentially billions in investment from Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim.

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week saw nine launches taking place, with only one carrying a single satellites. News from the week had the Artemis Accords gaining a new signatory while the European Space Agency is seeking more funding. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

May 11th - Long March 6A Yaogan-40 Group-02

A Long March 6A lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center carrying three satellites into polar orbit for Yaogan-40 Group-02. The three satellites are expected to perform electromagnetic environment monitoring of areas of the Earth below.

May 12th - Long March 3C/E with TJSW-19

The first Long March 3C/E in almost four years blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center carrying the TJSW-19 satellite to geostationary orbit. TJSW-19 is said to provide communications, radio, television, and data transmission, as well as testing and verification for multi-band high-speed throughput communications technologies.

May 13th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-4

A Falcon 9 departed from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, carrying twenty-six Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. Supporting this mission was booster B1088, for its sixth flight, and landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

May 13th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-83

Another batch of twenty-eight Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Launch Complex 39A, in Florida. Booster B1067 supported this mission on its twenty-eighth flight, with a landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange'.

May 14th - Long March 2D with Three-Body Computing Constellation Group-01

A Long March 2D blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying the first 12 satellites for ADA Space's Three-Body Computing Constellation into sun-synchronous orbit. This constellation could have up to 2,800 satellites in orbit for AI-enabled processing of spacecraft data in space.

May 14th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-67

Twenty-eight more Starlink satellites were sent to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, atop of a Falcon 9. In support of this mission was booster B1090, performing its fourth flight and landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

May 16th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-5

Yet another Falcon 9 delivered another twenty-six Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E. Booster B1093, on its second flight, supported this mission, with a landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

May 17th - Zhuque-2E with six Tianyi satellites

LandSpace's Zhuque-2E rocket performed its second flight from Launch Area 96A at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, carrying six Tianyi satellites to a sun-synchronous orbit. The satellites, developed by Spacety, are Tianyi-29, Tianyi-34, Tianyi-35, Tianyi-42, Tianyi-45, and Tianyi-46. They will be used for Earth imaging, geological monitoring, radar-based change detection, laser communication tests, and space science research.

May 17th - Electron for 'The Sea God Sees'

Rocket Lab launched its Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1A, on the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand, carrying one of iQPS' synthetic aperture radar satellites to low Earth orbit. The satellite is planned to be part of a constellation of thirty-six satellites that will repeatedly image parts of Earth every ten minutes.

In Other Space News

Norway signs Artemis Accords

Norway has signed the U.S.-led non-binding Artemis Accords on May 15th, becoming the fifty-fifth country to do so. A signing ceremony took place at the Norwegian Space Agency in Oslo, with Norway's Minister of Trade and Industry, Cecilie Myrseth, signing on behalf of the country. Following signing, Myrseth stated:

“We are pleased to be a part of the Artemis Accords,” – “This is an important step for enabling Norway to contribute to broader international cooperation to ensure the peaceful exploration and use of outer space.”

NASA's acting Administrator Janet Petro added:

“We’re grateful for the strong and meaningful collaboration we’ve already had with the Norwegian Space Agency,” – “Now, by signing the Artemis Accords, Norway is not only supporting the future of exploration, but also helping us define it with all our partners for the Moon, Mars, and beyond.”

With the signing of the accords, Norway joins Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, the Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, Poland, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay as a signatory.

ESA head calls for more funding

ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher called for increased funding at the European Space Agency (ESA) on May 13th in front of the European Parliament. Speaking to the parliament, Aschbacher said it was a miracle that Europe has its position as a leader in space with its limited funding.

Aschbacher noted that Europe contributes around ten percent of the global government spending for space, behind both China and the United States. As such, he argued that:

"All the space budgets in Europe need to increase. It cannot be that we are a world economic powerhouse but in space we are relatively modest in terms of our investment."

This call for increased funding is in the wake of massive proposed cuts to NASA programs that ESA supports. Regarding the U.S., Aschbacher added:

"Europe needs to strengthen its autonomy, strengthen its independence, build up capacity and therefore be ready. We cannot wait until ’28."

ESA is currently preparing for its next three-year budget, which will be decided following a meeting of member states in November.

What to Expect Next Week

May 18th - PSLV-XL with RISAT-1B

A PSLV-XL rocket is preparing to launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, in India, to deliver the RISAT-1B synthetic aperture radar imaging satellite to low Earth orbit.

May 19th - Ceres-1S with a to-be-annouced payload

Galactic Energy's Ceres-1S is expected to launch from a sea launch platform off the waters of Rizhao in the Yellow Sea, possibly carrying four Tianqi internet-of-things satellites to low Earth orbit.

May 20th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 12-15

SpaceX is planning to launch a batch of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, via a Falcon 9.

May 20th - Long March 7A with a to-be-annouced payload

A Long March 7A is preparing to launch from Launch Complex 201 at the Wenchang Space Launch Site, carrying a currently undisclosed payload toward geostationary orbit.

May 20th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-16

Another batch of Starlink satellites are planning to be launched to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E atop of a Falcon 9.

May 21st - Kinetica-1 for its return to flight

CAS Space could conduct Kinetica-1's return to flight as soon as May 21st with a launch from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

May 22nd - Starship-Super Heavy's ninth flight test

The in-development fully reusable Starship-Super Heavy rocket may fly its ninth flight test as early as May 22nd. But SpaceX is still waiting for full regulatory go-ahead.

Politico reported on May 14th that the Trump Administration has no unified plan or individual in charge of its space policy. This is in the wake of six billion dollars in planned cuts at NASA.

Those cuts stand to cripple NASA science in the long term, cancel the long await Mars Sample Return mission, put the International Space Station in jeaporady, and cancel the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft after the Artemis III mission in 2027.

The cuts to the Artemis program in particular, through eliminating SLS and the Orion capsule, removes the only proven systems for sending humans beyond low Earth orbit and turns the program into a flags-and-footprints project, like Apollo, instead of routine long-term missions to the Moon. In a so-called race to the Moon with China, which is really a marathon, eliminating the only working system is effectively giving up.

At the moment, the proposed cuts would need to pass through Congress, which is Republican controlled, so there's a good chance it will. By the time these cuts are real policy, Elon Musk, major stakeholder in Mars missions and the Trump Administration, will have two 'puppets' in NASA, in the agency's Administrator and Chief Financial Officer.

Meanwhile, Politico reports a chaotic approach inside the White House, where no clear leader is guiding space policy. The National Space Council, which Trump is looking to revive, remains unstaffed, NASA awaits a confirmed administrator, and agencies are left to guess who is in charge. Despite lofty rhetoric about returning to the Moon and reaching Mars, the plans and interim goals needed to shape and implement space policy simply does not exist.

Instead, budget decisions appear to be driven by the Office of Management and Budget, with little input from scientific or space policy experts. Industry officials told Politico they’re confused, with multiple agencies and offices offering conflicting guidance, if any. The lack of coordination has left critical programs, like Artemis, vulnerable and the broader U.S. space program adrift.

Additionally last week, the Houston Chronicle reported that the International Space Station will perform a reduced amount of science and be home to fewer astronauts due to a shrinking budget, with station operations losing a billion dollars. This has been exacerbated by the Trump Administration's planned cut of 508 million United States Dollars to the space station.

To address the shrinking budget, the Houston Chronicle reports that NASA will have three crew members on the station instead of four starting next year, dropping the station’s overall crew to six people, as Russia will continue flying three cosmonauts. Additionally, future missions will also be longer than those currently underway, similar to Roscosmos' crew transfers every eight months. With one less crew member onboard, it is expected that research performed onboard the International Space Station will be reduced by half.

Longer missions with three crew members are expected to begin with Crew-12, atop of SpaceX's Crew Dragon, in 2026.

Alongside the problems the budget cuts will cause, NASA is changing its performance criteria for agency personnel. Instead of being measured on innovation, collaboration, personnel growth, and program results, employees will now be evaluated on faithfulness to Presidential policies, efficiency, and organizational goals. Oh, and there's an ideological witchhunt within the agency.

Somehow, through all of this chaos, Trump wants boots on Mars. Keith Cowing of NASAWatch summarizes what's going on best:

"All the space policy ‘experts’ claim that the Administration has a firm “plan” for NASA. If indeed it exists, then the chaos at NASA – programs gutted, people unsure if they have a job, research halted for no reason, paranoid behavior by management, must all be part of that plan, right? Chaos is not a plan. It just ****** people off, wastes money, and reduces productivity. This is not the way to keep America Great In Space."

Gilmour Space, an Australian space launch company, is preparing to launch its Eris-1 rocket on its first flight, as soon as May 15th. For the first flight, the company has a ten-hour-long launch window from the Bowen Orbital Spaceport in northeastern Australia.

Should the launch go ahead on the 15th, it would be the first orbital launch from Australia in over fifty years and the first time an Australian-made rocket reaches orbit. The last time a launch was conducted from the country was in 1971 when the United Kingdom's Black Arrow delivered the Prospero satellite into low Earth orbit.

The Eris-1 rocket is on the smaller side for an orbital rocket, being just 25 meters tall but consisting of three stages. Stage one has a diameter of 2 meters, while the second-stage has a diameter of 1.5 meters along with the fairing. For payload capacity, Eris-1 is claimed to be able to lift around 300 kilograms to low Earth orbit.

Powering Eris-1's first-stage at liftoff will be four Sirius hybrid rocket motors, burning a mixture of solid propellant and liquid fuel, to generate a combined 46.9 tons of thrust. A single Sirius motor will power the second-stage to generate 11.7 tons of thrust. Both the first and second stages will burn for around 100 seconds. For reaching orbit, a Phoenix liquid propellant engine will burn for around 120 seconds.

In later flights, as soon as 2026, Eris-1 will be improved via a 'Block 2' version, boosting its payload capacity to 1,000 kilograms. An even more capable variant of the rocket, Eris Heavy, is planned to lift 4,000 kilograms into orbit several years from now.

Eris-1's first flight has been in the works for a few months, with the company expecting to fly back in March, having received a launch permit in November 2024. Ahead of a possible March launch, the company in late February, quoting Adam Gilmour, their Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, highlighted three points to keep in mind during the launch campaign:

"Firstly, it's important to understand that delays or 'scrubs' are a normal part of rocket launches. These can last anywhere from hours to days, or even weeks, and are often caused by weather conditions, technical issues, or other factors. "Safety is always the top priority. We'll only launch when we're ready, and when conditions are appropriate," he said."

"Secondly, the first launch is always the hardest. Reaching orbit is a highly complex engineering challenge, and every successful rocket company has faced setbacks in their early attempts—SpaceX, for one, did it on their fourth attempt. "It's almost unheard of for a private rocket company to launch successfully to orbit the first time. Whether we make it off the pad, reach max Q, or get all the way to space, what's important is that every second of flight will deliver valuable data that will improve our rocket's reliability and performance for future launches.""

"Thirdly, this is the road we must take to build sovereign space capability that will be critical for Australia's future. Launching Australian-owned and controlled rockets from home soil means more high-tech jobs, greater security, economic growth, and technological independence. "Only six countries in the world are launching regularly to space using their own technology, and Australia could soon be one of them.""

Wrapping up the press release from February, Adam Gilmour added:

"I want to thank our incredible team at GIlmour Space for all their hard work and dedication in getting to this critical first flight. Whatever happens next, know that you've already made history—we now build rockets in Australia. And this is only the beginning."

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week saw four launches taking place, all in support of the Starlink constellation. News from the week regarded the fallout of the Trump Administration's proposed cuts to NASA and the departure of the head of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

May 4th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-84

From Launch Complex 39A, in Florida, a Falcon 9 blasted off carrying twenty-nine Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. Supporting this mission was booster B1078, for its twentieth flight with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

May 7th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-93

Twenty-eight more Starlink satellites headed to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. Booster B1085 supported this mission for its seventh flight, with a landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange.

May 10th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-3

Another twenty-six Starlink satellites departed from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, atop of a Falcon 9 to low Earth orbit. In support of this mission was booster B1081 for its fourteenth flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

May 10th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-91

Falcon 9 launched another twenty-eight Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40. Flying for the eleventh time was booster B1083, which landed downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

In Other Space News

ESA on NASA cuts

On May 3rd, the Trump Administration shared an overview of its 2026 fiscal budget, proposing billions in cuts to NASA. That budget plans to effectively cripple NASA science, end the Artemis program via the cancelation of the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft after Artemis III, cancel the planned Gateway space station in lunar orbit, and kill the agency's Mars Sample Return mission.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is a part of several of these programs and provides key parts of Orion, Gateway, and the Mars Sample Return mission. Trump's proposed cancellation of the mission would throw away untold billions in European investment. As such, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher released a press release about the NASA budget on May 5th, which is as follows:

On 2 May 2025, the White House Office of Management and Budget released a 'skinny’ version of the President's Budget Request (PBR) for fiscal year 2026. The more detailed version of the request is expected to be released in late May-early June. The Budget Request release marks the beginning of the appropriation process in US Congress culminating in the President’s signature of the budget bill passed by the House and the Senate – thus it should be kept in mind that this is still very much a work in progress.

NASA has briefed ESA about the Budget Request, and while some questions still remain about the full repercussions, follow-up meetings are already taking place with NASA. ESA remains open to cooperation with NASA on the programmes earmarked for a reduction or termination but is nevertheless assessing the impact with our Member States in preparation for ESA’s June Council.

ESA and NASA have a long history of successful partnership, particularly in exploration – a highly visible example of international cooperation – where we have many joint activities forging decades of strong bonds between American and European colleagues. Space exploration is an endeavour in which the collective can reach much farther than the individual. Thus, ESA has strong partnerships with space agencies from around the globe and is committed to not only being a reliable partner, but a strong and desirable partner.

At ESA’s June Council, based on further developments, there will be an assessment with our Member States of potential actions and alternative scenarios for impacted ESA programmes and related European industry. Later in the year, ESA will hold its Council at Ministerial level and is determined to raise Europe's potential in space – for the ultimate benefit of Europe, ESA’s Member States and their citizens.

Planned Cuts Trim ISS Operations

The Houston Chronicle is reporting that the International Space Station will perform a reduced amount of science and be home to fewer astronauts due to a shrinking budget for station operations by a billion dollars. This has been exacerbated by the Trump Administration's planned cut of 508 million United States Dollars to the space station.

To address the shrinking budget, the Houston Chronicle reports that NASA will have three crew members on the station instead of four starting next year, dropping the station’s overall crew to six people, as Russia will continue flying three cosmonauts. Additionally, future missions will also be longer than those currently underway, similar to Roscosmos' crew transfers every eight months. With one less crew member onboard, it is expected that research performed onboard the International Space Station will be reduced by half.

Longer missions with three crew members are expected to begin with Crew-12, atop of SpaceX's Crew Dragon, in 2026.

JPL head steps down

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory shared on May 7th that its Director, Laurie Leshin, would step down on June 1st. Replacing Leshin will be David Gallagher, Associate Director of Strategic Integration at the Laboratory.

In January 2022, Leshin was named as Director of the Laboratory in January 2022 and has overseen the EMIT, SWOT, Psyche, PREFIRE, Europa Clipper, and SPHEREx missions reach space. Alongside those in space, she has also overseen the NASA-Indian NISAR mission and Roman Space Telescope (which the Trump Administration plans to cut) through development. Speaking on her time at the Laboratory, Leshin said:

"I am proud of the many things JPL has accomplished over the past three years," – "In addition to the long list of missions that have launched or moved toward launch during that time, we saved Voyager more than once and flew into history on Mars with Ingenuity. We have made more amazing scientific discoveries than I can name, including finding potential ancient Martian biomarkers with Perseverance. And we’ve driven the forefront of technology on Earth and in space. I know those achievements will continue under Dave’s capable leadership."

She added the following on social media, also on the 7th:

"Leading JPL has been the honor of a lifetime. I am proud of the many things we accomplished together – launching and making progress on a long list of missions, driving the forefront of technology on Earth and in space, and making more amazing scientific discoveries than I can name."

What to Expect Next Week

May 11th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-83

A Falcon 9 is planning to launch from Launch Complex 39A carrying a batch of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit.

May 11th - Long March 6A with three Yaogan satellites

A Long March 6A is expected to launch from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, carrying three Yaogan to a polar orbit.

May 12th - Long March 3C/E with a to-be-announced payload

A Long March 3C/E may launch from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center carrying a currently unknown payload to a geostationary transfer orbit.

May 13th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-4

Another batch of Starlink satellites is planning to launch to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E atop of a Falcon 9.

May 14th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-67

More Starlink satellites are expected to launch from Space Launch Complex 40 atop of a Falcon 9 to low Earth orbit.

May 15th - Zhuque-2E with a to-be-annocued payload

LandSpace is preparing to launch its second Zhuque-2E rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, carrying a currently unknown payload toward sun-synchronus orbit.

May 16th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-5

Yet another Falcon 9 is planning to launch from Space Launch Complex 4E carrying more Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit.

May 17th - Electron for 'The Sea God Sees'

Rocket Lab is expected to launch its Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1A, on the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand, carrying one of iQPS' synthetic aperture radar satellites to low Earth orbit.

SpaceX head Elon Musk has long endeavored to gain greater control over the company's Starbase facility, where the Starship-Super Heavy rocket is built and tested, in South Texas. To this end, SpaceX employees living close to the site petitioned for the establishment of a city and voted to incorporate it on May 3rd.

According to local news, employees living near the site voted 212 to 6 for the Starbase site to become the city of Starbase. Only 283 of those living in the new city were eligible to vote despite a population of around 500. Additionally, all but ten homes in the new city are owned by SpaceX, questioning if this decision was entirely the employees' own.

As a new city, officials had to be elected too. Running unopposed for mayor was Boddy Pedan, Vice President of Test and Launch of SpaceX in Texas. The two candidates for city commissioners were Jordan Buss, Senior Director of Environmental Health and Safety at SpaceX, and Jenna Petrzelka, reportedly linked to Joe Petrzelka who is SpaceX's Vice President of Spacecraft Engineering.

With SpaceX's employing the city officials and owning most homes, Starbase is a de facto company town. This new town should not be confused with SpaceX's other company town in Texas.

One of the first things the new city and government will have to do is find out what services are needed, like utilities, law enforcement, and education, to support Starbase's population. Once those are figured out, a budget will need to be set to allow the implementation of those services. That budget will end up derived from taxes and locals and corporations, which would just be SpaceX. However, SpaceX is headquartered in Starbase and Musk isn't keen on paying taxes.

As Starbase officials are also senior employees at SpaceX, it brings into question how they will write city law and whether it will heavily bring benefits to the company. A notable citizen of Starbase is Elon Musk, with city laws possibly shaped to his benefit for numerous legal challenges. Furthermore, paperwork submitted by SpaceX to Starbase may be massively streamlined due to pressure on officials from their employer, adding risk to an already tenuous environmental record surrounding the new city.

The U.S. government and federal authorities have however, decided that SpaceX can proceed with Starship-Super Heavy operations out of Starbase, via a new finding of no significant impact released on May 6th. In the new document, the Federal Aviation Administration is allowing Starship-Super Heavy to launch twenty-five times per year, with three launches at night.

Despite the government go-ahead, locals living near Starbase are not happy with SpaceX. Native American groups have had access to their religiously important sites denied, houses outside of the immediate vicinity of Starbase have had their foundations damaged, and biodiversity in the surrounding area has been majorly damaged. Alongside this, the last two Starship-Super Heavy flights have spread debris across the Bahamas, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and damaged the Turks and Caicos Islands, damaging environments hundreds of miles away from the launch pad.

These views from the public become clear once it is realised that a low-income community is rapidly becoming gentrified following the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with SpaceX's lack of explaining what they're doing and how they intend to support the local economy. SpaceX's lack of explaining to the public is the company's own fault, as it has consistently pivoted on its plans for Starbase. First Starbase was a Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch facility, then a test site for Starship vehicles, and now as a factory and highly active launch site for the future of the Starship-Super Heavy rocket.

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week had nine launches occurring, with satellites for three mega-constellations reaching orbit. News from the week had progress continuing for Artemis II as well as Jared Isaacman getting closer to becoming NASA Administrator. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

April 27th - Long March 3B/E with a Tianlian-2-05

A Long March 3B/E launched from Launch Complex 2 the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, carrying the Tianlian-2-05 satellite to a geostationary transfer orbit. Tianlian-2-05 will provide data and communications relay services for China's crewed spacecraft, including the Tiangong Space Station.

April 28th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 12-23

SpaceX launched twenty-three Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9, flying from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. Booster B1077 supported this launch, for its twentieth flight with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

April 28th - Long March 5B with GuoWang Group 03

A Long March 5B lifted off from Launch Complex 101 at the Wenchang Space Launch Site heading to a polar orbit with a third batch of GuoWang satellites. Ten satellites were onboard the rocket, and deployed by a Yuanzheng-2 upper-stage.

April 28th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-9

Twenty-seven Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying out of Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Supporting this launch was B1063 on its twenty fifth flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

April 29th - Atlas V with KA-01

An Atlas V launched from Space Launch Complex 41, in Florida, carrying the first twenty-seven satellites for Amazon's Kuiper internet mega-constellation to low Earth orbit. Details on the constellation and future launches are available here.

April 29th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 12-10

Another twenty-three Starlink satellites were launched from Launch Complex 39A, in Florida, atop of a Falcon 9 flying to low Earth orbit. The booster for this mission was B1094, landing for the first time on the drone ship 'A Shortfall of Gravitas' downrange.

April 29th - Vega-C with Biomass

A Vega-C blasted off from Ensemble de Lancement Vega at the Guiana Space Centre carrying the Biomass spacecraft, which will measure the density of carbon stored in the world's forests, to sun-synchronous orbit. Despite a minor underperformance of the solid rocket stages, the liquid-fuelled fuelled upper-stage delivered Biomass to its target orbit successfully.

April 29th - Firefly Alpha for 'Message in a Booster'

Firefly Aerospace launched its Alpha rocket to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 2W, in California, with a satellite from Lockheed Martin. However, during stage separation, the second-stages engine nozzle was destroyed leading to underperformance of the rocket, reaching a lower-than-intended orbit.

May 2nd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-75

Twenty-eight more Starlink satellites were launched to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40. Booster B1080 supported this mission for its eighteenth flight, with a landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

In Other Space News

Artemis II preparations continue

On May 1st, the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis II mission had its testing and assembly completed by Lockheed Martin, and then was handed over to NASA's Exploration Ground Systems teams at the Kennedy Space Center. Now in the possession of NASA, Artemis II's Orion will undergo further preparations ahead of receiving its launch abort system and being placed atop of the Space Launch System (SLS).

Lockheed Martin's Vice President of Human Space Exploration and Orion Program Manager, Kirk Shireman, congratulated the company's teams, stating:

"This achievement is a testament to our employees and suppliers who have worked tirelessly to get us to this important milestone." – "It's exciting to think that soon, humans will see the Earth rise over the lunar horizon from our vehicle, while also traveling farther from Earth than ever before."

Also on May 1st, SLS's Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage was lifted and placed on the Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter. With the stacking of the upper-stage, all non-Orion systems for the Artemis II mission are ready inside the Vehicle Assembly Building.

At the moment, Artemis II will be the first test flight of the SLS rocket, Orion spacecraft, and supporting ground system with crew aboard. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen will venture around the Moon and back.

With new proposals for the Artemis program, Artemis II will be the mid-point of the program before it concludes with Artemis III.

Isaacman nomination sent to Senate

The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee voted on April 30th to advance the nomination of Jared Isaacman, a billionaire repeat space tourist, as the next Administrator of NASA.

The twenty-eight members of the committee voted nineteen to nine to progress Isaacman's nomination to a full vote by the U.S. Senate. All Republican members of the committee voted in favour along with four Democrats, with all nine against being Democrats. Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell voiced skeptical support for Isaacman following the vote, saying:

"Mr. Isaacman’s nomination comes before us with a wealth of business experience and space experience. I do think that innovators at this point in time, with a commitment to keeping onto the Moon mission, is the key requirement that we have to have in this position. While it’s not clear to me where the Trump Administration will ultimately end up on the NASA budget, and I have concerns about some of their proposed cuts today, Mr. Isaacman seems committed to the current plan for both lander redundancies, Space Launch System and returning to the Moon as fast as possible."

Jared Isaacman has a few potential conflicts of interest ahead of becoming NASA's Administrator. He is already a repeat customer of SpaceX's human spaceflight services and has plans to book at least two more missions with his own company, Shift4, holding millions of dollars of SpaceX stock while being a partner too. Online, Isaacman has been an enthusiastic supporter of Musk and Trump, while expecting and supporting the militarization of space, questioning whose interests he will act on behalf of.

What to Expect Next Week

May 4th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-84

Twenty-nine more Starlink satellites are expected to launch from Launch Complex 39A atop of a Falcon 9 heading to low Earth orbit.

May 4th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-3

Another Falcon 9 carrying a batch of Starlink satellites, this time with twenty-six spacecraft, is planning to launch to Low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E.

May 5th - Long March 12 with GuoWang Group 04?

The second Long March 12 is preparing to fly from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site's Commercial Launch Pad 2, possibly carrying the fourth group of GuoWang Satellites.

May 6th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-93

Yet another group of Starlink satellites is planned to be head to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40.

May 9th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-91

More Starlink satellites are expected to head to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 with a Falcon 9.

May 10th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-4

From Space Launch Complex 4E another batch of Starlink satellites will once again be atop of Falcon 9 heading to low Earth orbit.

While NASA has been preparing for a half dozen Artemis missions to the Moon, the Trump Administration has spent its first few months back in the White House planning ways to end the program. Today, on National Space Day, the administration released an overview of its fiscal year 2026 budget, and it slashes billions from NASA and kills the Artemis program.

The proposed cuts to NASA total six billion United States Dollars. Reducing the budget from 24.8 billion to 18.8 billion, a drop of 24.3 percent. The cuts across the agency are as follows, along with the administration's reasoning:

Space Science: 2,265 million dollars in budget reduction. Reasoning: In line with the Administration’s objectives of returning to the Moon before China and putting a man on Mars, the Budget would reduce lower priority research and terminate unaffordable missions such as the Mars Sample Return mission that is grossly overbudget and whose goals would be achieved by human missions to Mars. The mission is not scheduled to return samples until the 2030s.

Mission Support: 1,134 million dollars in budget reduction. Reasoning: The Budget refocuses NASA on beating China back to the Moon and putting the first human on Mars. To achieve these objectives, it would streamline the workforce, IT services, NASA Center operations, facility maintenance, and construction and environmental compliance activities.

Earth Science: 1,161 million dollars in budget reduction. Reasoning: The Budget eliminates funding for low-priority climate monitoring satellites and restructures the gold-plated, two-billion-dollar Landsat Next mission while NASA studies more affordable ways to maintain the continuity of Landsat imagery, which is used by natural resource managers, States, and industry.

Legacy Human Exploration Systems: 879 million dollars in budget reduction. Reasoning: The Budget phases out the grossly expensive and delayed Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion capsule after three flights. SLS alone costs $4 billion per launch and is 140 percent over budget. The Budget funds a program to replace SLS and Orion flights to the Moon with more cost-effective commercial systems that would support more ambitious subsequent lunar missions. The Budget also proposes to terminate the Gateway, a small lunar space station in development with international partners, which would have been used to support future SLS and Orion missions.

Space Technology: 531 million dollars in budget reduction. Reasoning: The Budget reduces Space Technology by approximately half, including eliminating failing space propulsion projects. The reductions also scale back or eliminate technology projects that are not needed by NASA or are better suited to private sector research and development.

International Space Station: 508 million dollars in budget reduction. Reasoning: The Budget reflects the upcoming transition to a more cost-effective commercial approach to human activities in space as the space station approaches the end of its life cycle. The Budget reduces the space station’s crew size and onboard research, preparing for a safe decommissioning of the station by 2030 and replacement by commercial space stations. Crew and cargo flights to the station would be significantly reduced. The station’s reduced research capacity would be focused on efforts critical to the Moon and Mars exploration programs.

Aeronautics: 346 million dollars in budget reduction. Reasoning: The Budget eliminates climate-focused “green aviation” spending while protecting the development of technologies with air traffic control and defense applications, producing savings.

Office of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Engagment: 143 million dollars in budget reduction. Reasoning: NASA’s primary role is space exploration and, similar to prior generations that were inspired by the Apollo lunar landings, NASA will inspire the next generation of explorers through exciting, ambitious space missions, not through subsidizing woke STEM programming and research that prioritizes some groups of students over others and have had minimal impact on the aerospace workforce.

With the billions in cuts, the administration did provide an increase in one program's funding:

Human Space Exploration: 647 million dollar budget increase. Reasoning: By allocating over $7 billion for lunar exploration and introducing $1 billion in new investments for Mars-focused programs, the Budget ensures that America’s human space exploration efforts remain unparalleled, innovative, and efficient.

In short, the budget changes would cripple NASA science in the long term, cancel the long await Mars Sample Return mission, put the International Space Station in jeaporady, majorly descope the DRACO nuclear propulsion demonstration mission*, and cancel the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft after the Artemis III mission in 2027. Somehow, with all the cuts, a pivot to crewed Mars missions would be facilitated.

Eliminating SLS and the Orion capsule following Artemis III removes the only proven systems for sending humans beyond low Earth orbit. No commercial launch vehicle or spacecraft can currently fill this role. This poses a serious risk to long-term goals, as America's capacity for sustained human presence in deep space before Mars missions would no longer exist. It also makes the Artemis program a flags-and-footprints program, like Apollo, instead of regular long-term missions to the Moon.

Cuts to Earth Science, the International Space Station, and STEM outreach is a retreat from NASA's broader mission. Reducing Earth science budgets eliminates satellites vital to climate monitoring, and underfunding the aging as well as increasingly risky International Space Station could create a gap in low Earth orbit U.S. missions. Eliminating STEM engagement programs undermines the future space workforce by reducing opportunities for students and young talent, hindering companies not affiliated with NASA too.

The claimed seven billion for lunar exploration is confusing, as what is it going towards with SLS and Orion gone? And what is one billion for crewed Mars for? Starship contracts at best?

Together, these changes move NASA to a contractor-heavy organization, relying heavily on commercial firms like SpaceX to carry out missions once led by science-driven teams.

These shifts in funds are not based on program performance and are instead politically motivated. Republicans and Trump were already known for denying climate change, but now ultra-wealthy oligarchs within the administration are reshaping programs to suit their own financial benefit, collecting on the billions spent on buying the 2024 election.

Bizarrely, Acting NASA Administrator and yes-man of an ideological witchhunt within the agency, Janet Petro, praised the 2026 budget proposal, saying:

“This proposal includes investments to simultaneously pursue exploration of the Moon and Mars while still prioritizing critical science and technology research,” – “I appreciate the President’s continued support for NASA’s mission and look forward to working closely with the administration and Congress to ensure we continue making progress toward achieving the impossible.”

At the moment, the 2026 budget proposal would need to pass through Congress, which is Republican controlled, so there's a good chance it will. By the time these cuts are real policy, Elon Musk, major stakeholder in Mars missions and the Trump Administration, will have two 'puppets' in NASA, in the agency's Administrator and Chief Financial Officer.

Alongside the problems the massive budget cuts will cause, NASA is changing its performance criteria for agency personnel. Instead of being measured on innovation, collaboration, personnel growth, and program results, employees will now be evaluated on faithfulness to Presidential policies, efficiency, and organizational goals.

NASA's main mission is undermined when it is run on the basis of efficiency and political loyalty rather than innovation and scientific brilliance. It puts more emphasis on compliance and bureaucracy than on exploration and discovery, which can hinder long-term success, discourage top personnel, and inhibit creativity. These changes run the risk of jeopardising NASA's status as the global leader and the integrity of its scientific work when combined with the proposed budget cuts.

*Sources have informed Proxima Report.