Table of Contents
Welcome to our nineteenth Monthly Dose of Space! In this monthly newsletter, we bring you major news from the past month. April has been a human spaceflight mission focused month, so let's jump into it!
News of the Month
News in April has seen the early stages of planning for a new Asian spaceport, planned booster reuse for the Starship program, China sharing lunar surface samples, and the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Crew rotations on both space stations
April saw six astronauts launch to Earth orbit, with three to both the International Space Station and China's Tiangong Space Station.
The first saw a Soyuz 2.1a lift off on April 8th with the Soyuz MS-27 mission carrying NASA astronaut Jonathan Kim and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky to the ISS' Russian Segments Prichal module for docking. Almost six hours after launch, the three crewmembers boarded the station, greeted by its seven inhabitants. MS-27's crew is planned to spend eight months onboard the station, returning to Earth in December.
Almost two weeks later, on April 20th, the Soyuz MS-26 mission concluded following undocking from the station, bringing NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Roscosmos' cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner back to Earth. The three MS-26 crew members spent 220 days onboard the International Space Station, having launched in September 2024. With the end of the mission, Pettit completed his fourth trip to space with 590 days now spent in orbit, Ovchinin also completed his fourth spaceflight with 595 days now accumulated, while Vagner was flying for the second time with 416 days now spent in space.
Following health checks shortly after landing, Pettit flew back to NASA's Johnson Space Center and arrived by April 21st.
On April 24th, a Long March 2F/G blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft and its crew, Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie, into Earth orbit to chase down the Tiangong Space Station. Following just over six and a half hours of catching up to the station, the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft docked to the Tianhe’s modules' Earth-facing docking port, and a few hours after that the spacecraft's crew boarded Tiangong.
Following a few days of adjusting to microgravity, the Shenzhou-20 crew took part in a ‘key’ handover ceremony on April 27th to take command of the station from the Shenzhou-19 crew, consisting of Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong, and Wang Haoze, for the next six months.
Having been relieved of their duties, the Shenzhou-19 crew prepared for a return to Earth, initially set for April 29th but delayed to the 30th due to bad weather. Once the weather was suitable, the Shenzhou-19 spacecraft undocked from Tiangong and performed a deorbit burn eight hours after undocking. Finally, at 05:08 am Universal Coordinated Time, the Shenzhou-19 spacecraft’s descent capsule touched down in the Inner Mongolia region, ending the six-month mission.
Not long after landing and initial health checks, the crew was whisked off to Beijing for thorough medical checks and readjustment to life back on Earth.
Hubble celebrates 35th anniversary
From Launch Complex 39B, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off carrying the Hubble Space Telescope on April 24th. The day after launch, April 25th, Hubble was released into low Earth orbit, beginning a long life imaging the universe.
Thirty-five years later, Hubble is still actively imaging the universe, albeit less frequently due to its age. To date, Hubble has made nearly 1.7 million observations, looking at approximately 55,000 astronomical targets. Hubble discoveries have resulted in over 22,000 papers and over 1.3 million citations as of February 2025. All the data collected by Hubble is archived and currently adds up to over 400 terabytes! As part of a celebratory press release, Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters, commented:
“Hubble opened a new window to the universe when it launched 35 years ago. Its stunning imagery inspired people across the globe, and the data behind those images revealed surprises about everything from early galaxies to planets in our own solar system,” – “The fact that it is still operating today is a testament to the value of our flagship observatories, and provides critical lessons for the Habitable Worlds Observatory, which we plan to be serviceable in the spirit of Hubble.”
Booster reflight set for Starship's ninth test
Super Heavy Booster 14 flew its first mission during Starship's seventh flight test in mid-January, coming back to South Texas for the program's second tower catch of a booster. At the beginning of this month, Booster 14 fired up its thirty-three Raptor engines for its first post-flight static fire.
Shortly after the static fire, SpaceX announced that Booster 14 would fly its second mission, for the first booster reuse of the Starship program, during Starship's ninth flight test. Additionally, the company boasted that twenty-nine of the engines had flown previously, likely from boosters 12 (flight five) and 15 (flight eight).
Refurbishment efforts ahead of flight have been underway since the days after Booster 14's catch, SpaceX has not disclosed how it prepares Super Heavy boosters for reflight. In mid-April, Booster 14 received its 'hot staging ring', which is needed to allow Starship's upper-stage to separate from the vehicle.
Currently, it is unknown when the ninth test flight of Starship-Super Heavy will take place, due to pending mishap investigations following the repeat loss of the upper-stage during ascent.
Malaysia to explore spaceport development
Veteran reporter of China's space efforts, Chen Lan, reported on April 28th, citing the New Starit Times, that Malaysia is exploring the possibility of developing its own spaceport. This spaceport, called Pahang International Spaceport, would be on the East coast of the Malaysian Peninsula, around three degrees north of the equator.
Possible flight paths from the Pahang spaceport would be Northeast over the Philippines and as far north as Taiwan, while a Southeast trajectory would need to fly north of Indonesia's Java island.
China is expected to support efforts for the establishment of the spaceport, with Malaysian officials on the project set to visit the two Wenchang launch sites to understand spaceport operations, as part of a feasibility study lasting one year. The commercial side of Wenchang is notable for having one "universal" launch pad, with two more "universal" pads under construction. Chinese involvement in the project comes from a cooperation agreement signed between the two nations' leaders in mid-April. Chairman of Malaysia's State Investment, Industries, Science, Technology and Innovation Committee, Datuk Mohamad Nizar Najib, commented possible spaceport, saying:
"This is a one-in-a-million proposal. Pahang Invest typically receives proposals for factories or oil palm plantations, but rarely for space ports. If successful, the project could materialise within three to five years." – "On April 15, Pahang State Development Corporation signed a letter of intent with China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) and Lestari Angkasa Sdn Bhd to establish a strategic collaboration in the space technology sector." – "Next month, Pahang State Development Corporation and Lestari Angkasa will visit Wenchang Space City in Hainan, China, to hold further discussions on the Pahang International Spaceport project."
China shares Chang'e 5 samples
On April 24th, China announced that it would share its latest round of Chang'e 5 lunar surface samples with several international institutions. Organizations selected will have a series of samples in their possession for a short period to conduct research, for around one year. At the end of their loan period, the lunar samples will be sent back to China so other researchers can request to study them.
The newest batch of samples available for study will be sent to the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris in France, the University of Cologne in Germany, Osaka University in Japan, Pakistan's Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission, the Open University in the United Kingdom, as well as the United States' Brown University and Stony Brook University, the American universities will have their samples briefly in the possession of the FBI and other security organizations due to U.S. law. Commenting on receiving the lunar samples, Professor Mahesh Anand of the United Kingdom’s Open University stated:
“It is a great honour and privilege for my team to be selected as one of the first international teams to receive lunar samples from the Chang’e-5 mission for research.” — “I look forward to working on these precious lunar samples and building new international collaborations and partnerships.”
The seven organizations were reportedly narrowed down from twenty-four applications for seventy-one sample sets collected during the Chang'e 5 mission.
Launches of the Month
This month saw another 27 launches worldwide, speeding up a busy year. If you want to know what each launch was we have them all listed below!
April 1st - Falcon 9 with Fram2
Fram2, the first crewed mission into a polar orbit of the Earth, was launched by a Falcon 9 flying from Launch Complex 39A in Florida. Onboard Crew Dragon atop of the rocket was Mission Commander Chun Wang funded the mission, Vehicle Commander Jannicke Mikkelsen was in command of Crew Dragon, along with Pilot Rabea Rogge, and Eric Philips was the Mission Specialist and Medical Officer. All four crew members were making their first trip to space. Details on the crew and mission are available here and here.
The booster supporting the crewed missions launch was B1085, for its sixth launch with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.
April 1st - Long March 2D with four satellite internet test spacecraft
A Long March 2D blasted off from Launch Area 4 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying four satellite internet test spacecraft to low Earth orbit. The four spacecraft are expected to perform satellite internet technology testing and verification, including direct-to-device connections.
April 3rd - Long March 6 with Tianping-3A-02
A Long March 6 lifted off from Launch Complex 16 at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center carrying the Tianping-3A-02 satellite to low Earth orbit. Tianping-3A-02 is expected to provide atmospheric space environment surveys and orbital prediction model corrections, based on data gathered about the low Earth orbit environment.
April 4th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-13
Twenty-seven more Starlink satellites were sent to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, atop of a Falcon 9. Booster B1088 supported this mission, flying for the fifth time and landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.
April 6th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-72
A Falcon 9 carried twenty-eight Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. Booster B1078 supported this mission for its nineteenth flight, with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.
April 8th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-11
Another Falcon 9 launched from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, carrying twenty-seven Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. B1093 supported this launch, for its first flight along with a landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.
April 8th - Soyuz 2.1a with MS-27
The Soyuz MS-27 mission lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome atop of a Soyuz 2.1a, carrying the spacecraft toward the International Space Station. Onboard were NASA astronaut Jonathan Kim and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky.
April 10th - Long March 3B/E with TJSW-17
A Long March 3B/E blasted off from Launch Complex 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center carrying the TJSW-17 satellite toward a geostationary transfer orbit. The spacecraft is expected to perform testing and verification for multi-band high-speed throughput communications technologies as well as providing communications, radio, television, and data transmission services.
April 12th - Falcon 9 with NROL-192
A batch of Starshield satellites, the military version of Starlink, was delivered to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E. Supporting this mission was booster B1071, for its twenty-fourth flight with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.
April 13th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 12-17
Twenty-one Starlink satellites launched from Launch Complex 39A, in Florida, atop of a Falcon 9 heading to low Earth orbit. Booster B1083 supported this launch for its tenth launch, with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.
April 14th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-73
Twenty-seven more Starlink satellites were launched by a Falcon 9 to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. Supporting this launch was booster B1067, for its twenty-seventh launch along with a landing onboard the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange.
April 14th - New Shepard for NS-31
Blue Origin's eleventh crewed New Shepard mission launched from its West Texas launch site for an eleven-minute suborbital flight, carrying Katy Perry, Gayle King, Lauren Sánchez, Kerianne Flynn, Aisha Bowe, and Amanda Nguyễn. Crew capsule RSS Kármán line carried the crew while NS-5 propelled the combined vehicle, for its third flight.
April 16th - Minotaur IV with NROL-174
A Minotaur IV launched from Space Launch Complex 8, in California, carrying classified payloads into Earth orbit for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.
April 18th - Long March 6A with Shiyan-27 01~06
A Long March 6A blasted off from Launch Complex 9A at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center carrying Shiyan-27 01/02/03/04/05/06 into a sun-synchronous orbit. The six satellites are planned to test space environment monitoring (called space domain awareness in the U.S.) technologies.
April 20th - Falcon 9 with NROL-145
A Falcon 9 launched the tenth batch of Starshield satellites, the military version of Starlink, from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Booster B1082 supported this mission for its twelfth flight, with a landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.
April 21st - Falcon 9 with CRS-32
SpaceX launched its thirty-second International Space Station resupply mission, utilizing a Cargo Dragon V2 atop of a Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A, in Florida. Supporting this mission was booster B1092, performing its third mission with a landing back at Landing Zone 1.
April 22nd - Falcon 9 with Bandwagon-3
SpaceX performed its third dedicated mid-inclination orbit small satellite rideshare mission from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, carrying South Korea's 425Sat-3, Tomorrow Companies Inc's Tomorrow-S7, and Atmos Space Cargo's Phoenix 1. B1090 was the booster supporting this mission, landing at Landing Zone 2 for its third flight.
April 24th - Long March 2F/G with Shenzhou-20
A Long March 2F/G blasted off from Launch Area 4 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying a Shenzhou spacecraft with taikonauts Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie onboard. This mission is the ninth to China's Tiangong Space Station. Further details on the mission are available here.
April 25th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-74
Twenty-eight Starlink satellites were launched from Space Launch Complex 40 atop of a Falcon 9 flying to low Earth orbit. Supporting this mission was booster B1069 for its twenty-third flight, with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall of Gravitas'.
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. 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. 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 atop of a Falcon 9 flying to low Earth orbit. The booster for this mission has not been identified, but it did land 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.
Launches to look out for in May!
May 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 May may have already occurred due to when this newsletter is published.
May 1st - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-75
SpaceX is planning to launch a batch of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 atop of a Falcon 9.
May 2nd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-3
A Falcon 9 is expecting to launch another batch of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E.
May 4th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-93
Another batch of Starlink satellites are planned to be launched from Space Launch Complex 40 atop of a Falcon 9 to low Earth orbit.
May 4th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-84
Yet another Falcon 9 is expected to launch a batch of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A.
May 19th - PSLV-XL with EOS-09
A PSLV-XL rocket is planning to launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Center carrying the EOS-09 radar imaging satellite to low Earth orbit, where it will then provide all-weather imaging of Earth below.
May 29th - Falcon 9 with Axiom-4
Falcon 9 will launch Crew Dragon C213, the fifth and final unnamed crewed spacecraft in SpaceX's fleet, from Launch Complex 39A carrying Peggy Whitson from the U.S., Shubhanshu Shukla from India, Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski from Poland, and Tibor Kapu from Hungary to the International Space Station.
Late May - Long March 3B/E with Tianwen-2
A Long March 3B/E is planning to launch from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center carrying the Tianwen-2 asteroid sample return mission out of Earth's sphere of influence. Launch will begin 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.
