Statistics for June 2026

List of humans who were in space during this month:

Name	Flight	Spacecraft	Days in space
			Mission	Total
Sergey Kud-Sverchkov	2nd	ISS	215	400
Sergei Mikaev	1st			215
Chris Williams	1st			215
Jessica Meir	2nd	ISS	137	342
Andrey Fedyaev	2nd			323
Jack Hathaway	1st			137
Sophie Adenot	1st			137
Zhu Yangzhu	2nd	Tiangong	37	191
Zhang Zhiyuan	1st			37
Lai Ka-Ying	1st			37

Population of space during this month:

Nationality				Total	Gender
CN	FR	RU	US		M	W
3	1	3	3	10	7	3

EVAs conducted during this month:

Name	EVA	Spacecraft	Duration	EVA time (cumulative)
Jessica Meir	5th	ISS	7hr 20min	36hr 6min
Chris Williams	2nd			14hr 22min

Exploration milestones:

Mission	Milestone	Overall
Tianwen-2	469219 Kamo'oalewa orbit insertion	1st
	469219 Kamo'oalewa encounter	1st
	Orbit insertion around a minor planet	7th
	Encounter with an unexplored minor planet	20th

Orbital launches by rocket:

Rocket		Launch provider		Country
Falcon 9	14	SpaceX	14	United States			17
Electron	3	Rocket Lab	3
Long March 3B/E	1	CALT/SAST	7	China			10
Long March 5	1
Long March 6A	1
Long March 7A	1
Long March 8	1
Long March 12	1
Long March 12B	1
Kuaizhou 11	1	CASIC	1
Kinetica 1	1	CAS Space	1
Zhuque 2E Block 2	1	LandSpace	1
Ariane 6	1	ArianeGroup	1	France	1	Europe	1
H3	1	JAXA	1	Japan			1
Total	29

Suborbital:

Rocket		Launch provider		Country
Terrier Improved Malemute	1	NASA	1	United States	2
Castor 4BXL	1	Department of Defense	1
Total	2

Orbital launches by launch site:

Launch site		Country
Vandenberg	8	United States			15
Cape Canaveral	6
Wallops	1
Jiuquan	4	China			10
Wenchang	4
Taiyuan	1
Xichang	1
Māhia	2	New Zealand			2
Kourou	1	France	1	Europe	1
Tanegashima	1	Japan			1
Total	29

Suborbital:

Launch site		Country
Wallops	2	United States	2
Total	2

New orbital payloads by operator (some payloads may be missing or misattributed):

Operator		Country
SpaceX	253	United States			304
Amazon	36
National Reconnaissance Office	9
AST SpaceMobile	3
United States Space Force	2
Rocket Lab	1
SiriusXM	1
Shanghai Spacecom	39	China			69
China SatNet	9
Chang Guang	8
Future Navigation	8
China Aerospace (CASC)	1
China Mobile	1
People's Liberation Army	1
Undisclosed operators	2
BULL	2	Japan			8
Shizuoka University	2
JAXA	1
Kyushu Institute of Technology	1
Synspective	1
Tokyo Institute of Technology	1
Unseen Labs	1	France	1	Europe	1
Total	381

Next month's stats ->

Spaceflight Daily Report, Tuesday 30th June 2026

Image credit: NASA

US Spacewalk 95

American astronauts Jessica Meir and Chris Williams performed a spacewalk today from the International Space Station, supported from inside the station by fellow astronauts Jack Hathaway and Sophie Adenot, and supported from the ground by Aki Hoshide and Jenni Sidey-Gibbons. The spacewalk began at 1220 UTC and concluded at 1940 UTC, lasting 7 hours 20 minutes. The spacewalkers replaced a malfunctioning wrist joint on Canadarm2. Mission control in Houston have verified that the new joint is receiving power. This was Jessica Meir's fifth spacewalk, bringing her up to 36 hours 6 minutes of EVA time. It was Chris Williams' second spacewalk, bringing him up to 14 hours 22 minutes of EVA time. It was the third spacewalk of Expedition 74 and overall the 280th spacewalk from the International Space Station. [Source: NASA]

NASA Announce Four More CLPS Contracts

NASA have announced four new robotic lunar missions in support of their ambitious Moon Base plans, under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program (CLPS). They have selected three companies to develop the missions commercially. Astrobotic will make two deliveries to the surface for a total of $297.9 million USD, while Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines will make one delivery each for $144.2 and $148.3 million USD respectively. All of the missions are aiming to launch in late 2028, and will deliver surveying and communications equipment to the Moon. NASA have also announced they will be soliciting proposals for more landers in the future, and are considering plans to send a rover called PROMISE to perform prospecting for ice and other minerals, which belongs to the same class of vehicles as the Curiosity and Perseverance Mars rovers. And they need more infrastructure in general, including communications satellites, surface power generation, and in-situ resource utilisation. [Source: NASA]

OIG Starliner Report

NASA's Office of Inspector General have today released a report into NASA's handling of the commercial crew program, and criticised the way NASA has managed the certification of the Boeing Starliner. With the retirement of the ISS inching ever closer, it's becoming unclear if NASA's investment into Starliner is ever going to pay off, and if the spacecraft is ever going to fly with crew again. [Source: NASA Office of Inspector General]

New Glenn's New CONOPS

Blue Origin have provided an update on the rebuild for their New Glenn pad, following the violent explosion last month. Instead of rebuilding the same pad, Blue Origin are moving to a new system that will involve integrating the first and second stages horizontally, then using a crane to lift the rocket vertical, then integrating the payload vertically. Something similar to this was apparently already in the works, with the accident accelerating those plans. The new configuration should help increase launch cadence for New Glenn. [Source: Dave Limp]

Three Scrubs

All three of today's planned launches have been postponed. The South Korean military scrubbed the debut launch of the full version of their Mir small lift launch vehicle over safety concerns. NASA’s Swift Boost mission has also been postponed due to bad weather, and is now aiming to launch on Thursday. And Rocket Lab's latest Electron mission, named "The Grain Goddess Provides", was aborted at the last second, after engine startup had already begun, for reasons unknown at time of publication. [Source: Seoul Economic Daily, NASA, Rocket Lab]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Monday 29th June 2026

Image credit: LandSpace

Launch of SXM-11

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 0225 UTC, or 2225 Sunday evening local time (EDT). This was carrying SXM-11, a geosynchronous radio broadcasting satellite built by Lanteris Space Systems, a subsidiary of Intuitive Machines, for satellite radio company SiriusXM. It was the 659th flight of the Falcon 9, and the 17th flight of booster B1085, which successfully landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

Zhuque-3 Static Fire Test

LandSpace carried out a static fire test of their reusable Zhuque-3 rocket, bringing it closer to its planned second flight. LandSpace are competing with Galactic Energy and the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology to become the first Chinese organisation (and first non-American organisation) to recover and reuse an orbital first stage. During the first flight of Zhuque-3 back in December 2025 it successfully made it to orbit, but the recovery of the first stage failed explosively. [Source: LandSpace]

Rocket Lab to Acquire Iridium Communications

Rocket Lab have announced they will be acquiring Iridium Communications for $8 billion USD, whose satellite constellation was the first to provide global satellite phone coverage back in 1998. This move puts Rocket Lab into the satellite communications market, and means that the company will inherit not just Iridium's material assets but also its valuable L-band spectrum usage rights. [Source: Rocket Lab]

International Space Station Activities

NASA published their daily blog post on the crew's activities aboard the International Space Station. The NASA and ESA astronauts have completed preparations for tomorrow's spacewalk. The Russian cosmonauts carried out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Sunday 28th June 2026

Image credit: SpaceX

Launch of Starlink Group 17-40

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg in California at 1609 UTC, or 0909 local time (PDT). This was carrying Starlink Group 17-40, a batch of 24 satellites for the constellation. It was the 658th flight of the Falcon 9, and the 17th flight of booster B1088, which successfully landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Saturday 27th June 2026

There were no significant events to report today.

Spaceflight Daily Report, Friday 26th June 2026

Image credit: Rocket Lab

Launch of "Ten Owl of Ten"

Rocket Lab launched an Electron from Māhia in New Zealand at 1743 UTC, or 0543 Saturday morning local time (NZST). The mission was named "Ten Owl of Ten". It was carrying StriX-8, part of Synspective's StriX constellation of synthetic aperture radar satellites. This was the tenth StriX satellite launched by Rocket Lab, and Synspective has bought a further seventeen launches. This was the 91st flight of the Electron. [Source: Rocket Lab]

International Space Station Activities

NASA published their daily blog post on the crew's activities aboard the International Space Station. The NASA and ESA astronauts were off-duty on Friday for an extended weekend ahead of the hard work they will need to do before and during Tuesday's spacewalk. The Russian cosmonauts carried out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Thursday 25th June 2026

Image credit: NASA

Launch of Starlink Group 17-45

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg in California at 0330 UTC, or 2030 Wednesday evening local time (PDT). This was carrying Starlink Group 17-45, a batch of 24 satellites for the constellation. It was the 657th flight of the Falcon 9, and the 25th flight of booster B1081, which successfully landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

Return of Starfall Demo

The demo vehicle for Starfall, the new re-entry vehicle being developed by SpaceX for returning cargo from orbit, returned from space about eight hours after its launch on Tuesday and landed under its parachutes off the coast of California. Now it's been spotted aboard a recovery ship heading into the Port of Long Beach, ready for post-flight inspections. [Source: Magnus Bergheim]

Ship 40 Test Campaign

Ship 40, which will fly on Starship Flight 13, has begun its testing campaign with a single engine static fire test. Once it and the Super Heavy first stage have both completed testing, SpaceX hope to launch in July. SpaceX also announced today that in order to maintain launch cadence of Starship from Starbase Texas they are planning on building their own eight mile long methane gas pipeline so that they don't have to truck over quite so much fuel. Each Starship requires around three million litres of methane per launch. Predictably, this new project will be called "Starpipe". [Source: NSF, Reuters]

Botswana Signs Artemis Accords

Botswana have become the 68th country to sign the Artemis Accords, a United States led set of agreements regarding mineral rights and other legal arrangements for space exploration. Botswana operates one satellite, BOTSAT-1. [Source: NASA]

International Space Station Activities

NASA published their daily blog post on the crew's activities aboard the International Space Station. The crew carried out routine research and maintenance and prepared the spacesuits for Tuesday's spacewalk. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Wednesday 24th June 2026

Image credit: JAXA

Hayabusa2 on Torifune Approach

The JAXA probe Hayabusa2, which succeeded in returning a surface sample from asteroid 162173 Ryugu to Earth back in 2020, has almost reached the first target of its extended mission plan, asteroid 98943 Torifune. Today, it returned its first direct images of the asteroid. Hayabusa2 will perform a high-speed flyby in July; there won't be any attempt at a sample collection. After that, it will begin the long journey to its final planned target, the currently unnamed asteroid 1998 KY26, which it will reach in 2031. [Source: JAXA]

International Space Station Activities

NASA published their daily blog post on the crew's activities aboard the International Space Station. The crew carried out routine research and prepared for next Tuesday's spacewalk. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Tuesday 23rd June 2026

Image credit: SpaceX

Launch of Starfall Demo

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 out of Cape Canaveral in Florida at 0653 UTC, or 0253 AM local time (EDT). This was the demo mission for Starfall, a new vehicle developed by SpaceX for returning cargo from orbit. The idea is that these will be mass-produced to be much cheaper than a Dragon cargo craft or a Starship, with potential applications including rapid point-to-point delivery of cargo or delivering goods to Earth after they are manufactured in orbit. We haven't yet seen any photographs of the craft, and it is currently unclear when and where the Starfall prototype will re-enter Earth's atmosphere. This was the 656th flight of the Falcon 9, and the 29th flight of booster B1078, which successfully landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

Ship 40 Testing Rollout

Ship 40, the upper stage that's due to fly on Starship Flight 13, rolled out of the factory at Starbase Texas ready for its testing campaign. SpaceX are hoping to fly the enormous vehicle in July. It will be a repeat of Flight 12's mission profile, a suborbital hop to the Indian Ocean, but they'll be hoping for fewer engine outages this time. [Source: NSF]

International Space Station Activities

NASA published their daily blog post on the crew's activities aboard the International Space Station. The crew prepared for the upcoming spacewalk at the end of this month, and carried out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Monday 22nd June 2026

Image credit: Roscosmos

Launch of TJSW-26A

CASC/CALT launched a Long March 7A (Chang Zheng 7A) from Wenchang in Hainan at 0210 UTC, or 1010 local time (CST). It was carrying TJSW-26A, a geostationary experimental communications satellite. This was the 16th launch of the Long March 7A. [Source: SAST]

Payload Deployment from China's Spaceplane

American space tracking company LeoLabs announced today that the Chinese PLAASF's secret reusable uncrewed spaceplane has released a small payload into orbit. The spacecraft launched on its fourth flight back in February and has been in orbit ever since. Previous flights have demonstrated similar payload deployments. The United States Space Force has a similar reusable uncrewed spaceplane, the Boeing X-37B. [Source: LeoLabs]

International Space Station Activities

NASA published their daily blog post on the crew's activities aboard the International Space Station. The astronauts carried out routine research and maintenance, and prepared for next week's spacewalk. [Source: NASA]

Death of Abdul Ahad Momand

Afghan cosmonaut Abdul Ahad Momand passed away yesterday (Sunday 21st) at the age of 67. He travelled to the Soviet Union's Mir space station in 1988, becoming the 207th person to orbit the Earth (208th above 100km, 214th above 50mi) and so far the only Afghan to achieve the feat. He was part of the Soviet Interkosmos program to recruit cosmonauts from other socialist nations, and racked up eight days in space during his visit to Mir. [Source: Momand's family]

 

Spaceflight Daily Report, Sunday 21st June 2026

Image credit: CMS

Launch of Starlink Group 17-28

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg in California at 1649 UTC, or 0939 local time (PDT). This was carrying Starlink Group 17-28, a batch of 24 satellites for the constellation. It was the 655th flight of the Falcon 9, and the 33rd flight of booster B1063, which successfully landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

Tiangong Activities

China Manned Space (CMS) published their weekly video on the activities of the crew of the Tiangong space station. This week the three crew celebrated the fifth anniversary of Shenzhou 12, the first crewed mission to the station, as well as the Dragon Boat Festival. During the week they performed an emergency exercise, as well as routine research and maintenance. [Source: CMS]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Saturday 20th June 2026

Image credit: Rocket Lab

Launch of Victus Haze Puma

This mission launched yesterday (Friday 19th), but was not made public until today. Rocket Lab launched an Electron from Māhia in New Zealand at 1020 UTC on Friday, or 2220 local time (NZST). This was carrying Victus Haze Puma, a mission for the US Space Force acting as a test to see if Rocket Lab could prepare and launch a payload into orbit within 24 hours of an "orbital threat" being detected. The spacecraft will now perform a series of rendezvous manoeuvres with True Anomaly's Jackal-0004 to simulate an "uncooperative rendezvous" situation. This was the 90th flight of Electron. [Source: Rocket Lab]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Friday 19th June 2026

Image credit: ESA

Launch of NROL-179

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 out of Vandenberg in California at 0850 UTC, or 0150 local time (PDT). The classified payload, NROL-179, was an undisclosed number of small spy satellites for the US National Reconnaissance Office, part of its "Proliferated Architecture" constellation in low Earth orbit. This was the 654th flight of the Falcon 9 and the 3rd flight of booster B1103, which performed a boostback burn and landed back at Vandenberg's Landing Zone 4. [Source: SpaceX]

Announcement of START Mission to Apophis

Tsinghua University in China have announced the Student-led Threatening Asteroid Reconnaissance of Tsinghua, or START for short, a low-cost mission that will attempt to briefly intercept asteroid Apophis from a high Earth orbit during its close approach to the planet in April 2029. Earth will cause a tidal effect on the asteroid as it passes, and START hopes to image material moving across its surface to gain a better understanding of these tidal forces. The mission is aiming to launch on a Zhuque-3 rocket in early 2028. [Source: SpaceNews]

Space Rider Drop Test

The European Space Agency have revealed that they aborted a drop-test of their prototype Space Rider uncrewed spaceplane back in May due to an anomaly. During the test, a full-scale prototype of the spacecraft was meant to be dropped from a Chinook helicopter and brought to a safe landing under its parafoil, but something went wrong and now they are planning to try again no earlier than October. The real version of the spacecraft is aiming to launch on its inaugural flight in 2028 aboard a Vega C rocket. [Source: European Spaceflight]

NASA did not publish an International Space Station blog post today.

Spaceflight Daily Report, Thursday 18th June 2026

Image credit: NASA

Selection of DAPHNE Mission

NASA have announced the selection of a mission named DAPHNE, short for Dynamic Atmosphere-Ionosphere Explorer, to research space weather prediction for protecting people and electronics from radiation. It will consist of a pair of twin satellites studying how changes in the lower atmosphere affect weather in the ionosphere, which is where most spacecraft orbit. This mission was selected from among three proposals for studying space weather, as recommended by a NASA decadal review back in 2013. There will be a review of the mission's development in 2027, and if confirmed it will aim to launch in 2029. [Source: NASA]

Blue Origin Reconstruction Efforts

Blue Origin have begun reconstruction of their pad at Cape Canaveral, which was largely destroyed when the company's New Glenn rocket violently exploded during a static fire test three weeks ago. Blue Origin are still aiming to return to flight before the end of the year, which is vital if they want New Glenn to remain a part of the American lunar program. New Glenn is supposed to be the rocket that carries their Blue Moon landers into space, with two major missions requiring the rocket next year; Moon Base I, which will be their first attempt to land a cargo vehicle on the Moon, and Artemis III, where a prototype version of their crewed lander is meant to rendezvous with NASA's Orion spacecraft in low Earth orbit. [Source: SpaceNews]

Artemis III Crew Begin Training

The crew of the Artemis III mission began training today with the scale mockup of the Orion spacecraft at Johnson Space Center. Mission commander Randy Bresnik, pilot Luca Parmitano, and mission specialists Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas will head to space atop an SLS rocket, currently aiming to launch in 2027. Backup mission specialist Robert Hines is also training with them. [Source: NASA]

International Space Station Activities

NASA published their daily blog post on the crew's activities aboard the International Space Station. The crew carried out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]

Death of Aleksandr Samokutyaev

It's been announced that Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Samokutyaev passed away yesterday (Wednesday 17th) at the age of 56. He served as a flight engineer on Expedition 27 to the International Space Station in 2011, making him the 518th human to orbit the Earth (521st above 100km, 527th above 50mi), and he was also on Expedition 41 in 2014. During his career he racked up 331 days in space, and 10 hours of spacewalks. He is the first former ISS crew to pass away. [Source: Roscosmos]

 

Spaceflight Daily Report, Wednesday 17th June 2026

Image credit: NASA/Jessica Meir

Launch of Guowang Group 22

CASC/SAST launched a Long March 12 (Chang Zheng 12) from Wenchang in Hainan at 0244 UTC, or 1044 local time (CST). It was carrying Guowang Group 22, a batch of nine satellites for the Chinese state-owned internet constellation. This was the 6th flight of the Long March 12. [Source: SAST]

Launch of CentiSpace-1 Group 05

ExPace, a subsidiary of the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), launched a Kuaizhou 11 from Jiuquan in Gansu at 0358 UTC, or 1158 local time (CST). It was carrying CentiSpace-1 Group 05, a batch of eight navigation satellites operated by the company Future Navigation. This was the 6th flight of the Kuaizhou 11. [Source: ExPace]

Launch of BlueBird 8 to 10

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 0639 UTC, or 0239 local time (EDT). It was carrying BlueBird 8, 9, and 10, a batch of three satellites for AST SpaceMobile's cellular broadband constellation. This was the 653rd flight of the Falcon 9, and the 29th flight of booster B1077, which successfully landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

Launch of Amazon Leo LE-03

ESA launched an Ariane 6 from Kourou in French Guiana at 1221 UTC, or 0921 local time (GFT). It was carrying Amazon Leo LE-03, a batch of 36 satellites for the internet constellation. The rocket was in its 64 configuration, meaning it had four strap-on boosters. The boosters are newly upgraded, allowing for four additional satellites compared to previous missions. This was the 8th flight of the Ariane 6. [Source: Arianespace]

Splashdown of CRS-34

The Cargo Dragon serving the CRS-34 mission, which departed the International Space Station yesterday, splashed down in the Pacific Ocean under its parachutes at 1211 UTC, returning various science experiments from the station back to Earth. [Source: NASA]

Announcement of Relativity Space Mars Orbiter

Relativity Space have announced they will be developing a commercial Mars orbiter in partnership with NASA, as part of their new Interplanetary Sciences Program. It will include various instruments for the scientific study of Mars, as well as acting as a communications relay. The spacecraft is planned to be launched in late 2028 on the company's Terran R reusable rocket, which has yet to fly. [Source: Relativity Space]

International Space Station Activities

NASA published their daily blog post on the crew's activities aboard the International Space Station. The astronauts conducted routine research and maintenance, and prepared for the next spacewalk. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Tuesday 16th June 2026

Image credit: NASA

Launch of Shijian 31

CASC/CALT launched a Long March 3 (Chang Zheng 3) from Xichang in Sichuan at 0945 UTC, or 1745 local time (CST). It flew in its 3B/E configuration with four strap-on boosters. It was carrying Shijian 31, a geosynchronous satellite of classified purpose. This is the return-to-flight of the normally reliable Long March 3 after its third stage failed during a launch back in January. It was the 176th flight of the Long March 3. [Source: CALT]

CRS-34 Undocking

The Cargo Dragon serving the CRS-34 mission to the International Space Station undocked from the forward docking port of the station's Harmony module at 1625 UTC after a brief delay caused by radiation interfering with an accelerometer. After spending a month at the station, it's carrying equipment and scientific payloads back to Earth, including stem cell research, semiconductor research, and investigations into the effects of microgravity on bone health. Cargo Dragon will splash down in the Pacific Ocean under parachutes tomorrow so that the experiments can be retrieved. [Source: NASA]

Demolitions at SLC-6

Old launch structures at Space Launch Complex 6 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California were demolished today. These structures were designed to support legacy rockets like the Space Shuttle and the Delta IV, but now SpaceX are planning on building new ones to support their own rockets. [Source: US Space Force]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Monday 15th June 2026

Image credit: Astrobotic

Launch of 8 x Jilin-1

CAS Space launched a Kinetica 1 (Lijian-1) rocket from Jiuquan in Gansu at 0344 UTC, or 1144 local time (CST). This was carrying a batch of eight satellites to Sun-synchronous orbit for the Jilin-1 commercial Earth observation constellation. It was the 14th flight of the Kinetica 1, and this flight made it the first commercial Chinese rocket to deliver a hundred satellites to orbit. [Source: CAS Space]

Launch of Starlink Group 17-54

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg in California at 1534 UTC, or 0834 local time (PDT). This was carrying Starlink Group 17-54, a batch of 24 satellites for the constellation. It was the 652nd launch of the Falcon 9, and the 14th flight of booster B1093, which successfully landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

Scrub of "Onward and Upward"

The second test flight of Isar Aerospace's Spectrum rocket, due to launch from Andøya in Norway today, was scrubbed due to problems with the vehicle's fluid systems. Spectrum's first attempt to reach orbit in March 2025 ended in an explosive failure. [Source: Isar Aerospace]

Reveal of Griffin-1 Lunar Lander

Astrobotic have revealed their Griffin-1 lunar lander, which will fly on the mission designated as Moon Base II by NASA and currently aiming for launch in November. It will carry Astrolab's FLIP rover and Astrobotic's own CubeRover. This will be Astrobotic's second attempt to land on the Moon. Their previous attempt in 2024 ended in failure after a propellant leak meant it didn't have enough fuel to get there. The mission will help explore the lunar south pole ahead of future crewed missions. [Source: Astrobotic]

Zvezda Docking Port Retirement

Following a dramatic episode ten days ago where NASA ordered its astronauts to take refuge in the Crew Dragon spacecraft while Roscosmos ordered its cosmonauts to saw into a load-bearing bracket to try to reach and seal a crack in the Zvezda module's aft docking port, Roscosmos have now agreed to retire the PrK module which will render the docking port defunct. The timing of this retirement has not yet been announced, and there is currently a Progress cargo vehicle docked there. [Source: Ars Technica]

International Space Station Activities

NASA published their daily blog on the crew's activities aboard the International Space Station. The astronauts finished packing up the Cargo Dragon (C209) docked at the Harmony module's forward docking port, which is due to undock tomorrow and return to Earth, marking the end of the CRS-34 mission. They also prepared for an upcoming spacewalk. The Russian cosmonauts carried out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]