Statistics for July 2026

List of humans who were in space during this month:

Name	Flight	Spacecraft		Days in space
				Mission	Total
Sergey Kud-Sverchkov	2nd	ISS	Soyuz MS-28 (returned)	241	426
Sergei Mikaev	1st				241
Chris Williams	1st				241
Jessica Meir	2nd	ISS		168	373
Andrey Fedyaev	2nd				354
Jack Hathaway	1st				168
Sophie Adenot	1st				168
Zhu Yangzhu	2nd	Tiangong		68	222
Zhang Zhiyuan	1st				68
Lai Ka-Ying	1st				68
Pyotr Dubrov	2nd	Soyuz MS-29 (launched)	ISS	17	372
Anna Kikina	2nd				174
Anil Menon	1st				17

Individual milestones:

Name	Milestone	Overall
Anil Menon	First flight above 50mi	784th
	First flight above 100km	743rd
	First flight to orbit	648th

Population of space during this month:

Period	Nationality				Total	Gender
	CN	FR	RU	US		M	W
Month start	3	1	3	3	10	7	3
Soyuz MS-29 launch	3	1	5	4	13	9	4
Soyuz MS-28 return	3	1	3	3	10	6	4

Exploration mission milestones:

Mission	Milestone	Overall
Hayabusa2♯	98943 Torifune encounter	1st
	Encounter with an unexplored minor planet	21st

Orbital launches by rocket:

Rocket		Launch provider		Country
Falcon 9	12	SpaceX	12	United States	14
Pegasus XL	1	Northrop Grumman	1
Atlas V	1	United Launch Alliance	1
Long March 6A	2	China Aerospace (CASC)	7	China	9
Long March 3B/E	1
Long March 4B	1
Long March 7A	1
Long March 8A	1
Long March 10B	1
Kinetica 1	1	CAS Space	1
Gravity 1	1	Orienspace	1
Soyuz 2.1a	1	Roscosmos	2	Russia	2
Soyuz 2.1b	1
Vikram 1	1	Skyroot Aerospace	1	India	1
Total	26

Suborbital:

Rocket		Launch provider		Country
JL-2	1	PLA Navy	1	China	1
Starship	1	SpaceX	1	United States	1
Total	2

Orbital launches by launch site:

Launch site		Country
Vandenberg	7	United States	13
Cape Canaveral	6
Wenchang	3	China	9
Jiuquan	2
Taiyuan	2
East China Sea	1
Xichang	1
Satish Dhawan	1	India	1
Baikonur	1	Kazakhstan	1
Kwajalein	1	Marshall Islands	1
Plesetsk	1	Russia	1
Total	26

Suborbital:

Launch site		Country
South China Sea	1	China	1
Starbase Texas	1	United States	1
Total	2

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

Operator		Country
SpaceX	181	United States			273
Amazon	29
United States Space Force	21
Spire	10
EarthTraq	4
Apex Space	3
Earth Fire Alliance	3
NASA	3
United States Navy	3
Anduril Industries	1
Apolink	1
Argo Space	1
Arizona State University	1
City Labs	1
Columbia University	1
EarthDaily	1
Harvard University	1
National Reconnaissance Office	1
Northeastern University	1
Northrop Grumman	1
NOVI	1
Planet Labs	1
UC Santa Cruz	1
University of Cincinnati	1
University of Southern California	1
Shanghai Spacecom	38	China			58
MinoSpace	6
China Aerospace (CASC)	4
Aotian	1
Chenguang	1
China SatNet	1
Harbin Institute of Technology	1
Jiangsu Yinglong	1
National Satellite Ocean Application Service	1
SpaceTy	1
Xinghuo Chuanming	1
Xiopm Space	1
Zhejiang Lab	1
Wurzburg Centre for Telematics	8	Germany	9	Europe	29
Ethereal	1
ICEYE	4	Finland	4
LusoSpace	3	Portugal	3
Geospatial Intelligence and Satellite Services Agency	1	Poland	2
Orbital Matter	1
Fossa Systems	1	Spain	2
Government of the Balearic Islands	1
Team Tumbleweed	1	Austria	1
Endurosat	1	Bulgaria	1
Brno University of Technology	1	Czechia	1
Unseen Labs	1	France	1
Hellenic Space Centre	1	Greece	1
D-Orbit	1	Italy	1
TU Kosice	1	Slovakia	1
Istanbul Technical University	1	Turkey	1
European Space Agency	1	Europe	1
Bureau 1440	16	Russia			17
Roscosmos	1
AxelSpace	7	Japan			9
Sony	2
Skyroot Aerospace	2	India			3
Grahaa Space	1
National Central University	2	Taiwan			2
Fleet Space	1	Australia			1
University of Victoria	1	Canada			1
University of Chile	1	Chile			1
Technion University	1	Israel			1
Korea Institute for Space Technology	1	South Korea			1
UAE Space Agency	1	United Arab Emirates			1
Total	397

<- Last month's stats | Next month's stats ->

Spaceflight Daily Report, Friday 31st July 2026

Image credit: NASA

LINK Stabilisation Efforts

NASA and Katalyst Space have reported back on efforts to stabilise the LINK spacecraft after operators lost attitude control a few days ago. This mission was hoping to rendezvous with NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory in order to give it a boost and save it from burning up in the atmosphere, but some of the reaction wheels and thrusters aboard the spacecraft have malfunctioned and left it in an uncontrolled tumble. A series of thruster firings this week have managed to reduce the spin from nine degrees per second to less than four degrees per second. Once control is restored, the approach to Swift will need to be re-planned to account for the malfunctions. [Source: NASA]

International Space Station Activities

The crew of the International Space Station carried out routine research and maintenance. New arrival Anil Menon tried on his spacesuit ahead of next week's spacewalk. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Thursday 30th July 2026

Image credit: ESA

Launch of TJSW-27A and B

CASC/SAST launched a Long March 6A (Chang Zheng 6A) from Taiyuan in Shanxi at 0100 UTC, or 0900 local time (CST). The classified experimental payloads are designated TJSW-27A and B. They have entered an orbit characteristic of time-delay-of-arrival electronic surveillance satellites. This was the 42nd flight of the Long March 6 family of rockets, and the 26th flight of the 6A configuration. [Source: SAST]

Launch of NROL-95

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 0710 UTC, or 0310 local time (EDT). The classified payload was contracted by the US National Reconnaissance Office and designated NROL-95. It is also thought to be a time-delay-of-arrival electronic surveillance satellite, belonging to the fourth generation of the Naval Ocean Surveillance System (NOSS). It was the 671st flight of the Falcon 9, and the 7th flight of booster B1096, which performed a boostback burn and successfully landed at Cape Canaveral's Landing Zone 2. [Source: SpaceX]

Themis Test

ESA announced today that ArianeGroup and SSC Space carried out a wet dress rehearsal last week of Themis, a demonstration vehicle for the agency's future plans to build a reusable rocket. This brings the organisation a step closer to being able to carry out a hop test of the vehicle. ArianeGroup are hoping to develop a reusable heavy-lift rocket by the 2030s, while their subsidiary MaiaSpace is on track to develop a smaller reusable rocket by the late 2020s. [Source: ESA]

International Space Station Activities

The crew of the International Space Station carried out routine research and maintenance as well as practising procedures for the first of several upcoming spacewalks. [Source: NASA]

NASA Confirms MS-30 Crew

NASA have confirmed the crew of the Soyuz MS-30 mission to the International Space Station in March 2027, which has already been circulating in Russian sources for a few months. Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Petelin will be mission commander and this will be his second spaceflight after taking part in MS-22 in 2022, where he ended up getting stuck on the station for longer than expected due to a micrometeorite striking the Soyuz spacecraft that was meant to take him home. Joining him will be Russian cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov, also on his second spaceflight having previously visited the station as part of SpaceX Crew-7 in 2023, and American astronaut Deniz Burnham, for whom this will be her first spaceflight. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Wednesday 29th July 2026

Image credit: CALT

Launch of Tianlian-3-01

CASC/CALT launched a Long March 7A (Chang Zheng 7A) from Wenchang in Hainan at 1150 UTC, or 1950 local time (CST). It was carrying Tianlian-3-01, a geosychronous relay satellite for supporting communications between satellites, crewed spacecraft, and ground stations. This is the first satellite in the third generation of Tianlian, just a few days after the final launch of the previous generation. This was the 28th flight of the Long March 7 rocket family, and the 17th flight of the 7A configuration. [Source: CALT]

Positive Noises Regarding Starliner

The CEO of Boeing has suggested that the company's Starliner vehicle might be ready for flight sooner than expected. The spacecraft, developed alongside SpaceX Crew Dragon as an alternative option for commercial crew missions, was grounded after it suffered malfunctions with its thrusters during its first crewed flight to the International Space Station back in 2024. Before it attempts to carry crew into space again, Starliner will make an uncrewed cargo flight. With the craft itself almost ready to fly, Ars Technica reports that the main obstacle is now scheduling a docking port on the station when there are already several crew and cargo missions queued up before the end of the year. The fact that SpaceX is planning to retire Crew Dragon in the early 2030s has provided additional incentive to get Starliner flying again so that the United States isn't left without any working crewed spacecraft, as was the case after the Space Shuttle was retired in 2011. [Source: Ars Technica]

International Space Station Activities

The crew of the International Space Station carried out routine research and maintenance as well as practising procedures for the first of several upcoming spacewalks. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Tuesday 28th July 2026

Image credit: Katalyst Space

LINK Loss of Attitude Control

The LINK spacecraft, launched a few weeks ago, has lost attitude control following malfunctions in its reaction wheels and thrusters. LINK is serving the Swift Boost mission, a low budget attempt to reboost NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. Engineers at NASA and Katalyst Space are working to determine if the mission can still be completed once they have the spacecraft back under control. [Source: NASA]

International Space Station Activities

The crew of the International Space Station prepared for three spacewalks scheduled for August, as well as carrying out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]

RFA Encounter Issue with Rocket

Germany company Rocket Factory Augsberg encountered an unspecified issue with their RFA One rocket during testing. The rocket, which is currently stacked on the pad at SaxaVord in the Shetland Islands, will now be de-stacked. The first attempt to launch RFA One, back in 2024, ended with the first stage destroyed by fire during a static fire test, so they will be aiming to avoid that this time around even if it means further delays. They are in a race with Isar Aerospace's Spectrum rocket to launch the first private European orbital vehicle, and whichever wins that race will also mark the first non-Russian orbital launch from geographic Europe. [Source: Rocket Factory Augsberg]

ESA Looking to Repurpose Lunar Link

The European Space Agency have opened a call for proposals to repurpose Lunar Link, a communications module that the agency was developing for NASA's now-cancelled Lunar Gateway space station around the Moon. As the technology has already been developed, ESA is interested in turning the module into a standalone communications satellite for helping ground stations to communicate with other Moon missions. [Source: ESA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Monday 27th July 2026

There were no significant events to report today.

Spaceflight Daily Report, Sunday 26th July 2026

Image credit: NASA

Departure of Soyuz MS-28

After a 240-day stay, Soyuz MS-28 undocked from the nadir docking port of the Rassvet module of the International Space Station at 0702 UTC. It was carrying Russian cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev, and American astronaut Chris Williams. The spacecraft departed the station and re-entered the atmosphere. At 1027 UTC the three crew safely touched down in Kazakhstan. This concluded Kud-Sverchkov's second spaceflight, bringing him up to a total of 426 days in space. It was Mikaev and Williams' first spaceflight, bringing each of them up to 241 days in space. There are now ten people in space; three Russians, three Americans, and one French aboard the International Space Station, and three Chinese aboard the Tiangong space station. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Saturday 25th July 2026

Image credit: NASA

Launch of Starlink Group 17-51

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg in California at 1551 UTC, or 0851 local time (PDT). This was carrying Starlink Group 17-51, a batch of 24 satellites for the constellation. It was the 670th flight of the Falcon 9, and the 8th flight of booster B1100, which successfully landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

Start of Expedition 75

Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 74 officially ended and Expedition 75 officially began. Russian cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov formally transferred command of the station to American astronaut Jessica Meir. Kud-Sverchkov and the other members of Soyuz MS-28 will depart the station tomorrow morning and return to Earth. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Friday 24th July 2026

Image credit: SpaceX

Launch of Starship Flight 13

SpaceX launched a Starship from Starbase in Texas at 2251 UTC, or 1751 local time (CDT). This was a suborbital test flight of the rocket, with no attempt to recover the booster or the ship. The booster failed to re-ignite all of its engines ahead of its planned water landing and splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico much faster than expected, which marks yet another series of engine failures for this rocket. The ship deployed twenty Starlink satellites as a test, which burned up in the atmosphere. The ship's re-entry and landing was successful, managing to re-light all of its engines and settling down in the Indian Ocean for the softest landing so far achieved. Pending the review of this flight's data, the next flight of Starship is expected to be its first attempt to reach orbit. [Source: SpaceX]

International Space Station Activities

The crew of the International Space Station prepared for the departure of the MS-28 crew this weekend, as well as carrying out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]

ESA Awards Rover Contract to ispace

The European Space Agency have awarded a contract to Japanese company ispace to build and land a rover called MAGPIE at the lunar south pole. It will hitch a ride to the surface aboard the company's fourth lunar lander, contracted by JAXA and currently aiming to launch in 2029. ispace have yet to successfully land on the Moon, with their two previous attempts both ending in failure. Mission 3 will be the next attempt in 2028. [Source: ispace]

Announcement of CAPSTONE 02

NASA have announced a new technology demonstration mission called CAPSTONE 02, in which two small spacecraft will fly to lunar orbit and demonstrate rendezvous and proximity operations. The two spacecraft will be built by Terran Orbital, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, and are aiming to launch in 2027. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Thursday 23rd July 2026

Image credit: CAS Space

Launch of Tianlian-2-06

CASC/CALT launched a Long March 3B/E (Chang Zheng 3B/E) from Xichang in Sichuan at 1200 UTC, or 2000 local time (CST). The rocket was struck by lightning during its ascent, but the mission appears to have been successful. The payload was Tianlian-2-06, a geosychronous relay satellite for supporting communications between satellites, crewed spacecraft, and ground stations. This was the 177th flight of the Long March 3 family, and the 105th flight of the 3B/E variant. [Source: CALT]

Launch of Kinetica 1 Rideshare

CAS Space launched a Kinetica-1 (Lijian-1) from Jiuquan in Gansu at 2333 UTC, or 0733 Friday morning local time (CST). It delivered five satellites to Sun-synchronous orbit; an AI data centre demonstration satellite called Chenguang-1 for Orbital Chenguang, a space debris monitoring satellite called Gande-1-01 for Lianxi Space Technology Group and Aotian Technology, an infrared observation satellite called Xiguang-2-03 for Xinghuo Chuanming Beijing Technology, an experimental AI satellite called Jitian-A-04 for Zhejiang Lab, and a meteorology satellite called Yinglong Fengguang-1 for Jiangsu Yinglong Satellite Technology. This was the 15th flight of Kinetica-1. [Source: CAS Space]

Delay of Starship Flight 13

Starship Flight 13 has been delayed again by 24 hours due to bad weather. SpaceX want good visibility to observe the heatshield during ascent. The storm is meant to be clearing up ahead of tomorrow's launch window. [Source: SpaceX]

International Space Station Activities

The crew of the International Space Station prepared for the departure of the MS-28 crew this weekend, as well as carrying out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Wednesday 22nd July 2026

Image credit: Orienspace

Launch of Gravity-1 Rideshare

Orienspace launched a Gravity-1 from the launch ship Dongfang Hangtian Gang in the East China Sea off the coast of Shanghai at 0254 UTC, or 1054 local time (CST). It was carrying a total of nine payloads to Sun-synchronous orbit; Dongpo-13, 14, 17, 18, 19, and 20 for Huantian Intelligence (a subsidiary of MinoSpace), Tianyi-49 for SpaceTY, Xiguang-2-01 for Xi'an Zhongke Xiguang Aerospace Technology, and Zidingxiang-3 (Lilac-3) for the Harbin Institute of Technology. All except the latter are Earth observation satellites of various kinds. Zidingxiang-3 is an experimental spacecraft with a very thin profile. This was the 3rd launch of Gravity-1. [Source: Orienspace]

Shijian-31 Orbit

Back in June, China launched a classified satellite called Shijian-31. Tracking data now shows that this satellite is in a unique high-inclination Molniya orbit. Orbits like this are usually used to monitor polar regions because they cause spacecraft to loiter over high latitudes for a long time. But Shijian-31 is instead in a Molniya orbit close to the equator, which isn't much good for Earth observation and instead suggests that the spacecraft is surveying satellites in high-up geosynchronous orbit. Satellite-to-satellite inspection is nothing new, but this is the first time such a unique orbit has been used to monitor satellites at such high altitude. [Source: COMSPOC]

Preparations for Starship Flight 13

SpaceX is still targeting tomorrow for the second launch attempt of Starship Flight 13, weather permitting. By midnight UTC, Ship 40 and the Superheavy booster with its replaced engines were in the process of being stacked up again on the launch pad. [Source: SpaceX]

International Space Station Activities

The crew of the International Space Station prepared for the departure of the MS-28 crew this weekend, as well as carrying out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Tuesday 21st July 2026

Image credit: Northrop Grumman

Launch of Starlink Group 17-39

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg in California at 1449 UTC, or 0749 local time (PDT). This was carrying Starlink Group 17-39, a batch of 24 satellites for the constellation. It was the 668th flight of the Falcon 9, and the 23rd flight of booster B1082, which successfully landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

Launch of MRV-1

SpaceX also launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 2115 UTC, or 1715 local time (EDT). This was carrying Northrop Grumman's Mission Robotic Vehicle 1, or MRV-1 for short. This spacecraft is designed to service multiple customer satellites in geosynchronous orbits high above the Earth, mostly by using a set of robotic arms to install small booster modules called Mission Extension Pods, or MEPs, onto those satellites to extend their operating lives. Today's mission launched with three of these MEPs. Two of them will be used to service satellites for Intelsat while the third will be used for an Optus satellite. The plan is to send up more MEPs in the future so that the MRV can rendezvous with them and use them to service more spacecraft, with the MRV projected to carry out about thirty services over its lifetime. This was the 669th flight of the Falcon 9, and the 32nd and final flight of booster B1069, which was used in an expendable configuration and not recovered. [Source: SpaceX]

International Space Station Activities

The crew of the International Space Station prepared for the departure of the MS-28 crew next week, as well as carrying out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Monday 20th July 2026

Image credit: Bureau 1440

Launch of 16x Rassvet-3

Roscosmos launched a Soyuz 2.1b from Plesetsk in Arkangelsk at approximately 1751 UTC yesterday, Sunday 19th July, or 2051 local time (MSK). The launch was unannounced and carried out in secret. It was carrying the second batch of 16 Rassvet-3 communications satellites for Bureau 1440's internet constellation, following the first launch in March. When it becomes operational, the constellation could be used by the Russian military on the front lines in Ukraine, hence the secrecy. Bureau 1440 announced the success of the launch today, and the approximate launch time was calculated based on the catalogued orbits of the satellites. This was the 207th flight of the Soyuz-2 family of rockets, and the 85th flight of the 2.1b variant. [Source: TASS]

Scrub of Starlink Group 17-39

SpaceX were scheduled to launch a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg in California today, but the rocket suffered a pad abort just after ignition and the flight was scrubbed. The payload is Starlink Group 17-39. There will be a second attempt tomorrow. [Source: SpaceX]

International Space Station Activities

The crew of the International Space Station prepared for the departure of the MS-28 crew next week, as well as carrying out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Sunday 19th July 2026

There were no significant events to report today.

UPDATE: Roscosmos secretly launched a Soyuz 2.1b on this day. See 20th July for details.

Spaceflight Daily Report, Saturday 18th July 2026

Image credit: Skyroot Aerospace

Debut Launch of Vikram-1

Skyroot Aerospace launched a Vikram-1 from Satish Dhawan in Andhra Pradesh at 0635 UTC, or 1205 local time (IST). The mission was called "Aagaman" and it was the maiden flight of the rocket, a four-stage small-lift launch vehicle, which succesfully delivered two satellites and a collection of attached payloads to orbit. This makes it the first orbital rocket developed by an Indian private company, and the first developed by any private company outside the United States and China. The two satellites were SCOPE, operated by Skyroot themselves, and Solaras S3 operated by Grahaa Space (also an Indian company). The payloads that remained attached to the fourth stage were a prototype robotic arm made by Cosmoserve Space (India), a demonstrator for DCubed (Germany), a small diamond sculpture called Cosmic Bloom, and a set of micro-sculptures depicting key figures from the development of India's space programme. [Source: ISRO]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Friday 17th July 2026

Image credit: NASA

Engines to be Replaced Ahead of Starship Flight 13

Following yesterday's pad abort of Starship Flight 13, SpaceX will de-stack the rocket and replace two of the Super Heavy Booster's failed Raptor engines. The next launch attempt is currently aiming for next week. [Source: Elon Musk]

Serbia and Mauritius Sign Artemis Accords

Serbia and Mauritius have become the 69th and 70th countries to sign the Artemis Accords, a United States led set of agreements regarding mineral rights and other arrangements for international cooperation in space exploration. Serbia does not have much of an active space programme, and operates no satellites. It is one of only three countries that have joined both the Artemis Accords as well as the Chinese and Russian led International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) project, along with Thailand and Senegal. China and Russia have criticised the Artemis Accords for unfairly favouring the United States. Mauritius also does not have much of a space programme, previously operating one CubeSat launched in 2021 which has since fallen back to Earth. [Source: NASA (Serbia), NASA (Mauritius)]

NASA Publish Mars Photographs from Psyche Flyby

Back in May, NASA's Psyche probe performed a gravity assist around Mars on its way to its target, a metal-rich asteroid also called Psyche. Today, NASA released some new images from that flyby as the probe returns more data. The Psyche spacecraft used its Mars flyby as an opportunity to test its scientific equipment. The gravity assist was successful, and the spacecraft is due to arrive at asteroid Psyche in 2029. [Source: NASA]

International Space Station Activities

The expanded crew of the International Space Station carried out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Thursday 16th July 2026

Image credit: SpaceX

Launch of Tranche 1 Transport Layer E

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg in California at 2032 UTC, or 1332 local time (PDT). This was carrying Tranche 1 Transport Layer E, a batch of 21 military communication satellites for the US Space Force Space Development Agency's "Transport Layer" constellation. This was the third of nine missions that SpaceX is launching for the "Tranche 1" phase of the constellation. It was the 667th flight of the Falcon 9, and the 4th flight of booster B1103, which successfully landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

Scrub of Starship Flight 13

The launch of Starship Flight 13 was scheduled for today, but the mission was scrubbed after some of the engines failed during startup and triggered an abort. Starship has consistently had problems getting all its engines to fire reliably, but this is the first time this recurring problem has caused an abort on the pad. SpaceX have not yet set a new launch date. [Source: SpaceX]

International Space Station Activities

The expanded crew of the International Space Station carried out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Wednesday 15th July 2026

Image credit: NASA

NASA Reveals Further Artemis III Details

NASA have announced some new details and released some new renders of the plans for the Artemis III mission. Artemis III will involve the Orion spacecraft docking with two different prototype Moon landers in low Earth orbit, and will not travel to the Moon. They have confirmed that the docking with Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 2 prototype will involve a crew transfer, with up to two of the crew entering the lander's pressurised cabin. The SpaceX prototype, on the other hand, is just a regular unpressurised Starship with a docking port welded onto the nose, so the crew won't be opening the hatch during that rendezvous. [Source: NASA]

International Space Station Activities

Following yesterday's arrival of Soyuz MS-29, the three new crew members aboard the International Space Station have received their safety briefing, taken their first sleep in space, and familiarised themselves with the station's systems. The cosmonauts deactivated the newly arrived Soyuz spacecraft and unloaded its cargo. After that the crew was back to routine research and maintenance tasks. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Tuesday 14th July 2026

Image credit: Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center

Launch of Starlink Group 15-14

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg in California at 0128 UTC, or 1828 Monday afternoon local time (PDT). This was carrying Starlink Group 15-14, a batch of 27 satellites for the constellation. It was the 665th flight of the Falcon 9, and the 15th flight of booster B1093, which successfully landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

Launch of Starlink Group 10-45

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 0910 UTC, or 0510 local time (EDT). This was carrying Starlink Group 10-45, a batch of 29 satellites for the constellation. It was the 666th flight of the Falcon 9, and the 28th flight of booster B1080, which successfully landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

Launch of Soyuz MS-29

Roscosmos launched a Soyuz 2.1a rocket from Baikonur in Kazakhstan at 1447 UTC, or 1947 local time (KZT). This was carrying Soyuz MS-29, a Soyuz spacecraft carrying two Russian cosmonauts and one American astronaut to the International Space Station. The Soyuz spacecraft made two orbits of the Earth before docking with the nadir port of the station's Prichal module at 1756 UTC, about three hours after launch, where it will remain for the next eight months. This was the 206th flight of the Soyuz-2 family of rockets, and the 82nd flight of the 2.1a variant. [Source: NASA]

The three crew join Expedition 74 and will remain on the station for the beginning of Expedition 75 next week. The mission commander is Pyotr Dubrov, who was previously a flight engineer on Soyuz MS-18 back in 2021. This is his second spaceflight. The other cosmonaut on the mission is Anna Kikina, also on her second spaceflight. She previously visited the station as part of SpaceX Crew-5 back in 2022. The third crew member is NASA astronaut Anil Menon, who has served as a flight surgeon for NASA and as medical director at SpaceX. This is his first spaceflight, making him the 648th human to achieve orbit, the 743rd human to fly above 100km (FAI definition of space), and the 784th human to fly above 50mi (US definition of space). There are now thirteen people in space; five Russians, four Americans, and one French aboard the ISS, and three Chinese aboard Tiangong. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Monday 13th July 2026

Image credit: NASA/Josh Valcarcel

International Space Station Activities

The crew of the International Space Station carried out routine research and maintenance and prepared for the arrival of the Soyuz MS-29 crew tomorrow. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Sunday 12th July 2026

There were no significant events to report today.

Spaceflight Daily Report, Saturday 11th July 2026

(unknown source)

Launch of Starlink Group 17-48

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg in California at 0301 UTC, or 2001 Friday evening local time (PDT). This was carrying Starlink Group 17-48, a batch of 24 satellites for the constellation. It was the 664th flight of the Falcon 9, and the 35th flight of booster B1071, which successfully landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

Death of Aleksandr Aleksandrov

Bulgarian cosmonaut Aleksandr Panayotov Aleksandrov has passed away at the age of 74. As part of the Soviet Union's Interkosmos program he was selected for the backup crew of the Soyuz 33 mission to the Salyut 6 space station in 1978, but his actual first spaceflight was a nine-day trip to Mir space station aboard Soyuz TM-5 ten years later in 1988, becoming the joint 205th human to achieve orbit (206th above 100km, 212th above 50mi) and the second Bulgarian to visit space. [Source: Rumen Radev]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Friday 10th July 2026

Image credit: Xinhua

Launch of Long March 10B Demo

CASC/CALT launched a Long March 10B (Chang Zheng 10B) from Wenchang in Hainan at 0415 UTC, or 1215 local time (CST). This was the maiden flight of the Long March 10B, a medium-lift launch vehicle which includes a reusable first stage. The first stage made a re-entry burn and a landing burn and was successfully caught by a system of steel cables aboard the droneship Linghangzhe in the South China Sea. This makes the state-owned China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) the third organisation ever to propulsively recover an orbital-class first stage booster, and the first outside the United States. The next milestone will be the re-use of the booster, which CALT wants to achieve before the end of 2026. Meanwhile, the upper stage of the rocket successfully delivered an experimental communications satellite named Chuangxin-26 to orbit. The Long March 10B is a variant of the planned Long March 10, which will include a third stage and side boosters and could eventually become the launch vehicle of China's crewed lunar missions. Another variant, the 10A, also had its maiden flight in February, making today's launch the 2nd flight of the Long March 10 family overall. [Source: CALT]

RV-X Hop Test

JAXA performed a successful 40 second test hop of their RV-X rocket today, a prototype reusable first stage booster. The agency is hoping to develop this into a reusable successor to its H3 rocket by the early 2030s. [Source: NVS Live]

Super Heavy Booster 20 Static Fire

SpaceX performed a static fire test of Super Heavy Booster 20 today ahead of the planned launch of Starship Flight 13 some time in the next couple of weeks. SpaceX will not attempt a recovery of the booster or of Starship itself on this flight. The booster will attempt a controlled water landing in the Gulf of Mexico and the ship will attempt a controlled water landing in the Indian Ocean. Flight 14 is then expected to be the first attempt to get Starship into orbit. [Source: NSF]

International Space Station Activities

The crew of the International Space Station carried out routine research and maintenance, and prepared for the arrival of the Soyuz MS-29 crew next week. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Thursday 9th July 2026

Image credit: Blue Origin

Launch of Starlink Group 10-42

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Floriday at 0925 UTC, or 0525 local time (EDT). This was carrying Starlink Group 10-42, a batch of 29 satellites for the constellation. It was the 663rd flight of the Falcon 9, and the 36th flight of booster B1067 (a new record), which successfully landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

International Space Station Activities

The crew of the International Space Station carried out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]

Death of Wally Funk

American aviator Wally Funk passed away yesterday (Wednesday 8th) at the age of 87. She was the last survivor of the "Mercury 13" women who underwent the same training as NASA's first batch of male astronauts but didn't get to participate in the early space program themselves. In 2021 she became the oldest person ever to visit space when she flew on a suborbital New Shepherd flight with Blue Origin at the age of 82. This made her the joint 571st person to fly above 100km (584th above 50mi), and she remains the oldest woman and the only member of the Mercury 13 to have been to space. [Source: Blue Origin]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Wednesday 8th July 2026

Image credit: ISRO

Gaganyaan Parachute System Drop Test

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have conducted a fifth drop test of the parachute system that will be used aboard Gaganyaan, the country's first crewed spacecraft that is hoping to make its maiden uncrewed test flight before the end of this year, and which is expected to soon make India the fourth country with the capability to put people in orbit. This test only involved a single main parachute and a dummy mass, while the final craft will have three main parachutes. The test was a success. [Source: ISRO]

ispace Lunar Cargo Rover to Fly with Starship

Japanese company ispace have signed a deal with SpaceX to deliver payloads to the Moon on a future Starship mission, currently slated for 2030. ispace are developing a rover called the Mobile Cargo System that will be deployed by Starship and will be capable of travelling across the lunar surface carrying payloads from other customers. This will not be the first time ispace have flown on a SpaceX rocket to the Moon. They previously launched two Lunar landers aboard Falcon 9 rockets, but both of them lost contact and crash landed on the lunar surface, with a third attempt planned for 2028. [Source: ispace]

International Space Station Activities

NASA published their daily blog post on the crew's activities aboard the International Space Station. The crew stowed equipment following last week's spacewalk, brought in the NanoRacks CubeSat deployer following last week's deployment, checked the seats in Soyuz MS-28 ahead of its departure later this month, and carried out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Tuesday 7th July 2026

Image credit: SpaceX

Launch of Transporter-17

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg in California at 0712 UTC, or 0012 local time (PDT). It was carrying Transporter-17, a rideshare mission which delivered a total of 81 payloads to orbit. The full launch manifest is at the bottom of this post, after the "read more" break. This was the 662nd flight of the Falcon 9, and the 11th flight of booster B1097, which successfully landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

Deployment of CubeSats from International Space Station

Six small satellites developed by American universities were deployed from the International Space Station's Nanoracks CubeSat Deployer on 2nd July, without an official announcement being made at the time. These were Proves-Alcyone (Columbia), Proves-Atlas (Northeastern), HUCSat (Harvard), Coconut (Arizona State), LeopardSat (Cincinnati), and Proves-Electra (Santa Cruz). [Source: Jonathan McDowell]

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, as well as preparing for the arrival of MS-29 and the departure of MS-28. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Monday 6th July 2026

Image credit: NASA

International Space Station Activities

NASA published their daily blog post on the crew's activities aboard the International Space Station. The crew performed routine research and maintenance, including spacesuit maintenance and the preparation of temporary sleeping quarters for the crew of the upcoming Soyuz MS-29 mission. [Source: NASA]

Jeremy Hansen Quits CSA

Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, who became the first non-US human to fly to the Moon on Artemis II earlier this year, has announced he is stepping down from the Canadian Astronaut Corps, leaving Canada with three active astronauts. He hasn't specified the exact reason for his departure, though it sounds like he will be pursuing other opportunities related to Canada's space industry. Artemis II was his first and only spaceflight, during which he racked up nine days in space. [Source: Jeremy Hansen]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Sunday 5th July 2026

Image credit: CNSA (left), JAXA (right), not to scale

First Image of Kamo'oalewa

CNSA have published the first image of asteroid 469219 Kamo'oalewa taken by the Tianwen-2 probe, and officially announced the probe's arrival which occurred yesterday. Kamo'oalewa is a quasi-moon of Earth discovered in 2016, and the new image shows it to be around 30 by 20 metres in size. Tianwen-2 will explore the asteroid for nine months and take a surface sample, which is planned to be returned to Earth in 2027. This is the 20th minor planet to be visited up-close by a spacecraft, not counting moons and comets, and the smallest visited so far. [Source: CNSA]

Hayabusa2 Flyby of Torifune

JAXA's Hayabusa2 probe, on its extended Hayabusa2♯ mission, flew by asteroid 98943 Torifune at 0930 UTC at a relative speed of 5 km/s and an altitude of a few hundred metres above the asteroid's surface, and captured photographs as it passed. Torifune is a near-Earth asteroid discovered in 2001 with a diameter of about 450 metres, and is the 21st minor planet to be visited up close, not counting moons and comets. Hayabusa2's next stop is the currently unnamed asteroid 1998 KY26, a small rapidly rotating rock which it will rendezvous with in 2031 after it's performed two slingshot manoeuvres around the Earth to get into the correct orbit. [Source: JAXA]

Launch of Starlink Group 10-50

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 1050 UTC, or 0650 local time (EDT). This was carrying Starlink Group 10-50, a batch of 29 satellites for the constellation. It was the 661st flight of the Falcon 9, and the 13th flight of booster B1090, which successfully landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. Aboard the booster there was also a pair of "Fabships" developed by Besxar Space Industries to test the manufacture of semiconductors in space. [Source: SpaceX]

Launch of Qianfan Polar Group 15

CASC/CALT launched a Long March 8A (Chang Zheng 8A) from Wenchang in Hainan at 1343 UTC, or 2143 local time (CST). This was carrying Polar Group 15, a batch of 20 satellites for the Qianfan (SpaceSail) internet constellation. This is the most Qianfan satellites launched on a single rocket so far, and brings the total size of the constellation up to 238 satellites. This was the 16th launch of the Long March 8 series, and the 9th launch of the 8A configuration. [Source: HICAL]

Tiangong Activities

China Manned Space (CMS) published their weekly video on the activities of the crew of the Tiangong space station. The crew deployed an instrument called MUSICO from the Mengtian module. Developed at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, this instrument measures greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere. The crew also used the station's famous air fryer to bake some cakes, among other routine research and maintenance. [Source: CMS]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Saturday 4th July 2026

Image source: CNSA

Tianwen-2 Arrival at Kamo'oalewa

CNSA's Tianwen-2 probe, which launched in May 2025, has arrived at asteroid 469219 Kamo'oalewa, a 20 metre wide quasi-moon of Earth discovered in 2016. Tianwen-2 will explore the asteroid for nine months and take a surface sample, which is planned to be returned to Earth in 2027. This is the 20th minor planet to be visited up-close by a spacecraft, not counting moons and comets, and the smallest visited so far. Official updates have been very sparse, but we should expect the first images of the asteroid soon. [Source: AMSAT-DL]

Launch of Qianfan Polar Group 13

CASC/SAST launched a Long March 6A (Chang Zheng 6A) from Taiyuan in Shanxi at 0930 UTC, or 17:30 local time (CST). This was carrying Polar Group 13, a batch of 18 satellites for the Qianfan (Spacesail) internet constellation. This was the 41st launch of the Long March 6 series, and the 25th launch of the 6A configuration. [Source: Xinhua]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Friday 3rd July 2026

Image credit: NASA

Launch of Swift Boost Mission

Northrop Grumman's Stargazer plane took off from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands at 0739 UTC, or 1939 local time. Stargazer air-launched a Pegasus XL rocket over the Pacific Ocean near Kiribati at 0836 UTC. This was carrying NASA's Swift Boost mission, consisting of a robotic servicing spacecraft named LINK which was developed by Katalyst Space. The mission will attempt to reboost NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory to a higher altitude before it falls into the atmosphere, in order to extend its mission duration. The servicing mission has been planned and executed in less than a year for a relatively low budget, and if successful it will mark the first time a NASA spacecraft has been serviced by a private company. LINK will rendezvous with Swift in a few weeks. This was the 46th flight of Pegasus and its first since 2021. [Source: NASA]

BULL Drag Sail Demonstration

Japanese company BULL have demonstrated a pair of satellites with unfolding drag sails. These drag sails could be used to more quickly de-orbit low-flying satellites when they go out of service. The two satellites, named HORN-R and HORN-L, descended faster than a control at the same altitude, showing that the drag sails work as intended. [Source: BULL]

There was no International Space Station blog post today due to the US Independence Day federal holiday.

Spaceflight Daily Report, Thursday 2nd July 2026

Image credit: ULA

Launch of Starlink Group 17-46

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg in California at 0258 UTC, or 1958 Wednesday evening local time (PDT). This was carrying Starlink Group 17-46, a batch of 24 satellites for the constellation. It was the 660th flight of the Falcon 9, and the 7th flight of booster B1100, which successfully landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

Launch of Amazon Leo Group LA-08

United Launch Alliance launched an Atlas V from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 0430 UTC, or 0030 local time (EDT). This was carrying Amazon Leo Group LA-08, a batch of 29 satellites for the constellation. It was the 110th flight of the Atlas V, the planned final launch of the rocket's 551 configuration, and possibly the final launch of the Atlas V overall, which is being retired in favour of ULA's Vulcan Centaur. The Atlas V could fly again in its N22 configuration if Starliner ever gets re-approved for flight. [Source: ULA]

Scrub of Swift Boost

The launch of the Swift Boost mission has been delayed again. Stargazer took off from Kwajalein Atoll as planned, but an issue with the Pegasus XL rocket meant the plane's crew returned to the ground without launching it. The mission has already been delayed twice by bad weather. [Source: NASA]

International Space Station Activities

NASA published their daily blog post on the crew's activities aboard the International Space Station. Yesterday at 2039 UTC, the Progress MS-34 cargo spacecraft, docked to the station's Zvezda module, fired its thrusters for 9 minutes 28 seconds to raise the station's perigee. The crew carried out routine research and maintenance, including setting up extra crew quarters in preparation for the arrival of Soyuz MS-29. [Source: NASA]

UPDATE: Six small satellites were deployed from the ISS on this day, which was not mentioned in NASA's blog post. See 7th July for more details.

Spaceflight Daily Report, Wednesday 1st July 2026

Image credit: China Daily/Wang Jiangbo

Launch of Haiyang 2E

CASC/SAST launched a Long March 4B (Chang Zheng 4B) from Jiuquan in Gansu at 2346 UTC, or 0746 Thursday morning local time (CST). It was carrying Haiyang 2E, the first in a trio of oceanography satellites that are replacing an older set of satellites. This was the 118th launch of the Long March 4 series, and the 57th launch of the 4B configuration. [Source: SAST]

Ship 40 Static Fire Test

Ship 40, which is planned to fly on Starship Flight 13, has undergone a static fire test using all six of its engines, bringing the mission closer to launch, though the Super Heavy first stage still needs to undergo testing. Flight 13 will be a re-run of Flight 12, consisting of a sub-orbital hop to the Indian Ocean. Flight 14 will then attempt to get into orbit. [Source: NSF]

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 had a light duty day following yesterday's spacewalk. They worked on resetting the spacesuits and participated in a post-spacewalk conference. The Russian cosmonauts carried out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]