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]