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| Image credit: NASA/Jessica Meir |
Launch of Starlink Group 17-49
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg in California at 0446 UTC, or 2146 Tuesday evening local time (PDT). This was carrying Starlink Group 17-49, a batch of 24 satellites for the constellation. It was the 677th flight of the Falcon 9, and the 5th flight of booster B1103, which successfully landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]
International Space Station Activities
Aboard the International Space Station, today's schedule was focused on preparations for next week's spacewalk, with the astronauts reviewing procedures and working on the spacesuits. Jessica Meir swapped out a filter in one of the suits; possibly the cause of the anomalous carbon dioxide reading reported by Anil Menon towards the end of the previous spacewalk. The whole crew, including the Russian cosmonauts, practised procedures for a range of emergency scenarios as well. Meir also found time to take some photographs of today's solar eclipse. The maximum coverage observed from the station was about eighteen percent as it was passing over the US state of Maine, and NASA have published photographs taken from the ground of the station transiting the Sun at that same moment. [Source: NASA, Jessica Meir]
Virgin to Return to Flight in October
Virgin Galactic have announced another delay of their return to commercial services, with the company claiming the first test flights of their new spaceship are now expected in October 2026, ahead of the first commercial flights in February 2027. A pause in Blue Origin's New Shepherd flights has created great demand for suborbital space tourism among the super-rich, with bookings on the new Virgin Galactic ship oversubscribed despite costing 750,000 US dollars per seat. A public vote is currently open to name the ship, with a second also under construction. Virgin's investor report is highly optimistic about launch cadence, so the timelines they are describing may also be misleading and could slip further into the future. [Source: Virgin Galactic]
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