Spaceflight Daily Report, Wednesday 2nd September 2026

Source: Sierra Space

Launch of Starlink Group 15-23

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg in California at 0842 UTC, or 0142 local time (PDT). This was carrying Starlink Group 15-23, a batch of 27 satellites for the constellation. It was the 685th flight of the Falcon 9, and the 35th flight of booster B1063, which successfully landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

Launch of "Owl Around The World"

Rocket Lab launched an Electron from Māhia in New Zealand at 1201 UTC, or 0001 Thursday morning local time (NZST). The mission was named "Owl Around The World". It was carrying StriX-9, part of Synspective's StriX constellation of synthetic aperture radar satellites. This was the 11th StriX satellite launched by Rocket Lab, and Synspective has bought a further 16 launches. This was the 94th flight of the Electron. [Source: Rocket Lab]

Sierra Space Secures Dream Chaser Contracts

Sierra Space, a subsidiary of the Sierra Nevada Corporation, claims to have secured contracts for national security and commercial payloads to fly aboard the inaugural flight of Dream Chaser, a reusable uncrewed spaceplane that has been in development since 2004. The press release does not go into any further detail about these payloads and does not suggest a target launch date. [Source: Sierra Space]

Dragonfly Landing Area Gets New Name

The International Astronomical Union have approved a name suggested for the location on Saturn's moon Titan where NASA's Dragonfly rotorcraft will land in 2034. The dune field is now called "Ahmakiq Undae", after a Mayan wind spirit. By convention, dune fields are usually named after gods and spirits associated with wind. [Source: NASA]

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 took part in a post-spacewalk conference following yesterday's spacewalk. The crew performed routine maintenance and research, and worked to move cargo around ahead of the departure of the Progress MS-33 cargo vehicle later this month. [Source: NASA]