Spaceflight Daily Report, Wednesday 5th August 2026

Image credit: CALT

Falcon 9 2nd Stage Lunar Impact

A spent SpaceX Falcon 9 second stage booster underwent an unplanned impact with the Moon at about 0635 UTC this morning. This was the upper stage of the rocket that delivered Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission 1 lander and ispace's Hakuto-R Mission 2 lander to the Moon back in January 2025, and it had been drifting in an uncontrolled translunar orbit ever since. An impact of this scale poses no danger to any people or equipment. It was the 103rd artificial object to reach the lunar surface, and the 68th to make a hard impact. Korea's Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter or NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter should be able to provide pictures of the impact crater in the next few days, in the highlands to the west of Oceanus Procellarum. [Source: Project Pluto]

Launch of OSE HS-01 and 02

CASC/CALT launched a Jielong 3 (Smart Dragon 3) from the launch ship Dongfang Hangtian Gang in the Yellow Sea off the coast of Haiyang in Shandong at 0238 UTC, or 1038 local time (CST). There were two payloads aboard, named OSE HS-01 and 02, which stands for Open Space Ecosystem Hyper-Spectral. These are Earth observation satellites developed by the Chinese company Star Vision for foreign customers. HS-01 is also called Lampung-1 and was co-developed by the government of Lampung Province in Indonesia, and HS-02 is also called Samarkand 2028 and was co-developed by Uzcosmos, the national space agency of Uzbekistan. This was the 12th flight of the Jielong 3. [Source: CALT]

Launch of BlueBird 11 to 13

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 0749 UTC, or 0349 local time (EDT). It was carrying BlueBird 11, 12, and 13, a batch of three satellites for AST SpaceMobile's cellular broadband constellation. This was the 674th flight of the Falcon 9, and the 30th flight of booster B1077 (also used for the previous BlueBird launch), 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 prepared for tomorrow's spacewalk and carried out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]

New Glenn Explosion Investigation

Dave Limp, the CEO of Blue Origin, has posted an update on the investigation into the violent explosion that destroyed the New Glenn launch pad back in May and grounded the rocket. They reckon it was caused by a malfunction in the main oxygen valve of one of its BE-4 engines, used on New Glenn and also on United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur rocket. The company will now retrofit modified valves to all of its BE-4 engines to hopefully prevent this from happening again. New Glenn is an important component of Artemis III and several other missions relating to NASA's Moon Base plans, so the explosion threatens to be a significant setback to the entire Artemis program. Blue Origin are hoping to get the rocket flying again before the end of the year. [Source: Dave Limp]

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]