Spaceflight Daily Report, Sunday 20th September 2026

Image credit: CAS Space

Launch of Starlink Group 15-27

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg in California at 0147 UTC, or 1847 Saturday evening local time (PDT). This was carrying Starlink Group 15-27, a batch of 27 satellites for the constellation. It was the 690th flight of the Falcon 9, and the 17th flight of booster B1093, which successfully landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

Launch of Kinetica 1 Rideshare

CAS Space launched a Kinetica 1 (Lijian 1) from Jiuquan in Gansu at 0403 UTC, or 1203 local time (CST). This was a rideshare mission carrying nine satellites to Sun-synchronous orbit; the Chaozhisuan-1 computation demonstration satellite for Chaozhisuan Beijing Technology, the Qinling-01 and 02 ecological monitoring satellites for Northwestern Polytechnical University, the Yunxiao Pathfinder Satellite of unclear purpose for the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Diting-1A, B and C electromagnetic monitoring satellites for Tianjin Xingkan Jiuzhou Technology, the Peng Cheng-SUSTech 1 (PEGA-SUS 1) communications and computation satellite for Peng Cheng Laboratory, and the Pujiang-4 greenhouse gas monitoring satellite for the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST). This was the 16th flight of Kinetica 1. [Source: CAS Space]

Tiangong Activities

CMSA's Tiangong TV vlog is back after a hiatus following last month's spacewalk, which means we finally have an update on what the taikonauts aboard the Tiangong space station have been up to. Zhu Yangzhu, Lai Ka-Ying, and Zhang Zhiyuan performed research into the immune system, replaced test samples, tested water faucets for microbes, cleaned and maintained the station's living area, and undertook regular medical examinations and exercise. [Source: CMSA]

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, Monday 15th June 2026

Image credit: Astrobotic

Launch of 8 x Jilin-1

CAS Space launched a Kinetica 1 (Lijian-1) rocket from Jiuquan in Gansu at 0344 UTC, or 1144 local time (CST). This was carrying a batch of eight satellites to Sun-synchronous orbit for the Jilin-1 commercial Earth observation constellation. It was the 14th flight of the Kinetica 1, and this flight made it the first commercial Chinese rocket to deliver a hundred satellites to orbit. [Source: CAS Space]

Launch of Starlink Group 17-54

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg in California at 1534 UTC, or 0834 local time (PDT). This was carrying Starlink Group 17-54, a batch of 24 satellites for the constellation. It was the 652nd launch of the Falcon 9, and the 14th flight of booster B1093, which successfully landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

Scrub of "Onward and Upward"

The second test flight of Isar Aerospace's Spectrum rocket, due to launch from Andøya in Norway today, was scrubbed due to problems with the vehicle's fluid systems. Spectrum's first attempt to reach orbit in March 2025 ended in an explosive failure. [Source: Isar Aerospace]

Reveal of Griffin-1 Lunar Lander

Astrobotic have revealed their Griffin-1 lunar lander, which will fly on the mission designated as Moon Base II by NASA and currently aiming for launch in November. It will carry Astrolab's FLIP rover and Astrobotic's own CubeRover. This will be Astrobotic's second attempt to land on the Moon. Their previous attempt in 2024 ended in failure after a propellant leak meant it didn't have enough fuel to get there. The mission will help explore the lunar south pole ahead of future crewed missions. [Source: Astrobotic]

Zvezda Docking Port Retirement

Following a dramatic episode ten days ago where NASA ordered its astronauts to take refuge in the Crew Dragon spacecraft while Roscosmos ordered its cosmonauts to saw into a load-bearing bracket to try to reach and seal a crack in the Zvezda module's aft docking port, Roscosmos have now agreed to retire the PrK module which will render the docking port defunct. The timing of this retirement has not yet been announced, and there is currently a Progress cargo vehicle docked there. [Source: Ars Technica]

International Space Station Activities

NASA published their daily blog on the crew's activities aboard the International Space Station. The astronauts finished packing up the Cargo Dragon (C209) docked at the Harmony module's forward docking port, which is due to undock tomorrow and return to Earth, marking the end of the CRS-34 mission. They also prepared for an upcoming spacewalk. The Russian cosmonauts carried out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]