Spaceflight Daily Report, Tuesday 25th August 2026

Image credit: NASA

US Spacewalk 98

American astronaut Anil Menon and French astronaut Sophie Adenot performed a spacewalk today from the International Space Station, supported from inside the station by fellow astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, and supported from the ground by Steven Zentner and Anne McClain. The spacewalk began at 1227 UTC and concluded at 1857 UTC, lasting 6 hours 30 minutes. The duo succeeded in installing the replacement space-to-ground antenna that they didn't have time to install during their previous spacewalk last week. This was Anil Menon's 3rd spacewalk, bringing him up to 19 hours 20 minutes of EVA time, and it was Sophie Adenot's 2nd spacewalk, bringing her up to 12 hours 53 minutes of EVA time. It was the 3rd spacewalk of Expedition 75 and overall the 283rd spacewalk from the International Space Station. [Source: NASA]

Launch of Long March 6C Rideshare

SAST, a subsidiary of CASC, launched a Long March 6C (Chang Zheng 6C) from Taiyuan in Shanxi at 0321 UTC, or 1121 local time (CST). This was a rideshare mission carrying seven payloads to Sun-synchronous orbit; the Zhongke-14 and 15 synthetic aperture radar satellites for Zhongke Satellite Technology Group, Muduo-1A and 1B Earth observation satellites for Beijing Normal University, the Jing'an Mengxian student amateur radar satellite for SAST, the Bayi-04 Earth observation satellite for the Harbin Institute of Technology, and the Lingzhi-09 Thailand CubeSat Earth observation satellite for Thailand's Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency. This was only the 2nd flight of the Long March 6C, which first flew in 2024. It was the 43rd flight of the Long March 6 family. [Source: SAST]

Launch of Starlink Group 10-49

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 0933 UTC, or 0533 local time (EDT). This was carrying Starlink Group 10-49, a batch of 29 satellites for the constellation. It was the 683rd flight of the Falcon 9, and the 37th flight of booster B1067 (a new record), which successfully landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. Notably, this is expected to be the final Falcon 9 Starlink mission launched from Cape Canaveral, with all future Starlink missions either launching from Vandenberg or launching on Starship. There will still be Falcon 9 launches of other payloads from Cape Canaveral. [Source: SpaceX]

Official Announcement of Starbase Louisiana

Following reports last month that SpaceX acquired land for a new spaceport on the coast of Louisiana, the company have now officially announced their plans to build a large launch complex at the site. It will be called Starbase, which is the same as the name of their launch site in Texas. They are aiming to begin construction in 2027 and claim it will be ready to launch its first Starship by 2029. [Source: SpaceX]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Wednesday 22nd July 2026

Image credit: Orienspace

Launch of Gravity-1 Rideshare

Orienspace launched a Gravity-1 from the launch ship Dongfang Hangtian Gang in the East China Sea off the coast of Shanghai at 0254 UTC, or 1054 local time (CST). It was carrying a total of nine payloads to Sun-synchronous orbit; Dongpo-13, 14, 17, 18, 19, and 20 for Huantian Intelligence (a subsidiary of MinoSpace), Tianyi-49 for SpaceTY, Xiguang-2-01 for Xi'an Zhongke Xiguang Aerospace Technology, and Zidingxiang-3 (Lilac-3) for the Harbin Institute of Technology. All except the latter are Earth observation satellites of various kinds. Zidingxiang-3 is an experimental spacecraft with a very thin profile. This was the 3rd launch of Gravity-1. [Source: Orienspace]

Shijian-31 Orbit

Back in June, China launched a classified satellite called Shijian-31. Tracking data now shows that this satellite is in a unique high-inclination Molniya orbit. Orbits like this are usually used to monitor polar regions because they cause spacecraft to loiter over high latitudes for a long time. But Shijian-31 is instead in a Molniya orbit close to the equator, which isn't much good for Earth observation and instead suggests that the spacecraft is surveying satellites in high-up geosynchronous orbit. Satellite-to-satellite inspection is nothing new, but this is the first time such a unique orbit has been used to monitor satellites at such high altitude. [Source: COMSPOC]

Preparations for Starship Flight 13

SpaceX is still targeting tomorrow for the second launch attempt of Starship Flight 13, weather permitting. By midnight UTC, Ship 40 and the Superheavy booster with its replaced engines were in the process of being stacked up again on the launch pad. [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]