Spaceflight Daily Report, Friday 23rd October 2026

Artemis IV Blue Moon CONOPS. Image credit: NASA.

Launch of "We're Not Hawking Around"

Rocket Lab launched an Electron from Māhia in New Zealand at 0711 UTC, or 2011 local time (NZDT). This mission, named "We're Not Hawking Around", was carrying HawkEye 360 Cluster 16, a batch of three Sun-synchronous radio surveillance satellites for the American company HawkEye 360. This was the 98th flight of Electron. [Source: Rocket Lab]

Launch of Yaogan-50-03

SAST, a subsidiary of China Aerospace (CASC), launched a Long March 6A (Chang Zheng 6A) from Taiyuan in Shanxi at 1015 UTC, or 1815 local time (CST). This was carrying Yaogan-50-03, a military reconnaissance satellite of unclear purpose. Like the previous Yaogan-50 satellites, it launched into a retrograde low-Earth orbit, orbiting in the opposite direction to most satellites. This was the 28th flight of the Long March 6A, and the 45th flight of the Long March 6 family. [Source: SAST]

Launch of 6x Yaogan

SAST launched a Long March 4B (Chang Zheng 4B) from Jiuquan in Gansu at 1925 UTC, or 0325 Saturday morning local time (CST). This was carrying six more Yaogan satellites; Yaogan-53-07, 08, and 09, and Yaogan-56-19, 20, and 21. These are all low-Earth orbit military reconnaissance satellites of unclear purpose. This was the 59th flight of the Long March 4B, and the 120th flight of the Long March 4 family. [Source: SAST]

Launch of Starlink Group 15-15

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg in California at 2248 UTC, or 1548 local time (PDT). The mission was delayed three times due to bad weather. It was carrying Starlink Group 15-15, the latest batch of 27 Starlink v2-mini satellites for the constellation. It was the 699th flight of the Falcon 9, and the 36th flight of booster B1063, which successfully landed aboard the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

International Space Station Activities

Pyotr Dubrov (MS-29, Roscosmos), Anna Kikina (MS-29, Roscosmos), and Sergey Teteryatnikov (Crew-13, Roscosmos) studied plasma crystals, serviced radiation detection equipment, carried out AI research, and took blood pressure readings. Jessica Watkins (Crew-13, NASA) tested water quality detectors and a gas flow controller. Luke Delaney (Crew-13, NASA) and Anil Menon (MS-29, NASA) continued their blood vessel bio-printing research. Joshua Kutryk (Crew-13, CSA) swapped research samples in a furnace. The four Western astronauts also held a conference with engineers on the ground regarding their two upcoming spacewalks. [Source: NASA]

Artemis Updates

NASA held a press conference announcing several updates and details regarding the Artemis programme. Artemis III will see the crew of an Orion spacecraft test rendezvous operations in low-Earth orbit with the two candidate Human Landing System (HLS) Moon landers being developed by Blue Origin and SpaceX. NASA revealed the following concept of operations:

• Before Day 0: Blue Moon launches on New Glenn and loiters in orbit.
• Day 0: Orion launches on SLS.
• Day 3: Orion docks with Blue Moon.
• Day 6: Orion undocks from Blue Moon.
• Day 6: Starship launches.
• Day 8: Orion docks with Starship. Undocks after around two hours.
• Day 14: Orion returns to Earth.

Additionally, NASA shared concepts of operations for the Starship propellant transfer demo planned for early 2027, and two potential versions of Artemis IV in 2028; one with SpaceX's Starship HLS, and one with Blue Origin's Blue Moon HLS. In the SpaceX plan, Starship will get to the Moon by refuelling at an orbital depot, to be fuelled by other Starships, and will itself act as the transfer stage for Orion following a rendezvous in Earth orbit. In the Blue Origin plan, Blue Moon will get to the Moon by attaching to a multi-stage transfer stack, and Orion will make its own way to the Moon and rendezvous with it in Lunar orbit. In both plans, two astronauts will descend to the Lunar surface on the HLS while two others will remain aboard Orion in Lunar orbit. [Source: NASA]

Starshield Speed Limit Apparently Not Lifted

Last week, soldiers in Ukraine began reporting that SpaceX's military Starshield service, used to control drones and bolster front line communications, was cutting out when the terminal exceeded 100 mph. US president Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk both denied responsibility for the restriction, though it came amid a public disagreement between Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy over Russian oil exports. Despite Trump's subsequent claim that restrictions have been lifted, Ukrainian drone operators are still reporting speed limits. LEO satellite internet services have become vital infrastructure in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with SpaceX cutting Russian access to Starlink back in February and both Europe and Russia scrambling to establish their own independent constellations. [Source: BBC]

SpaceX Declines US Government Contracts

SpaceX have reportedly declined three missions for the US Space Force as they phase out the Falcon 9 in favour of Starship, which will focus on the company's in-house projects rather than external contracts. American institutions have allowed SpaceX's dominance of the launch market to become a monopoly, with their competitors nowhere near ready to pick up the slack. Falcon 9 is currently the only rocket keeping US launch capacity ahead of that of China. [Source: Politico]

Other notes

• ESA's Hera probe has performed a braking manoeuvre ahead of its arrival at asteroid 65803 Didymos. Orbital insertion is scheduled for November. [Source: ESA]
• ArianeGroup's Themis hop test vehicle may not fly until 2027, further delaying ESA's already slow development of a reusable successor to the Ariane 6. [Source: European Spaceflight]
• ICEYE and Nokia have signed a letter of intent with Ukraine to bolster the country's sovereign satellite communications amid the Russian invasion. [Source: ICEYE]
• Firefly Aerospace have completed the preliminary design review for their Elytra spacecraft that will deliver NASA's MoonFall mission to the Lunar south pole no earlier than late 2028. [Source: Firefly Aerospace]
• The launches of Starlink Group 15-16 and Group 15-18 aboard Falcon 9 rockets have both been pushed back a day, to the 27th and 30th of October respectively. [Source: SpaceX]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Tuesday 20th October 2026

Bandwagon-5 prepares for launch. Image credit: SpaceX.

Launch of Bandwagon-5

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 1104 UTC, or 0704 local time (EDT). This was carrying Bandwagon-5, the latest SpaceX rideshare mission carrying 32 payloads to a mid-inclination orbit for various customers, including the second flight of SpaceX's Starfall cargo re-entry system. The full launch manifest can be found beneath the "read more" break. This was the 698th flight of the Falcon 9, and the 19th flight of booster B1085, which successfully landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

International Space Station Activities

Pyotr Dubrov (MS-29, Roscosmos) set up automatic cameras to photograph landmarks in Africa. Anna Kikina (MS-29, Roscosmos) unloaded water from the Progress MS-35 cargo spacecraft. Anil Menon (MS-29, NASA) configured tools and inspected tethers ahead of the two upcoming spacewalks. Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney (both Crew-13, NASA) continued their cellular bio-printing study, and Delaney also carried out cancer research. Joshua Kutryk (Crew-13, CSA) performed exercise research. Sergey Teteryatnikov (Crew-13, Roscosmos) trained to operate the European Robotic Arm. [Source: NASA]

Other notes

• Starlink Group 15-15, originally scheduled to launch at 2310 UTC, was scrubbed and has been rescheduled for tomorrow. [Source: SpaceX]
• The Long March 8A originally scheduled to launch on Thursday has been pushed back to Sunday. [Source: Next Spaceflight]
• The launch of NROL-195 aboard a Falcon 9 has been scheduled for no earlier than 5th November. [Source: Next Spaceflight]
• SpaceX confirmed during their Q3 earnings report that, during Starship Flight 15, they will attempt to catch both stages of the rocket for the first time, pending FAA approval. [Source: SpaceX]
• ESA lost a test model of their Space Rider cargo spaceplane in a failed drop test earlier this month. [Source: European Spaceflight]
• NASA published progress updates and some more details about the early rover missions of their Moon Base programme, including the VIPER rover and the crewed vehicles being developed by Astrolab and Lunar Outpost. [Source: NASA]
• UPDATE: NASA launched a sounding rocket from Poker Flat in Alaska on this day. See 25th October for details.

Spaceflight Daily Report, Monday 19th October 2026

Render of MMX and Phobos. Image credit: JAXA.

Launch of Martian Moons eXploration (MMX)

JAXA launched an H3-24L rocket from Tanegashima in Japan at 1941 UTC, or 0441 Tuesday morning local time (JST). This was carrying the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission, a sample return mission to Phobos. It is JAXA's third sample return mission after Hayabusa and Hayabusa2, both of which returned samples from asteroids. MMX carries instruments developed by various space agencies, as well as a small French-German rover named Idefix which will make Phobos the smallest body so far visited by a wheeled vehicle. In 2027, MMX is expected to enter orbit around Mars, collect samples and deposit the rover on Phobos, and also fly by Deimos. The spacecraft is then planning to depart Mars in 2030 and return a capsule containing the samples to Earth in 2031. This was the 10th flight of the H3, and the first flight of the 24L configuration. [Source: JAXA]

International Space Station Activities

Pyotr Dubrov (MS-29, Roscosmos) carried out plasma research. Anna Kikina (MS-29, Roscosmos) organised food supplies and hardware. Jessica Watkins (Crew-13, NASA) serviced science hardware and set up a bio-printing experiment. Luke Delaney (Crew-13, NASA) tested new onboard equipment for analysing crew biological samples for medical insights without having to ship them back to Earth. Anil Menon (MS-29, NASA) and Joshua Kutryk (Crew-13, CSA) prepared for the first of their two upcoming spacewalks by beginning to clean and prepare their spacesuits. Sergey Teteryatnikov (Crew-13, Roscosmos) carried out AI research. [Source: NASA]

Other notes

• The Bandwagon-5 Falcon 9 rideshare mission has been delayed until tomorrow due to poor weather conditions. [Source: SpaceX]
• The Russian spacecraft Kosmos 2612 appears to have backed off from the Ukrainian-operated satellite ICEYE-X36 after a series of close encounters over the past two days. [Source: Jonathan McDowell]
• Debris discovered in a field in Minnesota suggests that LandSpace botched the de-orbit burn of a Zhuque 2 second stage launched on 15th September and accidentally dropped it on the United States. [Source: Ars Technica]
• Uzbekistan have become the 77th country to join the Artemis Accords. [Source: US Department of State]
• The launch of Starlink Group 15-18 aboard a Falcon 9 has been scheduled for no earlier than 28th October. [Source: SpaceX]
• The launch of Starlink Group 15-21 aboard a Falcon 9 has been scheduled for no earlier than 10th November. [Source: SpaceX]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Saturday 17th October 2026

Render of an ICEYE satellite. Image credit: ICEYE.

Kosmos-ICEYE Rendezvous

The Russian satellite Kosmos 2612, launched in April 2026, appears to be making a close uncooperative orbital rendezvous with ICEYE-X36, launched in March 2024, a Finnish-built and US-registered synthetic aperture radar Earth observation satellite which has reportedly seen use by Ukraine during the Russian invasion of the country. This is history's first close uncooperative rendezvous where the two operators are at war. Kosmos 2612 performed manoeuvres bringing it within a few kilometres of its target over the course of the past few days. It's currently unclear if this is simply a live test of Russia's ability to rendezvous with an enemy satellite, or if this is an active anti-satellite operation that will see ICEYE-X36 disabled or destroyed. Regardless of the outcome, this situation is unprecedented. This all comes just a month after the United States became the first country to publicly disclose that it has weapons in space, and claimed that Russia and China do as well. [Source: SatTrackCam Leiden]

Other notes

• Monday's Bandwagon-5 mission, launching on a Falcon 9, will include the second flight of a Starfall re-entry capsule. In a post about the encapsulation of the mission's payloads, SpaceX attached the first published photograph of Starfall, which was not shown at all during its debut launch. [Source: SpaceX]
• The launch of a Long March 6A has been scheduled for no earlier than 23rd October; this Friday. [Source: Next Spaceflight]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Thursday 1st October 2026

Crew-13 aboard Grace. Image credit: NASA

Launch of SpaceX Crew-13

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 1510 UTC, or 1110 local time (EDT). This was carrying SpaceX Crew-13, a Crew Dragon spacecraft (Grace) carrying two Americans, one Canadian, and one Russian to the International Space Station. The spacecraft docked to the forward port of the Harmony module at 2305 UTC, just eight hours after launch, which is a new record for a US spacecraft. Hatch opening will occur after midnight UTC and will be covered in tomorrow's report. This was the 692nd flight of the Falcon 9, the 2nd flight of Crew Dragon Grace, and the 3rd flight of booster B1101, which performed a boostback burn and successfully landed at Cape Canaveral's Landing Zone 40. [Source: SpaceX]

The crew will join Expedition 75, and are expected to remain on the station for around five months. The mission commander is NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins, a geologist who got her start at NASA working on various robotic Mars missions. This is her second spaceflight; she previously flew on SpaceX Crew-4 back in 2022, when she became the first Black woman to serve on a long-duration ISS mission, and as of today she is the first person to fly on two different Crew Dragon missions. The mission's pilot is NASA astronaut Luke Delaney, who became a test pilot for NASA after retiring from the Marine Corps. This is his first spaceflight. The first of the two mission specialists is Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Joshua Kutryk. He joined the CSA after a career as a test pilot for the Royal Canadian Air Force. This is also his first spaceflight. And finally, the second mission specialist is Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov. Before being selected as a cosmonaut, he worked as a submarine engineer for the Russian Navy. This is his first spaceflight as well. The three first-timers are jointly the 649th people to achieve orbit, the 744th people to fly above 100km (the FAI definition of space), and the 785th people to fly above 50mi (the US definition of space). There are now 14 people in orbit: five Americans, four Russians, three Chinese, one Canadian, and one French. There are also currently five women in orbit, matching the record first set in 2022. [Source: NASA]

Launch of Transporter-18

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg in California at 1832 UTC, or 1132 local time (PDT). This was Transporter-18, the latest SpaceX rideshare mission carrying a reported 130 payloads to Sun-synchronous orbit, including satellites for communication, Earth observation, medical manufacturing, technology demonstrations, orbital servicing, and orbital transfers. The full launch manifest can be found beneath the "read more" break. 71 objects were deployed during today's deployment sequence. This was the 693rd flight of the Falcon 9, and the 25th flight of booster B1082, which performed a boostback burn and successfully landed at Vandenberg's Landing Zone 4. [Source: SpaceX]

UPDATE: Today, in addition to the objects deployed directly from Transporter-18 (see full launch manifest below), OSSIE deployed NIS-PQ for the Greek company Libre Space Foundation, and ION SCV Alluring Alexander deployed SanoSat-3 for Nepali company Orion Space. The deployment of the rest of the tugs' payloads will follow in the coming days. [Source: Jonathan McDowell's GCAT]

Other notes

UPDATE: An RK-IM suborbital spaceflight took place on this day. See 6th October 2026 for details.

Spaceflight Daily Report, Thursday 10th September 2026

Image credit: The Exploration Company

Launch of 6x Yaogan

CASC/SAST launched a Long March 4B (Chang Zheng 4B) from Jiuquan in Gansu at 0900 UTC, or 1700 local time (CST). This was carrying six Chinese military satellites of unknown purpose, designated Yaogan 53-01 to 03 and Yaogan 56-01 to 03. This was the 119th launch of the Long March 4 family of rockets, and the 58th launch of the 4B configuration. [Source: SAST]

Launch of USSF-153

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg in California at 1542 UTC, or 0842 local time (PDT). This was carrying USSF-153, a classified mission for the US Space Force. Further information about the number of payloads launched on this rocket should be available in the coming days. It was the 687th flight of the Falcon 9, and the 27th flight of booster B1081, which successfully landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

UPDATE: There were 23 payloads on this launch, designated USA 644 to USA 666. [Source: Jonathan McDowell]

International Space Station Activities

The crew of the International Space Station carried out routine research and maintenance. Sophie Adenot and Pyotr Dubrov both filmed documentary footage today, including a series of tours of the station which we can expect to see soon. [Source: NASA]

International Space Summit

The International Space Summit in Paris, which began yesterday, concluded today. The following is a summary of the major announcements made over both days of the event:

• ESA announced they have awarded a €760 million contract to The Exploration Company (TEC) to develop and fly their Nyx cargo spacecraft, in order to provide Europe with independent access to a cargo vehicle. This is part of what was previously called the LCRS project (LEO Cargo Return Service), which has been renamed to the rather contrived acronym ALADDIN (Autonomous LEO Accelerated Demo Docking to ISS Node). The vehicle will launch on an Ariane 6 rocket. [Source: ESA]
• Vast Space (United States) announced that the third crew member of Private Astronaut Mission 6 to the International Space Station will be ESA astronaut Adrianos Golemis. He will become the first Greek citizen in space when it launches in 2027. Also on the mission are Thomas Pesquez of France, Aleš Svoboda of Czechia, and an unannounced fourth crew member. [Source: Vast Space]
• Arianespace (France) announced several new Ariane 6 contracts, including two launches for Eutelsat's OneWeb, six launches for Amazon Leo (United States), one launch for a South Korean geostationary communication satellite, and the aforementioned maiden flight of the Nyx cargo spacecraft. They also signed memoranda of understanding with EnduroSat (Bulgaria) and ICEYE (Finland), indicating future launches for those organisations. Arianespace subsidiary MaiaSpace announced a launch contract for iQPS (Japan). [Source: Élysée Palace]
• Eutelsat (France) announced they have awarded Airbus a contract to develop the first layer of at least 66 satellites for the European Union's IRIS² satellite internet constellation. [Source: Airbus]

A variety of other announcements were made at the summit. A summary of the various contracts and MoUs is available on the website of the French presidency.

PLD Space Announce Miura 9 Rocket

Spanish company PLD Space, who are developing the yet-to-fly Miura 5 small-lift reusable rocket, have announced that the larger future version of the rocket will be named Miura 9 (previously designated Miura 5 Block 1.2). It will have around three times the payload capacity of the Miura 5, making it a medium-lift vehicle. PLD Space is using the funding from ESA's European Launcher Challenge programme to help develop the larger rocket. [Source: PLD Space]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Tuesday 7th July 2026

Image credit: SpaceX

Launch of Transporter-17

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg in California at 0712 UTC, or 0012 local time (PDT). It was carrying Transporter-17, a rideshare mission which delivered a total of 81 payloads to orbit. The full launch manifest is at the bottom of this post, after the "read more" break. This was the 662nd flight of the Falcon 9, and the 11th flight of booster B1097, which successfully landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

Deployment of CubeSats from International Space Station

Six small satellites developed by American universities were deployed from the International Space Station's Nanoracks CubeSat Deployer on 2nd July, without an official announcement being made at the time. These were Proves-Alcyone (Columbia), Proves-Atlas (Northeastern), HUCSat (Harvard), Coconut (Arizona State), LeopardSat (Cincinnati), and Proves-Electra (Santa Cruz). [Source: Jonathan McDowell]

International Space Station Activities

NASA published their daily blog post on the crew's activities aboard the International Space Station. The crew carried out routine research and maintenance, as well as preparing for the arrival of MS-29 and the departure of MS-28. [Source: NASA]