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, Thursday 24th September 2026

The crew of SpaceX Crew-14 pose for a group portrait. Image credit: SpaceX

Launch of Yaogan 40 Group 04

SAST, a subsidiary of China Aerospace (CASC), launched a Long March 6A (Chang Zheng 6A) from Taiyuan in Shanxi at 0846 UTC, or 1646 local time (CST). This was carrying Yaogan 40 Group 04, a batch of three military satellites of unclear purpose. Most spacecraft with the Yaogan designation are reconnaissance satellites for the People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Forces. This was the 27th flight of the Long March 6A, and the 44th flight of the Long March 6 family. [Source: SAST]

International Space Station Activities

Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway continued practising ultrasound scans. Sophie Adenot carried out exercise research. Anil Menon continued immune system research. Adenot and Menon also continued taking inventory of cargo in the Cygnus cargo vehicle, while Andrey Fedyaev, Pyotr Dubrov, and Anna Kikina continued unpacking the recently arrived Progress MS-35 cargo vehicle, among some other routine maintenance. [Source: NASA]

Crew of SpaceX Crew-14 Announced

NASA have announced the crew for the SpaceX Crew-14 mission to the International Space Station, aiming to launch around March 2027. American astronaut Kayla Barron will be mission commander, on her second spaceflight, while the other three members of the crew will all be on their first spaceflight. American astronaut Chris Birch will be the pilot. Japanese astronaut Makoto Suwa will be one of the two mission specialists. The other mission specialist will be Russian cosmonaut Arutyun Kiviryan, as part of an ongoing arrangement where the United States and Russia swap a crew member with each other to ensure both countries retain access to space in the event that either Dragon or Soyuz is grounded. [Source: NASA]

Starship Flight 14 Wet Dress Rehearsal

SpaceX carried out a wet dress rehearsal for the launch of Starship Flight 14, the first orbital test flight of the company's fully reusable super-heavy rocket, currently aiming to launch on Monday. The company have also posted NOTAMs that optimistically suggest two further Starship launches in October. [Source: NSF]

Côte d’Ivoire Sign Artemis Accords

Côte d’Ivoire have become the 75th country to sign the Artemis Accords, a United States led set of agreements regarding mineral rights and other arrangements for international cooperation in space exploration. The country founded their national space agency in 2025. They have yet to put a satellite in orbit. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Thursday 30th July 2026

Image credit: ESA

Launch of TJSW-27A and B

CASC/SAST launched a Long March 6A (Chang Zheng 6A) from Taiyuan in Shanxi at 0100 UTC, or 0900 local time (CST). The classified experimental payloads are designated TJSW-27A and B. They have entered an orbit characteristic of time-delay-of-arrival electronic surveillance satellites. This was the 42nd flight of the Long March 6 family of rockets, and the 26th flight of the 6A configuration. [Source: SAST]

Launch of NROL-95

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 0710 UTC, or 0310 local time (EDT). The classified payload was contracted by the US National Reconnaissance Office and designated NROL-95. It is also thought to be a time-delay-of-arrival electronic surveillance satellite, belonging to the fourth generation of the Naval Ocean Surveillance System (NOSS). It was the 671st flight of the Falcon 9, and the 7th flight of booster B1096, which performed a boostback burn and successfully landed at Cape Canaveral's Landing Zone 2. [Source: SpaceX]

Themis Test

ESA announced today that ArianeGroup and SSC Space carried out a wet dress rehearsal last week of Themis, a demonstration vehicle for the agency's future plans to build a reusable rocket. This brings the organisation a step closer to being able to carry out a hop test of the vehicle. ArianeGroup are hoping to develop a reusable heavy-lift rocket by the 2030s, while their subsidiary MaiaSpace is on track to develop a smaller reusable rocket by the late 2020s. [Source: ESA]

International Space Station Activities

The crew of the International Space Station carried out routine research and maintenance as well as practising procedures for the first of several upcoming spacewalks. [Source: NASA]

NASA Confirms MS-30 Crew

NASA have confirmed the crew of the Soyuz MS-30 mission to the International Space Station in March 2027, which has already been circulating in Russian sources for a few months. Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Petelin will be mission commander and this will be his second spaceflight after taking part in MS-22 in 2022, where he ended up getting stuck on the station for longer than expected due to a micrometeorite striking the Soyuz spacecraft that was meant to take him home. Joining him will be Russian cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov, also on his second spaceflight having previously visited the station as part of SpaceX Crew-7 in 2023, and American astronaut Deniz Burnham, for whom this will be her first spaceflight. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Saturday 4th July 2026

Image source: CNSA

Tianwen-2 Arrival at Kamo'oalewa

CNSA's Tianwen-2 probe, which launched in May 2025, has arrived at asteroid 469219 Kamo'oalewa, a 20 metre wide quasi-moon of Earth discovered in 2016. Tianwen-2 will explore the asteroid for nine months and take a surface sample, which is planned to be returned to Earth in 2027. This is the 20th minor planet to be visited up-close by a spacecraft, not counting moons and comets, and the smallest visited so far. Official updates have been very sparse, but we should expect the first images of the asteroid soon. [Source: AMSAT-DL]

Launch of Qianfan Polar Group 13

CASC/SAST launched a Long March 6A (Chang Zheng 6A) from Taiyuan in Shanxi at 0930 UTC, or 17:30 local time (CST). This was carrying Polar Group 13, a batch of 18 satellites for the Qianfan (Spacesail) internet constellation. This was the 41st launch of the Long March 6 series, and the 25th launch of the 6A configuration. [Source: Xinhua]