Spaceflight Daily Report, Friday 9th October 2026

NG-24 departs the ISS. Image credit: NASA.

Launch of SatNet LEO Group 27

SAST, a subsidiary of China Aerospace (CASC), launched a Long March 12 (Chang Zheng 12) from Wenchang in Hainan at 1927 UTC, or 0327 Saturday morning local time (CST). This was carrying SatNet LEO (Guowang) Group 27, the latest batch of nine satellites for China SatNet's internet constellation. This was the 9th flight of the Long March 12, which is settling into a monthly launch cadence, and the 11th flight of the Long March 12 family. [Source: SAST]

Departure of Cygnus NG-24

Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL S.S. Steven R. Nagel spacecraft, serving the NG-24 cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station, was unberthed from the nadir port of the station's Unity module at 1644 UTC with the help of the Canadarm2 robotic arm. It has spent six months berthed to the station. It is scheduled to de-orbit and be destroyed in the atmosphere on Monday. As well as waste from the station, it is carrying twelve small re-entry capsules each with experimental heat shields to test new designs and materials. [Source: NASA]

NASA Formally Requests Proposals for Private Space Stations

NASA have issued a final request for proposals for "low Earth orbit destinations" for American astronauts following the decommissioning of the International Space Station, which is currently planned for the early 2030s. Proposals are due by early December, with contracts set to be awarded in spring 2027. This follows a draft proposal issued back in July. Several companies are already designing or building commercial space stations that could potentially replace the ISS. [Source: NASA]

Other notes

• During the final day of the International Aeronautical Congress in Antalya, Turkey the convention space was opened to the public. [Source: IAF]
• Voyager Technologies are retiring the Astrobotic brand name following their acquisition of the company. Missions like the upcoming Griffin-1 Moon lander will now be carried out under the Voyager brand. [Source: Astrobotic]
• UPDATE: The US Air Force launched a Minotaur I missile that reached space on this day. See 13th October 2026 for details.
• UPDATE: ION SCV Absolute Andreas, launched on Transporter-18, deployed Planet Labs' Flock 4J-7 Earth observation satellite today. [Source: Jonathan McDowell's GCAT]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Friday 25th September 2026

Cygnus NG-24 fires its thrusters during a previous reboost. Image credit: NASA.

International Space Station Activities

The Northrop Grumman Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft (NG-24), which is berthed to the nadir port of the International Space Station's Unity module, fired its thrusters for 18 minutes to raise the station's apogee by 2.5km and its perigee by 1.3km. [Source: NASA]

Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adenot, and Andrey Fedyaev, the four space travellers belonging to the SpaceX Crew-12 mission, continued to pack their personal belongings for their return to Earth after Crew-13 arrives next week to replace them. They rehearsed re-entry procedures with ground control, and Fedyaev continued testing the negative pressure suit for reacclimatising to Earth's gravity with help from fellow cosmonaut Anna Kikina. Meir and Adenot also took and stored blood and saliva samples. Pyotr Dubrov continued unpacking the Progress MS-35 cargo spacecraft. Anil Menon worked on assembling and testing a new cooling system for the Destiny module and practised operating the Canadarm2 robotic arm. [Source: NASA]

Swift Resumes Automatic GRB Observations

NASA have reactivated all of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory's instruments following the failure of the mission to reboost the space telescope. It's too late to organise a second rescue mission, so Swift has instead resumed its science mission to detect and turn to observe distant gamma ray bursts. It is expected to re-enter the atmosphere and be destroyed in a month or so. The failed LINK spacecraft de-orbited today. [Source: NASA]

San Marino Signs Artemis Accords

For the third time in as many days, a new country have signed the Artemis Accords. San Marino have become the 76th country to sign the Accords, a United States led set of agreements regarding mineral rights and other arrangements for international cooperation in space exploration. The microstate of 30,000 people does not have a space programme. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Thursday 27th August 2026

Image credit: Arianespace

Launch of MTG-I2

Arianespace launched an Ariane 6 rocket from Kourou in French Guiana at 2011 UTC, or 1711 local time (GFT). This was carrying MTG-I2, also known as Meteosat-14, a geostationary weather imaging satellite operated by EUMETSAT. This completes the organisation's Meteosat Third Generation constellation. This was the 9th flight of the Ariane 6, which flew in its 62 configuration, meaning it had two strap-on boosters. It was also the first Ariane 6 to deliver a payload to geostationary orbit. [Source: Arianespace]

First Batch of European Launcher Challenge Funding Awarded

The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed the first three contracts as part of its European Launcher Challenge programme, which aims to help fund the development of private launch vehicles. They have awarded €186.9 million to Rocket Factory Augsberg (RFA) to continue development of their RFA One rocket, €158.9 million to PLD Space to continue development of their Miura 5 rocket, and €197.8 million to Isar Aerospace to continue development of their Spectrum rocket. These awards are mainly funded by Germany and Spain, with the United Kingdom, Norway, and Austria also making contributions. A fourth contract is expected soon, which will award funding to ArianeGroup subsidiary MaiaSpace to continue development of their Maia rocket. [Source: ESA]

International Space Station Activities

NASA published their daily blog post on the crew's activities aboard the International Space Station. The Cygnus cargo spacecraft, berthed to the Unity module, fired its thrusters for 20 minutes and 43 seconds to raise the station's perigee by 2.6 miles. The astronauts spent their day preparing for Tuesday's spacewalk and carrying out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Tuesday 4th August 2026

Image credit: NASA

Launch of Guowang Group 23

CASC/CALT launched a Long March 8A (Chang Zheng 8A) from Wenchang in Hainan at 0852 UTC, or 1652 local time (CST). It was carrying Guowang Group 23, a batch of 9 communications satellites for the constellation, also known as SatNet LEO and operated by the China Satellite Network Group. This was the 17th flight of the Long March 8 family, and the 10th flight of the 8A variant. [Source: CALT]

Launch of Starlink Group 17-53

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg in California at 1705 UTC, or 1005 local time (PDT). This was carrying Starlink Group 17-53, a batch of 24 satellites for the constellation. It was the 673rd flight of the Falcon 9, and the 34th flight of booster B1063, which successfully landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

International Space Station Activities

The crew of the International Space Station prepared for Thursday's spacewalk and carried out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]

Announcement of Lunar Infrastructure Demos

Northrop Grumman have proposed a series of Moon missions adapting the technology developed for the HALO module, a core component of the now-cancelled Lunar Gateway space station around the Moon. The three missions, called Lunar Infrastructure Demos, or LIDs for short, are in response to NASA's call for companies to propose missions to support the development of the agency's ambitious Moon Base plans. They will demonstrate power generation, communications, and survivability on the Moon's surface. A launch date for these missions has not yet been proposed. [Source: Northrop Grumman]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Tuesday 21st July 2026

Image credit: Northrop Grumman

Launch of Starlink Group 17-39

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg in California at 1449 UTC, or 0749 local time (PDT). This was carrying Starlink Group 17-39, a batch of 24 satellites for the constellation. It was the 668th flight of the Falcon 9, and the 23rd flight of booster B1082, which successfully landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

Launch of MRV-1

SpaceX also launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 2115 UTC, or 1715 local time (EDT). This was carrying Northrop Grumman's Mission Robotic Vehicle 1, or MRV-1 for short. This spacecraft is designed to service multiple customer satellites in geosynchronous orbits high above the Earth, mostly by using a set of robotic arms to install small booster modules called Mission Extension Pods, or MEPs, onto those satellites to extend their operating lives. Today's mission launched with three of these MEPs. Two of them will be used to service satellites for Intelsat while the third will be used for an Optus satellite. The plan is to send up more MEPs in the future so that the MRV can rendezvous with them and use them to service more spacecraft, with the MRV projected to carry out about thirty services over its lifetime. This was the 669th flight of the Falcon 9, and the 32nd and final flight of booster B1069, which was used in an expendable configuration and not recovered. [Source: SpaceX]

International Space Station Activities

The crew of the International Space Station prepared for the departure of the MS-28 crew next week, as well as carrying out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Friday 3rd July 2026

Image credit: NASA

Launch of Swift Boost Mission

Northrop Grumman's Stargazer plane took off from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands at 0739 UTC, or 1939 local time. Stargazer air-launched a Pegasus XL rocket over the Pacific Ocean near Kiribati at 0836 UTC. This was carrying NASA's Swift Boost mission, consisting of a robotic servicing spacecraft named LINK which was developed by Katalyst Space. The mission will attempt to reboost NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory to a higher altitude before it falls into the atmosphere, in order to extend its mission duration. The servicing mission has been planned and executed in less than a year for a relatively low budget, and if successful it will mark the first time a NASA spacecraft has been serviced by a private company. LINK will rendezvous with Swift in a few weeks. This was the 46th flight of Pegasus and its first since 2021. [Source: NASA]

BULL Drag Sail Demonstration

Japanese company BULL have demonstrated a pair of satellites with unfolding drag sails. These drag sails could be used to more quickly de-orbit low-flying satellites when they go out of service. The two satellites, named HORN-R and HORN-L, descended faster than a control at the same altitude, showing that the drag sails work as intended. [Source: BULL]

There was no International Space Station blog post today due to the US Independence Day federal holiday.