Spaceflight Daily Report, Saturday 24th October 2026

Render of Swift in orbit. Image credit: NASA.

Conclusion of Swift Science Mission

Following the failure of the Swift Boost mission, the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has concluded its science mission. The space telescope had been brought back online following the failure to continue observing gamma ray bursts, but has now fallen low enough that it cannot maintain attitude control under the increased atmospheric drag, and has been commanded to shut down. It is expected to be destroyed by the atmosphere within the next few weeks. [Source: NASA]

Other notes

• Shenzhou 24, the next crewed mission to the Tiangong space station, has been scheduled for 25th November. More details, such as the crew, will likely not be announced until shortly before the launch. [Source: The Nation]
• The launch of Amazon Leo LV-01 aboard a Vulcan Centaur, originally scheduled for 29th October, has slipped to no earlier than November. [Source: Next Spaceflight]

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, Monday 12th October 2026

Path of Perseverance. Image credit: NASA.

There were no major events today.

Other notes

• NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has set an off-world driving distance record, surpassing the 45 km record previously held by Opportunity. [Source: NASA]
• The astronauts aboard the International Space Station had the day off for the US Columbus Day federal holiday, which also meant there was no daily blog post from NASA.
• Rocket Lab have announced names and target dates for their next three Electron missions. [Source: Rocket Lab]
• UPDATE: ION SCV Absolute Andreas, launched on Transporter-18, deployed Planet Labs' Flock 4J-3 and -4 Earth observation satellites today. [Source: Jonathan McDowell's GCAT]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Monday 28th September 2026

Starship Flight 14 lifts off. Image credit: SpaceX.

Launch of Starship Flight 14

SpaceX launched a Starship from Starbase in Texas at 1248 UTC, or 0748 local time (CDT). This was the 14th flight of Starship, the company's fully reusable super-heavy launch vehicle, though neither the booster stage nor the upper stage were due to be recovered today. This was the first Starship flight to achieve a full, non-transatmospheric orbit, despite several engine failures. The booster stage lost one engine on ascent and one engine during boostback, before making a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico and self-destructing. The upper stage "ship" also lost one engine, causing mission control to briefly call off the orbital insertion burn, but that decision was reversed and the ship achieved orbit with its five remaining engines. Once in orbit, the ship deployed Starlink Group 31-1, a batch of 26 new, larger V3 satellites for the constellation. The ship also began shedding heat shield tiles in orbit, posing a potential debris risk, and for undisclosed reasons SpaceX decided to de-orbit it after just three hours rather than the planned ten. It survived orbital re-entry and made a controlled splashdown in the Pacific Ocean before self-destructing. [Source: SpaceX]

Juice Earth Flyby

The European Space Agency's Juice probe (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) performed a gravity assist manoeuvre around Earth today, making its closest approach at 1145 UTC at a distance of 8640km. This is the mission's second flyby of Earth, and it will encounter our planet once more in January 2029 in order to build up enough velocity to reach Jupiter in mid-2031. It will then tour the Jovian system for three years before settling into an orbit around Ganymede. [Source: ESA]

International Space Station Activities

The crew of the Crew-12 mission (Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adenot, and Andrey Fedyaev), who are returning to Earth next week, tested specialised suits for reacclimatising their circulatory systems to Earth's gravity; this is a different suit to the one Fedyaev has been testing for the past few days, which he also continued testing today. Meir, Hathaway, and Anil Menon performed blood and medical research. Adenot performed exercise research and taught Menon how to use the new European exercise machine. Pyotr Dubrov performed semiconductor research and Anna Kikina took photographs of the Earth. [Source: NASA]

Boeing Starliner Updates

As rumoured a couple of weeks ago, NASA have provided some updates on Boeing Starliner. Four crewed missions to the International Space Station are planned using the spacecraft, though the agency has not committed to a fifth and sixth just yet. The first uncrewed test flight of Starliner since the failure of the CFT-1 mission in 2024 is expected no earlier than December 2026, and will be called Starliner-1. The following crewed mission, called Starliner-2, is aiming to launch in mid 2028 and will be commanded by NASA astronaut Woody Hoburg. The reason for the significant delay is related to certifying the redesigned thrusters for human spaceflight; the most severe and life-threatening malfunctions during the CFT-1 mission were the failures of multiple thrusters. This will be a regular ISS crew rotation rather than a test flight, with the three other crew members to be announced at a later date. Since the Atlas V rocket is no longer in production, Starliner will be certified for launch aboard United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur rocket, though there are still a handful of Atlas V rockets in storage and one of those will be used for the Starliner-1 mission. NASA is not currently planning to extend their fleet of crewed ISS vehicles to any other companies beyond SpaceX and Boeing. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Tuesday 15th September 2026

Image credit: NASA

Launch of FLEX and Sentinel-C

Avio launched a Vega C from Kourou in French Guiana at 0121 UTC, or 2221 Monday evening local time (GFT). This carried two satellites to orbit for the European Space Agency. The first was Sentinel-3C, an oceanography satellite that is the third of four planned Sentinel satellites launched as part of the European Union's Copernicus programme for climate monitoring. The second was FLEX, short for Fluorescence Explorer, which carries a spectrometer for mapping plant fluorescence to monitor photosynthesis and global plant health, and is the eighth mission launched for ESA's Earth Explorer series of satellites, part of the agency's FutureEO programme. This was the 30th flight of Vega C. [Source: ESA]

Launch of Qianfan Polar Group 19

LandSpace launched a Zhuque-2E Block 2 from Jiuquan in Gansu at 0626 UTC, or 1426 local time (CST). This carried Qianfan Polar Group 19, a batch of 10 satellites for the Qianfan (SpaceSail) internet constellation operated by Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology. Group 19 is actually the 15th batch of these satellites to be launched. This was the first time a private company have delivered satellites for the constellation, which have previously all been delivered by state-operated Long March rockets. This was the 9th flight of Zhuque-2, and the 3rd flight of the 2E Block 2 variant. [Source: LandSpace]

Launch of Qianfan Polar Group 26

Orienspace were scheduled to launch a Gravity-1 from the launch ship Dongfang Hangtian Gang in the East China Sea off the coast of Shanghai at 2155 UTC, or 0555 Wednesday morning local time (CST). Confirmation of the launch and details about its payload were not available at the time of writing. An update will be provided tomorrow. This was the 4th flight of Gravity-1, marking another increase in launch cadence for the vehicle.

UPDATE: The reported launch time is 2200 UTC, or 0600 Wednesday morning local time (CST). The rocket was carrying nine satellites for Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology; eight comprising Polar Group 26 of the Qianfan (SpaceSail) internet constellation, and one technology test satellite. This is today's second Qianfan launch, and the 16th overall, meaning the constellation's first two launches with private launch providers occurred on two different rockets on the same day. [Source: CCTV]

United States Discloses Possession of Space Weapons

The United States has admitted for the first time that it has deployed weapons in space. The nature of these weapons is not known, nor how long they have been in orbit, though they are probably anti-satellite weapons equipped with electronic interference devices. The Space Force would likely prefer for any inter-satellite conflict to avoid creating the cloud of debris that would be caused by a more physical weapon. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink explained he was making the disclosure as a "deterrent". The United States claims to believe that Russia and China both also have weapons in space. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty bans weapons of mass destruction from being placed in orbit, but conventional and electronic orbital weapons are allowed under international law. China has denounced the disclosure and called for the avoidance of an arms race in space. [Source: BBC]

Roman First Light

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has taken its first test image of the stars. The Wide Field Instrument has not yet been properly deployed, so the stars are intentionally out-of-focus. The mission will arrive at the Sun-Earth L2 point in December and is aiming to release its first science images in early 2027. [Source: NASA]

International Space Station Activities

The crew of the International Space Station performed routine research and maintenance. Jessica Meir and Sophie Adenot worked on bioprinting research. Meir also performed stress and sleep research, while Adenot inspected the hatch seals in the US segment of the station. Andrey Fedyaev took blood pressure readings and performed maintenance on the ventilation system. Jack Hathaway installed a new oxygen tank in the atmospheric control system and checked spacesuit batteries and carbon dioxide scrubbers. Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina tested material science equipment and inspected the hatch seals in the Russian segment. Anil Menon continued studying lead-free soldering techniques, cleaned a water filter, and tested one of the spacesuits' emergency jet packs. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Thursday 3rd September 2026

Image source: ISRO

Launch of EOS-05

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mk II from Satish Dhawan in Andhra Pradesh at 2125 UTC, or 0255 Friday morning local time (IST). This was carrying EOS-05, also called GISAT-1A, a geosynchronous Earth imaging satellite designed to be used during disaster response. This was the second attempt at launching this mission, after the first attempt in 2021 failed to achieve orbit. It was the 19th flight of the GSLV, and the 13th flight of the Mk II variant. This was ISRO's first successful orbital launch of 2026. [Source: ISRO]

Separation of BepiColombo's MTM

At approximately 1200 UTC, BepiColombo jettisoned its Mercury Transfer Module (MTM), which provided propulsion during the cruise phase. This marks the beginning of the mission's arrival at Mercury following an eight year journey involving nine gravity assist manoeuvres around Earth, Venus, and Mercury. The spacecraft is planned to enter orbit around Mercury on 21st November, after which ESA's Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and JAXA's Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO, also called Mio) will separate into two different spacecraft and adjust into their final orbits using their own propulsion systems. [Source: ESA]

Pallas-1 Absent from Tracking Data

The US Space Force have not catalogued an object in orbit following Tuesday's debut launch of Chinese company Galactic Energy's Pallas-1 (Zhishenxing-1) rocket. This indicates either a deliberate de-orbit of the second stage with the dummy payload still attached, some mistake or delay in the Space Force tracking data, or a launch failure. The latter explanation would be contrary to official statements from Galactic Energy, who said the flight was successful. [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 are preparing for the departure of Progress MS-33, which will undock from the Poisk module next Monday and burn up in the atmosphere, and the arrival of Progress MS-35, which will dock to the vacated port two days later on Wednesday. This means they have been performing cargo and fluid transfers to the departing spacecraft, alongside their routine research and maintenance tasks. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Sunday 30th August 2026

Image credit: NASA

Launch of Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

SpaceX launched a Falcon Heavy from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1126 UTC, or 0726 local time (EDT). This was carrying NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. It was the 13th flight of the Falcon Heavy. The rocket's two side boosters were B1104 and B1072, on their first and third flights respectively, which both performed boostback burns after separation and landed successfully at Landing Zones 40 and 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The expendable central booster was B1105, on its first and only flight. [Source: SpaceX]

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is named after NASA's first chief astronomer and the driving voice behind many of NASA's space observatories, who passed away in 2018. Roman's primary instrument is the Wide Field Instrument, which will take infrared photographs at a similar resolution to the Hubble Space Telescope but with a field of view a hundred times wider, complementing the James Webb Space Telescope's ability to take extremely high resolution images of a very small patch of sky. It will perform surveys of the sky that are expected to discover tens of thousands of exoplanets and provide better constraints for theories of dark matter and dark energy. A secondary instrument called the Coronagraph Instrument will also attempt to take direct images of exoplanets, as opposed to detecting them via the influence they have on their host stars. Roman is now on its way to the Earth-Sun L2 point, an optimal location for astronomy. The primary mission is aiming to operate for five years, and the telescope has enough fuel to remain stable at L2 for at least a further five years after that. It also has the necessary hardware for an optional refuelling mission in the future. [Source: NASA]

SpaceX Crew-13 Delay

The SpaceX Crew-13 mission to the International Space Station, originally due to launch on 12th September, has been delayed. Routine pre-flight checks revealed an oxidizer leak in the propulsion system of Crew Dragon Grace, which previously flew on Axiom Mission 4. NASA and SpaceX have not yet announced a new launch date. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Friday 28th August 2026

Image credit: CMS

Tiangong Spacewalk

Chinese taikonauts Zhu Yangzhu and Zhang Zhiyuan performed a spacewalk today from the Tiangong space station, supported by fellow taikonaut Lai Ka-ying. The spacewalk began at approximately 0030 UTC and concluded at 0559 UTC, lasting five and a half hours. The spacewalkers successfully performed maintenance on the station's solar panels and installed "space debris protection devices". This was the second spacewalk of Zhu's career, bringing him up to approximately 13 hours 25 minutes of EVA time, and it was Zhang's first spacewalk. This was the first spacewalk of the Shenzhou 23 mission, and the 27th from Tiangong overall. [Source: CMS]

Long March 6C Fragmentation Event

American satellite monitoring company LeoLabs announced today that a Chinese Long March 6C upper stage disintegrated in orbit and has left "tens to hundreds" of individual fragments orbiting in an uncontrolled manner. This follows two similar events involving the 6C upper stage, in 2022 and 2024. The fragments are expected to decay and re-enter Earth's atmosphere in a few years, but until then they will need to be actively avoided by other satellites. [Source: LeoLabs]

Swift's Swan Song

After the failure of the Swift Boost Mission, NASA have decided to reactivate some of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory's instruments which were previously switched off so that its solar panels could be angled to reduce drag and buy time for the rescue mission. It is too late to organise a second rescue, so NASA will instead try to squeeze some more science out of the telescope before it falls into the atmosphere in a month or two. [Source: NASA]

Booster 21 Static Fire Test

Superheavy Booster 21, which will be the first stage of Starship Flight 14, underwent a static fire test. This brings Starship Flight 14, which is expected to be the first orbital flight of the vehicle, a step closer to launch. SpaceX are currently aiming to launch in mid-September. [Source: NSF]

International Space Station Activities

NASA published their daily blog post on the crew's activities aboard the International Space Station. The three American crew members spoke to US President Donald Trump today during an event where Trump also awarded the crew of Artemis II with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor and signed an executive order calling for the establishment of a new "Space Academy" to be organised by NASA, akin to existing US institutions like the Coast Guard Academy and the Naval Academy. Aside from that the crew performed routine research and maintenance and prepared for Tuesday's spacewalk. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Wednesday 19th August 2026

Image credit: NASA

Swift Boost Mission Ends in Failure

NASA have called off the Swift Boost mission to reboost the Neils Gehrels Swift Observatory after the LINK spacecraft, built and operated by private American company Katalyst Space, lost attitude control and could not be fully recovered. LINK will still demonstrate a rendezvous with the Swift Observatory, but will not attempt to grab it and push it to a higher orbit as initially planned. Swift is expected to fall into the atmosphere and be destroyed within the next few months. [Source: NASA]

Launch of Starlink Group 17-50

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg in California at 0401 UTC, or 2101 Tuesday evening local time (PDT). This was carrying Starlink Group 17-50, a batch of 24 satellites for the constellation. It was the 680th flight of the Falcon 9, and the 12th flight of booster B1097, 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 cleared up after yesterday's spacewalk and performed routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]

Failure of Sebit

Innospace launched a suborbital Sebit rocket from Alcântara in Maranhão, Brazil at 1930 UTC, or 1630 local time (BRT). This was the first test flight of the rocket. The launch failed and the rocket was destroyed. This is the second failure for the South Korean private company after their orbital Hanbit-Nano rocket also failed during its debut launch in 2025. [Source: Innospace]

Ship 41 Static Fire Test

Ship 41, which will fly on Starship Flight 14, the first orbital test of SpaceX's full reusable rocket, underwent a single engine static fire test today. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk indicated that Flight 14 is unlikely to involve a catch of the ship. [Source: NSF, Elon Musk]

Firefly to Land Radioisotope Demo on Moon

Firefly Aerospace have announced that their fourth Blue Ghost lunar landing mission, which was recently announced by NASA, will carry a radioisotope generator built by Zeno Power to the Moon's surface. This will demonstrate survivability during the long cold lunar night. The mission is currently aiming to launch in late 2028. Firefly became the first private company to successfully land on the Moon in 2025, and are scheduled to make their second attempt in 2027. [Source: Firefly Aerospace]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Monday 17th August 2026

Image credit: NASA

Launch of UAE Satellite for Earth Observation

CALT, a subsidiary of CASC, launched a Long March 2C (Chang Zheng 2C) from Taiyuan in Shanxi at 0302 UTC, or 1102 local time (CST). This was carrying a Sun-synchronous Earth observation satellite for the United Arab Emirates University, imaginatively named Satellite for Earth Observation. This was the 88th flight of the Long March 2C, and the 233rd flight of the Long March 2 family. [Source: CALT]

Lucy Photographs Trojans

NASA's Lucy probe has taken its first images of some of the Jupiter Trojan asteroids it will be visiting, as operators calibrate the missions's instruments. It took distant photographs of 3548 Eurybates, 15094 Polymele, 11351 Leucus, and 21900 Orus, all of which are located at the Sun-Jupiter L4 point, also called the Greek camp, and all of which the probe will fly past between August 2027 and November 2028. After that it will head back to Earth for a gravity assist manoeuvre in 2030, followed by a visit to the Trojan camp at Sun-Jupiter L5 in 2033. [Source: NASA]

International Space Station Activities

The crew of the International Space Station have completed preparations for tomorrow's spacewalk. The Russian cosmonauts carried out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Tuesday 11th August 2026

Image credit: NASA/Jessica Meir

Launch of Starlink Group 10-19

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 1558 UTC, or 1158 local time (EDT). This launch was delayed from yesterday. It was carrying Starlink Group 10-19, a batch of 29 satellites for the constellation. It was the 676th flight of the Falcon 9, and the 18th flight of booster B1085, which successfully landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

LINK Gets Software Update

In the ongoing saga of the Swift Boost mission, NASA and Katalyst Space have now succeeded in uploading the new flight control software so that the mission can continue despite the spacecraft's attitude control malfunctions. It should still have time to rendezvous with the Swift Observatory and boost it to a higher orbit before it falls into the atmosphere. [Source: NASA]

International Space Station Activities

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

India Invited to NASA Moon Base Program

The United States have announced that the Indian Space Research Organisation has been invited to take part in NASA's Moon Base program. The two agencies recently collaborated on the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar mission, and now they have pledged to continue developing that relationship. It's not yet clear how involved India would be if they accept the offer. It could be as little as NASA purchasing components and launch services from India, or it could be as much as Indian astronauts travelling to the future Moon Base, just as European and Canadian astronauts are already taking part in the Artemis program. [Source: Times of India]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Thursday 6th August 2026

Image credit: NASA

US Spacewalk 96

American astronauts Jessica Meir and Anil Menon performed a spacewalk today from the International Space Station, supported from inside the station by fellow astronauts Jack Hathaway and Sophie Adenot, and supported from the ground by Aki Hoshide and Stephanie Wilson. The spacewalk began at 1233 UTC and concluded at 1900 UTC, lasting 6 hours 27 minutes. The spacewalkers prepared the 3B power channel for the future installation of a new roll-out solar array. They also performed other small maintenance tasks outside the station. This was Jessica Meir's 6th spacewalk, bringing her up to 42 hours 33 minutes of EVA time, and it was Anil Menon's first spacewalk. It was the first spacewalk of Expedition 75 and overall the 281st spacewalk from the International Space Station. [Source: NASA]

Falcon Impact Images

The Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, also called Danuri, today captured the first images of the new crater formed on the Moon by yesterday's impact of a leftover Falcon 9 second stage, having manoeuvred into an orbit that took it over the site both before and after the collision. Danuri is South Korea's first lunar mission, itself launched on a Falcon 9 back in 2022. [Source: Korea AeroSpace Administration]

Swift Boost Recovery

NASA and Katalyst Space have succeeded in stabilising the LINK spacecraft, which was left in an uncontrolled spin after its reaction wheels and thrusters malfunctioned. The plan now is to send the craft a software update to enable it to manoeuvre while accounting for the malfunctions. Then, it will attempt to rendezvous with the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and complete its mission to rescue the space telescope by boosting it to a higher orbit. [Source: NASA]

Launch of "The Grain Goddess Provides"

Rocket Lab launched an Electron out of Māhia in New Zealand at 0918 UTC, or 2118 local time (NZST). The mission, named "The Grain Goddess Provides", delivered QPS-SAR-13 to orbit, a synthetic aperture radar satellite operated by the Japanese company iQPS. This was the 92nd flight of Electron. [Source: Rocket Lab]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Friday 31st July 2026

Image credit: NASA

LINK Stabilisation Efforts

NASA and Katalyst Space have reported back on efforts to stabilise the LINK spacecraft after operators lost attitude control a few days ago. This mission was hoping to rendezvous with NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory in order to give it a boost and save it from burning up in the atmosphere, but some of the reaction wheels and thrusters aboard the spacecraft have malfunctioned and left it in an uncontrolled tumble. A series of thruster firings this week have managed to reduce the spin from nine degrees per second to less than four degrees per second. Once control is restored, the approach to Swift will need to be re-planned to account for the malfunctions. [Source: NASA]

International Space Station Activities

The crew of the International Space Station carried out routine research and maintenance. New arrival Anil Menon tried on his spacesuit ahead of next week's spacewalk. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Tuesday 28th July 2026

Image credit: Katalyst Space

LINK Loss of Attitude Control

The LINK spacecraft, launched a few weeks ago, has lost attitude control following malfunctions in its reaction wheels and thrusters. LINK is serving the Swift Boost mission, a low budget attempt to reboost NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. Engineers at NASA and Katalyst Space are working to determine if the mission can still be completed once they have the spacecraft back under control. [Source: NASA]

International Space Station Activities

The crew of the International Space Station prepared for three spacewalks scheduled for August, as well as carrying out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]

RFA Encounter Issue with Rocket

Germany company Rocket Factory Augsberg encountered an unspecified issue with their RFA One rocket during testing. The rocket, which is currently stacked on the pad at SaxaVord in the Shetland Islands, will now be de-stacked. The first attempt to launch RFA One, back in 2024, ended with the first stage destroyed by fire during a static fire test, so they will be aiming to avoid that this time around even if it means further delays. They are in a race with Isar Aerospace's Spectrum rocket to launch the first private European orbital vehicle, and whichever wins that race will also mark the first non-Russian orbital launch from geographic Europe. [Source: Rocket Factory Augsberg]

ESA Looking to Repurpose Lunar Link

The European Space Agency have opened a call for proposals to repurpose Lunar Link, a communications module that the agency was developing for NASA's now-cancelled Lunar Gateway space station around the Moon. As the technology has already been developed, ESA is interested in turning the module into a standalone communications satellite for helping ground stations to communicate with other Moon missions. [Source: ESA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Friday 17th July 2026

Image credit: NASA

Engines to be Replaced Ahead of Starship Flight 13

Following yesterday's pad abort of Starship Flight 13, SpaceX will de-stack the rocket and replace two of the Super Heavy Booster's failed Raptor engines. The next launch attempt is currently aiming for next week. [Source: Elon Musk]

Serbia and Mauritius Sign Artemis Accords

Serbia and Mauritius have become the 69th and 70th countries to sign the Artemis Accords, a United States led set of agreements regarding mineral rights and other arrangements for international cooperation in space exploration. Serbia does not have much of an active space programme, and operates no satellites. It is one of only three countries that have joined both the Artemis Accords as well as the Chinese and Russian led International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) project, along with Thailand and Senegal. China and Russia have criticised the Artemis Accords for unfairly favouring the United States. Mauritius also does not have much of a space programme, previously operating one CubeSat launched in 2021 which has since fallen back to Earth. [Source: NASA (Serbia), NASA (Mauritius)]

NASA Publish Mars Photographs from Psyche Flyby

Back in May, NASA's Psyche probe performed a gravity assist around Mars on its way to its target, a metal-rich asteroid also called Psyche. Today, NASA released some new images from that flyby as the probe returns more data. The Psyche spacecraft used its Mars flyby as an opportunity to test its scientific equipment. The gravity assist was successful, and the spacecraft is due to arrive at asteroid Psyche in 2029. [Source: NASA]

International Space Station Activities

The expanded crew of the International Space Station carried out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Sunday 5th July 2026

Image credit: CNSA (left), JAXA (right), not to scale

First Image of Kamo'oalewa

CNSA have published the first image of asteroid 469219 Kamo'oalewa taken by the Tianwen-2 probe, and officially announced the probe's arrival which occurred yesterday. Kamo'oalewa is a quasi-moon of Earth discovered in 2016, and the new image shows it to be around 30 by 20 metres in size. 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. [Source: CNSA]

Hayabusa2 Flyby of Torifune

JAXA's Hayabusa2 probe, on its extended Hayabusa2♯ mission, flew by asteroid 98943 Torifune at 0930 UTC at a relative speed of 5 km/s and an altitude of a few hundred metres above the asteroid's surface, and captured photographs as it passed. Torifune is a near-Earth asteroid discovered in 2001 with a diameter of about 450 metres, and is the 21st minor planet to be visited up close, not counting moons and comets. Hayabusa2's next stop is the currently unnamed asteroid 1998 KY26, a small rapidly rotating rock which it will rendezvous with in 2031 after it's performed two slingshot manoeuvres around the Earth to get into the correct orbit. [Source: JAXA]

Launch of Starlink Group 10-50

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 1050 UTC, or 0650 local time (EDT). This was carrying Starlink Group 10-50, a batch of 29 satellites for the constellation. It was the 661st flight of the Falcon 9, and the 13th flight of booster B1090, which successfully landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. Aboard the booster there was also a pair of "Fabships" developed by Besxar Space Industries to test the manufacture of semiconductors in space. [Source: SpaceX]

Launch of Qianfan Polar Group 15

CASC/CALT launched a Long March 8A (Chang Zheng 8A) from Wenchang in Hainan at 1343 UTC, or 2143 local time (CST). This was carrying Polar Group 15, a batch of 20 satellites for the Qianfan (SpaceSail) internet constellation. This is the most Qianfan satellites launched on a single rocket so far, and brings the total size of the constellation up to 238 satellites. This was the 16th launch of the Long March 8 series, and the 9th launch of the 8A configuration. [Source: HICAL]

Tiangong Activities

China Manned Space (CMS) published their weekly video on the activities of the crew of the Tiangong space station. The crew deployed an instrument called MUSICO from the Mengtian module. Developed at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, this instrument measures greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere. The crew also used the station's famous air fryer to bake some cakes, among other routine research and maintenance. [Source: CMS]

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]

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.

Spaceflight Daily Report, Wednesday 24th June 2026

Image credit: JAXA

Hayabusa2 on Torifune Approach

The JAXA probe Hayabusa2, which succeeded in returning a surface sample from asteroid 162173 Ryugu to Earth back in 2020, has almost reached the first target of its extended mission plan, asteroid 98943 Torifune. Today, it returned its first direct images of the asteroid. Hayabusa2 will perform a high-speed flyby in July; there won't be any attempt at a sample collection. After that, it will begin the long journey to its final planned target, the currently unnamed asteroid 1998 KY26, which it will reach in 2031. [Source: JAXA]

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 prepared for next Tuesday's spacewalk. [Source: NASA]