Spaceflight Daily Report, Sunday 12th July 2026

There were no significant events to report today.

Spaceflight Daily Report, Saturday 11th July 2026

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Launch of Starlink Group 17-48

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg in California at 0301 UTC, or 2001 Friday evening local time (PDT). This was carrying Starlink Group 17-48, a batch of 24 satellites for the constellation. It was the 664th flight of the Falcon 9, and the 35th flight of booster B1071, which successfully landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

Death of Aleksandr Aleksandrov

Bulgarian cosmonaut Aleksandr Panayotov Aleksandrov has passed away at the age of 74. As part of the Soviet Union's Interkosmos program he was selected for the backup crew of the Soyuz 33 mission to the Salyut 6 space station in 1978, but his actual first spaceflight was a nine-day trip to Mir space station aboard Soyuz TM-5 ten years later in 1988, becoming the joint 205th human to achieve orbit (206th above 100km, 212th above 50mi) and the second Bulgarian to visit space. [Source: Rumen Radev]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Friday 10th July 2026

Image credit: Xinhua

Launch of Long March 10B Demo

CASC/CALT launched a Long March 10B (Chang Zheng 10B) from Wenchang in Hainan at 0415 UTC, or 1215 local time (CST). This was the maiden flight of the Long March 10B, a medium-lift launch vehicle which includes a reusable first stage. The first stage made a re-entry burn and a landing burn and was successfully caught by a system of steel cables aboard the droneship Linghangzhe in the South China Sea. This makes the state-owned China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) the third organisation ever to propulsively recover an orbital-class first stage booster, and the first outside the United States. The next milestone will be the re-use of the booster, which CALT wants to achieve before the end of 2026. Meanwhile, the upper stage of the rocket successfully delivered an experimental communications satellite named Chuangxin-26 to orbit. The Long March 10B is a variant of the planned Long March 10, which will include a third stage and side boosters and could eventually become the launch vehicle of China's crewed lunar missions. Another variant, the 10A, also had its maiden flight in February, making today's launch the 2nd flight of the Long March 10 family overall. [Source: CALT]

RV-X Hop Test

JAXA performed a successful 40 second test hop of their RV-X rocket today, a prototype reusable first stage booster. The agency is hoping to develop this into a reusable successor to its H3 rocket by the early 2030s. [Source: NVS Live]

Super Heavy Booster 20 Static Fire

SpaceX performed a static fire test of Super Heavy Booster 20 today ahead of the planned launch of Starship Flight 13 some time in the next couple of weeks. SpaceX will not attempt a recovery of the booster or of Starship itself on this flight. The booster will attempt a controlled water landing in the Gulf of Mexico and the ship will attempt a controlled water landing in the Indian Ocean. Flight 14 is then expected to be the first attempt to get Starship into orbit. [Source: NSF]

International Space Station Activities

The crew of the International Space Station carried out routine research and maintenance, and prepared for the arrival of the Soyuz MS-29 crew next week. [Source: NASA]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Thursday 9th July 2026

Image credit: Blue Origin

Launch of Starlink Group 10-42

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Floriday at 0925 UTC, or 0525 local time (EDT). This was carrying Starlink Group 10-42, a batch of 29 satellites for the constellation. It was the 663rd flight of the Falcon 9, and the 36th flight of booster B1067 (a new record), which successfully landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

International Space Station Activities

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

Death of Wally Funk

American aviator Wally Funk passed away yesterday (Wednesday 8th) at the age of 87. She was the last survivor of the "Mercury 13" women who underwent the same training as NASA's first batch of male astronauts but didn't get to participate in the early space program themselves. In 2021 she became the oldest person ever to visit space when she flew on a suborbital New Shepherd flight with Blue Origin at the age of 82. This made her the joint 571st person to fly above 100km (584th above 50mi), and she remains the oldest woman and the only member of the Mercury 13 to have been to space. [Source: Blue Origin]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Wednesday 8th July 2026

Image credit: ISRO

Gaganyaan Parachute System Drop Test

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have conducted a fifth drop test of the parachute system that will be used aboard Gaganyaan, the country's first crewed spacecraft that is hoping to make its maiden uncrewed test flight before the end of this year, and which is expected to soon make India the fourth country with the capability to put people in orbit. This test only involved a single main parachute and a dummy mass, while the final craft will have three main parachutes. The test was a success. [Source: ISRO]

ispace Lunar Cargo Rover to Fly with Starship

Japanese company ispace have signed a deal with SpaceX to deliver payloads to the Moon on a future Starship mission, currently slated for 2030. ispace are developing a rover called the Mobile Cargo System that will be deployed by Starship and will be capable of travelling across the lunar surface carrying payloads from other customers. This will not be the first time ispace have flown on a SpaceX rocket to the Moon. They previously launched two Lunar landers aboard Falcon 9 rockets, but both of them lost contact and crash landed on the lunar surface, with a third attempt planned for 2028. [Source: ispace]

International Space Station Activities

NASA published their daily blog post on the crew's activities aboard the International Space Station. The crew stowed equipment following last week's spacewalk, brought in the NanoRacks CubeSat deployer following last week's deployment, checked the seats in Soyuz MS-28 ahead of its departure later this month, and carried out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]

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]

Spaceflight Daily Report, Monday 6th July 2026

Image credit: NASA

International Space Station Activities

NASA published their daily blog post on the crew's activities aboard the International Space Station. The crew performed routine research and maintenance, including spacesuit maintenance and the preparation of temporary sleeping quarters for the crew of the upcoming Soyuz MS-29 mission. [Source: NASA]

Jeremy Hansen Quits CSA

Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, who became the first non-US human to fly to the Moon on Artemis II earlier this year, has announced he is stepping down from the Canadian Astronaut Corps, leaving Canada with three active astronauts. He hasn't specified the exact reason for his departure, though it sounds like he will be pursuing other opportunities related to Canada's space industry. Artemis II was his first and only spaceflight, during which he racked up nine days in space. [Source: Jeremy Hansen]

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, Thursday 2nd July 2026

Image credit: ULA

Launch of Starlink Group 17-46

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg in California at 0258 UTC, or 1958 Wednesday evening local time (PDT). This was carrying Starlink Group 17-46, a batch of 24 satellites for the constellation. It was the 660th flight of the Falcon 9, and the 7th flight of booster B1100, which successfully landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

Launch of Amazon Leo Group LA-08

United Launch Alliance launched an Atlas V from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 0430 UTC, or 0030 local time (EDT). This was carrying Amazon Leo Group LA-08, a batch of 29 satellites for the constellation. It was the 110th flight of the Atlas V, the planned final launch of the rocket's 551 configuration, and possibly the final launch of the Atlas V overall, which is being retired in favour of ULA's Vulcan Centaur. The Atlas V could fly again in its N22 configuration if Starliner ever gets re-approved for flight. [Source: ULA]

Scrub of Swift Boost

The launch of the Swift Boost mission has been delayed again. Stargazer took off from Kwajalein Atoll as planned, but an issue with the Pegasus XL rocket meant the plane's crew returned to the ground without launching it. The mission has already been delayed twice by bad weather. [Source: NASA]

International Space Station Activities

NASA published their daily blog post on the crew's activities aboard the International Space Station. Yesterday at 2039 UTC, the Progress MS-34 cargo spacecraft, docked to the station's Zvezda module, fired its thrusters for 9 minutes 28 seconds to raise the station's perigee. The crew carried out routine research and maintenance, including setting up extra crew quarters in preparation for the arrival of Soyuz MS-29. [Source: NASA]

UPDATE: Six small satellites were deployed from the ISS on this day, which was not mentioned in NASA's blog post. See 7th July for more details.

Spaceflight Daily Report, Wednesday 1st July 2026

Image credit: China Daily/Wang Jiangbo

Launch of Haiyang 2E

CASC/SAST launched a Long March 4B (Chang Zheng 4B) from Jiuquan in Gansu at 2346 UTC, or 0746 Thursday morning local time (CST). It was carrying Haiyang 2E, the first in a trio of oceanography satellites that are replacing an older set of satellites. This was the 118th launch of the Long March 4 series, and the 57th launch of the 4B configuration. [Source: SAST]

Ship 40 Static Fire Test

Ship 40, which is planned to fly on Starship Flight 13, has undergone a static fire test using all six of its engines, bringing the mission closer to launch, though the Super Heavy first stage still needs to undergo testing. Flight 13 will be a re-run of Flight 12, consisting of a sub-orbital hop to the Indian Ocean. Flight 14 will then attempt to get into orbit. [Source: NSF]

International Space Station Activities

NASA published their daily blog post on the crew's activities aboard the International Space Station. The NASA and ESA astronauts had a light duty day following yesterday's spacewalk. They worked on resetting the spacesuits and participated in a post-spacewalk conference. The Russian cosmonauts carried out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]