First Women Land on the Moon in…
Days
October 13-19, 2025 / Hawai`i Island, USA
Vol 44, No 41: Lunar Broadcast Precursor: Terrestrial Edition
SpaceX Starship Flight 11 NET Oct 13, Increases Cadence Towards First Lunar Flights
Flight 11 is set to launch from Starbase during a window opening 18:15 CT. Booster 15, with 33 Raptor engines delivering 7,500 metric tons of thrust, pairs with Ship 38 standing 121 meters tall. This test follows Flight 10 success where Super Heavy achieved 100% engine relight and precise splashdown. Objectives for Flight 11 include heatshield endurance under 1,650°C reentry temperatures, and Raptor 3 data and maneuvers simulating return-to-launch-site landings with 90% accuracy. The fully reusable Starship reduces launch costs to US$10M per flight, down from $100M, eventually enabling 100+ annual missions. NASA US$2.89B Human Landing System contract positions Starship HLS to ferry Artemis III astronauts from lunar orbit to South Pole surface and back by 2027. Up to 16 tanker Starships will refuel HLS in orbit, transferring 1,200 metric tons of propellant for 250,000-kilometer round trips. Gateway station docking supports Artemis IV in 2028. SpaceX Starship drives lunar economy, projected at US$1.8T by 2040, powering cargo hauls of 150 tons to Moon and habitats for sustained presence. Future roles include Artemis V competition with Blue Origin, fostering innovation for Moon bases and Mars gateways, marking a milestone in reusable rocketry. (Image Credits: SpaceX)
Interstellar Research Group Is Bellwether for Credibility of Interstellar Community
Interstellar Research Group (IRG) holds its 9th Interstellar Symposium Distant Worlds, Neighboring Opportunities Oct 12-15 in Texas with partners International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and Center for Planetary Systems Habitability, of the University of Texas at Austin. Scientists of all disciplines and expertise levels are invited to participate in symposium goals of advancing interstellar travel, not only for exploring other stars and what lies between them, but also understanding formation of galaxies and their elements, searching for extraterrestrial life, and ensuring safety and future of our planet. Symposium elements include presentations, social events and art. They are held every 2 years and videos of the 10-13 July 2023 symposium – the first held outside the USA (Montréal, Canada) – are on the IRG website. IRG provided guidance for the First European Interstellar Symposium, held in Luxembourg. British Interplanetary Society has sponsored and supported IRG events. 3 pre-symposium seminars increase the Standard, Student, IAA Member or IRG Member registration fee as does a post-symposium tour of Firefly Aerospace Rocket Ranch, which does not offer public tours. Up to 100 student scholarships are available. Plenary speakers include physicists, entrepreneurs and those discussing fusion power, growing food in space, the Europa Clipper and other subjects. The IRG website has daily updates with links to new science studies. (Image Credits: IRG, Firefly Aerospace)
Humans in Space
International Space Station, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 73 seven-member crew are maintaining life-support and electronics systems, installing and activating a technology demo for removing spacecraft moisture for recycling, and processing materials in the ultra-high-temperature module for measurement; Mike Fincke is installing: new physics research hardware to look at condensation when gas turns to liquid, and a bag that could be used to capture debris or samples outside the ISS; Zena Cardman is inspecting ventilation systems; Oleg Platonov took a fitness test while on a treadmill.
Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 20 three-member crew, Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, are observing ignition testing in Wenchang of Long March 10A, able to carry ~14,000kg (astronauts / cargo) to the station without side thrusters that would carry >27,000kg to Earth-Moon transfer; storing / analyzing samples from an extravehicular exposure experiment device to learn mechanisms of structural damage / performance degradation of advanced materials used for construction, shielding, solar wings and lubrication; measuring their fine motor skills under microgravity conditions; conducting combustion experiments of various fuels: gas / liquid / solid; using neuromuscular stimulators to relax and prevent muscle atrophy.
Lunar News: Weekly lunar advisories [coming soon]
Near-Earth Objects Close Approaches – Mon Oct 13: Apollo Asteroid 2025 TV2 (0.008 AU); Tue Oct 14: Apollo Asteroid 2022 AY5 (0.019 AU); Wed Oct 15: Aten Asteroid 2022 UY3 (0.026 AU); Thu Oct 16: Apollo Asteroid 2025 SX26 (0.022 AU).
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18 events found.
Events
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SXSW Sydney Conference
Sydney, AustraliaIAC Adjacent Event expecting 1,200+ attendees from 40+ countries; 6 tracks: Tech & Innovation, Business & Leadership, Marketing & Media, Future & Sustainability, Culture & Lifestyle and Creative Industries; includes Innovation Expo
$600 – $1400 -
Launch Starship / Flight 11
Starbase, 25.9°N, Boca Chica TX, USAHawai'i Time for launch is 13:15. 11th test flight of 2-stage Starship launch vehicle. Super Heavy Booster 15-2 is planned to splash down near the launch site; it was also used for the 8th test flight.
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Launch Falcon 9 / SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer C
SLC-4E (~35°N), Vandenberg SFB CA, USATaking 21 satellites made by Lockheed Martin, it is one of 6 launches for USSF SDA for worldwide connectivity, which will be via Optical Inter-Satellite Links (OISLs) that have significantly better performance than radio frequency crosslinks.
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Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium (LSIC) Joint ISRU and CC Telecon
OnlineTopic: Lunar Testing
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Launch Electron / Owl New World (StriX Launch 7)
Launch Complex 1, ~39°S, Mahia Peninsula, New ZealandEarth-imaging synthetic aperture radar satellite to LEO for Synspective, a Japan company.
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Planetary Sample Science Seminar
OnlinePresentation by Josh Wimpenny of Los Alamos National Laboratory: Behaviour of moderately volatile elements on the Moon. Join here: https://sservi.nasa.gov/casa-moon-seminar-series Hosted by CASA Moon, SSERVI, Institute of Meteoritics at UNM, University of New Mexico Grand Challenge, Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) and RASSLE (Research Activities Supporting Science and Lunar Exploration, […]
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Maryland Space Business Roundtable Luncheon: Scott Pace
Greenbelt MD, USA -
Launch Long March 8A / Unknown Payload
Wenchang Space Launch Center, ~19°N, Hainan Island, China -
23 Years in Space: INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL)
Low Earth Orbit (LEO)Detecting some of the most energetic radiation in space, ESA, NASA, Roscosmos spacecraft surpasses another year of operations in space, despite loss of its thrusters; launched 2002, expected to run out of fuel early 2020s and fall to Earth Feb 2029.
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Launch Falcon 9 / Starlink Group 10-17
SLC-40 (~28°N), Cape Canaveral SFS FL, USA28 Starlink satellites to LEO for space-based internet
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2025 Stanford on the Moon Conference
Stanford CA, USAAt Varian Physics Building Room PAB 102-103, during Stanford Reunion Homecoming Weekend.
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Launch Falcon 9 / Starlink Group 11-19
SLC-4E (~35°N), Vandenberg SFB CA, USA28 Starlink satellites to LEO for space-based internet
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Space Center Houston Family Overnight
Houston TX, USATent-camp by Falcon 9 rocket or Independence shuttle replica; STEM activities.
$80 -
17 Years in Space: Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX)
High Earth Orbit (HEO)NASA spacecraft mapping boundary between the Solar System and interstellar space surpasses another full year in space; launched on this day 2008.
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9 Years at Mars: ExoMars 2016 Orbiter
Mars OrbitEuropean Space Agency (ESA) and Roscosmos spacecraft surpasses another full year at Mars, launched 2016; craft continues collecting data on atmosphere, deployed Schiaparelli demonstration lander 19 Oct 2016 (unsuccessful).
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GSA Connects 2025: From Earth to the Cosmos: Geoscience Beyond Our Planet
San Antonio TX, USALooks at planetary bodies in Solar System & beyond, including ISRU uses for future human habitation on other worlds.
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BepiColombo (Mercury Planetary Orbiter and Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter) Begins Next Year in Space
Mercury TrajectoryEuropean Space Agency / JAXA Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (dubbed Mio ‘waterway or fairway’) starts its next year in space today, launched 2018; expected to reach Mercury polar orbit in Nov 2026 to map planet, investigate magnetosphere.