India Spotlights Our Galaxy: IAF GLEX May 7-9; ILOA Galaxy Forums May 9 & 12 International Astronautical Federation (IAF) holds Global Space Exploration Conference 2025 (GLEX2025) to foster collaboration among astronauts, engineers, scientists and agency leaders, receiving 1275 abstract submissions from 57 countries. Acknowledging the IAF vision of A space-faring

Europe Conferences Hosted in Tartu, Vienna, Berlin; Launch of Vega Set for April 28 Estonia is 2025 chair of the European Interparliamentary Space Conference themed Security in Space: Europe’s Challenges and Opportunities. The Annual Workshop is April 27-29 in Tartu, which is the science and research capital, and location of

China to Launch Shenzhou, Holds 2nd Lunar Samples Forum and National Space Day During China Space Conference Tiangong Space Station Taikonauts are planning to welcome Shenzhou 20 three-member crew subsequent to their launch from Jiuquan aboard a Long March 2F rocket. Similar to the current 3-member crew, they expect a stay

New Shepard NS-31 Flight April 14 to Take All-Women Crew to Suborbital Space Six women are prepped to fly aboard the next crewed Blue Origin New Shepard NS-31 flight, aiming for an April 14 liftoff from Corn Ranch, Van Horn, Texas. Though many NS flights have science experiments, this flight

Apophis T-4 Years: Knowledge Opportunity for the Science of Planetary Defense Meteor Apophis will pass by Earth on April 13, 2029. This year, “T minus 4 years,” a workshop in Tokyo, April 9-10 is held for researchers to discuss protecting Earth from asteroids, meteors and meteorites. The Tunguska Meteor, exploding

Many Firsts to Be Accomplished in Polar Orbit by Fram2 The privately funded Fram2 mission sees 4 astronauts aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9, launching NET Mar 31 from Florida and headed to LEO, ~430km, as the first human spaceflight over Earth polar regions. Poles are invisible

Blue Origin Following Many Paths to Fulfill its Mission The mission of Blue Origin is to reduce space travel costs, promote off-Earth resources, and inspire people to live and work in space for the benefit of Earth. Moon lander Blue Moon Mark 1 (MK1) can carry 3 tons to the

International Space Station Astronauts Continue Important Research, Exemplify International Cooperation Expedition 71 crew continues to unload ~2600 kg of food, fuel, supplies and a new Orlan-MKS spacesuit that arrived via the Progress 91P cargo craft. Roscosmos Cosmonauts Aleksandr Gorbunov, Aleksey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner are working to improve communications between

2 Lunar Landings in March: Firefly Blue Ghost Followed by IM Nova-C Athena The first attempted Moon landing by Firefly Aerospace, on the mission named Ghost Riders in the Sky, is set to occur on March 2 at 02:45 CST, after many successes so far: insertion into lunar orbit, instrument

Significant SpaceX Launches on the Horizon: Starship, IM-2 to the Moon, NASA Science Sats, Transporter-13 Working at an all-time record pace, Starbase General Manager Kathy Lueders notes SpaceX is aiming for 25 Starship launches in 2025. So far, SpaceX has launched 21 Falcon 9s and 1 Starship this year (as

Continued Science, Activities Aboard ISS as Commercial Stations Plan 2026-2028 Operations The seven spaceworkers of International Space Station continue experiments involving crop growth, in-space body orientation, plant radiation exposure, nutrients provided by yeast, student-controlled camera and VR headsets. Progress 89P cargo ship will undock near the end of February to