Total Solar Eclipse Festivities Across North America Precede Global Yuri’s Night Celebrations A week of astronomical and astronautical merriment awaits revelers at a slew of events celebrating the coming total solar eclipse and commemorating humankind’s first foray into space. 5 multi-day viewing parties are planned: Texas Eclipse Festival (April 5-9),
NewSpace Africa Conference 2024 Highlights Growing Commercial Space Activity in Region 3rd annual NewSpace Africa Conference being held at Talatona Convention Centre in Luanda, Angola from April 2-5 with theme ‘The Role of Space in Closing Africa’s Poverty Gap’. The Nigeria-based event co-organizer, data analytics company Space in Africa, estimates
Luxembourg Opens 6th Space Resources Week, Paris Hosts IAF Spring Meetings With semi-overlapping dates, two Europe conferences will host significant events over three days this week: The Space Resources Week in Luxembourg (March 25-27), and the Spring Meetings of the International Astronautical Federation (March 26-28). Space resource utilization and exploration
ISS Undergoes Multi-Crew Changeovers and Cargo Arrival Heading into Expedition 71 The International Space Station, now more than 25 years in LEO and having 270+ Astronaut visitors, will see many rendezvous and departures this month of crewed and cargo spacecraft. Expedition 70 Commander Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub and Loral O’Hara
Moon Matters: LPSC2024 in USA Being Held Prior to PRC Launch of Queqiao 2 Lunar Relay The 55th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, sponsored by NASA, USRA and the Lunar and Planetary Institute, will convene ~2,000 planetary scientists and students from March 11-15 in the Woodlands, Texas. There will be
Next-Gen NASA Astronaut Class to Graduate Under Artemis Program NASA Astronaut Group 23 is set to receive astronaut wings at March 5 graduation ceremony being held at Johnson Space Center in Houston TX. Nicknamed ‘The Flies’, Group 23 consists of 5 women and 7 men, 10 of whom are USA
Crew-8 and Transporter 10 Launching to Space in the Coming Days, Starship IFT-3 Also Possible The robust SpaceX launch cadence continues with Crew-8 ISS mission on Endeavour, which is to be the 13th crewed flight of Dragon capsule (9th within NASA Commercial Crew program) set for launch on Falcon 9
USA Returning to Moon Surface After 51+ Years with Intuitive Machines Odysseus Lander The second NASA CLPS-funded ($118M delivery contract) commercial mission is on its way to the Moon following February 15, 01:05 EST launch from KSC LC-39A via SpaceX Falcon 9. The Nova-C class lander Odysseus separated from the
USA, World Awaits Intuitive Machines Moon Launch Set for Feb 14, Historic Moon Landing Feb 22 Intuitive Machines IM-1 Nova-C lander is planned to launch aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 in a multi-day launch window that opens 00:57 EST on February 14. The lander and its 12 payloads are intended to
Canada Investing in its Lunar Future: Artemis 2, LEAP, Canadarm3 Jeremy Hansen is set to become the first citizen of Canada traveling to the Moon via Artemis 2 in September 2025. Along with 3 other Astronauts, Hansen will travel on a nominal 10-day lunar mission in the Orion spacecraft, swinging
Juno to Perform Final Flyby of Io, Heading into Perijove 58 and Reducing Orbital Period On February 3, Jupiter explorer Juno is planning its 58th flyby of the great gas giant in its extended mission phase. Before the Jupiter flyby, Juno will come within 1,500 km of moon Io—the 4th
Apollo, Challenger, Columbia Astronaut Memorial Week Looks Toward Artemis Missions In the spirit of remembrance and exploration, this weekend will begin honoring fallen space heroes with the 57th observation Apollo 1 loss of Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee on January 27; the Challenger STS-51L 38th
Axiom 3 Launch to Bring Humans in Space to 11 Total Combined on ISS and TSS International Space Station Expedition 70 crew is expecting an additional 4 person team this week with the scheduled launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon carrying Axiom 3 mission on January 17 from
Astrobotic Set for Launch to Moon, First of Many Planned for 2024 Peregrine lander awaits launch on ULA Vulcan Centaur rocket, now fully stacked on pad SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in preparation for inaugural Cert-1 flight on NET January 8 at 02:18 EST. Weather conditions are forecast
Stellar and Interstellar Exploration Rings in New Year 2024 The NASA (STSci), ESA, CSA-ASC infrared astronomy telescope, James Webb, is operating at Sun–Earth L2 and will surpass its second full year in space on December 25. Proposals for the 3rd Cycle observations will be peer-reviewed starting in January 2024, and
SLIM, Nova-C and Peregrine Slated to Land on Moon in Early New Year 2024 Now <55,000 km from the Moon, 2.4 x 2.7-m JAXA Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) lunar lander is just days from reaching lunar orbit insertion on December 25. The 200-kg SLIM is to remain in
USA Returns to the Moon: NASA CLPS January 2024 Landings Lead the Way for Artemis 3 / First Woman – NLT July 4, 2026? Two robotic Moon landings under the NASA Artemis Commercial Lunar Payload Services program are set to occur early in New Year 2024. Astrobotic Technology Peregrine lander
Countdown to 500: Long March Rocket Nears Significant Achievement Honored as China National Space Day on April 24 is the launch of Long March 1 carrying China’s first satellite, Dong Fang Hong 1, to space in 1970. The success rate of the 498 Long March ‘Chang Zheng’ launches to date
ISS Expedition 70 Expecting Progress 86P Arrival, Participating in Earth-Space Broadcasts The seven-member crew of International Space Station Expedition 70, now commanded by ESA Astronaut Andreas Mogensen, is awaiting the arrival of additional cargo set to launch December 1. Progress MS-25 (86P) is planned to fly aboard Soyuz-2 from Baikonur
Jupiter Solo Explorer Juno Ready for 56th Perijove Flyby and 2 More Years of Operations Juno is heading into its next flyby of massive Jupiter on November 22, perijove #56, flying at speeds near 209,000 kph from north to south over the cloud tops in its highly elliptical polar orbit.
NASA Moon Exploration Program is Advancing a Year After Artemis 1 Launch Despite Obstacles As November 16 marks 1 full year since the launch of ‘Mega Moon Rocket’ SLS carrying crew-rated Orion spacecraft on 25.5-day lunar flyby which extended to ~483,000-km from Earth, the furthest any such craft has traveled,
New Space Commercial Enterprise in Focus as Q3 Financials Set to Be Announced Invigorated by the success of Galactic 05, which carried Alan Stern, Kellie Gerard and Ketty Maisonrouge near the edge of space, Virgin Galactic is to report third quarter 2023 financial results on November 8. While Mojave CA
ISS Surpasses 23 Years of Continuous Human Occupation This Week While Exp 70 Perform Multiple EVAs The start to the 24th year of International Space Station continuous human occupation commences November 3 with Expedition 70 crew and Andreas Mogensen as Commander. The crew is represented by 1 ESA, 1 JAXA,
China Working to Expand Footprint in LEO and Cislunar Space with Eye on Outer Solar System The 6th crewed mission to Tiangong Space Station, Shenzhou-17, is set to lift off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center NET Oct 26. The yet to be announced 3-member crew will spend ~6 months on