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
ISS Expedition 70 Focuses on EVAs, Cargo Operations, Coolant Leak Investigation The newly commenced Expedition 70 mission at ISS is planning for next EVAs starting October 25 with Russia EVA #61 to mount a synthetic radar communications system, deploy a solar sail satellite, and replace electrical connector patch panels. The
Robotic Missions Probing Inner and Outer Solar System Ahead of Eventual Human Exploration The first quarter of the 21st century has seen leaps in robotic space activity. The first asteroid sample returned by NASA is currently being analyzed at JSC, while OSIRIS-Rex (now OSIRIS-APEX) is on trajectory to Apophis, a
Falcon Heavy to Launch Psyche Craft to Metal-Rich Asteroid for August 2029 Encounter SpaceX Falcon Heavy is planned to set Psyche on trajectory towards the Main Asteroid Belt, launching from LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center NET on October 12. Launch window will remain open until Oct 25. This will be the
India Preparing for Gaganyaan High Altitude Abort Test Ahead of Late 2024 Crewed Spaceflight Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is setting up for the first high altitude launch of Gaganyaan (‘celestial vehicle’ in Sanskrit) spacecraft prototype, Test Vehicle Demonstration 1 (TV-D1), from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in October
First Asteroid Sample Retrieved by USA Set to Land in Utah Before Spacecraft Heads to Next Target Following a mild trajectory correction via attitude control system thrusters, Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-Rex) is set to briefly enter Earth atmosphere at 08:42 MDT, dropping its return capsule containing >60 g of
Space Security and Sustainability to be Addressed in Conjunction with 78th UN General Assembly The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) is set to hold its annual Outer Space Security Conference dedicated to avoiding conflict in space while maintaining security by drawing diplomatic, military, academic and commercial space leaders
SpaceX Continues to Lead World in Launch Frequency and Upmass While Starlink Buoys Balance Sheet Striving to reach 100 launches in 2023, SpaceX has now conducted 61 orbital launches with Falcon-family rockets year-to-date, with ~25 more planned before 2024. This cadence firmly establishes the company as global launch leader for
Unprecedented Lunar Landings: India Explores South Pole, Japan Prepares to Follow, USA Not Far Behind In a historic moment for India, the country is the first to land spacecraft in the Moon south pole region. The exploratory mission of Chandrayaan-3 is expected to last at least two Earth weeks /
