February 17-23, 2025 / Vol 44, No 7 / Hawai`i Island, USA

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 make way for 91P launch – currently scheduled to arrive at ISS on March 1. Progress 91P will join 90P and the Cygnus-21 ships for cargo transfers and waste removal. Commander Suni Williams, who is planned to return to Earth around March 19 with Butch Wilmore, ‘doesn’t feel stranded… and is honored to do world-class science and be part of the team’. The Axiom-4 mission has in turn been delayed to later in the spring. Under a US$140 million 2021 NextSTEP award, Axiom is working to launch a power module in 2027 to attach to the ISS in 2027. The habitat module dubbed Hab One would launch in 2028 and be joined in LEO by the power module. Vast is now aiming for NET May 2026 launch of its Haven-1. Haven-2 would be a larger successor to Haven-1 and potentially launch on a Starship in 2028 if it is approved under NASA Commercial LEO destinations program phase 2. Blue Origin-led Orbital Reef station is planned to be operational by 2027-28. Starlab station, projected to launch on a Starship in 2028, is being developed by Voyager Space and Airbus, which jointly formed Starlab Space LLC in 2024. (Image credits: NASA, Axiom, Vast, Starlab)

MONDAY

☆ Feb 17 — International Space Station, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 72 seven-member crew to connect with Rocky Hill, CT library and U.S. Naval Academy foundation for educational events, working with Ultrasound2 experiment for vein scanning, Astrobee robotic craft in Kibo module, and Earth photography from Zvezda window; SpaceX Crew 10 is now planned to launch mid-March.

☆ Feb 17 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 19 three-member share videos of flame behavior in space; at least 2 commercial rockets carrying new cargo delivery ships to attempt inaugural flights to TSS later this year.

★ Feb 17 — Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS), LEO: Three satellites in magnetosphere (two in Moon orbit – now called ARTEMIS) reach 18 full years / enter 19th year in space today; launched 2007.

★ Feb 17 —  SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / NROL-57, SLC-4E, Vandenberg SFB CA: Satellites built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman for National Reconnaissance Office.

☾ Feb 17 — Moon: 0.39° SE of Spica, 03:00; at apogee (distance 404885 km), 15:00.

☆ Feb 17 — Aten Asteroid 2018 BP1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.059 AU)

TUESDAY

★ Feb 18 — Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover, Jezero Crater, Mars Surface: NASA craft reaches 4 full years / enters 5th year on Mars surface having landed on this day in 2021, carrying Ingenuity helicopter – the first craft to successfully complete powered flights off-Earth.

★ Feb 18 —  Solar Orbiter, Venus flyby: Solar Orbiter will make one of many gravity-assist flybys of Venus to get closer to the Sun; flybys also change craft’s orbital inclination out of the ecliptic plane to get the first views of Sun poles.

☾ = Moon activity, ★ = Space and… ☆ = International space / astro events in local time unless noted.

2025 Looks to Be Banner Year for Lunar Missions

Intuitive Machines Mission 2 ATHENA lander carries NASA CLPS volatiles-hunting science payloads including Gracie hopper and PRIME-1, is headed to Mons Mouton and aims for launch February 26 with touchdown on March 6 for a 10-Earth-day operation. It will launch on same Falcon 9 as NASA Lunar Trailblazer orbiter that seeks water and geology information. Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost Mission 1 lander is on its way with NASA science and expects to touch down at Mare Crisium March 2. Hakuto-R Mission 2 with RESILIENCE lander and TENACIOUS micro rover is en route and aims to arrive at Mare Frigoris in May or June. Astrobotic Griffin-1 lander will carry Astrolab Venturi rover instead of NASA VIPER, with launch expected in the Fall. Intuitive Machines Mission 3 Nova-C PRISM lander expects to launch late 2025. Starship Human Landing System (HLS) planned for Artemis 3 Moon mission continues 2025 test flights. Launch of Blue Origin Blue Ghost 2 CLPS mission, sharing with ESA Lunar Pathfinder orbiter for communications and navigation, has slid to next year. Orion Artemis 2 mission via Space Launch System to take 4 Astronauts in lunar flyby with multi-trans-lunar injection (MTLI) and free-return trajectory from the Moon is now set for NET April next year. 3 China landers continue to send data: Chang’E-3 ultraviolet telescope, Chang’E-4 radio telescope and radiation, Chang’E-5 color and panoramic photos. (Image credits: NASA, Firefly Aerospace, SpaceX, ispace Japan, Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines)

☆ Feb 18 — Rocket Lab, Launch Electron / Fasten Your Space Belts (BlackSky Gen-3 1), Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand: Rocket Lab to launch first of five BlackSky Technology missions for BlackSky Gen-3 Earth observation satellites.

★ Feb 18 —  SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Starlink Group 10-12, SLC-40, Cape Canaveral SFS FL: Next batch of Starlink satellites to launch for mega-constellation.

☆ Feb 18 — Apollo Asteroid 2025 CA2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.034 AU)

WEDNESDAY

★ Feb 19 —  SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Starlink Group 15-1, SLC-4E, Vandenberg SFB CA: Next batch of Starlink satellites to launch for mega-constellation.

● Feb 19 — Maryland Space Business Roundtable, Greenbelt MD: MSBR Luncheon with Wes Deadrick; Director of NASA’s Independent Verification and Validation Program.

● Feb 19 — SpaceNews, Multiverse Media, Online / Denver CO: The State of Orbital Traffic Management webinar; 13:00-14:00 EST.

☆ Feb 19 — Venus: At perihelion, 0.7185 AU from Sun, 10:00.

☆ Feb 19 — Aten Asteroid 2014 CE13: Near-Earth Flyby (0.022 AU)