Arianespace Plans Launch Aug 12, Europe Advances Spaceports and Lunar Missions

Arianespace, a multinational company headquartered in France, is scheduled to launch the Ariane 62 on Ariane 6’s second commercial flight (VA2640) from Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana. The payload is Metop-SG A1, the first in a series of three second- generation weather satellites for EUMETSAT under the European Union Copernicus program. Europe primarily launches its rockets from Guiana in South America, though other launch locations in Europe are developing. Isar Aerospace launched a test of its Spectrum vehicle in March from Andøya Spaceport in Northern Norway (69°N, 15°E). In Sweden, the Esrange Space Center has been operational since 1966, and the 2023-inaugurated Spaceport Esrange provides full launch capabilities for standardized polar and high-inclination orbits. United Kingdom based Orbex is planning for an inaugural flight of the Prime rocket from SaxaVord Spaceport (60°N 0°W) in Shetland, Scotland this year. Germany is planning to develop sea launch capabilities from the North Sea, lifting off from the German-Offshore Spaceport Alliance (GOSA) mobile platform. European Space Agency is building the European Service Module for Orion crew capsule, developing modules for the lunar Gateway, the Argonaut European Large Logistics Lander (EL3), and working with ispace-Europe and other entities on the MAGPIE Lunar Exploration Rover Mission. (Image Credits: ESA, NASA, P. Carril, Arianespace)

MONDAY

☆ Aug 11 — International Space Station, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 73 seven members include 4 new from Dragon Crew-11, with 1st-time ISS resident Cosmonaut Oleg Platonov being subject for respiratory study and using VR to adjust to microgravity; new Commander of station until December is Cosmonaut Sergey Ryzhikov; research on blood circulation and muscular system are ongoing; new project is examining alternatives to antibiotics for treating bacterial infections.

☆ Aug 11 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 20 three-member crew to have LEO neighbor of space hospital to conduct cutting-edge research in space life and health support, a project of Shenzhen University of Advanced Technology and Shanghai Engineering Center for Microsatellites; having a crew member from Pakistan progresses, augured by launch from China of Pakistan Remote-Sensing Satellite (PRSS-1).

☾ Aug 11 — Moon Enterprise News: Weekly lunar advisories coming soon…

● Aug 11-14 — NASA, Mountain View CA: 2025 PI Launchpad: From Science Idea to NASA Mission In-Person Workshop; for those working or studying in any NASA Science Mission Directorate discipline who would like to submit a NASA space mission proposal.

☆ Aug 11 — Perseid Meteor Shower Peak: Appearing to radiate from constellation Perseus, shower can produce up to 100 meteors per hour, which are fast, bright and frequently leave persistent trains, 14:00.

☆ Aug 11 — Venus: 0.86° S of Jupiter, 21:00.

☆ Aug 11 — Apollo Asteroid 2025 OR12: Near-Earth Flyby (0.055 AU)

Astrodynamics Specialists Will Navigate to Boston August 10-14

The 2025 AAS / AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference is August 10-14 in Boston MA to focus on guidance, navigation and control (GNC) of spacecraft, and more, and therefore expects ~400 specialists, a number rising since 1966 beginnings. 40 technical sessions each have 4-8 presentations of papers with up to 8 authors. Subjects include: Intuitive Machines IM-1 and IM-2 lunar landers; Orbit determination / estimation / stability; AI / robotics for spaceflight; Lagrange / cislunar / lunar orbits / constellations; Camera calibration using star fields; Comet interception; Interplanetary mission design; Spacecraft GNC / collision avoidance; Trajectory optimization; In-space assembly / manufacturing. 42 posters, most with multiple researchers, include removing space debris with LASER devices. Monday, 3 hours honor the memory of César Ocampo (pictured), originator of Copernicus trajectory design software. Robert Braun of JHUAPL will give the lecture named for Netherlands-born Dirk Brouwer of Yale. John V Breakwell Student Award acknowledges the Swiss-born Stanford professor. Sponsor Draper will provide GNC for ispace APEX lunar lander headed to Schrödinger NET 2027. Organizing committees of American Astronautical Society (AAS) and American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) include ~65 scientists from ~20 states and a dozen countries. (Image credits: Universidad Sergio Arboleda, AAS, AIAA, Hyatt, Draper)

TUESDAY

★ Aug 12 — Parker Solar Probe, Heliocentric Orbit: NASA craft reaches 7th full year / enters 8th year in Space, launched on this day in 2018; in 2024 came within ~6.16M km of the Sun, ~7 times closer than any prior spacecraft, traveling faster than any other human-made object, ~692,000 km/hr.