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 of this publishing). Starship 8 test flight is planned NET February 26 from Boca Chica TX, using Booster 15 and Ship 34. On February 26, the 4-day window opens for the second lunar mission for Intuitive Machines, launching on a Falcon 9 from KSC FL. This launch comes ~1 year after the first Intuitive Machines Nova C Odysseus lander launched in 2024 [15 February]. Assuming things go as smoothly as the first mission, the IM-2 Athena lander should separate from the launch vehicle, perform up to 3 trajectory adjustment maneuvers and reach lunar orbit about 1 day before landing on March 6. From Vandenberg on Feb 28, SpaceX is set to launch another Falcon 9 with the NASA Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) & Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) satellites to study cosmic origins and the Sun. The Mar 3 Transporter-13 launch from Cape Canaveral FL will see a Falcon 9 carry the dedicated SSO rideshare mission of many dozens of satellites for government and commercial customers. (Image credits: SpaceX, NASA, IM)
MONDAY
☆Feb 24 — International Space Station, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 72 seven-member crew to receive new experiments and supplies this week with planned Progress 91P arrival, will become 14-member crew with Crew-10 launch planned for mid-March; will oversee undocking of Progress 89P on Tuesday.
☆Feb 24 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 19 three-member crew surpass mid-way point of mission; crews for Shenzhou 20 and 21 have been selected and will be announced ~1 day before missions launch in May and November, respectively.
☆ Feb 24 — Aten Asteroid 2025 BT1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.052 AU)
TUESDAY
★ Feb 25 — Blue Origin, Launch New Shepard / NS-30,Corn Ranch, Van Horn TX: Taking 6 humans on 10th such suborbital flight; live from T-35, launch window opens 09:30 CST.
● Feb 25 — NSF-NASA-DOE Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee, Online / Alexandria VA: Committee Meeting; to provide recommendations on issues within astronomy and astrophysics that are of mutual interest and concern to the agencies; 12:00-16:00 EST.
● = Terrestrial and… o = International terrestrial events
☾ = Moon activity, ★ = Space and… ☆ = International space / astro events in local time unless noted.
Intuitive Machines prepares for February 26 launch of its IM-2 mission on same Falcon 9 as water-hunting Lunar Trailblazer orbiter. IM-2 Athena lander heads to Mons Mouton, ~160 km from Moon South Pole. March 6 landing begins 9-day operation for resource prospecting and use of first Moon cellular network, Nokia 4G, in preparation for Artemis missions. On the Moon concurrently will be another commercial lander, Blue Ghost Mission 1 of Firefly Aerospace, arriving NET 03:45 EST March 2. Live coverage begins 02:30 with co-hosts NASA / Firefly. Target is ~18°N, Mons Latreille in Mare Crisium, taking 10 NASA payloads. Blue Ghost is now orbiting the Moon. Japanese commercial lander RESILIENCE has completed 5 of 10 mission milestones, is now looping past the Moon to ~1.1 M km from Earth, will have lunar orbit insertion NET May. Landing site is Mare Frigoris, ~60°N. Commercial payloads include water electrolyzer, food production experiment and UNESCO memory disk. Blue Origin may launch NET March on New Glenn its Mark 1 robotic version of Blue Moon Mark 2 crewed lander being developed for NASA Human Landing System, although late Spring more likely. Rep. Brian Babin, chair of US House committee on space, said Moon is critical, but “I fear that when US Astronauts return to the Moon they will find a ‘No Trespassing’ sign written in Mandarin.” Maybe he needn’t worry. (Image credits: ispace, Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines)
● Feb 25 — National Space Society Iowa, Online / Clive IA: Zoom presentation and discussion Red Moon: Will the Next ‘Sputnik Moment’ Be Made in China? with editors of Ad Astra magazine; email NSS Iowa for Zoom info; 17:30 CST.
☆Feb 26 — Arianespace, Launch Ariane 6-2 / CSO-3,Launch Area 4, Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana: 2nd launch of rocket to carry Composante Spatiale Optique-3 (CSO-3) reconnaissance satellite for French military to SSO.
●Feb 26-27 — American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics,Houston TX:ASCENDxTexas; collaborations emphasized: political, strategic, acquisitional, mission-driven; keynote speakers Joel Montalbano, Amit Kshatriya, Chirag Parikh; at South Shore Harbour Resort, US$199-449.
THURSDAY
☆Feb 27 — Roscosmos, Launch Soyuz 2.1a / Progress MS-30 (91P), Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Russia: Resupply mission to launch to International Space Station.
o Feb 28 — International Astronautical Federation,Online / Paris, France: Abstracts due for IAC 2025; to be held Sep 29 – Oct 3.
● Feb 28 – Mar 2 — Academy for the Relentless Exploration of Space, ARES Learning, El Paso TX and New Mexico: Earth and Space Science for Educators; with visits to Virgin Galactic Spaceport America, Space History Museum, Kilbourne Hole Crater, White Sands National Park, et al; US$999-1,299.
☾ Feb 28 — Moon: 1.32° NNW of Saturn, 09:00; 0.47° ESE of Mercury, 19:00; with Mercury and Neptune within circle of diameter 2.59°, 22:00; 1.44° NNW of Neptune, 23:00.
★ NET Mar — Blue Origin, Launch New Glenn / Blue Moon MK1 “Pathfinder”, Cape Canaveral SFS FL: First lunar lander from Blue Origin to launch to Moon South Pole region with payloads including NASA Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies (SCALPSS).
☆Mar 1 — Deep Space, Jupiter Orbit: JIRAM instrument on NASA Juno spacecraft discovers on moon Io the most powerful volcanic eruption ever recorded, larger than Lake Superior, emitting 80+ trillion watts: six times as much energy as all Earth power plants combined, likely several closely spaced hot spots erupting simultaneously.
o Mar 1 — 1st day of Ramadan (1446 A.H.), Worldwide: Annual observance of Ramadan, lasting 29-30 days from sighting of the crescent Moon to next crescent Moon, ending with arrival of Eid al-Fitr.
● Mar 1-8 — Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Big Sky MT:46th IEEE Aerospace Conference; at Yellowstone Conference Center, US$125-1,860.
☾ Mar 1 — Moon: At perigee, distance 361,960 km, 11:21; 5.7° SE of Venus, 19:00.
SUNDAY
☾ Mar 2 — Blue Ghost Lunar Lander Mission 1, Mare Crisium ~18.56°N, 61.81°E, Lunar Landing: Firefly Aerospace first lunar lander mission under US$93.3M NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services to attempt Moon surface touchdown carrying 10 NASA payloads today which is ~45 days after January 15 launch.
☆ Mar 2 — Mercury: 1.84° NNW of Neptune, 03:00.
☆ Mar 2 — Apollo Asteroid 2025 CV1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.042 AU)
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