Daily archive
What the launch manifest and the space news looked like on this day.
A weekly preview of the hearings, meetings and conferences on the U.S. space policy calendar for the first week of November, with notes on what to watch in Congress.
MDA Space of Canada will develop digital antennas for the first 66 satellites of IRIS², the European Union's planned secure communications constellation, under a deal with Thales Alenia Space reported at about €64 million. Canada and the EU are also discussing broader Canadian participation.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman discussed how Artemis III could be assembled from several launches that are checked out in sequence, the backup options NASA is weighing, and where Blue Origin fits in the agency's lunar lander plans.
Coverage of SpaceX's late-October Falcon 9 flight from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, which carried a batch of 27 Starlink internet satellites on the Starlink 15-18 mission.
SpaceX finished engine testing for Starship's fifteenth flight in just over a week, including three static fires on three consecutive days, as the vehicle moves toward launch.
NASA has announced its schedule for MAX POWER, a new aerospace expo and air show running November 6–8 at and around Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
A new Aerospace Corporation report totals U.S. government civil space funding for fiscal year 2026 at about $42.6 billion, showing how much of that money flows through agencies other than NASA.
Industry analysts say a shortage of launch capacity for satellite operators may be worse than expected, and question whether SpaceX's Starship will be available to fly conventional customer satellites.
NASA released a new mid-infrared image from the James Webb Space Telescope of the Cat's Head Nebula, a region in the Carina Nebula whose shape was likely carved by radiation and winds from massive nearby stars.
Turkey is planning its first mission to the Moon for 2027: a science orbiter, to be followed later by a lander.
NASA has asked companies for information on how a commercial spacecraft might service the Hubble Space Telescope in orbit, a first step in exploring options to extend the observatory's life.
France's space agency CNES has begun ground qualification testing for Callisto, a reusable rocket demonstrator, at the Guiana Space Centre, where a full-scale mockup now stands at a rebuilt pad once used by the Diamant rocket.
NASA's November stargazing notes revisit the twin Voyager probes, launched in 1977, and explain how far away they are now in terms of the time their radio signals take to reach Earth.
ESA's weekly Earth from Space feature, titled "Champi's eerie eye," presents a new satellite view with an unusual eye-like shape. Follow the link for the image and ESA's explanation.
A NASA satellite image shows Vega Island, off the Antarctic Peninsula, where snow and bare rock form a pattern that resembles a skull, just in time for Halloween.
A map of Mars marks 13 places whose rocks match the chemistry of Teghaza 001, an ancient Martian meteorite. Scientists think it most likely came from the southern highlands.
A live blog from the October 29 spacewalk in which NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk installed a new roll-out solar array on the International Space Station.
NASA shared a microscope image of a thin slice of Teghaza 001, one of the oldest Martian meteorites known, which researchers used to pinpoint the rock's age.
Spacewalkers Anil Menon of NASA and Joshua Kutryk of the Canadian Space Agency installed and unrolled the seventh of eight new solar arrays meant to keep the ISS powered until its planned retirement in 2030.
A look at how astronauts aboard the International Space Station have marked Halloween over the years, with costumes put together from whatever is on board.
Blue Origin is working toward a return to flight before the end of 2026 while positioning itself for a role in NASA's Artemis IV Moon mission.
Researchers dated a rose-colored meteorite found in the Sahara in 2022 and found that the roughly 800-gram rock formed on Mars more than 4.1 billion years ago, making it one of the oldest Martian samples known.
NASA has named Troy Asher, a veteran test pilot and engineer who had been acting director since March, as director of Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.
NASA and the National Institutes of Health have opened QuSAFE, a challenge seeking quantum-based sensors that can make lab-grown tissue models better at predicting drug safety, which could reduce animal testing.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 Block 5 successfully launched Starlink Group 15-18 from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA, bound for low Earth orbit. It was orbital launch attempt number 254 worldwide in 2026. Program: Starlink.
Indian Space Research Organization's GSLV Mk. II successfully launched IRNSS-1L (NVS-03) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre Second Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India, bound for a geostationary transfer orbit. It was orbital launch attempt number 253 worldwide in 2026.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 Block 5 successfully launched Starlink Group 15-16 from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA, bound for low Earth orbit. It was orbital launch attempt number 252 worldwide in 2026. Program: Starlink.
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation's Long March 8A successfully launched SatNet LEO Group 28 from Commercial LC-1 at Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China, bound for low Earth orbit. It was orbital launch attempt number 251 worldwide in 2026.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 Block 5 successfully launched Starlink Group 15-15 from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA, bound for low Earth orbit. It was orbital launch attempt number 250 worldwide in 2026. Program: Starlink.
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation's Long March 4B successfully launched Yaogan 53-07 to 09/56-19 to 21 from Launch Area 94 (SLS-2 / 603) at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China, bound for low Earth orbit. It was orbital launch attempt number 249 worldwide in 2026.
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation's Long March 6A successfully launched Yaogan 50-03 from Launch Complex 9A at Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China, bound for low Earth orbit. It was orbital launch attempt number 248 worldwide in 2026.
Rocket Lab's Electron successfully launched We're Not Hawking Around (3x HawkEye 360) from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1A at Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand, bound for a sun-synchronous orbit. It was orbital launch attempt number 247 worldwide in 2026. Mission customer: HawkEye 360.
Galactic Energy's Ceres-1S successfully launched Xiguang-4 01 from Rizhao offshore launch location at Haiyang Oriental Spaceport, bound for low Earth orbit. It was orbital launch attempt number 246 worldwide in 2026.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 Block 5 successfully launched Bandwagon 5 (Dedicated Mid-Inclination Rideshare) from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA, bound for low Earth orbit. It was orbital launch attempt number 245 worldwide in 2026.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries's H3-24 successfully launched Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) from Yoshinobu Launch Complex LP-2 at Tanegashima Space Center, Japan, bound for mars Orbit. It was orbital launch attempt number 244 worldwide in 2026. Mission customer: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 Block 5 successfully launched USSF-481 from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA, bound for a polar orbit. It was orbital launch attempt number 243 worldwide in 2026. Mission customer: United States Space Force.
Schedules as published that day. Later changes are not reflected.
Rocket Lab has The Sea God Surveys (iQPS Launch 9) queued up on an Electron, launching from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand. The target is low Earth orbit. Mission customer: Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space.
CAS Space has SpaceSail Polar Group (details to be confirmed) queued up on a Kinetica 2, launching from Launch Area 140 at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China. The target is a polar orbit.
SpaceX is preparing a Falcon 9 Block 5 to fly USSF-432 from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA. The target is low Earth orbit. Mission customer: United States Space Force.
Agency for Defense Development is preparing a Mir to fly Demo Flight from ADD Offshore launch platform at Sea Launch. The target is low Earth orbit.
A Ceres-2 operated by Galactic Energy is slated to carry an undisclosed payload aloft from Launch Area 95A at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China.
A Long March 2C operated by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation is slated to carry an undisclosed payload aloft from Launch Complex 3 (LC-3/LA-1) at Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China.
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation has SatNet LEO Group (details to be confirmed) queued up on a Long March 12, launching from Commercial LC-2 at Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China. The target is low Earth orbit.
A Falcon 9 Block 5 operated by SpaceX is slated to carry Starlink Group 15-21 aloft from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA. The target is low Earth orbit. Program: Starlink.
Rocket Lab is preparing an Electron to fly The Mountain God Rises (iQPS Launch 10) from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand. The target is low Earth orbit. Mission customer: Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space. The date is a planning target and is likely to move.
SpaceX has USSF-xxx ("R-5") queued up on a Falcon 9 Block 5, launching from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA. The target is low Earth orbit. Mission customer: United States Space Force.
United Launch Alliance has Amazon Leo (LV-01) queued up on a Vulcan VC6L, launching from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA. The target is low Earth orbit. Mission customer: Amazon Leo. Program: Amazon Leo. The date is a planning target and is likely to move.
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation is preparing a Long March 8A to fly SatNet LEO Group (details to be confirmed) from Commercial LC-1 at Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China. The target is low Earth orbit.