Space Brief 20 Sep 2025
Today's highlights include SpaceX's Starlink launch, NASA's revived lunar mission, and a spotlight on space-defense activities.
Launch Date
September 30, 1969
Launch Site
AFWTR
Launch Pad
SLC1W
Launch Vehicle
Thorad SLV-2G Agena D
NORAD ID
04535
International Designator
1969-082GG
Decay Date
6/13/1978
Name
THORAD AGENA D DEB
Alternative Name
deb Agena D
Type
Status
Owner
SAMSO
Country
United States
Constellation
N/A
Related Satellites
Major Events
N/A
Length
0
Diameter
0
Span
0
Dry Mass
0
Launch Mass
0
Shape
N/A
Radar Cross Section
0.0065
Visual Magnitude
Unknown
Color
Unknown
Material Composition
Unknown
Payload
Unknown
Purpose
Unknown
Mission
Unknown
Manufacturer
Unknown
Life Expectancy
Unknown
Bus
Unknown
Configuration
Unknown
Motor
Unknown
Equipment
Unknown
Power System
Unknown
ADCS
Unknown
Transmitter Frequency
Unknown
Learn more about satellites and other related topics.
Today's highlights include SpaceX's Starlink launch, NASA's revived lunar mission, and a spotlight on space-defense activities.
SpaceX embarks on another milestone as it prepares to launch an advanced GPS satellite for the U.S. Space Force today, aiming for a record 170 launches this year.
Starlink satellites fired their thrusters to dodge a collision roughly 300,000 times in 2025, about 822 times a day. Behind that number is a fragile, half-automated system of warnings, probabilities, and judgment calls that decides which close approaches are worth a maneuver and which are just noise.
SpaceX targets its 600th Falcon 9 booster landing on Starlink 17-22, lofting 25 satellites from Vandenberg. Plus a 2028 SpaceX ride for ESA's Mars rover.
Space Force projects 25 additional high-energy missions in 2027–2029 window, straining capacity at Vulcan and Falcon Heavy. Capacity constraints will drive military-NASA prioritization debates.
Today's brief covers a new Space Force contract for advanced tracking systems, innovative debris removal strategies, pivotal new satellite launches, and significant updates in air quality tracking from orbit.
On February 10, 2009, an active Iridium communications satellite and a derelict Soviet military spacecraft slammed into each other 789 kilometers above Siberia. The collision produced more than 2,300 pieces of trackable debris that are still up there. Seventeen years later, the Iridium-Cosmos collision remains the event that made space debris a policy problem the world could no longer ignore.
SpaceX filed an FCC complaint against Amazon over orbital debris violations as Starship V3 gets a maiden voyage date and a $178.5M Space Force deal lands.