Top Stories

China confirms Long March 10C as commercial launch workhorse after booster recovery

The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology successfully recovered a Long March 10C first stage, the rocket’s first booster landing. Beijing is now positioning the methalox vehicle as its primary commercial launcher going forward, with fresh state capital flowing into commercial rocket programs to scale up flight rates.

This is China’s clearest signal yet that reusable boosters aren’t just a SpaceX trick. A working methalox reusable rocket changes China’s cost-per-kilogram math and its ability to flood LEO with its own broadband and ISR constellations.

Read the full story: SpaceNews

Artemis II crew tops 149 million streaming views, a NASA record

NASA says the Artemis II mission generated 149 million video views across its streaming platforms, the highest figure the agency has recorded for any mission. The astronauts’ lunar flyby drew sustained public attention well beyond typical NASA broadcast numbers.

The figure gives NASA hard data to justify continued public investment in Artemis as Congress debates budget lines for Artemis III and beyond.

Read the full story: Space.com

SpaceX targets July 16 for Starship Flight 13

SpaceX is aiming for a launch as early as Thursday, July 16, with a 90-minute window opening at 5:45 p.m. CT from Starbase. Flight 13 will test fixes for problems that surfaced on Flight 12, which flew May 22, and will attempt to deploy functioning Starlink simulator satellites.

Seven weeks between flights is a fast cadence for a vehicle still working through stage separation and heat shield issues. A clean Starlink deployment on this flight would be the first real payload win for Starship’s V2 configuration.

Read the full story: Teslarati

Kidney and liver tissue bioprinted in orbit for the first time

California-based Auxilium Biotechnologies produced kidney and liver tissue samples in space using bioprinting, a first for any organization. The company says microgravity conditions let cells organize into structures difficult to replicate on Earth.

If the tissue proves viable on return, it strengthens the case for dedicated biomanufacturing platforms in LEO - a market several commercial station proposals are already betting on.

Read the full story: Space.com

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope arrives at Kennedy for prelaunch work

NASA’s Roman telescope has arrived at Kennedy Space Center and entered prelaunch servicing ahead of its scheduled launch. Roman is designed to survey wide fields of the sky for dark energy research and exoplanet detection, complementing Hubble and James Webb.

Ground teams will spend the coming months on final integration and testing before the observatory ships to the pad.

Read the full story: NASASpaceFlight.com

One month out: total solar eclipse 2026 planning window closing

Space.com’s eclipse guide flags that skywatchers have roughly a month left to plan travel for the 2026 total solar eclipse. The piece covers path timing, viewing locations, and logistics for anyone still deciding on a trip.

Read the full story: Space.com

Satellite of the Day

COSMOS 1725

COSMOS 1725 is a Soviet-era navigation and data relay satellite launched on January 16, 1986, from Plesetsk Cosmodrome aboard a Kosmos 11K65M rocket. Built by OAZ for the Soviet Navy (VMF), this 800 kg spacecraft represents the Cold War-era push to establish independent Soviet space-based navigation capabilities. The satellite operates from a high-inclination orbit of 82.93°, which provided coverage across the polar regions - a strategic advantage for naval operations across the Soviet Union’s northern territories.

Equipped with the Parus navigation payload, COSMOS 1725 was part of the larger Soviet Transit-class navigation system, a precursor to GLONASS. The spacecraft’s cylindrical body with external antennas spans 17 meters tip-to-tip, optimized for transmitting navigation signals and relaying data across the globe. Nearly four decades after launch, this aging satellite remains tracked by space surveillance networks and serves as a fascinating artifact of Soviet space ambitions and the technical race for global positioning systems during the final years of the Cold War.

Track this satellite in real-time: Track COSMOS 1725

Upcoming Space Launches

July 14

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5:
  • Starlink Group 15-14 from Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base (01:16 UTC) A batch of 24 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites will be deployed to low Earth orbit; the first stage booster (B1082, 23rd flight) will land on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. Watch Live
  • Starlink Group 10-45 from Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (07:15 UTC) A batch of 24 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites will be deployed to low Earth orbit; the first stage booster (B1082, 23rd flight) will land on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. Watch Live
• Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) Soyuz 2.1a:
  • Soyuz MS-29 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan (14:47 UTC) Soyuz MS-29 will carry Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina, along with NASA astronaut Anil Menon, to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Human Exploration program. Watch Live

July 16

• Space Development Agency Falcon 9 Block 5:
  • SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer E from Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base (20:22 UTC) One of six missions supporting the U.S. Space Force Space Development Agency’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, delivering satellites to the Tranche 1 Transport Layer for low-latency, resilient military data connectivity using Optical Inter-Satellite Links.
• SpaceX Starship:
  • Flight 13 from Orbital Launch Pad 2, SpaceX Starbase (22:45 UTC) The 13th test flight of Starship, and second flight of Starship V3, will carry 20 V3 Starlink satellites to test deployment, ground station connectivity via laser links, and heat shield imaging using cameras and simulated missing tiles. Watch Live

July 17

• Rocket Lab Electron:
  • LOXSAT 1 from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand (00:00 UTC) A demonstration of a complete cryogenic oxygen fluid management system in orbit, developed by Eta Space and sponsored by NASA’s Tipping Point program, integrated on a Rocket Lab Photon-LEO satellite bus for a 9-month technology demonstration.
• China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Long March 7A:
  • Unknown Payload from Wenchang Space Launch Site, People’s Republic of China (11:00 UTC) Mission details to be determined.

July 18

• Skyroot Aerospace Vikram-I:
  • Demo Flight from Satish Dhawan Space Centre First Launch Pad, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India (05:00 UTC) The maiden test flight of Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-I, a 4-stage orbital launch vehicle capable of delivering up to 350 kg to Low Earth Orbit, carrying several cubesats with payload identities still to be determined. Launch Preview
• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5:
  • Starlink Group 17-39 from Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base (14:00 UTC) A batch of 24 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites will be deployed to low Earth orbit; the first stage booster (B1082, 23rd flight) will land on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. Watch Live

July 23

• China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Long March 3B/E:
  • Unknown Payload from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People’s Republic of China (11:00 UTC) Mission details to be determined for this flight of one of the most successful medium-range Chinese launchers, typically used for heavy communications satellites to geostationary transfer orbit.
• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5:
  • Starlink Group 17-51 from Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base (14:00 UTC) A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation, SpaceX’s project for space-based internet communications. Watch Live

Schedule Changes

• A new Starlink mission, Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 17-51, has been added to the schedule for July 23, 2026, launching from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 14:00 UTC.

Note: Launch dates and times are subject to change due to technical or weather considerations.