Orion Lifts Perigee, Now in 118×70134 Km Orbit
Orion has made the USS2 burn to raise its perigee. ICPS remains in a 11 x 70358 km orbit; Orion now in a 118 x 70134 km orbit.
Integrity Reaches 70,385 Km Apogee Before Moonward Burn
Integrity will reach a 70385 km apogee at about 1200 UTC Apr 2, before falling back to perigee where it will make the rocket burn to send it moonward; that burn due at about 2345 UTC Apr...
Integrity Tests Stationkeeping on Orion’s First Crewed Flight
Integrity is now using the ICPS upper stage as a target to practice stationkeeping and maneuvering, as part of this first crewed test flight of the Orion spaceship.
Artemis 2 Launch
LAUNCH at 2235:12 UTC of SLS flight 2 with Artemis 2 from Kennedy Space Center. Artemis 2 has now manuevered to a -2 x 70385 km x 28.3deg orbit
Only Five of the 24 Lunar Pioneers Remain Alive
Between 1968 and 1972, twenty-four humans entered lunar space, where the Moon's gravity dominates that of the Earth (within about 66000 km from the selenocenter). Only five of them are still alive.
Few Transporter 16 Payloads Remain Unidentified, SM‑1.2 Owner Sought
Of over 100 payloads deployed on the Transporter 16 launch, only a few have had no info released about them. Does anyone know who owns the "SM-1.2" satellite?
Wishing NASA Success on Artemis Launch, Bon Voyage Christina
Wishing @NASAAdmin and the entire @NASA team the best for tomorrow's Artemis launch attempt - and a special 'bon voyage' to @centerforastro alum @Astro_Christina !
NASA's “Fastest” Reentry Matches Apollo 10 Speeds
NASA claims the Art. 2 reentry will be the fastest crew entry ever at "about 25000 mph" (i.e. somewhere in the range 10.95 to 11.40 km/s). However the Horizons trajectory for Art2 appears to give 11.06 km/s (inertial) while Apollo...
OneWeb's Rare Failure: Satellite SL0179 Begins Deorbit
There have been very few failures in the OneWeb constellation; on Mar 16 OneWeb SL0179, launched in 2021, began rapid orbit lowering, presumably being retired as a result of some malfunction. https://t.co/catxyEcmju
Lijian‑2 Yields Single Cataloged Object in Low Orbit
1 object cataloged so far from the Lijian-2 launch, in a 217 x 604 km x 85.0 deg orbit
SpaceX Transporter 16 Launch Carries Over 100 Payloads
LAUNCH of SpaceX Transporter 16 rideshare mission at 1102 UTC Mar 30. Over 100 payloads aboard. GCAT will be updated later today I hope.
Shiyan‑33’s Low Orbit Raises Questions on CZ‑2C Capacity
Shiyan-33 tracked in a 485 x 505 km x 97.5 deg, 1030 LTDN SSO. With the CZ-2C/YZ-1S launch vehicle and such a low orbit, this must be a fairly massive satellite - anyone know the capacity of CZ-2C/YZ-1S to this orbit?
China Launches Shiyan‑33 Test Satellite on CZ‑2C/YZ‑1S
LAUNCH at 0411 UTC Mar 27 of a CZ-2C/YZ-1S from Jiuquan with the Shiyan 33 test satellite ( 试验三十三号卫星 ). Orbit not yet known.
Two Siwei Gaojing Imaging Satellites Launch via CZ‑2D
LAUNCH at 2251 UTC Mar 25 of the Siwei Gaojing 2-05 and 2-06 commercial imaging satellites by CZ-2D from Taiyuan
New Debris Object Misplaced in Expected Launch Catalog Range
There's a new object cataloged as 68376 and tagged as a debris object from the 2026-009 ALSAT-3A launch; it's in the catalog number range I was expecting for the 2026-061 Rassvet launch, but no TLEs for that launch yet.
Space Force Releases StriX-6 Orbital Data and Stage Details
Space Force orbital data now out for StriX-6, launched on Mar 20, showing it in a 557 x 580 km x 50.3 deg orbit with Electron stages in 173 x 491 km and 340 x 558 km.
Progress MS-33 Manually Docked to Poisk via TORU
The Progress MS-33 cargo ship docked with the Poisk module at about 1340:44 UTC Mar 24. The docking was carried out under manual remote control with the TORU system.
Unannounced Soyuz Launch Suspected, Details Remain
Possible launch of Soyuz rocket with Rassvet satellites at about 1800 UTC Mar 23. Russia has, unusually, made no announcement but there are observations downrange of rocket plume and claimed signals from a payload. Situation currently uncertain, no Space Force...
Progress M-33 Orbit Confirmed; Electron Launch Data
Progress M-33 cataloged in a 263 x 279 km orbit, with third stage in 183 x 215 km. No orbit data yet for Friday's Electron launch.
Jielong-3 Launch Deploys Ten New Navigation Satellites
LAUNCH at 1549 UTC of a Jielong-3 from the DFHT barge near Haiyan in the Yellow Sea placing 10 more Weili Kongjian (Centispace) navigation augmentation satellites in orbit
Two Unreported MDA Suborbital Launches Occurred in March
There were apparently two MDA suborbital target missile launches from Wallops on Mar 17 and 19 that weren't reported at the time: https://t.co/wDoCCKpEF4
Rocket Lab Launches Japan's Synspective Radar Satellite
LAUNCH at 1810 UTC Mar 20 of a Rocket Lab Electron from Mahia, New Zealand, with a radar satellite for Japan's Synspective (probably the StriX-6 satellite).
Seven Cubesats Deployed by D_Orbit Since Nov 28
I had missed that @D_Orbit had deployed seven cubesats from the IONs launched Nov 28; deployment dates not given but 2 Lacuna and 2 Lemur were ejected on or before Feb 16 from Stellar Stephanus, and 2...
Space Force Still Lists Deorbited Haven Demo as Orbiting
Space Force failed to issue a decay notice for VAST's Haven Demo, which was removed from orbit on Feb 5. It's still in the US satellite catalog as 'in orbit'.
Nihon University's Tenkoh
Nihon University's Tenkoh-2 cubesat, deployed from the HTV-X1 cargo ship on Mar 11, has been cataloged as object 68261, in a 495 x 501 km x 51.6 deg orbit.
US EVA-94 Spacewalk Begins on ISS at 1246 UTC
Spacewalk US EVA-94 is underway on the ISS. Astronauts Meir and Williams, in suits 3015 and 3003 and with SAFER packs 15 and 18 depressurized the airlock past 50 mbar at 1246 UTC, opened the hatch at 1251 UTC and...
Falcon 9 Reaches Parking Orbit, 10,020 Starlinks Deployed
Falcon 9 now in parking orbit. There are now 10020 Starlinks in orbit (although 25 of them are still attached to the Falcon 9 for another 50 min or so, until the stage's circularization burn and satellite deployment).
Most KZ-11 Payloads
Seven of the eight payloads from the KZ-11 launch cataloged in a 528 x 541 km x 97.5 deg sun synch orbit with 1030LT plane. The upper stage is in a 284 x 1059 km x 97.3 deg...
Yaogan 50‑02 Adjusts Orbit After Launch
Yaogan 50-02 cataloged in a 731 x 945 km x 142.0 deg orbit; upper stage did an orbit lowering burn to 573 x 836 km.
Chinese Astronauts Install Debris Shields During 7‑hour Spacewalk
Astronauts Zhang Lu and Wu Fei made a spacewalk from the Chinese Space Station from about 0430 UTC until 1135 UTC Mar 16, continuing installation of external debris protection panels https://t.co/GKPg66uFEF
Progress MS-31 Undocks From ISS Poisk Module
The Progress MS-31 cargo ship undocked from the ISS Poisk module at about 1324:12 UTC Mar 16
Kuaizhou-11 Deploys Eight Commercial Satellites
LAUNCH at 0412 UTC Mar 16 of a Kuaizhou-11 from Jiuquan, putting eight commercial sats in orbit: Juntian-1-04A, Dongpo-11, Dongpo-12, Dongpo-16, Weitong-1-01, Xiguang-1-06, Yuxing-3-05, and Yuxing-3-06.
Starlink Stats Updated, Dummy Simulators Removed From Totals
Starlink stats pages updated at https://t.co/m5QkzkhI2u By popular demand I have now excluded the dummy Starlink simulators from the grand totals.
China Launches Second Yaogan‑50 on CZ‑6A
LAUNCH at 1322 UTC Mar 15 of a Chang Zheng 6A from Taiyuan with the second Yaogan-50 satellite. The first Yaogan-50 is in a 950 km retrograde (142 deg inclination) orbit.
Starlink Count Corrected to 9,967, Not 9,969
I've spent the evening chasing down errors in my data files. Please be aware that the total number of Starlinks currently in orbit is actually only 9967, and not 9969 as shown right now on my web page (should update...
Shiyan and CZ-2D Upper Stages Cataloged; Others Untracked
Shiyan 30-03, 30-04 and the CZ-2D upper stage cataloged in 587 x 593 km x 35.0 deg orbits following their launch on Mar 12. No orbit data yet for SatNet-LEO12 or Tenkoh-2.
Cygnus NG-23 Unberthed by Canadarm‑2 at 1106 UTC March 12
The Cygnus NG-23 cargo ship was released into orbit by Canadarm-2 at 1106 UTC Mar 12; it has been at ISS since Dec 1. [I don't have the unberthing time, anyone have it?]
Xichang CZ-2D Launch Deploys Shiyan‑30‑03/04
LAUNCH at 2233 UTC Mar 12 of a CZ-2D from Xichang with the 试验三十号卫星03、04星 (Shiyan 30-03 and 30-04) satellites
China Resumes Launches with CZ‑8A, Nine LEO Satellites
LAUNCH at 1948 UTC of a Chang Zheng 8A from Hainan Commercial Spaceport of nine Xingwang Digui (SatNet LEO) Group 20 satellites, the first Chinese orbital launch in a month after an unusual stand-down
Firefly Alpha Launch Successful, Satellite Placed in Precise Orbit
The Firefly Alpha launch appears to have been fully successful. The LM-400 test satellite is being tracked in a 401 x 405 km x 123.0 deg orbit, and the Alpha second stage made a perigee lowering burn at about...
Tenkoh‑2 Satellite Deployed From HTV‑X1 on March 11
The Tenkoh-2 satellite was deployed at 0934 UTC Mar 11 from the HTV-X1 cargo ship, which left the ISS on Mar 6
SpaceX Lowers 1,600 Starlink Satellites to Lower Orbit
SpaceX's massive redeployment of its higher orbit (~550 km) Starlink sats to a lower (~480 km) orbital shell continues. 652 sats have completed orbit lowering while 972 are currently on the way down https://t.co/BFtdccOGvs
Van Allen Probe A Reenters Pacific Near Mexico, Ecuador
[Corrected:] Van Allen Probe A reentered at 1037 UTC Mar 11 over 105W 2S, equatorial Pacific south of Mexico and west of Ecuador, per Space Force data
Falcon 9 Upper
Echostar XXV has been tracked in a 264 x 22015 km x 26.9 deg subsynchronous transfer orbit. The Falcon 9 upper stage made a perigee lowering burn and reentered at first perigee near 102W 10N at about 1130 UTC...
Van Allen Probe A Assigned New Space Force Orbit
New Space Force orbit for Van Allen Probe A , epoch 1440 UTC [6 hours ago], 113 km perigee, 952 km apogee. No updated reentry estimate
NASA Decommissions Van Allen Probes After Seven Years
NASA's Van Allen Probes A and B were two half-ton spacecraft launched in Aug 2012 to elliptical 600 x 30000 km orbits to study the radiation belts. In 2019 their perigees were lowered to 200 km so...
Falcon 9 Lifts Off with Echostar XXV Satellite
LAUNCH at 0419 UTC Mar 10 of a Falcon 9 from Canaveral with the Echostar XXV communications sat
Chandra's 27‑year Age Signals Urgent Need for Replacement
Very bad news for the future of X-ray astronomy. Chandra continues to operate well but it is almost 27 years old already, we really need to be working on a replacement
BlackSky Global Satellite Successfully Launched Into 467‑477 Km Orbit
The BlackSky Global satellite launched on Electron on Mar 5-6 has been cataloged in a 467 x 477 km x 42.0 deg orbit, confirming successful launch.
Rocket Lab Launches BlackSky Gen3 Imaging Satellite
LAUNCH of Rocket Lab Electron from Mahia at 2353 UTC Mar 5 carrying a BlackSky Global Gen3 imaging satellite