Jonathan McDowell

Jonathan McDowell

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Astrophysicist tracking launches and satellites; author of Jonathan's Space Report newsletter.

NASA’s ISS Live Stream Lacks Rewind Feature, Users Frustrated
SocialMar 5, 2026

NASA’s ISS Live Stream Lacks Rewind Feature, Users Frustrated

@NASA is there a reason you don't have rewind mode enabled on the ISS live video stream https://t.co/bqWRdeeWwb ? This used to work, and it's very inconvenient not to be able to replay something you missed...

By Jonathan McDowell
Kairos Suffers Third Consecutive First‑stage Failure at Minute One
SocialMar 5, 2026

Kairos Suffers Third Consecutive First‑stage Failure at Minute One

Apparent FAILURE of Kairos during first stage flight, for the third time in a row Failure appeared to be about 1 min into flight.

By Jonathan McDowell
Kairos Rocket Flight 3 Launches From Japan
SocialMar 5, 2026

Kairos Rocket Flight 3 Launches From Japan

LAUNCH at 0210 UTC Mar 5 of Kairos rocket flight 3 from Kii spaceport, Japan

By Jonathan McDowell
Senate NASA Bill Boosts Funding for Chandra X‑ray Telescope
SocialMar 4, 2026

Senate NASA Bill Boosts Funding for Chandra X‑ray Telescope

Encouraged to see the provisions in the Senate's NASA authorization bill (reported out of ctee today) supporting @chandraxray : #SaveChandra https://t.co/vEpAy3Mn9H

By Jonathan McDowell
Third Attempt at Kairos Tonight— Hoping for Better Results
SocialMar 1, 2026

Third Attempt at Kairos Tonight— Hoping for Better Results

Third try for Kairos tonight. Let's see if it goes any better than the last two times...

By Jonathan McDowell
Rocket Lab HASTE Suborbital Launch with Australian Scramjet
SocialFeb 28, 2026

Rocket Lab HASTE Suborbital Launch with Australian Scramjet

Suborbital LAUNCH of Rocket Lab HASTE with the Australian DART-AE Scramjet at about 0000:00 UTC Feb 28 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island, Virginia

By Jonathan McDowell
Dragon CRS-33 Completes Deorbit, Trunk Jettison, Splashdown
SocialFeb 27, 2026

Dragon CRS-33 Completes Deorbit, Trunk Jettison, Splashdown

The Dragon CRS-33 cargo ship made its deorbit burn around 0652 UTC Feb 27, and jettisoned the Boost Trunk at about 0710 UTC. The Trunk reentered over the Pacific near 127W 25N at ca. 0725-0730 UTC and the CRS-33 capsule...

By Jonathan McDowell
Missed Feb 19 ISS Boost, Thanks Katya for the Heads‑up
SocialFeb 26, 2026

Missed Feb 19 ISS Boost, Thanks Katya for the Heads‑up

I had missed this ISS orbit boost on Feb 19, thanks Katya for keeping an eye on these

By Jonathan McDowell
CRS-33 Dragon Cargo Ship Undocks, Splashdown Expected Tomorrow
SocialFeb 26, 2026

CRS-33 Dragon Cargo Ship Undocks, Splashdown Expected Tomorrow

Dragon cargo ship CRS-33 undocked from IDA-2 at 1705 UTC Feb 26. Splashdown off the California coast is expected around 0744 UTC Feb 27.

By Jonathan McDowell
E‑Space’s Protosat‑1 Reenters, Still No Proof of Success
SocialFeb 24, 2026

E‑Space’s Protosat‑1 Reenters, Still No Proof of Success

The E-Space Protosat-1 IoT demo satellite reentred on Feb 22. It made no orbital manuevers, and - as for all 9 E-Space test satellites launched to date - there is no public evidence that it worked and no announcement about...

By Jonathan McDowell
Starlink Group 17‑25 Launches From Vandenberg at 090
SocialFeb 21, 2026

Starlink Group 17‑25 Launches From Vandenberg at 090

LAUNCH at 0904 UTC Feb 21 of Starlink Group 17-25 from Vandenberg Space Force Base

By Jonathan McDowell
Exobrake Deployment Detected via Sharp Decay Spike
SocialFeb 18, 2026

Exobrake Deployment Detected via Sharp Decay Spike

TechEdSat-11 was a 6UXL cubesat from NASA-Ames and San Jose State to test an exobrake drag device, launched on 2024 Jul 4. It reentered Feb 15; the decay rate increased sharply on Jan 16, likely marking the exobrake deployment. https://t.co/qEcoxQwW7c

By Jonathan McDowell
Jonathan's Space Report No. 853 Now Online Only
SocialFeb 16, 2026

Jonathan's Space Report No. 853 Now Online Only

Jonathan's Space Report No. 853 published at https://t.co/6gKV8Gl53V I have temporarily lost the capability to send this out as an email newsletter, so for the time being you'll have to access this on the website.

By Jonathan McDowell
Chinese Spaceplane Shifts to Near‑circular 588‑km Orbit
SocialFeb 16, 2026

Chinese Spaceplane Shifts to Near‑circular 588‑km Orbit

The Chinese spaceplane maneuvered from a 349 x 592 km orbit to a circular 588 x 597 km orbit at about 0050 UTC Feb 12. (Shown: perigee, average, apogee heights) https://t.co/X9FhHPTxwJ

By Jonathan McDowell
Proton Rocket Launches Russia Weather Satellite with Iran TV Payload
SocialFeb 13, 2026

Proton Rocket Launches Russia Weather Satellite with Iran TV Payload

The Proton launch of Russia's Elektro-L No. 5 weather satellite carried a secondary payload, Iran's Jam-e Jam 1 television broadcasting sat, also called Iran-DBS. Elektro-L-5 has a mass of 2120 kg; Jam-e Jam 1 is likely only 150 kg...

By Jonathan McDowell
Vulcan Centaur Reaches Orbit Despite Booster Glitch
SocialFeb 13, 2026

Vulcan Centaur Reaches Orbit Despite Booster Glitch

LAUNCH at 0922 UTC Feb 12 of a Vulcan Centaur from Canaveral with the Space Force's GSSAP 7 and 8 satellites, and possibly other payloads. One of the GEM 63XL solid boosters malfunctioned but the vehicle was reportedly able to reach...

By Jonathan McDowell
Two Feb 12 Launches Deploy Seven Satellites and a Weather Probe
SocialFeb 13, 2026

Two Feb 12 Launches Deploy Seven Satellites and a Weather Probe

LAUNCH at 0637 UTC Feb 12 of a Jielong-3 from the DFHT ship off Yangjiang, placing seven sats in orbit including Pakistan's PRSC-EO2 imaging sat. LAUNCH at 0852 UTC Feb 12 of a Proton from Baykonur with the Elektro-L weather sat.

By Jonathan McDowell
Turkish Satellites Identified on Bandwagon‑4, Owner Unclear
SocialFeb 9, 2026

Turkish Satellites Identified on Bandwagon‑4, Owner Unclear

The Semi-1N, Semi-1P, Semi-1L payloads from Nov 2025's Bandwagon-4 launch are now identified and revealed to be Turkish satellites. As far as I know the specific owner has still not been revealed - anyone know?

By Jonathan McDowell