Astronauts

Spy Satellite Launch, New Astronauts & a Lunar Lander Deal – Space News Roundup (Sept 22–23, 2025)

Rocket Launches and Satellite Deployments Spy sats on the West Coast: SpaceX lofted another batch of classified U.S. spy satellites on Sept. 22, with a Falcon 9 roaring off Vandenberg Space Force Base at 1:38 p.m. EDT (10:38 a.m. local) space.com. The NROL-48 mission – SpaceX’s 11th dedicated launch for the National Reconnaissance Office’s new “proliferated architecture” – carried a cluster of undisclosed reconnaissance payloads. The NRO is pivoting to large numbers of smaller satellites instead of a few big ones, aiming to deliver “an order of magnitude more signals and images” with faster revisit times and resilience space.com. SpaceX’s webcast cut off early

23 September 2025

NASA’s New Astronaut Class of 2025 Makes History with “All-American” Recruits Poised for Moon and Mars

Overview of the 2025 Astronaut Class Announcement NASA’s 2025 Astronaut Candidate Class – the ten selectees pose at Johnson Space Center in Houston after their introduction on September 22, 2025. NASA unveiled this “All-American” 2025 astronaut class during a live ceremony, marking the agency’s first new astronaut cohort since 2021. The announcement followed a highly competitive process: more than 8,000 Americans applied, hoping to earn a coveted spot in NASA’s astronaut corps. Ultimately, 10 candidates (6 women and 4 men) were chosen, all U.S. citizens hailing from “every corner of this nation,” as NASA’s Acting Administrator Sean Duffy noted in

23 September 2025

Astronauts · Mars Exploration · Moon Missions · NASA · Space Exploration

Space Spectacle: NASA Unveils New Astronauts, SpaceX Launch Blitz & Cosmic Breakthroughs (21–22 Sep 2025)

Key Facts Major Launches and Mission Updates NASA’s Space Weather Trio Set for Launch: At Kennedy Space Center, NASA and NOAA are on the cusp of launching three spacecraft that promise new insight into solar storms and the Solar System’s boundary. On Sept. 21, officials declared the IMAP mission (“Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe”) and its two co-manifested satellites “go” for launch science.nasa.gov. IMAP will travel ~1.5 million km sunward to the Sun–Earth L1 point to map the heliosphere – the magnetic bubble shielding our Solar System – and study how solar wind particles and cosmic rays interact at that

22 September 2025

Astronauts · NASA News · Scientific Discoveries · Space · Space Exploration · SpaceX

SpaceX’s 100th Launch, China’s Double Liftoff, Astronaut’s Heroic Return & Mercury’s Big Shrink – Aug 17-18 Space Highlights

On Aug. 17, China launched the Long March-4C from Xichang at 4:55 p.m. local time with the Shiyan-28B 02 satellite for space environment exploration and technology tests. Hours later on Aug. 17, China launched a Long March-6 from Taiyuan at 10:15 p.m., deploying the ninth batch of low-Earth orbit satellites to form a new internet constellation. These dual Aug. 17 launches marked the 589th and 590th missions of China’s Long March rocket family. On Aug. 17, Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla returned to New Delhi after piloting Axiom Space’s Ax-4 mission, which launched June 25 and splashed down July 15 after

18 August 2025

Astronauts · China · NASDAQ:GOOGL · Science · Space · SpaceX

Rocket Scrubs, Astronaut Splashdown & Moon Race Milestones – Space News Roundup (Aug 10–11, 2025)

Astronaut Homecoming & ISS Updates Rocket Launch Drama & Satellite Missions Moon Exploration & Global Programs Science & New Discoveries Commercial & Industry Developments Sources: This report compiles information from official agency releases, trusted news outlets, and expert commentary. Key sources include NASA press releases nasa.gov spacepolicyonline.com, Spaceflight Now spaceflightnow.com spaceflightnow.com, Space.com space.com space.com, SpaceNews ts2.tech ts2.tech, SatNews news.satnews.com, SpacePolicyOnline spacepolicyonline.com spacepolicyonline.com, and other referenced publications as noted above. Each cited link provides further details on the respective news item for readers seeking more information.

11 August 2025

Astronauts · Moon · Rockets · Space · Space News

Astronaut Homecoming, Rocket Drama & Moon Race Milestones – Space News Roundup (Aug 9–10, 2025)

NASA’s Crew-10 returned four astronauts—Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, Takuya Onishi, and Kirill Peskov—from nearly five months aboard the ISS, as SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endurance splashed down off San Diego at 11:33 a.m. EDT on Aug. 9, marking NASA’s first Pacific Ocean crew recovery in 50 years. Crew-11 arrived at the ISS a week before Crew-10’s splashdown, restoring the station to seven crew and continuing the U.S.–Russian seat-swap arrangement through 2027, with every SpaceX Crew Dragon carrying a Russian cosmonaut and every Soyuz carrying an American. Roscosmos chief Dmitry Bakanov visited Florida for the Crew-11 launch, the first face-to-face meeting of

10 August 2025

Astronauts · Moon Exploration · NASDAQ:AMZN · NASDAQ:RKLB · Rocket Launches · Space · Space News · Weekly Roundup

SpaceX Wins $81.6 Million U.S. Space Force Deal to Launch WSF-M2 Weather Satellite in 2027

SpaceX’s Epic 48 Hours: Astronauts Blast Off, Starship Roars & Starlink Soars (Aug 1–2, 2025)

NASA astronauts Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke, Kimiya Yui, and Oleg Platonov launched aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 with nine Merlin engines from Kennedy Space Center at 11:43 a.m. EDT on August 1, 2025, on the Crew Dragon Endeavour for NASA’s Crew-11 mission. The Crew-11 Dragon capsule separated from the Falcon 9’s second stage less than 10 minutes after liftoff. Endeavour docked with the ISS Harmony module around 3:00 a.m. EDT on August 2, 2025, after a roughly 16-hour transit. NASA indicated Crew-11 may stay on the ISS for eight months instead of the standard six months to better align with Russia’s

2 August 2025

Astronauts · Space · Space Missions · SpaceX · Starlink · Starship

Historic Liftoff! Poland’s “Star Scientist” Launches on SpaceX Dragon—All the Inside Details on the Ax-4 Mission, Crew and Experiments

On June 25 at 08:31 CEST, SpaceX Crew Dragon “Grace” launched from Pad 39A with four astronauts on Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4). Peggy Whitson (USA) commands Ax-4 and is on her fifth spaceflight, with a U.S. orbital record of 675 days. Shubhanshu Shukla (India) is Pilot for Ax-4, becoming the first Indian in space since 1984. Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski (Poland) is the first Polish national on the ISS and the second Pole in space. Tibor Kapu (Hungary) is Ax-4’s Mission Specialist, marking Hungary’s first visitor to the ISS. Poland’s 47-year space drought ends with Ax-4, following Mirosław Hermaszewski’s 1978 Soyuz 30

25 June 2025

Astronauts · Science · Space · SpaceX · Technology

Astronauts News 25 June 2025 - 23 September 2025