Space Race Heats Up: Russia’s 21-Satellite Launch, Amazon’s $140 M Bet, and a New Artemis Ally
A Russian Soyuz-2.1b rocket launched 21 satellites from Vostochny Cosmodrome on July 25, including two Ionosfera-M space weather satellites and Iran’s Nahid-2. The Ionosfera-M pair will study solar wind effects on radio communications. Senegal signed the Artemis Accords, becoming the 56th member. SpaceX launched NASA’s TRACERS mission from Vandenberg on July 23 and plans a Starlink launch from Cape Canaveral on July 26.
