Space Exploration News 16 August 2025 - 18 September 2025

Key Highlights Launches and Mission Updates China’s latest launch: On Sept. 16, China launched a test satellite for its planned satellite-internet network, using a Long March 2C rocket with a Yuanzheng-1S upper stage english.news.cn. Liftoff from Jiuquan at 9:06 a.m. Beijing time was successful, inserting the tech demo satellite into orbit to advance China’s broadband megaconstellation plans. This marked the 595th flight of China’s Long March rocket family english.news.cn, underscoring China’s rapid launch cadence. The mission highlights Beijing’s push into satellite internet – an area of growing strategic importance as China races to build its own Starlink-like network. SpaceX boosts ISS resupply: Over the weekend,

Key Facts: Launches & Satellite Missions SpaceX’s 24-Hour Launch Blitz – and a Scrub: SpaceX lined up two Falcon 9 launches on back-to-back days, showcasing the company’s rapid cadence. In Florida, a Falcon 9 was slated to carry Nusantara Lima, a 4.5-ton Indonesian telecom satellite, to orbit. After stormy weather caused two last-minute scrubs on Sept. 8–9 (with countdowns halted in the final minute) nasaspaceflight.com, teams targeted a Wednesday night launch from Cape Canaveral. The mission aims to deploy Nusantara Lima to a geostationary orbit, replacing a satellite lost in 2020 due to a launch failure nasaspaceflight.com. The well-traveled booster (B1078) is scheduled to land

Key Facts Full Report SpaceX Soars: Starship’s Triumph and More Starship’s First Orbital Success: SpaceX’s Starship finally broke its streak of test failures in spectacular fashion. On Aug. 26, the 403-foot reusable rocket system completed its tenth test flight and achieved several firsts. After launching from Starbase, Texas, the Starship upper stage reached space and successfully deployed payloads – ejecting 8 dummy Starlink satellites about 30 minutes into flight from its innovative internal dispenser reuters.com. This marked the first-ever satellite deployment by Starship, turning the page on a series of early-flight mishaps that had plagued the program. The mission then

Rocket Launches and Mission Highlights Breakthrough Scientific Discoveries and Tech Advances Policy and Regulatory Developments Commercial and Industry News Sources: Spaceflight Now spaceflightnow.com spaceflightnow.com spaceflightnow.com; Space.com space.com space.com space.com space.com; NASA/Wallops abc11.com abc11.com; ISRO isro.gov.in isro.gov.in; Copernical/SpaceNews copernical.com copernical.com; The Moscow Times themoscowtimes.com; EurekAlert (AURA/NSO) eurekalert.org eurekalert.org; RTL Today Luxembourg today.rtl.lu today.rtl.lu.

SpaceX’s 33rd Cargo Dragon mission (CRS-33) launched from Cape Canaveral at 2:45 a.m. EDT on Aug. 24, 2025, carrying more than 5,000 pounds of supplies and a trunk-mounted boost module to raise the ISS orbit. The Dragon’s trunk contains an independent propulsion system with two Draco engines to perform orbit-raising burns starting in September 2025 and reduce reliance on Russia’s Progress freighters. Starting in September 2025, Dragon will perform a series of ISS orbit-raising burns to sustain altitude, providing about 1.5× the reboost capability of a Russian Progress. Capsule C211, the 50th SpaceX Dragon to reach the ISS, autonomously docked

Satellite Launches & Missions 🚀 Global Space Agency Developments 🌍 (Elsewhere in space agency news: NASA this week opened accreditation for a September event to introduce its 2025 astronaut candidate class and to preview the Artemis II Moon mission nasa.gov nasa.gov. The new astronaut class, selected from over 8,000 applicants, will be unveiled on Sept. 22, while NASA’s Artemis II crew (set to loop around the Moon in 2026) will give press briefings on their training and mission plans. These steps highlight NASA’s ongoing push toward returning humans to the Moon – and eventually Mars – in international partnership.) Private Sector Updates

Launches and Rocket Test Highlights Space Station & Mission Updates New Discoveries and Space Science Highlights Industry and Policy Developments In summary, the period of August 16–17, 2025 was packed with noteworthy space events across the board. From rocket launches (and explosions) to pioneering science findings and significant policy moves, the global space community had a busy weekend. New rockets roared to life – or were grounded for another day – and spacefarers in orbit ventured outside their vehicles. Astronomers extended our cosmic horizon with record-breaking discoveries, even as Earthbound engineers planted the seeds (literally) for sustaining life on future