Top Stories

€140M in ESA Launcher Challenge Funding Could Be Lost

Nearly 140 million euros ($162 million) allocated by ESA member states for the European Launcher Challenge is at risk of being forfeited. The funds were earmarked to support new launch vehicle development in Europe, but the money remains uncommitted and could lapse.

This is a direct hit to Europe’s effort to build independent launch capacity at a time when Arianespace is already under pressure. No replacement mechanism has been announced.

Read the full story: SpaceNews

SpaceX Outlines Technical Plans for Orbital Data Center Constellation

Elon Musk released additional technical details on SpaceX’s plan to operate data centers in orbit. The constellation would put compute infrastructure on satellites rather than on the ground — targeting latency and coverage advantages for AI workloads. Financial details, including cost per node or total program budget, were not disclosed.

This adds a new object class to watch in low Earth orbit. If SpaceX proceeds, these satellites would join Starlink in already-congested orbital shells. Tracking services will need to distinguish data-center payloads from standard broadband satellites as catalog entries grow.

Read the full story: SpaceNews

Progress MS-33 Launches to ISS from Baikonur’s Repaired Site 31/6

Russia’s Progress MS-33 cargo spacecraft launched from Site 31/6 at Baikonur Cosmodrome — the same pad used by Soyuz MS-28 roughly four months ago. The pad had undergone repairs in the interim.

Progress MS-33 is an uncrewed resupply mission to the International Space Station. You can follow its approach and docking in KeepTrack once its NORAD ID is cataloged.

Read the full story: NASASpaceFlight

Swissto12 Contracted to Build First HummingSat Optical Relay Satellite

Swissto12 has signed a contract with Japan’s Space Compass to build an optical relay satellite using the HummingSat platform — a compact GEO bus roughly the size of a washing machine. This will be the first optical relay spacecraft built on the HummingSat design.

Optical inter-satellite links are increasingly central to low-latency space networking. A GEO relay node can bridge LEO constellations to ground stations without line-of-sight constraints. Watch for this satellite’s GEO slot assignment as the program matures.

Read the full story: SpaceNews

Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI Announce $25B TERAFAB AI Chip Factory

Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI have jointly announced TERAFAB, a $25 billion chip fabrication facility targeting one terawatt of annual AI compute output. The project would vertically integrate AI silicon production across all three Musk-affiliated companies.

For the space sector, the direct relevance is SpaceX’s onboard compute roadmap — chips produced at scale through TERAFAB could underpin the orbital data center constellation and future Starlink hardware. No construction timeline or location was provided in the announcement.

Read the full story: Teslarati

SpaceX Launches 29 Starlink Satellites on Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral

Starlink mission 10-62 lifted off from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 10:47 a.m. EDT on March 22, carrying 29 satellites on a northeasterly trajectory.

As new Starlink satellites are cataloged, you can track them in KeepTrack using the Satellite Search feature. Shell 10 additions are worth monitoring for any orbital plane adjustments following recent high-cadence launches.

Read the full story: Spaceflight Now

Satellite of the Day

SNUGLITE-II

SNUGLITE-II is a 3U CubeSat developed and operated by Seoul National University (SNU) as part of South Korea’s growing domestic space program. Launched on June 21, 2022, aboard the Nuri launch vehicle from the Nuri Space Center, this 4-kilogram satellite represents an important milestone for Korean space technology development. The mission focuses on technology demonstrations in orbit, leveraging the compact CubeSat form factor to test new systems and operational concepts in the near-Earth environment.

With its sun-synchronous near-polar orbit and a planned operational lifetime of three months, SNUGLITE-II carries deployable solar arrays and battery systems to power its payload. The satellite’s “box+boom” configuration—featuring a main body with an extended boom—is typical of CubeSats designed for attitude control and specialized instrument deployment. This technology demonstration mission contributes valuable flight heritage to SNU’s growing expertise in satellite design and operations, supporting South Korea’s broader push toward independent space capabilities.

Track this satellite in real-time: Track SNUGLITE-II

Upcoming Space Launches

March 23

• China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Long March 2D: Unknown Payload

  • Unknown Payload from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People’s Republic of China (10:52 UTC) Details to be determined. The Long March 2D is a two-stage carrier rocket primarily used for launching satellites to low Earth orbit and sun-synchronous orbit.

• Isar Aerospace Spectrum: Onward and Upward

  • Second test flight from Andøya Spaceport, Norway (20:00–21:00 UTC) Spectrum’s second test flight will carry five CubeSats — CyBEEsat (TU Berlin), TriSat-S (University of Maribor), Platform 6 (EnduroSat), FramSat-1 (NTNU), and SpaceTeamSat1 (TU Wien Space Team) — along with a Dcubed experiment called “Let it Go.” Exolaunch is managing payload integration and deployment. The mission was delayed from January 21 due to a pressurization valve issue. Note: Status is To Be Confirmed. Watch Live Launch Preview

March 25

• Rocket Lab Electron: Daughter Of The Stars (LEO-PNT Pathfinder A)

  • Celeste LEO-PNT IOD-1 & IOD-2 from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1A, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand (09:14 UTC) A dedicated mission for the European Space Agency launching the first two satellites of the Celeste LEO-PNT (Low Earth Orbit Position, Navigation, and Timing) constellation. The 11-satellite constellation is designed to demonstrate how a LEO satellite fleet can complement Galileo, EGNOS, and other Global Navigation Satellite System assets to improve resilience and service quality. Pathfinders IOD-1 and IOD-2 will deploy to a 510 km circular polar orbit.

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5: Starlink Group 17-17

  • 29 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, USA (23:03 UTC) Booster B1078 flying for its 27th mission, targeting a landing on drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas. Watch Live

• China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Long March 2C: Unknown Payload

  • Unknown Payload from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People’s Republic of China (22:43 UTC) Details to be determined. The Long March 2C is a two-stage expendable launch vehicle using storable propellants.

March 26

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5: Starlink Group 10-44
  • 29 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, USA (11:22 UTC) Booster B1078 flying for its 27th mission, targeting a landing on drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas. Watch Live

March 27

• CAS Space Kinetica 1: Unknown Payload

  • Unknown Payload from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People’s Republic of China (04:04 UTC) Details to be determined. Kinetica 1 (Lijian-1) is a Chinese solid-propellant light launch vehicle developed by CAS Space, a subsidiary of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, capable of placing up to 2,000 kg into low Earth orbit.

• RKK Energiya Soyuz-5: Demo Flight

  • Demonstration flight with mass simulator from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan (11:00 UTC) Russia’s new Soyuz-5 (Irtysh) rocket will conduct its inaugural demonstration flight carrying a mass simulator. Soyuz-5 is designed to replace the Zenit-2 and Proton Medium rockets, powered by an RD-171MV engine on the first stage and capable of lifting 17 tonnes to low Earth orbit. Note: Status is To Be Confirmed.

March 29

• United Launch Alliance Atlas V 551: Amazon Leo (LA-05)
  • Batch of Amazon Leo broadband satellites from Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, USA (07:53 UTC) The sixth of nine Atlas V launches contracted by Amazon to deploy satellites for the Amazon Leo (Kuiper) low Earth orbit broadband constellation, which aims to deliver high-speed, low-latency internet connectivity to underserved and remote areas globally. The Atlas V 551 configuration features five solid rocket boosters and a 5-meter payload fairing.

Schedule Changes

• Long March 2D | Unknown Payload was newly added to the manifest, scheduled for March 23, 2026 at 10:52 UTC from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center with a status of Go for Launch.
• Long March 2C | Unknown Payload was newly added to the manifest, scheduled for March 25, 2026 at 22:43 UTC from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center with a status of Go for Launch.
• Soyuz 2.1a | Progress MS-33 (94P) has been removed from the upcoming calendar following a successful launch.
• Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 10-62 has been removed from the upcoming calendar following a successful launch.
• Smart Dragon 3 | 10 x CentiSpace-1 has been removed from the upcoming calendar following a successful launch.

Note: Launch dates and times are subject to change due to technical or weather considerations.