Top Stories

Space Force Awards Viasat and SES $437M for Protected Tactical Satcom-Global

The U.S. Space Force has awarded Viasat and SES a combined $437 million contract to build four small geostationary satellites for the Protected Tactical Satcom-Global (PTS-G) program. PTS-G is designed to deliver jam-resistant tactical communications to U.S. and allied forces worldwide.

Four GEO birds under a single contract is a lean procurement by historical standards. Once on-orbit, these satellites will be trackable in the geostationary belt alongside existing military SATCOM assets.

Read the full story: SpaceNews

Blue Origin Closes Investigation on New Glenn Flight 3 Failure, Clears Vehicle to Fly

Blue Origin has completed its investigation into the anomaly on New Glenn’s third flight and cleared the vehicle to resume launches. The company has not publicly disclosed the root cause in detail, but the investigation conclusion removes the launch hold that followed the failure.

New Glenn’s return-to-flight will be worth watching for anyone monitoring the Eastern Range manifest. The rocket targets geostationary transfer orbit on most of its commercial missions.

Read the full story: SpaceNews

Shenzhou 23 Lifts Off May 24, Carries Hong Kong’s First Astronaut to Tiangong

China launched Shenzhou 23 on May 24 with a three-person crew, including Hong Kong’s first astronaut. The mission relieves the overdue Shenzhou 22 crew aboard Tiangong and may begin China’s first year-long crewed stay in orbit.

Tiangong has been continuously occupied since June 5, 2022. You can track Tiangong in real time to monitor the station’s orbit during crew handover operations.

Read the full story: Space.com

NASA Expands SpaceX Commercial Crew Contract as Boeing Starliner Certification Stays Uncertain

NASA is adding missions to SpaceX’s commercial crew contract, explicitly hedging against the possibility that Boeing’s Starliner is never certified for ISS crew rotation flights. The move shifts more of the U.S. crew access burden onto Dragon.

Starliner’s path to certification has stalled following the extended stay of Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. NASA extending SpaceX’s contract reflects a judgment that Starliner’s timeline is too uncertain to rely on for near-term crew planning.

Read the full story: SpaceNews

Starship Flight 12 Reached Space, Survived Reentry with Engines Out

SpaceX’s Starship V3 completed Flight 12 with the vehicle reaching space, surviving reentry, and demonstrating engine-out resilience during ascent. Elon Musk described it as “epic.” The flight validated performance margins that previous test vehicles had not.

Engine-out survivability on a vehicle this size matters for both NASA’s Artemis lunar lander commitment and any future crewed mission profile. Flight 12 adds meaningful data on Raptor engine reliability under flight conditions.

Read the full story: Teslarati

Shenzhou 23 Mission Could Begin China’s First Year-Long Crewed Spaceflight

Beyond crew relief, China’s Shenzhou 23 mission is structured to potentially support a year-long crewed stay at Tiangong — a first for the Chinese space program. If executed, it would put China in the same operational class as NASA and Roscosmos for long-duration human spaceflight research.

The mission profile aligns with China’s broader push to build crewed deep-space experience ahead of its stated lunar ambitions. Watch Tiangong’s orbit evolve post-docking using KeepTrack’s Track Tiangong tool.

Read the full story: NASASpaceFlight.com

Satellite of the Day

COSMOS 1235

COSMOS 1235 is a Soviet military communication satellite launched on December 23, 1980, from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome using a Kosmos 11K65M rocket. Operated by GUKOSR (the Soviet military’s space command), this compact satellite was designed to relay secure military communications with an operational lifetime of six months. At just 60 kilograms and measuring less than a meter across, it was part of the prolific Kosmos program—the Soviet Union’s workhorse for deploying military and civilian spacecraft throughout the Cold War.

The satellite carried the Strela-1M Blok 26 payload and relied on solar cells and batteries for power. Its small size and polyhedronal shape were characteristic of Soviet military communication satellites of that era, optimized for rapid deployment and mission flexibility. With over four decades in orbit since launch, COSMOS 1235 represents a snapshot of Soviet space capabilities during the height of the Cold War space race.

Track this satellite in real-time: Track COSMOS 1235

Upcoming Space Launches

May 24

• China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Long March 2F/G | Shenzhou 23:
  • Shenzhou 23 from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People’s Republic of China (14:58 UTC) Shenzhou 23 will be the 23rd crewed flight of China’s Shenzhou program, launched atop the human-rated Long March 2F/G rocket. The mission is operated by the China National Space Administration and will carry taikonauts to the Chinese Space Station. The Long March 2F/G features extended boosters for increased lift capability and has been the backbone of China’s crewed spaceflight efforts since 2011.

May 25

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 10-47:
  • Starlink Group 10-47 from Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, FL, USA (11:41 UTC) A batch of 24 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites launching to low Earth orbit. Watch Live

May 26

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 17-37:

  • Starlink Group 17-37 from Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, CA, USA (14:00 UTC) A batch of 24 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites launching to low Earth orbit. Watch Live

• China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Long March 7A | Unknown Payload:

  • Unknown Payload from Wenchang Space Launch Site, People’s Republic of China (16:08 UTC) Payload details are not yet available for this Long March 7A mission.

May 29

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 10-53:

  • Starlink Group 10-53 from Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, FL, USA (11:52 UTC) A batch of 24 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites launching to low Earth orbit. Watch Live

• United Launch Alliance Atlas V 551 | Amazon Leo (LA-07):

  • Amazon Leo (LA-07) from Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, FL, USA (23:33 UTC) A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 551 rocket will launch 29 Amazon Kuiper broadband satellites to low Earth orbit as part of Amazon’s Leo constellation initiative, which aims to deliver high-speed internet connectivity to underserved and remote communities worldwide. This is the penultimate Atlas V mission booked by Amazon, flying on the powerful 551 configuration with five solid rocket boosters. The Atlas V uses a Russian-built RD-180 engine on its first stage and an RL10-powered Centaur upper stage. Watch Live

May 30

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 17-41:
  • Starlink Group 17-41 from Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, CA, USA (14:00 UTC) A batch of 24 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites launching to low Earth orbit. Watch Live

May 31

• Rocket Lab Electron | The Grain Goddess Provides (iQPS Launch 7):
  • The Grain Goddess Provides from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand (TBD) A synthetic aperture radar Earth observation satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company iQPS, launching aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron small-lift vehicle. Electron is the first orbital rocket to use electric-pump-fed engines and is designed to serve the small satellite and cubesat market.

June 1

• Agency for Defense Development South Korean ADD Solid-Fuel SLV | Demo Flight:
  • Demo Flight from Sea Launch, offshore platform (05:00 UTC) A demonstration flight of South Korea’s solid-fuel small launch vehicle, developed by the Agency for Defense Development, targeting low Earth orbit. Launch Preview

June 2

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 17-47:
  • Starlink Group 17-47 from Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, CA, USA (14:00 UTC) A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation. Watch Live

June 3

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 10-43:
  • Starlink Group 10-43 from Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, FL, USA (08:02 UTC) A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation. Watch Live

Schedule Changes

• Starlink Group 17-47 (SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5) has been newly added to the manifest, scheduled for June 2, 2026 at 14:00 UTC from Vandenberg Space Force Base.
• Starlink Group 10-43 (SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5) has been newly added to the manifest, scheduled for June 3, 2026 at 08:02 UTC from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

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