U.S. Space Force’s L3Harris-built NTS-3 satellite successfully launches – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2025-08-13 00:00
NTS-3 is the Department of Defense’s first experimental navigation satellite system in nearly 50 years. NTS-3 will be used for a variety of experiments to include testing on-orbit, next-generation technologies that assist warfighters in contested environments. L3Harris delivered NTS-3 three times faster and at lower cost than similar programs.
NASA selects 6 Companies to provide OTV studies – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2025-08-14 00:00
NASA earlier this month selected six companies to produce studies focused on lower-cost ways to launch and deliver spacecraft of various sizes and forms. The firm-fixed-price awards comprise nine studies with a maximum total value of approximately $1.4 million. The studies will be complete by mid-September.
SpaceX launches Starlink Group 17-4 smallsats despite worst fog yet on a California night – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2025-08-13 00:00
On Wednesday SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launched 24 Starlink smallsats from Group 17-4 to low-Earth orbit to join the Starlink constellation from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. This will be the fifth flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched four Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
Luxembourg invests $350 million in GovSat-2 – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2025-08-13 00:00
Luxembourg to invest $350 million in GovSat-2 project with SES. Government will also put in place $233 million for a ‘strategic capacity reserve’ SES has ordered the satellite from Thales Alenia Space, and it should be ready for launch in 2028.
Kuiper mission updates: Kuiper constellation grows to more than 100 satellites – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2025-08-13 00:00
SpaceX deployed Amazon’s fourth batch of satellites on Monday, August 11. This KF-02 mission sent another 24 Project Kuiper satellites into orbit. The satellites separated from the rocket at an altitude of 289 miles (465 kilometers) above Earth. In the coming months, they will gradually raise themselves to their assigned altitude of 392 miles (630 km)
International Space Station undergoes crew handover, change of command
Original Publication Date: 2025-08-13 14:07
Crew-11 mission successfully launched on Friday, Aug. 1, at 11:43 AM EDT (15:43 UTC) and docked just over 14 hours later on Saturday, Aug. 2, at 06:26 UTC. Crew Dragon Endeavour set a new record for the shortest time from launch to docking; previous Crew Dragon missions to ISS typically took around 19 hours to dock. Crew-11’s astronauts may be tasked with a spacewalk on the U.S. Segment that Crew-10 did not do.
B1091 “A Heavy Core in Falcon 9 Clothing”
Original Publication Date: 2025-08-12 21:42
SpaceX’s recent launch involved another successful landing of its Falcon 9 booster, but this time marked a Falcon Heavy center core booster launching and landing as a single-stick Falcon 9 rocket. The booster, designated B1091, powered the KF-02 mission, deploying 24 satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband constellation into low Earth orbit. This event marks a technical first for the company, blending elements of its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy programs.