JAXA’S FIRST WOODEN SATELLITE DEPLOYS FROM SPACE STATION - In December 2024, five CubeSats deployed into Earth’s orbit from the International Space Station. Among them was LignoSat, a wooden satellite from JAXA (Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency) that investigates the use of wood in space. Findings could offer a more sustainable alternative to conventional satellites.   More
(Source: NASA - Jan 8)

CHINA LAUNCHES SHIJIAN-25 SATELLITE TO TEST ON-ORBIT REFUELING AND MISSION EXTENSION TECHNOLOGIES - China has kicked off its 2025 launch activities with the successful launch of the Shijian-25 satellite, aiming to advance key technologies for on-orbit refueling and extending satellite lifespans. A Long March 3B rocket lifted off at 3:00 p.m. Eastern, Jan. 6 (2000 UTC), climbing into a night sky above Xichang Satellite Launch Center, southwest China. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) confirmed launch success around an hour after launch, revealing the previously undisclosed payload to be the Shijian-25.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jan 7)

SPACEX LAUNCHES FIRST DEDICATED STARLINK MISSION OF 2025 - SpaceX completed its first Starlink mission of the year on the first Monday of 2025. Onboard the Starlink 6-71 mission were 24 V2 Mini satellites headed to low Earth orbit. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 3:43 p.m. EST (2043 UTC), which was the end of the available three-hour window.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 7)

HOW US-INDIAN NISAR SATELLITE WILL OFFER UNIQUE WINDOW ON EARTH - The upcoming U.S.-India NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) mission will observe Earth like no mission before, offering insights about our planet’s ever-changing surface. The NISAR mission is a first-of-a-kind dual-band radar satellite that will measure land deformation from earthquakes, landslides, and volcanoes, producing data for science and disaster response. It will track how much glaciers and ice sheets are advancing or retreating and it will monitor growth and loss of forests and wetlands for insights on the global carbon cycle.   More
(Source: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory - Jan 7)

TOP SATELLITE LAUNCHES TO WATCH IN 2025 - To kick off 2025, Via Satellite’s annual roundup of Top Launches to Watch is back, highlighting some of the top commercial satellites expected to launch this year. This list is not exhaustive. But first, a quick recap of 2024. We saw quite a few of the satellites on last year’s list take off throughout 2024 — Not just two, but four satellites for Maxar’s WorldView Legion; Ovzon 3 for Swedish operator Ovzon; the seventh and eighth satellites in SES’s O3b mPOWER constellation; the two-satellite Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ABSM); as well as five BlueBirds for AST SpaceMobile and four MicroGEOS for Astranis.   More
(Source: Via Satellite - Jan 7)

SPACEWALK PREPS, SCIENCE, AND CARGO WORK KICK OFF NEW YEAR - Two NASA astronauts are scheduled to exit the orbital outpost’s Quest airlock this month for a spacewalk to checkout a pair of astrophysics experiments attached to the outside of the space station, as well as conduct other tasks. First, the NICER X-ray telescope will be serviced with a patch to prevent unwanted sunlight from entering the instrument and corrupting research data. Next, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer will be prepared for future upgrades tasked for spacewalks planned later this year.   More
(Source: NASA - Jan 7)

SPACEX TO ATTEMPT FIRST PAYLOAD DEPLOYMENT, ENGINE REUSE DURING STARSHIP FLIGHT 7 - SpaceX is launching into 2025 with what is poised to be a blistering pace of launch for its super heavy lift rocket, Starship. The company is angling for as many as 25 launches of the nearly 40-story-tall rocket, if approved by federal regulators. In a lengthy post to its website, SpaceX laid out a laundry list of objectives it hopes to check off during the first mission of the year dubbed, Flight 7. The company didn’t announce a launch date along with the mission description, but current maritime and aviation warnings posted publicly suggest Flight 7 could happen as soon as Friday, Jan. 10, at 4 p.m. CST (5 p.m. EST, 2200 UTC).   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 6)

SMALL SATELLITE CONSTELLATION COULD REVEAL BLACK HOLES LIKE NEVER BEFORE - Researchers in South Korea are developing a constellation of satellites that could reveal what goes on in the vicinity of supermassive black holes like never before. The constellation, dubbed Capella, is a brainchild of Seoul National University astronomy professor Sascha Trippe. An expert in black holes, Trippe has grown frustrated with the limitations of humanity's existing instruments for observing black holes and concerned that unless major technological advances are made, research may soon reach a "dead end."   More
(Source: Space.com - Jan 5)

ON A LONG-DORMANT PAD IN FLORIDA, A ROCKET THAT COULD CHALLENGE SPACEX’S DOMINANCE IS POISED TO LAUNCH - On a Florida launchpad that has been dormant for almost two decades, a new, roughly 320-foot (98-meter) rocket — developed by Jeff Bezos’ company Blue Origin — is poised for its maiden flight. The uncrewed launch vehicle, called New Glenn, will mark Blue Origin’s first attempt to send a rocket to orbit, a feat necessary if the company hopes to chip away at SpaceX’s long-held dominance in the industry. New Glenn is set to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station as early as next week.    More
(Source: CNN - Jan 5)

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