NASA offered reporters and press photographers a rare chance to go inside the VAB today to view the progress of the assembly of Artemis II, the next and first crewed launch of the SLS rocket. That mission will carry four astronauts on a circumlunar flight and is currently slated to fly in April 2026.
NASA offered reporters and press photographers a rare chance to go inside the VAB today to view the progress of the assembly of Artemis II, the next and first crewed launch of the SLS rocket. That mission will carry four astronauts on a circumlunar flight and is currently slated to fly in April 2026.
Currently, the Core Stage of Artemis II is in its own work area, across the aisle from where the Mobile Launch Platform with the Solid Rocket Boosters are sitting. Work continues on both parts of the vehicle.
As of now, NASA’s Artemis II mission is scheduled to launch no earlier than April 2026. The mission aims to send four astronauts—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen—on a 10-day journey around the Moon, marking the first crewed mission of the Artemis program and the first human venture beyond low Earth orbit since 1972.
The mission has experienced several delays, primarily due to issues identified during the uncrewed Artemis I mission in November 2022. Post-flight analyses revealed unexpected charring on the Orion capsule’s heat shield, prompting extensive investigations and subsequent design modifications to ensure astronaut safety during re-entry. Seemingly resolved for the time being, the Orion capsule slated for Artemis II is undergoing preparations at Kennedy Space Center.
The Solid Rocket Boosters have completed their stacking operations and engineers will integrate the SLS core stage, currently undergoing processing in the VAB’s High Bay 2, in the coming weeks. No specific timetable for the start and completion of that operation has been given.
SpaceX is planning to launch Falcon 9 and the Starlink 12-13 mission tomorrow evening from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Liftoff is set for 11:26 PM but may change due to weather or SpaceX operational requirements.
This launch had been scheduled for this evening, but was shifted a day by SpaceX sometime Sunday morning.
Down the Bimini Highway: southeast to The Bahamas.
The 45th Weather Squadron of Space Launch Delta 45 has released their L-1 Launch Mission Execution Forecast: 60% GO improving to 20% GO through the launch window.
SpaceX will have a livestream of the launch on their website: Starlink 12-13. This will also be available on the X platform. Coverage starts about fifteen minutes before liftoff.
Spaceflight Now will have coverage of the launch starting about one hour before liftoff on Youtube: link
For official updates regarding launch times, SpaceX.com is the best source of information. Starlink launch times change from time to time, and the company generally updates their website within minutes of the decision to change the launch time. This is very handy if none of the streaming options on YouTube have started their broadcasts.
Remember that there is a delay between a launch stream and the actual countdown clock. That is simply because of physics: it takes time for the signal to travel from the launch site, through the Internet, and back down to your phone, resulting in a five to fifteen-second delay.
Intuitive Machines announced today that its IM-2 mission’s Nova-C class lunar lander, Athena, has successfully completed all integration milestones and is now securely enclosed within SpaceX’s payload fairing, ready for launch. This will be the company’s second attempt to land on the lunar surface.
iSpace announced yesterday that their RESILIENCE lunar lander successfully completed a flyby of the Moon on February 15, 2025. RESILIENCE was launched aboard a Falcon 9 on January 15 from Kennedy Space Center, and has been traveling cislunar space since that time.
According to iSpace yesterday, “RESILIENCE is now on a trajectory out to deep space before completing orbital maneuvers that will bring it back towards the Moon in advance of lunar orbit insertion, expected around early May.”
RESLIENCE reached its closest point to the lunar surface thus far at 5:43 PM EST (2243 UTC) on Valenitine’s Day, coming within roughly 8,400 kilometers surface on its flyby, a historic first of its type for a Japanese private, commercial lunar lander. It now heads past the moon towards apoapsis and a return to cislunar space and lunar orbit. After that point, preparations for landing can begin.
The flyby was the fifth of ten major milestones for the spacecraft as it prepares to touch down on the lunar surface sometime in May or June of this year. The lengthy time between launch and landing is due to mission designers planning for a longer, energy-efficient trajectory to reach the lunar surface, one that reduced spacecraft complexity by eliminating the need to carry a much larger propulsive unit.
This will be the second landing attempt for iSpace. In April 2023, the first Hakuto lander successfully traveled from Earth and made a landing attempt, however, it crash-landed after its propellant was exhausted due to the spacecraft’s software misjudging the actual altitude of the spacecraft. After improvements and remediations, iSpace is hopeful for a successful landing in late Spring of this year.
iSpace’s mission with RESILIENCE in mainly one for technology performance and validation, demonstration commercial viability, and international collaboration and coordination. Undoubtedly, the iSpace team will learn a great deal more about real-world operation of their lander in Mission 2, and that in turn will inform future missions to come.
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One of the primary goals — if not the major goal — of the RESILIENCE mission is to demonstrate lunar landing capabilities. Secondly, iSpace hope to demonstrate landing with a high level of precision. The company has refined its autonomous landing system with lessons-learned from Mission 1. Their system leverages AI and real-time terrain recognition as part of a safe touchdown on the surface. Perfecting this technology is crucial for future robotic and crewed missions.
RESILIENCE plans to deploy small rovers and payloads to test surface mobility and in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) technologies. By analyzing the Moon’s regolith and extracting potential resources such as water ice, iSpace hopes to contribute to future lunar sustainability. ISRU is a key aspect of NASA’s Artemis program and other international lunar initiatives, as it could enable long-term human presence on the Moon.
By gathering environmental and geological data, the RESILIENCE probe will help improve scientific understanding of the Moon’s surface conditions. The mission will assess factors such as temperature variations, radiation levels, and dust behavior—all critical information for designing next-generation lunar habitats and infrastructure.
iSpace is focused on building a lunar economy, and RESILIENCE will serve as a proof-of-concept for future commercial deliveries to the Moon.
iSpace also plans to become a key player in the emerging lunar industry through collaborations with global space agencies and companies. The company is hopeful that the success of RESILIENCE could pave the way for future joint ventures and technological exchanges in lunar exploration.
SpaceX has been awarded the launch contract for Pandora, NASA’s small satellite that will study exoplanets — planets beyond our solar system — and the activity of their host stars. The launch is scheduled for NET Autumn 2025, implying a Q3 or Q4 launch.
Selected in 2021 as part of NASA’s Pioneer mission program, Pandora is designed for long-duration, multiwavelength observations to improve scientists’ understanding of distant worlds.
The mission is a collaborative effort involving NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, NASA’s Ames Research Center, and several other institutions. Pandora will focus on exoplanets previously discovered by other missions, using the transit method—a technique that detects planets as they pass in front of their stars, causing slight dips in starlight. By analyzing these transits, researchers can gather data on planetary atmospheres, helping to determine their composition and characteristics.
At this time, it is unknown what rocket SpaceX will use for the mission: Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy or even Starship. Most likely, given the size of Pandora (it is a small satellite) the flight will be aboard Falcon 9.
For more information on the Pandora mission, visit their website here.
SpaceX launched SpainSat NG-I aboard Falcon 9 this evening from Kennedy Space Center. Liftoff was right at the opening of the launch window at 8:34 PM EST, and into crystalline winter skies over Florida.
Tonight was a rare expendable mission, meaning no attempt to land booster B1073 was made after it had completed its part of the mission at two minutes and forty seconds after liftoff. That was due to additional performance required to deliver this payload to orbit, and is part of the normal Falcon 9 product catalog.
After 21 successful flights, booster B1073 now sleeps with the fishes offshore in the Atlantic Ocean.
At precisely eight minutes after liftoff, Falcon 9’s second stage and the SpainSat payload were in their initial orbit, one which would be rounded slightly after just a bit more than twenty six and a half minutes by a one minute six second burn. From there, SpaceX deployed SpainSat NG I, concluding another successful mission for the company.
SpainSat NG I will now travel under its own power to its operational orbital position.
Airbus and Thales Alenia Space built SpainSat NG I for Hisdesat Servicios Estratégicos S.A., the Spanish Governmental Satellite Operator.
Airbus, one of the four co-Prime contractors that built SpainSat NG-I described the satellite said:
“SPAINSAT NG will provide coverage on a wide area of the world ranging from the United States and South America to the Middle East, including Africa and Europe and till Singapore in Asia. Both satellites will allow to:
• Ensure effective command and control for beyond line-of-sight operations in 2/3 of the Earth.
• Guarantee communication capability in theatres of operation lacking communications infrastructure.
• Develop more satcom on the move, higher capacity, better secured and assured communications.
• Unlock the potential of the network centric battlespace-netcentric warfare and operations.
The communication payloads of both satellites will be provided by the Spanish industry, including the integration of the Communications Module in Spain, a major step forward for the Spanish industry. Airbus in Spain will be responsible for the X band payload, while Thales Alenia Space in Spain will be responsible for the UHF and mil-Ka band payloads. Other companies from the Spanish space industry will also be involved.
SpaceX returns to Starlink launches early on Monday morning when it plans to launch more Starlink Group 12 satellites.
Sierra Space announced today it has successfully completed and passed a critical integrated testing milestone in collaboration with NASA on the Dream Chaser spaceplane orbiter Tenacity.
Among the tests that were completed were Dream Chaser’s ability to power-on, air-cool, and exchange data with multiple powered payloads inside its pressurized cabin. The tests were conducted at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
“Tests like these are critical demonstrations of the capabilities of the Dream Chaser spaceplane and confirms our ability to handle specialized payloads such as vital scientific research that will be integral to our mission to the ISS,” said Pablo Gonzalez, Vice President of Crew & Cargo Transportation Systems at Sierra Space.
He added that, “This milestone highlights Dream Chaser’s flexibility, reliability, and capability to meet the diverse needs of our payload customers – including NASA and commercial partners – and it brings us another step closer to launch.”
During the testing, three payloads were evaluated, all of which are intended for the Dream Chaser’s first official mission, dubbed DCC-1.
Passing the tests demonstrates Dream Chaser’s capability to carry various payloads, meet those payloads environmental requirements and to provide power within specified limits. The tests also demonstrated Dream Chaser’s ability to communicate with the Sierra Space control room in Colorado as well as the payload support center at NASA’s Marshall Spaceflight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama.
At this time, it appears that Dream Chaser is on track for a launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket later this year.
SpaceX returns to action tonight as it plans to launch a Falcon 9 carrying two uncrewed lunar landers as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) program. The 44-minute launch window opens at 1:11 AM EST.
Tonight’s Falcon 9 Booster is B1085, which will be flying for the fifth time. After providing the initial boost for the payload, B1085 plans to touchdown on ASDS ‘Just Read The Instructions’, which is positioned downrange in the Atlantic Ocean.
Weather is predicted to be 90% GO during the launch window.
The trajectory is typical for missions to cislunar space:
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander is designed to deliver a suite of scientific instruments and commercial payloads to the Moon’s surface. Developed under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, Blue Ghost aims to demonstrate innovative technologies while advancing lunar science.
Blue Ghost’s mission includes:
Learn more about the Blue Ghost lander on Firefly Aerospace’s website.
Joining Blue Ghost is the Hakuto-R lunar lander, developed by iSpace, a Japanese company dedicated to expanding humanity’s presence on the Moon. Hakuto-R is part of iSpace’s bold vision to establish a lunar economy through cargo delivery services and resource utilization.
Key objectives for Hakuto-R include:
For more details about Hakuto-R and iSpace’s ambitions, visit their official website.
Vast, the aerospace company best known for building one of the first commercial space station segments, announced today that they have secured a deal with SpaceX for two Crew Dragon missions to the International Space Station (ISS) in support of Vast’s future bid for NASA’s private astronaut missions (PAM). The missions will fly on Falcon 9 if VAST if the Vast PAM bid is accepted by the agency.
“Enabling payload and crewed missions to the ISS is a key part of Vast’s strategy, allowing us to further our collaboration with NASA and global space agencies. These missions not only strengthen our expertise in human spaceflight operations and collaboration with NASA, but also position Vast as a leading contender to deliver the next-generation successor to the ISS, advancing the future of human space exploration,” said Max Haot, Chief Executive Officer of Vast.
The two missions are an addition to the contract Vast has with SpaceX to launch the Haven-1 space station to low-Earth orbit followed by a subsequent Dragon mission to fly crew to the commercial space station.
“I am excited to work with Vast as they build more opportunities and destinations for more people to travel amongst the stars,” said Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s President and Chief Operating Officer.
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