July 2022 – Spaceflight Now

South Korean spacecraft fueled for ride from Cape Canaveral to the moon

July 30, 2022 Stephen Clark

A South Korean spacecraft set for launch to the moon next week from Cape Canaveral has been loaded with the fuel it needs to maneuver into a low-altitude lunar orbit for image-taking and scientific observations.

Re-entry of large Chinese rocket booster spotted over Borneo

July 30, 2022 Stephen Clark

The 22-ton core stage of a Chinese rocket fell back to Earth Saturday, the third time in two years China has allowed such a large booster to re-enter the atmosphere uncontrolled. There were no immediate reports of wreckage or damage on the ground. Space debris experts said the unguided re-entry posed a low but avoidable risk to the world’s population.

Masten Space Systems, a NASA moon landing contractor, files for bankruptcy

July 29, 2022 Stephen Clark

Masten Space Systems, a private California company focused on developing lunar and planetary landing vehicles, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday after recent layoffs and funding problems.

NASA taps Draper for first U.S. landing on far side of the moon

July 29, 2022 Stephen Clark

NASA has awarded Draper a $73 million contract to deliver science instruments to the far side of the moon on a commercial robotic lander in 2025, the eighth award through the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. Officials with the companies flying the first two CLPS missions, Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines, said recently their commercial landers are scheduled to launch late this year or early next year.

OneWeb to merge with Eutelsat, needs five more launches to complete network

July 26, 2022 Stephen Clark

OneWeb and Eutelsat announced plans to merge Tuesday, bringing together OneWeb’s network of internet satellites in low Earth orbit with Eutelsat’s fleet of larger video, data relay, and broadband platforms in geostationary orbit. OneWeb says it is on track to resume deploying its remaining internet satellites as soon as September, with three SpaceX flights and two Indian launches on tap to replace Russian Soyuz rockets no longer available after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russia says it will pull out of space station project after 2024

July 26, 2022 William Harwood

Russia will pull out of the International Space Station project after 2024, the new director of the Russian space program said Tuesday, but no firm dates or plans were revealed and it was not immediately clear what, if anything, might change in the near term.

SpaceX’s next crew launch delayed by booster damage

July 25, 2022 Stephen Clark

SpaceX and NASA have delayed the launch of the next U.S. crew flight to the International Space Station from early September to no earlier than Sept. 29, allowing time for ground teams to replace an interstage on the mission’s new Falcon 9 booster after it was damaged during transport.

Wentian science module docks with China’s space station

July 24, 2022 Stephen Clark

China’s Tiangong space station received a new room Sunday with the docking of the Wentian laboratory module, a half-day after launching on a heavy-lift Long March 5B rocket. The three-person crew on the Chinese space station later opened hatches and floated inside the new science module for the first time.

SpaceX launches sixth mission in 17 days

July 24, 2022 Stephen Clark

Continuing a record-breaking launch cadence, SpaceX sent a Falcon 9 rocket aloft Sunday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida with 53 more satellites for the company’s Starlink internet network, the sixth Falcon 9 launch in 17 days and 33rd overall this year.

Live coverage: Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Florida on another Starlink mission

July 24, 2022 Stephen Clark

SpaceX sent another cluster of 53 Starlink internet satellites into orbit Sunday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, the company’s 33rd mission of the year and sixth launch of July. Liftoff from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida occurred at 9:38 a.m. EDT (1338 GMT). The Falcon 9 booster landed on SpaceX’s drone ship parked downrange in the Atlantic Ocean northeast of Cape Canaveral.