Jonathan's Space Report
No. 848 draft 2025 Jul 19 Somerville, MA
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International Space Station
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Expedition 73 continues.
The Crew-11 mission was launched on Aug 1 at 1543 UTC on Dragon Endeavour C206 flight 6,
carrying Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke, Kimiya Yui and Oleg Platonov. Endeavour docked
at IDA-3 at about 0626:56 UTC Aug 2.
Starlink
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Starlink Group 17-3 (24 Ku sats) was launched on Jul 19 from Vandenberg.
Starlink Group 10-26 (28 Ku sats) was launched on Jul 27 from Canaveral.
Starlink Group 17-2 (24 Ku sats) was launched on Jul 27 from Vandenberg.
Starlink Group 10-29 (28 Ku sats) was launched on Jul 30 from Canaveral.
Starlink Group 13-4 (19 Ku sats) was launched on Jul 31 from Vandenberg. Two Starshield sats were also aboard.
Starlink Group 10-30 (28 Ku sats) was launched on Aug 4 from Canaveral.
Transporter 14
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Space Force orbital data for the Transporter 14 objects were released on Jul 19.
However, for most of the objects we don't yet know which cataloged object maps to which satellite.
Two additional objects cataloged as 2025-135BT and BU are possibly the two
Spire/Lacuna Space 4U cubesats, at least one of which has now been ejected from D-Orbit's ION.
One object, 64558, was at first identified by Space-Track as 'Falcon 9 debris', unusual for Transporter
launches - either a deployer cover of some kind or perhaps insulation material that accidentally separated;
however that identification has now been retracted.
Other Falcon 9 flights
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On Jul 22 SpaceX launched two O3b mPOWER satellites from Canaveral to medium Earth orbit.
The second stage was left in a 2651 x 6998 km x 9.7 deg orbit.
On Jul 23 SpaceX launched the TRACERS mission from Vandenberg to 0956 LTDN SSO. Payloads included:
TRACERS T1/T2, a pair of SWRI/U Iowa/NASA Heliophysics Small Explorer satellites to study particles, fields and
field reconnection events at the northern magnetic cusp. Each satellite has a mass of about 200 kg and a
span of 13.7 metres across the electric field antennae.
LIDE, an ESA/Tyvak International 12U cubesat to test K/Ka-band 5G communications signal relay.
Bard, a York Space Systems satellite with a JHU/NASA payload for support of legacy and current
communications protocols.
REAL, a NASA/U. Dartmouth Heliophysics Explorer 3U cubesat with the Relativistic Electron Atmospheric Loss
payload to measure radiation belt particles.
EPIC Athena, a USAF Space Test Program payload using a NovaWurks HiSat bus carrying a lightweight version
of the NASA-LaRC CERES Earth radiation budget payload.
Skykraft 4, a five-satellite cluster to test ADS-B air traffic communications. The satellites are deployed
attached to one another and were scheduled to separate seven days later, i.e. on Jul 30.
Vega-C
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On Jul 26 Arianespace launched Vega mission VV27 with the four CO3D satellites with optical imagers
to create a global digital surface model, and the MicroCarb satellite for global CO2 monitoring.
The Z9 third stage fell in the Arctic; the AVUM made two burns to a 500 km orbit to deploy the C03D
quartet, two more burns to a 650 km orbit to deploy MicroCarb, and a fifth burn to deorbit, with
reentry over the Indian Ocean.
SAST launches
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On Jul 27 SAST launched a CZ-6A from Taiyuan with a set of Weixing Hulianwang Digui 05 zu weixing
(Guowang/Xingwang) internet satellites built by CAST, to a 996 x 1006 km x 86.5 deg orbit.
There were probably 5 satellites in the group; the upper stage remains in a slightly lower
838 x 991 km orbit.
On Aug 4 SAST launched a CZ-12 from Hainan Commercial Spaceport with
nine Weixing Hulianwang Digui 07 zu weixing internet satellites built
by Yinhe (Galaxy Aerospace/Nantong), to a 50 deg orbit.
The upper stage was left in orbit following a small perigee lowering burn.
CALT launches
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On Jul 30 CALT launched a CZ-8A from the Hainan Commercial Spaceport with a set of nine
Weixing Hulianwang Digui 06 zu weixing internet satellites built by SECM, to a 50 deg orbit.
The upper stage was left in orbit following a small perigee lowering burn.
Shuang Quxian
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Xingye Rongyao (Interstellar Glory, iSpace) launched a Shuang Quxian 1
(Hyperbola-1) rocket on Jul 29, placing the Hangsheng HS-9 (Enshi Xidou
Shanquan) commercial imaging cubesat in 1031 LTDN sun-sync orbit for
Hangsheng Weixing.
KZ-1A
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CASIC/EXPACE launched a KZ-1A on Jul 31 from Xichang with a Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite,
PRSC-S1, for Pakistan's SUPARCO. PRSC-S1 may be a SAR satellite.
Gilmour Space Eris
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Gilmour Space Eris flight 1 wsa launched from Bowen Spaceport, Australia at about
2235 UTC Jul 29. The rocket ascended about 20 to 50 metres while maintaining
vertical attitude but translating sideways, and impacted near the pad after
a 20 second flight.
NISAR
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The NISAR radar satellite was launched on Jul 30. The 2393 kg satellite carries a 12 m diameter
deployable reflector for L-band and S-band SAR radio imaging. NISAR is a joint project
between India and the USA and was developed by ISRO and JPL.
Rocket Lab
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On Aug 5 Electron 69 placed the Japanese QPS-SAR-12 (Kushinada-I) radar satellite in orbit.
Lyra 4
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The secret commercial satellite launched by Electron on Jun 28 has been acknowledged as Echostar Australia's Lyra-4.
Errata
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There were two GHGSat satellites on Transporter 14 (C12 Pierre and C13 Valmay), not just one. I also
forgot to mention GRUS-3 Alpha (AXELSPACE, Japan; imaging) and BRO 18 (Unseen Labs, France; commercial sigint).
Table of Recent Orbital (and near-Orbital) Launches
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Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL. Catalog Perigee Apogee Incl Notes
Jul 8 0821 Starlink Group 10-28 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Comms 147 265 x 273 x 53.2
Jul 13 0504 Dror-1 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Comms 148A 202 x 61959 x 24.2
Jul 14 2134 Tianzhou-9 Chang Zheng 7 Wenchang LC201 Cargo 149A 202 x 340 x 41.5
Jul 16 0205 Starlink Group 15-2 Falcon 9 Vandenberg SLC4E Comms 150 265 x 279 x 70.0
Jul 16 0630 Kuiper KF-01 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Comms 151 456 x 464 x 51.9
Jul 19 0352 Starlink Group 17-3 Falcon 9 Vandenberg SLC4E Comms 152 267 x 280 x 97.6
Jul 22 2112 O3b mPOWER 9 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Comms 153A 2657 x 7074 x 9.6
O3b mPOWER 10 Comms 153B 2654 x 7018 x 9.7
Jul 23 1813 TRACERS T1 Falcon 9 Vandenberg SLC4E Sci 154 588 x 594 x 97.7
TRACERS T2 Sci 154
Bard Tech 154
LIDE Tech 154
REAL Tech 154
Skykraft 4A Comms 154
Skykraft 4B Comms 154
Skykraft 4C Comms 154
Skykraft 4D Comms 154
Skykraft 4E Comms 154
Jul 25 0554 Ionosfera-M No. 3 Soyuz-2-1b/Fregat Vostochniy PU1S Sci 155 819 x 822 x 98.6
Ionosfera-M No. 4 Sci 155 819 x 822 x 98.6
Nahid 2 Tech? 155 495 x 503 x 97.4
Innosat16 Tech? 155
Innosat3 Tech? 155
Geoskan-1 Tech? 155
Geoskan-2 Tech? 155
Geoskan-3 Tech? 155
Geoskan-4 Tech? 155
Geoskan-5 Tech? 155
Geoskan-6 Tech? 155
239Alferov Tech? 155
AstroLine-1 Tech? 155
AstroLine-2 Tech? 155
AstroLine-3 Tech? 155
AstroLine-4 Tech? 155
ANSAT-1 Tech? 155
SCH-619 Tech? 155
SM-3.1 Tech? 155
CSTP-4.4 Tech? 155
Jul 26 0203 CO3D F1 to F4 Vega-C Kourou Sci 156 499 x 500 x 97.5
MicroCarb Sci 156 642 x 665 x 98.0
Jul 26 0901 Starlink Group 10-26 Falcon 9 Canaveral Comms 157 262 x 272 x 53.2
Jul 27 0431 Starlink Group 17-2 Falcon 9 Vandenberg Comms 158 267 x 280 x 97.6
Jul 27 1003 Weixing Hulianwang Digui 05 Chang Zheng 6A Taiyuan Comms 159 996 x 1008 x 86.5
Jul 29 0411 Enshi Xidou Shanquan Shuang Quxian 1 Jiuquan Imaging 160 496 x 511 x 97.4
Jul 29 2235? Eris Flight 1 Eris Bowen Test F06 -6378 x 0 x 20
Jul 30 0337 Starlink Group 10-29 Falcon 9 Canaveral Comms 161 266 x 273 x 53.2
Jul 30 0749 Weixing Hulianwang Digui 06 Chang Zheng 8A Hainan LC1 Comms 162 866 x 876 x 50.0
Jul 30 1210 NISAR GSLV Mk II Satish Dhawan SLP Radar 163A 734 x 749 x 98.4
Jul 31 0200 PRSC-S1 Kuaizhou-1A Xichang Radar? 164A 544 x 555 x 41.1
Jul 31 1835 Starlink Group 13-4 Falcon 9 Vandenberg Comms 165 312 x 326 x 97.6
USA 549, USA 550 Imaging? 165 312 x 326 x 97.6
Aug 1 1543 Dragon Crew-11 Falcon 9 Kennedy LC39A Spaceship 166A 192 x 214 x 51.6
Aug 4 0757 Starlink Group 10-30 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Comms 167A 265 x 274 x 53.2
Aug 4 1021 Weixing Hulianwang Digui 07 Chang Zheng 12 Hainan LC2 Comms 168A 893 x 905 x 50.0
Aug 5 0410 Kushinada-I Electron Mahia LC1B Radar 169A 569 x 582 x 42.0
Table of Recent Suborbital Launches
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New Shepard NS-34 took off at 1242:23 UTC Aug 3 to 106.9 km
apogee; flight duration 10m5s. J.D. Russell (space traveller 713) made
his second flight; Lionel Pitchford, Gokhan Erdem, Sun Yuchen (Justin
Sun), Arvinder Bahal, and Deborah Martorell became space travellers 753
to 757.
Date UT Payload Rocket Site Mission Apogee Target
Jul 15 0300 S-310-46 S-310 Uchinoura Ionos. 127 Pacific
Jul 18 1900 SNIFS Black Brant IX White Sands Solar UV 350 White Sands
Jul 20 Test Qased Shahroud Test 500? Arabian Sea?
Jul 24 0130? MUFFIN Terrier Oriole? Wallops Target 100? Atlantic
Aug 3 1242 NS-34 New Shepard W Texas Tourist 107 W Texas
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| Jonathan McDowell | |
| Somerville MA 02143 | inter : planet4589 at gmail |
| USA | twitter: @planet4589 |
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