Liftoff: SpaceX Starship Flight Test#13 | Starbase Texas

Liftoff: SpaceX Starship Flight Test#13 | Starbase Texas

The thirteenth flight test of Starship successfully launched Friday, July 24, 2026, at 5:51 p.m. Central Time (CT). This was the second flight of the Starship and Super Heavy V3 vehicles and the first Starship flight to deploy "next generation" Starlink V3 satellites.

Watch the launch broadcast and read the flight report here: 

https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-13

The flight test began with Super Heavy igniting all 33 Raptor 3 engines and ascending over the Gulf of Mexico. The successful first-stage ascent was followed by a hot-staging maneuver with Starship’s upper stage igniting its six Raptor engines to continue its flight to space.

Following stage separation, the Super Heavy booster performed a directional flip maneuver. The startup sequence was modified for this flight to be more robust to timing variability in engine startup and flip in the desired direction. This is done to increase overall performance. The booster successfully completed the high thrust portion of the boostback burn with all 33 engines, the first time with a Super Heavy V3, before ending the burn early. It attempted to relight its engines for the landing burn with a subset successfully igniting before experiencing a hard splashdown in the Gulf.

After completing a full-duration ascent burn on all six Raptor engines, Starship achieved its planned velocity and trajectory. Starship then successfully deployed all 20 Starlink V3 satellites. SpaceX engineers were able to successfully communicate with every satellite using radio frequency and laser links and downloaded key telemetry from the satellites. The Starlink satellites were deployed on the pre-planned trajectory and are expected to have demised upon reentry approximately 20 minutes after deployment.

The vehicle also reignited a single Raptor engine in an in-space demonstration of a core capability for future orbital missions.

Starship re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere and was able to gather critical data on the performance of its heatshield before executing a dynamic banking move to mimic the trajectory that future missions returning to Starbase will fly. Starship then guided itself using its four flaps to the pre-planned splashdown zone in the Indian Ocean. After relighting all three Raptor engines, Starship executed a landing flip, landing burn, and soft splashdown, coming to rest intact in the Indian Ocean and providing critical views of an intact heatshield for the first time.

NASA plans to use a lunar lander version of Starship to deliver astronauts and cargo to the Moon during the Artemis IV mission and beyond through the Human Landing System (HLS) Program.

Learn more about Starship:
https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/

Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):
https://www.spacex.com/media/starship_users_guide_v1.pdf

Image Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Date: July 24, 2026

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #ArtemisIV #Starship #StarshipV3 #FlightTest13 #ReusableSpacecraft #SuperHeavy #SuperHeavyV3 #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Noctilucent Clouds over Finland | Earth Science

Noctilucent Clouds over Finland | Earth Science

Astrophotographer Mikko Peussa: "Bright noctilucent clouds of striking shapes."

At high latitudes in the summer months, iridescent clouds form in a part of the atmosphere roughly 50 to 86 kilometers (30 to 54 miles) above the surface of our planet. Their high altitude allows them to reflect sunlight after the Sun has set. These are called noctilucent or polar mesospheric clouds.

Noctilucent clouds (NLCs), or night shining clouds are tenuous cloud-like phenomena in the upper atmosphere. They consist of ice crystals and from the ground are only visible during astronomical twilight. Noctilucent roughly means "night shining" in Latin. They are most often observed during the summer months from latitudes between ±50° and ±70°. Too faint to be seen in daylight, they are visible only when the observer and the lower layers of the atmosphere are in Earth's shadow while these very high clouds are still in sunlight. Recent studies suggest that increased atmospheric methane emissions produce additional water vapor through chemical reactions once the methane molecules reach the mesosphere—creating, or reinforcing existing, noctilucent clouds.

Finland is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, opposite Estonia.

Image Credit: Mikko Peussa 
Location: Rusko, Finland
Photographer's website: https://www.taivaanvahti.fi/observations/show/146405
Release Date: July 24, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Sun #Planets #Earth #Weather #Meteorology #Atmosphere #WaterVapor #Clouds #IceCrystals #NoctilucentClouds #PolarMesosphericClouds #Astrophotography #Astrophotographers #MikkoPeussa #CitizenScience #Finland #Suomi #STEM #Education

Aurora Australis: A Tribute to Sergey, Sergei & Chris | International Space Station

Aurora Australis: A Tribute to Sergey, Sergei & Chris | International Space Station

Expedition 74 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir: "Our crewmate Chris Williams, stated a few weeks ago that he was hoping for another round of aurora viewing from the International Space Station before his departure, and the solar system delivered! Wishing the 74S crew a journey home that is as spectacular as the ethereal glow of the Aurora Australis. It has been an absolute honor flying with you Sergey, Sergei, and Chris."

Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey-Kud-Sverchkov of Russia handed over command of the orbital outpost to Jessica Meir this Saturday morning, July 25, 2026. Then he, Sergei Mikaev, and Chris Williams will end their eight-month space research mission at 3:03 a.m. on Sunday when they undock from the Rassvet module aboard the Soyuz MS-28. Expedition 75 officially begins and Expedition 74 ends when the Soyuz departs the orbital outpost. They will parachute back to Earth inside the Soyuz and land in Kazakhstan at 6:25 a.m. EST (3:25 p.m. local time).

Also known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), auroras are colorful, dynamic, and often visually delicate displays of an intricate dance of particles and magnetism between the Sun and Earth called space weather. When energetic particles from space collide with atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, they can cause the colorful glow that we call auroras.

Learn more about auroras: 
https://science.nasa.gov/sun/auroras/

Follow Expedition 74:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 74 Crew
Station Commander: Jessica Meir
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Sergei Mikaev, Anna Kikina, Pyotr Dubrov, Sergey-Kud Sverchkov (Russia)

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jack Hathaway, Chris Williams, Anil Menon

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Video Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center/J. Meir
Duration: 1 minute
Release Date: July 24, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Earth #Aurora #AuroraAustralis #Astronauts #JessicaMeir #AstronautVideography #ChrisWilliams #Europe #France #ESA #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition74 #InternationalCooperation #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

SpaceX Starship Splashdown on Flight Test#13 | Starbase Texas

SpaceX Starship Splashdown on Flight Test#13 | Starbase Texas

"Splashdown confirmed! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on the 13th flight test of Starship!"

The thirteenth flight test of Starship successfully launched Friday, July 24, 2026 at 5:51 p.m. Central Time (CT). This flight aimed to complete similar objectives targeted on the previous flight test that debuted the Starship and Super Heavy V3 vehicles, while also carrying next-generation Starlink V3 satellites for the first time.

Watch the launch broadcast here and read about the flight's objectives: 

https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-13

NASA plans to use a lunar lander version of Starship to deliver astronauts and cargo to the Moon during the Artemis IV mission and beyond through the Human Landing System (HLS) Program.

Learn more about Starship:
https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/

Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):
https://www.spacex.com/media/starship_users_guide_v1.pdf

Video Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Duration: 1 minute, 21 seconds

Date: July 24, 2026

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #ArtemisIV #Starship #StarshipV3 #FlightTest13 #ReusableSpacecraft #SuperHeavy #SuperHeavyV3 #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

SpaceX Starship Liftoff on Flight Test#13 | Starbase Texas

SpaceX Starship Liftoff on Flight Test#13 | Starbase Texas

The thirteenth flight test of Starship launched Friday, July 24, 2026 at 5:51 p.m. Central Time (CT). This flight aims to complete similar objectives targeted on the previous flight test that debuted the Starship and Super Heavy V3 vehicles, while also carrying next-generation Starlink V3 satellites for the first time.

Watch the launch broadcast here: 

https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-13

The booster’s primary test objective will be executing a successful launch, ascent, stage separation, boostback burn, and landing burn at an offshore landing point in the Gulf of America. There have been several modifications to hardware and software to address issues seen on the previous flight.

At stage separation on Flight 12, slight differences in engine startup on the ship caused the directional flip of the booster to be off by approximately 90 degrees. The startup sequence has been modified to be more robust to timing variability and more reliably flip in the desired direction, which is done to increase overall performance. After stage separation and the flip, the Super Heavy booster attempted its boostback burn. Five of its 33 engines experienced issues when attempting to re-light causing the boostback burn to end early. The Super Heavy on this upcoming flight has hardware modifications to improve re-light reliability along with updates to engine alarms and aborts to match the conditions seen in the multi-engine flight environment.

The Starship upper stage’s primary objectives include the deployment of 20 Starlink V3 satellites, a relight of a single Raptor engine while in space, and another controlled entry, descent, and splashdown in the Indian Ocean. There have also been several modifications to Starship’s propulsion system to address the engine out issue experienced on the previous flight.

Approximately 40 seconds after stage separation, Starship lost one of its three Raptor vacuum optimized engines. The vehicle was able to demonstrate its engine out capability and reach its planned suborbital trajectory. Several hardware and operational modifications have been made to address the interconnected causes with additional reliability improvements planned in upcoming versions of the Raptor engine.

For the first time, Starship will carry V3 Starlink satellites to space, which aim to greatly expand the network's capacity and user speeds. As part of this initial test, Starship is planned to deploy 20 satellites which will extend solar arrays and antennas and will attempt to connect with the larger Starlink constellation via high-capacity lasers. The Starlink satellites will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship and are expected to demise upon reentry approximately 20 minutes after deployment.

Six of the satellites have been modified with a suite of cameras to scan Starship’s heat shield and transmit imagery down to operators to continue testing methods of analyzing Starship’s heat shield readiness for return to launch site on future missions. Several tiles on Starship have been painted white to simulate missing tiles and serve as imaging targets in the test.

Several upgrades and experiments related to Starship’s heatshield will also be tested to continue iteration towards a fully and rapidly reusable design. Multiple tiles will be attached to the metallic side of Starship’s aft flaps along with modified tiles and attachment mechanisms in the heatshield covering the aft skirt to gather flight data on different attachment options. Finally, Starship’s heatshield will have load sensing tiles to take measurements as the vehicle experiences higher dynamic pressure on ascent than previous flights, putting added stress on the tile attachments in exchange for increased payload to orbit capability.

NASA plans to use a lunar lander version of Starship to deliver astronauts and cargo to the Moon during the Artemis IV mission and beyond through the Human Landing System (HLS) Program.

Learn more about Starship:
https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/

Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):
https://www.spacex.com/media/starship_users_guide_v1.pdf

Video Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Duration: 46 seconds

Date: July 24, 2026

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #ArtemisIV #Starship #StarshipV3 #FlightTest13 #ReusableSpacecraft #SuperHeavy #SuperHeavyV3 #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

SpaceX's Starbase Texas: Starship Test Launch Site | International Space Station

SpaceX's Starbase Texas: Starship Test Launch Site | International Space Station

Expedition 74 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Anil Menon shared this image from the International Space Station today: "Our view of Starbase from space! Here's to a successful launch."

Starbase is located in Cameron County, Texas, USA, near the mouth of the Rio Grande and adjacent to the Mexico-United States border. Starbase serves as the headquarters for SpaceX's Starship program, where the company builds, tests, and launches its spacecraft. Starbase was officially incorporated as a city in May 2025, with a near-unanimous vote by SpaceX employees. 

NASA plans to use a lunar lander version of Starship to deliver astronauts and cargo to the Moon during the Artemis IV mission and beyond through the Human Landing System (HLS) Program.

Learn more about Starship:
https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/

Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):
https://www.spacex.com/media/starship_users_guide_v1.pdf

Follow Expedition 74:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 74 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey-Kud Sverchkov (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Sergei Mikaev, Anna Kikina, Pyotr Dubrov

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Chris Williams, Anil Menon

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center/A. Menon

Date: July 24, 2026

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #ISS #Astronauts #AnilMenon #AstronautPhotography #Expedition74 #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #ArtemisIV #Starship #StarshipV3 #FlightTest13 #ReusableSpacecraft #SuperHeavy #SuperHeavyV3 #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Close-up: Virgo Cluster Galaxy NGC 4654—A One-sided Spiral | Hubble

Close-up: Virgo Cluster Galaxy NGC 4654—A One-sided Spiral | Hubble

The NASA/European Space Agency Hubble picture is a spiral galaxy struggling against titanic forces that appear on galactic scales in space. This is NGC 4654, an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo (the Maiden). “Intermediate” means that it lies between the spiral galaxies that have a bar across the center and those that do not with a weak bar structure in its center. It is situated 72 million light-years from Earth in the Virgo Cluster, a particularly massive and populous galaxy cluster. NGC 4654 is just north of the celestial equator, making it visible from the northern hemisphere and most of the southern hemisphere. 

NGC 4654 is particularly asymmetric with a rounded and clearly-defined edge on one side and a long tail of gas stretching out from the opposite side—beyond Hubble’s view in this image. The cause of this gaseous tail is the same as for many of the other galaxies jostling in the crowded Virgo Cluster: namely, ram pressure stripping. NGC 4654 moves with such high velocity through space that it sweeps up and rams through the intracluster medium, the hot, rarefied gas filling the space between the Virgo Cluster’s galaxies. The intracluster medium in turn exerts a “ram pressure” on the galaxy, compressing the galaxy’s leading edge and tugging at its gas, creating the elongated tail. 

It is not just the galaxy’s gas that is unevenly distributed, its stars are too. This is more unusual for a spiral galaxy. While the spiral arm on its leading edge is rich with stars and gas, the opposite arm noticeably lacks stars, influencing the galaxy’s lopsided spiral shape. It is thought that ram pressure alone is unlikely to have had this effect. Rather, NGC 4654 has also been subjected to the gravitational force of the fellow Virgo Cluster galaxy NGC 4639. While the two galaxies are far apart now, a fly-by interaction between them around 500 million years ago ripped away NGC 4654’s gas along one side, limiting star formation there and creating the asymmetry in its shape.

Many galaxies that undergo ram pressure stripping suffer reduced star formation rates as the cold gas that collapses to form their stars is pulled away and lost. NGC 4654, however, is still forming nearly two Suns’ worth of stars every year, a rate comparable to other galaxies of similar size. The active star formation can be seen in the latest Hubble data used in this image that picks up on a wavelength of red light emitted by the clouds of energized gas where newborn stars lurk. The bright pink bubbles appear all across NGC 4654, from its forward spiral arm, to around its weak bar, and out to the edge of its disc.

The data used for this image come from two observing programs that have the aim of linking gas in galaxies with star formation. By observing many prominent galaxies in the vicinity of our own, researchers hope to better understand how gas moves around in galaxies, where and when it collapses to form stars and star clusters, and what effect those new stars have on the gas around them.

Image Description: A spiral galaxy. It has a prominent spiral arm on one side (lower left) and a wide, glowing core. Dark brown filaments of dust swirl through its disc, while blue clusters of stars are found mostly going out to its arm. On the opposite side to the arm (upper right), gas trails off from the disc, out of the view in this image. A matching spiral arm is not visible on this side. The galaxy lies on a dark background.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker, J. Lee and the PHANGS-HST Team

Duration: 30 seconds
Date: July 24, 2026

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarFormation #Galaxies #IntermediateSpiralGalaxies #VirgoCluster #NGC4654 #InteractingGalaxies #NGC4639 #RamPressureStripping #VirgoConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Virgo Cluster Galaxy NGC 4654: A One-sided Spiral | Hubble

Virgo Cluster Galaxy NGC 4654: A One-sided Spiral | Hubble

The NASA/European Space Agency Hubble picture is a spiral galaxy struggling against titanic forces that appear on galactic scales in space. This is NGC 4654, an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo (the Maiden). “Intermediate” means that it lies between the spiral galaxies that have a bar across the center and those that do not with a weak bar structure in its center. It is situated 72 million light-years from Earth in the Virgo Cluster, a particularly massive and populous galaxy cluster. NGC 4654 is just north of the celestial equator, making it visible from the northern hemisphere and most of the southern hemisphere. 

NGC 4654 is particularly asymmetric with a rounded and clearly-defined edge on one side and a long tail of gas stretching out from the opposite side—beyond Hubble’s view in this image. The cause of this gaseous tail is the same as for many of the other galaxies jostling in the crowded Virgo Cluster: namely, ram pressure stripping. NGC 4654 moves with such high velocity through space that it sweeps up and rams through the intracluster medium, the hot, rarefied gas filling the space between the Virgo Cluster’s galaxies. The intracluster medium in turn exerts a “ram pressure” on the galaxy, compressing the galaxy’s leading edge and tugging at its gas, creating the elongated tail. 

It is not just the galaxy’s gas that is unevenly distributed, its stars are too. This is more unusual for a spiral galaxy. While the spiral arm on its leading edge is rich with stars and gas, the opposite arm noticeably lacks stars, influencing the galaxy’s lopsided spiral shape. It is thought that ram pressure alone is unlikely to have had this effect. Rather, NGC 4654 has also been subjected to the gravitational force of the fellow Virgo Cluster galaxy NGC 4639. While the two galaxies are far apart now, a fly-by interaction between them around 500 million years ago ripped away NGC 4654’s gas along one side, limiting star formation there and creating the asymmetry in its shape.

Many galaxies that undergo ram pressure stripping suffer reduced star formation rates as the cold gas that collapses to form their stars is pulled away and lost. NGC 4654, however, is still forming nearly two Suns’ worth of stars every year, a rate comparable to other galaxies of similar size. The active star formation can be seen in the latest Hubble data used in this image that picks up on a wavelength of red light emitted by the clouds of energized gas where newborn stars lurk. The bright pink bubbles appear all across NGC 4654, from its forward spiral arm, to around its weak bar, and out to the edge of its disc.

The data used for this image come from two observing programs that have the aim of linking gas in galaxies with star formation. By observing many prominent galaxies in the vicinity of our own, researchers hope to better understand how gas moves around in galaxies, where and when it collapses to form stars and star clusters, and what effect those new stars have on the gas around them.

Image Description: A spiral galaxy. It has a prominent spiral arm on one side (lower left) and a wide, glowing core. Dark brown filaments of dust swirl through its disc, while blue clusters of stars are found mostly going out to its arm. On the opposite side to the arm (upper right), gas trails off from the disc, out of the view in this image. A matching spiral arm is not visible on this side. The galaxy lies on a dark background.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker, J. Lee and the PHANGS-HST Team
Date: July 24, 2026

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarFormation #Galaxies #IntermediateSpiralGalaxies #VirgoCluster #NGC4654 #InteractingGalaxies #NGC4639 #RamPressureStripping #VirgoConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Drone views: China CAS Space Lijian-1 Commercial Rocket Launches 5 Satellites

Drone views: China CAS Space Lijian-1 Commercial Rocket Launches 5 Satellites

China successfully launched five satellites aboard the Lijian-1 Y15 carrier rocket at 7:33am Beijing time on July 24, 2026, from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone in northwest China. 

The five satellites, including an orbital data center demonstrator and a weather satellite, were placed into their preset sun-synchronous orbits. This mission marks the 15th flight of the Lijian-1 carrier rocket.

Satellite list: Tianyi-48, Gande-1-01, Xiguang-2-03, Jitianxing-A-04, and Yinglong Fengguang-1

Tianyi-48, developed by Spacety, adds another member to the company's remote sensing satellite constellation. Gande-1-01 is a scientific experiment satellite, while Xiguang-2-03 serves optical remote sensing purposes. Jitianxing-A-04 and Yinglong Fengguang-1 are dedicated to Earth observation and scientific experiments in their respective domains. Four out of five customer payloads delivered from Dongfeng have a form of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for operational use or trials.

Lijian-1 (Kinetica-1) is CAS Space’s first launch vehicle and consists of four stages, all burning solid fuel. CAS Space offers the ability to launch a single satellite to utilize all of the rocket’s payload capacity, however more ‘rideshare’ missions occur for multiple satellites to be delivered in one launch.

The payload capacity of the launch vehicle is:

2,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit

1,500 kilograms to a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit

The first-stage is powered by a solid rocket booster that burns an unspecified solid fuel, generating 200 tons of thrust. The second-stage is also powered by a solid rocket booster, producing 110 tons of thrust with the same unidentified propellant. The-third stage, also using the undisclosed propellant, generates 45 tons of thrust. Finally, the fourth-stage is powered by another solid rocket booster, providing 8 tons of thrust with the same solid propellant.

On its launch pad, Lijian-1 stands at 30 meters tall. The first two stages have a diameter of 2.65 meters, the fairing has a diameter of either 2.65 or 3.35 meters. When prepared for launch Lijian-1 weighs a believed 135,000 kilograms.

CAS Space is a Chinese commercial space launch provider based in Guangzhou, capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. CAS Space was founded in 2018 and is majority owned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

Video Credit: CAS Space

Text Credit: Jack C.
Duration: 28 seconds
Date: July 24, 2026

#NASA #Space #Satellites #Earth #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing #China #中国 #CASSpace #中科宇航 #CAS #中国科学院 #Kinetica1 #Lijian1 #Lijian1Y15Rocket #Lijian1Y15 #LaunchVehicles #SolidFuelRockets #CGSTL #SatelliteLaunches #CommercialSpace #CAS #JiuquanSatelliteLaunchCenter #JSLC #InnerMongolia #STEM #Education #HD #Video

China CAS Space Lijian-1 Commercial Rocket Launches 5 Satellites to Orbit

China CAS Space Lijian-1 Commercial Rocket Launches 5 Satellites to Orbit

China successfully launched five satellites aboard the Lijian-1 Y15 carrier rocket at 7:33am Beijing time on July 24, 2026, from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone in northwest China. 

The five satellites, including an orbital data center demonstrator and a weather satellite, were placed into their preset sun-synchronous orbits. This mission marks the 15th flight of the Lijian-1 carrier rocket.

Satellite list: Tianyi-48, Gande-1-01, Xiguang-2-03, Jitianxing-A-04, and Yinglong Fengguang-1

Tianyi-48, developed by Spacety, adds another member to the company's remote sensing satellite constellation. Gande-1-01 is a scientific experiment satellite, while Xiguang-2-03 serves optical remote sensing purposes. Jitianxing-A-04 and Yinglong Fengguang-1 are dedicated to Earth observation and scientific experiments in their respective domains. Four out of five customer payloads delivered from Dongfeng have a form of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for operational use or trials.

Lijian-1 (Kinetica-1) is CAS Space’s first launch vehicle and consists of four stages, all burning solid fuel. CAS Space offers the ability to launch a single satellite to utilize all of the rocket’s payload capacity, however more ‘rideshare’ missions occur for multiple satellites to be delivered in one launch.

The payload capacity of the launch vehicle is:

2,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit

1,500 kilograms to a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit

The first-stage is powered by a solid rocket booster that burns an unspecified solid fuel, generating 200 tons of thrust. The second-stage is also powered by a solid rocket booster, producing 110 tons of thrust with the same unidentified propellant. The-third stage, also using the undisclosed propellant, generates 45 tons of thrust. Finally, the fourth-stage is powered by another solid rocket booster, providing 8 tons of thrust with the same solid propellant.

On its launch pad, Lijian-1 stands at 30 meters tall. The first two stages have a diameter of 2.65 meters, the fairing has a diameter of either 2.65 or 3.35 meters. When prepared for launch Lijian-1 weighs a believed 135,000 kilograms.

CAS Space is a Chinese commercial space launch provider based in Guangzhou, capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. CAS Space was founded in 2018 and is majority owned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

Image Credit: CAS Space

Text Credit: Jack C.
Date: July 24, 2026

#NASA #Space #Satellites #Earth #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing #China #中国 #CASSpace #中科宇航 #CAS #中国科学院 #Kinetica1 #Lijian1 #Lijian1Y15Rocket #Lijian1Y15 #LaunchVehicles #SolidFuelRockets #CGSTL #SatelliteLaunches #CommercialSpace #CAS #JiuquanSatelliteLaunchCenter #JSLC #InnerMongolia #STEM #Education

China CAS Space Lijian-1 Commercial Rocket Launches 5 Satellites to Orbit

China CAS Space Lijian-1 Commercial Rocket Launches 5 Satellites to Orbit

China successfully launched five satellites aboard the Lijian-1 Y15 carrier rocket at 7:33am Beijing time on July 24, 2026, from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone in northwest China. 

The five satellites, including an orbital data center demonstrator and a weather satellite, were placed into their preset sun-synchronous orbits. This mission marks the 15th flight of the Lijian-1 carrier rocket.

Satellite list: Tianyi-48, Gande-1-01, Xiguang-2-03, Jitianxing-A-04, and Yinglong Fengguang-1

Tianyi-48, developed by Spacety, adds another member to the company's remote sensing satellite constellation. Gande-1-01 is a scientific experiment satellite, while Xiguang-2-03 serves optical remote sensing purposes. Jitianxing-A-04 and Yinglong Fengguang-1 are dedicated to Earth observation and scientific experiments in their respective domains. Four out of five customer payloads delivered from Dongfeng have a form of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for operational use or trials.

Lijian-1 (Kinetica-1) is CAS Space’s first launch vehicle and consists of four stages, all burning solid fuel. CAS Space offers the ability to launch a single satellite to utilize all of the rocket’s payload capacity, however more ‘rideshare’ missions occur for multiple satellites to be delivered in one launch.

The payload capacity of the launch vehicle is:

2,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit

1,500 kilograms to a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit

The first-stage is powered by a solid rocket booster that burns an unspecified solid fuel, generating 200 tons of thrust. The second-stage is also powered by a solid rocket booster, producing 110 tons of thrust with the same unidentified propellant. The-third stage, also using the undisclosed propellant, generates 45 tons of thrust. Finally, the fourth-stage is powered by another solid rocket booster, providing 8 tons of thrust with the same solid propellant.

On its launch pad, Lijian-1 stands at 30 meters tall. The first two stages have a diameter of 2.65 meters, the fairing has a diameter of either 2.65 or 3.35 meters. When prepared for launch Lijian-1 weighs a believed 135,000 kilograms.

CAS Space is a Chinese commercial space launch provider based in Guangzhou, capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. CAS Space was founded in 2018 and is majority owned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

Video Credit: CCTV

Text Credit: Jack C.
Duration: 29 seconds
Date: July 24, 2026

#NASA #Space #Satellites #Earth #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing #China #中国 #CASSpace #中科宇航 #CAS #中国科学院 #Kinetica1 #Lijian1 #Lijian1Y15Rocket #Lijian1Y15 #LaunchVehicles #SolidFuelRockets #CGSTL #SatelliteLaunches #CommercialSpace #CAS #JiuquanSatelliteLaunchCenter #JSLC #InnerMongolia #STEM #Education #HD #Video

China Long March 3B Rocket Survives Lightning Strike to Deliver Satellite to Orbit

China Long March 3B Rocket Survives Lightning Strike to Deliver Satellite to Orbit

[amateur video] A China Long March 3B/E rocket was struck by lightning about 30 seconds after liftoff on Thursday, July 23, 2026, at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern Sichuan province. Nevertheless, the rocket successfully delivered the Tianlian-2-06 relay satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit to expand the China Space Station's communications capacity.

Video Credit: Cosmic Peguin

Duration: 51 seconds
Date: July 23, 2026

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SpaceX Starship & Super Heavy Booster at Sunset: Drone views | Starbase Texas

SpaceX Starship & Super Heavy Booster at Sunset: Drone views | Starbase Texas

The thirteenth flight test of Starship is preparing to launch as early as Friday, July 24, 2026. The 90-minute launch window will open at 5:45 p.m. CT. The upcoming flight will aim to complete similar objectives targeted on the previous flight test that debuted the Starship and Super Heavy V3 vehicles, while also carrying next-generation Starlink V3 satellites for the first time.

A live webcast of the flight test will begin about 30 minutes before liftoff that you can watch here: https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-13

The booster’s primary test objective will be executing a successful launch, ascent, stage separation, boostback burn, and landing burn at an offshore landing point in the Gulf of America. There have been several modifications to hardware and software to address issues seen on the previous flight.

At stage separation on Flight 12, slight differences in engine startup on the ship caused the directional flip of the booster to be off by approximately 90 degrees. The startup sequence has been modified to be more robust to timing variability and more reliably flip in the desired direction, which is done to increase overall performance. After stage separation and the flip, the Super Heavy booster attempted its boostback burn. Five of its 33 engines experienced issues when attempting to re-light causing the boostback burn to end early. The Super Heavy on this upcoming flight has hardware modifications to improve re-light reliability along with updates to engine alarms and aborts to match the conditions seen in the multi-engine flight environment.

The Starship upper stage’s primary objectives include the deployment of 20 Starlink V3 satellites, a relight of a single Raptor engine while in space, and another controlled entry, descent, and splashdown in the Indian Ocean. There have also been several modifications to Starship’s propulsion system to address the engine out issue experienced on the previous flight.

Approximately 40 seconds after stage separation, Starship lost one of its three Raptor vacuum optimized engines. The vehicle was able to demonstrate its engine out capability and reach its planned suborbital trajectory. Several hardware and operational modifications have been made to address the interconnected causes with additional reliability improvements planned in upcoming versions of the Raptor engine.

For the first time, Starship will carry V3 Starlink satellites to space, which aim to greatly expand the network's capacity and user speeds. As part of this initial test, Starship is planned to deploy 20 satellites which will extend solar arrays and antennas and will attempt to connect with the larger Starlink constellation via high-capacity lasers. The Starlink satellites will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship and are expected to demise upon reentry approximately 20 minutes after deployment.

Six of the satellites have been modified with a suite of cameras to scan Starship’s heat shield and transmit imagery down to operators to continue testing methods of analyzing Starship’s heat shield readiness for return to launch site on future missions. Several tiles on Starship have been painted white to simulate missing tiles and serve as imaging targets in the test.

Several upgrades and experiments related to Starship’s heatshield will also be tested to continue iteration towards a fully and rapidly reusable design. Multiple tiles will be attached to the metallic side of Starship’s aft flaps along with modified tiles and attachment mechanisms in the heatshield covering the aft skirt to gather flight data on different attachment options. Finally, Starship’s heatshield will have load sensing tiles to take measurements as the vehicle experiences higher dynamic pressure on ascent than previous flights, putting added stress on the tile attachments in exchange for increased payload to orbit capability.

NASA plans to use a lunar lander version of Starship to deliver astronauts and cargo to the Moon during the Artemis IV mission and beyond through the Human Landing System (HLS) Program.

Learn more about Starship:
https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/

Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):
https://www.spacex.com/media/starship_users_guide_v1.pdf

Image Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Duration: 28 seconds

Release Date: July 23, 2026

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #ArtemisIV #Starship #StarshipV3 #FlightTest13 #ReusableSpacecraft #SuperHeavy #SuperHeavyV3 #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Preparing for SpaceX Starship's 13th Flight Test | Starbase Texas

Preparing for SpaceX Starship's 13th Flight Test | Starbase Texas

The thirteenth flight test of Starship is preparing to launch as early as Thursday, July 23, 2026. The 90-minute launch window will open at 5:45 p.m. CT. The upcoming flight will aim to complete similar objectives targeted on the previous flight test that debuted the Starship and Super Heavy V3 vehicles, while also carrying next-generation Starlink V3 satellites for the first time.

A live webcast of the flight test will begin about 30 minutes before liftoff that you can watch here: https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-13

The booster’s primary test objective will be executing a successful launch, ascent, stage separation, boostback burn, and landing burn at an offshore landing point in the Gulf of America. There have been several modifications to hardware and software to address issues seen on the previous flight.

At stage separation on Flight 12, slight differences in engine startup on the ship caused the directional flip of the booster to be off by approximately 90 degrees. The startup sequence has been modified to be more robust to timing variability and more reliably flip in the desired direction, which is done to increase overall performance. After stage separation and the flip, the Super Heavy booster attempted its boostback burn. Five of its 33 engines experienced issues when attempting to re-light causing the boostback burn to end early. The Super Heavy on this upcoming flight has hardware modifications to improve re-light reliability along with updates to engine alarms and aborts to match the conditions seen in the multi-engine flight environment.

The Starship upper stage’s primary objectives include the deployment of 20 Starlink V3 satellites, a relight of a single Raptor engine while in space, and another controlled entry, descent, and splashdown in the Indian Ocean. There have also been several modifications to Starship’s propulsion system to address the engine out issue experienced on the previous flight.

Approximately 40 seconds after stage separation, Starship lost one of its three Raptor vacuum optimized engines. The vehicle was able to demonstrate its engine out capability and reach its planned suborbital trajectory. Several hardware and operational modifications have been made to address the interconnected causes with additional reliability improvements planned in upcoming versions of the Raptor engine.

For the first time, Starship will carry V3 Starlink satellites to space, which aim to greatly expand the network's capacity and user speeds. As part of this initial test, Starship is planned to deploy 20 satellites which will extend solar arrays and antennas and will attempt to connect with the larger Starlink constellation via high-capacity lasers. The Starlink satellites will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship and are expected to demise upon reentry approximately 20 minutes after deployment.

Six of the satellites have been modified with a suite of cameras to scan Starship’s heat shield and transmit imagery down to operators to continue testing methods of analyzing Starship’s heat shield readiness for return to launch site on future missions. Several tiles on Starship have been painted white to simulate missing tiles and serve as imaging targets in the test.

Several upgrades and experiments related to Starship’s heatshield will also be tested to continue iteration towards a fully and rapidly reusable design. Multiple tiles will be attached to the metallic side of Starship’s aft flaps along with modified tiles and attachment mechanisms in the heatshield covering the aft skirt to gather flight data on different attachment options. Finally, Starship’s heatshield will have load sensing tiles to take measurements as the vehicle experiences higher dynamic pressure on ascent than previous flights, putting added stress on the tile attachments in exchange for increased payload to orbit capability.

NASA plans to use a lunar lander version of Starship to deliver astronauts and cargo to the Moon during the Artemis IV mission and beyond through the Human Landing System (HLS) Program.

Learn more about Starship:
https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/

Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):
https://www.spacex.com/media/starship_users_guide_v1.pdf

Image Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Release Dates: July 19-23, 2026

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #ArtemisIV #Starship #StarshipV3 #FlightTest13 #ReusableSpacecraft #SuperHeavy #SuperHeavyV3 #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Planet Mars Images: July 19-23, 2026 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

Planet Mars Images: July 19-23, 2026 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

MSL - sol 4958

Mars 2020 - sol 1927

Mars 2020 - sol 1927

MSL - sol 4961

MSL - sol 4961

MSL - sol 4954

MSL - sol 4959

MSL - sol 4958

Note: The circles are a result of using the Dust Removal Tool (DRT) tool, a spinning metal brush.

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Celebrating 13+ Years on Mars (2012-2025)

Mission Name: Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)

Rover Name: Curiosity

Main Job: To determine if Mars was ever habitable to microbial life. 

Launch: Nov. 6, 2011

Landing Date: Aug. 5, 2012, Gale Crater, Mars

Celebrating 5+ Years on Mars

Mission Name: Mars 2020

Rover Name: Perseverance

Main Job: Seek signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and soil) for return to Earth.

Launch: July 30, 2020

Landing: Feb. 18, 2021, Jezero Crater, Mars

For more information on NASA's Mars missions, visit: mars.nasa.gov

Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

Processing: Kevin M. Gill

Release Dates: July 19-23, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planets #Mars #Astrobiology #Geology #CuriosityRover #MSL #MountSharp #GaleCrater #PerseveranceRover #Mars2020 #JezeroCrater #Robotics #SpaceTechnology #SpaceEngineering #MSSS #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #CitizenScience #KevinGill #SpaceExploration #SolarSystem #STEM #Education

China's Orienspace Developing Larger Liquid-Fueled Gravity-2 Commercial Rocket

China's Orienspace Developing Larger Liquid-Fueled Gravity-2 Commercial Rocket

China on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, successfully sent a Gravity-1 carrier rocket into space from waters off the coast of Shanghai in east China, marking a complete success for this flight test mission.

The Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center launched the commercial rocket at 10:54 (Beijing Time), placing nine satellites into their designated orbits. The mission was the third flight of the Gravity-1 rocket.

This flight marks Gravity-1's first open-sea launch and China's first commercial sea-based launch in the East China Sea off the Yangtze River Delta.

After three flights, the rocket's overall reliability has been validated, and it is now transitioning from the trial phase into scaled commercial operations.

"With this launch accomplished, the next rocket will be used for the deployment of China's low‑orbit Internet satellite constellation. The fifth and sixth launches are scheduled for the third quarter of this year," said Xu Guoguang, chief designer and commander of the Gravity-1 rocket.

Gravity-1, a solid‑fuel rocket, has a maximum payload capacity of 6.5 tons. Given the capacity limitations of solid‑fuel designs, the team is pushing ahead with Gravity-2—a much larger, recoverable liquid‑fuel rocket with a low‑Earth orbit payload of 21.5 tons and a 500‑km sun‑synchronous orbit payload of 15 tons. The new rocket is scheduled to make its first flight in the fourth quarter of this year.

"The exploration of solid-fuel rocket launches at sea is also paving the way for future liquid-fuel rocket launches from the ocean. For liquid rockets, we are also considering alternative approaches, such as launching from a drilling platform. These methods are all on the table and will require further exploration," said Xu.

Video Credit: CCTV
Duration: 1 minute
Date: July 23, 2026

#NASA #Space #Satellites #Earth #China #中国 #OrienSpace #东方空间 #SeaLaunch #EastChinaSea #RocketLaunch #Gravity2Rockets #LiquidFuelRockets #Gravity1Rockets #引力1号 #Gravity1Y4Rocket #SolidFuelRockets #CommercialSpace #ChinaSpaceflight #SpaceTechnology #AerospaceEngineering #STEM #Education #HD #Video