Jonathan's Space Report
No. 844 2025 Apr 23 Somerville, MA
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International Space Station
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Expedition 72 continued until the undocking of Soyuz MS-26, with Aleksey Ovchinin (commander), Ivan Vagner,
Don Pettit, Anne McClain, Nicole Ayers, Takuya Onishi and Kirill Peskov.
Crew-9 (Freedom) undocked from IDA3 at 0505 Mar 18 with Hague, Gorbunov, Williams and Wilmore.
Dragon Crew-9 splashed down at about 2157:07 UTC Mar 18 in the Tallahasee recovery area,
in the Gulf of Mexico near 84.0W 29.3W. Hague and Gorbunov had launched
aboard Crew-9 and spent 171d 4h 39m 47s in flight. Williams and Wilmore were launched
on 2024 Jun 5 aboard Starliner CFT and spent 286d 7h 4m 52 in space.
On Mar 28 the Canadarm-2 arm unberthed the Cygnus NG-21 cargo ship, S.S. Francis R. Scobee,
from the nadir Unity port and released it into orbit at 1055 UTC. Cygnus NG-21 was deorbited
over the Pacific at around 1015 UTC Mar 30.
On Apr 2 the Progress MS-30 freighter reboosted the ISS orbit by 2.1 m/s.
The Soyuz MS-27 ferry spaceship was launched on Apr 8 carrying astronauts Ryzhikov, Zubritskiy and Kim
to the ISS. It docked with the Prichal nadir port at about 0857:44 UTC Apr 8.
Soyuz MS-26 undocked from Rassvet at about 2157:33 UTC Apr 19 carrying Ovchinin, Vagner and Pettit.
The ship landed in Kazakhstan at 0120:35 UTC Apr 20.
Expedition 73 began a 2157:33 UTC Apr 29 under the command of Takuya Onishi.
On Apr 21 the Dragon CRS-32 cargo ship was launched from KSC. The CRS-32 trunk carries the ESA ACES
atomic clock experiment and the US Space Force STP-H10 experiment pallet. For some reason NASA avoided
mentioning STP-H10 in its press materials and no views of the trunk were broadcast during the launch.
CRS-32 docked with the ISS at the IDA-3 port at 1240 UTC Apr 22.
Chinese Space Station
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On Mar 21 Astronauts Cai X. and Song L. made a spacewalk from the Wentian module, contining the installation
of external debris shields. The hatch was open from 0545 to 1250 UTC.
On Apr 6 or 7 an object was ejected from the station, later cataloged as 2021-035E. It may be the Naxing-4A/B
cubesat payload.
I took another look at the data on 2021-035D and conclude that it is also a payload. It was ejected from
CSS on 2024 Dec 6 at about 1730UTC; it made small orbit adjustments on Dec 28, Dec 30 and Jan 4,
and reentered on 2025 Apr 10.
Starlink
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Starlink Group 12-25 (13 DTC sats, 10 Ku V2MO sats) was launched on Mar 18 from Canaveral.
Starlink Group 11-7 (27 Ku V2M and V2MO sats) was launched on Mar 26 from Vandenberg.
Starlink Group 6-80 (28 Ku V2MO sats) was launched on Mar 31 from Canaveral.
Starlink Group 11-13 (27 Ku V2MO sats) was launched on Apr 4 from Vandenberg.
Starlink Group 6-72 (28 Ku V2MO sats) was launched on Apr 6 from Canaveral.
Starlink Group 11-11 (27 Ku V2MO sats) was launched on Apr 7 from Vandenberg.
Starlink Group 12-17 (13 DTC, 8 Ku V2M) was launched on Apr 13 from Kennedy.
Starlink Group 6-73 (27 Ku V2MO sats) was launched on Apr 14 from Canaveral.
Other Falcon 9 flights
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On Mar 21 SpaceX launched a cluster of eleven Starshield 'proliferated architecture' satellites
for the National Reconnaissance Office. (NRO refers to it as the eighth launch, but this includes
NROL-126 which had only two NRO payloads, and I suspect those payloads belong to a different program
than the clusters of many payloads).
Based on the number of gaps in the catalog it appears that this launch only deployed 11 payloads, likely
indicating a larger Starshield version.
On Mar 24 SpaceX launched the NROL-69 mission from Canaveral, putting
the USA 498 sat in an orbit of 1012 x 1199 km x 63.5 deg inclination. It
is presumed to be an INTRUDER class signals intelligence satellite. The
stage 2 deorbit burn was seen at about 2000 UTC over Europe.
On Apr 1 SpaceX launched Dragon Resilience on the Fram-2 private astronaut mission from KSC to a 90.0 deg
polar orbit. The four astronauts remained in orbit until Apr 4, with splashdown off the coast of Oceanside, California
at about 1619:28 UTC Apr 4 near 117.7W 33.0N.
On Apr 12 SpaceX launched another NRO Starshield cluster, with 22 satellites.
On Apr 20 SpaceX launched another NRO Starshield cluster, with 22 satellites.
On Apr 21 SpaceX launched the Bandwagon-3 mission, placing South Korea's Military Recon Sat 4 in orbit
along with a microwave radiometer satellite for Tomorrow.io. The Falcon 9 stage 2 performed its deorbit
burn over NW California and released the Atmos Space Cargo Phoenix-1 experimental inflatable
reentry vehicle onto a suborbital trajectory. The vehicle entered the atmosphere over the Atlantic
east of Brazil and returned diagnostic data.
Galactic Energy
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On Mar 21, Xinhe Dongli launched another Gushenxing-1 from Jiuquan with six more Yunyao GNSS-RO meteorology satellites.
Electron
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On Mar 26 Rocket Lab launched Electron flight 63 from Mahia carrying eight Orora Tech cubesats for
infrared wildfire monitoring.
CALT launches
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On Mar 26 CALT launched a CZ-3B with the Tianlian 2-04 data relay satellite.
It was tracked in GEO at 80.0E by Apr 4. The 80E location was used by Tianlian 2-01 until 2023
when that sat relocated to 77.0E.
On Mar 29 CALT launched a CZ-7A from Wenchang with the TJS 16 satellite.
It was cataloged in GTO on Mar 29; no new TLEs from Mar 30 to Apr 6, suggesting the apogee
burn happened on Mar 30. By Apr 7 it was tracked in GEO at 152.5E.
On Apr 10 CALT launched a CZ-3B from Xichang with the TJS 17 satellite. It maneuvered to GEO
at 152.8E, about 200 km from TJS 16.
An object, called TJS 15 AKM by Space Force, was tracked in a graveyard orbit starting on Mar 17.
It does not appear to be manuevering (in contrast to the TJS 3 subsatellite) and is likely
an apogee motor ejected from TJS 15 back on about Mar 11. A similar object was ejected from TJS 17
on Apr 14.
SAST launches
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On Apr 1 SAST launched a CZ-2D from Jiuquan with four Weixing Hulianwang Jishu Shiyan Weixing
low orbit satellite-internet test satellites.
On Apr 3 SAST launched a CZ-6 from Taiyuan with Tianping 3A-02, a calibration satellite
for space surveillance sensors.
On Apr 18 SAST launched a CZ-6A from Taiyuan with six Shiyan-27 satellites to a 1000 km
sun-sync orbit with 06:00 local time descending node. These Chinese government
satellites are likely experimental satellite with comm or sigint payloads.
Gaia
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On Mar 27 the Gaia astronomical observatory made its departure burn from
Sun-Earth L2 and headed out to a 1.02 x 1.08 AU x 0.1 deg solar orbit,
terminating its mission.
ISAR
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ISAR Aerospace carried out the first launch of its Spectrum rocket from
Andoya on Mar 30. After about 20s of stable vertical flight, vehicle
control was lost during a pitch-over maneuver and the rocket impacted
the water about 35s after launch.
NROL-174
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On Apr 16 a Northrop Grumman Minotaur IV was launched from Vandenberg to an orbit with
an inclination of around 63 to 70 deg, placing an unknown number of small NRO satellites
in orbit together with the Orion 38 fourth stage motor. The suborbital third stage reentered east
of Tierra del Fuego at around 2009 UTC.
MEV-1
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Space Logistics' Mission Extension Vehicle MEV-1 docked with the
Intelsat 901 satellite on 2020 Feb 25 to extend its life. After
successfully providing stationkeeping propulsion and attitude control
for the satellite for five years, on Mar 31 MEV-1 towed IS-901 to a GEO
graveyard orbit of 36187 x 36213 km x 0.1 deg and then on 2025 Apr 4 at
2000 UTC, undocked from it. MEV-1 will return to GEO and dock with a new
partner, the Australian Optus D3 communications satellite, to provide
life extension services to it. Optus D3 is owned by Singtel Optus, the
Australian subsidiary of Singapore telecom company Singtel.
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
Mar 16 1050 Kosmos-2585 Angara-1.2 Plesetsk LC35/1 Comms 54A 1492 x 1517 x 82.5
Kosmos-2586 Comms 54B
Kosmos-2587 Comms 54C
Mar 17 0807 Yunyao-1 55 to 60 Gushenxing-1 Jiuquan Meteo 55 528 x 546 x 97.6
Zhongke-1 06 to 07 Imaging 55
Mar 18 0131 Kineis 4A to 4E Electron Mahia Pad 1A Comms 56A 642 x 645 x 98.0
Mar 18 1957 Starlink Group 12-25 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Comms 57 283 x 292 x 43.0
Mar 21 0649 Starshield Falcon 9 Vandenberg SLC4E Imaging? 58 498 x 507 x 70.0
Mar 21 1107 Yunyao-1 43 to 48 Gushenxing-1 Jiuquan Meteo 59 530 x 546 x 97.6
Mar 24 1748 USA 498 (NROL-69) Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Sigint? 60A 1012 x 1199 x 63.5
Mar 26 1530 OTC-P1-1 to OTC-P1-8 Electron Mahia Pad 1B Imaging 61 526 x 552 x 97.5
Mar 26 1555 Tianlian 2-04 Chang Zheng 3B Xichang Comms 62A 189 x 35841 x 27.1
Mar 26 2211 Starlink Group 11-7 Falcon 9 Vandenberg SLC4E Comms 63 278 x 290 x 53.2
Mar 29 1605 TJS 16 Chang Zheng 7A Wenchang LC201 Sigint? 64A 164 x 35864 x 19.5
Mar 30 1030 Spectrum test flight Spectrum Andoya ISAR Test F04 -6378 x 1
Mar 31 1952 Starlink Group 6-80 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Comms 65A 274 x 284 x 43.0
Apr 1 0146 Fram-2 Falcon 9 Kennedy LC39A Spaceship 66A 202 x 413 x 90.0
Apr 1 0400 WHJSW 6-01 to 6-04 Chang Zheng 2D Jiuquan Comms 67 445 x 457 x 55.0
Apr 3 0212 Tianping 3A-02 Chang Zheng 6 Taiyuan Calib 68A 452 x 795 x 43.0
Apr 4 0102 Starlink Group 11-13 Falcon 9 Vandenberg SLC4E Comms 69A 271 x 284 x 53.2
Apr 6 0307 Starlink Group 6-72 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Comms 70A 280 x 289 x 43.0
Apr 6 Naxing-4A/B?? CSS, LEO Tech 21035E 372 x 383 x 41.5
Apr 7 2306 Starlink Group 11-11 Falcon 9 Vandenberg SLC4E Comms 71 271 x 284 x 53.2
Apr 8 0547 Soyuz MS-27 Soyuz-2-1A Baykonur LC31 Spaceship 72A 197 x 224 x 51.7
Apr 10 1647 TJS 17 Chang Zheng 3B Xichang Unknown 73A 204 x 36179 x 19.0
Apr 12 1225 USA 499 to USA 520 (NROL-192) Falcon 9 Vandenberg SLC4E Imaging? 74 300 x 300 x 70?
Apr 13 0053 Starlink Group 12-17 Falcon 9 Kennedy LC39A Comms 75 284 x 292 x 43.0
Apr 14 0400 Starlink Group 6-73 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Comms 76 277 x 286 x 43.0
Apr 16 1933 USA 521 to USA 522 (NROL-174) Minotaur IV Vandenberg SLC8 Sigint? 77A 600?x 600?x 63?
Apr 18 2251 Shiyan 27-01 to 27-06 Chang Zheng 6A Taiyuan Unknown 78 1000 x 1010 x 99.7
Apr 20 1229 USA 523 to 544 (NROL-145) Falcon 9 Vandenberg SLC4E Imaging? 79 300 x 300 x 70?
Apr 21 0815 Dragon CRS-32 Falcon 9 Kennedy LC39A Cargo 80A 190 x 210 x 51.6
Apr 22 0048 ADD-425 No. 4 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Radar 81A 567 x 607 x 45.4
Tomorrow-S7 Weather 81B 572 x 581 x 45.4
Phoenix 1 Reentry 81 -35?x 584 x 45.4
Table of Recent Suborbital Launches
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NS-31 flew on Apr 14 carrying six women passengers, the first all female spaceflight since Vostok-6.
The passengers were Lauren Sanchez, Katheryn Hudson, Amanda Nguyen, Aisha Bowe, Gayle King and Kerianne Flynn.
Date UT Payload Rocket Site Mission Apogee Target
Mar 11 0915 REXUS 33 Imp.Orion? Kiruna Micrograv 80? ESRANGE
Mar 13 0523 REXUS 34 Imp.Orion? Kiruna Micrograv 80? ESRANGE
Mar 19 PrSM PrSM Vandenberg Test 100? Pacific
Mar 24 HTV-1 (FTX-40) MRBM Target C-17, Kauai LP8 Target 300? Pacific
Mar 25 1152 AWESOME 1 Terrier Imp.Mal. Poker Flat Auroral 200? PFRR
Mar 25 1230 AWESOME 2 Black Brant XIIA Poker Flat Auroral 250? PFRR
Mar 29 0930 AWESOME 3 Terrier Imp.Mal. Poker Flat Auroral 200? PFRR
Apr 8 T-Minus DART DART ESRANGE Aeron 80? ESRANGE
Apr 14 1330 NS-31 New Shepard West Texas Tourist 107 West Texas
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| Jonathan McDowell | |
| Somerville MA 02143 | inter : planet4589 at gmail |
| USA | twitter: @planet4589 |
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