Tag: CubeSats
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China Launches International Earth-Moon CubeSat Constellation to Support Future Lunar Bases
China has formally launched the International Earth-Moon CubeSat Constellation Big Science Program, which aims to deploy 30 CubeSats across cislunar space in six batches. The preliminary schedule targets the completion of all launches and deployments around 2030. The satellites will conduct space-environment monitoring, gamma-ray burst observations and lunar-resource surveys, generating data intended to support future…
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Isar Aerospace Makes History With First Orbital Launch From Western Europe
Isar Aerospace became the first company to launch a rocket into orbit from Western European soil on September 5, 2026, when its Spectrum vehicle lifted off from Andøya Spaceport in northern Norway and successfully deployed five CubeSats. The milestone came on only the German company’s second flight, following a failed debut in March 2025 and…
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ESA Awards €81.2 Million Contract for Apophis Asteroid Mission
The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded OHB Italia an €81.2 million contract to build, assemble and test the spacecraft for its Ramses mission, which will study the asteroid Apophis during a rare close flyby of Earth in 2029. The contract signals that the mission has entered full development following approval of funding at ESA’s…
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Ariane 6 successfully launches on maiden flight from French Guiana
Europe’s new heavy-lift rocket, Ariane 6, has successfully launched on its maiden flight. Liftoff occurred one hour into a four-hour launch window on Tuesday, July 9, at 19:00 UTC. Ariane 6 launched from the Ensemble de Lancement Ariane-4 (ELA-4) launch pad at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. The payload for this mission…
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Trend or aberration? Russia is launching foreign satellites again
For the first time since the invasion of Ukraine essentially cut off Russia’s space industry from foreign customers, a Russian rocket lifted off Tuesday and carried satellites into orbit with commercial technology from Western companies. The payloads from companies based in the United Kingdom and Luxembourg flew on a satellite owned by the United Arab…
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NASA’s Lunar Flashlight CubeSat mission ends before entering orbit around moon
This screenshot from NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System 3D visualization tool shows Lunar Flashlight making its close approach with Earth late on May 16. The CubeSat was expected to pass about 40,000 miles (65,000 kilometers) from our planet’s surface over Brazil’s east coast on May 17.Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA’s small Lunar Flashlight spacecraft, sent to…
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SpaceX launches Transporter 7 rideshare mission from California
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California with 51 small satellites and payloads. Credit: SpaceX After several delays to wait for improved weather, SpaceX sent a Falcon 9 rocket into space late Friday night from California’s Central Coast with 51 small satellites, payloads, and orbital transfer vehicles from customers…
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Live coverage: SpaceX launches rideshare mission with 51 small payloads
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California with 51 CubeSats, microsatellites, hosted payloads, and orbital transfer vehicles on the Transporter 7 rideshare mission. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter. [tabby title=”SpaceX Webcast”] [tabbyending]
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Photos: ULA’s Atlas 5 rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral
Carrying a sophisticated billion-dollar missile detection satellite for the U.S. military, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday with 1.6 million pounds of thrust from a Russian RD-180 main engine and twin solid rocket boosters. The 194-foot-tall (59-meter) Atlas 5 rocket lifted off at 1:37 p.m. EDT (1737…
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Atlas 5 rocket launches infrared missile detection satellite for U.S. Space Force
A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket blasts off with the U.S. military’s SBIRS GEO 5 satellite. Credit: Alex Polimeni / Spaceflight Now An upgraded, cyber-hardened $1 billion satellite to support the U.S. military’s missile defense systems rode into orbit from Cape Canaveral Tuesday at the tip of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket.…