{"id":23778,"date":"2025-07-11T21:37:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T13:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/the-space-traffic-report-starlink-iss-docking-and-upcoming-falcon-9-kuiper-launches\/"},"modified":"2025-07-11T21:37:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T13:37:12","slug":"the-space-traffic-report-starlink-iss-docking-and-upcoming-falcon-9-kuiper-launches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/the-space-traffic-report-starlink-iss-docking-and-upcoming-falcon-9-kuiper-launches\/","title":{"rendered":"The Space Traffic Report: Starlink, ISS docking, and upcoming Falcon 9 &#038; Kuiper launches"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This past week marked a relatively quiet period for orbital launches, but there was still plenty of movement above Earth \u2014 from a new batch of Starlink satellites joining the constellation, to supply missions coming and going from two different space stations.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s your weekly rundown of what moved in orbit and what to watch for in the coming days.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Space Traffic Report: Starlink, ISS Docking, and Upcoming Falcon 9 &amp; Kuiper Launches!\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WLtRbqCzlmg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" name=\"fitvid0\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Falcon 9 launch: Starlink Group 10-28<br \/>\nSpaceX was the only operator to launch this week, sending up another batch of its Starlink internet satellites. Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) in Florida at 08:21 UTC on July 8th, carrying 28 Starlink v2 Mini satellites into low-Earth orbit (LEO).<\/p>\n<p>With this mission, the total number of Starlink satellites launched rises to 9,165. Of these, 1,197 have reentered Earth\u2019s atmosphere, while 7,028 are currently in operational orbits.<\/p>\n<p>Progress MS-31 docks to the ISS<br \/>\nWhile only one rocket launch occurred this week, orbital operations remained busy. On July 5th at 21:25 UTC, Progress MS-31 successfully docked to the Poisk module of the International Space Station (ISS), two days after launching from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.<\/p>\n<p>The uncrewed spacecraft brought three tons of fuel, water, hardware, and scientific experiments. It\u2019s expected to stay at the station for approximately six months.<\/p>\n<p>NASA mission patches<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; background: initial !important; border: 0px !important; box-shadow: none !important; color: inherit !important; cursor: inherit !important; direction: inherit !important; display: inline !important; fill: currentcolor !important; filter: initial !important; float: none !important; margin: 0px !important; opacity: initial !important; outline: 0px !important; overflow: initial !important; padding: 0px !important; stroke: initial !important; transform: initial !important; vertical-align: initial !important; visibility: inherit !important;\"><\/path>Space Shuttle<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; background: initial !important; border: 0px !important; box-shadow: none !important; color: inherit !important; cursor: inherit !important; direction: inherit !important; display: inline !important; fill: currentcolor !important; filter: initial !important; float: none !important; margin: 0px !important; opacity: initial !important; outline: 0px !important; overflow: initial !important; padding: 0px !important; stroke: initial !important; transform: initial !important; vertical-align: initial !important; visibility: inherit !important;\"><\/path>Spaceflight history books<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; background: initial !important; border: 0px !important; box-shadow: none !important; color: inherit !important; cursor: inherit !important; direction: inherit !important; display: inline !important; fill: currentcolor !important; filter: initial !important; float: none !important; margin: 0px !important; opacity: initial !important; outline: 0px !important; overflow: initial !important; padding: 0px !important; stroke: initial !important; transform: initial !important; vertical-align: initial !important; visibility: inherit !important;\"><\/path>\n<p>     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n<p>Tianzhou 8 departs China\u2019s Tiangong station<br \/>\nOver at China\u2019s Tiangong space station, Tianzhou 8 completed its mission. After eight months attached to the Tianhe module, the cargo spacecraft undocked at 07:09 UTC on July 8th. Filled with several tonnes of waste, it was deorbited and burned up later that evening at 22:46 UTC.<\/p>\n<p>This undocking clears the way for the arrival of Tianzhou 9, expected to launch in the coming week.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"The Big Beautiful Saving of Artemis | This Week In Spaceflight\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TRvzLL21j1o?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" name=\"fitvid1\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Next Week in Spaceflight<\/h2>\n<p>A quiet week is about to give way to a packed schedule of upcoming missions across the globe:<\/p>\n<p>Tianzhou 9 launch (China)<br \/>\nFollowing Tianzhou 8\u2019s departure, Tianzhou 9 is set to launch to Tiangong on July 14th around 21:40 UTC, carrying fresh supplies and a new round of cargo experiments.<\/p>\n<p>Multiple Falcon 9 missions (SpaceX)<br \/>\nSeveral Starlink launches are expected from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, along with two customer missions from Florida. One mission may carry the DH-ROR-1 Israeli communications satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit. The other is scheduled to launch satellites for Amazon\u2019s Project Kuiper, SpaceX\u2019s direct competitor in the satellite internet sector.<\/p>\n<p>Gilmour Space\u2019s Eris launch (Australia)<br \/>\nIn the southern hemisphere, Gilmour Space Technologies is targeting a long-awaited test flight of its Eris rocket. The next launch window opens on July 15th at 21:30 UTC.<\/p>\n<p>Axiom Mission 4 crew return<br \/>\nIn orbit, the Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) mission is preparing for its return to Earth. Crew Dragon <em>Grace<\/em>, with its four-person crew, is currently scheduled to depart the ISS as early as July 14th at 11:05 UTC. Splashdown off the coast of California is expected roughly 22 hours later, though the exact timing will depend on orbital dynamics.<\/p>\n<p>Stay Updated<br \/>\nAs always, launch times and mission details can shift \u2014 so to stay on top of all the latest, be sure to check the Next Spaceflight website or app.<\/p>\n<p>For more NSF Video News Briefs, check out our new YouTube channel BREAKINGspace.<\/p>\n<p><em>(Lead image: Falcon 9 launches into the morning Florida skies. Credit: Julia Bergeron for NSF)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This past week marked a relatively quiet period for orbital launches, but there was still plenty of movement above Earth \u2014 from a new batch of Starlink satellites joining the constellation, to supply missions coming and going from two different space stations. Here\u2019s your weekly rundown of what moved in orbit and what to watch [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1066,4384,135,7796,1395,1264,479,1265,717,233,276,316,440,330],"class_list":["post-23778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-ax-4","tag-axiom","tag-china","tag-commercial","tag-dragon","tag-eris","tag-falcon-9","tag-gilmour-space","tag-international-space-station","tag-iss","tag-kuiper","tag-spacex","tag-starlink","tag-tiangong"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23778"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23778\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}