SpaceNews.com
• Audrey Schaffer
Paying for Space Safety: Why Satellite Operators Must Fund Debris Mitigation and Space Traffic Management
SpaceNews.com reports: No more free rides: it’s time to pay for space safety.
Commercial Space News
SpaceNews.com
• Audrey Schaffer
News Timeline
Three milestones this week: China's LandSpace reached orbit on the second ZhuQue‑2 test flight; SpaceX launched the final v1.0/v1.5 Starlink satellites on Group 5‑15; and India sent Chandrayaan‑3 to the Moon aboard LVM3. These were the 102nd–104th orbital launches of 2023, keeping the year on pace for ~195 launches.
China this week publicly detailed an accelerated lunar programme aiming to land a taikonaut by 2030, while sustaining launch activity including an all‑solid rideshare mission. Private launcher LandSpace is preparing a second ZhuQue‑2 methane rocket flight in a bid to achieve the first methane‑fueled orbital launch.
Astroscale released a video demonstrating how its End of Life Services by Astroscale‑Multiple (ELSA‑M) mission will rendezvous, capture and deorbit a OneWeb communications satellite. The footage highlights the servicer's capture mechanism and the planned disposal sequence, a step toward commercial orbital debris removal.
SpaceX is set to launch the Arabsat 7B satellite to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) from Cape Canaveral SLC‑40, scheduled as the launch complex’s quickest turnaround between missions. The flight underscores a compressed pad cadence for commercial GTO launches at SLC‑40.
Iceye will develop and supply a five-satellite synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) constellation to UAE geospatial analytics firm Bayanat in partnership with Emirati satellite operator Yahsat, expanding the country's on-orbit EO capacity for commercial and national geospatial services. The contract moves a prior UAE EO collaboration into procurement and deployment.
SpaceX will attempt a Falcon Heavy launch with liftoff scheduled for 7:29 p.m. EDT (2329 GMT) — the vehicle's sixth mission. Live coverage will follow the countdown, booster activity, stage separation and mission milestones in real time as the flight proceeds.
At the 38th Space Symposium LeoLabs showcased a maneuver‑detection dashboard that tracked about 30 Chinese, Iranian and Russian spacecraft maneuvers in low‑Earth orbit, demonstrating growing near‑real‑time visibility into military and commercial satellite activity and the expanding demand for space situational awareness.
Create a free account to see more recent stories.