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SpaceNews.com • Jeff Foust

Rocket Lab closes 2025 with 21 Electron launches and 100% mission success after Dec. 21 Japanese SAR deployment

Rocket Lab's Electron lifted off Dec. 21 from Māhia, completing a record 21-launch year and achieving 100% mission success after deploying Japan's iQPS radar-imaging satellite. The flight closes the company's most-active annual cadence to date and delivers the latest asset for Japanese Earth-observation capability.

2025-12-21T06:43:29.694279-08:00

CBS News

Blue Origin’s New Shepard completes 16th passenger flight, carries first wheelchair user Michi Benthaus

2025-12-20T08:24:57.734726-08:00

Spaceflight Now

Artemis II crew rehearse launch‑day countdown, ride rewrapped Astrovan II to launch pad

2025-12-20T16:24:07.495409-08:00

SpaceNews.com

Safety panel urges NASA to reassess Artemis lunar-landing architecture and review Starliner response

2025-12-19T16:03:57.784172-08:00

News Timeline

SpaceNews.com

Rocket Lab closes 2025 with 21 Electron launches and 100% mission success after Dec. 21 Japanese SAR deployment Rocket Lab's Electron lifted off Dec. 21 from Māhia, completing a record 21-launch year and achieving 100% mission success after deploying Japan's iQPS radar-imaging satellite. The flight closes the company's most-active annual cadence to date and delivers the latest asset for Japanese Earth-observation capability.

2025-12-21T06:43:29.694279-08:00

Rocket Lab closes 2025 with 21 Electron launches and 100% mission success after Dec. 21 Japanese SAR deployment

Spaceflight Now

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Artemis II crew rehearse launch‑day countdown, ride rewrapped Astrovan II to launch pad NASA’s four Artemis II astronauts completed a launch‑day countdown demonstration at Kennedy Space Center on Dec. 20, boarding Orion inside the Vehicle Assembly Building and taking a rewrapped Boeing Starliner “Astrovan II” to the launch pad. The rehearsal advances preparations ahead of a February lunar flyby mission.

2025-12-20T16:24:07.495409-08:00

Artemis II crew rehearse launch‑day countdown, ride rewrapped Astrovan II to launch pad

CBS News

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Blue Origin’s New Shepard completes 16th passenger flight, carries first wheelchair user Michi Benthaus Blue Origin’s New Shepard completed its 16th passenger flight, carrying 33‑year‑old European Space Agency engineer Michaela “Michi” Benthaus — the first wheelchair user to fly on the suborbital tourism vehicle. Benthaus, paralyzed in a mountain‑bike accident seven years ago, described the flight as a long‑held dream realized.

2025-12-20T08:24:57.734726-08:00

Blue Origin’s New Shepard completes 16th passenger flight, carries first wheelchair user Michi Benthaus

indiatoday.in

ISRO to launch 6.5‑ton BlueBird‑6 on LVM3 'Bahubali' on Dec. 24 India's Launch Vehicle Mark‑3 (LVM3) 'Bahubali' will carry the 6.5‑ton BlueBird‑6 communications satellite into orbit on Dec. 24 at 08:54, a US‑built commercial payload whose liftoff further reinforces LVM3's role in heavy geostationary and strategic missions.

2025-12-20T00:50:13.542422-08:00

ISRO to launch 6.5‑ton BlueBird‑6 on LVM3 'Bahubali' on Dec. 24

businesstoday.co.ke

Kenya invites bids for transaction advisers as it advances a commercial spaceport Kenya has invited bids for transaction advisory services to support development of a commercial spaceport, a procurement led by the National Treasury in collaboration with the Kenya Space Agency. The move marks a formal step toward establishing launch infrastructure and joining the global commercial space economy.

2025-12-20T00:46:44.305861-08:00

Kenya invites bids for transaction advisers as it advances a commercial spaceport

koreatimes.co.kr

Innospace again delays inaugural HANBIT‑Nano commercial orbital launch South Korean startup Innospace has again delayed the inaugural commercial orbital flight of its HANBIT‑Nano rocket from Brazil’s Alcântara Space Center after technical problems emerged. The postponement pushes back the company’s first commercial attempt to place customer payloads into orbit on the SPACEWARD mission.

2025-12-19T23:50:19.818666-08:00

Innospace again delays inaugural HANBIT‑Nano commercial orbital launch

European Spaceflight

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Redwire wins eight‑figure contract to supply docking mechanisms for The Exploration Company’s Nyx Earth capsule Redwire has been awarded an eight-figure contract to supply docking mechanisms for The Exploration Company’s Nyx Earth capsule. The deal makes Redwire responsible for the capsule’s docking interface hardware and integration as Nyx advances toward operational missions in low Earth orbit.

2025-12-19T21:03:55.167236-08:00

Redwire wins eight‑figure contract to supply docking mechanisms for The Exploration Company’s Nyx Earth capsule

SpaceNews.com

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Safety panel urges NASA to reassess Artemis lunar-landing architecture and review Starliner response NASA’s safety advisers recommend the agency reconsider its Artemis lunar-landing architecture and formally review how it handled the Starliner incident. The panel said both issues raise programmatic and crew-safety questions that could affect near-term Artemis schedules and crewed spaceflight operations.

2025-12-19T16:03:57.784172-08:00

Safety panel urges NASA to reassess Artemis lunar-landing architecture and review Starliner response

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Rocket Lab closes 2025 with 21 Electron launches and 100% mission success after Dec. 21 Japanese SAR deployment

Blue Origin’s New Shepard completes 16th passenger flight, carries first wheelchair user Michi Benthaus

Artemis II crew rehearse launch‑day countdown, ride rewrapped Astrovan II to launch pad

Safety panel urges NASA to reassess Artemis lunar-landing architecture and review Starliner response

News Timeline