SpaceWatch Global
• Torsten Kriening
German launch startup Isar Aerospace is preparing to fly its Spectrum small-satellite launcher from Norway in a bid to become the first private vehicle to reach orbit from European soil. The mission follows months of delays and aborted attempts after Spectrum’s first flight ended in the sea.
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German launch startup Isar Aerospace is preparing to fly its Spectrum small-satellite launcher from Norway in a bid to become the first private vehicle to reach orbit from European soil. The mission follows months of delays and aborted attempts after Spectrum’s first flight ended in the sea.
China is narrowing candidate landing sites for Tianwen-3, its Mars sample-return mission, and plans to select a final location before the end of 2026. Hardware development is advancing as the mission targets samples that could help determine whether Mars once hosted—or still preserves—evidence of life.
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has successfully launched, beginning a mission designed to advance space science and exploration. The project reflects both the scientific ambition behind a groundbreaking observatory and the political dynamics that shaped its development, funding and execution.
A private spacecraft came within nine miles of NASA’s Swift Observatory, an aging mission described as doomed, and captured images during an attempt to assess or enable a rescue. The close approach marks a rare effort to intervene with an operational scientific spacecraft in distress.
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ISRO has successfully returned to flight with the EOS-05 Earth-imaging satellite, reportedly India’s first imaging spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit. Separately, SES’s final three O3b mPOWER satellites have reached Cape Canaveral for a planned September Falcon 9 launch, while ESA and ispace-Europe formalized Europe’s first lunar polar ice exploration rover mission.
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ESA’s BepiColombo mission has entered its arrival phase at Mercury, separating its transfer module from two scientific orbiters after an eight-year, 10-billion-kilometer voyage. The spacecraft now faces a high-risk final approach before beginning orbital operations to study one of the least-explored planets in the inner solar system.
NASA is changing requirements and providing additional resources to Axiom Space as the company develops the lunar spacesuit planned for Artemis 4. The measures are intended to keep the suit on schedule, underscoring the program’s dependence on timely commercial development for future crewed lunar missions.
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India plans to launch an Earth-imaging satellite toward geosynchronous orbit on Sept. 3, attempting a mission it has never successfully completed. The launch is scheduled for live coverage, offering a milestone for the country’s satellite capabilities and access to a strategically important orbital regime.
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