International Space News

Retweeting all the important events in Spaceflight

[SpaceX @SpaceX]

Now targeting Friday, July 24 for Starship’s thirteenth flight test, due to weather.

A key objective for the flight test is to get clear imagery from the ground of Starship’s heatshield as it flies at a higher dynamic pressure during ascent, which won't be possible with today's weather conditions. Visibility is forecast to be ideal for a Friday attempt.

[NASA Artemis @NASAArtemis]

Roadtrip complete ✅

After departing @NASAStennis, the fourth and final RS-25 engine for @NASA's SLS rocket has arrived in Florida.

Now reunited with the other Artemis III engines, the powerful quartet is almost ready for installation at @NASAKennedy.

[SpaceX @SpaceX]

Additional preflight testing on Super Heavy complete. Now starting preparations to launch Starship as soon as tomorrow, Thursday, July 23. Weather is currently a significant watch item for launch

[Kiko Dontchev @TurkeyBeaver]

🫡 to Booster 1069

We refer to 1069 as the OG tippy rocket. It lived a long and fruitful life after it came about as close as you can get to being lost on its first mission. On that mission, CRS-24, it landed in rough seas and immediately had severe uneven leg loads, causing it to “tip.” We spent the next two hours watching the rocket on camera literally dance from side to side on the droneship. Through the incredible skill of our @SpaceX recovery team and a decent amount of luck, we were able to pin the rocket against the droneship tow board and blast wall with the octagrabber jammed under the engines. Somehow, against all odds, the team got 1069 home. We replaced all nine engines that were damaged in the process… and then it flew another 31 successful missions!!! 🚀

Never. Give. Up.

[StarbaseTX @StarbaseTX]

7+ miles of shoreline cleared. Over 12 days, crews hauled off 17 tons of plastic bottles, old tires, and other debris. That's about the weight of three adult elephants.

Thank you to our partners at Gulf Coast Contractors, our neighbors in Cameron County, and @SeaTurtleInc for keeping our coast clean.

[SpaceX @SpaceX]

Now targeting to launch Starship’s thirteenth flight test as early as Thursday, July 23 → https://t.co/Rp7VwBzpWx

[Skyroot Aerospace @SkyrootA]

We’ll be watching this ignition on loop all day.

Kalam-1200 — Vikram-1's first stage, named for Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam — roaring to life and lifting Vikram-1 off the pad, on a flight that reached orbit.

#Vikram1 #MissionAagaman

[Skyroot Aerospace @SkyrootA]

ORBIT ACHIEVED. 🚀

Vikram-1 Test Flight-1 has reached orbit. India's first privately developed orbital rocket has completed its final burn and injected its payloads into a ~450 km orbit, making India the third country in the world with private orbital launch capability.

History is made. 🇮🇳

#Vikram1 #JourneyToOrbit #SkyrootAerospace

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

To be confident of a good flight, 2 Raptors will be removed & replaced. Most probable launch timing is early next week.

[Starship Gazer @StarshipGazer]

Starship test flight 13 full stack ready to go at T-minus 9 hours and counting!

7/16/26

[Amazon Leo @AmazonLeo]

We’re bringing Leo to South Africa through a collaboration with @hero_telecoms, helping deliver fast, reliable internet to millions of people and small businesses in rural, peri-urban and agricultural communities across the country.

Read more: https://t.co/3FOx74iOPy

[Rocket Lab @RocketLab]

Archimedes second stage engine full duration burn - complete ✅ (and what a thing of beauty).

The AVac (Archimedes Vacuum) engine produces 1.2x lbf of its Stage 1 variant and stands ~2.5m taller thanks to its extended nozzle optimized for the vacuum conditions of space.

Recent AVac testing included a stub skirt for the nozzle. Since full length vacuum nozzles at ground level risk flow separation and instability, stub skirts are used to anchor our engineers' analysis for how the engine will perform with the full nozzle in vacuum conditions - all critical preparation for Neutron's first flight.

[Tory Bruno @torybruno]

The first Blue Ring super spacecraft continues to move smartly through assembly. But, I thought I’d share some pics of the other vehicles that we built as dedicated test units. This one it’s the Static Test vehicle, doing its thing…

[SpaceX @SpaceX]

Starship’s thirteenth flight test is preparing to launch as early as Thursday, July 16 → https://t.co/Rp7VwBzpWx

[SpaceX @SpaceX]

Full-duration, 33-engine static fire of Super Heavy V3

[NSF - NASASpaceflight.com @NASASpaceflight]

Starship Flight 13: WOW! Heck of a long Static Fire for Booster 20!

https://t.co/Hs3zIE8QpH

[SpaceX @SpaceX]

The path to launch is filled with obstacles and success is only possible through the tireless efforts of many working together towards a common goal. “Critical Path” continues the ongoing Starship series, following SpaceX engineers through the final days before launch of the first Starship V3 and the challenges that come with development of the world’s most powerful and fully reusable rocket.

[Blue Origin @blueorigin]

We are deeply saddened by the passing of Wally Funk.

Wally was a pioneer in every sense of the word. In her 20s, she was the first female civilian flight instructor at a U.S. military base. She became the youngest of the Mercury 13, outperforming nearly every test put in front of her, and ultimately, the only one of the thirteen to have ever reached space.

On NS-16, sixty years later, Wally made history as the oldest astronaut at the time and remains the oldest woman to ever fly to space. It was a moment six decades in the making. We were humbled to be part of her journey.

Her story will continue to inspire generations of future explorers.

Fly Wally, Fly. 🚀

[Astra @Astra]

Another hot fire as our test cadence ramps (sound on this time).

[CNSPACE @CNSpaceflight]

🎉 Long March 10 first stage recovery