On August 6, China launched a Long March 6A rocket, which successfully deployed 18 satellites as part of the country’s “Thousand Sails” megaconstellation project. However, shortly after completing its mission, the rocket’s upper stage experienced an anomaly that led to a significant debris event. 

SpaceX announced Monday that a Chinese crypto entrepreneur purchased a flight on Dragon that will fly around Earth’s poles. The mission will feature crew members from three other countries, none from the US, and could launch as soon as late 2024.

Capella Space, a U.S. company established in 2016, has played a role advancing Synthetic Aperture Radar, or SAR, satellite technology. SAR is widely regarded for its capability to provide high-resolution Earth observation even under challenging conditions such as cloud cover or darkness, where traditional optical satellites may struggle. The company’s focus on this technology looks to position it as a leader in the growing market for continuous, all-weather Earth monitoring.

CNBC reported the industry leading commercial launcher has violated basic water treatment regulations with its Starship deluge system in Starbase, Texas. While SpaceX has denied the report, the FAA has postponed its environmental review public meetings for an unknown reason, and both Texas and Federal agencies have reported violations per CNBC.

We have a total for four launches this week currently on the schedule, we’ll see if that changes. Two of those are from SpaceX and shocking, even myself, neither are for the company’s Starlink constellation. The headliner this week will be Russia‘s Progress MS-28 resupply mission to the ISS on Wednesday.

NASA‘s mood toward’s the safety of returning Boeing‘s Crewed Flight Test crew back on Starliner has switched from steadfast support to plans to use SpaceX Dragon for a return flight. However, this has caused drastic changes to both SpaceX‘s and NASA’s launched schedules using its Crew Dragon spacecraft.

The U.S. Army is exploring the establishment of a specialized space career field for enlisted soldiers, a move that could significantly enhance national security by bolstering the military’s space expertise. This initiative, endorsed by Lt. Gen. Sean Gainey, commander of the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command, was highlighted during the Space and Missile Defense Conference in Huntsville, Alabama. 

SpaceX showed off its new version of Starship‘s methane powered rocket engines over the weekend. The new Raptor 3 engine is dramatically cleaner and more powerful then what SpaceX was using on its first Starship missions.

Former NASA astronaut and now Arizona senator, Mark Kelly, is on the short list to potentially become Vice President Harris’ running mate. As head of the National Space Council, his potential nomination has spurred some excitement in the spaceflight community.

This week SpaceX is looking at launching three Falcon 9 rockets, two of those will be for the company’s Starlink constellation. Another payload is a multi-payload satellite that will host missions for the Space Force, Norwegian’s Ministry of Defense, and ViaSat.

Rocket Factory Augsburg is gearing up for its first orbital launch attempt of its RFA One rocket. Its spaceport, a set of Islands north of mainland Scotland, is also ready for the company’s launch, the first from the UK’s soil.

The agency announced this week that it will phase out its NASA TV over the air broadcast service in favor of its digital NASA+ streaming service. Still free, the agency promises all the same great content, just in a new location.

ULA launched an Atlas V rocket early this morning carrying a classified payload. This was the Atlas V’s final national security payload, with the remaining NSSL missions being carried out by the company’s new Vulcan rocket.

SpaceX announced last week that the company will be moving its Dragon recovery operations to the West Coast of the United States due to trunk debris surviving reentry, even though computer models said it wouldn’t. This will be a return to form as the company started out recovering its Dragons from California.

This week we have a total of four launches on the schedule as of right now. Two of the missions are coming from SpaceX with the remaining two coming from Rocket Lab and ULA. The highlight for the week will be the Atlas V launch, as it will be ULA’s final Atlas launch for national security missions.

After Thursday’s green light from the FAA to resume launches, SpaceX took no time to try to catch up on the last few week’s lack of Starlink missions. Using all three of its Falcon 9 launch sites, the company launched a total of 67 Starlink satellites into orbit.

With the week wrapping up, here’s what NASA is presenting to the public at EAA Oshkosh 2024. Full of research and development, NASA’s Bob Pearce, Associate Administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, gave us some background into ongoing and upcoming projects.

SpaceX has been cleared by the FAA to resume flight operations for its Falcon 9 rocket, even though the company’s investigation hasn’t yet been fully closed. SpaceX released a statement detailing what caused the failure of its second stage earlier this month and a short term fix ahead of Saturday’s early morning Starlink launch.

Blue Origin announced Wednesday its crew for the NS-26 missions. On board will be several high achieving and and lucky individuals that will get the chance to fly and feel weightlessness above the Karman Line. One of the crew members, a daughter of a previous participant, will become the youngest woman to reach 100 km.

Back in 2021, the Department of Transportation set in motion a plan for the US aviation sector to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. NASA, the government’s go to for civilian aviation research, discussed its advancements, challenges, and predictions on hybrid/electric aircraft at EAA Oshkosh this week.

Next month SpaceX is planning to launch the next crew of four astronauts to the International Space Station under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. In case you forgot, here’s a quick recap of who’s going to be on top of that Falcon 9 rocket come liftoff.

The X-59 has been under development for years now. While its first flight is hopefully coming later this year, what do all the program’s test pilots do when there’s no plane to fly? The X-59’s lead test pilot Nils Larson and his partner Jim Less gave a good explanation with what has kept them busy.

We only have two known launches this week and both will be coming from SpaceX within a couple hours of each other. However, there is no word from the FAA if the agency has green-lit the company to return to flight.