In what was believed to be the final strand of tests before attempting its first orbital launch, Rocket Factory Augsburg suffered an anomaly during a hot fire test of its first stage and a loss of the vehicle. So what happens now for European launch?

This week will be another week of Starlink launches from SpaceX after a short break from the company to launch some missions commercially, how nice of them. With that, according to the current launch manifest, two Starlink missions are scheduled to lift off from the same launch pad in less than three days.

In an update to the media this week, NASA reiterated many points it said in an earlier update as it works through more data before making a final decision on the Starliner CFT spacecraft. For now, Starliner’s crew are in limbo as to what how and when they will return home.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Earlier this month, NASA selected SpaceX to be the builder of the vehicle that will be tasked with deorbiting the International Space Station in the 2030s. While no design was shared, it was said to be built on Dragon heritage hardware. In a new render, SpaceX shows off that it’s not just based on it, it’s basically just a long Dragon.

It’s that time of year again where the aviation world descends onto the city of Oshkosh, Wisconsin for the annual EAA AirVenture fly-in convention. It is also our yearly reminder that the second letter of NASA stands for “Aeronautics,” as they will have a pretty serious presence this year surrounding their X-59 supersonic test plane.

On Thursday, Astra announced its deal to be taken private by its founders and long time investors, closed, effectively removing it as a publicly traded company. Its new parent company, Apogee Parent LLC, will purchase all of its outstanding stock and all stock it doesn’t own.