Orbital Gazette

10/25/2025

09/20/2025

Join us for our fall in-person homeschool sessions! Each session will have an interactive presentation and will last approximately 45 minutes.

Living and Working in Space (Age 5-10), Oct. 16, 11 a.m.

Engineering Satellites (Age 11-14), Oct. 17, 11 a.m.

Registration is required for these free programs. Visit https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/nasa-goddard-visitor-center-3091729 to register. Please note that a parent/guardian must be on site during the programs. Staff will also share content to watch beforehand as well as activities to continue your exploration afterward. For more information, please email [email protected] or call 301-286-8981.

09/20/2025

05/20/2025

LAUNCH ALERT
Check comments for more info!

05/16/2025

🚀 Today's Launch: Starlink Group 15-5
Rocket: Falcon 9 Block 5

Launch Time: 9:43 AM EDT (6:43 AM PDT / 13:43 UTC)

Launch Site: SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California

Mission: Deploying 26 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit

05/16/2025

With FAA approval pending, Starship is expected to launch next week. Also, a change to the launch cadence has been approved, allowing for a maximum of 25 launches per year. What do you think? Will they increase the launch frequency to align with the approved 25 launches per year?

05/12/2025

Launch Alert. Two possible today after this mornings scrub!

1. Starlink Group 15-4
Launch Window: Monday, May 12, 2025, at 8:15 PM ET (Tuesday, May 13, 00:15 UTC)

Location: SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California

Mission: Deployment of Starlink satellites to expand SpaceX’s low-Earth orbit internet constellation.

2. Starlink Group 6-83
Launch Window: Monday, May 12, 2025, at 11:36 PM ET (Tuesday, May 13, 03:36 UTC)

Location: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, Florida

Mission: Another batch of Starlink satellites aimed at enhancing global broadband coverage.

05/10/2025

05/10/2025

NASA's Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) spacecraft arrived today at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near Kennedy Space Center. IMAP is slated for a future launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and aims to study the boundary of the heliosphere—the vast bubble-like region of space dominated by the solar wind.

The IMAP underwent testing earlier this month at NASA's Huntsville location.

More information and a direct link to the mission is linked in the comments.