Outer space

Void between celestial bodies

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We include updates on Extraterrestrial life, Voyager Golden Record, Interstellar medium, Kármán line, List of orbits, Astronaut ranks and positions, Comparison of orbital launch systems, King of the Universe, Meteor air burst, Apollo 15 postal covers incident, Comparison of orbital rocket engines, List of lunar eclipses in the 21st century, List of objects at Lagrange points, Intracluster medium, Gemini 6A, List of rovers on extraterrestrial bodies ... and more.

June 10 2025
Active duty United States Space Force general officers
Robert Hutt's nomination for Deputy Program Manager of Golden Dome of America was sent to the Senate for confirmation.
June 10 2025
Active duty United States Space Force general officers
Robert Hutt's nomination for Legislative Liaison of the United States Space Force was sent to the Senate.
2025
Orbital launch systems
First expected flight of Antares 330 rocket by Northrop Grumman and Firefly Aerospace from United States' MARS launch site.
2025
Orbital launch systems
First expected flight of Aventura 1 rocket by TLON Space from Uruguay launch platform.
2025
Orbital launch systems
Several orbital launch systems are planned to continue operations through 2025, including Angara A5, Angara-1.2, Falcon 9 Block 5, Falcon Heavy, multiple Long March variants, and various other international rocket systems from China, India, Japan, and the United States.
2025
Government space agencies
Korea establishes KASA with an initial budget of $726 million
April 7 2025
Government space agencies
NASA maintains its position as the top-funded government space agency with a budget of $25,400 million in 2025
2025
Objects at Lagrange points
Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) planned for launch at the end of the year to the Sun-Earth L1 Lagrange point.
2025
Orbital launch systems
First planned launch of Ariane 6 A64, a new European expendable launch vehicle by ArianeGroup, scheduled to launch from French Guiana Space Center.
2025
Orbital launch systems
First projected flight of Blue Whale 1, a partially reusable rocket from Perigee Aerospace in South Korea, planned to launch from sea platform or Esrange.
2025
Orbital launch systems
Multiple new orbital launch systems are expected to have their first flights, including Agnibaan (India), Antares 330 (US), Ariane 6 A64 (Europe), Aventura 1 (Argentina), Blue Whale 1 (Korea), Daytona (US), Epsilon S (Japan), Eris Block 1 (Australia), Gravity-2 (China), Hanbit-Nano HyPER and LiMER (South Korea), H3-24L and H3-30S (Japan), Nebula-1 (China), Neutron (US/NZ), Pallas-1 (China), Prime (UK), RFA One, Sirius 1 (France), Skyrora XL (UK), Soyuz-5 (Kazakhstan), Spectrum (Germany), Starship Block 2 (US), Tianlong-3 (China), and Zephyr (France), Zero (Japan).
2025
Private spaceflight companies
Sierra Space's Dream Chaser Cargo System is planned to become operational, with anticipated launches using Atlas V or Vulcan launch systems.
2025
Orbital launch systems
Ongoing launch operations for Soyuz-2.1b with Fregat upper stage targeting various orbits including Sun-synchronous and heliocentric orbits
March 14 2025
Lunar eclipses in the 21st century
A total lunar eclipse occurs, with the eclipse visible and lasting 218 minutes, characterized by a gamma of 0.348 and a magnitude of 2.286.
2025
Orbital propellant depot
An intervehicular propellant transfer demonstration mission is planned, which is critical for landing a crew on the Moon with the Starship HLS vehicle.
2025
Rovers on extraterrestrial bodies
Canada's STELLS proposes the MPR-1 rover for potential mining rover power supply research, targeting a crater location.
2025
Orbital launch systems
New Glenn rocket planned for launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) and Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in the United States
2025
Orbital launch systems
Starship Block 1/2 rocket planned for launch from Starbase in the United States
2025
Orbital launch systems
First planned flight of Neutron rocket by Rocket Lab from United States' MARS launch site.
2025
Orbital launch systems
First anticipated flight of Agnibaan launch vehicle by AgniKul Cosmos from India's SDSC launch site.
2025
Orbital launch systems
First anticipated launch of Spectrum rocket by Isar Aerospace from France's Guiana Space Center or Norway's Andøya Space Center.
February 9 2025
Space debris producing events
New Glenn upper stage and Blue Ring experienced an energetic fragmentation event, creating 67 pieces of space debris
2024
Orbital launch systems
Planned first launch of Vulcan Centaur VC2 by United Launch Alliance, introducing a new American orbital launch system.
2024
Space debris producing events
Long March 6A upper stage incident produced 700-900+ pieces of space debris, potentially related to upper stage system failure
2024
Government space agencies
European Space Agency (ESA) ranks third in global space agency funding with $7,790 million budget
2024
Outline of space exploration
Europa Clipper mission is planned to launch by NASA to explore Jupiter's moon Europa, searching for potential habitability and signs of life.
2024
Orbital launch systems
Planned continued launches of Soyuz-2.1a and Soyuz-2.1b with various upper stages from multiple spaceports
2024
Orbital propellant depot
During Starship's third integrated flight, intravehicular propellant transfer in orbit was successfully demonstrated.
2024
Rovers on extraterrestrial bodies
Ingenuity helicopter completed its mission on Mars after multiple successful powered flights, concluding its groundbreaking technological demonstration.
2024
Orbital launch systems
New-type satellite carrier rocket launched from Sohae in North Korea
2024
Orbital launch systems
Angara A5 / Orion rocket launched from Plesetsk and Vostochny spaceports in Russia
2024
Orbital launch systems
KAIROS rocket launched from Spaceport Kii in Japan
2024
Orbital launch systems
First flight of multiple rocket launch systems including Ariane 6 A62, Ceres-1S, Kuaizhou 1A Pro, Long March 6C, Long March 12, Vulcan Centaur VC2, and Zhuque-2E, demonstrating ongoing expansion and development of orbital launch capabilities across different countries and manufacturers.
December 21 2024
Space burial
Space NTK successfully launched remains samples into Earth orbit using a Falcon 9 rocket.
November 21 2024
Space warfare
Russia launched a new Oreshkin intermediate-range ballistic missile striking Dnipro, potentially marking the first combat use of a multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV).
October 19 2024
Space debris producing events
Intelsat 33e satellite fragmented, creating over 700 pieces of debris and potentially threatening multiple Russian satellites in geostationary orbit
June 26 2024
Space debris producing events
Resurs-P No.1 satellite experienced an unknown fragmentation event, generating over 100 pieces of debris
June 21 2024
Active duty United States Space Force general officers
James E. Smith was ranked as Major General and became Vice Director for Joint Force Development at the Joint Staff.
June 20 2024
Active duty United States Space Force general officers
Devin Pepper was ranked as Major General and appointed Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategy, Plans, and Policy at Allied Command Transformation.
June 12 2024
Active duty United States Space Force general officers
Robert Schreiner is ranked as Brigadier General and becomes Deputy Director for Operations on the Joint Staff
June 11 2024
Active duty United States Space Force general officers
Chandler Atwood is ranked as Brigadier General and becomes Vice Commander and Deputy Commanding General (Operations) of Space Operations Command
June 7 2024
Active duty United States Space Force general officers
Shay Warakomski is ranked as Brigadier General and becomes Assistant Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Operations, Cyber, and Nuclear
June 5 2024
Private spaceflight companies
Boeing planned first crewed flight of CST-100 Starliner
June 1 2024
Rovers on extraterrestrial bodies
Chang'e 6 mission landed Jinchan rover to conduct infrared spectroscopy of the lunar surface and image the lander.
May 27 2024
Government space agencies
South Korea announced the establishment of Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA), a new national space agency.
May 3 2024
Objects at Lagrange points
Chang'e 6 Service Module launched, arriving at L2 halo orbit on 9 September 2024.
May 3 2024
Active duty United States Space Force general officers
Dennis Bythewood was ranked as Major General and assigned as Special Assistant to the Chief of Space Operations.
April 2024
Space force
People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force Space Systems Department was dissolved, with its space force element becoming the People's Liberation Army Aerospace Force.
April 14 2024
Space warfare
Iran launched more than 120 ballistic missiles at Israel, marking the first large-scale incident involving a space weapon.
March 14 2024
Reentering space debris
Starship S28 underwent a partially controlled reentry.

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This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Orbital propellant depot, List of lunar eclipses in the 21st century, List of reentering space debris, Space burial, List of objects at Lagrange points, Outline of space exploration, List of rovers on extraterrestrial bodies, List of space debris producing events, Space force, List of government space agencies, List of private spaceflight companies, List of active duty United States Space Force general officers, Space warfare & Comparison of orbital launch systems, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

See Also