ORBIT

SpaceX is set to launch its Starship megarocket to orbit for the first time ever today, September 28, with live coverage planned. The test flight of the tallest and most powerful rocket ever built is a key milestone for the vehicle that SpaceX intends to use for missions to the Moon and Mars.

SpaceX is flying its Starship rocket on a 14th test flight, streaming live coverage as the vehicle attempts to reach orbit. The launch has drawn large live audiences, with spaceflight watchers tracking whether the booster and ship complete their planned sequence and whether previous test failures are resolved.

The US Air Force secretary has publicly acknowledged that the United States has weapons in space, a rare and striking admission for a country that has historically avoided confirming offensive capabilities in orbit. The statement touches on long-running debates over space militarization and could provoke responses from rivals such as China and Russia, who have also developed space-based military assets.

An astronomer is tracking how Starlink satellites gradually sink in their orbits and using that data as a 'planetary barometer' to measure changes in Earth's upper atmosphere. The satellites' orbits decay faster or slower depending on atmospheric density, so monitoring their drift offers a novel way to gauge conditions in the thermosphere.

SpaceX is carrying out its Transporter-18 mission, the latest in its series of dedicated smallsat rideshare launches that carry dozens of satellites into orbit on a single Falcon 9 rocket. The Transporter flights have become a routine but significant part of the commercial space industry, giving smaller operators affordable access to space. Interest focuses on the mission's payload count and the booster's recovery.

SpaceX is carrying out the NROL-97 mission, a launch supporting the US National Reconnaissance Office, which operates the country's intelligence-gathering satellites. The mission continues the company's regular cadence of national security launches, typically flying the NRO's payloads on Falcon 9 rockets. Details about the satellite's purpose and orbit remain classified, as is standard for NRO missions.

A full-length documentary titled 'The Weaponization of Space: The Race for Military Power' is drawing significant attention, exploring how major powers are developing military capabilities beyond Earth, from anti-satellite weapons to space-based surveillance. It lands amid growing international competition in orbit and renewed debate over whether space becomes the next military battleground.

A decommissioned Cold War-era American spy satellite has broken apart in orbit, generating debris in space. The satellite was reportedly nicknamed after actress Farrah Fawcett. Observers are discussing the incident's implications for orbital debris and collision risks to other spacecraft, as breakups of defunct satellites add to the growing population of space junk tracked by space agencies.

Astronomers have reported detecting a radio signal from Beta Pictoris b, a giant exoplanet orbiting the young star Beta Pictoris about 63 light-years from Earth. The observation, covered by science outlets, is drawing attention because radio emissions from a planet beyond the solar system could offer a new way to study exoplanets' magnetic fields and atmospheres.

Google's Project Suncatcher is drawing attention for a proposal to run AI chips in space, an idea pitched as potentially transforming computing. The concept involves orbiting data centre hardware that could use solar power for large-scale AI workloads. Commentators are debating whether the engineering, cost and thermal challenges of off-planet computing can realistically be overcome.

South Korea's Ministry of National Defense and the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) have agreed to use domestically developed launch vehicles to put military satellites into orbit. The move supports Seoul's push for an independent space-based defense capability and reduces reliance on foreign launch providers, while giving a boost to the country's homegrown rocket program.

NASA reports that SpaceX's Crew-13 mission is approaching the International Space Station aboard a Dragon spacecraft. The crew is set to dock with the orbiting laboratory, continuing routine commercial crew rotations that carry astronauts to and from the station. Further details on the crew members and mission timeline have not yet been provided.

South Korea is reportedly threatening Ukraine over the possible transfer of North Korean soldiers, a dispute that touches on how captured troops from North Korea fighting alongside Russia might be handled. The issue is sensitive for Seoul, which fears what Pyongyang could learn or demand if its soldiers end up outside its control. Analysts say the standoff highlights how the war in Ukraine has pulled multiple Asian governments into its diplomatic orbit.

Alphabet has launched its homegrown Tensor Processing Units, the AI chips it designs for its data centers, into space aboard a SpaceX rocket. The move points to Alphabet's interest in testing or deploying its custom silicon beyond Earth, including potential space-based computing. It also underscores the deepening ties between Google's parent company and Elon Musk's launch business as tech giants race to expand AI infrastructure in orbit.

The Pentagon is advancing plans for satellite constellations designed to track targets, including hypersonic missiles, from orbit. Aviation Week reports the programs are moving from concept toward deployment, with layered networks of small satellites in low Earth orbit intended to provide persistent tracking and targeting data for missile defense.

Discussion is growing around orbital data centers, the idea of placing computing infrastructure in space to handle data workloads beyond Earth. Proponents point to abundant solar power and natural cooling in orbit as advantages over ground-based facilities. The concept raises open questions about launch costs, maintenance, radiation, and regulation, and is drawing attention from space policy and telecom communities weighing how viable space-based compute really is.

A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying the Crew-13 mission has docked with the International Space Station, delivering its crew of astronauts to the orbiting laboratory. NASA confirmed the docking, continuing the company's regular crew rotation flights under its commercial crew programme. The arrival adds personnel to the station as operations continue aboard the orbital outpost.

Google has launched its first satellite as part of an effort to begin taking AI data centers into space. The project points to the company's ambition to move energy-hungry computing infrastructure off Earth, where solar power and cooling could be easier to source. Details about the satellite's capabilities and timeline for orbiting data centers remain limited.

STS-51-F, a Space Shuttle mission launched by NASA on 29 July 1985, suffered the failure of one of its three main engines during ascent but completed an abort-to-orbit, reaching a lower-than-planned orbit and carrying out most of its science work. The story is recirculating as a notable example of in-flight contingency procedures, years before the Challenger disaster.

NASA's Crew-13 mission has arrived at the International Space Station, and the agency has already announced the next crewed flight in its rotation. The rapid scheduling underscores the steady cadence of commercial crew missions to the orbiting laboratory. Coverage focuses on the handover period aboard the station and what the next mission means for continued operations.

Honda and US space infrastructure company Redwire are exploring a robotic laboratory system intended for commercial space stations. The concept would allow automated science operations aboard privately operated orbital platforms as the International Space Station era winds down and new commercial destinations are developed.