March 23-29, 2026 / Hawai`i Island, USA
Vol 45, Week 12: Lunar Broadcast Precursor — Terrestrial Edition
Rocket Lab Electron to Take ʻDaughter of the Stars' to LEO for PNT
From New Zealand, Rocket Lab launch NET March 24 of its carbon-fiber / polymer rocket Electron is set to enhance precision of Position / Navigation / Timing (PNT) with “Daughter of the Stars” Celeste LEO-PNT mission for ESA, taking two pathfinder satellites (IOD-1 and -2) to ~510km altitude. They expect to support direct-to-device 5G, 6G, and other projects, and outperform MEO satellites like Galileo at ~23,000km altitude and EGNOS at ~35,000km via stronger signals, lower latency, higher accuracy, enhanced resilience against jamming, and better coverage in “urban canyons” and other challenging locations. GMV of Spain developed IOD-1, and Thales Alenia Space of France built IOD-2. The Electron rocket uses Rutherford engines, named for discoverer of the atomic nucleus, 3D-printed by using Electron Beam Melting to fuse titanium and inconel nickel-chromium-based superalloy, making a finished engine in one day, monolithic in design, eliminating hundreds of failure-prone bolts and seals. Rutherford liquid propellant is moved by a lithium-polymer-battery-powered electric pump, differing from the turbopumps used in the Falcon 9, Starship and invented by Robert Goddard a hundred years ago. About T+6:25 after launch, a hot-swap electronically switches from 2 depleted battery packs to a fresh one; the dead packs and their weight are jettisoned. (Image Credits: Rocket Lab)
Falcon 9 to Launch at Least 86 Payloads to SSO on Rideshare Transporter-16
NET March 29 SpaceX launches its 16th rideshare, to Sun-Synchronous Orbit allowing satellites to pass above a targeted Earth location at the same local time each day. Momentus of California brings 10 payloads. Exolaunch of Berlin, Germany will deploy 57 of its customers’ satellites this 25th time it has engaged a Falcon 9 for such purpose, using EXOpod Nova deployers and CarboNIX separation rings to place satellites accurately for 25 customers in 11 countries. Cosmo 6U cubesat of University of Colorado Boulder will measure the Earth magnetic field, and QuantX Labs of Australia will send a key component of its atomic clock. Dcubed of Munich is sending ARAQYS-D2 to 3D print / deploy a 1-meter-long solar array. SEOPS Space of Giddings TX, USA will have the Falcon 9 deliver 19 customer spacecraft from 13 countries and deploy them with their own Equalizer, Alba Orbital’s AlbaPod and ISISPACE’s Quadpack. The AlbaPod will deploy PocketQubes, 3P (5x5x15cm) VEGAFLY-1 from Vega Space and Geospatial Academy of Vietnam, to support the Vietnam Amateur Radio Club to take photos and transmit via SSDV protocol, and the 2P SpinnyONE co-developed by companies in Edinburgh and Madrid, to demonstrate artificial gravity in a microlab with launch cost estimated at US$27,000. (Image Credits: Dcubed, Univ of Colo Boulder, SpaceX)
Humans in Space
☆ International Space Station, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 74 seven-member crew planning to greet Progress cargo craft after Progress MS-31 undocked from the Poisk zenith port and repair of the Kazakhstan pad allowed Progress MS-33 to launch; looking toward 2nd spacewalk this year to complete preparation for a new, more-powerful solar array after the 1st 2026 spacewalk began that preparation, with Jessica Meir and Chris Williams on EVA and interior monitoring by Jack Hathaway and Sophie Adenot.
☆ Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou-21 three-member crew completed 2nd spacewalk for their mission with Zhang Lu and Wu Fei in space for ~7 hours, assisted by Zhang Hongzhang inside the station, a team on Earth, and the station’s robotic arm; the EVA involved installing a debris protection device; the crew are also maintaining station equipment and its environment while managing their health with exercise and monitoring.
◐ Lunar Enterprise News: NASA’s SLS rocket with Orion spacecraft rolled out to Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center (delayed by winds), after fixing a helium flow issue on the upper stage. The four-person crew (Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen) is in quarantine. Launch is targeted no earlier than April 1 for a 10-day crewed lunar flyby—the first humans around the Moon in over 50 years.
☄ Near-Earth Objects Close Approaches – Mon Mar 23: Amor Asteroid 2023 CE1 (0.086 AU); Tue Mar 24: Aten Asteroid 2022 FY (0.025 AU); Wed Mar 25: Apollo Asteroid 2026 EP3 (0.021 AU); Sun Mar 25: Aten Asteroid 2010 GD35 (0.081 AU)
First Woman FLIES to the Moon …
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First Woman LANDS on the Moon …
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