| Scheduled for UTC | 2025-05-31 13:39 | |

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| | Scheduled for (local) | 2025-05-31 08:39 (CDT) | | Launch provider | Blue Origin | | Launch site | Launch Site One, West Texas, Texas, USA | | Landing site | North Landing Pad | | Launch vehicle | New Shepard | | Booster | NS4 (flight 14) | | Capsule | RSS First Step (flight 13) | | Passengers | Aymette (Amy) Medina Jorge, Dr. Gretchen Green, Jaime Alemán, Jesse Williams, Mark Rocket, and Paul Jeris. | | Mission success criteria | Successful launch and safe landing of booster and capsule |

Livestreams

| Stream | Link | |

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| | Blue Origin | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNfUra5FBaA | | Space Affairs | https://youtube.com/watch?v=LtgdisJRLYY | | The Launch Pad | https://youtube.com/watch?v=w3eANb8Da20 |

Stats

• 4th New Shepard launch of 2025, 32nd overall
• 5th Blue Origin launch of 2025, 33rd overall

https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/7865

New Shepard's twelfth crewed flight. The 6-person crew consists of Aymette (Amy) Medina Jorge, Dr. Gretchen Green, Jaime Alemán, Jesse Williams, Mark Rocket, and Paul Jeris.

Previous mission (NS-31) | Next mission (NS-33)

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Established in mid-2024, Astronstone announced May 29 it had secured more than 100 million yuan ($13.9 million) in part for the development of its AS-1 (Astronstone-1) stainless steel, methane-liquid oxygen reusable launch vehicle, with a “chopsticks” system for first stage recovery.

The AS-1 rocket features a diameter of 4.2 meters, a length of 70m and a takeoff mass of 570,000 kilograms. It can carry up to 15,700 kg to low Earth orbit in expendable mode, or 10,000 kg in reusable mode. Astronstone claims the AS-1 price per kg launched will be 10,000 yuan ($1,340) when reused, or 20,000 yuan ($2,680) when the first stage is expended. Astronstone also has future plans for a much larger, 8.0-meter-diameter AS-2 rocket.

The AS-1 rocket will be powered by a customized version of the 80-ton-thrust Longyun engine developed by commercial rocket engine maker Jiuzhou Yunjian (JZYJ). JZYJ also supplied Longyun engines to Sepoch, which this week conducted a vertical takeoff and splashdown test with its own stainless steel test article.

| Scheduled for (UTC) | 2025-05-28, 17:30 | |

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| | Scheduled for (local) | 2025-05-29, 01:30 (CST) | | Launch provider | CALT | | Launch vehicle | Long March 3B/E | | Launch site | LC-2, Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China | | Payloads | Tianwen-2 |

Webcasts:

• International Rocket Launches: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD3Y_9AyEsg
• ThatSpaceDogeGuy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn4Y0VYPXgM

Stats:

☑️ 9th Long March 3 mission this year, 168th overall

Sourced from NextSpaceflight

First Chinese mission to return asteroid samples.

The companies announced May 22 that they signed a multi-launch agreement that starts with a mission in 2027 where Impulse’s Helios kick stage, placed into low Earth orbit by a medium-class rocket, will send a four-ton SES satellite from LEO to GEO within eight hours. The announcement did not disclose the vehicle that will launch Helios and the satellite, or the specific SES satellite.

Muon Space, which launched its FireSat protoflight mission in March, is developing a dedicated constellation of satellites to track wildfires globally in near real-time. The company is working with the nonprofit Earth Fire Alliance to build out the “FireSat” network in low Earth orbit (LEO). These satellites are equipped with multispectral electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) sensors.

“This would be the first dedicated constellation designed to global wildfire detection and response,” Brian Collins, executive director of the Earth Fire Alliance, said May 18 at the GEOINT Symposium.

“With a long-term goal to deploy as many as 50 FireSats, that would enable a 15-minute revisit rate across the planet,” he said. “So we can see the fire move and we can move resources accordingly.”

Muon’s FireSat platform is designed for dual-use applications, serving both civilian disaster response and national security needs.

Starfish Space is hoping to prove the concept of being able to dock to unprepared satellites for repair, refueling, or repositioning in orbit. The mission, known as Otter Pup 2, is now set to launch aboard the SpaceX Transporter-14 rideshare mission.

This follows the company’s first attempt, which saw the Otter Pup 1 mission unable to dock with its target due to a thruster failure.

The target will be a D-Orbit ION spacecraft which will simulate a client payload, which is not equipped with a traditional docking adapter or capture plate as you might see aboard a space station or other rendezvous target.

Instead, Starfish Space’s Nautilus capture mechanism will feature a special end effector connected to the end of the capture mechanism. This end effector will enable Otter Pup 2 to dock with the ION through electrostatic adhesion.

“An electromagnet will be integrated into the end effector and will be used as a backup option to the electrostatic end effector, to dock with the ION through magnetic attraction,” the company notes.

The goal is to eventually commission its Otter satellite servicing vehicle to allow for servicing of previously launched satellites. The company’s first Otter missions include customers such as NASA, the U.S. Space Force, and Intelsat, with the goal of flying those missions as soon as 2026.

Transporter-14 is currently scheduled to launch no earlier than June 1, 2025.

| Scheduled for (UTC) | 2025-05-20, 11:50 | |

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| | Scheduled for (local) | 2025-05-20, 19:50 (CST) | | Launch provider | CALT | | Launch vehicle | Long March 7A | | Launch site | LC-201, Wenchang Space Launch Site, China | | Payload | ChinaSat 3B |

Webcasts:

• International Rocket Launches: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErwA-wgxDRA

Stats:

☑️ 2nd Long March 7A mission this year, 19th overall

Sourced from NextSpaceflight

China is set to launch its second Tianwen deep space exploration mission late May, targeting both a near Earth asteroid and a main belt comet.

The Tianwen-2 spacecraft is now being integrated with a Long March 3B rocket at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced May 18, stating launch is scheduled for the end of May.

Airspace closure notices indicate a four-hour-long launch window opening at 12:00 p.m. Eastern (1600-2000 UTC) May 28. Backup launch windows are scheduled for May 29 and 30.

Tianwen-2’s first goal is to collect samples from near-Earth asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa (2016 HO3) and deliver these to Earth around late 2027. A reentry module containing the samples will be released for atmospheric entry, descent and landing, but the main Tianwen-2 spacecraft will use the Earth’s gravity for a swingby, setting it on course for a six-year-voyage to comet 311P/PANSTARRS.