Top Stories
NASA Lays Out Revised Artemis Lander Architecture, Targets Artemis III Docking Test by Summer 2027
NASA used a Friday news conference to detail how it plans to put astronauts back on the lunar surface as early as 2028. The revised architecture has Orion docking with SpaceX’s Starship lander in high Earth orbit before the transit to the Moon, rather than meeting it in lunar orbit. Blue Origin’s plan takes four New Glenn launches with no spacecraft-to-spacecraft refueling, and Blue Moon could meet Orion in low lunar orbit.
The schedule now puts Artemis III, a crewed demonstration that docks with both Blue Moon and Starship near Earth, in “summer” 2027. Artemis IV, the first actual landing, stays on track for 2028. Administrator Jared Isaacman called it “an achievable path” with the mandate and resources to execute. Moving the Starship rendezvous to high Earth orbit means the docking and any tanker traffic before it happen within reach of ground-based tracking, not in cislunar space. NASA also said it has resolved a long-running Orion issue.
Read the full story: Ars Technica
Satellite of the Day
NAVSTAR 1 (OPS 5111) – Launched February 22, 1978, as a 5-year test, NAVSTAR 1 (OPS 5111) still circles 20,192 km up and has logged 33,898 revolutions.
Read the full feature: Satellite of the Day: NAVSTAR 1 (OPS 5111) or track NAVSTAR 1 (OPS 5111) live.
By the Numbers
Active satellites tracked: 16,264
Cataloged debris objects: 14,972
New objects cataloged yesterday: 32
Orbital launches this year: 251 (244 successful)
Next launch: Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 15-16 in about 44 hours (Oct 27, 04:45 UTC)
Catalog Watch
Space-Track cataloged 32 new objects in its latest daily accounting (2026-10-24), alongside 25,921 updated element sets.
New catalog entries: 101111, 101112, 101113, 101114, 101115, 101116, 101117, 101118 and 24 more.
Reentry Watch
STARLINK-2187 (48562) – predicted decay Oct 25, 18:55 UTC, window ±4 h (track live)
STARLINK-2236 (48582) – predicted decay Oct 26, 21:25 UTC, window ±9 h (track live)
null (7003) – predicted decay Oct 27, 11:56 UTC, window ±14 h (track live)
STARLINK-36255 (67102) – predicted decay Oct 28, 19:29 UTC, window ±21 h (track live)
STARLINK-1036 (44741) – predicted decay Oct 28, 19:58 UTC, window ±18 h (track live)
Upcoming Space Launches
Schedule Changes
Newly added: United Launch Alliance Vulcan | USSF-114, scheduled for Dec 31, 00:00 UTC.
Newly added: United Launch Alliance Vulcan | USSF-16, scheduled for Dec 31, 00:00 UTC.
Newly added: United Launch Alliance Vulcan | USSF-23, scheduled for Dec 31, 00:00 UTC.
Slipped: Long March 8A | SatNet LEO Group 28 moved from Oct 25, 01:50 UTC to Oct 25, 02:03 UTC.
Slipped: Long March 2F/G | Shenzhou 24 moved from Dec 31, 00:00 UTC to Nov 25, 00:00 UTC.
Slipped: Vulcan VC6L | Amazon Leo (LV-01) moved from Oct 29, 00:00 UTC to Nov 30, 00:00 UTC.
Status change: Long March 8A | SatNet LEO Group 28 is now “Launch Successful”.
Next 48 Hours
SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 – Starlink Group 15-16 from Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA (Oct 27, 04:45 UTC)
Watch Live
See every upcoming mission on the live schedule: Upcoming Launches
Note: Launch dates and times are subject to change due to technical or weather considerations.