ESA greenlights MAGPIE lunar rover for 2029, Space brief 2 Sep 2026. ESA signs agreement for MAGPIE, its first lunar rover, targeting 2029 south pole water-ice prospecting. Starship Flight 14 to attempt first orbital insertion. Top stories. ESA greenlights MAGPIE, its first lunar rover, for 2029 south pole mission. ESA and ispace-Europe signed the implementation agreement for MAGPIE (Mission for Advanced Geophysics and Polar Ice Exploration) at the Space for Inspiration event in Copenhagen. The rover will operate for roughly 10 Earth days at the lunar south pole, carrying a drill, volatile analyser, ground-penetrating radar, and neutron detector to prospect for water ice and map subsurface geology. Launch is planned for 2029 in partnership with JAXA. MAGPIE is part of ESA's Moon Explore initiative, which aims to develop lunar capabilities faster and cheaper than traditional programs. The water-detection data will feed directly into planning for sustained human presence at the south pole. Read the full story: ESA Sixth all-female spacewalk replaces ISS camera and docking hardware. Two astronauts conducted the sixth all-female spacewalk in ISS history, replacing an external camera and a docking aid on the station. The EVA adds to a slow but steady count: the first all-female spacewalk was only in October 2019. SpaceX FCC filing reveals Starship Flight 14 will attempt orbit for the first time. An FCC filing shows Starship's fourteenth flight test will target actual orbital insertion, a first for the program. Every previous Starship flight, including Flight 13's Indian Ocean splashdown on July 24, flew suborbital arcs. Flight 14 would carry roughly 20 Starlink V3 satellites, each rated for about 1 Tbit/s downlink, and if orbital insertion succeeds, those satellites could enter operational service. The ship itself will splashdown rather than attempt a tower catch, which Musk pushed to "a few months" later. RS-25 engines installed on Artemis III core stage. NASA has installed the RS-25 engines on the Space Launch System core stage for Artemis III, the mission that will return astronauts to the lunar surface. These are heritage engines with flight history stretching back through the Space Shuttle program, now adapted with new controllers and nozzle hardware for SLS. Read the full story: NASA Trump nominates acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao for permanent role. President Trump announced the formal nomination of Hung Cao, who has served as acting Navy Secretary since April, to hold the position permanently. Cao was confirmed as the Navy's number-two civilian last October. With Army Secretary Dan Driscoll's resignation this week, two of three military service secretary seats are now filled in acting capacity. The Senate has limited working days before November midterms, making quick confirmation unlikely. House advances continuing resolution extending defense funding through Dec. 11. House lawmakers advanced a continuing resolution that extends government funding to December 11, matching the Senate's earlier action. The CR keeps weapons programs funded at fiscal 2026 levels and prevents troop pay interruptions and civilian furloughs. Potential automatic cuts to reconciliation funds remain a risk if certain spending targets are not met by October. SpaceX to launch 27 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg on booster's 35th flight. A Falcon 9 is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg SFB at 0842 UTC Wednesday carrying 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites. The first stage, B1063, will fly for the 35th time. SpaceX has been consolidating Starlink launches on the West Coast as Cape Canaveral infrastructure pivots toward Starship's East Coast debut. Satellite of the day. GONETS-M 13 - GONETS-M 13, launched in 2015 from Plesetsk on a Rokot vehicle, has exceeded its 5-7 year design life at 1,500 km altitude, still relaying data across Russia's remote polar regions. By the numbers. * Active satellites tracked: 15,878 * Cataloged debris objects: 14,906 * New objects cataloged yesterday: 2 * Orbital launches this year: 208 (201 successful) * Next launch: Electron | Owl Around The World (StriX Launch 11) in about 2 hours (Sep 2, 11:11 UTC) Catalog watch. Space-Track cataloged 2 new objects in its latest daily accounting (2026-09-01), alongside 28,401 updated element sets. Reentry watch. * STARLINK-4455 (53500) - predicted decay Sep 3, 07:13 UTC, window +/-10 h (track live) * COSMOS 1030 DEB (12907) - predicted decay Sep 3, 11:52 UTC, window +/-12 h (track live) * STARLINK-1279 (45360) - predicted decay Sep 4, 05:17 UTC, window +/-12 h (track live) * STARLINK-1595 (46159) - predicted decay Sep 4, 17:50 UTC, window +/-14 h (track live) * STARLINK-2159 (47745) - predicted decay Sep 5, 05:00 UTC, window +/-16 h (track live) Upcoming Space launches. Schedule changes. * Newly added: SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 | USSF-xxx ("R-2"), scheduled for Sep 10, 15:37 UTC. * Slipped: Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 15-23 moved from Sep 2, 07:46 UTC to Sep 2, 08:42 UTC. * Slipped: Electron | Owl Around The World (StriX Launch 11) moved from Sep 2, 11:00 UTC to Sep 2, 11:11 UTC. Next 48 hours. * Rocket Lab Electron - Owl Around The World (StriX Launch 11) from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand (Sep 2, 11:11 UTC) Synthetic aperture radar satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company Synspective. Watch Live * Indian Space Research Organization GSLV Mk. II - GISAT-1A (EOS-05) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India (Sep 3, 21:25 UTC) GISAT-1A (GEO Imaging Satellite) is an Indian earth observing satellite operating from geostationary orbit to facilitate continuous observation of Indian sub-continent, quick monitoring of natural hazards and disaster. 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. Maurice Stellarski. Maurice Stellarski is the Chief Coordination Officer (CCO) of the Civilian Cardboard Command Center Protocol (CCCCP). With over 25 years of self-certified experience in NEATS (Non-Existent Aerospace Tracking Systems), Maurice specializes in predicting launches with uncanny accuracy using his proprietary KITCHEN (Knowledge Integration Technology Combined with Household Equipment Network) methodology. When not monitoring his mission control center, Maurice maintains the world's largest collection of mission-critical authorization stamps and hosts the underground podcast 'Countdown to Breakfast: Uncensored Launch News.'

China's iSpace raises first batch of series E funding for reusable rocketry. HELSINKI - Chinese reusable launch vehicle maker has secured a first batch of series E funding, months after a huge D++ round, with fundraising still ongoing. The funding is the opening raise of a planned series E round, securing iSpace nearly $148 million (1 billion yuan), according to STCN, a Chinese financial news outlet. The round was dominated by asset investment companies affiliated with China's major state banks, following a trend of such investment triggered by strong central government signalling of the strategic importance of commercial space. The new funding will go towards research and mass production of the Hyperbola-3 reusable launch vehicle, the capacity to manufacture the Focus-2 methane-liquid oxygen engine, launch and sea recovery infrastructure, and the pre-research of heavy-lift launch vehicle technology. The development follows iSpace securing a record $729 million in February this year, dedicated to reusable rocketry and expanding the company's industrial footprint. That round was driven by government industrial funds, state-linked strategic ecosystem investors, municipal and provincial investment vehicles and private equity. iSpace has been working towards a first launch of its first liquid propellant rocket, the Hyperbola-3, previously aiming for a test launch in 2025. The launcher has a reported payload capacity of 8,500 kilograms to low Earth orbit in reusable mode and 13,400 kg to LEO in expendable mode. The most recent statements call for the debut flight of the two-stage, 69-meters-long Hyperbola-3 before the end of 2026, with an attempted first stage recovery attempt as part of the mission. The company launched what it described as the country's first rocket recovery ship in August 2025, with the vessel subsequently undergoing testing. "Interstellar Return" is 100 meters long and 42 meters wide and is designed to recover the first stage of the Hyperbola-3 rocket and can accommodate recovery of other medium- and large-scale reusable rockets. China completed its first orbital booster recovery in July when another vessel, equipped with a net-capture system, caught the first stage of the first Long March 10B rocket. Landspace's Zhuque-3 was due to launch and make a second recovery attempt Aug. 10, but wind conditions apparently forced a rescheduling to an as yet undisclosed time, with the delay becoming apparent shortly after the explosion and loss of a Long March 7A rocket earlier Aug. 10. In terms of IPO, iSpace plans to list on the STAR Market in the second half of 2027, according to reports, following the expected debut of the Hyperbola-3. It is among a number of major commercial Chinese launch companies making such moves, along with Landspace, Orienspace, CAS Space, Space Pioneer and Galactic Energy. The moves come amid a wider wave of capital flowing into China's commercial space sector. The company became the first Chinese commercial firm to reach orbit in July 2019 with the Hyperbola-1 solid rocket, yet the launcher has since flown just seven more times, including four failures. The latest mission flew, successfully, in July 2025. iSpace faces strong competition, with Landspace having successfully reached orbit with Zhuque-3, Galactic Energy set to debut Pallas-1 in the near future, CAS Space reaching orbit with Kinetica-2, and Space Pioneer having already made a launch attempt with Tianlong-3. The companies are competing for launch contracts for China's megaconstellations, with launch reliability, recovery and reuse, and cadence likely determining their success or otherwise.

Japan's lunar leap: ispace and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries partner for 2028 Moon Mission. 2 minutes read A major milestone for Japan's space sector has taken shape as private lunar exploration company ispace, inc. and defense and aerospace giant Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) signed a commercial launch contract. Under this deal, MHI's next-generation H3 rocket will carry ispace's upcoming Mission 3 ULTRA Lunar Lander into space, with the launch targeted for 2028. This partnership marks the very first time a domestically produced Japanese rocket and a Japanese-built lander will work together on a mission to the lunar surface. For Japan's aerospace industry, this collaboration represents a giant step toward establishing independent commercial access to the Moon and expanding the country's footprint in the growing cislunar economy. A new chapter for lunar transportation. Launches which are secure and predictable play a key role in the success of any space strategy in the long term. In securing the deal with MHI, ispace will have the ability to tap into Japan's best launch operator, thus ensuring that there are heavy lift capability and reliability during their mission. The lander used in this mission is known as ULTRA, and it is a high-performance lander which is currently under development by ispace. The funding of its development is partly due to a Small Business Innovation Research grant from the Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. This is based on the lessons gained from previous missions where ispace was able to prove its capabilities to make it to the orbit of the moon within several months of travel. MHI has many years of experience in developing Japanese space technology. Its most famous launch vehicle is known as H3 which will take over the roles of the successful H-IIA and H-IIB. Beyond launch services: building lunar infrastructure. Though the current deal centers on the 2028 launch, the connection between these two companies runs beyond this. ispace and MHI have already agreed to investigate ways to collaborate more on future moon-related initiatives. This involves working together on the construction of lunar infrastructure as well as the technologies needed to operate in space. The collaboration between MHI, which provides launch services, and ispace, which is specialized in designing and operating landers, will create a turnkey and Japanese-operated solution for lunar transport from the start of the flight on Earth to its conclusion on the Moon. Industry leaders view Mission 3 as a key milestone. Both organizations' executives were optimistic regarding the potential implications of their collaborative effort for the future of commercial space travel in Japan. Takeshi Hakamada, Founder, and CEO of ispace, made it clear that by using the H3 rocket to launch the ULTRA lander, there are new opportunities opened up for private sector organizations to explore the Moon. Mission 3 is crucial towards making lunar transportation a regular business. Iwao Igarashi, Vice President and Senior General Manager of Space Systems at MHI, said that it was an honor to launch this mission on the H3 rocket. He made it clear that MHI seeks to use its operational experience to make the lander reach orbit successfully while exploring new opportunities for Japanese private space exploration.