Public Space News (16-20 June)

China’s Tiangong Space Station is in good health, with astronauts Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie conducting multidisciplinary space science experiments. The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) mission, a joint China-ESA mission, is set to launch in 2025. China’s Tianwen-2 mission is progressing, and the station continues to operate with ongoing scientific research and crewed missions.

Russia’s Roscosmos is working on a new cargo ship for the International Space Station (ISS), while NASA and Roscosmos teams are working on ISS maintenance. The 70th anniversary of Baikonur, Russia’s cosmodrome, has been celebrated with photo exhibitions and the most powerful liquid rocket engine, RD-171MV, sent for assembly. NASA’s Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission released its first images, while the X-59 supersonic demonstrator passed a safety and flight readiness review. NASA’s Axiom 4 commercial crew mission to the ISS was postponed due to weather and a Falcon 9 liquid oxygen leak repair. The US Space Technology Ecosystem and Startups are focusing on sustainable lunar technologies and advanced spacecraft. China’s Tiangong Space Station is conducting extensive space science experiments, and India is preparing for the Gaganyaan human spaceflight in 2025.

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