SPACE reports, “Europe’s Ariane 6 heavy-lift rocket launched for the third time ever” on the evening of August 12, “sending an advanced weather and climate satellite to orbit. The powerful Ariane 6 lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana … at 8:37 p.m. EDT (9:37 p.m. local time in Kourou; 0037 GMT on Aug. 13).”
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Ariane 6 Rocket Launches for Third Time Ever (Launch at the 30:12 mark)
Arianespace; YouTube
Spaceflight Now reports, “Equipped with four solid-fuel strap-on boosters for additional takeoff power, the 198-foot-tall Vulcan’s two methane-fueled BE-4 engines thundered to life at 8:56p.m. EDT, instantly propelling the rocket away from pad 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.”
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Launch of a ULA Vulcan rocket carrying the U.S. Space Force (USSF)-106 mission (Liftoff at 19:39)
ULA; YouTube
Upward reports, “After nearly six months onboard the International Space Station (ISS), the four astronauts of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission have safely returned to Earth. This weekend’s splashdown off the coast of California concludes a long-duration science expedition that supported dozens of investigations sponsored by the ISS National Laboratory®.”
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The Washington Post reports, “James A. Lovell Jr., the American astronaut who commanded the Apollo 13 spacecraft on its lunar voyage in 1970 and shepherded it on a perilous four-day journey back to Earth after an oxygen tank exploded, an ordeal that transfixed the world, died Aug. 7 in Lake Forest, Illinois. He was 97.”
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SPACE reports, “NASA and SpaceX have delayed the return of Crew-10 due to weather concerns … SpaceX and the agency are now looking to undock Crew-10’s Dragon spacecraft no earlier than 6:05 p.m. EDT on Friday (Aug. 8).”
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NASA’s coverage from the International Space Station (Undocking is scheduled at 6:05 p.m. EDT).
Defense Daily reports, “The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan rocket is to have its debut National Security Space Launch for the U.S. Space Force on Aug. 12 in carrying the USSF-106 mission to orbit. ULA said on Tuesday that the Aug. 12 launch from Cape Canaveral is ‘pending range approval.’”
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SPACE reports, “Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin launched a crypto billionaire and five other people to the final frontier on Sunday (Aug. 3). The mission — known as NS-34, because it was the 34th overall flight of Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle — lifted off from the company’s West Texas spaceport at 8:43 a.m. EDT (1243 GMT; 7:43 a.m. local time in West Texas).”
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 1, 2025 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) CEO Clay Mowry made the following statement:
“We congratulate the entire NASA SpaceX team on its successful Crew-11 launch to the International Space Station (ISS). NASA’s reuse of the SpaceX Falcon rocket and Dragon spacecraft continues to show us that reusability is the future of launch.
We are eager to follow the crew through its mission, demonstrating the value of scientific research conducted onboard the ISS that will help prepare us for our off-world future of human exploration of the moon and eventually on to Mars.
We applaud this mission to the ISS through NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, demonstrating the collaboration between NASA and private industry to continue America’s leadership in low Earth orbit. With NASA astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut, and a JAXA astronaut, Crew-11 continues NASA’s ongoing commitment to international cooperation – a hallmark of space exploration.
AIAA is honored to recognize the countless aerospace professionals involved in making this mission a success. We salute NASA, SpaceX, and Crew-11 for shaping the future of aerospace.”
Media Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell
About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit www.aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on X/Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
SPACE reports a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 19 Starlink satellites from California’s central coast today (July 31), then came back to Earth for a landing on “the SpaceX drone ship named ‘Of Course I Still Love You.'”
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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from California (Liftoff at 14:56)
Spaceflight Now; YouTube
FROM THE INSTITUTE
The grand visions of a bustling lunar economy remain too heavily dependent on government funding, as private investment in moon missions still lags far behind, start-up founders and investors agreed during a panel discussion at 2025 ASCEND.
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