LAUNCH FEED // LIVE
The next orbital launch is Ariane 62 | MTG-I2, flown by Arianespace from Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana, lifting off at 20:10 UTC on 27 August 2026. Delta-V tracks every upcoming orbital launch with a live countdown, carries spaceflight news from every major outlet, reports space weather and near-Earth objects, and runs a free gravity-flight game in the browser.
TIME TO LIFT-OFF
NET (UTC)
2026-08-27 20:10:00Z
Third of EUMETSAT's third generation of weather satellite.
MANIFEST // NEXT SIX
SpaceXUnited States of America
Russian Space ForcesRussiaThe operator has not published how firm this date is. Treat it as provisional.
Rocket LabUnited States of America
Galactic EnergyChinaThe operator has not published how firm this date is. Treat it as provisional.
SpaceXUnited States of America
Indian Space Research OrganizationIndiaThe operator has not published how firm this date is. Treat it as provisional.
LOADING FLIGHT COMPUTER
Delta-V is a gravity-flight simulator about orbital mechanics you can feel in your thumbs. Plot the burn, commit, and find out whether you budgeted for the way back. It runs in this browser tab — no account, no install.
WIRE // HOURLY
The European Space Agency has signed the first contracts under its European Launcher Challenge, committing a combined €543.6 million to Isar Aerospace, Rocket Factory Augsburg, and PLD Space. MaiaSpace was notably not among the awardees, with the agency stating that the contract award process with the company is “expected to resume in the coming weeks.” […] The post ESA Awards €544 Million in European Launcher Challenge Contracts appeared first on European Spaceflight.
Reported and summarised by European Spaceflight. Opens in a new tab.
After nearly a decade of service to NASA, including an eight-month science expedition aboard the International Space Station, astronaut Jonny Kim’s last day at the agency is Thursday. He will continue serving as lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy. Kim launched to the space station in April 2025 aboard the Soyuz MS‑27 spacecraft to conduct […]
Reported and summarised by NASA. Opens in a new tab.
In this episode, SpaceNews’ Mike Gruss interviews Jeff Janicik, CEO and chairman of Innoflight. They discuss Golden Dome, Artemis and working with big numbers for the Space Development Agency. Sponsored […] The post The electronics ‘under the hood’ of space networking appeared first on SpaceNews.
Reported and summarised by SpaceNews. Opens in a new tab.
From the ESA Blogs.
Reported and summarised by ESA. Opens in a new tab.
TELEMETRY // NOW
PLANETARY K-INDEX
0.7
Below storm threshold. Aurora stays near the poles at this level.
2026-08-27
Credit: Victor Lima Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)
What a sight to behold, when a night sky became filled with colors that appeared to rain over the Skógafoss waterfall in Iceland. This image was taken in a single 5 second exposure by the photographer in April 2025. Seeing an aurora is on many people's bucket lists. But it is not easy. It requires high solar activity, dark and clear skies, and usually a viewing location at high latitude. That makes the northern lights more easily seen than the corresponding southern lights, simply because there is less landmass in the Southern Hemisphere, especially around the Antarctic Circle. Auroras are caused by charged particles from the solar wind that are captured by the Earth's magnetosphere and guided by the magnetic field to a region close to one of the poles, where they collide with gas particles in the atmosphere. Different colors indicate interactions with different gases at different altitudes, like oxygen (red and green) and nitrogen (blue and pink). APOD's main NASA site is moving : From apod.nasa.gov to science.nasa.gov/apod
One dispatch a week: what flew, what slipped, and anything worth setting an alarm for.
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