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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched the Optus-X telecommunications satellite into orbit on Sunday, November 17, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The liftoff took place at 5:28pm EST coinciding with a sunset that added visual appeal to the event. The satellite, commissioned by the Australian telecom company Optus, will serve communication needs once operational in geostationary orbit.

First Stage Recovered in Ocean Landing

After the launch, the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage made a controlled descent, landing on SpaceX’s Atlantic Ocean-based droneship, A Shortfall of Gravitas. The landing occurred approximately nine minutes after takeoff, marking the 16th flight for this booster. SpaceX has indicated that nine of these flights were part of missions to deploy Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit.

Optus-X’s Journey to Geostationary Orbit

The satellite’s intended destination is geostationary orbit, located 22,236 miles (35,786 kilometres) above the Earth. The Falcon 9 upper stage carried Optus-X to a geosynchronous transfer orbit, from where the satellite will travel the remaining distance using its onboard propulsion systems.

Busy Schedule for SpaceX

The launch marks the beginning of an intense three-day period for SpaceX. Two additional missions are planned for Monday, November 18, including the deployment of Starlink satellites and an Indian telecom satellite. On Tuesday, November 19, SpaceX is set to conduct the sixth test flight of its Starship rocket, an event expected to attract significant attention.

This latest mission highlights SpaceX’s ongoing commitment to frequent and reusable launches, which have become a central component of its operational strategy.

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Smithsonian Air and Space Museum Reopens with SpaceX Rocket, Mars Habitat and More

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Smithsonian Air and Space Museum Reopens with SpaceX Rocket, Mars Habitat and More

Hundreds waited at the ready outside the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum on Monday (July 28), when “the doors opened for access to five featured and newly renovated galleries that capture the history, contemporary status, and futuristic vision of aviation and space exploration. These refurbished spaces showcase a mix of historic and high-tech artifacts such as John Glenn’s “Friendship 7” capsule, pieces of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, and a 3D-printed Mars habitat. Visitors were among the first to experience a sweeping display of innovation, housed within the museum’s revitalised main building on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Smithsonian’s $900M Overhaul Brings Futuristic Space Exhibits and Aviation History to Life

As per a Smithsonian statement, the reimagined exhibits are part of a $900 million full-building transformation launched in 2018, scheduled for completion by July 2026—the museum’s 50th anniversary. This phase marks the second group of reopened galleries since the start of 2022. After a three-year closure, the north entrance opened for the first time, leading visitors through a newly wing-shaped vestibule and into “Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall”, now with improved lighting, digital screens, and iconic artefacts.

Next to it, a new “Futures in Space” gallery showcases domestic exhibitions from private space companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, and Axiom Space. Rather than a chronological or program-based layout, the gallery explores philosophical and practical questions about space: Who decides who goes? Why do we venture out? What will we do once we arrive? The immersive layout blends historical items, contemporary designs, and even pop culture references.

The museum has reopened galleries such as “Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight”, “World War I: The Birth of Military Aviation”, and “Allan and Shelley Holt Innovations Gallery”, and the upgraded Lockheed Martin IMAX Theatre, praised as educational and inspirational.

Despite free entry, the Smithsonian Museum reopened to more than 6,000 guests, who must pick up timed-entry passes in order to better manage crowd flow.

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NASA’s Solar Observatory Sees Two Eclipses in One Day

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NASA’s Solar Observatory Sees Two Eclipses in One Day

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has witnessed and recorded an unprecedented phenomenon of two solar eclipses in one day on July 25, 2025. These two eclipses took place only hours apart that day, and were photographed by SDO instruments pointed up and away from the Sun in geosynchronous orbit. First, around 2:45 UTC, the Moon passed between SDO and the Sun. Then, starting at about 6:30 UTC, Earth itself eclipsed the Sun from SDO’s point of view, with the Sun disappearing behind our planet shortly before 8:00 UTC. Since launching in 2010, SDO has continuously monitored the Sun’s activity, from solar flares to magnetic fields, helping forecasters predict space weather.

Moon Transit

According to NASA, SDO orbits Earth in a high geosynchronous orbit, so it has an almost constant view of the Sun. On July 25, this vantage point captured a partial solar eclipse as the Moon passed between the spacecraft and the Sun. NASA’s mission team had predicted this “lunar transit” would cover about 62% of the solar disk. Indeed, the Moon’s silhouette moved slowly across the Sun (around 2:45–3:35 UTC), blocking roughly two-thirds of the bright disk at maximum. The observatory’s ultraviolet telescope (AIA) recorded the event, revealing the Sun’s lower atmosphere and coronal loops around the sharply defined lunar edge. This transit was the deepest lunar eclipse SDO saw in 2025.

Earth’s Eclipse from Space

Hours later, on the same day, Earth itself passed between SDO and the Sun. Beginning around 6:30 UTC on July 25, our planet fully blocked the observatory’s view of the solar disk. This occurred during SDO’s regular eclipse season (a roughly three-week period twice each year when Earth’s orbit crosses the satellite’s line of sight). The total eclipse lasted until shortly before 8:00 UTC. In SDO’s images, Earth’s shadow has a fuzzy edge because our atmosphere scatters sunlight, in contrast to the Moon’s crisp eclipse.

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NISAR Launches July 30: A NASA-ISRO Satellite to Track Earth’s Changes

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NISAR Launches July 30: A NASA-ISRO Satellite to Track Earth’s Changes

The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite, a joint Earth science mission, is now set for launch from India’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The pickup-truck-sized spacecraft was encapsulated in the nose cone of an Indian Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle and is scheduled to lift off on Wednesday, July 30 at 8:10 a.m. EDT (5:40 p.m. IST). Once in orbit, its dual-frequency radars will circle Earth 14 times a day, scanning nearly all of the planet’s land and ice surfaces every 12 days. It will provide data to help scientists monitor soil moisture and vegetation, and better assess hazards like landslides and floods.

International Collaboration and Launch Readiness

According to the official website, NISAR reflects a significant NASA–ISRO partnership. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) built the long-wavelength L-band radar, and India’s Space Applications Centre built the shorter-wavelength S-band radar. This dual-frequency design makes NISAR the first Earth satellite to carry two radar systems, underscoring the mission’s unique collaboration.

The spacecraft is now integrated into its launch vehicle at India’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre. On July 28 NASA announced NISAR had been encapsulated in the payload fairing of an ISRO Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle on the pad. The GSLV is scheduled to lift off at 8:10 a.m. EDT (5:40 p.m. IST) on Wednesday, July 30.

Advanced Dual-Frequency Radar

NISAR carries a novel dual-frequency radar system. The satellite’s instruments operate at L-band (25 cm) and S-band (10 cm) wavelengths. The longer L-band waves can penetrate forests and soil to sense moisture and land motion, while the shorter S-band waves pick up fine surface details like vegetation moisture and roughness. This combination lets NISAR detect both large-scale and fine-scale changes.

From orbit, NISAR will circle Earth 14 times per day, scanning nearly all land and ice surfaces twice every 12 days. Its data will track changes like the advance or retreat of polar ice sheets and slow ground shifts from earthquakes, and will also aid agriculture and disaster planning by helping monitor crops and prepare for floods and hurricanes.

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