Astronomy Bot

At this second, the population of Earth is 8,313,119,957. There are also 12 people not currently on Earth (9 on ISS, 3 on Tiangong). That means only 99.9999998556% of humans are currently on their home planet.

Astronaut spotlight Christopher Loria (Retired) Date of Birth: 09/07/1960 Nationality: American Agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration First flight: Unknown Last flight: Unknown Christopher Joseph "Gus" Loria is a retired United States Marine Corps Colonel and a medically retired NASA astronaut. He was originally scheduled to fly on STS-113 as pilot; however, he was grounded from spaceflight due to a severe back injury.

Spacecraft spotlight (32/609) Name: Soyuz 7K-S No.1 Status: Single Use Agency: Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) Description: Military version of the Soyuz 7K spacecraft. In use: No

Image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. #JWST Program: 2732 Observation ID: jw02732001002_02101_00005_nrcb4_o001 Instruments used: FGS, NIRCam, NIRISS, NIRSpec, MIRI

At this second, the population of Earth is 8,313,391,710. There are also 12 people not currently on Earth (9 on ISS, 3 on Tiangong). That means only 99.9999998557% of humans are currently on their home planet.

The International Space Station is currently passing over the following coordinates: Lat: -51.4850 Long: 42.9370 https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-51.4850&mlon=42.9370&zoom=3

Spacecraft spotlight (78/608) Name: Soyuz T-3 Status: Single Use Agency: Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) Description: Soyuz T-3 was a Soyuz spacecraft which launched on 27 November 1980 14:18 UTC. It transported three cosmonauts of EO-5 to Salyut 6. The crew was Leonid Kizim, Oleg Makarov, and Gennady Strekalov. In use: No

Upcoming launch (10/10) Name: Long March 12A | Flight 2 Status: To Be Determined Window: 30/09/2026 01:00 - 30/09/2026 01:00 Agency: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Mission type: Test Flight Mission: Second test launch of CASC/SAST’s Long March 12A rocket. Payload identities are TBD. Webcast live: No

Upcoming launch (10/10) Name: Long March 2D | Unknown Payload Status: Go for Launch Window: 19/09/2026 11:43 - 19/09/2026 12:06 Agency: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Mission type: Unknown Mission: Details TBD. Webcast live: No

The International Space Station is currently passing over the following coordinates: Lat: 27.5711 Long: -22.3606 https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=27.5711&mlon=-22.3606&zoom=3

Image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. #JWST Program: 2732 Observation ID: jw02732001001_02101_00001_nrca3_o001 Instruments used: FGS, NIRCam, NIRISS, NIRSpec, MIRI

Spacecraft spotlight (53/609) Name: Soyuz 23 Status: Single Use Agency: Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) Description: Soyuz 23 was a Soyuz spacecraft which launched on 14 October 1976 17:39 UTC. It transported two cosmonauts on the second flight to Salyut 5. Docking failed due to a docking system failure. The crew w... In use: No

Upcoming launch (2/10) Name: Electron | Owl Around The World (StriX Launch 11) Status: Go for Launch Window: 31/08/2026 01:05 - 31/08/2026 01:05 Agency: Rocket Lab Mission type: Earth Science Mission: Synthetic aperture radar satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company Synspective. Webcast live: No

The International Space Station is currently passing over the following coordinates: Lat: 36.6932 Long: 79.4473 https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=36.6932&mlon=79.4473&zoom=3

Upcoming launch (1/10) Name: Falcon 9 Block 5 | O3b mPower 11-13 Status: Go for Launch Window: 13/09/2026 07:49 - 13/09/2026 09:16 Agency: SpaceX Mission type: Communications Mission: 3 high-throughput communications satellites in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) built by Boeing and operated by SES. Webcast live: No

Astronaut spotlight Gayle King (Occasional Spaceflight) Date of Birth: 28/12/1954 Nationality: American Agency: Blue Origin First flight: 14/04/2025 Last flight: 14/04/2025 Gayle King is an American television personality, author, and broadcast journalist for CBS News, co-hosting its flagship morning program, CBS Mornings, and before that its predecessor CBS This Morning. She is also an editor-at-large for O, The Oprah Magazine....

Astronaut spotlight Stephen Frick (Retired) Date of Birth: 30/09/1964 Nationality: American Agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration First flight: 08/04/2002 Last flight: 07/02/2008 Stephen Nathaniel Frick is an American astronaut and a veteran of two Space Shuttle missions....

Astronaut spotlight Kevin A. Ford (Retired) Date of Birth: 07/07/1960 Nationality: American Agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration First flight: 29/08/2009 Last flight: 23/10/2012 Kevin Anthony Ford is a retired United States Air Force Colonel and a NASA astronaut....

The International Space Station is currently passing over the following coordinates: Lat: -23.8675 Long: 89.9809 https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-23.8675&mlon=89.9809&zoom=3

Upcoming launch (4/10) Name: Falcon 9 Block 5 | USSF-259 Status: Go for Launch Window: 16/09/2026 02:00 - 16/09/2026 06:00 Agency: SpaceX Mission type: Government/Top Secret Mission: USSF-259 is a classified mission for the United States Space Force. It is possibly a batch of classified LEO satellites based on SpaceX’s Starshield satellite bus, based on locations of ascent rocket ... Webcast live: No

The International Space Station is currently passing over the following coordinates: Lat: 40.9124 Long: -83.7153 https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=40.9124&mlon=-83.7153&zoom=3

Upcoming launch (1/10) Name: Zhuque-3 | Flight 2 Status: Go for Launch Window: 19/08/2026 12:27 - 19/08/2026 01:04 Agency: LandSpace Mission type: Test Flight Mission: Second test launch of LandSpace’s ZQ-3 rocket. Payload identities are TBD. Webcast live: No

Upcoming launch (3/10) Name: Soyuz 2.1b | Progress MS-35 (96P) Status: Go for Launch Window: 09/09/2026 05:15 - 09/09/2026 05:15 Agency: Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) Mission type: Resupply Mission: Progress resupply mission to the International Space Station. Webcast live: No

Image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. #JWST Program: 2731 Observation ID: jw02731002004_02105_00005_mirimage_o002 Instruments used: FGS, NIRCam, NIRISS, NIRSpec, MIRI

EPIC photo #EPIC #DSCOVR This image was taken by NASA's EPIC camera onboard the NOAA DSCOVR spacecraft Centroid coordinates - Lat: 6.584473, Long: -66.965332 DSCOVR position - x: -1576511.0375, y: 115421.470966, z: 186228.964112 A total of 13 images were taken today #SorryFlerfs

The International Space Station is currently passing over the following coordinates: Lat: -37.7900 Long: 123.4227 https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-37.7900&mlon=123.4227&zoom=3

Upcoming launch (10/10) Name: Long March 12A | Flight 2 Status: To Be Determined Window: 30/09/2026 01:00 - 30/09/2026 01:00 Agency: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Mission type: Test Flight Mission: Second test launch of CASC/SAST’s Long March 12A rocket. Payload identities are TBD. Webcast live: No

Image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. #JWST Program: 2732 Observation ID: jw02732004001_02103_00001_mirifushort_o004 Instruments used: FGS, NIRCam, NIRISS, NIRSpec, MIRI

Upcoming launch (2/10) Name: Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 10-19 Status: Go for Launch Window: 10/08/2026 03:49 - 10/08/2026 07:49 Agency: SpaceX Mission type: Communications Mission: A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. Webcast live: No

Spacecraft spotlight (45/608) Name: Progress M-24 Status: Single Use Agency: Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) Description: Progress M-24 (Russian: Прогресс М-24), was a Progress spacecraft used to resupply the space station Mir. In use: No

Astronaut spotlight Timothy Drexler (Occasional Spaceflight) Date of Birth: Unspecified Nationality: American Agency: Blue Origin First flight: 22/01/2026 Last flight: 22/01/2026 Former owner and CEO of Ace Asphalt

Astronaut spotlight Andrew Yaffe (Occasional Spaceflight) Date of Birth: Unspecified Nationality: American Agency: Blue Origin First flight: Unknown Last flight: Unknown Passionate traveler who has spent his life in the recycling industry.

Image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. #JWST Program: 2732 Observation ID: jw02732001006_02101_00002_nrcb3 Instruments used: FGS, NIRCam, NIRISS, NIRSpec, MIRI

The International Space Station is currently passing over the following coordinates: Lat: -35.3290 Long: -166.1757 https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-35.3290&mlon=-166.1757&zoom=3

The International Space Station is currently passing over the following coordinates: Lat: -42.6676 Long: -75.2522 https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-42.6676&mlon=-75.2522&zoom=3

Astronomy photo of the day: A Zodiacal Night. Copyright: Neelam and Ajay Talwar Explanation: Also known as the false dawn, a luminous band of zodiacal light is captured in this dark night skyscape. The serene view was recorded just before the beginning of astronomical twilight during September's star party at the remote Hanle Dark Sky Reserve, Ladakh, India, planet Earth #APOD

The International Space Station is currently passing over the following coordinates: Lat: -43.4461 Long: -6.5019 https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-43.4461&mlon=-6.5019&zoom=3

Upcoming launch (3/10) Name: Long March 2D | Unknown Payload Status: Go for Launch Window: 19/09/2026 11:43 - 19/09/2026 12:06 Agency: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Mission type: Unknown Mission: Details TBD. Webcast live: No

Upcoming launch (5/10) Name: Long March 6A | Unknown Payload Status: Go for Launch Window: 24/09/2026 09:38 - 24/09/2026 10:04 Agency: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Mission type: Unknown Mission: Details TBD. Webcast live: No

At this second, the population of Earth is 8,315,293,226. There are also 12 people not currently on Earth (9 on ISS, 3 on Tiangong). That means only 99.9999998557% of humans are currently on their home planet.

Upcoming launch (8/10) Name: Falcon 9 Block 5 | O3b mPower 11-13 Status: To Be Confirmed Window: 13/09/2026 07:50 - 13/09/2026 09:27 Agency: SpaceX Mission type: Communications Mission: 3 high-throughput communications satellites in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) built by Boeing and operated by SES. Webcast live: No

Image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. #JWST Program: 2732 Observation ID: jw02732001003_02103_00004_nrca1_o001 Instruments used: FGS, NIRCam, NIRISS, NIRSpec, MIRI

Upcoming launch (4/10) Name: Kinetica 1 | Unknown Payload Status: Go for Launch Window: 20/09/2026 04:54 - 20/09/2026 05:15 Agency: CAS Space Mission type: Unknown Mission: Details TBD. Webcast live: No

The International Space Station is currently passing over the following coordinates: Lat: -38.4815 Long: 154.2479 https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-38.4815&mlon=154.2479&zoom=3

Spacecraft spotlight (40/608) Name: Soyuz 21 Status: Single Use Agency: Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) Description: Soyuz 21 was a Soyuz spacecraft which launched on 6 July 1976 12:08 UTC. It transported two cosmonauts on the first flight to Salyut. The crew was Boris Volynov and Vitaly Zholobov. In use: No

Spacecraft spotlight (67/609) Name: Soyuz 7K-L1E No.2 Status: Single Use Agency: Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) Description: The Soyuz 7K-L1 "Zond" spacecraft was designed to launch men from the Earth to circle the Moon without going into lunar orbit in the context of the Soviet crewed Moon-flyby program in the Moon race. I... In use: No

The International Space Station is currently passing over the following coordinates: Lat: 41.4808 Long: 35.9968 https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=41.4808&mlon=35.9968&zoom=3

Spacecraft spotlight (36/609) Name: Soyuz TM-5 Status: Single Use Agency: Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) Description: Soyuz TM-4 was a Soyuz spacecraft which launched on 7 June 1988 14:03 UTC. It transported two soviets and one Bulgarian cosmonaut to Mir. The soviet cosmonauts were Anatoly Solovyev and Viktor Savinyk... In use: No

Spacecraft spotlight (82/609) Name: Shenzhou 7 Status: Single Use Agency: China National Space Administration Description: The Shenzhou spacecraft carrying the three crew members was launched 25 September 2008, by a Long March 2F (CZ-2F) rocket which lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 21:10 CST. The mi... In use: No

EPIC photo #EPIC #DSCOVR This image was taken by NASA's EPIC camera onboard the NOAA DSCOVR spacecraft Centroid coordinates - Lat: 8.049316, Long: 175.246582 DSCOVR position - x: -1496940.941936, y: 442817.38125, z: 225107.365625 A total of 22 images were taken today #SorryFlerfs