Skynet 8-15-26 “Space & Astronomy Sites You’ll Love” and Constellation “Sagittarius” 9 PM CT |

Astronaut	Birthday	Birth Year	FCC Callsign	Flights	Notes
Roman Romanenko	August 9	1971	None	Soyuz TMA-15, Soyuz TMA-07M	Russian cosmonaut who logged over 333 days in space across two long-duration missions to the ISS.
Frederick W. “Rick” Sturckow	August 11	1961	None	STS-88, STS-105, STS-117, STS-128	Retired Marine Corps colonel and NASA astronaut who flew on four Space Shuttle missions, including the first ISS assembly mission (STS-88).
Charles E. Brady Jr.	August 12	1951	N4HDP	STS-78	NASA astronaut and Navy captain who flew on the STS-78 Spacelab mission, and was an active ham radio operator who communicated with schools.
Robert L. Stewart	August 13	1942	None	STS-41-B, STS-51-J	The first active-duty U.S. Army officer to become a NASA astronaut; he performed the first untethered spacewalk using the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU).
Jon A. McBride	August 14	1943	W8JHP	STS-41-G	Retired U.S. Navy captain and NASA astronaut who piloted Space Shuttle mission STS-41-G, which featured the first crew of seven.
Mark C. Lee	August 14	1952	None	STS-30, STS-47, STS-64, STS-82	Veteran NASA astronaut who logged over 32 days in space, performing multiple spacewalks including testing of the SAFER rescue device.
Tracy Caldwell Dyson	August 14	1969	KE5GJN	STS-118, Expedition 23/24, Expedition 70/71	NASA astronaut and chemist who completed three long-duration flights to the ISS, performing multiple spacewalks and logging over 370 days in space.
Manley Lanier “Sonny” Carter Jr.	August 15	1947	None	STS-33	U.S. Navy captain and NASA astronaut who flew on the classified Department of Defense mission STS-33 before his tragic death in 1991.
Scott D. Altman	August 15	1959	None	STS-90, STS-106, STS-109, STS-125	Former Navy fighter pilot and NASA astronaut who commanded the final two Hubble Space Telescope servicing missions and served as the stunt pilot in Top Gun.

This Week in Space History

Launch of Luna 24, Soviet Union’s Final Lunar Sample Return Mission (August 9, 1976)

The Great Daylight Fireball Over North America (August 10, 1972)

First Successful Recovery of a Spacecraft (Discoverer 13) (August 11, 1960)

Launch of NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (August 12, 2005)

Miss Carolyn’s Constellation of the Week

Constellation “Sagittarius the Centaur”

Space Launches For This Week

Space Flight Now Launch Schedule

Launch Schedule

August 18/19 Falcon 9 • Starlink 17-50

Launch time: Window opens at 7 p.m. PDT (10 p.m. EDT / 0200 UTC)

Launch site: SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch another batch of 24 Starlink V2 Mini satellites to low Earth orbit. The first-stage booster, tail number B1097, launching for a 12 time, is scheduled to land on the droneship, Of Course I Still Love You, in the Pacific Ocean.

Updated: August 11

August 20 Falcon 9 • Starlink 10-39

Launch time: Window opens at 11:19 a.m. EDT (1519 UTC)

Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch another batch of 29 Starlink V2 Mini satellites to low Earth orbit. The first-stage booster, tail number B1078, launching for a 30th time, is scheduled to land on the droneship, A Shortfall of Gravitas, in the Pacific Ocean.

Updated: August 11

NET August 27 Ariane 6 • MTG-I2

Launch time: Window opens at 5:10 p.m. local time (4:10 p.m. EDT / 2010 UTC)

Launch site: Europe’s Spaceport, Kourou, French Guiana

An Arianespace Ariane 62 rocket, the two-booster variant of the Ariane 6 launcher, will launch the second Meteosat Third Generation Imager satellite (MTG-I2) to a geostationary transfer orbit. The mission is a partnership between the European Space Agency and EUMETSAT. This will be the fourth Ariane 6 rocket launch of the year and the ninth to date.

Updated: August 11

NET August 30 Falcon Heavy • Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

Launch time: 7:26 a.m. EDT (1126 UTC)

Launch site: Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, the agency’s next great observatory. Roman carries onboard two main instruments: the 300-megapixel infrared camera called the Wide Field Instrument and a coronagraph. It will carry out a minimum five-year mission capture detailed images of the universe at a dramatically faster rate than the Hubble Space Telescope, even with a primary mirror that’s the same size as Hubble’s. Watch a preview of the mission.

Updated: July 30

September 14/15 Vega-C • Sentinel-3C and FLEX Earth Explorer

Launch time: 10:21 p.m. Kourou time (9:21 p.m. EDT / 0121 UTC)

Launch site: Europe’s Spaceport, Kourou, French Guiana

An Avio Vega-C will launch the Sentinel-3C satellite, from the European Commission’s Copernicus program, and the FLEX (FLuorescence EXplorer) satellite, from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Earth Explorer program, to a Sun-synchronous Earth orbit at an altitude of 820 km with an inclination of 98.6 degrees. Both satellites were built by prime contractor Thales Alenia Space along with other European companies. The mission, also designated VV30, is the second Vega-C flight managed by Avio and the eighth flight of a Vega-C rocket to date.

Updated: July 30

NET Q4 2026 Alpha • FLTA008

Launch time: TBD

Launch site: SLC-2, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California

A Firefly Aerospace Alpha rocket will launch on mission for a yet unannounced customer. This will be the debut of the Block 2 iteration of the rocket, which features larger liquid oxygen tanks on both the first and second stages, increasing the overall length of the rocket by two meters. Delayed from Summer 2026.

Updated: August 11

Visible satellite passages over the next couple of days.

You can use the http://www.heavens-above.com website to find out what’s in orbit and

where to look during fly-overs

All times are “local” (Dallas) time.

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