User talk:Indefensible

Initially launched in late 2010/early 2011 for a run of four months, The Downlink was unpublished for more than nine years, after which a second volume was published from October 2020 to October 2021. This second volume was very different from the first volume, both in style and structure. A December issue was planned (for some reason, the second volume became volume 1 in April 2021), but was never finished. Like with volume 2, this volume 3 was intended to come with changes, though primarily to style.

Volume 3 will not feature any significant changes to style or structure. This both provides continuity with the previous volume and allows the contributors to construct each issue relatively easily. However, following volumes may see changes to style, format, and upload schedule. As it is still very early in the year, a discussion on this is not yet necessary, but suggestions of all kinds are always welcome at the talk page.

• Blue Ghost Mission 1 and Hakuto-R Mission 2 were launched from Kennedy Space Center on 15 January. They are planned to land in March and April, respectively.
• On 30 January, Sunita Williams broke Peggy Whitson's record for most time spent on spacewalks by a woman, at 62 hours and 6 minutes total.
• ISRO successfully docked two SpaDeX satellites on 16 January, making India the fourth country (including the EU) to dock two vehicles in space.
• Blue Origin's New Glenn launch vehicle completed its maiden flight on 16 January. The payload was successfully placed in orbit, while the first staged failed to land on the recovery ship.

• The image Jupiter clouds was promoted to Featured Media status on 4 January. It was nominated by MER-C.

Gene Cernan was the eleventh and (as of 2025) last person to ever step foot on the moon. In addition to being an astronaut, he was an aviator in the US Navy and engineer. Apollo 17 was his second Apollo mission, as he served as Apollo 10's lunar module pilot. He died in Houston on 16 January, 2017. He was the first astronaut to be buried at Texas State Cemetery.

New members:

• Joost van Assenbergh (9 January)
• TheCosmicNebula (25 January)

Launches
All times stated here are in UTC. For a complete list, see here: List_of_spaceflight_launches_in_January–June_2025#January.

1. New Glenn — DarkSky-1 (16 Jan. at 07:03) (success)
2. SpaceX Starship — 10 Starlink simulators (16 Jan. at 22:37) (launch failure)

Spaceflight articles by quality and importance
Quality	Importance
	Top	High	Mid	Low	NA	???	Total
FA	7	28	14	8			57
FL		3	4	4			11
FM					123		123
A	1		2	2			5
GA	11	27	34	55		1	128
B	15	83	201	217		1	517
C	43	161	574	754		29	1,561
Start	18	146	1,022	2,558		434	4,178
Stub		9	203	2,052		243	2,507
List	10	116	108	236	1	26	497
Category					1,228		1,228
Disambig					47		47
File					223		223
Portal					55		55
Project					109		109
Redirect		1	42	131	1,238		1,412
Template					525		525
NA					5		5
Other					39		39
Assessed	105	574	2,204	6,017	3,593	734	13,227
Unassessed				19		133	152
Total	105	574	2,204	6,036	3,593	867	13,379

Since December 2024, five new high-importance, eight new mid-importance, forty new low-importance, and 1,522 new NA-importance articles have been created. Fifteen unknown-importance articles have been removed, for a total of 1,560 more articles. One article has been promoted to Good Article status. There are also three more B-class articles, eleven more C-class articles, 23 more Start-class articles, four more Stub-class articles, 4 more lists, and 34 more files.

Discuss & propose changes to The Downlink at The Downlink talk page. To unsubscribe from the newsletter remove your name from the mailing list.
Newsletter contributor: Ships&Space

• On 17 February, as part of a Commercial Lunar Payload Services mission, Intuitive Machines' lunar lander IM-2 was launched on board a Falcon 9. It was also launched with Lunar Trailblazer and Brokkr-2.
• The European Space Agency's space telescope INTEGRAL was retired on 28 February after 22 years, five months, and one day. It is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere in 2029.

Launched on 7 February 2001, STS-98 delivered to the Destiny laboratory module of the International Space Station. Flown by Atlantis, it was the first human spaceflight mission of the 21st century. The shuttle landed at Edwards Air Force Base on 20 February after being docked with the ISS for almost seven days. The crew consisted of Kenneth Cockrell, commander, Mark L. Polansky, pilot, Robert Curbeam, mission specialist 1, Marsha Ivins, mission specialist 2 and flight engineer, and Thomas David Jones, mission specialist 3.

New Members: No new members.

February Launches
All times stated here are in UTC. See a current list: here.

1. Soyuz 2.1v and Volga — Kosmos-2581/-2582/-2583 (5 Feb. at 03:59) (success)
2. Long March 8A — 9 Hulianwang Digui (11 Feb. at 09:30) (success)
3. Falcon 9 Block 5 — 23 Starlink (18 Feb. at 23:21) (success)
4. Falcon 9 Block 5 — multiple (27 Feb. at 00:02) (launch success)

Spaceflight articles by quality and importance
Quality	Importance
	Top	High	Mid	Low	NA	???	Total
FA	7	28	14	8			57
FL		3	4	4			11
FM					123		123
A	1		3	2			6
GA	11	27	33	55		1	127
B	15	83	200	217		1	516
C	43	162	575	760		30	1,570
Start	18	146	1,022	2,565		440	4,191
Stub		9	203	2,054		244	2,510
List	10	116	108	236	1	27	498
Category					1,262		1,262
Disambig					47		47
File					223		223
Portal					55		55
Project					109		109
Redirect		1	42	131	1,238		1,412
Template					527		527
NA					3		3
Other				1	34		35
Assessed	105	575	2,204	6,033	3,622	743	13,282
Unassessed				19		136	155
Total	105	575	2,204	6,052	3,622	879	13,437

Since January 2025, one new high-importance, sixteen new low-importance, nineteen new NA-importance, and twelve new unknown-importance articles have been created, for a total of 58 new articles. One article has been demoted from Good Article status. There are also one more A-class article, one more B-class article, nine fewer C-class articles, thirteen more Start-class articles, three more Stub-class articles, and one more list.

Discuss & propose changes to The Downlink at The Downlink talk page. To unsubscribe from the newsletter remove your name from the Mailing list.
Newsletter contributors: Ships&Space, Geni

• Firefly Aerospace became the first commercial company to successfully achieve a soft landing on the moon on 2 March with the landing of Blue Ghost Mission 1 near Mons Latreille. It lasted the intended length of one lunar day before losing power on 16 March. It was launched with the Hakuto-R Mission 2 lander Resilience and rover Tenacious, which are planned to land in the Mare Frigoris.
• On 6 March, the IM-2 mission's lunar lander Athena landed on Mons Mouton. Although intact, it landed sideways, preventing it from generating enough power to operate as designed. The mission was declared over the following day.
• SpaceX Crew-9 splashed down near Tallahassee, Florida on 18 March. Initially planned to launch with a full complement, the extension of Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams' stay on the ISS resulted in it being launched with only two crew members.

The InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) lander was selected from among three options in August 2012. Initially planned to launch in March 2016, an instrument issue delayed the launch to May 2018, the next Earth-Mars launch window. It was successfully launched on 5 May, and landed on Elysium Planitia on 26 November 2018. Taking seismographic and thermographic readings, InSight operated for a total of 4 years and 19 days instead of its planned 2 year mission. The mission was declared over on 21 December, 2022 after contact was lost on 15 December. A re-analysis of some of its data indicates that there may be significant amounts of groundwater in Mars' crust.

New Members:

• Desertroseflora (6 March)
• Nowhed (13 March)
• 4-RAZOR 01 (15 March)
• Orion.Project (28 March)

March Launches
All times stated here are in UTC. See a current list: here.

1. Ariane 62 — CSO-3 (6 Mar. at 16:24 UTC) (success)
2. SpaceX Starship — four Starlink simulators (6 Mar. at 23:30 UTC) (launch failure)
3. Rocket Lab Electron — QPS-SAR 9/SUSANOO-1 (15 Mar. at 00:00 UTC) (success)
4. Spectrum — no payload (30 Mar. at 10:30 UTC) (launch failure)

Spaceflight articles by quality and importance
Quality	Importance
	Top	High	Mid	Low	NA	???	Total
FA	7	28	14	8			57
FL		3	4	4			11
FM					123		123
A	1		3	2			6
GA	11	27	33	55		1	127
B	15	84	199	217		1	516
C	43	161	577	764		30	1,575
Start	18	145	1,021	2,569		441	4,194
Stub		9	203	2,055		245	2,512
List	10	116	108	236	1	28	499
Category					1,263		1,263
Disambig					47		47
File					223		223
Portal					55		55
Project					109		109
Redirect		2	42	129	1,241		1,414
Template					528		528
NA					3		3
Other					28		28
Assessed	105	575	2,204	6,039	3,621	746	13,290
Unassessed				19		134	153
Total	105	575	2,204	6,058	3,621	880	13,443

Since February 2025, six new low-importance and one new unknown-importance articles have been created. One NA-importance article has been removed, for a total of six new articles. There are also five more C-class articles, three more Start-class articles, two more Stub-class articles, and one more list.

Discuss & propose changes to The Downlink at The Downlink talk page. To unsubscribe from the newsletter remove your name from the Mailing list.
Newsletter contributors: Ships&Space

• On 1 April, Fram2 became the first crewed mission to enter into a retrograde orbit around Earth's poles.

Starting development in 2014, the Falcon 9 Full Thrust is a variant of the Falcon 9 that is the first orbital rocket to have a first stage successfully land vertically after launch. The stage shown here is from the April 2016 SpaceX CRS-8 mission, after landing on the autonomous spaceport drone ship Of Course I Still Love You.

New Members:

• Willbill6272 (14 April)
• Elleh3113 (16 April)

April Launches
All times stated here are in UTC. See a current list: here.

1. Falcon 9 Block 5 — Fram2 (1 Apr. at 00:46 UTC) (success)
2. Long March 2F/G — Shenzhou 20 (24 Apr. at 09:17 UTC) (success)
3. Atlas V 551 — 27 KuiperSats (28 Apr. at 23:01) (success)
4. Firefly Alpha — LM-400 Demo (29 Apr. at 13:37) (launch failure)

Spaceflight articles by quality and importance
Quality	Importance
	Top	High	Mid	Low	NA	???	Total
FA	7	28	15	8			58
FL		3	4	4			11
FM					123		123
A	1		2	2			5
GA	11	27	33	55		1	127
B	15	84	200	221		1	521
C	45	162	581	774		31	1,593
Start	16	144	1,017	2,584		444	4,205
Stub		9	204	2,049		244	2,506
List	10	120	108	236	1	30	505
Category					1,264		1,264
Disambig					47		47
File					223		223
Portal					55		55
Project					109		109
Redirect		2	42	131	1,243		1,418
Template					528		528
NA					1		1
Other					29		29
Assessed	105	579	2,206	6,064	3,623	751	13,328
Unassessed				14		125	139
Total	105	579	2,206	6,078	3,623	876	13,467

Since March 2025, four new high-importance, two new mid-importance, twenty new low-importance, and two new NA-importance articles have been created. Four unknown-importance articles have been removed, for a total of 24 new articles. One article has been promoted to Featured Article status. There are also five more B-class articles, eighteen more C-class articles, eleven more Start-class articles, six fewer Stub-class articles, and six more lists.

Special thanks to Neopeius for significantly working on some of the Timeline of spaceflight articles (specifically 1953, 54, 55, and most recently 56). Thanks also to Sotakarhu for table work in the latter.

Discuss & propose changes to The Downlink at The Downlink talk page. To unsubscribe from the newsletter remove your name from the Mailing list.
Newsletter contributors: Ships&Space

• On 6 May, Hakuto-R Mission 2 successfully entered lunar orbit.
• The Soviet probe Kosmos 482 crashed into the Indian Ocean after 53 years in orbit on 10 May. According to Roscosmos, this happened at 06:24 UTC.

Starting with Zarya in November 1998, the assembly of the International Space Station continued on a regular basis until the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, which resulted in a nearly three-year pause from November 2002 to July 2005. This image shows the ISS following the installation of the second External stowage platform. ESP-2 was launched on 26 July 2005 on board Discovery as part of STS-114.

New Members:

• Animalculum (1 May)
• Luckytent (21 May)

May Launches
All times stated here are in UTC. See a current list: here.

1. Starship — 8 Starlink Simulators (27 May at 23:36:28 UTC) (partial failure)
2. Long March 4B — Tianwen-2 (28 May at 04:00 UTC) (success)

Spaceflight articles by quality and importance
Quality	Importance
	Top	High	Mid	Low	NA	???	Total
FA	7	28	15	8			58
FL		3	4	4			11
FM					123		123
A	1		2	2			5
GA	11	27	33	55		1	127
B	15	84	200	220		1	520
C	45	163	583	784		32	1,607
Start	16	143	1,017	2,591		444	4,211
Stub		9	205	2,043		245	2,502
List	10	120	108	236	1	33	508
Category					1,266		1,266
Disambig					46		46
File					223		223
Portal					55		55
Project					109		109
Redirect		2	42	132	1,244		1,420
Template					527		527
NA					1		1
Other					28		28
Assessed	105	579	2,209	6,075	3,623	756	13,347
Unassessed				12		123	135
Total	105	579	2,209	6,087	3,623	879	13,482

Since April 2025, three new mid-importance, nine new low-importance, and three new unknown-importance articles have been created, for a total of 15 new articles. There is also one less B-class article, 14 more C-class articles, six more Start-class articles, four less Stub-class articles, and three more lists.

Discuss & propose changes to The Downlink at The Downlink talk page. To unsubscribe from the newsletter remove your name from the Mailing list.
Newsletter contributors: Ships&Space

• On 5 June, Hakuto-R Mission 2 crashed attempting to land in Mare Frigoris.
• The Parker Solar Probe achieved its 24th perihelion on 19 June.

Rocket engines typically use one of two types of propellant: Solid or liquid. Hybrid-propellant rockets use a combination of these two forms of fuel, and lack some of the disadvantages of both. Their specific impulse is usually between solid-propellant and liquid-propellant rockets. The image shown here is of a 3D-printed grain, designed for a small hybrid rocket engine which would be used to demonstrate rocket combustion. On the left are two helical fuel ports, on the right a de Laval nozzle.

New Members:

• SpaceNerd13 (2 June)
• Canadien1867 (2 June)

June Launches
All times stated here are in UTC. See a current list: here.

1. Falcon 9 Block 5 — 26 Starlink (13 Jun. at 01:30) (success)
2. Angara A5 — 2 Kosmos (19 Jun. at 03:00) (success)
3. Falcon 9 Block 5 — Axiom Mission 4 (25 Jun. at 06:31) (success)
4. H-IIA — GOSAT-GW (28 Jun. at 16:33:03) (success)

Spaceflight articles by quality and importance
Quality	Importance
	Top	High	Mid	Low	NA	???	Total
FA	7	28	15	8			58
FL		3	4	4			11
FM					123		123
A	1		2	1			4
GA	11	27	33	56		1	128
B	15	84	200	223		4	526
C	45	164	586	788		37	1,620
Start	16	144	1,015	2,600		446	4,221
Stub		8	205	2,037		245	2,495
List	10	120	109	237	1	36	513
Category					1,268		1,268
Disambig					47		47
File					222		222
Portal					55		55
Project					109		109
Redirect		2	42	134	1,248		1,426
Template					527		527
NA					1		1
Other					26		26
Assessed	105	580	2,211	6,088	3,627	769	13,380
Unassessed				9		122	131
Total	105	580	2,211	6,097	3,627	891	13,511

Since May 2025, one new high-importance, two new mid-importance, ten new low-importance, four new NA-importance, and twelve new unknown-importance articles have been created, for a total of 29 new articles. There is also one fewer A-class article, one more GA-class article, six more B-class articles, 13 more C-class articles, ten more Start-class articles, seven fewer Stub-class articles, and five more lists.

Discuss & propose changes to The Downlink at The Downlink talk page. To unsubscribe from the newsletter remove your name from the Mailing list.
Newsletter contributors: Ships&Space

• The first launch attempt of an Australian-made rocket, Gilmour Space Technologies' Eris-1, was made on 29/30 July. The launch vehicle crashed 14 seconds after launch due to insufficient thrust.
• The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite launched on 30 July. The first radar imaging that uses dual frequencies, it is a joint project between NASA and ISRO, and believed to cost ~US$1.5 billion, making it one of the most expensive Earth-imaging satellites.

• The image LVM3 M4 carrying Chaandrayan-3 during lift-off was promoted to Featured Media status on 16 July. It was nominated by UnpetitproleX

In July of 1969, Apollo 11 successfully fulfilled John F. Kennedy's goal of a person landing on, and returning from, the moon before the 1970s. Taking off on 16 July, the lunar lander, Eagle, touched down on the evening of the 20th (UTC). Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin exited the lander six hours later, becoming the first men on the moon. The pair stayed on the lunar surface for about 21 hours. This image is actually the second of a pair of images, taken by Aldrin so that the lunar surface's ability to bear weight could be measured.

New Members:

• Abdullah1099 (9 July)
• Manav2311 (25 July)
• Space.tracker.nerd (29 July)

June Launches
All times stated here are in UTC. See a current list: here.

1. Long March 4C — Shiyan 28B-01 (3 Jul. at 09:35) (success)
2. Soyuz-2.1a — Progress MS-31 (3 Jul. at 19:31) (success)
3. Falcon 9 Block 5 — Dror-1 (PR-8000) (13 Jul. at 05:04) (success)
4. Hyperbola-1 — Kunpeng-03 (Enshi Xidou Shanquan/HS-9) (29 Jul. at 04:10) (success)
5. Eris Block 1 — Jar of Vegemite (29 Jul. at 21:30) (launch failure)
6. Long March 8A — 9 Guowang (30 Jul. at 07:49) (success)
7. GSLV Mark II — NISAR (30 Jul. at 12:10) (success)

Spaceflight articles by quality and importance
Quality	Importance
	Top	High	Mid	Low	NA	???	Total
FA	7	28	15	8			58
FL		3	4	4			11
FM					124		124
A	1		2	1			4
GA	11	26	33	57		2	129
B	15	85	201	224		4	529
C	45	162	588	788		40	1,623
Start	16	140	1,019	2,603		461	4,239
Stub		7	204	2,035		247	2,493
List	10	120	109	236	1	36	512
Category					1,270		1,270
Disambig					47		47
File					222		222
Portal					55		55
Project					109		109
Redirect		2	42	134	1,248		1,426
Template					528		528
NA					1		1
Other					25		25
Assessed	105	573	2,217	6,090	3,630	790	13,405
Unassessed				10		130	140
Total	105	573	2,217	6,100	3,630	920	13,545

Since June 2025, there are seven fewer high-importance, six new mid-importance, three new low-importance, three new NA-importance, and 29 new unknown-importance articles, for a total of 34 more articles. There is also one GA-class article, three more B-class articles, three more C-class articles, 18 more Start-class articles, two fewer Stub-class articles, and one fewer lists.

Discuss & propose changes to The Downlink at The Downlink talk page. To unsubscribe from the newsletter remove your name from the Mailing list.
Newsletter contributors: Ships&Space

• The VC4S configuration of United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur launch vehicle had a successful maiden flight on 13 August.

Launched on 26 July, 1971, Apollo 15 was the fourth Apollo mission to successfully land on the moon, and the first of the longer, more science-focused J Missions. Landing at Hadley–Apennine on the 30, Commander David Scott and Lunar Module Pilot James Irwin (Irwin on left) stayed on the moon's surface until 2 August, while Command Module Pilot Alfred Worden stayed in orbit, collecting a variety of data on the moon. Apollo 15 was the first mission to use the Lunar Roving Vehicle (on right), which allowed Scott and Irwin to travel farther from the Lunar Lander (center) than previously possible.

On 4 August, the lunar orbiter departed from orbit at the end of Apollo 15's 74th lunar orbit. On the 5, Worden performed an EVA which lasted 39 minutes. This was the first of three deep-space EVAs, all performed during J Missions. The command module landed in the North Pacific Ocean on the 7, with the command module and crew being recovered by USS Okinawa. Apollo 15 was the longest Apollo mission, lasting for a total of 12 days and 7 hours, until Apollo 17, which lasted 12 days, 13 hours, and 52 minutes.

New Members: No new members

August Launches
All times stated here are in UTC. See a current list here.

1. Ariane 62 — MetOp-SG A1 (13 Aug. at 00:37) (success)
2. Vulcan Centaur VC4S — NTS-3 (13 Aug. at 00:56) (success)
3. Soyuz-2.1b — Bion-M No.2 (20 Aug. at 17:13) (success)
4. SpaceX Starship — 8 Starlink simulators (26 Aug. at 23:30) (success)

Spaceflight articles by quality and importance
Quality	Importance
	Top	High	Mid	Low	NA	???	Total
FA	7	28	15	8			58
FL		3	4	4			11
FM					124		124
A	1		2	1			4
GA	11	27	33	57		2	130
B	16	85	200	226		4	531
C	45	162	594	794		46	1,641
Start	16	140	1,017	2,615		463	4,251
Stub		6	203	2,022		246	2,477
List	10	119	109	236	1	37	512
Category					1,275		1,275
Disambig					48		48
File					260		260
Portal					55		55
Project					109		109
Redirect		2	42	140	1,246		1,430
Template					528		528
NA					1		1
Other					30		30
Assessed	106	572	2,219	6,103	3,677	798	13,475
Unassessed				10		129	139
Total	106	572	2,219	6,113	3,677	927	13,614

Since July 2025, there is one new top-importance, one fewer high-importance, two new mid-importance, 13 new low-importance, 47 new NA-importance, and seven new unknown-importance articles, for a total of 69 more articles. There is also one more GA-class article, two more B-class articles, 18 more C-class articles, 12 more Start-class articles, and 16 fewer Stub-class articles.

Discuss & propose changes to The Downlink at The Downlink talk page. To unsubscribe from the newsletter remove your name from the Mailing list.
Newsletter contributors: User:Ships&Space

• OSIRIS-REx performed a gravity assist around Earth at an altitude of 3,442 kilometres (2,139 mi) on 23 September.

The Space Shuttle Enterprise (OV-101) was the first orbiter built in the Space Shuttle program. Designed for atmospheric test flights, it lacked both engines and a heat shield, making it unable to go to space. Rolled out on 17 September 1976, it was initially named Constitution, but was renamed following a large letter-writing campaign from Trekkies. Unlike its eponym, the USS Enterprise from the original Star Trek series, OV-101 never achieved spaceflight; originally intended to be refitted to become the second space-rated orbiter after Columbia, changes to the design of the Space Shuttle made it both simpler and cheaper to instead construct a new shuttle, Challenger, around a test article. It was later considered for refitting following the Challenger disaster, but it was instead decided to build a replacement, Endeavour, out of spare parts from the construction of Discovery and Atlantis.

Enterprise flew a total of five times, from 12 August to 26 October, 1977. It was then flown to Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, where it was placed into the Saturn V dynamic test stand for the Mated Vertical Ground Vibration Testing, in order to test the Space Shuttle's launch stack. It was then used for a variety of fit checks at Kennedy Space Center and Vandenberg Air Force Base, between which it toured Europe and North America, including a showing at the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition. It was then moved to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum on 18 November 1985. It was then moved to its present location aboard the USS Intrepid museum ship on 12 December 2011.

New Members:

• BalaM314 (7 September)
• Squawkconspicuity (29 September)

September Launches
All times stated here are in UTC. See a current list here.

1. Falcon 9 Block 5 — 28 Starlink (5 Sept. at 13:56) (success)
2. Falcon 9 Block 5 — 24 Starlink (6 Sept. at 18:06) (success)
3. Falcon 9 Block 5 — Nusantara Lima (12 Sept. at 00:56) (success)
4. Long March 2D — Shiyan 30A/B (29 Sept. at 03:00) (success)

Spaceflight articles by quality and importance
Quality	Importance
	Top	High	Mid	Low	NA	???	Total
FA	7	28	15	8			58
FL		3	4	4			11
FM					124		124
A	1		2	1			4
GA	12	27	33	57		2	131
B	15	79	191	230		5	520
C	45	167	599	808	1	49	1,669
Start	15	135	1,035	2,658		473	4,316
Stub		5	196	1,989		245	2,435
List	11	119	109	235	1	39	514
Category					1,276		1,276
Disambig					48		48
File					261		261
Portal					55		55
Project					109		109
Redirect		2	42	141	1,245		1,430
Template					529		529
NA					1		1
Other					30		30
Assessed	106	565	2,226	6,131	3,680	813	13,521
Unassessed				10		126	136
Total	106	565	2,226	6,141	3,680	939	13,657

Since August 2025, there are seven fewer high-importance, seven more mid-importance, 28 more low-importance, three more NA-importance, and twelve more unknown-importance articles, for a total of 43 more articles. There is also one more GA-class article, 11 fewer B-class articles, 28 fewer C-class articles, 65 more Start-class articles, 42 fewer Stub-class articles, and two more lists.

Discuss & propose changes to The Downlink at The Downlink talk page. To unsubscribe from the newsletter remove your name from the Mailing list.
Newsletter contributors: Ships&Space

• On 13 November, the ESCAPADE spacecraft SIMPLEx-4A (Blue) and SIMPLEx-4B (Gold) were launched on board a New Glenn rocket. They will orbit Earth at its L₂ point until the Mars transfer window opens in late 2026.
• On the second flight of New Glenn, the first stage, "Never Tell Me the Odds," landed on the drone ship Jacklyn on 13 November. This made New Glenn the first orbital-class booster capable of landing propulsively not manufactured by SpaceX.
• As a result of damage caused by space debris, China's Shenzhou 20 was rendered unusable for returning its crew back to Earth. The crew instead returned on board the Shenzhou 21 craft on 14 November, with Shenzhou 22 being launched uncrewed on 25 November to serve as a return vessel for the crew of Shenzhou 21.
• On 27 November, Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 31, the only launch site used by Russia to reach the ISS, was significantly damaged during the launch of Soyuz MS-28.

• The image "NASA's Ingenuity helicopter on Mars" was promoted to Featured Media status on 23 October. It was nominated by WhatADrag07.

On 28 October, 2014, Cygnus Orb-3 was launched at 22:22:38 UTC. 15 seconds after liftoff, one of the launch vehicle's AJ26 (modified NK-33s) ruptured, resulting in the craft falling. The mission was scrubbed eight seconds later at 22:23:01 UTC. The subsequent investigation found that the liquid oxygen turbopump exploded, severing nearby propellant lines. This resulted in a fire that damaged various engine components. The cause of the LOX turbopump's failure remains unknown.

New Members:

• Hal Nordmann (1 October)
• R-Beepy (3 November)

October–November Launches
All times stated here are in UTC. See a current list here.

1. Long March 8A — 9 Guowang (16 Oct. at 01:33:00) (success)
2. H3-24W — HTV-X1, various cubeSats (26 Oct. at 00:00:15) (success)
3. Long March 2F/G — Shenzhou 21 (31 Oct. at 15:44:00) (success)
4. LVM3 — GSAT-7R (2 Nov. at 11:56:00) (success)
5. New Glenn — ESCAPADE Blue and Gold (13 Nov. at 20:55:01) (success)
6. Atlas V 551 — Viasat 3 EMEA (14 Nov. at 03:04:00) (success)
7. Soyuz-2.1a — Soyuz MS-28 (27 Nov. at 09:27:57) (successful launch; spaceport damaged)

Spaceflight articles by quality and importance
Quality	Importance
	Top	High	Mid	Low	NA	???	Total
FA	7	28	15	8			58
FL		3	4	4			11
FM					124		124
A	1		2	1			4
GA	12	27	33	57		2	131
B	16	77	196	234		5	528
C	45	170	606	834	1	56	1,712
Start	15	134	1,025	2,690		480	4,344
Stub		5	196	1,981		278	2,460
List	11	119	108	236	1	42	517
Category					1,280		1,280
Disambig					48		48
File					262		262
Portal					55		55
Project					109		109
Redirect		2	43	143	1,246		1,434
Template					532		532
NA					2		2
Other			1		31		32
Assessed	107	565	2,229	6,188	3,691	863	13,643
Unassessed				9		118	127
Total	107	565	2,229	6,197	3,691	981	13,770

Since September 2025, there are one more high-importance, three more mid-importance, 56 more low-importance, eleven more eight NA-importance, and 42 more unknown-importance articles, for a total of 113 more articles. There are also eight more B-class articles, 43 more C-class articles, 28 more Start-class articles, 25 more Stub-class articles, and three more lists.

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Newsletter contributors: Ships&Space

• The International Space Station's eight compartments were fully occupied for the first time on 1 December, with the rebirthing of Cygnus NG-23 to Unity.
• On 3 December, China's Zhuque-3 made the first non-American attempt at landing a booster. The booster failed to land following a landing-burn anomaly. A second attempt on the 23rd, this time using the new Long March 2A launch vehicle, also failed.
• On 6 December, contact with NASA's MAVEN Mars orbiter was lost. The last received telemetry was from the 4th, with the fragmented transmission of the 6th suggesting that the craft was rotating in an unintended way, and possibly having changed orbit. As of 16 January 2026, the mission has not yet been officially ended, although reestablishing communications with MAVEN is considered highly improbable.

• The article "Gordon Cooper" was promoted to Featured Article status on 9 December. It was nominated by Hawkeye7.

STS-116 was the 33rd mission of the Space Shuttle Discovery. Launched in the late evening of 6 December, the main aims of the mission were the installation of one of the International Space Station's Integrated Truss Structure segments, rewiring of the power system, and personnel exchange. Also known as ISS-12A.1, STS-116 was the first mission to include a Swedish astronaut, Christer Fuglesang. It returned to Earth in the evening of 22 December.

This image, of the first of three EVA sessions, was taken on the fourth day of the mission. Flight engineer Robert Curbeam is on the left, opposite mission specialist 3 Christer Fuglesang. The image was taken over New Zealand; the South Island is visible on the left, while the southern portion of the North Island, mostly consisting of the Wairarapa region, is visible in the top-right.

New Members: none

December Launches
All times stated here are in UTC. See the complete list here.

1. Zhuque-3 — no payload (3 Dec. at 04:00) (success)
2. HANBIT-NANO — various (22 Dec. at 12:45) (launch failure)
3. Long March 12A — mass simulator (23 Dec. at 02:00:00) (success)
4. LVM3 — BlueBird-6 (24 Dec. at 03:25:30) (success)
5. Soyuz-2.1b (1st stage), Fregat-M (2nd stage) — various (28 Dec. at 13:18:05) (success)

Spaceflight articles by quality and importance
Quality	Importance
	Top	High	Mid	Low	NA	???	Total
FA	7	29	15	8			59
FL		3	4	4			11
FM					124		124
A	1		2	1			4
GA	12	26	33	57		2	130
B	16	78	195	234		5	528
C	45	169	609	847	1	57	1,728
Start	15	134	1,024	2,698		493	4,364
Stub		5	196	1,988		282	2,471
List	11	119	109	238	1	43	521
Category					1,281		1,281
Disambig					48		48
File					262		262
Portal					55		55
Project					109		109
Redirect		2	43	141	1,246		1,432
Template					532		532
NA					2		2
Other					32		32
Assessed	107	565	2,230	6,216	3,693	882	13,693
Unassessed				10		119	129
Total	107	565	2,230	6,226	3,693	1,001	13,822

Since November 2025, there are one more mid-importance, 29 more low-importance, two more NA-importance, and 20 more unknown-importance class articles, for a total of 52 more articles. There are also one more FA-class articles, one less GA-class articles, ten more C-class articles, 20 more Start-class articles, eleven more Stub-class articles, and four more lists.

Discuss & propose changes to The Downlink at The Downlink talk page. To unsubscribe from the newsletter remove your name from the Mailing list.
Newsletter contributors: Ships&Space

• NASA called off a planned spacewalk of SpaceX Crew-11 on 8 January, and later cancelled the mission outright, after one of the crewmembers, Mike Fincke, was reported to have a medical complication. This was the first time that this occurred in US history.
• On 11 January, the Pandora spacecraft was successfully launched. Pandora is designed to study the atmospheres of transiting exoplanets, with the intention of identifying targets for future observation.

Pictured here are two titans of spaceflight history: Dr. Wernher von Braun, one of the main figures of the early American space program and designer of both the Saturn V and V-2 rockets, and five (four visible) Rocketdyne F-1 engines, used on the Saturn V Dynamic Test Vehicle. Dr. von Braun's career is noted for a great number of achievements in human spaceflight, including the Apollo mission which successfully put human beings on the moon; nevertheless, it is burdened with the shadow of his activities in the Nazi Party, especially concerning his work on the V-2.

The engines behind him, in addition to being immense, have the honor of being the only engines used to get humans to the moon, as of the time of writing. Developed in the late 1950s, the 8,400 kilograms (18,500 lb) engines are still the most powerful single combustion chamber liquid-propellant rocket ever made.

New Members:

• GiftedIceCream (24 January)

January Launches
All times stated here are in UTC. See a complete list here.

1. Falcon 9 Block 5 — various, including Pandora (11 Jan. at 13:44:50) (success)
2. PSLV-DL — various, including EOS-N1 and THEOS-2A (12 Jan. at 04:48:30) (launch failure)
3. Ceres-2 — various (17 Jan. at 04:05) (launch failure)

Spaceflight articles by quality and importance
Quality	Importance
	Top	High	Mid	Low	NA	???	Total
FA	6	30	15	8			59
FL		3	4	4			11
FM					124		124
A	1		2	1			4
GA	12	26	34	59		2	133
B	16	77	196	236		6	531
C	44	170	607	860	1	58	1,740
Start	15	134	1,026	2,701		499	4,375
Stub		5	195	1,986		296	2,482
List	11	119	110	239	1	44	524
Category					1,282		1,282
Disambig					48		48
File					275		275
Portal					55		55
Project					109		109
Redirect		2	43	143	1,248		1,436
Template					534		534
NA					2		2
Other					34		34
Assessed	105	566	2,232	6,237	3,713	905	13,758
Unassessed		1		8		127	136
Total	105	567	2,232	6,245	3,713	1,032	13,894

Since December 2025, there are two fewer top-importance, two more high-importance, two more mid-importance, 19 more low-importance, 20 more NA-importance, and 31 more unknown-importance articles, for a total of 72 new articles. There are also three more GA-class, three more B-class, twelve more C-class, eleven more Start-class, and eleven more Stub-class articles, and three more lists.

Discuss & propose changes to The Downlink at The Downlink talk page. To unsubscribe from the newsletter remove your name from the Mailing list.
Newsletter contributors: Ships&Space

• The first crewed spaceflight of 2026, SpaceX Crew-12, was launched on the 13th. Four astronauts were flown to the ISS in an atypical indirect handover that was caused by the early return of Crew-11 due to a medical emergency.
• On the 14th, the ESA lost contact with PROBA-3, a dual-probe technological demonstration mission for chronographic high-precision formation flying. Specifically, the Chronograph Spacecraft lost orientation and drifted away from the Occulter.

Part of a series of photographs, this image depicts the Space Shuttle Endeavour prior to rendezvous and docking with the International Space Station as part of STS-130 in 2010. It was taken from the station by a member of Expedition 22 when the ISS was 183 nautical miles above the South Pacific, off the coast of southern Chile. Earth is in the bottom-left; the orange part of the atmosphere is the troposphere, the white band in the middle is the stratosphere, and the blue section is the mesosphere.

New Members: none

February Launches
All times stated here are in UTC. See a current list here.

1. Proton-M/DM-03 — Elektro–L №5, Jam-e-Jam 1 (12 Feb. at 08:52:15) (success)
2. Vulcan Centaur VC4S — GSSAP-7/-8, USA-584 (12 Feb. at 09:22:00) (success)

Spaceflight articles by quality and importance
Quality	Importance
	Top	High	Mid	Low	NA	???	Total
FA	6	30	15	8			59
FL		3	4	4			11
FM					124		124
A	1		2	1			4
GA	12	26	34	59		2	133
B	16	77	196	238		7	534
C	44	170	609	868	1	61	1,753
Start	15	134	1,026	2,713		503	4,391
Stub		5	194	1,976		297	2,472
List	11	119	111	242	1	44	528
Category					1,284		1,284
Disambig					48		48
File					274		274
Portal					55		55
Project					109		109
Redirect		2	43	141	1,248		1,434
Template					533		533
NA					2		2
Other				1	37		38
Assessed	105	566	2,234	6,251	3,716	914	13,786
Unassessed		1		9		128	138
Total	105	567	2,234	6,260	3,716	1,042	13,924

Since January 2026, there are two more mid-importance, fifteen more low-importance, three more NA-importance, and ten more unknown-importance articles, for a total of 30 new articles. There are also three more B-class, thirteen more C-class, sixteen more Start-class, and ten fewer Stub-class articles, and four more lists.

Discuss & propose changes to The Downlink at The Downlink talk page. To unsubscribe from the newsletter remove your name from the Mailing list.
Newsletter contributors: Ships&Space