Starship test and Starlink demo & ISS change of command ceremony - Space News (Jul 25, 2026)

[10:44] Starship test and Starlink demo

Let's begin with Starship Flight 13, the latest test of SpaceX's fully integrated Starship and Super Heavy vehicle from Starbase in Texas[6][15]. Late on July 24th, the massive booster lit up its engines and sent the Starship upper stage skyward, marking the thirteenth flight test of the combined system and one of the most ambitious profiles attempted so far[6][15]. According to SpaceX, the primary objectives on this flight included a clean launch and ascent, stage separation, a boostback and landing burn for the Super Heavy booster toward an offshore landing point, and a controlled reentry and splashdown for the Starship upper stage[6]. These may sound like routine steps, but getting them all to work together on such a large system is central to proving that a fully reusable rocket of this scale is practical. The most intriguing twist this time was the payload: twenty production Starlink Version 3 satellites were carried on a suborbital trajectory, briefly deployed, and allowed to connect to the existing Starlink constellation via high-capacity laser links before they were expected to break up on reentry about twenty minutes later[6][9][14]. SpaceX has described this as an initial test of how Starship can handle satellite deployment, with the satellites extending solar arrays and antennas and talking to the network even though they were never meant to stay in orbit[9]. In other words, the company deliberately used a short-lived payload to shake out the deployment hardware and procedures without committing satellites to long-term service[6][9]. Beyond the engineering details, the significance is straightforward: Starship is inching closer to the role it has been designed for, a heavy-lift, high-capacity launcher that can both carry large numbers of satellites and eventually send cargo and people to the Moon and Mars. From a broader perspective, the flight also continues the trend of rapid iteration on Starship, with each test pushing reusability a bit further and gathering more data on how the booster and ship behave during ascent and landing[6][15]. Spaceflight Now notes that the rocket, powered by dozens of methane-fueled Raptor engines, lifted off just before local evening and followed a trajectory that allowed the booster to attempt an offshore landing while the ship headed toward a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean[15]. The more consistently SpaceX can recover and reuse these stages, the more it can drive down launch costs and increase flight cadence, which in turn affects everything from satellite broadband economics to how feasible frequent deep-space missions will be[6][15]. For listeners, the key takeaway is that Starship is no longer just a speculative project: it is flying, carrying test payloads, and gradually demonstrating the pieces of the reusability puzzle in real hardware. Staying in low Earth orbit but shifting focus, there was also important human spaceflight news with a change of command ceremony aboard the International Space Station scheduled for today, July 25th[1]. As the MS-28 mission prepares to depart, Roscosmos and NASA crews are formally handing over responsibility for station operations from one commander to another in a brief but symbolic event broadcast by NASA[1]. These ceremonies may seem ceremonial, but they mark the moment when authority for day-to-day decisions, responses to unforeseen events, and coordination of international research officially moves to a new person. In a place as complex and unforgiving as the ISS, clarity about who is in charge is not just tradition; it is an operational necessity. The timing comes as station partners continue planning for another several years of operations, with the European Space Agency and NASA both supporting an extension at least through 2030[8]. ESA ministers have previously agreed to continue their ISS participation and budgeted funding to support operations alongside new exploration initiatives, including the Gateway station in lunar orbit[8]. That long-term commitment matters because every change of command is now part of a broader transition period, where agencies are thinking about how to keep the ISS productive while they also build successor platforms and lunar infrastructure. For the astronauts and cosmonauts on board, though, the focus is much more immediate: keep the station running smoothly, carry out the packed schedule of scientific experiments, and ensure a safe handover as visiting vehicles arrive and depart. Today's ceremony is a reminder that human presence in orbit is not only about big milestones; it is also about steady routines and well-managed transitions. Turning now to future space observatories, a European planet-hunting mission named PLATO has just cleared an important testing milestone on its path to launch[12]. Space.com reports that PLATO, an ESA mission designed to find exoplanets by monitoring the brightness of stars for tiny dips as planets pass in front of them, has passed a series of critical tests that simulate the harsh conditions of launch and space operations[12]. These tests, which typically include thermal cycling, vibration, and vacuum checks, are essential for proving that the spacecraft will survive the ride to orbit and function reliably once it is deployed. With this step completed, PLATO is closer to joining the growing fleet of dedicated exoplanet missions. PLATO's scientific focus is particularly exciting because it aims to zero in on Earth-sized planets in the habitable zones of Sun-like stars, where temperatures could allow liquid water to exist[12][11]. By gathering long, precise light curves from many stars, the mission should help identify planets that not only resemble Earth in size but also orbit at distances where surface conditions might be relatively mild[12]. That, in turn, will give astronomers a more targeted list of worlds to follow up with ground-based telescopes and future space observatories capable of probing their atmospheres. In the bigger picture, PLATO complements missions like NASA's TESS and ESA's CHEOPS, but with a design optimized for characterizing planetary systems around bright, nearby stars that are ideal candidates for detailed study[11][12]. Passing its test campaign may sound like an engineering checkpoint, but it is also a step toward refining our answers to a question many listeners care about: how common are potentially habitable planets in our galactic neighborhood? Back on the launch infrastructure side of spaceflight, NASA and Blue Origin have announced a new agreement to carry out hot-fire testing of the New Glenn rocket's second stage on the B-2 test stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi[19]. In a recent NASA news release, the agency explained that Blue Origin will use the B-2 stand, a historic facility previously used for testing stages of the Saturn V and Space Launch System rockets, to validate the performance of New Glenn's upper stage[19]. Hot-fire tests involve firing the stage's engines while it is secured on the stand, allowing engineers to measure thrust, control behavior, and structural responses under realistic conditions without actually launching the vehicle. For New Glenn, a heavy-lift launcher designed to carry large payloads to orbit, this kind of testing is a key step on the road to operational flights. The significance of this agreement goes beyond a single rocket stage. It shows how NASA infrastructure and commercial launch development are increasingly intertwined, with legacy government facilities being repurposed to support new private vehicles[19]. For NASA, working with Blue Origin helps ensure that critical test stands remain active and well-funded, while also encouraging competition and diversity in the heavy-lift launch market. For Blue Origin, access to the B-2 stand gives the company a proven platform for pushing its upper stage toward flight readiness, reducing the need to build entirely new complex infrastructure from scratch. In the long run, successful New Glenn flights could add another option for launching large satellites, interplanetary missions, or even future components for lunar and deep-space projects, alongside vehicles from other providers. So while this story is framed around test stand logistics, it is really about how the ecosystem of launch providers and government agencies continues to evolve. Finally, let's step away from rockets and look up at the Moon itself. Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day, hosted by NASA and mirrored on university sites, features an image titled "Tranquility and Serenity" that focuses on two of the Moon's most famous maria: the Sea of Tranquility and the Sea of Serenity[17]. The picture shows these basalt plains appearing calm and smooth, highlighting the subtle shading and textures of the lunar surface in a way that is hard to appreciate with casual backyard observing[17]. APOD images often combine aesthetic appeal with scientific context, and this one invites viewers to think about the geological history behind these dark patches on the Moon. The Sea of Tranquility, of course, is where Apollo 11 touched down in 1969, marking humanity's first crewed landing on another world, while the Sea of Serenity lies just to the north, forming part of the broader pattern of impact basins and lava-filled plains that shape the Moon's near side[17]. By emphasizing that these "seas" are calm today, the description contrasts their current stillness with the violent processes that created them, including ancient impacts and long-ago volcanic activity. For listeners, this APOD is a gentle reminder that even familiar celestial objects can reveal new details and stories when seen through well-crafted images and thoughtful commentary. It also connects nicely to ongoing plans for future Artemis missions, which aim to return humans to the lunar surface and explore it with far more sophisticated tools than the Apollo era could offer, turning places like Tranquility and Serenity from historical landmarks into starting points for a new phase of lunar science and exploration[7][17].