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Here’s How to Watch Every Major US Space Launch Scheduled in 2025

Want to keep your eye on the sky in 2025? Here’s a look at the best space launches you can watch from the comfort of home.

Space agencies from around the world launched a total of 244 successful missions into orbit or space in 2024, which is the most in history. The US led the way with over half of those launches. Dozens of space launches are already planned for 2025.

Feel like watching a liftoff? Many of them will likely be streamed by NASA or from the YouTube channels of individual companies like SpaceX. Space launches are finicky, and the dates often change with little warning. But if you’re looking to keep an eye on the sky in 2025, the list below should help.

January

Blue Ghost Lunar Lander Mission 1 & Hakuto-R M2 Resilience

Launch date: Launched successfully on Jan. 15
Organization: 
SpaceX / NASA / Firefly Aerospace
Launch site: Kennedy Space Center, FL
Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5

This uncrewed mission, which launched on Jan. 15, will carry Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander to the moon, along with a payload of 10 NASA instruments designed to measure various metrics on the lunar surface, including position and navigation data, regolith behavior and Earth’s magnetosphere.

New Glenn’s Inaugural Launch

Launch date: Launched successfully on Jan. 16
Organization:
Blue Origin / NASA
Rocket: Blue Origin New Glenn
Launch site: Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, FL

Blue Origin’s first test flight of its New Glenn rocket was originally scheduled for Jan. 13. However, a vehicle subsystem issue sprung up that would’ve taken too long to troubleshoot on the launch pad, so Blue Origin rescheduled the launch, and it successfully reached orbit on Jan. 16. In addition to the inaugural launch, the payload included Blue Ring Pathfinder, which was set to demonstrate its ability to communicate from orbit to ground.

Read more: New Glenn Rocket Launch Marks a Big Moment for Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin

February

Lunar Trailblazer & Nova-C IM-2

Launch date: Successfully launched on Feb. 27
Organization: SpaceX / NASA / Intuitive Machines
Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5
Launch site: Kennedy Space Center, FL

The Lunar Trailblazer and Nova-C IM-2 mission lifted off successfully on Feb. 27. While the Nova-C IM-2 part of the mission is still going okay, the Lunar Trailblazer lost communications with NASA and is currently lost in space. The mission’s success will depend entirely on if NASA can reestablish contact, which the agency is still trying to do.

This mission will take the Intuitive Machines Nova-C lunar lander to the moon for its second mission. The trip also includes NASA’s PRIME-1 payload, which will be drilling into the moon and using a mass spectrometer to analyze materials beneath the surface.

SPHEREx & PUNCH

Launch date:  Launched successfully on March 11
Organization: 
SpaceX / NASA
Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5
Launch site: Vandenberg SFB, CA

SpaceX and NASA originally planned to launch the SPHEREx and PUNCH missions in the last week of February 2025, but were delayed until the second week of March

SpaceX sent its Falcon 9 rocket into orbit with NASA’s SPHEREx and PUNCH. SPHEREx is a two-year mission that will launch a satellite capable of detecting near-infrared light and optical light to gather data. PUNCH is four suitcase-sized satellites that will monitor the Sun’s corona to detect coronal mass ejections to eventually be able to predict when they’ll happen.

March

Crew-10

Launch date: Successfully launched on March 14
Organization: SpaceX / NASA / ROSCOSMOS / JAXA
Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5
Launch site: Cape Canaveral SFS, FL

A crewed flight to the International Space Station successfully launched on March 14, bearing American astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Russian astronaut Kirill Peskov and Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi. Once they arrive at the ISS, Crew-9, along with Starliner astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, will make its way back to Earth. Williams and Wilmore made near-constant headlines since their June trip to the ISS stretched from the expected eight days to more than eight months, but with Crew-10 on its way, they should be home soon.

Read more: NASA Crew-10 Astronauts Launch to ISS on SpaceX Rocket

Project Kuiper (Vulcan #1 and Vulcan #2)

Launch date: TBA
Organization: United Launch Alliance / Kuiper Systems (Amazon)
Rocket: Vulcan VC6L and Atlas V 551
Launch site: Cape Canaveral SFS, FL

The first two Project Kuiper launches are scheduled for March 2025. Kuiper Systems is a subsidiary of Amazon and plans to launch a total of 3,276 satellites into orbit for broadband internet access to compete with the likes of SpaceX. There will be a number of these going up throughout 2025 and beyond, but this project is slated to start in March 2025. 

Blue Moon Pathfinder

Launch date: TBA 
Organization: Blue Origin
Rocket: 
Blue Origin New Glenn
Launch site: Cape Canaveral SFS, FL

Blue Origin will finally begin testing on its Blue Moon Pathfinder MK1 lunar lander. It isn’t going to the moon yet, but Blue Origin launches always get plenty of press before they go up. Eventually, Blue Origin wants to use the Pathfinder to take supplies to the moon.

Fram2

Exact date: TBA
Organization: 
SpaceX
Rocket: Falcon 9 Block 5
Launch site: Cape Canaveral SFS, FL

The Fram2 mission is a crewed mission that will take five passengers around Earth’s polar caps. Over the five-day mission, the crew will conduct the first-ever human x-ray while in space along with more research on how spaceflight affects the human body. They will also study STEVE, or Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement, which is a ribbon of hot gases that light up the night sky similar to aurora borealis. The crew will consist of Chun Wang, Jannicke Mikkelsen, Eric Philips and Rabea Rogge.

April

Axiom Space Mission 4

Exact date: TBA
Organization: SpaceX / Axiom Space
Rocket: Falcon 9 Block 5
Launch site: Cape Canaveral SFS, FL

The Axiom Space Mission 4 will send four people to the International Space Station where they’ll stay for a little over a week. The crew includes retired NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, Polish engineer Sławosz Uznański and Hungarian astronaut Tibor Kapu. 

May

EWS OD-1

Exact date: TBA
Organization: 
Northrop Grumman Space Systems
Rocket: Minotaur IV
Launch site: Vandenberg SFB, CA

The EWS OD-1 mission will deploy the Electro-Optical/Infrared Weather System into low Earth orbit as a tech demonstration, allowing various branches of the US military to evaluate its performance as a weather satellite for the Department of Defense.

June

USSF-106

Exact date: TBA
Organization: United Launch Alliance
Rocket: Vulcan VC4S
Launch site: Cape Canaveral SFS, FL

This is a mission for the United States Space Force. It’ll deploy the NTS-3 navigation satellite along with NASA’s SunRISE mini-satellites, which will study solar activity. Other payloads are planned for this launch but haven’t been announced yet. 

EscaPADE

Exact date: TBA
Organization: Blue Origin / NASA
Rocket: New Glenn
Launch site: Cape Canaveral SFS, FL

The Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE) mission is a joint venture between Blue Origin and NASA that will send science tools to Mars to study our red neighbor. The instruments will study the solar wind energy transfer through Mars’ magnetosphere. It’s one of Blue Origin’s biggest launches of the year.

July

Crew-11

Exact date: TBA
Organization: SpaceX / NASA
Rocket: Falcon 9 Block 5
Launch site: Cape Canaveral SFS, FL

The Crew-11 flight will take four more astronauts to the ISS in July 2025. For now, the exact launch date hasn’t been set in stone and neither has the crew. However, it’ll be just like the Crew-10 launch, where four astronauts will go to the ISS to conduct study and relieve the prior crew. 

September

STP-S29A

Exact date: TBA
Organization: 
Northrop Grumman Space Systems / US Department of Defense
Rocket: Minotaur IV
Launch site: Vandenberg SFB, CA

STP-S29A is a fairly large mission from the US Department of Defense that’ll see Northrop Grumman launch several technology demonstrations into low Earth orbit. Included in the payload are 200 kilograms worth of CubeSats — very small satellites — for testing purposes. In addition, the STPSat-7 will also be deployed, which will track and catalog orbital debris.

September

IMAP

Exact date: TBA
Organization: SpaceX / NASA
Rocket: Falcon 9 Block 5
Launch site: Cape Canaveral SFS, FL

The IMAP mission is a joint venture between SpaceX and NASA that’ll see the deployment of the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe, yet another instrument to measure how solar winds affect things in and around Earth. The probe houses 10 instruments that take various measurements. In addition, the mission will house a small lunar orbiter called Lunar Trailblazer, a solar sail called Solar Cruiser and a weather satellite to study ultraviolet emissions in the Earth’s exosphere. 

October

TSIS-2

Exact date: TBA
Organization: SpaceX / NASA
Rocket: Falcon 9 Block 5
Launch site: Cape Canaveral, FL

The Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor 2 is a probe from NASA that’ll measure the Sun’s energy input into Earth through solar irradiance measurements. This data will be added to the decades of other Sun-related data that NASA has to better understand just how much energy strikes Earth from the Sun. The TSIS-1 is aboard the ISS and measures similar criteria from there.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Oct. 23 #599

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Oct. 23, No. 599.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.


Today’s NYT Strands puzzle might be Halloween-themed, as the answers are all rather dangerous. Some of them are a bit tough to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story. 

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Please don’t eat me!

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Remember Mr. Yuk?

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

  • POND, NOON, NODE, BALE, SOCK, LOVE, LOCK, MOCK, LEER, REEL, GLOVE, DAIS, LEAN, LEAD, REEL

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

  • AZALEA, HEMLOCK, FOXGLOVE, OLEANDER, BELLADONNA

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is POISONOUS. To find it, look for the P that is the first letter on the far left of the top row, and wind down and across.

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Oct. 23, #395

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Oct. 23, No. 395.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.


Today’s Connections: Sports Edition has one of those crazy purple categories, where you wonder if anyone saw the connection, or if people just put that grouping together because only those four words were left. If you’re struggling but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Fan noise.

Green group hint: Strategies for hoops.

Blue group hint: Minor league.

Purple group hint: Look for a connection to hoops.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Sounds from the crowd.

Green group: Basketball offenses.

Blue group: Triple-A baseball teams.

Purple group: Ends with a basketball stat.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is sounds from the crowd. The four answers are boo, cheer, clap and whistle.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is basketball offenses. The four answers are motion, pick and roll, Princeton and triangle.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is triple-A baseball teams.  The four answers are Aces, Jumbo Shrimp, Sounds and Storm Chasers.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ends with a basketball stat.  The four answers are afoul, bassist, counterpoint and sunblock.

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Technologies

Amazon’s Delivery Drivers Will Soon Wear AI Smart Glasses to Work

The goal is to streamline the delivery process while keeping drivers safe.

Amazon announced on Wednesday that it is developing new AI-powered smart glasses to simplify the delivery experience for its drivers. CNET smart glasses expert Scott Stein mentioned this wearable rollout last month, and now the plan is in its final testing stages.

The goal is to simplify package delivery by reducing the need for drivers to look at their phones, the label on the package they’re delivering and their surroundings to find the correct address. 


Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.


A heads-up display will activate as soon as the driver parks, pointing out potential hazards and tasks that must be completed. From there, drivers can locate and scan packages, follow turn-by-turn directions and snap a photograph to prove delivery completion without needing to take out their phone.

The company is testing the glasses in select North American markets.

Watch: See our Instagram post with a video showing the glasses

A representative for Amazon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

To fight battery drain, the glasses pair with a controller attached to the employee’s delivery vest, allowing them to replace depleted batteries and access operational controls. The glasses will support an employee’s eyeglass prescription. An emergency button will be within reach to ensure the driver’s safety. 

Amazon is already planning future versions of the glasses, which will feature «real-time defect detection,» notifying the driver if a package was delivered to the incorrect address. They plan to add features to the glasses to detect if pets are in the yard and adjust to low light.

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