July 7, 2026 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
Note: If the X tweet videos don’t play, right click on the tweet and open it in a new tab. It should play there.
- Speculation that the six tanks that washed up on Australian shores were likely from a Long March 3B launch in 2025.
According to Jonathan McDowell the upper stage re-entered nearby on July 1. Jay confirms the location, near the northern coast of Australia.
- Vandenberg Space Force Base to hold an industry day July 29, 2026
It wants to outline its major infrastructure plans that will make it “a high-capacity spaceport,” and wants major launch industry players to attend.
- South Korean rocket startup Innospace signs suborbital deal with Brazil’s Alcântara spaceport
It is creating a suborbital rocket, dubbed SEBIT, in addition to its orbital HANBIT-Nano orbital rocket.
- On July 7 1988 the Soviet Union launched its Phobos 1 probe to Mars
It failed August 28 on its way to Mars when “a mistyped command deactivated crucial systems onboard the spacecraft.”
- On July 7, 1998 the Russian Navy completed its first commercial launch, placing two Berlin University cubesats in orbit
What made this launch even more unique, it took place using a missile launched from a submerged submarine in the Barents Sea north of Norway.
- On July 7, 2003, a Delta-2 rocket launched the Opportunity rover to Mars
It had a 90 day mission. It ended up operating for fourteen years.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News