What's Happening in Space: July 2025

A summary of space events through the month

The National Space Centre's Space Expert Dhara Patel joins us with her regular overview of some notable space and science events coming up in the weeks ahead...

Throughout July – spot the International Space Station

There may be sightings throughout July to spot the International Space Station (ISS) moving across the sky. Download NASA’s Spot the Station app using the App Store or Google Play to find out when and where to spot the largest artificial satellite overhead. It’ll look like a bright star moving relatively quickly across the sky (generally from west to east) and will be visible to the naked eye. There are multiple sightings during the first week of July from Leicester, though you’ll have to wait until the very late evening or rise in the early hours of the morning to spot it.

4^th July – Mercury at greatest eastern elongation

Because Mercury orbits closer to the Sun than Earth, it always appears quite close to the Sun in the sky being lost in its glare most of the time. However, Mercury will be at its furthest separation from the Sun on 4 July when it reaches greatest eastern elongation, making it a great time to try and spot the Sun’s closest planet. Look to the southwest as the Sun sets – it will be very close to the horizon, so you’ll need a good clear view without tall buildings and trees. Find out more about greatest elongations in our astronomical phenomena blog written by David Southworth in the National Space Centre (NSC) Education Team.

10^th July – full moon (21:36)

Known as the Buck moon (according to the old Farmers’ Almanac), this month’s full moon is named after bucks (male deer) that would start to regrow their antlers at this time of year. Check out the Full Moon: Full Facts blog written by Mike Darch in the NSC Education team to find out more.

16^th July – Moon and Saturn close in the sky

Look for the waning gibbous moon near Saturn during the early morning of 16 July before sunrise in the south-eastern sky. The Moon will be in conjunction (sharing the same right ascension – coordinate) with Saturn in the morning, though daylight will drown out the light from the ringed planet, so the best time to spot the duo close together is a short while before that - during the early hours of 16 July around 3:00. Saturn will sit just below and to the left of the Moon and the pair will be visible to the naked eye, but clear views without tall buildings and trees will help you spot them more easily. Check out the astronomical phenomena blog linked above to find out more about close approaches and conjunctions.

21^st/22^nd July – Moon and Venus close in the sky

Look for the thin waning crescent moon near Venus during the early morning of 22 July before sunrise in the northeastern sky. Venus will appear like a bright star and the Moon will sit to its left. The Moon will be in conjunction (sharing the same right ascension – coordinate) with Venus on the evening of 21 July when both the Moon and Venus will be below the horizon. Instead, the best time to spot the pair close together is around 3:30 on 22 July, when they creep above the north-eastern horizon but before the Sun rises and daylight drowns them out. They’ll be visible to the naked eye, but clear views without tall buildings and trees will help you spot them more easily especially as they’ll be low on the horizon. You can also try spotting the pair close together on the morning of 21 July, but the Moon will sit higher in the sky above Venus at this time. Check out the astronomical phenomena blog linked above to find out more about close approaches and conjunctions.

24^th July - new moon (20:11)

The new moon will occur in the constellation of Cancer. The lack of moonlight interference provides a great time to try and view deep sky objects (especially with the aid of binoculars and telescopes). We have a blog on Moon phases written by Mike Darch in our Education team.

28^th July – Moon and Mars close in the sky

Look for Mars positioned beside the Moon during the evening of 28 July in the western sky. The waxing crescent moon will be in conjunction (sharing the same right ascension – coordinate) with Mars around 20:45 but the skies may not yet be dark enough to spot the pair. Try and spot them in close proximity a short while later as the sun begins to set and the sky begins to darken – but don’t wait too long as they’ll set around 22:00. They will be visible to the naked eye - Mars will appear as a red point of light sitting slightly above and to the right of the Moon. Check out the astronomical phenomena blog linked above to find out more about close approaches and conjunctions.

31^st July – SpaceX Crew-11 launch

The eleventh crewed operational flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program includes NASA astronauts Commander Zena Cardman and Pilot Mike Fincke along with Mission Specialists Kimiya Yui of Japan's JAXA and Oleg Platanov of Russia's Roscosmos. They are scheduled to launch on board the Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Centre no earlier than 17:00 (UK time) on 31 July. During their 6-month stint to the ISS, the crew will conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations to help prepare humans for future missions to the Moon, as well as benefit people on Earth. Having launched in March 2025, Crew 10’s Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, Takuya Onishi and Kirill Peskov will return to Earth on their Crew Dragon spacecraft, Endurance, in August shortly after Crew-11’s launch and a period of handover.

Please note: As this summary is created at the end of the month before, dates (especially launch dates) can often change or be updated, so this content may become outdated - we always recommend checking on the relevant organisation's pages.