What's Happening in Space: August 2026

2nd Sep 2026

(Image shows ESA's JUICE spacecraft mission)

A summary of space events through the month

As we head into Autumn the night sky will not disappoint! Here are the key launches, spacecraft news, and night sky events coming up this month.

9th September - Progress MS-35

Carried aboard a Russian Soyuz launch vehicle, Progress will dock to the International Space Station, carrying around 2,500kg of cargo, including food, water, propellant, and atmospheric gases. The Progress cargo vehicle has been in use since 1978, and different variants have made trips to Salyut 7, Mir, and of course the ISS.

15th September - Sentinel-3C & FLEX

At around 2:21 am, a Vega C launch vehicle will take off from Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana, carrying ESA’s Sentinel-3C and FLEX satellites to a Sun-synchronous orbit. Sentinel-3C aims to give accurate and timely information to better manage the environment and to understand and mitigate the effects of climate change, whilst FLEX will yield information about the health of the world’s plants, improving our understanding of how carbon moves between plants and the atmosphere and how photosynthesis affects the carbon and water cycles.

No earlier than September - Starship Flight 14

This launch of SpaceX’s superheavy launch vehicle is expected to be the first orbital flight of Starship. Previous tests have seen the successful soft landing in the ocean of the Starship upper stage, as well as the successful return-to-launch site and mid-air capture of the Super Heavy booster. This launch will be an important step in SpaceX’s goals to use Starship for the Artemis program’s first lunar landing with Artemis IV. Starship needs to be ready for testing during the Artemis III mission, which aims to launch next year and will test the infrastructure needed for the first landing on the Moon in almost 60 years. For more information on Starship, check out our SpaceX blog written by Ed Kellond-Turner on the Education team.

No Earlier than September - Long March 12A

There is currently no public available information on the payload for the second flight of Long March 12A, which is a Chinese launch vehicle. What makes this launch exciting is this will be the second attempt to land the first stage booster, similar to SpaceX’s Falcon 9. Long March 12A first launched last December, successfully delivering its payload to orbit but failing to land in one piece.

No Earlier than September - SpaceX Crew-13

SpaceX Crew-13 is the thirteenth operational crewed rotation mission of a Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station. The crew is composed of NASA astronauts commander Jessica Watkins and pilot Luke Delaney, and mission specialists Joshua Kutryk of CSA and Sergey Teteryatnikov of Russia's Roscosmos. Besides Watkins, who flew on SpaceX Crew-4, this will be the first mission to space for the remaining astronauts. Kutryk is the first Canadian to be sent to orbit as part of the Commercial Crew Program. This mission was originally scheduled to launch on 12th September, but a leak in the oxidiser tank has delayed the launch.

Spacecraft News - September JUICE Earth Flyby

ESA’s JUICE spacecraft, which launched on the 14th April, 2023, is set to make a close flyby of Earth in September, gaining a gravity assist as it comes within just 9,000km of our planet, helping to catapult it on its way to Jupiter. Using gravity assists is much more fuel efficient than a direct course, but much longer. JUICE is set to arrive at the Jovian in July 2031, where it will do a close study of three icy moons: Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa, all of which may have subsurface oceans and the conditions needed for life. JUICE is also set to become the first spacecraft to orbit a moon other than our own when it enters orbit around Ganymede in December 2034. Check out our video detailing all the juiciest facts about the JUICE missions on our YouTube channel.

3rd September - BepiColombo MTM Separation

After eight years, the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission is about to enter its Mercury Arrival Phase. Until now, Bepi’s three components have travelled as one stacked spacecraft, but on the 3rd, ESA’s Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) will separate, leaving ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and JAXA’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (Mio) to enter orbit around Mercury together in November of this year. ESA will be livestreaming this event on their YouTube channel, starting at 12:45 before the MTM separation at 14:00.

In The Night Sky

From Leicester, there may be opportunities throughout the first half of September to spot the International Space Station 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 from your location. 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.

Throughout September - Stargazing Challenges

Each month, we'll be sharing some stargazing challenges for everyone to have a go at. From spotting the Moon and familiar star patterns, to catching meteor showers and eclipses. Check out our Stargazing Challenges – September 2026 blog for more details.

7th September - The Moon and Mars Close in the Sky

The waning crescent Moon is in conjunction with Mars in the constellation of Gemini on the 6th, rising at around 1:00 am in the east. If you want to spot Mars at this time, look to the right and slightly above the Moon where you may see a blood-red star-like point. As the Moon is so close to its new moon phase, now would be a great time to get out your telescopes and have a go at spotting the red planet. David Southworth on the Education team wrote a blog on conjunctions and other astronomical phenomena if you want to find out more.

8th September - The Moon and Jupiter Close in the Sky

Similar to Mars the day before, now Jupiter is above and to the right of the Moon. Unfortunately to spot the largest planet in our solar system, you will have to wait until around 3:30 am when it finally rises above the eastern horizon.

11th September - New Moon

September’s new moon occurs on the 11th, meaning this is the perfect time to head out for some stargazing, especially if you want to have a go at hunting for some deep sky objects with a telescope or binoculars. We have a blog on Moon phases written by Mike Darch on the Education team.

(Photo by Ryan Hutton on Unsplash)

14th September - The Moon and Venus Close in the Sky

At around 15:30 on the 14th, Venus will emerge from behind the waxing crescent Moon, appearing to slowly move further to the right until the planet sets at around 19:45. Being one of Earth’s closest planets and with a thick atmosphere that reflects sunlight well, Venus will appear as a bright star-like point, which is lucky as Venus sets around the same time as the Sun, making observation difficult. When the Moon blocks our view of a planet it is known as occultation, a term which David also explains in his blog above.

23rd September - Autumn Equinox

Marking the official end of summer, the autumn equinox signals the point in Earth’s orbit where the northern hemisphere begins to tilt away from the Sun, and nights become longer than days. The term equinox comes from the Latin meaning equal night, due to the Sun shining directly on the equator, resulting in nearly equal day and night lengths across the globe. Check out our blog on equinoxes and solstices for more information.

25th September - Neptune Reaches Opposition

This month Neptune reaches opposition, meaning it lies directly opposite the Sun in the sky. Neptune will rise in the east just as the Sun sets in the west, and will be visible (using a powerful telescope) the entire night. At opposition, Earth and Neptune will be at their closest point to each other, and so Neptune will be larger, brighter, and clearer than normal. Again, David has your back with more information in his astronomical phenomena blog, linked above.