Astronomy Daily · S05E150 · “Lucky Thirteen” · Saturday 25 July 2026. Your Weekend Wrap: Starship Flight 13 finally flies and floats, the strongest exomoon candidate yet, a robotic satellite-servicer on its way to GEO, and what the Moon’s far side reveals about Earth — plus a both-hemispheres skywatch.
In this episode Chapter Segment 00:00 Cold open & headlines
01:30 LEAD: Starship Flight 13 flies — softest splashdown yet, first real Starlink V3 deploy
09:00 Exo-satellite at CD-35 2722 — strongest exomoon candidate yet (Nature)
11:45 Northrop Grumman MRV-MEP — a mechanic for the geostationary belt
14:30 Chang’e-6 — the Moon’s far side records Earth’s magnetosphere (Nature Geoscience)
17:15 Skywatch — Buck Moon, Delta Aquariids, the 12 Aug Perseids + total solar eclipse
20:45 Sign-off
Sources & further reading STARSHIP FLIGHT 13 • Space.com — Starship’s “softest splashdown” yet after Flight 13 —
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/spacexs-starship-megarocket-makes-the-softest-splashdown-ever-after-launching-next-gen-starlink-satellites-in-flight-13-test-video • UPI — Starship successful flight test, splashes down in Indian Ocean —
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/07/24/Starship-has-successful-flight-test-splash-down-in-Indian-Ocean/3791784840519/ • CNN — Starship hits key milestones in “Lucky 13” test flight —
https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/24/science/live-news/spacex-starship-flight-13-launch EXO-SATELLITE CD-35 2722 • ESO — New “exomoon” detection challenges cosmic labels —
https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2610/ • Nature (paper) — Planetary-mass exosatellite around a substellar companion —
https://www.nature.com/ • Phys.org — Jupiter-mass “exomoon” orbiting a brown dwarf —
https://phys.org/news/2026-07-jupiter-mass-exomoon-orbiting-brown.html MRV-MEP SATELLITE SERVICING • Northrop Grumman — MRV launches, ushering in a new era of in-space servicing —
https://news.northropgrumman.com/launch/northrop-grummans-mission-robotic-vehicle-launches-ushering-in-a-new-era-of-in-space-servicing • Spaceflight Now — Novel geosynchronous robotic servicing satellite launch —
https://spaceflightnow.com/2026/07/21/live-coverage-spacex-to-launch-novel-geosynchronous-robotic-servicing-satellite-on-decade-long-mission/ CHANG’E-6 FAR-SIDE SOLAR WIND • Nature Geoscience — Deeper solar wind penetration on the Moon’s far side —
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-026-02042-w • EurekAlert! / CAS — Chang’e-6 samples reveal how Earth...
