On September 29, 2015 the Japanese HTV "Kounotori-5” unmanned supply spacecraft was deorbited. The spacecraft reentered Earth's atmosphere at 20:33 UTC. Non-burnt fragments of the spacecraft sank in the Pacific at about 21:00 UTC. The "Kounotori-5” successfully completed 42 days of cargo supply mission to the ISS.

On September 29, 2015 at 23:13 UTC (on September 30 at 07:13 Beijing time), the Chang Zheng-3B/IIG (Long March-3B/IIG) rocket-carrier was launched from Xichang Cosmodrome, Sichuan province, southwestern China. The rocket orbited the “Beidou I2-S” navigation satellite. t is the 20th member of the Beidou fleet launched by China.

On September 28, 2015 the Japanese "HTV Kounotori-5” unmanned supply spacecraft departed the International Space Station. First HTV-5 was disengaged with the space station's robotic arm from a docking port on the Harmony module. At 16:53 UTC the spacecraft was released by Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui. The HTV-5 will be deorbited on September 30, 2015.

On September 25, 2015, at 01:41 UTC the “Long March –11” (“Changzheng-11”) rocket-carrier was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, Gansu Province, the northwest of China. The rocket orbited the “Pujiang-1” satellite and three smaller tech demo CubeSats built by university students in partnership with the Shanghai Engineering Center for Microsatellites. The “Long March-11” rocket-carrier is the first solid-fueled member of the Long March rocket family, and its first stage is the largest solid rocket motor in use by China today.

On September 23, 2015 at 22:00 UTC (on September 24 at 01:00 Moscow time) the “Rockot” rocket-carrier was launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Arkhangelsk region, North Russia. The launch was performed by Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. The rocket equipped with the “Briz-KM” booster (upper stage) orbited 3 “Rodnik” satellites. They were named officially as "Kosmos-2507”, "Kosmos-2508” and "Kosmos-2509”. The “Rodnik” satellites are believed to be a version of the “Gonets-M” satellites. The “Gonets-M” space vehicle is an upgraded version of the “Gonets” satellite, a derivative of the “Strela-3” military satellite system. The “Rodnik” satellites are believed to be the military version of the spacecraft family. Rockot is a three-stage launch vehicle developed and produced by the ... Read more »

On September 19, 2015 at 23:01 UTC (on September 20 at 07:01 Beijing time) the “Long March – 6” (“Changzheng-6”) rocket-carrier was launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province. The rocket orbited 20 small satellites. Some of the 20 satellites sent into space went up housed inside mothership satellites, where they were stowed for later deployment. Many were assembled by students at Chinese universities. They will conduct technology demonstrations in orbit, including tests of electric propulsion, in-space communications links, new software and cameras, nanotechnology, and amateur radio relay. The following satellites were orbited: Xinyan-2; Lüliang-1; Naxing-2; Zheda Pixing-2A, -2B; Zidingxian-2; Xiwang-2A, -2B, -2C, 2D;… The 20 satellites are the most number of satellites ever launched on a single rocket by China.

On September 14, 2015 at 19:00 UTC the Russian "Proton-M” rocket-carrier was launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome. The rocket equipped with the "DM-03” booster orbited the Russian “Express-AM8” telecommunication satellite. The satellite begins a 15-year mission at 14 degrees west longitude, covering a region stretching from the Americas to Europe, North Africa and Russia.

On September 14, 2015, at 04:42 UTC the “Long March – 2D” (“Changzheng-2D”) rocket-carrier was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, Gansu Province, the northwest of China. The rocket orbited the “Gaofen-9” remote sensing satellite. Xinhua said the “Gaofen-9” satellite “will be used in land survey, urban planning, road network design, agriculture, and disaster relief.”

On September 12, 2015 at 15:42 UTC, the Chang Zheng-3B/E (Long March-3B/E) rocket-carrier was launched from Xichang Cosmodrome, Sichuan province, southwestern China. The rocket orbited a super-secretive satellite unofficially claimed to be the Communications Engineering Test Satellite -1 (TXJSSY-1). The official announcement by the Chinese media described the satellite as a communication technology experimental satellite, without citing any official name.

On September 12 at 00:51 UTC the Russian “Soyuz TMA-16M” landing capsule landed safely in a distance of 146 kilometers south-east from the city of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan. The spacecraft delivered to Earth the crew of 3 members: Russian cosmonaut Gennadiy Padalka a member of Expedition 44; Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen and Kazakhstan cosmonaut Aidyn Aimbetov both the members of Guest Expedition 18.

Gennadiy Padalka spent in space 168 days 05 hours 08 minutes and 37 seconds. Andreas Mogensen and Aidyn Aimbetov spent in space 9 days 20 hours 13 minutes and 51 seconds. Six other ISS crew members – Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko, Oleg Kononenko, Sergey Volkov; American astronauts Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren as well as Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui remained in orbit aboard the International Space S ... Read more »