On April 25, 2016 at 21:02 UTC the Russian "Soyuz-STA” rocket-carrier was launched from Kourou launch site in French Guiana. The rocket equipped with the "Fregat-M” booster orbited 5 satellites.Tthe Russian-built Soyuz rocket orbited the Europian “Sentinel-1B” earth observation satellite, a French spacecraft named Microscope to probe the fundamental laws of physics, and three CubeSats from European universities.

On April 18, 2016 at 08:30 UTC the “Shijian-10” unmanned landing capsule lab returned back to Earth in the Siziwang Banner of China’s Inner Mongolia region. Having spent in space nearly 13 days the spacecraft carried an array of microgravity research experiments, including a groundbreaking investigation that showed mammal embryos can develop in space. The mission, also called SJ-10, carried 19 experiments investigating fluid physics, combustion in space, materials science, biotechnology, and the effects of microgravity and radiation on plants and animals. The “Shijian-10” spacecraft’s orbital module remained in space to conduct further experiments.

On April 16, 2016 at 06:15 UTC the International Space Station’s robotic arm, under the control of engineers on Earth, extracted an experimental inflatable habitat from the trunk of the "Dragon” SpX-8 spacecraft and attached it to the orbiting complex. Berthing to the docking port of the US “Tranquility” module was completed at 09:36 UTC. Made by Bigelow Aerospace private company, the new module will spend two years on the space station to prove the novel design’s worthiness for future commercial orbiting research labs and expeditions to deep space. Unlike the space station’s other modules, which are made of metal alloys, BEAM is made of reinforced fabric designed to be resistant to radiation and bombardment by tiny flecks of space junk and micrometeoroids. The module will be inflated around May 26, expanding to four times its current volume until it reaches the approximate ... Read more »