2026 – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX launches 100th orbital mission of 2026

August 21, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The Starlink 15-20 mission represented the 99th Falcon 9 rocket launch of the year. Liftoff from pad 4 East happened at 12:25 a.m. PDT (3:25 a.m. EDT / 0725 UTC).

SpaceX launches 29 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral following last-minute scrub

August 20, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The Starlink 10-39 mission includes the 2,000th Starlink satellite to fly this year. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is scheduled for 11:14 a.m. EDT (1514 UTC).

LandSpace becomes first commercial Chinese company to land an orbital-class booster

August 19, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The August 19 landing of its ZhuQue-3 rocket marked the first landing of a Chinese-made rocket using landing legs as well.

Astronauts remove failed antenna; run out of time to install a spare

August 18, 2026 William Harwood

It was the 282nd EVA devoted to station assembly and maintenance, the fifth so far this year, the second for Menon and the first for Adenot, now the first French woman to walk in space. Total ISS EVA time now stands at 74 days 10 hours and 44 minutes since station assembly began in 1998.

SpaceX exceeds 11,000 satellites in low Earth orbit

August 18, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The Starlink 17-50 mission added another 24 broadband satellites to the company’s megaconstellation. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 9:01 p.m. PDT (12:01 a.m. EDT / 0401 UTC).

SpaceX launches record-breaking back-to-back Falcon 9 rockets for Globalstar, U.S. Space Force

August 15, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The batch of eight Globalstar satellites will help refresh the company’s low Earth orbit constellation. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is scheduled for 9:12 p.m. EDT (0112 UTC).

NASA Administrator ‘extremely confident’ in Artemis 3 mission in 2027

August 14, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The statement of support came in the midst of announcing a NASA-supported, privately run air and space show happening in early November.

Mike Fincke, a 30-year astronaut with experience across four spacecraft, retires from NASA

August 12, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

Mike Fincke trained on the Boeing CST-100 Starliner side of the Commercial Crew Program from January 2019 until his reassignment to the SpaceX Crew-11 mission. His fourth and final mission to the International Space Station launched on Aug. 1, 2025.

Firefly Aerospace pushes debut of Alpha Block 2 rocket to the fourth quarter of 2026

August 11, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

During an investor earnings call on Tuesday, Firefly Aerospace CEO Jason Kim said the company now expects to fly a total of three Alpha rockets this year.

SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB

August 11, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The Starlink 17-49 mission was the 73rd mission flying SpaceX’s broadband internet satellites to orbit. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 9:46 p.m. PDT (12:46 a.m. EDT / 0446 UTC).