August 2026 – Spaceflight Now

Roman Space Telescope, NASA’s next ‘great observatory,’ launched

August 29, 2026 William Harwood

Using a donated Hubble-class mirror originally built for a spy satellite, NASA’s Roman Space Telescope launched Sunday on a $4.3 billion mission to open a new window on the universe. Liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy came at 7:26 a.m. EDT (1126 UTC).

SpaceX launches 27 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg

August 25, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The Falcon 9 rocket flew on a south-easterly trajectory upon launching from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Liftoff happened at 2:35 a.m. PDT (5:35 a.m. EDT / 0935 UTC).

SpaceX launches Starlink mission on a Falcon booster’s record-breaking 37th flight

August 24, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The Starlink 10-49 mission is set to be the 100th launch of a Falcon 9 rocket in 2026. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is scheduled for 5:33 a.m. EDT (0933 UTC).

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.

Month: August 2026