2026 – Page 8 – Spaceflight Now

FCC gives SpaceX “green light” to expand Starlink constellation to 15,000 satellites

January 8, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The Starlink 6-96 mission added another 29 broadband internet satellites to the low Earth orbit constellation. SpaceX launched from Space Launch Complex 40 on Friday, Jan. 9, at 4:41 p.m. EST (2141 UTC).

NASA weighs an earlier end to the Crew-11 mission after a ‘medical situation’ with an ISS crew member postpones first spacewalk of 2026

January 7, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

U.S. spacewalk 94 was slated to have NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman perform a variety of operations around the orbiting outpost during the roughly 6.5-hour-long event. A new date for the spacewalk hasn’t been announced.

Dept. of the Air Force opens bidding for Space Launch Complex 14 at Vandenberg SFB

January 6, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The U.S. Space Force aims to attract new launch capabilities for the Western Range to bolster domestic access to space. Responses are due by Feb. 12, 2026.

SpaceX launches first Starlink deployment mission since problem strikes satellite

January 4, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The Starlink 6-88 added 29 broadband internet satellites to the constellation of more than 9,300 in low Earth orbit. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 1:48 a.m. EST (0648 UTC).

SpaceX opens 2026 with launch of Cosmo-SkyMed Earth observation satellite for Italy

January 2, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The spacecraft was originally slated to launch nearly a week prior, but SpaceX ran into ground systems issues. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 6:09 p.m. PST (9:09 p.m. EST / 0209 UTC).