Falcon 9 – Spaceflight Now

January 15, 2026

Breaking News

[ January 15, 2026 ] Crew 11 safely splashes down after shortened mission Mission Reports
[ January 14, 2026 ] NASA, SpaceX conduct ‘medical evacuation’ Crew-11 return to Earth Mission Reports
[ January 14, 2026 ] SpaceX breaks pad turnaround record at Cape Canaveral with midday Starlink launch Falcon 9
[ January 13, 2026 ] U.S. Space Force switches rockets for upcoming GPS satellite launch Falcon 9
[ January 13, 2026 ] ISS gains new commander as Crew-11 prepares midweek departure Mission Reports

SpaceX breaks pad turnaround record at Cape Canaveral with midday Starlink launch

January 14, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The Starlink 6-98 mission added 29 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites to the low Earth orbit constellation. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 1:08 p.m. EST (1808 UTC).

U.S. Space Force switches rockets for upcoming GPS satellite launch

January 13, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The change will allow the U.S. Space Force to expedite the process of building out its GPS constellation in medium Earth orbit. The launch date for the next satellite, GPS III Space Vehicle 09, could be within weeks.

SpaceX launches 29 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral

January 12, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The Starlink 6-97 mission was the fifth Falcon 9 rocket launch of 2026, a rate of roughly one flight every 2.5 days. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 4:08:20 p.m. EST (2108:20 UTC).

SpaceX deploys NASA’s Pandora, other smallsats amid 1st ‘Twilight’ rideshare mission

January 10, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The flight included 40 deployment events for a variety of payloads, including NASA’s Pandora spacecraft. Liftoff from pad 4E happened at 5:44 a.m. PST (8:44 a.m. EST / 1344 UTC).

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).

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).

Launch pad issue delays again Falcon 9 launch of Italian Earth observation satellite

December 27, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

For the second night running SpaceX scrubbed the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation satellite for Italy.

SpaceX flies Starlink mission using Falcon 9 booster flying for a 30th time

December 17, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The Falcon 9 rocket launching the Starlink 15-13 mission will fly on a south-easterly trajectory upon leaving pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base. Liftoff is for 7:27 a.m. PST (10:27 a.m. EST / 1527 UTC).

SpaceX launches Wednesday morning Starlink mission from Kennedy Space Center

December 16, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The Starlink 6-99 mission represents SpaceX’s 125th launch to date from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Liftoff is scheduled for 8:42 a.m. EST (1342 UTC).