News – Spaceflight Now

October 2, 2026

Breaking News

[ October 1, 2026 ] Falcon Heavy flies its first mission for U.S. spy satellite agency Falcon Heavy
[ October 1, 2026 ] Fresh crew takes off for six-month stay aboard space station Falcon 9
[ October 1, 2026 ] NASA, SpaceX launch next crewed mission to the International Space Station Falcon 9
[ September 29, 2026 ] NASA plans unpiloted Starliner test flight at end of year News
[ September 28, 2026 ] Starship returns to Earth; rocket splashes down north of Hawaii after three-hour flight Mission Reports

Falcon Heavy flies its first mission for U.S. spy satellite agency

October 1, 2026 Spaceflight Now

The 14th Falcon Heavy rocket is scheduled to blast off on a clandestine mission from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 11:54 p.m. EDT (0354 UTC).

Fresh crew takes off for six-month stay aboard space station

October 1, 2026 William Harwood

Strapped into a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, Crew 13 commander Jessica Watkins, pilot Luke Delaney, Russian cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov and Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk blasted off from pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 11:10 a.m. EDT.

NASA, SpaceX launch next crewed mission to the International Space Station

October 1, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins, will become the first agency astronaut to fly for a second time onboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base is scheduled for 11:10 a.m. EDT (1510 UTC).

NASA plans unpiloted Starliner test flight at end of year

September 29, 2026 William Harwood

If the unpiloted test flight goes well, NASA and Boeing hope to launch a piloted Starliner flight in mid 2028, officials said Monday, incorporating redesigned propulsion system valves, more robust subsystems and other modifications expected to prevent the sort of failures that occurred in 2024.

Starship returns to Earth; rocket splashes down north of Hawaii after three-hour flight

September 28, 2026 William Harwood

The Super Heavy first stage booster, generating some 16 million pounds of thrust — twice the power of NASA’s Space Launch System moon rocket — rapidly accelerated as it consumed propellant and lost weight, climbing out of the thick lower atmosphere along a southeasterly trajectory.

Launch preview: SpaceX to launch first Starlink V3 satellites to orbit on Starship

September 28, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The first planned orbital flight of a Starship-Super Heavy rocket aims to send 26 Starlink Version 3 into low Earth orbit. Liftoff from Pad 2 at Starbase, Texas, is scheduled during a 75-minute window that opens at 7:15 a.m. CDT (8:15 a.m. EDT / 1215 UTC).

Next crew bound for the space station arrive in Florida

September 26, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The three astronauts and one cosmonaut will spend roughly six months onboard the International Space Station. Launch is scheduled for no earlier than Oct. 1.

SpaceX Falcon 9 launches classified mission for U.S. Space Force from West Coast

September 25, 2026 Steven Young

Liftoff of the USSF-385 mission atop a Falcon 9 is scheduled for 7 a.m. PDT (10 a.m. EDT / 1400 UTC) at the opening of a three-hour launch window.

NASA announces new space telescope ‘PRIMA’ to launch in 2033

September 24, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

Once it goes through a confirmation review, the observatory can proceed into construction. The 5.9-foot telescope will be capped at a project cost of $1.2 billion, which excludes launch “and other non-project costs.”

SpaceX stack Starship and Super Heavy for first orbital flight

September 23, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith

The inclusion of the upper stage, tail number Ship 41, comes ahead of a probable fueling demonstration planned in the days leading up to a launch attempt. Starship Flight 14 is scheduled for no earlier than Sept. 28, pending approval from the Federal Aviation Administration.