SpaceX launches the Starlink 6-101 mission from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral on Jan. 30, 2026. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now.
SpaceX completed its 13th and final Falcon 9 rocket launch of the month, which flew from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on in the predawn hours of Thursday morning.
Space News & Blog Articles
File photo of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at pad 4E ready to launch a Starlink mission. Image: SpaceX
SpaceX is set to launch its penultimate Falcon 9 rocket of the month with a mid-morning flight from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Thursday.
The GPS 3 Space Vehicle 09 satellite is encapsulated inside Falcon 9 rocket payload fairings at Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Florida. Image: SpaceX
The U.S. Space Force is set to send its ninth third-generation Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite into medium Earth orbit on Monday night. The satellite will ride to space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket after the government moved the spacecraft from a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket.
File: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands in launch position at Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base ahead of the launch of the NROL-57 mission. Image: SpaceX
SpaceX plans to launch 25 of its Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites from California on Sunday morning.
NASA’s Space Launch System rocket at Launch Complex 39B (left) and United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket inside its Vertical Integration Facility (right): Image: NASA/Keegan Barber (left), United Launch Alliance (right)
February 2026 is shaping up to be a blockbuster month for launches from Florida’s Space Coast. In addition to a now regular cadence of Falcon 9 launches from SpaceX, Cape Canaveral is poised to see launches from Blue Origin, United Launch Alliance and potentially NASA via its Space Launch System rocket.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base on Jan. 21, 2026, to begin the Starlink 17-30 mission. Image: SpaceX
Update Jan. 21 2:20 a.m. EST (0720 UTC): SpaceX confirms deployment of the 25 Starlink satellites.
The mission patch symbolizing the National Reconnaissance Office’s proliferated architecture satellite constellation. Graphic: NRO
SpaceX is preparing for a late night Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Friday, which will carry an undisclosed number of intelligence-gathering satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office.
(Left to Right) Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke, Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya You inside the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour shortly after splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Long Beach, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. Photo: NASA/Bill Ingalls.
Four space station crewmates undocked and plunged back to Earth Thursday, safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast six days after NASA ordered them home early because of a medical issue.
The four members of the SpaceX Crew-11 mission are shown suited in their intra-vehicular activity (IVA) flight suits ahead of their departure from the International Space Station. From left to right: Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, and JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui. Image: Mike Fincke/NASA
The SpaceX Crew-11 mission is coming to a close with the crew preparing to depart the International Space Station Wednesday afternoon and splashdown off the coast of California in the predawn hours on Thursday.
The GPS III Space Vehicle 09, the ninth GPS III spacecraft, is pictured traveling by road from Lockheed Martin facilities in Denver, CO, to Florida’s Space Coast. Image: Lockheed Martin
The next Global Positioning System satellite is switching from a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket to a SpaceX Falcon 9, a spokesperson for the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command System Delta 80 said Tuesday.
File: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station ahead of the planned launch of the Starlink 6-71 mission. Image: Spaceflight Now
SpaceX aims to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Wednesday afternoon, but faces difficult weather.
Four SpaceX Crew-11 members gather together for a crew portrait wearing their Dragon pressure suits during a suit verification check inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module on Jan. 9, 2026. Clockwise from bottom left are, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui. Image: NASA
NASA astronaut Mike Fincke wrapped up his time as commander of the International Space Station on Monday, Jan. 12, after just over a month in the position.
The PSLV-C62 rocket lifts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre carrying the EOS-N1 Earth observing satellite along with 15 other rideshare satellites. The four-stage rocket suffered an anomaly with its third stage. Image: ISRO via livestream
India’s first launch of 2026 ended in failure due to an issue with the third stage of its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, supported by the first stage booster with the tail number 1078, stands in the launch position at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station ahead of the launch of the Starlink 6-97 mission. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now
Update Jan. 12, 12:55 p.m. EST (1555 UTC): SpaceX pushed back the T-0 liftoff time.
File: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is vertical at Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base ahead of the launch of the Starlink 9-10 mission on Nov. 8, 2024. Image: SpaceX
SpaceX will debut a new class of rideshare mission on Sunday with the launch of its first Twilight flight. The mission is described by the company as flying to a “dawn-dusk Sun-synchronous orbit” after departing from Vandenberg Space Force Base.
A Dual Engine Centaur upper stage for Atlas V nears completion at the factory in Decatur, Alabama. The RL10 engine marked 60 years of flight on Nov. 27, 2023. Image: United Launch Alliance
On Monday, L3Harris Technologies, announced the intended sale of a majority stake in its Space Propulsion and Power Systems business to AE Industrial Partners, shifting control over one of its marquee engines: the RL10.
Crew 11 during training before launch last August (left to right): Cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Crew 11 commander Zena Cardman and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui. Image: NASA
Four space station fliers have been told to cut their mission short and return to Earth ahead of schedule because of an apparently serious medical issue affecting an unidentified crew member, NASA announced Thursday.
At center, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut and Expedition 74 Flight Engineer Kimiya Yui assists NASA astronauts Zena Cardman (left) and Mike Fincke (right), the station’s flight engineer and commander respectively, during spacesuit checks inside the International Space Station’s Quest airlock. Image: NASA
Update Jan. 8, 12:30 a.m. EST (0530 UTC): Adding new statement from NASA.
File: A Falcon 9 rocket stands in the launch position at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station ahead of the planned liftoff of the Starlink 6-61 mission on Oct. 22, 2024. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now
SpaceX is set to launch its Falcon 9 rocket on an early afternoon flight to deliver more of its Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Vandenberg SFB Guardians and Airmen supported the NASA Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites (TRACERS) mission launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, July 23, 2025. At the forefront of space operations at Vandenberg, the safety team ensures minimal risk for safe, reliable and frequent access to space. Image: U.S. Space Force/Jennifer Green-Lanchoney
A new orbital launch site is up for grabs at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California.

