Launch

A collection of 54 posts

Launch

Cambridge Study Projects 93 Percent Drop in Orbital Cargo Costs by 2040

The cost of launching cargo to orbit will more than halve by the end of this decade and fall by roughly 93 percent by 2040, according to a new study led by Cambridge researchers. If the projection holds, it would rank among the most dramatic price collapses in the history

Launch

SpaceX Targets July 16 for Starship Flight 13, First to Deploy Starlink V3 Satellites

SpaceX is preparing for the 13th integrated flight test of its Starship system, with launch targeted as early as Thursday, July 16, from Starbase in South Texas. The 90-minute window opens at 5:45 p.m. CT. The mission marks the first deployment of next-generation Starlink V3 satellites

Launch

Japan's RV-X Reusable Rocket Completes First Hop Test at Noshiro

Japan's experimental reusable rocket, the RV-X, lifted off, hovered and landed safely in a first test flight Saturday at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Noshiro Testing Center in northeastern Japan. The flight lasted less than one minute and marks a step toward the reusability technology

Launch

Booster 20 Fires All 33 Engines for Record 24 Seconds Ahead of Flight 13

SpaceX ignited all 33 Raptor engines on Super Heavy Booster 20 for a record 24 seconds on July 10, clearing a major milestone toward Starship Flight 13. The test positions SpaceX to target a launch window that opens as soon as July 15. Booster 20 spent one month inside Mega

Launch

China Recovers Long March 10B Booster at Sea in Reusability First

China recovered the first stage of an orbital rocket for the first time on Friday, catching the Long March 10B booster in a net-like structure aboard a ship at sea during the vehicle's maiden launch. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation called it the world'

Launch

Former OpenAI Product Chief Kevin Weil Joins Stoke Space Board as Reusable Rocket Push Accelerates

Kevin Weil, a technology executive whose career spans Twitter, Meta, Planet Labs, and OpenAI, has joined the board of directors at Stoke Space, the Seattle startup building a fully reusable rocket. The appointment ties a senior figure from a prominent AI company to one of the launch market's

Defense

Rocket Lab Completes VICTUS HAZE, Demonstrating On-Demand Satellite Inspection for Space Force

Rocket Lab announced July 7 that it successfully completed the VICTUS HAZE mission for the U.S. Space Force, pairing a responsive launch with on-orbit rendezvous and proximity operations to track and inspect a target satellite. The company described the effort as a record-shattering responsive launch, marking a

Markets

Venus Aerospace Raises $91 Million to Scale Rotating Detonation Engine Toward Production

Venus Aerospace, a Houston-based propulsion startup, said July 8 it raised $91 million in a Series B round to expand development and production of its rotating detonation rocket engine technology. The company aims to move the engine from flight testing toward operational deployment across a range of hypersonic and

Markets

Isar Aerospace Signs $112.5 Million Deal to Launch Spectrum From Nova Scotia in 2028

German rocket builder Isar Aerospace has signed an agreement with Canada's Maritime Launch Services to develop a dedicated launch facility at Spaceport Nova Scotia. The first launch of an Isar Aerospace Spectrum rocket from the site is expected in 2028. The arrangement extends Isar's ambitions to

Launch

First Commercial Nuclear-Powered Satellite Reaches Orbit on Falcon 9 Rideshare

City Labs' BOHR cubesat became the world's first commercially built nuclear-powered satellite to reach orbit, launching early on July 7 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9. The mission marks the first commercially designed and operated spacecraft to carry nuclear technology into space, a domain long reserved for

Launch

NASA Aids Blue Origin Probe Into New Glenn Explosion, Points to Engine Issue

NASA is actively supporting the investigation into the May 28 explosion of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket, Administrator Jared Isaacman confirmed Sunday. Investigators have already identified a potential engine issue as the likely cause, a finding that carries direct consequences for the timeline of NASA's Artemis

Launch

Semiconductor Test Beds Ride Falcon 9 Booster on Sunrise Starlink Launch

Two semiconductor fabrication test beds flew a sub-orbital ride on the first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that lifted a batch of Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral shortly after sunrise on July 5, 2026. The manufacturing pods belong to Washington, D.C.-based startup Besxar Space Industries,

Launch

French Launcher Latitude Picks Oman's Etlaq Spaceport for 2027 Debut

Latitude will stage the debut launch of its rocket from Oman's Etlaq Spaceport in late 2027 under an agreement announced this week. The deal is the latest in a growing set of partnerships linking European space organizations with operators in the Middle East, a region offering European firms

Markets

Planet Germany Picks Isar Aerospace for German-Built Satellite and Rocket Launch

Planet Labs' German subsidiary has selected Isar Aerospace to launch one of its Pelican Earth observation satellites aboard a Spectrum rocket, with both companies aiming to complete the mission in less than 12 months. The agreement pairs a German-built satellite with a German-built rocket, a first for

Launch

Ship 40 Completes Six-Engine Static Fire, Clearing a Milestone for Starship's 13th Flight

SpaceX fired all six Raptor engines on the upper stage of its Starship rocket for a full minute at Starbase, Texas, less than a week after the vehicle's first static-fire test. The engine checkout moves Ship 40 a step closer to Starship's 13th fully stacked

Satellites

Amazon Leo Reaches 396 Satellites, Enough to Begin Broadband Service

Amazon says its low-Earth orbit constellation now carries enough satellites to switch on its broadband internet service, with 396 spacecraft deployed following a launch on July 2. The company states the constellation can now support continuous service across initial latitudes, keeping it on track for commercial availability targeted for

Launch

Robotic Servicer Launches to Raise Orbit of NASA's Swift Observatory

A Katalyst Space commercial robotic spacecraft called LINK is set to launch no earlier than Friday, July 3, from Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, tasked with raising the orbit of NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory satellite. If successful, it will be the first time

Launch

Atlas 5 551 Flies Final Mission, Delivering 29 Amazon Leo Satellites to Orbit

United Launch Alliance launched the final flight of its Atlas 5 rocket in the 551 configuration early Thursday, lofting 29 Amazon Leo broadband satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The predawn liftoff closed a significant chapter for ULA and marked the last Atlas 5 to carry a satellite payload.

Launch

Blue Origin Bets on Hybrid Rebuild to Return New Glenn to Flight by Year's End

One month after the New Glenn anomaly that severely damaged Launch Complex-36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Blue Origin has completed debris removal and begun rebuilding the pad under a new hybrid concept of operations. CEO Dave Limp maintains the company intends to return the vehicle to flight

Launch

Firefly and SSC Space Target 2028 for First Orbital Launch from Sweden's Esrange

Firefly Aerospace and SSC Space have set 2028 as the target for the first orbital launch from Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden, using Firefly's Alpha rocket. The companies announced the timeline during a press briefing in Stockholm on June 30, citing progress on infrastructure, regulatory agreements, and

Satellites

SiriusXM Lofts Most Powerful Satellite Yet on Falcon 9, Built by Intuitive Machines Subsidiary

SpaceX launched SiriusXM's SXM-11 satellite aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Sunday, sending a 7.5-ton broadcasting spacecraft toward geostationary orbit. The satellite, the most powerful in SiriusXM's fleet, is built to replace two aging satellites and was

Launch

Rocket Lab Marks 10th Straight Success for Synspective With "Ten Owl of Ten" Launch

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB) launched a radar-imaging satellite for Japanese company Synspective on June 26th, completing its 10th dedicated mission for the customer with a 100 percent success rate across all ten flights. The launch lifted off from New Zealand under the mission name "Ten Owl of Ten.

Launch

SpaceX Plans Eight-Mile "Starpipe" Natural Gas Line to Fuel Starship in Texas

SpaceX intends to begin construction next month on a private natural gas pipeline to supply its Texas launch facilities, according to county filings. The eight-mile line, named "Starpipe," is meant to fuel the company's Starship rocket as SpaceX works to increase its launch cadence. The

Defense

Commercial Radar Firm Detects Object Released by China's Shenlong Space Plane

A private space surveillance company has detected an unknown object apparently released by China's Shenlong space plane while it operates on a classified orbital mission. The detection, made by commercial radar rather than a government agency, marks the latest in a series of object deployments observers have linked

Defense

Rocket Lab Lofts Space Force Satellite Less Than 17 Hours After Receiving Launch Order

Rocket Lab launched the U.S. Space Force's VICTUS HAZE mission on June 19, 2026, just 16 hours and 42 minutes after receiving the Notice to Launch from Space Systems Command. The launch beat the previous responsive space record by more than 10 hours, marking a major step