Two launches since yesterday, by Rocket Lab and SpaceX
The launch beat marches on. Since yesterday two American companies successfully completed launches on opposite sides of the globe.
First, Rocket Lab yesterday evening successfully completed its 13th launch (out of a 27-launch contract) for the Japanese radar satellite company Synspective, its Electron rocket lifting off from one of its two launchpads in New Zealand.
Next, SpaceX this morning successfully launched a classified payload for the Space Force, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The first stage (B1100) completed its 10th flight (35 days after its previous mission). The two fairings completed their 22nd and 14th flights respectively.
Though the payload was classified, at least one source speculates it was a batch of Starshield satellites, the military’s version of SpaceX’s commercial Starlink satellite, based on the drop zone for the first stage.
The leader board for the 2026 launch race:
110 SpaceX
60 China
16 Rocket Lab (plus two suborbital HASTE launches)
12 Russia
For the first time in three years SpaceX no longer leads the entire world combined in total launches. This single American company now trails the rest of the world in successful launches in 2026 by 112 to 110.
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How many SLS are on the production line?
Basically I am asking how much sunk money does Boeing have in the next launches.
Hello Pzatchok,
SLS launchers through Artemis IV are fully funded and well into assembly.
SLS launchers for Artemis V and VI are funded for long lead items, and ring fabrication on the Artemis V core was underway as of this summer.
The tricky part is that V and VI will need upper stages, and that’s where the procurement of (suitably modified) Centaur V stages from ULA comes in. The contract for those was signed this spring, but I don’t know how far along ULA is on those.
I didn’t see this covered here, but probably is. Pretty big news about starship. Launch into orbit tomorrow morning.
FAA Clears SpaceX For Starship 14 Flight
SpaceX targets the launch from Starbase, Texas, between 8:15 and 9:30 a.m. EDT Sept. 28.
Instead, SpaceX is focused on getting Starship into orbit for the first time. “After the initial ascent burn, Starship will be on the same passively safe suborbital trajectory to the Indian Ocean as its initial flight tests,” SpaceX wrote in a mission profile. “This will enable flight controllers to assess the health of the vehicle during a coast phase and make the determination to either proceed to orbit or let Starship reenter and splash down in the Indian Ocean.
“Assuming the vehicle is healthy, Starship will execute a circularization burn using a single Raptor sea level engine that will place the vehicle in orbit around Earth,” SpaceX said.
https://aviationweek.com/space/launch-vehicles-propulsion/faa-clears-spacex-starship-14-flight
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