Tag: Falcon 9

Three launches, two by SpaceX and one by Russia

8:24 am

The global rocket industry completed three launches since last night.

First, SpaceX placed 27 Starlink satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 lifting off last night from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The first stage (B1093) completed its 15th flight (29 days after its previous mission), landing on a drone ship in the Pacific.

SpaceX then followed up with a morning launch, placing 29 more Starlink satellites in orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The first stage (B1080) completed its 28th flight (32 days after its previous mission), landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic. This launch tied this booster for ninth place with the space shuttle Columbia in the rankings for the most reused launch vehicles.

Finally, Russia successfully placed one American and two Russian astronauts into orbit, its Soyuz-2 rocket lifting off from Russia’s Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan. Their Soyuz capsule docked with the Prichal module on the Russian half of ISS several hours later, beginning an eight month mission for this crew.

The leaders in the 2026 launch race:

85 SpaceX
45 China
10 Rocket Lab (plus two suborbital HASTE launches)
9 Russia

For the third straight year SpaceX leads the entire world combined in total launches, 85 to 78.

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SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites; reuses first stage for 35th time

9:18 am

The beat goes on! SpaceX today successfully launched another 24 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The first stage (B1071) completed its 35th flight (30 days after its previous mission), landing on a drone ship in the Pacific. With this flight this booster maintained its third place position, behind the space shuttle Discovery and Falcon 9 booster B1067, in the rankings for the most reused launch vehicle:

39 Discovery space shuttle
36 Falcon 9 booster B1067
35 Falcon 9 booster B1071
33 Atlantis space shuttle
33 Falcon 9 booster B1063
31 Falcon 9 booster B1069
29 Falcon 9 booster B1077
29 Falcon 9 booster B1078

Sources here and here.

The leaders in the 2026 launch race:

83 SpaceX
45 China
10 Rocket Lab (plus two suborbital HASTE launches)
8 Russia

For the third straight year SpaceX leads the entire world combined in total launches, 83 to 77.

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SpaceX launches 29 more Starlink satellites; flies first stage for 36th time

8:42 am

SpaceX last night successfully launched another 29 Starlink satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral Space Force station in Florida.

The first stage (B1067) completed its 36th flight (31 days after its previous mission), landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic. With this flight this booster maintained its second place position, behind the space shuttle Discovery, in the rankings for the most reused launch vehicle:

39 Discovery space shuttle
36 Falcon 9 booster B1067
34 Falcon 9 booster B1071
33 Atlantis space shuttle
33 Falcon 9 booster B1063
31 Falcon 9 booster B1069
29 Falcon 9 booster B1077
29 Falcon 9 booster B1078

Sources here and here.

The leaders in the 2026 launch race:

82 SpaceX
44 China
10 Rocket Lab (plus two suborbital HASTE launches)
8 Russia

For the third straight year SpaceX leads the entire world combined in total launches, 82 to 76.

China will attempt the first launch of its reusable Long March 10B tonight. The first stage is designed to be reusable, but instead of landing vertically on its recovery vessel in the ocean, it will be descend horizontally and be caught by a netting system on the ship.

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Satellite company Loft Orbital signs multi-launch deal with European rocket startup Maiaspace

8:59 am

Because it appears SpaceX is ending its multi-payload Transporter Falcon 9 launches for smallsats after 2028, the satellite company Loft Orbital has now signed multi-launch deal with European rocket startup Maiaspace.

Although the announcement provided few details, it did share that the first flight was expected in 2028. In an 8 July press release, MaiaSpace explained that the multi-launch agreement โ€œconsolidates its launch manifest,โ€ adding that the company has now sold more than half of all capacity for its first three years of operation.

To date, all Loft Orbital satellites have been launched aboard SpaceX Transporter rideshare missions. However, according to reporting from SpaceNews, in recent weeks, several customers of these missions have said that SpaceX is not accepting Transporter reservations beyond late 2028 or early 2029. The publication quoted Rocket Lab CFO Adam Spice as saying that there โ€œseems to be a panic setting in.โ€

If the SpaceX aspect of this story is true, it means there will now be a slew of new satellite customers for all the many rocket startups, not just Maiaspace. In fact, it is puzzling Loft Orbital went to Maiaspace first. That company does not expect to do its first orbital test flight until late ’27. Meanwhile the Spanish startup PLD, the Indian startup Skyroot, the South Korean startup Innospace, the German startups Isar and Rocket Factory, and the American startups Stoke Space and Relativity are all expected to try their first launches before the end of this year. In addition, Rocket Lab has its Electron rocket, and hopes to launch its new Neutron rocket also by the end of this year.

That SpaceX is no longer taking reservations for Transporter flights after late 2028 also gives us a hint as to the company’s future plans for its Falcon 9 rocket. There has been much speculation it would be replaced by Starship, and this news suggests that transition from Falcon 9 to Starship is now beginning.

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SpaceX launches 81 payloads on its 17th Transporter mission

9:17 am

SpaceX last night successfully placed 81 different commercial payloads in orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenderg Space Force Base in California.

This was the company’s 17th Transporter mission, designed to provide launch services to very small satellites and payloads, including “cubesats, microsats, hosted payloads, and orbital transfer vehicles carrying eight of those payloads to be deployed at a later time.”

The first stage (B1097) completed its eleventh flight (30 days after its previous flight), landing on a drone ship in the Pacific. The two fairing halves completed their 19th and 35th flights respectively.

The leaders in the 2026 launch race:

81 SpaceX
44 China
10 Rocket Lab (plus two suborbital HASTE launches)
8 Russia

For the third straight year SpaceX leads the entire world combined in total launches, 81 to 76.

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Two launches by SpaceX and China

9:51 am

Two more launches so far today, one by SpaceX in the early morning and a second by China in the evening.

First SpaceX placed 29 more Starlink satellites in orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The first stage (B1090) completed its 13th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.

Next China placed another 20 Qianfan (Spacesail) satellites into orbit, its Long March 8A rocket lifting off from its coastal Wenchang spaceport. Video of the launch can be seen here. China’s state-run press provided no information about the number of satellites, but this site stated it was 20. Previous Long March 8A Qianfan launches had carried 18 however. Either way, this planned 12,000 satellite internet constellation now has approximately 239 satellites in space, with a goal to place 648 in orbit by the end of this year.

The leaders in the 2026 launch race:

80 SpaceX
44 China
10 Rocket Lab (plus two suborbital HASTE launches)
8 Russia

For the third straight year SpaceX leads the entire world combined in total launches, 80 to 76.

0 comments

Three launches from SpaceX, ULA, and China

9:15 am

Since yesterday there have been three confirmed launches by SpaceX, ULA, and China, with a fourth by China not yet confirmed.

First, SpaceX launched 24 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The first stage (B1100) completed its 7th flight (37 days after its previous flight), landing on a drone ship in the Pacific.

Next, ULA placed 29 more Amazon Leo satellites into orbit, its Atlas-5 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This was ULA’S last Atlas-5 launch for Amazon, and its fifth launch in 2026. The rocket is being retired, and the remaining six Atlas-5s in stock are all presently reserved by Boeing for launching its Starliner capsule. Since that capsule has no present missions, it is very possible Boeing will sell these launches to Amazon, though this has not yet happened.

As for Amazon, these 29 satellites brings the total in orbit at this time to 396. According to its FCC license, it must place 3032 in orbit by July 30, 2029. Getting those satellite in orbit on time remains a challenge, as two of the rockets the company is relying on (ULA’s Vulcan and Blue Origin’s New Glenn) are grounded, and Arianespace’s Ariane-6 has a somewhat slow launch cadence. It also has a ten-launch contract with SpaceX’s Falcon 9, but that won’t be sufficient to meet its needs.

Finally, China today launched a new ocean observation satellites, its Long March 4B rocket lifting off from its Jiuquan spaceport in northwest China. China’s state-run press provided no information about where the rocket’s lower stages, which use very toxic hypergolic fuels, crashed.

China had another launch scheduled today, but as of posting no word of that launch has been released.

The leaders in the 2026 launch race:

79 SpaceX
42 China
10 Rocket Lab (plus two suborbital HASTE launches)
8 Russia

For the third straight year SpaceX leads the entire world combined in total launches, 79 to 73.

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SpaceX launches Sirius radio geosynchronous satellite

11:55 pm

SpaceX tonight successfully launched a SiriusXM radio geosynchronous satellite, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral Space Force station in Florida.

The first stage (B1085) completed its 17th flight (31 days after its previous mission), landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic. The two fairings completed their 6th and 30th flights respectively.

This was SpaceX’s second launch today. The leaders in the 2026 launch race:

78 SpaceX
41 China
10 Rocket Lab (plus two suborbital HASTE launches)
8 Russia

For the third straight year SpaceX leads the entire world combined in total launches, 78 to 71.

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SpaceX launches 24 more Starlink satellites

9:16 am

SpaceX this morning successfully launched another 24 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The first stage (B1088) completed its 17th flight (25 days after its previous flight), landing on a drone ship in the Pacific.

The leaders in the 2026 launch race:

77 SpaceX
41 China
10 Rocket Lab (plus two suborbital HASTE launches)
8 Russia

For the third straight year SpaceX leads the entire world combined in total launches, 77 to 71.

8 comments

SpaceX launches 24 more Starlink satellites

8:28 am

SpaceX last night successfully placed another 24 Starlink satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The first stage (B1081) completed its 25th flight (50 days after its previous flight), landing on a drone ship in the Pacific.

The leaders in the 2026 launch race:

76 SpaceX
41 China
9 Rocket Lab (plus two suborbital HASTE launches)
8 Russia

For the third straight year SpaceX leads the entire world combined in total launches, 76 to 70.

4 comments

Some details about SpaceX’s secretive Starfall demo mission

8:40 am

Artist's rendering of Starfall provided during today's live steam
Artist’s rendering of Starfall provided during the launch live steam

In reading every report in the past day about SpaceX’s Starfall demo mission, in which it tested a returnable capsule capable of doing manufacturing in space or point-to-point transportation of cargo, the only one that appeared to provide any details about the mission itself was this article at NASAspaceflight.com.

And even those details are unconfirmed and somewhat sparse:

The Starfall demonstration vehicle stayed attached to the Falcon 9 second stage in LEO [low Earth orbit] for around 1.5 orbits. The second stage then deorbited itself and the Starfall capsule, after which Starfall was jettisoned and prepared for reentry. SpaceX released limited information about the mission, and it is unknown whether the Starfall demonstration vehicle carried any payloads, though instrumentation was likely used to measure reentry forces.

Following reentry, Starfall separated its two halves, deployed its parachutes, and splashed down in the Pacific, approximately 1,300 km off the west coast of the United States.

That’s all we presently know. Based on SpaceX’s tight-lipped approach, this mission was probably paid for by the War Department. In 2021 the Air Force had issued the company a $47.9 million contract to test point-to-point cargo transport by rocket “anywhere on the Earth in less than one hour, with a 100-ton capacity.” That cargo requirement suggested the rocket had to be Starship. It is very possible the contract was later amended to fit the 20 ton capability of Falcon 9, and this flight was the first demonstration of this cargo transport capability.

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Two launches by China and SpaceX

8:29 am

Since yesterday there were two more launches by the global rocket industry.

First, China placed a “communication technology experimental satellite” into orbit, its Long March 7A rocket lifting off from its coastal Wenchang spaceport. No other information was provided.

Artist's rendering of Starfall provided during today's live steam
Artist’s rendering of Starfall provided during today’s live steam

Next, SpaceX launched in the early morning the first demo mission for its Starfall recoverable capsule, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The company has released little information about this project, including not showing the deployment or splashdown of Starfall in the launch broadcast. Its short description of Starfall during the live stream made it sound very similar to Varda’s recoverable capsule, though larger. According to Wikipedia,

Starfall has a circular, disk-shaped form measuring 10′ in diameter and 2′ 6″ in height. Its empty mass is 2,100 kg (4,600 lb). Starfall carries up to 1,000 kilograms of payload in a volume of 2.5 by 0.5 meters and a total mass of about 3,100 kilograms. The vehicle consists of a top plate with maneuvering thrusters and a heat shield that jettisons before a parachute assisted splashdown. Starfall reaches orbit as a payload on Falcon 9 or Starship. The design focuses on precision delivery to specific locations, supporting rapid delivery for critical cargo.

The company has at this time provided no information about the results of this demo mission.

The rocket’s two fairings completed their 24th and 36th flights respectively. The first stage (B1078) completed its 29th flight (29 days after its previous mission), landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic. With this flight this booster moved past the space shuttle Columbia into a seventh place tie in the rankings for the most reused launch vehicle:

39 Discovery space shuttle
35 Falcon 9 booster B1067
34 Falcon 9 booster B1071
33 Atlantis space shuttle
33 Falcon 9 booster B1063
31 Falcon 9 booster B1069
29 Falcon 9 booster B1077
29 Falcon 9 booster B1078
28 Columbia space shuttle

Sources here and here.

The leaders in the 2026 launch race:

75 SpaceX
41 China
9 Rocket Lab (plus two suborbital HASTE launches)
8 Russia

For the third straight year SpaceX leads the entire world combined in total launches, 75 to 70.

1 comment

Rocket Lab and SpaceX complete launches

9:49 am

In the past two days both Rocket Lab and SpaceX successfully completed launches.

I am reporting the Rocket Lab launch two days late because it was unannounced and remains officially unconfirmed by the company two days after lift-off. [UPDATE: Rocket Lab finally confirmed the launch on June 22, 2026.] According to two different launch tracking websites (here and here), the company’s Electron rocket lifted off successfully from one of its two New Zealand launchpads on June 19, 2026, placing a Rocket Lab payload into orbit dubbed Puma, a Space Force satellite designed to rendezvous with a target spacecraft dubbed Jackel that was built by the company True Anomaly and launched on an earlier SpaceX launch.

The mission secrecy was also for a second purpose, as outlined by Rocket Lab:

The $32 million contract includes a Rocket Lab spacecraft, configured for the unique requirements of the VICTUS HAZE mission, that will launch on Electron within just 24 hoursโ€™ notice. The mission is designed to improve Tactically Responsive Space (TacRS) processes and timelines to demonstrate the SSCโ€™s ability to respond to on-orbit threats on very short timelines.

SpaceX then followed up today with a launch of 24 more Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The first stage (B1063) completed its 33rd flight (70 days after its previous mission), landing on a drone ship in the Pacific. With this flight this booster moved into a tie with the space shuttle Atlantis for fourth place in the rankings for the most reused launch vehicle:

39 Discovery space shuttle
35 Falcon 9 booster B1067
34 Falcon 9 booster B1071
33 Atlantis space shuttle
33 Falcon 9 booster B1063
31 Falcon 9 booster B1069
29 Falcon 9 booster B1077
28 Columbia space shuttle
28 Falcon 9 booster B1078

Sources here and here.

The leaders in the 2026 launch race:

74 SpaceX
40 China
9 Rocket Lab (plus two suborbital HASTE launches)
8 Russia

For the third straight year SpaceX leads the entire world combined in total launches, 74 to 69.

9 comments

SpaceX launches classified payload for National Reconnaissance Office

8:09 am

SpaceX in the early morning today successfully launched a classified payload for National Reconnaissance Office, its Falcon 9 lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The number of satellites in the payload was not disclosed. The rocket’s two fairings completed their 3rd and 35th flights. The first stage completed its 3rd flight (29 days after its previous flight), landing back at Vandenberg.

The leaders in the 2026 launch race:

73 SpaceX
40 China
8 Russia
8 Rocket Lab (plus two suborbital HASTE launches)

For the third straight year SpaceX leads the entire world combined in total launches, 73 to 68.

4 comments

Four launches, two by China, one by SpaceX, and one by Arianespace

8:01 am

The beat goes on. Since yesterday the global rocket industry completed four separate launches on three separate continents.

First, China’s Long March 3B rocket placed “an experimental satellite” into orbit, lifting off yesterday from its Xichang spaceport in southwest China. The state-run press provided no information as to where the rocket’s lower stages, using very toxic hypergolic fuels, crashed inside China.

China followed up with the launch of another nine satellites in the Guowang (Satnet) internet constellation, its Long March 12 rocket lifting off today from its coastal Wenchang spaceport. This was the 22nd launch for this constellation, bringing the total number of operational satellites in orbit to 175, according to the report at the link, which also added this:

This year, it is planned that 310 satellites will be deployed, followed by 900 in 2027, and 3,600 every year beginning in 2028 to sustain and grow the constellation. In the 2030s, up to 13,000 satellites could be in operational orbit.

Though launched over the ocean, the rocket’s lower stages fell within the territorial waters of the Philippines, requiring its space agency to issue a warning to local residents and boat owners.

Next SpaceX in the early morning hours successfully launched three Bluebird satellites for AST SpaceMobile’s cell-to-satellite constellation, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. AST now has 10 satellites in orbit. It needs to launch 45 to become operational, something it now hopes to achieve by early 2027.

The rocket’s two fairings completed their 16th and 33rd flights respectively. The first stage (B1077) completed its 29th flight (27 days after its previous flight), landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic. With this flight the stage moved past the space shuttle Columbia, putting it in seventh place in the rankings for the most reused launch vehicle:

39 Discovery space shuttle
35 Falcon 9 booster B1067
34 Falcon 9 booster B1071
33 Atlantis space shuttle
32 Falcon 9 booster B1063
31 Falcon 9 booster B1069
29 Falcon 9 booster B1077
28 Columbia space shuttle
28 Falcon 9 booster B1078

Sources here and here.

Finally, several hours later Arianespace launched 36 Leo satellites for Amazon, its Ariane-6 rocket lifting off from French Guiana. This launch was the most powerful configuration of Ariane-6 yet launched and the third in Arianespace’s 18-launch Amazon contract. With this launch, Amazon now has 367 satellites in orbit. It needs to get 3,232 in orbit by July 30, 2029 to meet its FCC license requirements.

This was Arianespace’s third launch this year. The leaders in the 2026 launch race:

72 SpaceX
39 China
8 Russia
8 Rocket Lab (plus two suborbital HASTE launches)

For the third straight year SpaceX leads the entire world combined in total launches, 72 to 67.

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SpaceX demolishes SLC-6 launchpad at Vandenberg

3:16 pm

The SLC-6 launchpad during my 2015 tour of Vandenberg
The SLC-6 launchpad during my 2015 tour of Vandenberg

As part of its plan to launch both Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, SpaceX today demolished the SLC-6 launchpad there that had been built in the 1980s for space shuttle launches (but never used) and then leased to ULA for its Delta rocket (now retired).

Below the fold is a video showing the controlled demolition. The quality is very poor, as it was taken on a smart phone looking at a live stream of the demolition, broadcast inside a nearby auditorium. Vandenberg officials did not allow anyone access to any nearby location to watch live.

SpaceX will now rebuild the pad for its own Falcon rockets. Once completed, it will have two launchpads at Vandenberg, allowing it to up its launch rate there to as much as 100 launches per year.

To get a sense of the size and scale of SLC-6 prior to today, see the photos from my 2015 tour of Vandenberg. The picture to the right attempts to capture it, with its mobile launch tower on left and larger assembly building on the right. As I wrote then when taken inside the rocket assembly building:

I can sum up the experience however in one word: Big! The interior space was incredibly large, so large they have repeated problems chasing birds and raccoons from within it. When we took the elevator to the 20th level, almost the highest point inside, the room echoed with the sounds of birds whistling away. I wonder how they react when a rocket takes off.

It is now gone. It will however be replaced by something better. The history of SLC-6 was that of a largely expensive and under-used facility. SpaceX intends to change that.

Hat tip BtB’s stringer Jay.
» Read more

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Two launches so far today, with a third only hours away

9:29 am

Since last night there were two launches globally, by China and SpaceX, with a third launch scheduled several hours hence by the rocket startup Isar Aerospace.

First, China’s launched eight classified “high-resolution optical remote sensing” satellites, its solid-fueled Kinetica-1 rocket (also called Lijian-1) lifting off from its Jiuquan spaceport in northwest China. Such satellites are almost certainly for military reconnaissance. China’s state-run press provided no other information, nor did it mention where the rocket’s lower stages crashed inside China. Kinetica-1 is also built by the pseudo-company CAS-Space, which happens to be wholly owned by a government agency.

Next, SpaceX launched 24 more Starlink satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The first stage completed its 14th flight (45 days after its previous flight), landing on a drone ship in the Pacific.

Finally, a third launch is scheduled for 1 pm (Pacific) by the rocket startup Isar Aerospace. It will be making its second attempt from Norway’s Andoya spaceport to launch its Spectrum rocket, the first having failed seconds after launch in March 2025. I have embedded the live stream below, and will post a separate report after the launch. UPDATE: Scrubbed due to ground issues.

The leaders in the 2026 launch race (prior to Isar’s launch attempt):

71 SpaceX
37 China
8 Russia
8 Rocket Lab (plus two suborbital HASTE launches)

For the third straight year SpaceX leads the entire world combined in total launches, 71 to 64.
» Read more

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Two orbital launches today by China and SpaceX, plus a suborbital hypersonic launch by Rocket Lab

10:45 am

The beat goes on! Since last night both China and SpaceX successfully completed orbital launches.

First, China used its most powerful operating rocket, the Long March 5, to place what its state-run press called “a new communication technology test satellite” into orbit, the rocket lifting off from its coastal Wenchang spaceport. As the Long March 5 can haul very large payloads into orbit, it suggests this one satellite is unusually heavy.

Next, SpaceX successfully placed another 24 Starlink satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The first stage (B1071) successfully completed its 34th flight (38 days after its previous flight), landing on a drone ship in the Pacific. With this flight the stage moved past the space shuttle Atlantis, putting it in third place in the rankings for the most reused launch vehicle:

39 Discovery space shuttle
35 Falcon 9 booster B1067
34 Falcon 9 booster B1071
33 Atlantis space shuttle
32 Falcon 9 booster B1063
31 Falcon 9 booster B1069
28 Columbia space shuttle
28 Falcon 9 booster B1077
28 Falcon 9 booster B1078

Sources here and here.

Though it was not an orbital launch and thus isn’t added to my launch totals, Rocket Lab also launched last night, using its HASTE suborbital version of its Electron rocket to do a suborbital hypersonic test for the War Department, as part of its $190 million contract to do twenty such test flights. This appears to be the first of those launches.

UPDATE: The HASTE launch appears to have actually been an orbital one, with a second stage and kick stage, both of which reached orbit. No information has been released on the status of the classified payload, which I suspect was a test hypersonic missile that was accelerated to orbital speeds by that second stage and kick stage, but then flew a guided high speed planned suborbital test flight. Since this launch did place objects in orbit, and appears to have been 100% successful as planned I am including it in my launch totals below.

The leaders in the 2026 launch race:

69 SpaceX
36 China
8 Russia
8 Rocket Lab (plus two suborbital HASTE launches)

For the third straight year SpaceX leads the entire world combined in total launches, 69 to 62.

3 comments

Czech Republic buys seat on Vast mission to ISS

8:37 am

Haven-1 with docked Dragon capsule
Artist rendering of Haven-1 with docked
Dragon capsule

In its continuing effort to sign customers (and earn income) outside of NASA funding, the space station startup Vast today announced it has signed a deal with the Czech Republic to fly one of its astronauts to ISS on its planned mission there in 2027.

This agreement builds on the memorandum of understanding that Vast, and the Czech Republic signed in 2024. Subject to Multilateral Crew Operations Panel (MCOP) review and approval, Aleลก Svoboda, one of the 12 members of the astronaut reserve selected by ESA in November 2022, will serve as the mission pilot. The MCOP’s decisions are reached through a consensus among representatives from all five space station partners: NASA, ESA, Roscosmos, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency. Pending approval, Aleลก Svoboda will become the first Czech astronaut to visit the International Space Station. Svoboda is planned to join ESA Astronaut Thomas Pesquet who is the named Commander for the mission.

Pesquet is a French astronaut flying under the deal France signed with Vast only two weeks ago.

Unlike the Starlab and Axiom stations, Vast is building its single module demo station, Haven-1, with no government funds. It is not only flying this private two-week mission to ISS, it is also planning four two-week missions to Haven-1 during if three year mission, once it launches next year. All will use SpaceX’s Falcon 9 as a launch provider, with one of its Dragon capsules for crew transport.

Below is my updated ranking of the five American space stations presently under development:
» Read more

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SpaceX launches 29 Starlink satellites, uses 1st stage for record 35th time

3:37 am

SpaceX early this morning successfully launched another 29 Starlink satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral Space Force station in Florida.

The first stage (B1067) successfully completed its 35th flight (70 days after its previous flight), landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic. This flight was a new record for the reuse of a Falcon 9 first stage, placing it only four behind the space shuttle Discovery in the rankings for the most reused launch vehicle:

39 Discovery space shuttle
35 Falcon 9 booster B1067
33 Atlantis space shuttle
33 Falcon 9 booster B1071
32 Falcon 9 booster B1063
31 Falcon 9 booster B1069
28 Columbia space shuttle
28 Falcon 9 booster B1077
28 Falcon 9 booster B1078

Sources here and here.

Expect these rankings to see some newer Falcon 9 first stages in the near future The older stages listed here seem to take about two months generally to turn-around after each launch. The younger stages are instead turning around much faster, in one month or less.

The leaders in the 2026 launch race:

68 SpaceX
34 China
8 Russia
7 Rocket Lab

For the third straight year SpaceX leads the entire world combined in total launches, 68 to 59.

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