Every Cosmic Herald story on FAA — missions, launches, discoveries, and the business of space, newest first.
The FAA has opened an environmental review of SpaceX's plan to go from 25 Starship launches a year at Boca Chica to as many as 456, with up to 912 landings. Public comments are due Nov. 30.
Read the story →On its 14th flight, Starship finally reached orbit despite early engine shutdowns on both stages, deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites, and splashed down north of Hawaii about three hours after liftoff.
On Sept. 30 the FCC is set to vote on an order finding that launching, deploying and operating space stations are not major federal actions, which would take satellite licensing outside NEPA environmental review.
SpaceX moved Super Heavy booster B21 to the pad at Starbase for Flight 14, the vehicle's first full orbital attempt, targeted for no earlier than September 28.
SpaceX's 700th Falcon flight delivered the final three O3b mPOWER satellites for SES, completing a 13-satellite medium-Earth-orbit broadband constellation set to be fully operational by mid-2027.
SpaceX's 80th Starlink mission of 2026 flies from California, not Florida, because Falcon 9's Cape Starlink run ended Aug. 25 after roughly 260 flights. Starship is supposed to pick up the slack before year-end, and the FAA has already cleared 44 launches a year at LC-39A.
Rocket Lab launched its 94th Electron before dawn on September 3, deploying a Synspective radar satellite in a mission that also doubled as a routine demonstration of the FAA's new unified Part 450 launch licensing rules.
A Falcon 9 booster flew for a record 35th time out of Vandenberg early Sept. 2, deploying 27 more Starlink satellites and sticking its droneship landing in the Pacific.
The FAA's new proposed rule would let it bypass NEPA, the Endangered Species Act, and 11 other statutes when licensing commercial rocket launches — the biggest shake-up of launch environmental oversight since 2021.
SpaceX's Starship Flight 13 delivered 20 production Starlink satellites and an in-space Raptor relight, but Super Heavy limped to a hard splashdown on just five of 13 engines.
The Office of Space Commerce is moving its Space Commerce Certification program from proposal to practice, offering a voluntary 120-day "presumption of approval" for satellite servicing, commercial stations and debris removal — the missions Congress has never assigned to any regulator.
A House subcommittee grilled the Office of Space Commerce on its plan for a single opt-in "Space Commerce Certification" to fast-track approval of orbital manufacturing, satellite servicing, and lunar ventures that fall outside FAA and FCC authority.
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