FAA
Every Cosmic Herald story on FAA — missions, launches, discoveries, and the business of space, newest first.
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Commercial
SpaceX Asks the FAA to Approve 456 Starship Launches a Year From Starbase
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.
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Commercial
Starship Reaches Orbit at Last, Drops 26 Starlink V3 Satellites, and Comes Home Early
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.
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Commercial
SpaceX Rolls Super Heavy Booster to the Pad Ahead of Starship's First Orbital Flight
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.
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Commercial
SpaceX's 700th Falcon Launch Completes SES's O3b mPOWER Broadband Constellation
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.
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Commercial
Falcon 9's Starlink Era in Florida Is Over. Vandenberg Just Became the Workhorse.
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.
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Commercial
Rocket Lab's 94th Electron Puts Another Synspective Radar Eye in Orbit
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.
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Commercial
SpaceX Launches 27 Starlink Satellites on Record-Setting Booster's 35th Flight
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.
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Commercial
FAA Wants to Waive 13 Environmental Laws to Speed Up Rocket Launch Licenses
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.
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Commercial
Starship Flight 13 Deploys First Operational Starlinks, but Booster Splashdown Gets Rough
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.
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Commercial
Washington Weighs a 'Light-Touch' Rulebook for Space Businesses No One Regulates Yet
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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Commercial
FAA Closes Starship Flight 12 Mishap Probe, Clears SpaceX for Flight 13
The FAA closed its Flight 12 mishap investigation on July 13, pinning the Super Heavy booster loss on heat effects and bad engine alarm settings, and cleared SpaceX for a Flight 13 attempt as soon as July 16.
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Commercial
The World's First Commercial Nuclear-Powered Satellite Just Reached Orbit
Miami-based City Labs flew its tritium-powered BOHR CubeSat on SpaceX's Transporter-17, becoming the first commercial mission to clear the FAA's NSPM-20 nuclear-launch pathway with Sandia's safety sign-off.
