SpaceX
Every Cosmic Herald story on SpaceX — 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
Varda Flies Two Capsules at Once, Lines Up Seven More Missions for 2027
Varda Space Industries put two reentry capsules, W-8 and W-9, into orbit on one Falcon 9 rideshare, plans to bring three vehicles home to South Australia before Christmas and has seven missions lined up for 2027. Its CEO is already worried about a rocket shortage once Falcon 9 retires.
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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
Rocket Lab Challenges NASA's $700 Million Mars Orbiter Pick, Betting on a GAO Do-Over
Rocket Lab filed a GAO protest on September 11 against NASA's ~$700 million award of the Mars Telecommunications Network orbiter to Blue Origin, arguing the evaluation broke with Congress's own eligibility rules.
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Commercial
SpaceX Notches 80th Starlink Launch of 2026 With a 19-Flight Veteran Booster
A Falcon 9 booster that once carried NASA's SPHEREx telescope flew a record 19th mission on Sept. 6, lofting 27 more Starlink satellites and marking SpaceX's 80th Starlink launch of 2026.
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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
Isar Aerospace's Spectrum Becomes First Rocket to Reach Orbit From Western European Soil
Germany's Isar Aerospace flew its Spectrum rocket to orbit from Norway's Andøya Spaceport on September 5, the first orbital launch ever from mainland Western Europe, 18 months after its debut ended in a pad-side crash.
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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
SpaceX Unveils $100 Billion 'Starbase Louisiana,' Aiming to Build the Biggest Launch Site on Earth
SpaceX and Louisiana officials announced a $100 billion Gulf Coast spaceport with ten launch pads and, per Elon Musk, more than 30 Starship flights a day once built out.
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Commercial
SpaceX Sets Falcon 9 Turnaround Record With Twin Launches 38.5 Minutes Apart
SpaceX launched two Falcon 9 rockets from opposite U.S. coasts just 38.5 minutes apart on Aug. 15, 2026, setting a new back-to-back cadence record with a Globalstar replenishment mission from Florida and the classified USSF-366 flight from California.
