SpaceX
Every Cosmic Herald story on SpaceX — missions, launches, discoveries, and the business of space, newest first.
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Commercial
Starship Flight 13 Nails Its First Intact Splashdown — and Drops 20 Real Starlink Satellites
On Flight 13, SpaceX put an intact Starship in the water for the first time and deployed 20 working Starlink V3 satellites — its first real payloads — even as the Super Heavy booster came down hard after an incomplete landing burn.
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Commercial
America's First In-Orbit Mechanic Is on Its Way to GEO
A Falcon 9 launched Northrop Grumman's Mission Robotic Vehicle on 21 July 2026, carrying DARPA/NRL's RSGS robotic arms to geosynchronous orbit to inspect, repair, relocate and life-extend aging satellites.
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Commercial
America's First Robotic Satellite Mechanic Reaches the Pad
A Falcon 9 is set to launch Northrop Grumman's MRV-1 and three Mission Extension Pods on July 21, carrying DARPA's RSGS payload — the first U.S. multi-mission robot built to inspect, repair, upgrade, relocate and refuel satellites in geosynchronous orbit.
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Military Space
SDA's Mesh Grows: Third Tranche 1 Launch Puts 21 York Satellites in Orbit — and All 21 Phone Home
A July 16 Falcon 9 lofted 21 York-built data-transport satellites for the Space Development Agency, resuming Tranche 1 flights after a roughly nine-month pause — and York confirmed contact with all 21 within hours, pushing the on-orbit count to 63.
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Military Space
The Space Force Just Tripled Its Commercial Launch Contract Ceiling to $17 Billion
The Space Force tripled its NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 ceiling to $17 billion across seven launch providers on July 17, 2026 — but a GAO report showing commercial launches at federal ranges have more than quadrupled since 2021 suggests the real bottleneck isn't rockets, it's the ground beneath them.
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Missions
NASA Bolts Starlink Lasers to Orion as Artemis III Becomes a Docking Rehearsal
NASA has tapped SpaceX to mount two Starlink mini laser terminals on Orion for Artemis III, beaming 4K docking-test footage to Houston over infrared light as the mission is reframed into a 2027 low-Earth-orbit rehearsal of crewed lander rendezvous ahead of a 2028 Moon landing.
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Missions
Two Landers, Two Philosophies: Inside the Artemis III Rehearsal's Engineering Split
NASA's July 15 breakdown of the 2027 Artemis III demo reveals how far apart SpaceX and Blue Origin's test articles are: astronauts will open the hatch on Blue Moon Mark 2, but never set foot inside a 171-foot Starship that docks nose-first with a bolted-on docking system and no crew cabin.
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Military Space
Half the Constellation: SDA Resumes Tranche 1 Satellite Launches After Nine-Month Pause
SDA launched 21 more York-built data-relay satellites after a nine-month pause to fix on-orbit software and hardware issues, bringing half of its 126-satellite Tranche 1 Transport Layer into orbit even as GAO warns the program may not deliver capability on schedule.
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Commercial
SpaceX Marks the 600th Flight of a Reused Falcon Booster With a Pre-Dawn Starlink Launch
A pre-dawn Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral quietly notched a milestone that says more about SpaceX's operating model than any single mission: the 600th flight of a reused booster.
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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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Missions
NASA Moves Its Sun-Watching SmallSat Swarm From Vulcan Centaur to Falcon Heavy
NASA has rebooked its six-satellite SunRISE solar radio observatory from a ULA Vulcan Centaur onto a SpaceX Falcon Heavy, a Space Force-sponsored rideshare that will fly the toaster-oven-size CubeSats to just above geosynchronous orbit.
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Missions
China Nets a Falling Rocket at Sea: Long March 10B Pulls Off the First Successful Net-Capture Booster Recovery
On its maiden flight, China's Long March 10B had its spent first stage snagged mid-fall by a net rig on the recovery ship Linghang Zhe, making China the second nation to recover an orbital booster intact — via a method nobody else has pulled off.
