Launch

Space industry coverage tagged Launch from Outer Space Today.

• Rocket Lab Launches 16th Electron of 2026 on Dedicated Flight for Undisclosed Customer

  September 11, 2026

  Rocket Lab launched its 16th Electron mission of the year on September 11, carrying a dedicated payload for a confidential customer from its New Zealand launch complex. The company said the flight solidifies its status as the world's leading small-launch provider. The mission continues a steady Electron launch cadence that Rocket Lab has maintained through 2026. The company, listed on the Nasdaq under RKLB and based in Auckland, New Zealand, disclosed the flight in a company release. The Septe

• DOT Creates SPACE Task Force to Speed Commercial Launch Approvals

  September 10, 2026

  The US Department of Transportation has launched a new SPACE Task Force intended to make space launches faster and more cost-effective while keeping the United States ahead in commercial space. Coverage published September 9 framed the initiative as an effort to unleash commercial space innovation. The task force arrives against a backdrop of persistent complaints from commercial operators over launch licensing and regulatory bottlenecks. A DOT-level body signals that the administration is movi

• SpaceX Sets Vandenberg Launch of Classified USSF-153 Space Force Mission

  September 10, 2026

  SpaceX is preparing to launch USSF-153, a classified mission for the United States Space Force, aboard a Falcon 9 Block 5 from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Liftoff is targeted for 15:42 UTC on September 10, 2026, within a three-hour window opening at 15:37 UTC. The mission carries an undisclosed number of satellites and marks another instance of the Space Force relying on SpaceX hardware for a secretive payload. The mission launches from Space Launch Complex 4E, the pad SpaceX typically uses fo

• SpaceX Pairs Booster 22 and Ship 42 at Massey's for Flight 15 Cryo Testing

  September 10, 2026

  SpaceX has rolled Super Heavy Booster 22 out of Mega Bay 1 to its Massey's test site for cryogenic proof testing, where Ship 42 has since joined it on a second trip to the stand. The pairing is slated to fly on Flight 15, which could come about a month after the upcoming Flight 14 if that mission meets its objectives. The vehicles reached the test site while SpaceX still awaits a confirmed launch date for Flight 14, which pairs Booster 21 and Ship 41 and is aiming for around mid-September. Both

• NASA Adds Relativity Space's Terran R to Launch Services Roster

  September 10, 2026

  NASA has awarded Relativity Space a Launch Services II contract for its Terran R vehicle under the contract's on-ramp provision, the agency announced September 9. The addition makes Terran R available for the agency's future missions and expands NASA's roster of launch options. The NLS II framework is a multiple-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract structure that includes an annual on-ramp provision. That provision gives new launch service providers a yearly opportunity to co

• Besxar Strikes Deal to Prototype an Orbital Chip Factory Across a Dozen Falcon 9 Flights

  September 9, 2026

  Besxar, a startup founded by former OpenAI staffer Ashley Pilipiszyn, says it has convinced SpaceX to let it prototype an orbital semiconductor factory across a dozen flights aboard a Falcon 9 booster. The company aims to manufacture key precursors for advanced semiconductors in the vacuum of space and return the products to Earth, a market with few existing options beyond the International Space Station or a small set of return-capsule startups. Pilipiszyn argues that chip fabrication on Earth

• NASA Manifests Shoebox Satellite to Flight-Test Green Dual-Mode Propulsion

  September 8, 2026

  NASA has manifested a small spacecraft called GPDM, for Green Propulsion Dual Mode, on an upcoming SpaceX rideshare mission to demonstrate a low-toxicity propellant in orbit. The shoebox-sized satellite will spend nine months validating a propulsion system that could offer an alternative to hydrazine for small satellites. The propellant at the center of the demonstration has been studied at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for at least a decade. The GPDM mission moves

• Isar Aerospace Reaches Orbit on Second Spectrum Flight, a First for Commercial Western European Launch

  September 8, 2026

  Germany's Isar Aerospace reached orbit on Saturday on the second flight of its Spectrum launch vehicle, deploying five satellites and marking the first time a commercial company has reached orbit from Western European soil. The success, on a mission named "Onward and Upward," gives European commercial and institutional customers a homegrown launch option. Spectrum's debut flight failed shortly after liftoff in March 2025. The second flight went through several scrubbed attempts this year, inclu

• Stoke Space Raises $1 Billion and Reveals 15-Ton Fully Reusable Nova Block 2

  September 8, 2026

  Stoke Space has closed a $1 billion Series E financing round as it prepares for the first orbital flight of its fully reusable Nova rocket, and the company used the announcement to publicly unveil a substantially larger vehicle capable of delivering 15 metric tons to low Earth orbit. The raise brings Stoke's total capital to $2.3 billion. The financing was co-led by Point72 Ventures and Spark Capital. General Innovation, Glade Brook Capital, US Innovation Technology, Washington Harbour Partners

• Artemis III Booster Stacking Reaches Four of Five Segments as Orion Heat Shield Fix Confirmed

  September 8, 2026

  Teams at NASA's Kennedy Space Center have stacked the next pair of solid rocket booster segments for the Artemis III Space Launch System inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, advancing hardware toward flight readiness. The progress coincides with post-flight analysis of Orion's Artemis II heat shield, which confirmed that a modified reentry profile sharply reduced the char loss seen after Artemis I. The Artemis Safety Advisory Panel reviewed the Orion results after nearly five months of analysi

• Gilmour Space and Hypersonix Join Forces on Australian Hypersonic Flight Testing

  September 8, 2026

  Queensland aerospace companies Gilmour Space Technologies and Hypersonix have signed an agreement to develop hypersonic flight-test capability for defence and commercial programs in Australia and overseas. The partnership pairs Gilmour Space's rocket propulsion and launch capabilities with Hypersonix's scramjet propulsion and hypersonic vehicle technology, and was announced in Canberra on September 8, 2026. The agreement combines Gilmour Space's rocket propulsion, launch, mission integration an

• Lawrence Livermore Telescope Tracks Satellite in Space Force Responsive-Launch Exercise

  September 7, 2026

  A Rocket Lab spacecraft carrying an optical payload developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory tracked another satellite during a U.S. Space Force exercise. The test evaluated how quickly a spacecraft can be launched and put to work inspecting objects in orbit. The exercise was tied to the Space Force's efforts in space domain awareness and its Victus line of tactically responsive space operations. It was described as a cat-and-mouse test, focused on tracking and maneuvering relative t