Tag: Low Earth Orbit
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SpaceX Launches 27 Starlink Satellites as Falcon 9 Booster Completes 17th Flight
SpaceX launched 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on September 19, adding another batch of broadband spacecraft to its low Earth orbit constellation. The Falcon 9 mission also marked the 17th flight of first-stage booster B1093, which landed on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. The rocket lifted…
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Long March 12 Successfully Launches the 25th Group of Low Earth Orbit Internet Satellites
At 8:32 a.m. Beijing time on September 17, 2026, China launched the 25th group of low Earth orbit satellite internet spacecraft aboard a Long March 12 rocket from the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site. The satellites entered their planned orbit, completing the mission successfully. Developed under the leadership of the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace…
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SpaceX Sets Sept. 22 for Starship’s First Orbital Flight and Starlink V3 Deployment
SpaceX is targeting Sept. 22, 2026, for the first orbital flight of its Starship launch system, a roughly 10-hour mission that will deploy 26 Starlink V3 satellites and send the spacecraft around Earth six times before a planned Pacific Ocean splashdown. Flight 14 is scheduled to lift off from Starbase in South Texas during a…
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Gravity-1 Launches Nine Satellites on Fourth Flight, Sets Chinese Sea-Launch Records (Video)
Orienspace’s Gravity-1 Y3 solid-propellant rocket launched eight Qianfan broadband satellites and an EUHT technology-demonstration satellite from the East China Sea on September 16, 2026, completing the vehicle’s fourth successful flight and setting new Chinese records for payload mass and orbital altitude on a single sea-launch mission. The rocket lifted off at 6:00 a.m. Beijing time,…
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Open Cosmos Raises $348 Million, Reaches $1 Billion Valuation
UK-based satellite manufacturer and operator Open Cosmos closed a €300 million ($348 million) Series C round on September 14, 2026, lifting its valuation above $1 billion and making it Europe’s newest space unicorn. The company plans to use the capital to expand satellite production, ground infrastructure and its proprietary Earth observation and broadband constellations for…
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Sophia Space and SLI Outline $300 Million Financing for Orbital Compute Constellation
Sophia Space and aerospace leasing specialist SLI have outlined a $300 million asset-financing framework for a planned 10-satellite edge computing constellation, the companies announced September 13. The non-binding arrangement would fund spacecraft construction and deployment against defined milestones, with launches beginning as early as 2028. The proposed structure adapts operating leases widely used for aircraft,…
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Rocket Lab Deploys Confidential Earth Observation Satellite on 95th Launch
Rocket Lab launched a single Earth observation satellite for an undisclosed commercial customer on September 11, deploying the spacecraft into a 500-kilometer circular low Earth orbit during the company’s 95th launch. The dedicated “Happily Ever Faster” mission lifted off aboard an Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Māhia Peninsula at 3:28 p.m.…
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Impulse Space Miras Approach Within 200 Meters in Orbital Rendezvous Demonstration
Two Impulse Space Mira orbital transfer vehicles approached within approximately 200 meters of each other in low Earth orbit during a July 2026 rendezvous and proximity operations demonstration, the California-based company announced September 8. The maneuver involved spacecraft launched on the LEO Express 2 and LEO Express 3 missions and demonstrated controlled orbit matching, close…
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LINK Spacecraft Approaches Within 15 Kilometers of Swift but Cannot Complete Orbital Rescue
Katalyst Space’s LINK servicing spacecraft approached within 12 to 15 kilometers of NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory after aligning its orbit with the aging telescope, but an attitude-control problem prevented the vehicle from attempting the capture and orbital boost originally planned to extend Swift’s mission. NASA said on September 4 that LINK would make no…
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SpaceX Launches Classified USSF-153 Mission for U.S. Space Force
SpaceX launched the classified USSF-153 mission for the U.S. Space Force aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, at 8:42 a.m. Pacific time on September 10. The mission carried an undisclosed number of national-security spacecraft toward an unannounced orbit. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East and…