Space news

CASC reports that a Long March 12 launched the 25th low-orbit satellite internet group from the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site on 17 September and placed it in the planned orbit.

A Long March 8A launched from the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site on 23 September, placing the 26th low-orbit satellite internet group into its planned orbit, according to CASC.

NASA and Katalyst Space say the LINK spacecraft will no longer attempt to capture and raise the orbit of the Swift observatory because of an ongoing attitude-control issue, though rendezvous and proximity operations are still planned.

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched at 7:26 a.m. EDT on August 30 aboard a Falcon Heavy from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, beginning its journey toward the Sun-Earth L2 region.

SuperView Neo-2 05 and 06 reached their planned orbit after a Long March 2D launch from Taiyuan at 06:51 Beijing time on 26 March 2026. The satellites were developed by CASC's Shanghai academy for commercial operation by China Siwei.

Smart Dragon-3 launched the CentiSpace 02 satellite group from waters near Haiyang, Shandong, at 23:49 Beijing time on 22 March 2026. CASC published confirmation of success the following day; the event and publication dates remain distinct.

Eight Days A Week lifted off at 7:10 a.m. local time on March 21, 2026, delivering Synspective’s eighth StriX satellite to a 573-kilometre orbit. Rocket Lab identifies Electron flight eighty-four and the customer’s eighth dedicated mission. Nineteen additional flights were planned toward 2028 in that March account; later schedule statements are not retroactively substituted. Archive and body dates are retained separately. Payload deployment is not proof that every imaging service was immediately ready, and undisclosed resolution, lifetime or customers are not guessed.

CASC reported on March 18, 2026 that the SAST control institute's space-grade high-precision accelerometer assembly won an order for a cislunar deep-space project at the Shanghai Engineering Center for Microsatellites. It is described as the product's first external-market order.

Rocket Lab announced a 190-million-dollar contract on March 18, 2026 for twenty HASTE flights over four years under MACH-TB 2.0 Task Area 1, led by Kratos. Initial tests were then expected within months. These are booked suborbital missions, not twenty completed flights or orbital satellites. The company’s greater-than-two-billion-dollar overall backlog is distinct from this award. Actual speeds, payloads and acceptance require later evidence; prior performance and corporate defence-benefit statements do not guarantee future results.

Insight At Speed Is A Friend Indeed launched at 12:53 p.m. NZDT on March 6, 2026, deploying one confidential commercial satellite into a 470-kilometre orbit. A Rocket Lab Motorized Lightband provided separation. The source counts mission eighty-three across Electron and its HASTE suborbital variant, not eighty-three orbital satellite deliveries. This was the company’s fourth launch that year, approximately six days after a Virginia hypersonic test. Payload identity, purpose and performance remain undisclosed; market language is not treated as evidence for them.

NASA announced an order with Axiom Space for the fifth private astronaut mission to the ISS on January 30, 2026. Ax-5 was targeted no earlier than January 2027 from Kennedy, with up to fourteen days aboard the station and timing dependent on traffic and planning.

Bridging The Swarm launched at 2:21 p.m. NZDT on January 30, 2026, equivalent to 01:21 UTC, deploying KAIST’s NEONSAT-1A into a 540-kilometre orbit. Rocket Lab reports Electron flight eighty-one and its second launch of the year. The spacecraft tests capabilities for a future South Korean Earth-observation constellation, including disaster monitoring. NEONSAT-1’s 2024 launch is background, not another payload on this flight. Insertion does not mean the whole constellation or all products are operational; resolution, lifetime and future dates remain undisclosed.

Rocket Lab’s January 21, 2026 update reported a rupture of Neutron’s first-stage tank during hydrostatic qualification testing. The company said there was no significant damage to test structures or facilities, the next tank was already in production and data were being reviewed for effects on the launch schedule. The website’s archive displays January 22; the original dateline and archive evidence are preserved separately.

Ceres-1 sea-launch Y7 lifted off at 04:10 Beijing time on January 16, 2026, from waters near Shandong. CNSA’s same-day notice, attributed to Our Space, confirms successful insertion of Tianqi Constellation Group 06.

Lihong-1, developed by CAS Space, completed its first suborbital test at Jiuquan on January 12, 2026, recovering its returning payload capsule by parachute. CASC described the solid propulsion contribution on January 15 and the recovery system on January 23.

ISRO’s 8 January 2026 overview said PSLV-C62 vehicle and satellite integration was complete, with pre-launch checks under way. The plan targeted 10:17 Indian local time on 12 January from Sriharikota’s first launch pad, using the two-strap-on PSLV-DL variant.