Launch Vehicles & Space Transportation News

Space.com • Tariq Malik

NASA eyes Feb. 5, 2026 window for Artemis II — first crewed Artemis lunar flyby

NASA is targeting as early as Feb. 5, 2026 for Artemis II, the program's first crewed lunar flyby. A four‑astronaut crew will loop around the Moon and return to Earth; the flight is a required test in the Artemis sequence ahead of a future crewed landing.

2025-09-23T11:52:21.794781-07:00

Ars Technica

US intelligence warns China is close to mastering reusable orbital launch systems

2025-09-22T16:44:41.541015-07:00

Space.com

SpaceX launches NROL-48 from Vandenberg — 11th 'proliferated architecture' batch of U.S. spy satellites

2025-09-22T11:04:20.853376-07:00

Space Intel Report

SpaceX tells FCC it will use EchoStar spectrum to deploy ~15,000‑satellite LEO network at 330 km

2025-09-22T09:02:23.259440-07:00

Launch Vehicles & Space Transportation News Timeline

Space.com

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NASA eyes Feb. 5, 2026 window for Artemis II — first crewed Artemis lunar flyby NASA is targeting as early as Feb. 5, 2026 for Artemis II, the program's first crewed lunar flyby. A four‑astronaut crew will loop around the Moon and return to Earth; the flight is a required test in the Artemis sequence ahead of a future crewed landing.

2025-09-23T11:52:21.794781-07:00

NASA eyes Feb. 5, 2026 window for Artemis II — first crewed Artemis lunar flyby

voxelmatters.com

Agnikul opens India’s first large-format AM plant for rocket parts, targets ~50% cost cut Agnikul Cosmos inaugurated India’s first large-format additive-manufacturing facility for aerospace parts, boosting in‑house production of rocket components and aiming to cut manufacturing costs by nearly 50%. The ribbon‑cutting is pitched as a strategic step to shorten supply chains and strengthen India’s domestic space launch industrial base.

2025-09-23T08:04:37.763626-07:00

Agnikul opens India’s first large-format AM plant for rocket parts, targets ~50% cost cut

Leonard David

Virgin Galactic, Purdue to fly Purdue 1 — first all‑Purdue crewed suborbital research mission in 2027 Virgin Galactic and Purdue University announced a partnership to fly Purdue 1, the first all‑Purdue crewed suborbital research mission, slated for 2027. The flight will carry Purdue engineering professor Steven Collicott alongside graduate students and alumni to conduct live, human‑tended microgravity experiments.

2025-09-23T08:04:22.163107-07:00

Virgin Galactic, Purdue to fly Purdue 1 — first all‑Purdue crewed suborbital research mission in 2027

SpaceNews.com

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Firefly to resume Alpha launches in coming weeks, plans two flights before year‑end Firefly Aerospace expects to resume launches of its Alpha orbital rocket "in the coming weeks," with two missions planned before year‑end as the company returns the vehicle to operational flight following earlier setbacks and corrective work. The move aims to restore its near‑term launch cadence and customer commitments.

2025-09-23T05:01:32.588390-07:00

Firefly to resume Alpha launches in coming weeks, plans two flights before year‑end

Ars Technica

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US intelligence warns China is close to mastering reusable orbital launch systems US intelligence warns China is close to mastering reusable orbital launch systems, a development that would transform launch operations and space logistics in coming years. Officials say Beijing will require on‑orbit refuelling “because they don’t access space as frequently as we do.”

2025-09-22T16:44:41.541015-07:00

US intelligence warns China is close to mastering reusable orbital launch systems

SpaceNews.com

Lockheed Martin delivers 21 satellites for next U.S. military 'Transport Layer' Lockheed Martin has delivered 21 satellites destined for the next launch of the U.S. military's 'Transport Layer', marking a significant production and integration milestone ahead of the scheduled mission. The shipment moves the program forward toward fielding its dedicated transport-layer satellite capability.

2025-09-22T15:48:10.644092-07:00

Lockheed Martin delivers 21 satellites for next U.S. military 'Transport Layer'

Leonard David

Rocket Lab delivers two Mars‑bound ESCAPADE Explorer spacecraft to Kennedy Space Center ahead of New Glenn launch Rocket Lab delivered two Explorer‑class spacecraft — NASA’s Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) — to Kennedy Space Center for integration ahead of a Mars‑bound launch on Blue Origin’s New Glenn slated this fall. UC Berkeley’s probes were built and tested by Rocket Lab under NASA’s SIMPLEx program.

2025-09-22T14:52:24.747051-07:00

Rocket Lab delivers two Mars‑bound ESCAPADE Explorer spacecraft to Kennedy Space Center ahead of New Glenn launch

NASA Spaceflight

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Kuiper, Starlink and NASA's IMAP set for a packed late‑September launch manifest A busy slate of launches in the last full week of September will include Amazon's Project Kuiper and multiple Starlink flights alongside NASA's Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe, which completed its flight readiness review and is bound for an L1 orbit roughly a million miles from Earth.

2025-09-22T14:07:56.955858-07:00

Kuiper, Starlink and NASA's IMAP set for a packed late‑September launch manifest

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