Launch Vehicles & Space Transportation News

Space Policy Online • Marcia Smith

SpaceX’s Starship has 50% chance of uncrewed Mars mission by end of 2026, Musk says

Elon Musk told SpaceX employees he sees about a 50% chance that the company’s Starship will fly uncrewed to Mars by the end of 2026. His projection follows a string of recent Starship test-flight failures, underscoring the technical and production hurdles ahead.

2025-05-29T18:52:01.367346-07:00

CNN

SpaceX Starship Test Flight 9 Breaks Up on Uncontrolled Reentry

2025-05-27T16:45:41.810943-07:00

Breaking Defense

Northrop Grumman Backs Firefly’s Eclipse Medium-Lift Rocket with $50 Million Injection

2025-05-29T09:42:41.849432-07:00

Reuters

China Launches Tianwen-2 Mission to Retrieve Asteroid and Comet Samples

2025-05-29T02:31:05.994368-07:00

Launch Vehicles & Space Transportation News Timeline

Florida Today

SpaceX Orbits Eighth Lockheed Martin GPS III for US Space Force; FAA Probes Starship Mishap SpaceX launched the eighth Lockheed Martin-built GPS III satellite for the U.S. Space Force from Cape Canaveral on May 30, showcasing its accelerated deployment timeline despite stormy weather. Concurrently, the FAA opened a mishap investigation into a recent Starship test flight as CEO Elon Musk teases the program’s next ambitious phase.

2025-05-30T12:26:23.705067-07:00

SpaceX Orbits Eighth Lockheed Martin GPS III for US Space Force; FAA Probes Starship Mishap

United Press International

NASA Begins Next Phase of Artemis II Testing NASA has begun the next series of ground and integrated tests for its crewed Artemis II mission, set for a 2026 lunar flyby. The trials will validate the Space Launch System, Orion spacecraft and mission systems, laying the groundwork for future crewed voyages to Mars.

2025-05-30T08:27:48.719423-07:00

NASA Begins Next Phase of Artemis II Testing

Ars Technica

Blue Origin CEO urges policy pivot from launch capacity to “exotic” deep-space missions Blue Origin’s CEO says there’s no standalone commercial case for crewed lunar flights and calls on policymakers to shift focus — and funding — away from expanding launch infrastructure toward more ambitious “exotic” missions beyond Earth orbit.

2025-05-30T05:05:40.853461-07:00

Blue Origin CEO urges policy pivot from launch capacity to “exotic” deep-space missions

orlandosentinel.com

SpaceX Scoops GPS Satellite Launch as ULA Vulcan Delays Mount The US Space Force has reassigned another GPS satellite launch to SpaceX under the NSSL Phase 2 contract, citing delays in ULA’s Vulcan program. It marks the third mission moved from ULA to SpaceX, as the service readies ULA for two other missions returned under the contract.

2025-05-30T03:09:08.001915-07:00

SpaceX Scoops GPS Satellite Launch as ULA Vulcan Delays Mount

Space Policy Online

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SpaceX’s Starship has 50% chance of uncrewed Mars mission by end of 2026, Musk says Elon Musk told SpaceX employees he sees about a 50% chance that the company’s Starship will fly uncrewed to Mars by the end of 2026. His projection follows a string of recent Starship test-flight failures, underscoring the technical and production hurdles ahead.

2025-05-29T18:52:01.367346-07:00

SpaceX’s Starship has 50% chance of uncrewed Mars mission by end of 2026, Musk says

SpaceNews.com

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China on Long March 4B Rockets Classified Shijian-26 in Ninth April Launch China on Thursday completed its ninth orbital launch of April, lifting the classified Shijian-26 satellite aboard a Long March 4B rocket from the Jiuquan spaceport. The secretive spacecraft’s mission details remain undisclosed, underscoring China’s expanding space-based intelligence and reconnaissance capabilities.

2025-05-29T14:03:46.561494-07:00

China on Long March 4B Rockets Classified Shijian-26 in Ninth April Launch

Space.com

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SpaceX plans 170 orbital launches in 2025 to top its 134-mission record SpaceX aims to fly 170 orbital missions in 2025, eclipsing last year’s high of 134. The aggressive target spans Falcon 9 and Starship flights, underscoring the company’s drive to meet growing demand from Starlink deployments, government payloads and commercial customers.

2025-05-29T12:06:24.465293-07:00

SpaceX plans 170 orbital launches in 2025 to top its 134-mission record

Breaking Defense

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Northrop Grumman Backs Firefly’s Eclipse Medium-Lift Rocket with $50 Million Injection Northrop Grumman has invested $50 million in Firefly Aerospace to accelerate Eclipse™, a medium-lift launcher co-developed with Antares and Alpha heritage that delivers up to 16 metric tons to orbit. Built in Texas and Arizona using scaled-up Alpha propulsion and composite structures, Eclipse aims to boost payload capacity and production cadence.

2025-05-29T09:42:41.849432-07:00

Northrop Grumman Backs Firefly’s Eclipse Medium-Lift Rocket with $50 Million Injection

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