Launch Vehicles & Space Transportation News

Ars Technica • Stephen Clark

Artemis II completes final pre‑launch processing at Kennedy as rollout preparations continue amid US shutdown

NASA has finished final pre‑launch processing of the Artemis II crewed spacecraft at Kennedy Space Center and is preparing for vehicle rollout to the launch pad, with ground teams continuing work despite a U.S. federal government shutdown affecting other agency operations.

2025-10-17T10:06:50.300229-07:00

Associated Press

SpaceX completes final Version 2 Starship test — 11th flight deploys test satellites and returns largely intact

2025-10-13T17:07:45.617123-07:00

Spaceflight Now

Orion arrives at KSC VAB ahead of SLS stacking for Artemis II

2025-10-16T21:56:28.502332-07:00

Ars Technica

NASA and Lockheed weigh launching Orion on commercial rockets, marking a major Artemis strategy shift

2025-10-15T13:32:47.629701-07:00

Launch Vehicles & Space Transportation News Timeline

Space.com

SpaceX to launch 10,000th Starlink as Falcon 9 booster logs a record 31st flight SpaceX will launch its 10,000th Starlink satellite on Oct. 19 aboard a Falcon 9 whose first stage will make a record 31st flight, lifting from Cape Canaveral. The milestone advances global connectivity but raises questions about spectrum use and orbital congestion as Starlink expands.

2025-10-18T21:05:08.140636-07:00

SpaceX to launch 10,000th Starlink as Falcon 9 booster logs a record 31st flight

orbitaltoday.com

Sutherland to host UK’s first spaceport — 330 ha site to become one of Europe’s largest launch facilities The UK will build a 330-hectare spaceport in Sutherland, Scotland — the country's first and, per reports, the first in Europe — creating one of the continent's largest launch facilities. The site aims to support commercial orbital launches and expand regional access to space.

2025-10-18T18:03:54.165491-07:00

Sutherland to host UK’s first spaceport — 330 ha site to become one of Europe’s largest launch facilities

Universe Today

Mars crater 'ice archives' map multi-epoch ice ages and reveal buried water resources Researchers studying Martian impact‑crater “ice archives” traced multiple ice‑age epochs over hundreds of millions of years, finding each successive age left less ice than the last. The frozen records map long‑term climate shifts and identify buried ice deposits that could supply drinking water, oxygen and rocket fuel for future missions.

2025-10-18T15:21:33.377126-07:00

Mars crater 'ice archives' map multi-epoch ice ages and reveal buried water resources

Space.com

SpaceX to launch next‑gen Starlink V3 tranche carrying the constellation's 10,000th satellite SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg on Oct. 20 in a four‑hour window opening at 2:24 a.m. ET, carrying 28 Starlink satellites that will include the constellation's 10,000th spacecraft. The flight is part of a rollout of next‑generation Starlink V3 hardware to boost global broadband capacity.

2025-10-18T03:02:44.680112-07:00

SpaceX to launch next‑gen Starlink V3 tranche carrying the constellation's 10,000th satellite

Universe Today

Starship could halve transit time to Uranus, forcing a rethink of the Decadal Survey's UOP design MIT researchers presented at the IEEE Aerospace Conference argue Starship's increased lift and performance could cut travel time to Uranus by roughly half, potentially reshaping the Uranus Orbiter and Probe recommended by the 2022 Decadal Survey. That capability would change launch, trajectory and spacecraft design choices for the 2030s launch windows.

2025-10-17T18:04:40.316834-07:00

Starship could halve transit time to Uranus, forcing a rethink of the Decadal Survey's UOP design

Ars Technica

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Artemis II completes final pre‑launch processing at Kennedy as rollout preparations continue amid US shutdown NASA has finished final pre‑launch processing of the Artemis II crewed spacecraft at Kennedy Space Center and is preparing for vehicle rollout to the launch pad, with ground teams continuing work despite a U.S. federal government shutdown affecting other agency operations.

2025-10-17T10:06:50.300229-07:00

Artemis II completes final pre‑launch processing at Kennedy as rollout preparations continue amid US shutdown

SpaceNews.com

Arianespace delays Ariane 64 maiden to 2026 and trims Ariane 6 to four launches in 2025 Arianespace confirmed the Ariane 64 (four‑booster Ariane 6) maiden flight has been postponed into 2026. The company cut Ariane 6’s 2025 manifest to four launches; the final 2025 mission (VA266, Ariane 62) will lift two Galileo satellites, while VA267 (Kuiper) is now slated for 2026.

2025-10-17T04:14:46.030643-07:00

Arianespace delays Ariane 64 maiden to 2026 and trims Ariane 6 to four launches in 2025

NPR

Amateur Tracker Picks Up Emissions From Classified SpaceX Starshield Satellites in Protected Band An amateur satellite tracker detected radio emissions from SpaceX's classified Starshield satellites — launched from Vandenberg in March — originating in a protected, previously hidden portion of the radio spectrum. The finding confirms active transmissions from the government-focused Starlink variant and spotlights spectrum and operational-security issues.

2025-10-17T02:24:36.508587-07:00

Amateur Tracker Picks Up Emissions From Classified SpaceX Starshield Satellites in Protected Band

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