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NASA Spaceflight • Aaron McCrea

Packed launch week: ULA's Vulcan to carry USSF-87 and SpaceX to fly Crew-12 amid eight scheduled missions

Eight launches are scheduled this week from multiple sites, led by United Launch Alliance's Vulcan carrying the USSF-87 national-security payload and SpaceX's Crew-12 Dragon bound for the International Space Station. The manifest mixes crewed, government and commercial missions across several providers.

2026-02-09T14:35:59.122500-08:00

Via Satellite

Momentus and NASA to demo Vigoride 7 rendezvous, RPO and multispectral sensor for U.S. Space Force on March Transporter launch

2026-02-09T12:14:06.615952-08:00

SpaceWatch Global

NASA selects Axiom Space for AX-5 private astronaut mission to ISS, targeted Jan 2027

2026-02-09T02:53:42.770121-08:00

Reuters

SpaceX pauses 2026 Mars push to prioritise a 2027 uncrewed lunar landing

2026-02-06T16:13:39.939476-08:00

News Timeline

NASA Spaceflight

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Packed launch week: ULA's Vulcan to carry USSF-87 and SpaceX to fly Crew-12 amid eight scheduled missions Eight launches are scheduled this week from multiple sites, led by United Launch Alliance's Vulcan carrying the USSF-87 national-security payload and SpaceX's Crew-12 Dragon bound for the International Space Station. The manifest mixes crewed, government and commercial missions across several providers.

2026-02-09T14:35:59.122500-08:00

Packed launch week: ULA's Vulcan to carry USSF-87 and SpaceX to fly Crew-12 amid eight scheduled missions

Via Satellite

Momentus and NASA to demo Vigoride 7 rendezvous, RPO and multispectral sensor for U.S. Space Force on March Transporter launch Momentus signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA for an in‑orbit servicing and rendezvous demo using its Vigoride 7 vehicle. Launching no earlier than March 2026 on a SpaceX Transporter, the mission will perform RPO, test a multispectral sensor for the U.S. Space Force and deploy a NASA CubeSat.

2026-02-09T12:14:06.615952-08:00

Momentus and NASA to demo Vigoride 7 rendezvous, RPO and multispectral sensor for U.S. Space Force on March Transporter launch

SpaceWatch Global

NASA selects Axiom Space for AX-5 private astronaut mission to ISS, targeted Jan 2027 NASA and Axiom Space have signed an order for the fifth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, designated AX‑5. The order formalizes Axiom's planned private-crew flight to the ISS with a targeted launch no earlier than January 2027.

2026-02-09T02:53:42.770121-08:00

NASA selects Axiom Space for AX-5 private astronaut mission to ISS, targeted Jan 2027

SpaceNews.com

NASA to rebuild civil‑servant workforce and cut contractor reliance after ~20% staff loss After losing roughly 20% of its civil‑servant workforce over the past year, NASA's administrator said the agency will rebuild in‑house expertise and reduce dependence on contractors, a move intended to restore institutional capability and preserve program continuity across civil‑space efforts.

2026-02-06T16:22:21.475718-08:00

NASA to rebuild civil‑servant workforce and cut contractor reliance after ~20% staff loss

Reuters

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SpaceX pauses 2026 Mars push to prioritise a 2027 uncrewed lunar landing SpaceX has shelved plans for 2026 Mars missions to concentrate on an uncrewed lunar landing now targeted for March 2027, a move attributed to NASA pressure and rising competition from Blue Origin while the company pursues a major xAI merger and a possible IPO.

2026-02-06T16:13:39.939476-08:00

SpaceX pauses 2026 Mars push to prioritise a 2027 uncrewed lunar landing

Space.com

JWST finds unexpectedly rich organic-precursor chemistry in nearby galaxy Observations with the James Webb Space Telescope reveal far higher-than-predicted abundances of complex organic precursors in a nearby galaxy, a team led by the Center for Astrobiology (CSIC-INTA) reports. Modeling techniques developed at the University of Oxford show current astrochemical models underpredict molecular complexity.

2026-02-06T14:02:20.511096-08:00

JWST finds unexpectedly rich organic-precursor chemistry in nearby galaxy

Spaceflight Now

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SpaceX moves Dragon flights from KSC LC‑39A to Cape Canaveral SLC‑40 as 39A is repurposed for Starship SpaceX is moving all planned Dragon launches from NASA’s historic Launch Complex 39A to Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, and has begun physical modifications at LC‑39A — including erection of a Leibherr LR13000 crane Feb. 4 — as the pad is repurposed for Starship.

2026-02-06T13:28:55.259770-08:00

SpaceX moves Dragon flights from KSC LC‑39A to Cape Canaveral SLC‑40 as 39A is repurposed for Starship

Space.com

NASA infrared telescope finds water, CO2 and organics streaming from interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it departs the solar system NASA's infrared telescope detected water vapor, carbon dioxide and organic compounds streaming from interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it departs the solar system, observations made two months after the object's closest approach to the Sun. The spectroscopic signatures indicate ongoing volatile release well beyond perihelion.

2026-02-06T11:55:22.368958-08:00

NASA infrared telescope finds water, CO2 and organics streaming from interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it departs the solar system

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Packed launch week: ULA's Vulcan to carry USSF-87 and SpaceX to fly Crew-12 amid eight scheduled missions

Momentus and NASA to demo Vigoride 7 rendezvous, RPO and multispectral sensor for U.S. Space Force on March Transporter launch

NASA selects Axiom Space for AX-5 private astronaut mission to ISS, targeted Jan 2027

SpaceX pauses 2026 Mars push to prioritise a 2027 uncrewed lunar landing

News Timeline