Isar Aerospace plants European small-lift on North American soil
Isar Aerospace signed a letter of intent with Canadian spaceport operator Maritime Launch Services to launch its Spectrum vehicle from Nova Scotia, extending Europe's emerging commercial mid-lift to a second continent.
Atlas 5 launches 29 Amazon satellites as New Glenn stays grounded
ULA's Atlas 5 delivered 29 Amazon Leo satellites on May 29, the same day New Glenn exploded, forcing Amazon to rely on four other launch providers to meet a July 30 FCC deadline for 1,618 satellites.
Blue Origin's New Glenn explodes on pad, freezes Amazon's $1.8B contract
Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket destroyed in a static fire test at Cape Canaveral on May 28, freezing Amazon's 24-mission Leo constellation deployment and threatening the shared BE-4 engine supply to United Launch Alliance's Vulcan.
Starship V3 scrubs on pad mechanics, targets second attempt today
SpaceX's first V3 launch attempt failed due to a hydraulic pin on new Pad 2; Flight 12 reattempts May 22 with redesigned Raptor 3 engines and new Ship architecture.
Avio launches Vega-C solo, reshaping Europe's small-lift market
Avio's first independent launch of Vega-C succeeded May 19, displacing Arianespace and validating Europe's only domestic small-to-mid-lift option against Falcon 9 rideshare competition.
Isar Aerospace targets May launch after four delays
Europe's first private orbital rocket is in active launch window at Andøya after COPV repair; qualification flight carries five CubeSats and defines European commercial spaceflight viability.
Rocket Lab books record Neutron backlog before first flight
Rocket Lab signed its largest contract ever, five Neutron and three Electron dedicated launches, pushing backlog to $2.2B and proving the medium-lift market will pay full price for a working alternative to Falcon 9.
AST SpaceMobile gets FCC approval as Blue Origin's New Glenn stays grounded
The FCC cleared AST SpaceMobile to deploy 248 D2D satellites on April 21, but Blue Origin's New Glenn remains grounded after losing a BlueBird payload on April 19, forcing AST to rethink its 2026 launch timeline.
EarthDaily deploys six satellites, Atlas V ties record for Amazon
EarthDaily Analytics launched six Earth observation satellites May 3; the same week, Atlas V set a payload record lifting 18 tons for Amazon's constellation, which now totals 270 satellites.
SpaceX rideshare hits 54 flights as New Glenn stays grounded
SpaceX launched its third rideshare of 2026, deploying 45 payloads including a South Korean Earth observation satellite delayed four years by Russia's invasion. The cadence gap with Blue Origin widens.
India's first OptoSAR satellite reaches orbit, reshaping Earth observation
GalaxEye launched Mission Drishti today, the world's first commercial satellite combining SAR and optical imaging in one payload, signaling India's emergence as a credible Earth observation competitor.
AST wins 248-satellite license as its prime launch partner gets grounded
The FCC authorized AST SpaceMobile's full 248-satellite constellation on April 21, but three days earlier New Glenn suffered an upper-stage failure that will ground the rocket, the vehicle designed to deploy most of AST's satellites by 2026.
FCC Greenlights AST SpaceMobile's 248-Satellite Constellation
The FCC approved AST SpaceMobile to deploy 248 satellites for direct-to-smartphone broadband using 700/800 MHz spectrum in partnership with AT&T and Verizon, just days after the company lost a $23 million satellite to a launch failure.
Rocket Lab launches JAXA satellites as FAA imposes retroactive user fees
Rocket Lab's Electron successfully delivered eight JAXA satellites to orbit on April 23, 2026, the same day the FAA published retroactive per-launch fees — the first of their kind in U.S. commercial space history.
AST SpaceMobile Loses Block 2 Satellite to New Glenn Orbit Error
AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird 7 launched aboard New Glenn on April 19 but was placed in too-low an orbit by the upper stage, forcing de-orbit. The loss threatens the company's 45-satellite 2026 target and exposes launch cadence risk.
GPS III SV10 Completes $10B Navigation Overhaul, Adds Laser Link Test
SpaceX launched GPS III SV10, the final satellite in the U.S.'s decade-long GPS III modernization, carrying an experimental optical communications terminal that could reshape how the nation's foundational navigation system resists jamming.
New Glenn's First Booster Reuse Succeeds, Upper Stage Fails Customer
Blue Origin landed its first reused New Glenn booster on NG-3 today, but the upper stage placed AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird 7 satellite into a lower-than-planned orbit, rendering it a total loss—splitting the mission verdict on booster reuse versus operational reliability.
Blue Origin Wins Vandenberg Heavy-Lift Lease, Breaks Cape Monopoly
Space Force selects Blue Origin to negotiate lease of SLC-14 at Vandenberg, enabling New Glenn launches to polar orbit and ending Cape Canaveral's monopoly on U.S. heavy-lift national security missions.
Blue Origin Attempts First Reflown New Glenn Booster, AST SpaceMobile Payload Ready
Blue Origin hot-fired its first recycled New Glenn booster on April 16, targeting April 17 launch of AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird 7 satellite—the company's critical proof point for booster reuse cadence.
Blue Origin Wins Vandenberg Launch Pad, Breaks Florida Monopoly
U.S. Space Force selects Blue Origin for West Coast heavy-lift launch pad at Vandenberg, ending sole reliance on Cape Canaveral for national security polar orbits and establishing New Glenn as dual-coast operational platform by 2028.