Generated imageThe week of Oct 26, 2026
In the week to October 26, 2026, seven orbital launches flew, $68.9M across 18 awards reached the federal…
Special report
Starship reached orbit on its fourteenth flight
Twenty-six Starlink V3 satellites deployed, both stages lost an engine, and the ship returned about seven hours earlier than planned. What the flight means for SpaceX's NASA lunar lander ahead of a 2028 Moon landing.
Read the reportPhotograph: SpaceX, CC BY-NC 2.0
The Monday brief, Oct 26, 2026
The week of Oct 26, 2026
In the week to October 26, 2026, seven orbital launches flew, $68.9M across 18 awards reached the federal record, six new solicitations were posted, and five launches are scheduled for the coming week.
Read the briefClosing soon
- SYSTEM DELTA 84 (SYD 84/MT) MEDIUM EARTH ORBIT MISSILE WARNING /…today
- Notice of Intent to Sole Source - Post-delivery support of developed…4 days
- Ground Station as a Service5 days
- Space Communications and Networking (SCaN) & Tracking and Data Relay…5 days
- Space Electronic Systems Prototype Development6 days
Next launches
- Electron | The Sea God Surveys (iQPS…
Nov 2, 16:00 UTC - Kinetica 2 | SpaceSail Polar Group TBD?
Nov 3, 00:10 UTC - Falcon 9 Block 5 | USSF-432
Nov 3, 01:42 UTC - Electron | The Sea God Surveys
Nov 4, 00:00 UTC
Claims held against the record
All 85 claims: 12 achieved, 19 missed, 7 at risk, 34 pending
Apex
On-orbit firing of demonstration space-based interceptors within a year of the October 2025…
By October 2026
Missed
Blue Origin
A double-digit New Glenn launch count, around 12 flights, during 2026
During 2026
At risk
Isar Aerospace
Spectrum's second flight, the qualification flight for commercial service, launches on or…
Late January 2026
Missed
United Launch Alliance
Between 20 and 25 ULA launches during calendar 2026
During 2026
At risk
Axiom Space
Axiom's first station module, the Payload Power Thermal Module, launches to the ISS in early…
Early 2027
At risk
NewSpace RFP Analysis
Generated image
Generated imageWhere the money went, July 2026
US federal contract awards in four space-related NAICS codes totaled $529.2M across 57 awards in July 2026,…
Generated imageDaily alerts matched to your pipeline
Daily alerts with fit reasoning, deadlines and evidence links. $39/mo, 60-day founding pilot, hand-run.
Generated imageClaims & outcomes
85 public claims held against the record: 19 missed, 6 superseded, 12 achieved, 34 pending, 7 at risk, 7…
Generated imageWhat moved
1,510 changes across the record in seven days, with job-board churn collapsed to one line per employer per…
Generated imageStarlab has earned $211 million of its $217.5 million NASA station agreement, and NASA's latest public payment figure for Orbital Reef is $24 million from 2023.
NASA's first commercial station agreements were worth $415.6 million in 2021, plus Axiom's contract worth up…
NASANASA's commercial space station proposals are due on December 8, and the station companies' schedules, hiring and filings show where each one stands.
NASA's final request for proposals guarantees $100 million, allows up to $34.063 billion in orders and plans…
U.S. Space Force/Samuel BeckerFive rockets on US and European launch contracts have not flown, and outside China 2 of 11 new companies' first rockets since 2020 reached orbit on their first flight
Rocket Lab moved Neutron's first launch to 2027 on October 14. Neutron, Stoke Space's Nova and Relativity's…
NASA/Glenn BensonIn the nine months that began with the 2025 shutdown, 36 percent fewer small companies won US space contracts than a year earlier
From fiscal 2018 to 2025, between 586 and 640 small companies a year won new US contracts for space work.…
SpaceX, CC BY-NC 2.0What Starship's first orbit means for SpaceX's NASA Moon lander
Starship reached orbit on its fourteenth flight and deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites before returning about…
NASA/JPL-CaltechWho builds the space industry's software, and who pays for it
Federal spending records, the solicitations of the last three months and the hiring this site follows show…
Happening today
4 items, Oct 31, 2026
Long March 12A | Flight 2China Aerospace Science and Technology…
00:00 UTC
SSLV | AayulSAT-1A & othersIndian Space Research Organization, Satish…
00:00 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 15-18SpaceX, Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
04:04 UTC
SYSTEM DELTA 84 (SYD 84/MT) MEDIUM EARTH ORBIT MISSILE WARNING…Dept of Defense, Sources Sought
23:00 UTC
Mon
Lightspeed satellite services
Mon
Electron | The Sea God Surveys (iQPS…
Tue
Kinetica 2 | SpaceSail Polar Group…
Tue
Falcon 9 Block 5 | USSF-432
Wed
Consultant Services – Replacement of…
Wed
Electron | The Sea God Surveys
Wed
Mir | Demo Flight
Wed
Ceres-2 | Unknown Payload
Wed
Notice of Intent to Sole Source -…
Thu
US EVA-101
Thu
Long March 2C | Unknown Payload
Thu
Ground Station as a Service
Thu
Space Communications and Networking…
Thu
Long March 12 | SatNet LEO Group TBD?
Fri
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group…
Fri
Space Electronic Systems Prototype…
Fri
Blue Force Tracker (BFT) Satellite…
Full calendar
Contract Awards
Who won what, and for how much.
Rocket Report: Winter is coming for Themis; Cowboy Space adds iron to the fire
A roundup of recent rocket news notes a strong week for ULA, including a large NASA contract and progress toward Vulcan's return to flight.
Contractor to Civil Servant: NASA Welcomes Jared Spiers
Jared Spiers has transitioned from contractor to civil servant at NASA. He grew up near NASA's Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi,…
UK MOD Awards £15 Million Orbital Warfare Project to Astroscale
Japanese space technology company Astroscale has officially announced that its UK-based subsidiary has been awarded a £15 million (€17.9 million)…
ESA and Norway pen projects for resilient satellite navigation
On 27 October at Spaceport Norway in Oslo, the European Space Agency signed new contracts with three Norwegian companies under ESA's Navigation…
NASA Selects 19 New Citizen Science Proposals in 2026
NASA announced 19 new citizen science proposals in 2026, part of a year marked by volunteer-driven research successes. Among these efforts, the…
Military & National Security Space
Space Force, intelligence, and defense programs.
Live coverage: SpaceX to close out October with Halloween eve Falcon 9 launch
The Starlink 15-18 mission will add another 27 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites to SpaceX’s megaconstellation. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base is scheduled for 9:02 p.m. PDT (12:02 a.m. EDT / 0402 UTC).
ESI supplying solar array components to missile defense programs
Oct. 30, 2026 – ESI Motion Inc. is proud to announce that it is supplying the Solar Array Drive Electronics (SADE) to Lockheed Martin for its work on…
Inside the Pentagon, the pressure is on to find a home for a new spaceport
The Space Force is weighing where to locate a new spaceport, with options including a public-private partnership, a federal installation, or…
Exclusive: DoD Taps Orbital Operations for Cryogenic Spacecraft Demo
The Long Beach, CA, startup has won up to $35M from the DoD under a prototype Other Transaction Agreement to fly a full-scale, in-orbit demo of…
Policy & Regulation
Congress, regulators, and budgets.
See NASA's Artemis III astronauts meet Trump at the White House as they train for a critical 2027 moon lander test flight (photos)
The astronauts of NASA's Artemis III mission met with President Trump at the White House on Wednesday (Oct. 28), just as the Artemis II spaceflyers did six months ago.
NASA library image
FCC green lights SpaceX’s move to a showdown with Verizon and AT&T
The FCC advanced plans to open 482 MHz of spectrum for satellite phone service, a move that boosts SpaceX's Starlink Mobile as it heads toward…
NASA library image
Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile are trying to shut Starlink out before FCC vote
AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile are pushing to have 290 MHz cut from an FCC satellite plan ahead of a vote scheduled for Thursday, as the carriers seek to…
FCC’s New Part 100 Licensing Framework: What Space Companies Need to Know
In July 2026, the FCC adopted a new Part 100 licensing framework governing the authorization of satellite systems and Earth stations in the US. The…
NASA library image
What’s Happening in Space Policy October 25-November 1, 2026
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week plus a day of October 25-November 1, 2026 and any insight we can offer about…
Launch Beat
Liftoffs, landings, and pad activity.
Happy Halloween! SpaceX launches 27 Starlink satellites to orbit from California (video)
SpaceX sent another batch of its Starlink broadband satellites to orbit from California just after midnight on Halloween (Oct. 31).
SpaceX Completes Three Static Fires in Three Days for Flight 15
SpaceX completed three static fires in three days as part of Flight 15 engine testing, finishing all engine testing within eight days, which also…
Analysts find looming launch crisis is "more severe" than anticipated
There's no evidence that Starship will launch traditional satellites, either.
NASA ponders a Hubble servicing mission or a controlled deorbit
NASA is weighing options for the aging Hubble Space Telescope, including a servicing mission or a controlled deorbit, as the agency gathers…
Ground Qualification Testing Begins for Callisto Reusable Rocket Demonstrator
The French space agency CNES has announced the start of ground qualification testing for the Callisto reusable rocket demonstrator at the Guiana…
Science & Exploration
Missions, discoveries, and deep space.
APOD: 2026 October 31 – Night on a Spooky Planet
APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 October 31 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is…
Once again, NASA is asking for ideas to rescue Hubble from certain death
The space agency solicited ideas for reboosting Hubble four years ago, but they didn't go anywhere.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Captures Eerie Cat’s Head
Intricate structures within the Cat’s Head Nebula are illuminated in this mid-infrared view from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope released on Oct.…
Turkey aims for first Moon-orbiting mission in 2027
Turkey is planning its first Moon-orbiting mission for 2027, the first of two planned lunar flights. The orbiter will carry several scientific…
NASA Explores Potential Commercial Servicing for Hubble Telescope
NASA issued a Request for Information Oct. 29 to learn more about industry capabilities for in-space servicing to support the agency’s Hubble Space…
International
Programs beyond the US.
Earth from Space: Champi’s eerie eye
A Copernicus Sentinel-3 image captured on 21 October 2026 shows Super Typhoon Champi off the coasts of Taiwan and the Philippines.
Europe Begins Funding Offensive In-Space Capabilities
If the best defense is a good offense, then announcements in the European space sector this week are signaling that the region is preparing to move…
Arnab Strikes India
Cyclone Arnab, the first named storm of the North Indian Ocean's cyclone season, made landfall along the coast of Andhra Pradesh, India.
ESA at Spaceport Norway 2026
From the ESA Blogs.
China's top-secret spaceplane can't hide in low-Earth orbit
The DIA's threat assessment suggests China may soon place directed energy weapons in space.
Space Software & Ground Ops
Ground segment, mission software, and satellite operations.
Nov. 5: Satellite Mission Management at the Edge
Join us to explore how emerging technologies and commercial capabilities are transforming satellite operations The post Nov. 5: Satellite Mission Management at the Edge appeared first on SpaceNews.
Industry & Business
Funding rounds, factories, and the space economy.
NASA Releases MAX POWER Key Events for Media, Participants
America’s newest aerospace expo and air show – MAX POWER – is fast approaching, and NASA has announced key events beginning Friday, Nov. 6, and running through Sunday, Nov. 8, hosted on and near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Through multiple…
NASA library image
Government Spending on Civil Space Topped $42 Billion in FY2026
A new Aerospace Corporation report finds that government spending on civil space activities reached $42.6 billion in FY2026, a figure that covers…
Week in images: 26-30 October 2026
Week in images: 26-30 October 2026
Telesat Stays Quiet on C$2.4B GEO Debt Due in December
Telesat CEO Dan Goldberg told analysts the company remained "pretty constrained" in discussing its plans for refinancing legacy GEO debt, with C$2.4…
Vega Island Frozen in Fright
The sight of an icy skull-like visage on the Antarctic island could make one’s blood run cold.