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ULA's Vulcan is scheduled to return to flight on November 13, nine months after a solid rocket booster anomaly, and Blue Origin told its staff that New Glenn plans to return in January 2027, after an upper-stage failure in April and a pad explosion in May. Behind them, Rocket Lab, Stoke Space and AST SpaceMobile have each named a first launch between early 2027 and late 2028 for a new rocket. This report covers a selection of the rockets that fly today, the ones returning and the ones with a first-launch target through 2028: Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, Vulcan, Ariane 6, New Glenn, Neutron and Nova, plus Blacklift, which is built to launch AST's own satellites. Each date below is a builder's target or expectation. This report sets those dates beside what flew in 2026.

SpaceX flew 121 of the 127 launches by the five large rockets in 2026

Our launch record counts 127 launches from January 1 to November 6, 2026 by Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, Vulcan, Ariane 6 and New Glenn. Falcon 9 flew 118 of them and Falcon Heavy 3, 95.3 percent together (derived from the record). In 2025 the same five rockets flew 172 times, 165 of them Falcon, 95.9 percent (derived). Ariane 6 flew 4 times in 2026, Vulcan 1 time, and New Glenn 1 time, which did not place its payload in the intended orbit. The Falcon 9 count runs to October 31, 2026, the latest Falcon 9 flight in the record.

Vulcan plans to return on November 13 with six boosters for the first time

ULA scheduled Vulcan's return for Friday, November 13, on its fifth flight, with 40 Amazon Leo satellites. It is the first Vulcan fitted with six solid rocket boosters, and it flies a redesigned nozzle on the Northrop Grumman boosters. A nozzle disintegrated on the second flight and another failed less than 30 seconds into the February 12 USSF-87 launch. In the VC6 configuration, ULA lists 27,200 kg to a 200 km, 28.7 degree low Earth reference orbit and 14,500 kg to geosynchronous transfer orbit. Amazon has booked 38 Vulcan launches.

The Space Force suspended Vulcan launches under National Security Space Launch in February while it investigates. Air & Space Forces Magazine reports that it is "not clear when the rocket will once again carry U.S. military payloads" and that four missions originally assigned to Vulcan moved to SpaceX: the final GPS III satellite, a Space Development Agency tracking mission, and two Falcon Heavy missions (USSF-63 and USSF-174). The sources reviewed for this report give no ULA launch count for 2027.

New Glenn plans to return in January 2027, GS3 has a 2028 mission, and Northstar has no flight date

New Glenn flew twice in 2025. Its third launch, on April 19, 2026, recovered its booster and left AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird 7 in an orbit too low to operate: Blue Origin's chief executive said one BE-3U engine on the second burn of the upper stage did not produce enough thrust. The FAA opened a mishap investigation. A pad explosion in May followed (Spaceflight Now calls it a late-May explosion and The Register a May ground-test explosion that damaged the launchpad), and The Register reported on November 6 a staff memo that moves the return to flight to January 2027. Ars Technica also headlines that New Glenn will not fly this year.

On November 5, Blue Origin announced a third stage, GS3, and a booster engine, Northstar (NASASpaceFlight also covered the announcement). GS3 is powered by the BE-7 engine and is designed for direct injection to geosynchronous orbit and escape trajectories. Blue Origin states capacities of up to 14 metric tons to geosynchronous orbit and 20 to a trans-lunar trajectory on the 9x4 vehicle, and 8 and 10 on the 7x2. A government cislunar mission on GS3 is under contract for 2028. Northstar is rated at 715,000 pounds-force against 640,000 for BE-4. Blue Origin says it has half the parts and 30 percent less mass than BE-4 and can be assembled in less than a day. The reports give no price for either upgrade and no flight date for Northstar; Spaceflight Now reports that BE-4 keeps an important role, including on the return to flight.

The procurement standing is unchanged. NASA added the New Glenn 9x4 to its NLS II contract on September 29, and the Space Force assigned Blue Origin no missions in the second order year of Lane 2 because New Glenn is still in certification. The next assignment round is the fiscal 2027 set.

SpaceX won five of the seven national security missions in the second Lane 2 order year

In the second Lane 2 order year, SpaceX received five of the seven missions for $714 million and ULA two for $428 million. Four of SpaceX's five require a Falcon Heavy. Falcon Heavy flew 3 times in 2026 in our record and not at all in 2025. Of the four missions moved from Vulcan, the GPS III launch has flown on a Falcon 9; the other three (a tracking mission on Falcon 9 and two Falcon Heavy missions) are on SpaceX's schedule. This report did not verify SpaceX's current payload figures at a SpaceX source and gives none.

Ariane 6 has flown 4 times in 2026 against a target of six to eight

Arianespace's chief executive set a 2026 target of six to eight Ariane 6 missions in November 2025. Four flew in our record: February 12, April 30, June 17 and August 27 (the first three Amazon Leo missions on Ariane 64, the fourth a Meteosat mission on Ariane 62). The record lists the next launch, another Amazon Leo mission, for November 23 at the earliest, and three more missions at the placeholder date of December 31. On the first Ariane 64 flight, Arianespace described the four-booster vehicle as delivering "around 20 metric tons into orbit," about twice the capacity of the two-booster Ariane 62. Arianespace has 18 Amazon Leo launches under contract. No revised 2026 count and no 2027 count were found at a primary source.

Three new rockets have first launches targeted between early 2027 and late 2028

Neutron. Rocket Lab said on October 14 that the first launch of its reusable medium-lift rocket is now expected in 2027. The release gives no payload figure. The Space Force's Lane 1 contract lets Rocket Lab compete for missions once it has successfully launched at least once.

Nova. Stoke Space targets the first part of 2027 for the first orbital launch of Nova Pathfinder from SLC-14 and plans multiple Pathfinder missions in 2027 and 2028. On November 6 it announced a Right of Entry from Space Launch Delta 45 for property north of SLC-14 for a second launch site; the right authorizes studies and surveys. The Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital announced on October 26 a $150 million conditional loan commitment for a second pad at the complex. Nova Block 2, a reusable vehicle rated at 15 metric tons to low Earth orbit, is scheduled for 2029. The sources reviewed give no payload figure for Pathfinder.

Blacklift. On November 6, AST SpaceMobile announced a 20-ton rocket for its BlueBird satellites, five per launch, with launches starting in late 2028. The release has three prices: about $800 million upfront for a perpetual license to manufacture Firefly's Miranda and Vira engines ($400 million in cash and 10 to 14 million shares), $250 million for engines for the first three rockets and $250 million for three years of engineering support. Together they come to about $1.3 billion (derived from the release's three figures), the total Spaceflight Now reports: 27 Miranda and nine Vira engines. The release names no launch site. Neither engine has flown to orbit, and Spaceflight Now cites a Payload Space analysis that development to first launch has historically taken about six years. AST expects external providers to deploy over 100 BlueBird satellites in 2027 and 2028, which is demand for launch providers other than AST until Blacklift flies. BlueBird 7 was the satellite lost on New Glenn's April flight.

The rockets have different published capacities and launch targets

Starship Flight 15 awaits FAA approval

Starship reached orbit on its fourteenth flight, as our earlier report covers. NASASpaceFlight reports Booster 22 and Ship 42 in final checkouts for a launch no earlier than November 13, with a catch attempt on both the booster and the ship pending FAA approval. Starship has no row in the table; the sources reviewed for this report give no price and no payload service for outside customers.