Via Satellite reports, “Rocket Lab reached a new record for revenue and annual launches in 2025, but its sunny financial progress was clouded by another delay for the first Neutron launch. Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck told investors on Thursday that after a stage 1 tank ruptured during testing in January, Rocket Lab uncovered a manufacturing defect in the tank. The company is making minor design changes to the first stage tank, which will now have to undergo a test and qualification campaign. This pushes the first launch to the fourth quarter of this year. ”
Full Story (Via Satellite)
Tag: rockets
Space Force Pauses Vulcan Missions Supporting National Security Payloads
Breaking Defense reports, “The Space Force is holding off on launching further national security payloads aboard United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket until an anomaly observed during a recent military mission is resolved, according to a top service official. ‘We are going to work through this anomaly until we launch again on Vulcan,’ Col. Eric Zarybnisky, the Space Force’s portfolio acquisition executive for assured access to space, said.”
Full Story (Breaking Defense)
SpaceX Pushes Reusability Record With 33rd Falcon 9 Flight
The Starlink 6-104 mission added another 28 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites into low Earth orbit. As Spaceflight Now reports, “Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 10:47 p.m. EST (0347 UTC). The Falcon 9 rocket flew on a south-easterly trajectory upon leaving the pad.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
Video
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 28 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. (Launch occurs at the 0:10 second mark)
VideoFromSpace; YouTube
SpaceX Marks Second Bahamas Landing After Starlink Mission
SPACE reports, “SpaceX landed a rocket in The Bahamas for the second time ever on Thursday, Feb. 19. A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 29 of SpaceX’s Starlink broadband satellites launched from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 8:41 p.m. EST (0141 GMT on Feb. 20).”
Full Story (SPACE)
Video
SpaceX launches Starlink satellites, lands off coast of Bahamas. (Launch occurs at the 0:11 second mark)
VideoFromSpace; YouTube
New Crew Launches to ISS Following NASA’s First Medical Evacuation
AP News reports, “A new crew rocketed toward the International Space Station on Friday to replace the astronauts who returned to Earth early in NASA’s first medical evacuation. SpaceX launched the replacements as soon as possible at NASA’s request, sending the U.S., French and Russian astronauts on an expected eight- to nine-month mission stretching until fall. The four should arrive at the orbiting lab on Saturday, filling the vacancies left by their evacuated colleagues last month and bringing the space station back to full staff.”
Full Story (AP News)
SpaceX Adds 24 Satellites to Starlink Constellation After West Coast Launch
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 24 Starlink satellites launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. As SPACE reports, “The launch, on a Falcon 9 rocket, began at 12:11 p.m. EST (1711 GMT or 9:11 a.m. PDT local time) from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.”
Full Story (SPACE)
Video
SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites from California (Launch at the 10 second mark)
VideoFromSpace; YouTube
NASA Weighs Next Crew Vehicle as Starliner Return Plans Advance
Space News reports, “As NASA prepares to launch a new crew to the space station, the agency has yet to decide which spacecraft it will use for the next crew rotation mission … NASA has said Starliner-1 could launch as soon as April 2026. At a Feb. 9 briefing on the upcoming Crew-12 launch, however, the agency said it had not set a more specific launch date.”
Full Story (Space News)
SpaceX Puts Mars Plans on Hold to Prioritize NASA Moon Effort
The Wall Street Journal reports, “SpaceX has put off a mission to Mars planned for this year, shifting its focus to a long-promised lunar voyage for NASA. The rocket company told investors it will prioritize going to the moon first and attempt a trip to Mars at a later time, according to people familiar with the matter. The company will target March 2027 for a lunar landing without humans on board, another person said.”
Full Story (Wall Street Journal – Subscription Publication)
Slow Launch Tempo Clouds Long-Term Role of Space Launch System
Ars Technica reports, “The Space Launch System rocket program is now a decade and a half old, and it continues to be dominated by two unfortunate traits: It is expensive, and it is slow. The massive rocket and its convoluted ground systems, so necessary to baby and cajole the booster’s prickly hydrogen propellant on board, have cost US taxpayers in excess of $30 billion to date. And even as it reaches maturity, the rocket is going nowhere fast.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)
SpaceX Grounds Falcon 9 After Upper Stage Deorbit Issue
SpaceX has temporarily grounded its Falcon 9 rocket after an upper stage failed to deorbit as planned during a Feb. 2 launch. As SPACE reports, “‘Teams are reviewing data to determine root cause and corrective actions before returning to flight,’ SpaceX said via X on Monday evening, in a post that announced the rocket’s grounding.”
Full Story (SPACE)