Tag: United States
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Commercial GEO Satellite Orders Rebound to 14 in 2026 as C-Band Transition Drives Fleet Renewal
Commercial geostationary communications satellite orders reached 14 spacecraft through September 21, up from 10 during all of 2025 and the highest annual total since 2020, according to market intelligence firm Novaspace. The recovery is being driven partly by satellite operators preparing for another U.S. C-band spectrum transition while replacing aging broadcast and connectivity assets. The…
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FCC Sees More Than $100 Billion From Spectrum Auctions Through 2028
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said September 16 that a series of U.S. spectrum auctions planned over the next two years could generate more than $100 billion, as the agency prepares to release additional frequencies for terrestrial wireless networks, space-based broadband and future 6G services. The estimate covers a multi-year auction program beginning with…
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SpaceX Rolls Super Heavy to Launch Pad for Starship’s First Orbital Flight
SpaceX moved the Super Heavy booster assigned to Starship Flight 14 to the launch pad at Starbase, Texas, on September 21, advancing preparations for the vehicle’s first orbital mission. Targeted for September 28 pending regulatory approval, the flight is expected to complete six Earth orbits and deploy 26 operational Starlink V3 satellites. The booster, identified…
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NASA Powers Up Roman’s 300-Megapixel Camera, Checks Coronagraph Systems
NASA has activated the 300-megapixel Wide Field Instrument aboard the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and completed initial checks of its Coronagraph Instrument, confirming that both payloads survived launch and are operating in space. The commissioning milestones, including activation of Roman’s 18 infrared detectors on September 11, keep the observatory on schedule to release its…
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Katalyst Selected to Build and Launch Orbital Power-Beaming Demonstrator for Pentagon
Katalyst Space has been selected by the Pentagon’s Operational Energy Capability Improvement Fund to develop and launch a robotic spacecraft that will assemble a large-format solar power-beaming system in low Earth orbit and transmit energy to Earth. Announced on September 21, the Advanced Scalable Growth Architecture for Robotic Deployment program will pair Katalyst’s NEXUS spacecraft…
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Russian Satellite Imagery Reportedly Supports Iranian Targeting of U.S. Bases
Russian Earth observation satellites are providing imagery to Iranian military forces to support targeting of U.S. and allied installations across the Middle East, according to defense intelligence assessments reported on September 17, 2026. The reported cooperation involves synthetic aperture radar and high-resolution optical imagery used to refine information on fixed military sites, air-defense positions and…
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SpaceX Launches 27 Starlink Satellites as Falcon 9 Booster Completes 17th Flight
SpaceX launched 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on September 19, adding another batch of broadband spacecraft to its low Earth orbit constellation. The Falcon 9 mission also marked the 17th flight of first-stage booster B1093, which landed on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. The rocket lifted…
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Space Force Plans Fall Prototype to Fuse Commercial and Military Orbital Tracking Data
The U.S. Space Force plans to launch a prototype software environment later this fall that will automate the integration of commercial and military space-tracking data. Led by Mission Delta 2, the effort is intended to provide faster indications of new satellite deployments, debris clouds and potentially threatening activity without disrupting the service’s high-accuracy collision-avoidance systems.…
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NASA Selects SpaceX Falcon 9 Rideshare to Launch StarBurst Gamma-Ray Mission in 2028
NASA selected SpaceX on September 18 to launch StarBurst, a small astrophysics satellite designed to detect short gamma-ray bursts associated with neutron star mergers. The spacecraft will fly no earlier than 2028 as a rideshare payload on a Falcon 9 Bandwagon mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.…
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SpaceX Targets September 28 for Starship’s First Orbital Flight as Florida Pad Nears Readiness
SpaceX is targeting no earlier than September 28 for Starship Flight 14, pending regulatory approval, in what would be the vehicle’s first orbital mission after 13 suborbital flight tests. The mission is expected to carry 26 Starlink V3 satellites and comes as SpaceX moves Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center toward operational status,…