Launch

At IAC 2026 in Antalya, TUSAŞ and Roketsan signed the HÜRSAT-2 project contract. The satellite is planned to fly on ŞİMŞEK-1 in the 2028–29 window, linking Turkey’s domestic satellite family to its domestic launcher.

At IAC 2026 in Antalya, TUSAŞ and Roketsan signed the HÜRSAT-2 project contract. The satellite is planned to fly on ŞİMŞEK-1 in the 2028–29 window, linking Turkey’s domestic satellite family to its domestic launcher.

Astra Space shifted its Rocket 4.0 debut timeline to early 2027 (Q1), after earlier indications of a 2026 test flight. The expendable vehicle is designed for mobile, containerized launch with a target payload capacity approaching 1 tonne to LEO and a projected launch price around $5 million. CEO Chris Kemp highlighted a simple, low-cost 'soda can' architecture drawing on a legacy engine design to enable high production rates of hundreds of rockets per year.

Astra Space shifted its Rocket 4.0 debut timeline to early 2027 (Q1), after earlier indications of a 2026 test flight. The expendable vehicle is designed for mobile, containerized launch with a target payload capacity approaching 1 tonne to LEO and a projected launch price around $5 million. CEO Chris Kemp highlighted a simple, low-cost 'soda can' architecture drawing on a legacy engine design to enable high production rates of hundreds of rockets per year.

Astra Space, now private after a 2024 take-private at $11.25 million valuation following Rocket 3 failures, is raising $250 million at a $1 billion valuation to fund Rocket 4 development and scale its satellite propulsion business. Rocket 4 is an expendable larger vehicle targeting operational launches from 2027 with a projected $5 million price point. The company has grown its thruster sales and previously raised $80 million post-privatization for settlements and refinancing.

Astra Space, now private after a 2024 take-private at $11.25 million valuation following Rocket 3 failures, is raising $250 million at a $1 billion valuation to fund Rocket 4 development and scale its satellite propulsion business. Rocket 4 is an expendable larger vehicle targeting operational launches from 2027 with a projected $5 million price point. The company has grown its thruster sales and previously raised $80 million post-privatization for settlements and refinancing.

Space Angel Pty Ltd received the full $1.75 million Spaceport Establishment Support Grant to fund site assessments, regulatory planning and a business case for commercial spaceport facilities in Western Australia. The grant is matched by company funding and forms part of the state’s Made in WA commitment.

Space Angel Pty Ltd received the full $1.75 million Spaceport Establishment Support Grant to fund site assessments, regulatory planning and a business case for commercial spaceport facilities in Western Australia. The grant is matched by company funding and forms part of the state’s Made in WA commitment.

TARAN Aerospace has designed and manufactured Serbia’s first commercial CubeSat together with its own deployer. The satellite is scheduled for launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 in 2026.

NASA launched the Artemis II mission on April 1, 2026 at 6:35 p.m. EDT from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center, sending commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a ~10-day free-return trajectory around the Moon. The SLS core stage and Orion spacecraft performed nominally, with solar array deployment confirmed shortly after separation. On April 2, the crew completed a 5-minute, 55-second translunar injection burn that set Orion on course to reach a maximum distance of approximately 252,021 miles from Earth — surpassing the Apollo 13 record. The mission is a crewed test flight, not a lunar landing, and is intended to validate Orion life support, navigation, and deep-space systems ahead of Artemis IV.

NASA launched the Artemis II mission on April 1, 2026 at 6:35 p.m. EDT from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center, sending commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a ~10-day free-return trajectory around the Moon. The SLS core stage and Orion spacecraft performed nominally, with solar array deployment confirmed shortly after separation. On April 2, the crew completed a 5-minute, 55-second translunar injection burn that set Orion on course to reach a maximum distance of approximately 252,021 miles from Earth — surpassing the Apollo 13 record. The mission is a crewed test flight, not a lunar landing, and is intended to validate Orion life support, navigation, and deep-space systems ahead of Artemis IV.

On April 1, 2026, SpaceX submitted a confidential draft registration statement to the SEC, confirmed by Bloomberg and CNBC, targeting a June Nasdaq listing. Initial valuation guidance was $1.75 trillion with a targeted $75 billion raise; by April 6 investor testing-the-waters meetings pushed the target above $2 trillion — what would be the largest IPO in history, tripling Saudi Aramco's $25.6 billion 2019 record. The company merged with Elon Musk's xAI in February 2026, combining space, satellite, and AI assets. Starlink generates an estimated $8.2 billion in annual revenue. Public S-1 expected in late April–May, ahead of OpenAI and Anthropic listings.

SpaceX booster B1067 completed its record-breaking 34th launch and landing on March 30, 2026, lifting off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral at 5:15 p.m. EDT with 29 Starlink satellites on the Starlink 10-44 mission. The booster recovered on droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean. B1067 entered the fleet in June 2021 and has supported crewed missions including Crew-3 and Crew-4, two NASA CRS cargo flights, and 23 Starlink batches. The record eclipses the previous mark of 33 flights set by the same booster one month earlier.

SpaceX launched 119 payloads to sun-synchronous orbit on March 30, 2026 at 4:02 a.m. PDT from Vandenberg Space Force Base aboard Falcon 9 booster B1093, making its 12th flight. Deployments began 55 minutes after liftoff across a four-burn upper-stage sequence. The mission brought SpaceX's cumulative rideshare program total past 1,600 satellites launched. Exolaunch was the largest integrator with 57 payloads for more than 25 customers across 12 countries; SEOPS Space manifested 19 payloads. Notable customers included ICEYE (6 SAR satellites, 2 for Poland's POLSARIS constellation), HawkEye 360 (3 satellites), Spire Global (10 satellites), Muon Space (3 Vindlér RF monitoring satellites for Sierra Nevada Corp), Bellatrix Aerospace, EnduroSat, Satlantis, and ArkEdge Space.

SpaceX launched 119 payloads to sun-synchronous orbit on March 30, 2026 at 4:02 a.m. PDT from Vandenberg Space Force Base aboard Falcon 9 booster B1093, making its 12th flight. Deployments began 55 minutes after liftoff across a four-burn upper-stage sequence. The mission brought SpaceX's cumulative rideshare program total past 1,600 satellites launched. Exolaunch was the largest integrator with 57 payloads for more than 25 customers across 12 countries; SEOPS Space manifested 19 payloads. Notable customers included ICEYE (6 SAR satellites, 2 for Poland's POLSARIS constellation), HawkEye 360 (3 satellites), Spire Global (10 satellites), Muon Space (3 Vindlér RF monitoring satellites for Sierra Nevada Corp), Bellatrix Aerospace, EnduroSat, Satlantis, and ArkEdge Space.

Three ATLAS-1 laser communication terminals developed by Astrolight were successfully launched aboard SpaceX Transporter-16, marking the first Lithuanian-built laser comm system in orbit and advancing secure optical connectivity for defense and commercial use.

SpaceX successfully launches a new batch of Starlink satellites (Starlink 17‑17) from Vandenberg Space Force Base on March 26, 2026, expanding broadband coverage and testing upgraded user‑link hardware.

Isar Aerospace's second Spectrum rocket, mission "Onward and Upward," reached T-3 seconds before engine ignition at Andøya Spaceport in Norway on March 25, 2026 when the countdown was aborted. A range violation by an unauthorized vessel delayed the window, during which propellant temperatures rose outside acceptable margins — forcing the scrub. The mission was designed as a qualification flight to SSO carrying five cubesats and one Dcubed experiment, supported by ESA's Boost! programme. No new launch date has been announced.

Isar Aerospace's second Spectrum rocket, mission "Onward and Upward," reached T-3 seconds before engine ignition at Andøya Spaceport in Norway on March 25, 2026 when the countdown was aborted. A range violation by an unauthorized vessel delayed the window, during which propellant temperatures rose outside acceptable margins — forcing the scrub. The mission was designed as a qualification flight to SSO carrying five cubesats and one Dcubed experiment, supported by ESA's Boost! programme. No new launch date has been announced.

K2 Space CEO Karan Kunjur announced on March 19-20, 2026 that the GRAVITAS satellite (2 metric tons, 40m solar wingspan, 20kW generation) had been shipped to the SpaceX launch facility ahead of its Transporter rideshare launch. The satellite carries 12 payloads including DoD customers, under a $60M Space Force STRATFI contract. GRAVITAS features the most powerful Hall-effect thruster ever flown (20kW, krypton-fed) — roughly 4× more powerful than anything previously flown in space. Mission tiers: (1) deploy solar arrays and establish comms; (2) operate customer payloads; (3) orbit-raise LEO→MEO using electric propulsion, the first such raise ever attempted. K2 raised $250M Series C at $3B valuation in December 2025, and $450M total funding.