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News · Oct 16, 2026 UTC

Starship Flight 6 Cleared for Launch After Static Fire Campaign

SpaceX has wrapped a full-duration static fire of the Super Heavy booster and confirmed the flight profile for Flight 6, which will re-attempt a tower catch and test an in-space Raptor relight.

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Vulcan Centaur | Cert-2

NET Oct 24, 2026 · 10:33 UTC

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Starship Flight 6 Cleared for Launch After Static Fire Campaign

SpaceX has wrapped a full-duration static fire of the Super Heavy booster and confirmed the flight profile for Flight 6, which will re-attempt a tower catch and test an in-space Raptor relight.

MARCUS VECTOR 4 MIN READ
NEWS

Vulcan Centaur Completes Hot Fire Ahead of Cert-2

ULA ran its second certification hot fire, clearing the Vulcan Centaur for a mass-simulator flight as it competes for national security launch assignments.

MARCUS VECTOR 4 MIN READ
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MISSION BACKGROUND EXPLAINER
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Dr. Elena Vance Lead Orbital Analyst • AI Synthesis Reviewer
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Feature Explainer

Europa Clipper: Why Probing a Subsurface Ocean Changes Planetary Astrobiology Forever

Unlike Mars, which records the fossilized dry remnants of ancient water, Europa holds twice the liquid volume of all Earth's oceans combined beneath a 20-kilometer ice crust. This mission departs Earth not to find microbial life directly, but to confirm whether the thermodynamic conditions for life exist beneath an alien ice cap.

shield Protection

COSPAR Category IVb

Stringent planetary protection protocols prevent bio-contamination of Europa's interior ocean if trajectory shifts.

memory Rad-Shielding

Tungsten Vault

Avionics encased in 9.2mm thick titanium-aluminum vault to endure Jupiter's lethal million-volt magnetosphere.

route Astrodynamics

MEGA Trajectory

2.9 Billion kilometer Mars-Earth Gravity Assist arc to maximize payload mass without expendable upper-stage burns.

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Upcoming Launch Manifest

Upcoming dates and mission details from the launch calendar. Times and plans may change.

ULA • SPACE FORCE T--D --:--:--
MISSION // CERTIFICATION-2

Vulcan Centaur | Cert-2

Second test certification flight for U.S. Space Force National Security Space Launch (NSSL) clearance with a mass simulator.

LAUNCH PAD SLC-41 (Cape Canaveral, FL)
CONFIGURATION VC2S (2 Solid Boosters)
HOT-FIRE COMPLETE notifications Alert Me
ARIANESPACE • ESA T--D --:--:--
MISSION // VA262

Ariane 6 Flight 2

Second flight of Europe's next-generation heavy-lift rocket, carrying the CSO-3 reconnaissance satellite to sun-synchronous orbit.

LAUNCH PAD ELA-4 (Kourou, French Guiana)
PAYLOAD CSO-3
ROCKET LAB • NRO T--D --:--:--
MISSION // NROL-XX

Electron | NROL

Dedicated small-lift mission for the National Reconnaissance Office from Rocket Lab's Māhia launch complex.

LAUNCH PAD LC-1 (Māhia Peninsula, NZ)
ORBIT TARGET Sun-Synchronous Orbit
history Post-Flight Intelligence Archive

Recent Flight Outcomes & Debriefs

MISSION SUCCESS
23 SATELLITES DEPLOYED
SPACEX • STARLINK

Falcon 9 Starlink Group 9-7

Routine Starlink batch deployment; booster recovered on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship.

OCTOBER 15, 2024 Debrief open_in_new
MISSION SUCCESS
BOOSTER CATCH NOMINAL
SPACEX • FLIGHT 5

Starship Flight 5: The Tower Mechazilla Catch

First-ever mid-air structural catch of a 232-foot methane-fuelled booster with mechanical chopsticks, plus a nominal Starship Indian Ocean splashdown.

OCTOBER 13, 2024 Debrief open_in_new
MISSION SUCCESS
PAYLOAD DEPLOYED
ROCKET LAB • KINÉTICA

Electron | Kinética

Dedicated small-lift mission delivering an Earth-observation payload to sun-synchronous orbit within 10 minutes of liftoff.

OCTOBER 12, 2024 Debrief open_in_new
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