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French startup HyPrSpace has pushed back the first flight of its Baguette One suborbital rocket from 2026 to 2027, according to European Spaceflight. The single-stage, 10-meter vehicle can carry up to 300 kg using a hybrid liquid oxygen and solid polyethylene propulsion system, and will launch from the French defense procurement agency's site at Biscarrosse.
Google plans to launch an experimental satellite called MVP on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base next week, part of its Project Suncatcher initiative. The satellite carries four Tensor Processing Units powered by solar panels generating one kilowatt, roughly matching a single Earth-based server, and is designed to process simple AI requests for up to a year while orbiting for as long as six years before burning up on re-entry.
Google plans to launch a satellite called MVP on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on October 1, carrying four tensor processing units powered by roughly one kilowatt of solar energy. The satellite will process simple AI queries for a year as part of Project Suncatcher, an early-stage effort to test whether AI computing hardware can withstand orbital conditions, and will remain in orbit for six years before burning up on reentry.
SpaceX is reportedly no longer accepting Falcon 9 launch reservations for dates past 2028, even as the rocket remains the workhorse of the global launch market. In 2025, Falcon 9 flew 165 missions with a perfect payload delivery record, accounting for nearly half of all worldwide launches. Elon Musk has said SpaceX will redirect engineering and manufacturing resources from Falcon to Starship once the newer rocket can fly reliably several times a week.
Google will send a satellite carrying its Tensor Processing Units into low Earth orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on October 1st, as part of Project Suncatcher. The mission aims to test how the chips withstand spaceflight stress, radiation, and thermal extremes, with a cooling system using heat pipes and radiators also being trialed. Google plans to launch two more satellites next year as part of a broader effort toward a constellation of chip-equipped satellites.
Satellite operators are finding it harder to book rides to orbit as SpaceX scales back its workhorse rocket in favor of newer vehicles, while competing launch companies have yet to ramp up capacity to match demand. The resulting supply crunch is forcing smaller satellite makers and researchers to compete more aggressively for limited slots.
SpaceX has redesigned its Starship engine, the Raptor, from a version covered in exposed pipes and wires into the compact Raptor 3 that first flew in May. Despite looking simpler, the newer engine produces roughly 35% more thrust than the original Raptor 1, prompting some observers to initially doubt images of the stripped-down design were genuine.
SpaceX announced its 14th Starship test flight for September 22, targeting a 75-minute launch window starting at 7:15 a.m. CT. For the first time, the mission will attempt to place Starship's upper stage into Earth orbit while deploying 26 third-generation Starlink satellites.
Startup Besxar, founded by former OpenAI staffer Ashley Pilipiszyn, has arranged with SpaceX to fly small canisters called 'fabships' aboard Falcon 9 boosters to test manufacturing semiconductor precursor materials in the vacuum of space. The company's first two units flew on a July Starlink mission, surviving launch and exposing wafer samples to space despite a data system glitch in one canister. Besxar has raised roughly $14 million, including a $9 million seed round led by Dauntless Ventures and Overture VC, to pursue a dozen planned test flights.
SpaceX has flown its last scheduled Starlink mission from Cape Canaveral on a Falcon 9 for now, according to launch VP Kiko Dontchev. Future Florida Starlink launches will instead rely on Starship once it begins regular flights there, cutting the site's monthly launch rate from roughly eight or nine down to about two. West Coast Starlink launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base will continue as before.
SpaceX has flown its last Starlink mission on a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral for the foreseeable future, according to company launch VP Kiko Dontchev. Going forward, Starlink launches from Florida will be handled by the still-developing Starship rocket, dropping the site's monthly launch count from roughly eight or nine to about two. SpaceX will instead lean more heavily on its Vandenberg pad in California to keep deploying Starlink satellites.