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.
techspot.com
· 2026-09-24
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.
theverge.com
· 2026-09-24
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.
wsj.com
· 2026-09-22
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.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-09
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.
science.slashdot.org
· 2026-08-29
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