By The Star Queen ยท Star Queen Chronicles
Header photo: ULAโs Vulcan lifting off from Cape Canaveral on its first certification flight, January 8, 2024. Credit: U.S. Space Force photo by Airman 1st Class Spencer Contreras (public domain)
You know I adore SpaceX. But the sky is big, and this fall a lot of other teams are flying, fixing, or waiting. Here is my tour of the launch providers worldwide, with a clear note on what’s confirmed and what’s only a target. ๐
ULA’s Vulcan: Waiting on Its Boosters
Vulcan hasn’t flown since February 12. On that USSF-87 mission, a solid rocket booster nozzle problem caused extra roll, according to Spaceflight Now. The rocket still delivered its payload to geosynchronous orbit. Northrop Grumman then ran a successful GEM 63XL static fire on April 15 to demonstrate nozzle improvements.
The return-to-flight mission is an Amazon Leo launch with 45 satellites, per Space Launch Live. Here’s the date situation:
- Ars Technica reported a no-earlier-than date of October 29.
- On October 24, the Launch Library 2 database, which several launch trackers mirror, moved it to November 30 and marked it tentative, with only rough date precision. Some other listings still show October 29. I found no confirmation from ULA either way, so the sources conflict and I’d treat both dates as unconfirmed. A slip looks likely, but nothing is official.
- Amazon Leo’s Rajeev Badyal said in early October that Vulcan was “weeks away,” and ULA is now using its second integration facility, VIF-A.
- SpaceNews reports the Space Force will review Vulcan’s commercial flight data before clearing it for national security missions.
The delays are now reshaping military launches. ๐ฐ๏ธ On October 24, SpaceNews reported that the Space Force moved a next-generation missile-warning satellite and the payload stack for an experimental cislunar surveillance mission from Vulcan to SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy. SpaceNews’s summary lists six moved missions in all: three GPS launches, a Space Development Agency mission and two higher-energy missions, all shifting to SpaceX rockets, with ULA set to receive later SpaceX payloads in return. Space Systems Command says ULA’s missions are being delayed, not permanently reassigned while Vulcan goes through its technical review.
Blue Origin’s New Glenn: Rebuilding ๐ง
On May 28, a New Glenn exploded during a static fire at Launch Complex 36. Blue Origin traced it to the main oxygen valve on a BE-4 engine, according to Spaceflight Now, and has been working on valve modifications and a fault-tree analysis.
Here’s the latest on the return date:
- Tentative December 28. An FAA planning slide shown on October 22 lists December 28 as the target for New Glenn’s return to flight, according to Behind The Black. Jeff Bezos has also talked about a December return carrying a Blue Ring spacecraft, and NASASpaceflight mentioned possibly December 31.
- Early 2027 may be likelier. Ars Technica says a December return is unlikely and thinks Blue Origin looks on track for the first few months of 2027.
- No firm date from Blue Origin. Treat December 28 as a target, not a promise.
The explosion damaged parts of the pad, and Blue Origin is rebuilding LC-36A with a revised vehicle-handling approach. It also wants to build more pads, which I will cover in my spaceports post, coming Thursday, Oct. 29.
Rocket Lab: Electron Sings, Neutron Waits
Electron keeps flying. On October 23, it launched three HawkEye 360 satellites. That was Electron’s 98th launch and Rocket Lab’s 19th of 2026, per the company. The launch happened at 3:11 a.m. Eastern.
Neutron slipped into 2027. Founder Peter Beck said in a video that inspectors found voids in the carbon-fiber layers of a forward propellant dome. A new dome is due by the end of the year, with stage testing in Q1 2027, and Rocket Lab will set a new launch date after that. Neutron has slipped several times now, so I’m cheering for them to take the time they need. ๐
Europe: Ariane 6 Keeps Building
Ariane 6 is set for its 10th flight no earlier than November 23, per Arianespace. It’s an Ariane 64 carrying 36 Amazon Leo satellites from French Guiana. This will be Arianespace’s 5th launch of 2026. Amazon recently added six more Ariane 64 launches, bringing its order to 24.
Europe’s reusable ambitions are moving slowly. The deadline for the first hop of the Themis reusable demonstrator was pushed to the end of 2026, Ars Technica reports.
China: Fast and Getting Faster
NASASpaceflight’s October roundup says Chinese orbital launches are up nearly 14% compared with this time last year. Here are the highlights:
- This week’s scorecard: KeepTrack counted eight orbital launches worldwide for October 18โ25, and all eight succeeded. China flew four of them, SpaceX flew two, and Rocket Lab and JAXA flew one each.
- Reusability: A Long March 10B booster was recovered at sea with a net-catch system on July 10. It is being readied to become China’s first reflown orbital-class booster. NASASpaceflight says only Landspace’s Zhuque-3 has landed a first stage on land, so far.
- Next landing attempt: A second Long March 12A is listed for no earlier than November 3.
- Megaconstellations: The Guowang network reached 222 satellites after a Long March 12 launch on Oct. 9. Qianfan, the other big network, is in service trials.
- Setbacks: Ars Technica noted that a Long March 7A was lost during ascent in August.
India: Gaganyaan Gets Close ๐ฎ๐ณ
On October 24, ISRO chief V. Narayanan said the first uncrewed Gaganyaan test flight (G1) should happen “in two months,” atop a human-rated LVM3. It will carry the half-humanoid robot Vyommitra. He said two more uncrewed tests would follow before a crewed flight. A late-December launch is plausible, but “within two months” is not a firm date.
Japan and South Korea
Japan’s H3 flew MMX to Mars on October 19 at 3:41 p.m. Eastern (October 20 in Japan), using the powerful H3-24L, the heaviest H3 configuration. JAXA says the spacecraft separated about 71 minutes after liftoff and was placed on its planned trajectory, and KeepTrack notes it was the week’s only deep-space departure. NASASpaceflight says it was the third H3 launch of 2026. Details are in my Mars post, coming Friday, Oct. 30.
South Korea’s Nuri flew its fifth mission on October 7. It deployed five microsatellites, but one CubeSat didn’t separate, according to Ars Technica. It was Nuri’s fourth straight success.
The Star Queen’s Take ๐
The big theme is Amazon Leo. Vulcan, Ariane 6 and (eventually) New Glenn are all lined up to carry its satellites. It’s a reminder that SpaceX’s competitors have plenty of demand but are still working through hardware and pad issues. And when Vulcan waits, some customers, like the Space Force, are already moving a few missions over to SpaceX. I want them all to succeed, because a crowded sky is a healthy one. Next stop: the Moon!
Keep reading: For the rocket I adore most, see my Starship post. Next, on Wednesday, Oct. 28, I look at NASA’s new Moon plan.
Sources
- Spaceflight Now, Vulcan booster test (May 14): https://spaceflightnow.com/2026/05/14/ula-confirms-successful-solid-rocket-booster-test-as-vulcan-anomaly-investigation-continues/
- Space Launch Live, Vulcan Amazon Leo LV-01: https://spacelaunchlive.com/launches/vulcan-vc6l-amazon-leo-lv-01/
- Ars Technica Rocket Report (Oct. 9): https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/10/rocket-report-a-rare-falcon-9-scrub-is-it-just-about-vulcans-time-to-shine/
- SpaceNews, Space Force Vulcan review (Sept. 16): https://spacenews.com/space-force-to-review-vulcan-commercial-flights-before-clearing-military-missions/
- Blue Origin, hotfire updates: https://www.blueorigin.com/news/gs1-3-hotfire-updates
- Spaceflight Now, New Glenn explosion cause (Aug. 6): https://spaceflightnow.com/2026/08/06/blue-origin-identifies-engine-issue-behind-new-glenn-explosion/
- NASASpaceflight, LC-36 rebuild (Oct. 11): https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/10/blue-origin-lc-36-rebuild-new-glenn/
- Ars Technica, Blue Origin expansion (Oct. 16): https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/10/blue-origin-is-going-all-in-on-the-new-glenn-rocket/
- Rocket Lab press release, 98th Electron: https://investors.rocketlabcorp.com/news-releases/news-release-details/mission-success-rocket-lab-launches-98th-electron-mission
- Space.com, Neutron delay (Oct. 16): https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/rocket-lab-pushes-1st-launch-of-next-gen-neutron-rocket-to-2027
- Arianespace, VA271: https://newsroom.arianespace.com/arianespace-to-launch-36-amazon-leo-satellites-on-november-23-at-the-earliest-for-10th-ariane-6-flight/
- NASASpaceflight, China roundup (Oct. 21): https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/10/china-roundup-102026/
- UNI India, Gaganyaan (Oct. 24): https://www.uniindia.com/south-india/space-gaganyaan-test-flight-isro-chief/224116
- Hindustan Times/PTI, ISRO roadmap (Oct. 25): https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/isro-plans-four-functional-launch-pads-by-2029-outlines-gaganyaan-mission-roadmap-sslv-complex-kulasekarapattinam-tamil-nadu-101792908657184.html
- NASASpaceflight, MMX launch (Oct. 19): https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/10/mmx-launch/
- SpaceNews, Space Force shifts missile-warning, cislunar missions from Vulcan to Falcon Heavy (Oct. 24): https://spacenews.com/space-force-shifts-missile-warning-cislunar-missions-from-vulcan-to-spacex/
- SpaceNews, Space Force expects Vulcan return as it reshuffles military launches (Oct. 21): https://spacenews.com/space-force-expects-ula-vulcan-return-as-it-reshuffles-military-launches/
- Space Launch Live, Vulcan Amazon Leo LV-01 schedule history (Launch Library 2, Oct. 24): https://spacelaunchlive.com/launches/vulcan-vc6l-amazon-leo-lv-01/
- Behind The Black, FAA tentative dates for Starship and New Glenn (Oct. 22): https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/faa-provides-tentative-dates-for-two-starship-launches-and-next-new-glenn-launch/
- KeepTrack, Week in Review for Oct. 18โ25 (Oct. 25): https://keeptrack.space/week-in-review/week-in-review-2026-10-25
- JAXA, MMX launch result (Oct. 20 JST): https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2026/10/20261020-1_e.html