Rocket Launch Schedule 2026: NASA, SpaceX, Starship and Every Mission Worldwide

2026 is shaping up to be the most ambitious year in spaceflight history. After a record of about 330 orbital launch attempts in 2025 (317 of them successful), 2026 is running at a similar, slightly slower pace: our launch tracker counts about 230 launches from January through September 26. From NASA's Artemis II crewed lunar flyby to SpaceX's next-generation Starship V3, Blue Origin's New Glenn (which failed on its third flight in April), and ULA's Vulcan ramping operations, the launch manifest is packed with historic firsts and record-breaking campaigns.

This guide provides a comprehensive overview of the 2026 space launch schedule, organized by month and provider. Whether you're an industry professional tracking the competitive landscape, an investor monitoring company milestones, or a space enthusiast who wants to know when to look up, this is your definitive reference.

The 2026 Launch Landscape: What's Different This Year

Several factors make 2026 a pivotal year for the global launch industry:

• Vehicle diversity: More orbital-class rockets are operational simultaneously than at any point in history. SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, Starship, Blue Origin's New Glenn, ULA's Vulcan Centaur, Rocket Lab's Electron, Arianespace's Ariane 6, Japan's H3 and multiple Chinese vehicles are all flying (Rocket Lab's Neutron has yet to debut; Rocket Lab says the window for a 2026 first launch is narrowing).
• Reusability goes mainstream: SpaceX has proven reusability works. Now Blue Origin (New Glenn, which landed its booster on its second and third flights), Rocket Lab (Neutron, first launch targeted for late 2026 or later) and Chinese providers are bringing reusable architectures to market, permanently shifting launch economics.
• Mega-constellation deployment: Amazon's Project Kuiper (now Amazon Leo) begins full-scale deployment, joining SpaceX Starlink, OneWeb, and China's Guowang in a race to connect the planet from orbit.
• Lunar missions: Artemis II flew in April, and Astrobotic's Griffin-1 is due no earlier than November. Several other 2026 Moon missions (Intuitive Machines' IM-3, Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mk1, Firefly's Blue Ghost 2 and China's Chang'e-7) have slipped out of the year.
• National security launches: The U.S. Space Force's National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program is awarding record numbers of missions across multiple certified providers.

The Headline Missions of 2026

Artemis II: Humanity Returns to Lunar Orbit

NASA's Artemis II mission is arguably the most significant crewed spaceflight since the Apollo program. It sent four astronauts (Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen) on a roughly 10-day journey around the Moon aboard the Orion spacecraft, launched by the Space Launch System (SLS): the first crewed flight beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972.

The mission was a critical shakedown of the Orion spacecraft's life support systems, navigation, and communication capabilities with crew aboard, paving the way for Artemis III's Earth-orbit lander docking test (NASA target: mid-2027) and the Artemis IV lunar landing (2028). It launched from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39B on April 1, 2026 and splashed down off San Diego on April 10 (00:07 UTC on April 11), after setting a new human distance record of 252,756 miles from Earth (NASA).

Starship V3: The Next Leap in Heavy Lift

SpaceX's Starship V3 represents a significant upgrade to the already-revolutionary Starship system. With an extended upper stage, improved Raptor 3 engines, and a payload capacity SpaceX gives as more than 100 metric tons to orbit in fully reusable configuration, V3 is designed to enable rapid iteration on SpaceX's Mars architecture while dramatically reducing the cost of heavy-lift missions.

Key V3 milestones expected in 2026 include the first flights of the stretched upper stage, continued refinement of the booster catch-and-refly system at Starbase, and potentially the first operational payload deliveries on the new configuration. (Update, September 24, 2026: V3 first flew on Flight 12 on May 22 and again on Flight 13 on July 24, both suborbital tests; Flight 13 released the first 20 Starlink V3 satellites, which reentered by design. Flight 14, the first planned orbital flight, is targeted for no earlier than September 28, pending FAA approval. SpaceX has not published a flight-rate target for the rest of the year.)

New Glenn: Blue Origin's Orbital Debut Matures

Blue Origin's New Glenn heavy-lift rocket reached orbit on its first two flights in January and November 2025, but its third flight failed on April 19, 2026 (the upper stage left its payload in too low an orbit, though the reflown booster landed), and on May 28 a New Glenn was destroyed in a static-fire explosion that damaged its Cape Canaveral pad. It has not flown since as of late September. The 98-meter-tall vehicle features a reusable first stage powered by seven BE-4 engines and a 7-meter payload fairing. New Glenn's manifest includes launches for the U.S. Space Force (NSSL Phase 3), Amazon Leo (formerly Project Kuiper), and commercial customers including Telesat and AST SpaceMobile.

The vehicle's entrance into the market is significant: it provides the first credible heavy-lift alternative to SpaceX's Falcon Heavy and Starship from a U.S. provider, and its reusable booster targets economic competitiveness with Falcon 9.

Vulcan Centaur: ULA's Next-Generation Workhorse

United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur is ramping its flight rate in 2026 with a manifest of national security, commercial, and NASA missions. Powered by Blue Origin's BE-4 engines and featuring the high-energy Centaur V upper stage with the RL10C-1-1 engine, Vulcan offers unique capabilities for high-energy orbits critical to Department of Defense and intelligence community missions.

Key 2026 Vulcan missions include NSSL launches for the U.S. Space Force (USSF-87 flew on February 12) and Amazon Leo deployment batches.

Monthly Launch Calendar: What Flew and What Is Next

Updated September 26, 2026 from the SpaceNexus launch tracker (Launch Library 2 data). Our tracker counts about 230 orbital and suborbital launch attempts worldwide from January through September 26, 2026, between 18 and 32 a month. Dates for upcoming missions are "no earlier than" (NET) and often move; the live schedule is always current.

January–April 2026 (flown)

• ULA Vulcan: USSF-87 national security mission (February 12)
• NASA SLS / Orion: Artemis II crewed lunar flyby, flown April 1-10 (US Eastern time)
• Northrop Grumman Cygnus NG-24 to the ISS on Falcon 9 (April 11)
• Blue Origin New Glenn: third flight, carrying an AST SpaceMobile BlueBird Block 2 satellite, failed (April 19)
• SpaceX Falcon Heavy: ViaSat-3 F3 (April 29)
• Rocket Lab Electron: a steady cadence of Earth observation and rideshare missions (BlackSky, Synspective StriX, JAXA)

May–August 2026 (flown)

• SpaceX Starship: Flight 12, the first V3 flight (May 22), and Flight 13 (July 24), a suborbital test that released the first 20 Starlink V3 satellites (they reentered by design)
• China: Tianzhou-10 cargo (May 11), Shenzhou-23 crew (May 24) and the Long March 10B demonstration flight (July 10)
• JAXA H3: H3-30 test flight (June 12) and Michibiki 7 navigation satellite (August 10)
• Ariane 6: MTG-I2 weather satellite on Ariane 62 (August 27)
• SpaceX Falcon Heavy: NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (August 30)
• Not yet flown: Rocket Lab Neutron (still targeted for late 2026, a window Rocket Lab says is narrowing) and Relativity Terran R

September–October 2026

• SpaceX Starship: Flight 14, the first planned orbital flight, with Starlink V3 satellites, targeted for no earlier than September 28
• SpaceX Falcon 9: Transporter-18 rideshare and NASA's Crew-13 (both NET October 1), plus continued Starlink launches
• SpaceX Falcon Heavy: NROL-97 (NET October 2)
• JAXA H3: Martian Moons eXploration (MMX), NET October 19
• Amazon Leo (formerly Project Kuiper): batches on Vulcan and Ariane 64, NET October (month-level dates)

November–December 2026

• SpaceX Starship: Flight 15, NET fourth quarter
• SpaceX Falcon 9: Year-end Starlink and commercial manifest push (SpaceX flew 165 Falcon 9 launches in 2025)
• Ariane 62: Metop-SG B1 weather satellite, NET November
• Coarse-dated to late 2026: China's Shenzhou-24 (October), ISRO's uncrewed Gaganyaan-1 (fourth quarter) and Sierra Space's Dream Chaser (late 2026), each listed by month, quarter or half-year rather than a date
• Astrobotic Griffin-1. NASA's Moon Base II lander, no earlier than November: the only lunar launch NASA expects in 2026, targeting Mons Mouton near the south pole (NASA's Moon Base program manager, via Aerospace America, Sep 15, 2026)
• China Long March 10A / Mengzhou-1: Uncrewed debut of China's new crew spacecraft. CMSA listed it as a 2026 mission (Nov 2025) but has not restated that date since; a slip to 2027 has been reported, not announced
• Slipped to 2027: Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mk1 and Intuitive Machines' IM-3 to the first part of 2027, Firefly's Blue Ghost 2 to later in 2027 (NASA's Moon Base program manager, via Aerospace America, Sep 15, 2026); China's Chang'e-7 could not launch in its 2026 window, and no new date or cause has been given (CMSA, Aug 23, 2026)

Launch Provider Scorecard: Who's Flying What

The competitive landscape for launch services has never been more dynamic. Here's how the major providers stack up heading into 2026:

SpaceX: The Undisputed Market Leader

SpaceX is targeting 150+ Falcon 9 launches in 2026, continuing its aircraft-like operational cadence with booster reuse now routinely exceeding 20 flights per vehicle. Falcon Heavy handles the heaviest payloads and highest-energy orbits. Meanwhile, Starship is working toward its first orbital flight and, after that, its first operational missions, with the V3 configuration designed to push payload capacity beyond any rocket in history.

United Launch Alliance: Heritage Meets Next-Gen

ULA is completing the transition from Atlas V and Delta IV to Vulcan Centaur. With a deep national security manifest and unique high-energy upper stage capabilities, Vulcan is the Pentagon's preferred vehicle for the most demanding NSSL missions. ULA's track record of 100% mission success across 150+ consecutive launches gives customers unmatched confidence.

Blue Origin: New Glenn Changes the Game

New Glenn's entry into service gives Blue Origin its first orbital launch vehicle and introduces meaningful competition in the heavy-lift segment. The Amazon Kuiper contract alone, requiring 83 launches across multiple providers, guarantees a substantial manifest, and NSSL certification opens the door to lucrative government missions.

Rocket Lab: Small Launch Leader, Medium Launch Challenger

Rocket Lab continues to dominate the dedicated small launch market with Electron while preparing to enter the medium-lift segment with Neutron. A successful Neutron maiden flight, still targeted for late 2026 but likely to slip if the narrowing window closes, would position Rocket Lab as the only publicly traded company with operational rockets in both small and medium launch classes.

Arianespace: European Independence

Ariane 6 is Europe's path back to independent launch access after the retirement of Ariane 5 and the loss of Russian Soyuz launches from Kourou. The A62 (two boosters) and A64 (four boosters) configurations serve European institutional missions and compete for commercial GEO and MEO payloads.

International Providers

China's Long March family continues to launch at a furious pace, with CASC and commercial providers like Landspace (Zhuque-2) and Galactic Energy (Ceres-1) adding capacity. India's ISRO is expanding commercial launch services through NSIL. Japan's JAXA H3 rocket is entering reliable service after early setbacks.

How to Watch Rocket Launches in 2026

Whether you want to watch from your couch or travel to see a launch in person, here's how to make it happen:

Live Streams

• SpaceX: Official webcasts on X (Twitter) and YouTube typically begin T-30 minutes before launch. SpaceX streams are the gold standard for launch coverage.
• NASA: NASA TV and the NASA+ app provide extensive coverage for all NASA missions, including pre-launch commentary and post-launch briefings.
• ULA: ULA webcasts on YouTube with their signature detailed technical commentary.
• Blue Origin: New Glenn launches streamed on Blue Origin's website and YouTube channel.
• Rocket Lab: "It's Business Time" and similar mission-named webcasts on YouTube with Rocket Lab's trademark humor.

In-Person Viewing

• Kennedy Space Center, Florida: The KSC Visitor Complex offers launch viewing packages for SpaceX, ULA, and NASA missions from LC-39A, SLC-40, and SLC-41. Tickets sell out fast for major missions.
• Vandenberg Space Force Base, California: Limited public viewing areas along Highway 1 for polar orbit launches. SpaceX and ULA both launch from Vandenberg.
• Starbase, Boca Chica, Texas: Viewing areas for Starship launches are limited but expanding. Check local guidelines for road closures and viewing zones.
• Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia: NASA's Wallops visitor center offers viewing for Northrop Grumman Antares/Cygnus and other missions from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport.

Real-Time Tracking With SpaceNexus

SpaceNexus's Mission Control dashboard provides a real-time launch manifest with countdown timers, mission details, launch provider information, and live status updates for every upcoming mission. Set up custom alerts to get notified before launches that matter to you, whether you're tracking a specific provider, orbit type, or customer.

Beyond the Headlines: Why the Full Manifest Matters

While headline missions like Artemis II and Starship grab attention, the real story of 2026 is the sheer volume and diversity of orbital launches. The 300+ launch target represents a fundamental shift in how humanity accesses space: from an era of scarcity (each launch a major event) to an era of abundance (multiple launches per day across multiple providers).

This shift has profound implications for every segment of the space economy:

• Satellite operators benefit from lower launch costs and more frequent launch opportunities, reducing the risk of manifest delays.
• Investors can track launch cadence as a leading indicator of revenue for publicly traded launch companies and their customers.
• Defense planners gain responsive space access: the ability to replace or augment constellations rapidly in a contested environment.
• Researchers get more frequent access to orbit for scientific instruments, technology demonstrations, and ISS resupply.

Staying on top of the full launch manifest, not just the blockbuster missions, gives professionals the context they need to anticipate market movements, track competitive dynamics, and identify emerging opportunities.

Track Every Launch With SpaceNexus Mission Control

The 2026 launch schedule is the most ambitious in history, and keeping up requires more than bookmarking a dozen websites. SpaceNexus's Mission Control aggregates launch data from NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Arianespace, Rocket Lab, and dozens of other providers into a single real-time dashboard with:

• Live countdown timers for every upcoming launch
• Mission details including payload, orbit, customer, and vehicle configuration
• Historical launch data for trend analysis and provider comparison
• Custom alerts so you never miss a launch that matters to you
• Integration with satellite tracking to follow payloads from launch to orbit

Explore Mission Control or sign up free to start tracking the 2026 launch schedule in real time.