U.S. Space Force
Every Cosmic Herald story on U.S. Space Force — missions, launches, discoveries, and the business of space, newest first.
-
Commercial
SpaceX Marks the 600th Flight of a Reused Falcon Booster With a Pre-Dawn Starlink Launch
A pre-dawn Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral quietly notched a milestone that says more about SpaceX's operating model than any single mission: the 600th flight of a reused booster.
-
Commercial
SpaceX's Transporter-17 Sends 81 Satellites—Including Three Wildfire-Spotting FireSats—Into Orbit
A midnight Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg deployed 81 satellites for five nations, headlined by three FireSat wildfire detectors, a Navy tech demo, an in-space 3D printer, and the UAE's first navigation satellite.
-
Commercial
A Chinese Spaceplane Just Released an Object Into Orbit — and Commercial Trackers Caught It
Commercial space surveillance firms independently detected a Chinese spaceplane deploying an object in orbit, underscoring the growing clout of private-sector space domain awareness.
-
Commercial
SpaceX Flies Its First Falcon 9 as a Public Company. Almost Nothing Changed.
Two days after a record-setting Nasdaq debut that valued it near $2.1 trillion, SpaceX launched Starlink 17-54 from Vandenberg — its first Falcon 9 as a publicly traded company, and a routine flight that says a lot about why the IPO happened.
-
Commercial
ULA's Vulcan rocket is flying. What it means for the launch market.
United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur has completed its certification flights and is entering regular commercial service. The rocket is designed to handle everything ULA's Atlas V and Delta IV carried — and it's arriving at a moment when the launch market is more competitive than it has ever been.
-
Commercial
New Glenn flew. Now Blue Origin has to prove it can do it again.
Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket reached orbit on its first attempt — a significant achievement for a company that spent years being compared unfavorably to SpaceX. But a single successful launch is a beginning, not a business. What comes next will define whether New Glenn becomes a serious player.
-
Commercial
America's new national-security rocket is grounded by a recurring booster glitch
ULA's Vulcan Centaur was certified to launch the Pentagon's most sensitive satellites — and then a solid rocket booster misbehaved on two flights in a row. The Space Force has now paused Vulcan missions until the problem is understood.
