Real-Time Satellite Tracking
It's never been so easy to launch into space.
Deep Space Missions
Follow humanity’s return to the Moon with real-time tracking of Artemis II and future deep space missions.
Quality Space Data & Analysis
Sensor management, break-up analysis, and mission planning.
Education & Outreach
Explore orbits, constellations, and satellite systems hands-on.
Expert analysis, technical guides, and the latest developments in space domain awareness
On April 21, 2026, the tenth and final GPS Block III satellite reached medium Earth orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9. Named for Hedy Lamarr, the actress whose 1942 frequency-hopping patent underpins modern GPS, SV10 closes a procurement that took eight years to deliver hardware and opens the optical-crosslink era that will define the constellation's next decade.
On April 22, 2026, the FAA published a final rule implementing per-launch user fees for commercial space transportation — the first time the U.S. government has charged payload-based fees for rocket launches. Starting at 25 cents per pound with a $30,000 cap, the fees are modest today. By 2033, they won't be.
The satellite industry's biggest operators are betting on multi-orbit architectures that combine LEO, MEO, and GEO into unified networks. A San Francisco startup called Contrivian thinks they've overcomplicated the problem, and the physics might be on its side.
On April 17, 2026, the U.S. Space Force officially cancelled the Next Generation Operational Control System after sixteen years of development, cost overruns, and testing failures. The $8 billion program was supposed to unlock the military's encrypted GPS signal. Instead, the satellites are flying with capabilities the ground can't command.
In-depth technical analysis and comprehensive guides for space professionals
Russia launched its first 16 operational Rassvet broadband satellites on March 23, 2026, beginning a long climb toward a 900-satellite LEO constellation. Built by Bureau 1440 and funded by billions in government and private capital, Rassvet is a technological sovereignty project driven by a hard lesson from the war in Ukraine. When your military depends on someone else's satellites, they can turn them off.
As of late April 2026, Amazon has 231 production satellites in orbit after eleven launches. The FCC license requires 1,618 by July 30. The math, the rockets, and what happens when the calendar runs out on a mega-constellation.
Falcon Heavy flew for the first time in eighteen months on April 29, 2026, expending its center core to push Viasat's final ViaSat-3 satellite toward geostationary orbit. The mission is a flagship rocket doing what only it can still do, for an operator betting six tons of high-throughput hardware on a market Starlink is rapidly redefining.
For nearly two decades, the U.S. Air Force and Space Force have been the world's unofficial civilian space traffic control system. The Department of Commerce's Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS) is now taking over that job for commercial satellite operators - in stages, against persistent congressional pressure to kill the program, and with Department of Defense advocates pushing to make it happen before it is too late.
Community resources, mission coverage, and satellite tracking developments
Exactly 64 years ago today, Scott Carpenter became the fourth American to orbit the Earth aboard Aurora 7. His five-hour flight produced new science, a tense reentry, and 39 minutes of silence in which the country wondered if it had just lost its astronaut.
Spot beams and frequency reuse turned geostationary satellites from one-way TV broadcasters into terabit-per-second pipes - and made consumer satellite broadband actually work.
On May 4, 1989, Space Shuttle Atlantis lifted off from LC-39B carrying Magellan, NASA's first interplanetary mission since 1978. The eleven-year drought ended in a payload bay, and the radar that emerged would map ninety-eight percent of Venus through clouds that no camera could ever see through.
Forty years ago today, a Delta 3914 lifted off Cape Canaveral with a weather satellite the country could not afford to lose. Seventy-one seconds later, its main engine cut off. Ninety-one seconds in, the range safety officer pressed his button. The third domino of a brutal 1986 had fallen.
Concise updates on launches, orbital events, and breaking space news
SpaceX launched NROL-179 from Vandenberg at 1:50 a.m. PDT June 19, carrying Starshield spy satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office.
Blue Origin begins full reconstruction of Cape Canaveral launch pad after New Glenn explosion. Company targets return to flight before end of 2026.
SpaceX delivered 3 Block 2 BlueBird satellites for AST SpaceMobile from Pad 40, advancing direct-to-cell broadband with 10,650 Starlink craft now active.
Air Force awards CCA contracts to General Atomics and Anduril for autonomous fighter wingmen. Autonomy layer split across Anduril, Shield AI, and Collins Aerospace.
SpaceX's first post-IPO acquisition targets Cursor AI for $60B as Falcon 9 lofts 3 Block 2 BlueBird satellites and Dragon CRS-34 departs ISS.
SpaceX launched three Block 2 BlueBird satellites for AST SpaceMobile from Cape Canaveral. Block 2 variants are larger with enhanced capacity compared to Block 1 units already in orbit.
Dive deeper into space tracking with our comprehensive collection of tutorials, news, and technical deep-dives.
