Top Stories

Space Force NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 Now Has 7 Qualified Launch Providers

Two new startups have been added to the Space Systems Command’s National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 1 program. That brings the total pool of qualified providers to seven, expanding the Pentagon’s options for small and medium-class national security payloads.

Lane 1 is the competitive on-ramp for emerging launch vehicles, distinct from the Lane 2 contracts held by ULA and SpaceX. More qualified providers means more flexibility for scheduling and redundancy when a specific vehicle faces delays or anomalies.

Read the full story: Breaking Defense

Study Proposes Cubesat Constellation to Detect Nuclear Weapons on Adversary Satellites

A new study outlines a concept for deploying shoebox-sized cubesats equipped with radiation detectors to identify nuclear weapons concealed on satellites. The idea targets a specific threat: an adversary placing a nuclear device in orbit aboard an otherwise unremarkable satellite.

The detection method relies on sensing the gamma-ray or neutron signatures that fissile material emits passively. A distributed constellation would provide overlapping coverage and reduce the dwell time needed to flag a suspect object. This is still a research concept, not a funded program.

Read the full story: Space.com

GPS Resilience Gap: No Single Agency Owns the Problem

A Breaking Defense analysis argues that GPS vulnerability to Russian jamming and spoofing is functionally unmanaged because responsibility is spread across too many federal departments. When no single office is accountable, fixes stall.

Russia has demonstrated sustained GPS denial across Eastern Europe and the Middle East. The article calls for consolidating GPS resilience authority under one lead agency rather than treating it as a shared but unowned problem. For users tracking satellites with GPS-dependent ground truth, this organizational gap has direct operational implications.

Read the full story: Breaking Defense

Booster B1067 Targets 36th Flight on Starlink 10-42 Mission

SpaceX Falcon 9 booster B1067 is scheduled to launch the Starlink 10-42 mission from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral at 5:25 a.m. EDT (0925 UTC) Thursday. A successful launch would set a new reuse record for a single Falcon 9 booster.

The mission adds to SpaceX’s Gen 2 Starlink constellation. You can track the deployed satellites after TLE publication via KeepTrack’s satellite search once NORAD assigns catalog numbers.

Read the full story: Spaceflight Now

Belgium Commits $3.5 Billion to Joint Air Defense Arsenal with Netherlands

Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken announced a $3.5 billion joint procurement with the Netherlands to rebuild Belgium’s air defense capacity. Belgium has not operated its own air defense capability for roughly 20 years.

The acquisition is part of a broader NATO-driven push to shore up integrated air and missile defense across the alliance. No specific interceptor system was named in the announcement, though the scale puts it in Patriot or NASAMS territory.

Read the full story: Breaking Defense

Binary Star Interaction Mechanism Proposed for Unusual Supernova Class

Researchers studying interacting supernovae — a class of stellar explosion where the blast wave collides with previously ejected material — have proposed that binary star dynamics drive the unusual behavior. One star strips mass from the other before exploding, leaving dense circumstellar material that produces the distinctive light curves observed.

This is astrophysics research with no direct satellite tracking application, but it advances understanding of the environments that produce the neutron stars and black holes that eventually become radar-cross-section targets in the debris catalogs.

Read the full story: Space.com

Israel Weighing IPOs for Rafael and Elbit, Obstacles Remain

The Israeli government is evaluating public offerings for two major state-run defense firms — likely Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and another major contractor — to raise capital and improve operational efficiency. No timeline or valuation has been confirmed publicly.

Potential hurdles include export control sensitivities around classified programs, government reluctance to cede control, and the complexity of valuing companies with significant classified revenue streams. If either firm goes public, it would be one of the largest defense IPOs in Israeli history.

Read the full story: Breaking Defense

Satellite of the Day

SES-15

SES-15 is a heavyweight communications satellite operated by SES S.A., a Luxembourg-based global satellite operator. Launched on May 18, 2017, aboard a Soyuz-ST-A rocket from French Guiana, this satellite was built by Boeing on their BSS-702SP platform and carries both Ka- and Ku-band transponders to deliver broadband, video, and mobile services across multiple regions. With a launch mass of 2,302 kg and an impressive 40-meter solar panel wingspan, SES-15 was designed for a 15-year operational life and represents the kind of high-capacity, multi-band architecture that defines modern commercial satellite fleets.

What makes SES-15 particularly noteworthy is its WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) payload, which enhances GPS accuracy for aviation and precision applications—a secondary mission that adds value beyond standard communications. Operating from a geostationary orbit, the satellite maintains its position over the equator, making it a workhorse for consistent regional coverage. SES’s fleet of similar satellites forms a backbone of global communications infrastructure, and SES-15’s combination of coverage flexibility and technical sophistication exemplifies why geostationary platforms remain essential despite the rise of low-earth orbit mega-constellations.

Track this satellite in real-time: Track SES-15

Upcoming Space Launches

July 9

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5: Starlink Group 10-42
  • Routine Starlink mission launching 29 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida (09:05 UTC) Watch Live Launch Preview

July 10

• China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Long March 10B: Demo Flight
  • Debut flight of the Long March 10B, a reusable launch vehicle capable of delivering up to 16,000 kg to low Earth orbit. The 10B is derived from the Long March 10A’s first stage, powered by seven YF-100 series kerosene/liquid oxygen engines, with a methane-fueled YF-219 upper stage. The first stage is designed to be recovered downrange via an arrestor net on a recovery barge. from Commercial LC-2, Wenchang Space Launch Site, People’s Republic of China (05:12 UTC) Launch Preview

July 11

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5: Starlink Group 17-48
  • Routine Starlink mission launching 29 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California (02:00 UTC) Watch Live Launch Preview

July 12

• Orienspace Technology Gravity-1: Unknown Payload

  • Unconfirmed launch of the Gravity-1, a four-stage all-solid orbital vehicle capable of lofting up to 6,500 kg to low Earth orbit. One of the largest solid-fuel rockets developed by a Chinese private company, with five solid rocket motors at its base. Payload details are not yet disclosed. from Haiyang offshore launch location, Haiyang Oriental Spaceport (02:00 UTC) Launch Preview

• Skyroot Aerospace Vikram-I: Demo Flight

  • Inaugural launch of Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-I, India’s first privately developed orbital launch vehicle. The four-stage rocket uses solid fuel for its first three stages and a hypergolic upper stage, capable of delivering up to 350 kg to low Earth orbit. Several cubesats are aboard; payload identities are yet to be confirmed. from Satish Dhawan Space Centre First Launch Pad, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India (05:00 UTC) Launch Preview

July 14

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5: Starlink Group 10-45

  • Routine Starlink mission launching 29 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida (07:15 UTC) Watch Live

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5: Starlink Group 15-14

  • Routine Starlink mission launching 29 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California (01:16 UTC) Watch Live

• Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) Soyuz 2.1a: Soyuz MS-29

  • Soyuz MS-29 will carry a crew of three Roscosmos cosmonauts — Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina — and NASA astronaut Anil Menon to the International Space Station. The Soyuz 2.1a features a fully digital flight control system enabling launches from fixed platforms. This mission is part of the long-running International Space Station programme involving 16 partner nations. from Launch Pad 31/6, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan (14:47 UTC)

July 15

• SpaceX Starship: Flight 13
  • 13th integrated test flight of the fully reusable two-stage Starship super heavy-lift launch vehicle, and the second flight of the Starship V3 configuration. Starship V3 raises the vehicle’s launch mass to approximately 5,250 tonnes and is capable of delivering up to 100,000 kg to low Earth orbit. Part of SpaceX’s ongoing development program to advance rapid reusability and in-space operations. from Orbital Launch Pad 2, SpaceX Starbase, Texas, USA (22:45 UTC)

July 16

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5: SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer E
  • One of six dedicated missions for the United States Space Force Space Development Agency’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) Tranche 1 Transport Layer constellation. The satellites will provide assured, low-latency military data and connectivity from low Earth orbit to a broad range of warfighter platforms, interconnected via Optical Inter-Satellite Links (OISLs) over Ka band. Mission is operated by the Space Development Agency. from Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California (20:22 UTC)

July 17

• Rocket Lab Electron: LOXSAT 1
  • LOXSAT 1 is a demonstration satellite developed by Eta Space and sponsored by NASA’s Tipping Point program. Flying on a Rocket Lab Photon-LEO satellite bus, it will demonstrate a complete cryogenic oxygen fluid management system in orbit over nine months, collecting critical data on in-space cryogenic storage and transfer — a key capability for future commercial propellant depots. from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand (00:00 UTC)

Schedule Changes

• New launch added: SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 carrying SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer E has been added to the manifest, currently listed as To Be Confirmed, with a target window opening at 20:22 UTC on July 16, 2026, launching from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.

Note: Launch dates and times are subject to change due to technical or weather considerations.