The week of 2026-07-05 to 2026-07-12 saw China fly its new Long March 10B rocket for the first time, a successful demonstration flight that adds a new vehicle to the global launch catalog. Four orbital missions flew this week and all four succeeded, a mix of Starlink batches, a Chinese SpaceSail polar group, and the 10B debut. The week’s other headline came out of Hawthorne, where SpaceX folded xAI into a new SpaceXAI brand, described as the largest private merger in the industry’s history. Defense acquisition news also filled the week, from NATO’s Saab GlobalEye selection to Isar Aerospace’s new Canadian launch site tied to a submarine sale.
By the Numbers
- Orbital launches: 4 (4 successful)
- Top stories covered: 10
- Starlink in orbit: 10,775 (10,759 working)
- On deck next week: 9 launches
The Week in Launches
July 10, Long March 10B, Demo Flight, CASC (first flight). China’s new Long March 10B flew for the first time from Commercial LC-2, reaching low Earth orbit on a successful demonstration mission. The 10B is a scaled-down variant of the crew-rated Long March 10 family China is developing for its lunar program, so this debut is a real milestone for that timeline.
July 11, Falcon 9 Block 5, Starlink Group 17-48, SpaceX. Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg carrying another batch of Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. The mission succeeded and added to the constellation’s West Coast deployment cadence.
July 9, Falcon 9 Block 5, Starlink Group 10-42, SpaceX. This flight from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral flew booster B1067 on its 36th mission, a record for the fleet. The booster’s longevity keeps pushing down the marginal cost of each Starlink launch.
July 5, Long March 8A, SpaceSail Polar Group #14, CASC. China launched another batch of SpaceSail broadband satellites into polar orbit from its commercial LC-1 pad. This continues Beijing’s build-out of a competing low Earth orbit internet constellation.
Top Stories
SpaceX and xAI Merge Into SpaceXAI
SpaceX has officially absorbed xAI under a new SpaceXAI brand, complete with a new logo, in what is being called the largest private merger in the industry’s history. The combined company folds Elon Musk’s AI venture directly into the launch and satellite business.
For the tracking community, this matters because it consolidates rocket production, Starlink, Starshield, and AI compute under one corporate roof, raising questions about how much of the combined entity’s activity stays visible in public catalogs going forward.
Read the full story: TESLARATI
Long March 10B Debuts on Demo Flight
China flew its Long March 10B for the first time this week, launching a demonstration payload into low Earth orbit from Commercial LC-2. The rocket is part of the Long March 10 family China is developing to eventually carry crews to the Moon.
A successful debut here means a new object entering the catalog and another marker of progress toward China’s crewed lunar timeline, worth watching alongside the country’s other new-vehicle programs.
Read the full story: NASASpaceFlight
NATO Picks Saab GlobalEye Over Boeing Wedgetail
NATO’s Secretary General said the alliance will acquire up to 10 Saab GlobalEye aircraft to replace its aging E-3 Sentry fleet, after previously scrapping plans to buy Boeing’s E-7 Wedgetail.
The decision reshapes how NATO handles airborne early warning and how that data gets fused with space-based tracking assets, and it is a notable loss for the American alternative.
Read the full story: Breaking Defense
Isar Aerospace Adds Canadian Launch Site
Isar Aerospace signed an agreement to develop a Canadian launch site for its Spectrum rocket, a deal linked to a submarine sale to the Canadian military.
This gives the German launcher a northern latitude pad option and shows how European commercial launch ambitions are increasingly tied to broader defense trade deals.
Read the full story: SpaceNews
SpaceX’s Defense Business Keeps Growing
A new analysis traces how SpaceX has shifted over the past decade from a commercial launch company into a full-scale defense contractor, now the sole provider of crewed access to orbit for NASA and a growing supplier to the Pentagon.
For anyone tracking satellites, this matters because more Starshield and national security payloads are launching under limited or classified designations, which thins out what shows up in open catalogs.
Read the full story: Space Explored
Blue Origin Presses On With Blue Moon Despite New Glenn Setback
Blue Origin says seven Blue Moon lunar landers are currently in production even as the company works through recovery from a New Glenn pad explosion more than a month ago.
Keeping lander production moving while the launch vehicle side recovers suggests Blue Origin is trying to protect its Artemis-related schedule commitments regardless of the New Glenn timeline.
Read the full story: SpaceNews
Falcon 9 Booster Flies a Record 36th Time
Booster B1067 launched the Starlink 10-42 mission from Cape Canaveral’s pad 40 on July 9, becoming the first Falcon 9 first stage to reach 36 flights.
Every extra flight on this booster pushes the reuse record further and cuts the marginal cost of putting up another Starlink batch, worth watching for how fast SpaceX keeps stretching booster life.
Read the full story: Spaceflight Now
Army Reshuffles Acquisition Offices, Realigns Autonomy Portfolio
The Army made new adjustments to its acquisition portfolios and realigned its autonomy office this week, continuing an overhaul that began last fall.
A service spokesperson described the approach as keeping what works and changing what does not, which is relevant to how the Army manages procurement for autonomous and space-adjacent ground systems.
Read the full story: Breaking Defense
Rocket Lab’s Electron Gains, Neutron Slips
Rocket Lab reported a record launch cadence stretch for its Electron rocket through the first half of 2026, while its medium-lift Neutron rocket continues to slip in schedule.
Electron remains a steady workhorse for smallsat operators while Neutron’s delays keep the medium-lift market open a little longer for competitors chasing reusable rockets in that class.
Read the full story: NASASpaceFlight
SpaceX Rideshare Flies 81 Payloads on Transporter 17
SpaceX launched its Transporter 17 dedicated rideshare mission on July 7, carrying 81 payloads to sun-synchronous orbit over a roughly 2.5-hour deployment window, including fire detectors, military tech demos, and 3D printers.
Missions like this add dozens of new objects to the catalog at once, which is exactly the kind of event that tests how fast tracking systems can sort out who is who in the days after separation.
Read the full story: Spaceflight Now
Constellation Watch
Starlink now stands at 12,472 satellites launched, with 10,775 in orbit and 10,759 reported working, against 1,697 decayed. Two Falcon 9 missions this week, Starlink Group 10-42 and Group 17-48, kept the deployment pace steady from both coasts. The gap between launched and in-orbit totals keeps growing as older first-generation satellites continue to deorbit on schedule.
The Week Ahead
- Soyuz MS-29 (Soyuz 2.1a, RFSA, July 14): the week’s only crewed launch, carrying a fresh crew rotation to orbit.
- Starship Flight 13 (SpaceX, July 16): the next test flight in SpaceX’s Starship program, always the highest-profile launch on any calendar.
- Vikram-I demo flight (Skyroot, July 18): a first flight for Skyroot’s orbital vehicle, worth watching alongside the Long March 10B debut as another new-rocket story this month.
- SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer E (Falcon 9, July 16): another batch of missile-tracking and data-relay satellites for the Space Development Agency.
- Starlink Group 15-14 and Group 10-45 (Falcon 9, July 14): two more Starlink batches on the same day.
- LOXSAT 1 (Electron, Rocket Lab, July 17) and Long March 7A (CASC, July 17) round out the week, alongside an unconfirmed Gravity-1 flight from OrienSpace.
Watch the Soyuz crew rotation and the Starship Flight 13 test above everything else, with the Vikram-I debut as the sleeper story if Skyroot pulls off a clean first flight.
