China successfully recovered a Long March 10C first stage booster, positioning the methalox rocket as its primary commercial launcher. Reusable boosters reshape Beijing's LEO constellation strategy.
On April 18, 2014, a Falcon 9 first stage did something no orbital rocket had ever done before. It fired its engines on the way down, steered itself through the atmosphere using grid fins that did not yet exist, and touched the Atlantic Ocean softly enough to survive the impact. Nobody recovered it. The data was the whole point.
SpaceX's most-flown Falcon 9 booster completes record 33rd flight deploying 28 Starlink V2 Mini satellites. Two launches in one day from California and Florida. 9,779 sats on orbit.
China's iSpace secures record $729M for reusable rocket development. SpaceX launches Crew-12 and lands booster at new LZ-40 pad. Startup bets on space-based missile defense.
Keck Foundation team proposes first-ever graviton detector concept. Space Force shelves Resilient GPS program. China advances Long March 12B reusable rocket with static fire test at Jiuquan.
Key highlights on China's reusable rocket developments, U.S. military's Tranche 1 satellite launch, Space Force's weapons acquisition strategies, and more.
