Monthly Dose of Space - January 2026

Welcome to our twenty-eighth Monthly Dose of Space! In this monthly newsletter, we bring you news from the past month. January begins another year of global spaceflight, so let's look through the past month.

News of the Month

January saw a mission to the International Space Station concluding a month early, the next crewed Moon mission moving to the launch pad, NASA having most of its programs and projects saved, reusable rockets progressing globally, and China training for its lunar missions.

• Crew-11 Mission to Conclude Early Due to Medical Issue
• Crew-11 Returns Early Following Medical Issue
• Artemis II Moon Mission Just Weeks Away From Crewed Launch
• Space Launch System Rolls Out to Pad
• Artemis II launch expected further into February
• NASA Has Most of Its Funding Restored for 2026 After Trump's Attempted Cuts
• SpaceX to lower Starlink satellites' orbit
• LandSpace looks to raise 1 billion dollars
• Taikonauts train for lunar missions ahead of hardware tests
• New Glenn booster to be reused in February
• Neutron suffers hardware loss during testing
• Tianlong-3 to debut 'soon'

Launches of the Month

This month saw 26 launches worldwide, continuing a busy year. If you want to know what each launch was we have them all listed below!

January 3rd - Falcon 9 with CSG-3

A Falcon 9 flew out of Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, carrying a new COSMO-SkyMed observation satellite on behalf of the Italian Space Agency into sun-synchronous orbit. Supporting this mission was booster B1081 for its twenty-first flight, touching down back at Landing Zone 4.

January 4th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-88

Twenty-nine Starlink satellites were sent into low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 flying out Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. Supporting this mission was booster B1101 for its first flight, with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

January 9th - Falcon with Starlink Group 6-69

Another twenty-nine Starlink satellites were launched atop of a Falcon 9 and into low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40. Booster B1069 supported this launch for its twenty-ninth flight, landing on the droneship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas' downrange afterwards.

January 11th - Falcon 9 with forty satellites

SpaceX's Falcon 9 launched from Space Launch Complex 4E and into sun-synchronous orbit, carrying NASA's exoplanet-hunting Pandora mission as well as thirty-nine rideshare payloads from commercial and government customers. Booster B1097 supported this launch for its fifth flight, touching down at Landing Zone 4 afterwards.

January 12th - PSLV with sixteen satellites

India's PSLV rocket flew from the Satish Dhawan Space Center, aiming for a sun-synchronous orbit, but was sadly lost during third-stage flight due to a lack of attitude control. The OS-N1 hyperspectral imaging satellite and fifteen rideshare satellites were lost due to the failure.

January 12th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-97

A Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, carrying twenty-nine Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. Supporting this mission was Falcon 9 booster B1078 for its twenty-fifth mission, landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

January 13th - Long March 6A with Yaogan-50-01

For China's first launch of the year, a Long March 6A blasted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center and into a retrograde low Earth orbit with the Yaogan-50-01 remote sensing satellite. The satellite is tasked with with land surveys, crop yield estimation, as well as disaster prevention and mitigation.

January 13th - Long March 8A with GuoWang Group 18

Out of the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site, a Long March 8A headed into low Earth orbit with nine GuoWang satellites for the connectivity mega-constellations eighteen batch. This launch brings the network up to 145 spacecraft.

January 14th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-98

Another twenty-nine Starlink satellites were placed into low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 departing from Space Launch Complex 40. Booster B1085 supported this mission for its thirteenth flight, with a landing on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas' downrange.

January 15th - Long March 2C with AlSat-3A

From the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Satellite, Algeria's Alsat-3A remote sensing satellite was delivered to sun-synchronous orbit by a Long March 2C. The primary use of the spacecraft is to support land-use planning as well as to enhance capabilities for disaster prevention and mitigation.

January 15th - Ceres-1S with four Tianqi satellites

Galactic Energy returned its Ceres-1 launch vehicles to flight with a sea-launch off the coast of Rizhao, Shandong province, carrying four Tianqi satellites into low Earth orbit. The four satellites are from Guodian Gaoke and are part of an Internet of Things connectivity constellation.

January 16th - Long March 3B/E with Shijian-32

A Long March 3B/E flew out of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, tasked with carrying the Shijian-32 technology testing satellite toward geostationary space. Sadly, the launch failed during third-stage flight, resulting in the rocket falling into the Pacific Ocean.

January 17th - Ceres-2 for its debut flight

Galactic Energy was performing the debut flight of Ceres-2 rocket out of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, looking to have it and a handful of payloads enter sun-synchronous orbit. Early into flight, the rocket deviated from its launch path and was terminated.

January 17th - Falcon 9 with NROL-105

SpaceX delivered a batch of U.S. military satellites into Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 off of Space Launch Complex 4E. Supporting this launch was booster B1100 for its second mission, touching down at Landing Zone 4 afterwards.

January 18th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-100

From Space Launch Complex 40, in Floirda, SpaceX's Falcon 9 flew into low Earth orbit with twenty-nine Starlink satellites. Supporting this launch was booster B1080, for its twenty-fourth flight with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

January 19th - Long March 12 with GuoWang Group 19

A Long March 12 flew out of the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site carrying nine GuoWang satellites into low Earth orbit. With this launch, the connectivity mega-constellation has 154 satellites in space.

January 22nd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-30

Another Falcon 9 flew out of Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, to deliver twenty-five Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. Booster B1093 supported this mission for its tenth flight, landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

January 22nd - Electron for 'The Cosmos Will See You Now'

Rocket Lab's Electrion carried two of Open Cosmos' broadband satellites into a polar orbit from Launch Complex 1A, on the Māhia Peninsula. Open Cosmos' plans to launch further satellites for a Europe-focused resilient connectivity infrastructure.

January 22nd - New Shepard with NS-38

In West Texas, Blue Origin flew its New Shepard vehicle briefly over the Kármán line, carrying passangers Tim Drexler, Linda Edwards, Alain Fernandez, Alberto Gutiérrez, Jim Hendren, and Laura Stiles. Booster NS4 supported this mission for its seventeenth flight, while capsule RSS First Step was being used for the sixteenth time.

January 25th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-20

SpaceX launched twenty-five Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit via its Falcon 9 with a mission out of Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Booster B1097 supported this mission for its sixth flight, landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

January 28th - Falcon 9 with GPS-III-SV09

Out of Space Launch Complex 40, a Falcon 9 headed into medium Earth orbit carrying the U.S. military's GPS-III-SV09 navigation satellite to begin its support for military position, navigation, and timing services. Supporting this mission was booster B1096 on its fifth flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall Of Gravitas'.

January 29th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-19

Twenty-five more Starlink satellites were placed into low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 4E. Booster B1082 supported this launch for its nineteenth flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

January 30th - Electron with NeonSat-1A

Via its Electron launch vehicle, Rocket Lab launched Korea's NeonSat-1A Earth monitoring into sun-synchronous orbit from Launch Complex 1A on the Māhia Peninsula. NeonSat-1a is designed to be the first of many mass-produced monitoring satellites that will regularly image the Korean Peninsula.

January 30th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-101

Another twenty-nine Starlink satellites were deployed into low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 lifting off from Space Launch Complex 40. Supporting this flight was booster B1095 on its fifth flight, landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange.

January 31st - Long March 2C with AlSat-3B

A Long March 2C flew from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and toward sun-synchronous orbit, carrying the Chinese-made AlSat-3B on behalf of Algeria. Main uses for the satellite are reportedly to support land-use planning as well as enhance capabilities for disaster prevention and mitigation.

Launches to look out for in February!

February will continue the new year for worldwide launches. Listed below are all of the launches expected or likely to happen next month, launches on the 1st of February may have already occurred due to when this newsletter is published.

February 2nd - Soyuz 2.1a with an unknown payload

A Soyuz 2.1a is said to be preparing to fly from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome and into a polar orbit carrying satellites that are not currently known.

February 2nd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-32

SpaceX is planning to add batch of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit with a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E.

February 3rd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-103

Another Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40 is set to launch another batch of Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit.

February 6th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-33

Yet more Starlink satellites are set to head to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E atop of a Falcon 9.

February 7th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-104

Another Falcon 9 is planned to fly from Space Launch Complex 40 and into low Earth orbit with a batch of Starlink satellites.

NET February 8th - Space Launch System with Artemis II

NASA's Artemis II mission is set to head around the Moon with crew members Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen inside the Orion spacecraft 'Integrity' launched atop a Space Launch System rocket from Launch Complex 39A.

February 10th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-34

Falcon 9 is set to fly yet again with a batch of Starlink satellites from Space Launch Complex 4E and into low Earth orbit.

NET February 11th - Falcon 9 with Crew-12

The Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station is set to launch atop of a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40, carrying NASA's Jack Hathaway and Jessica Meir, as well as ESA's Sophie Adenot and Russia's Andrey Fedyaev.

February 12th - Proton with Elektro-L No.5

A Proton rocket is set to fly towards geostationary space with the Elektro-L No.5 weather satellite from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

February 12th - Ariane 64 with LE-01

Arianespace's Ariane 6 rocket is set to fly with four boosters for the first time to place thirty-two Amazon Leo satellites into low Earth orbit, in a mission dubbed 'Leo Europe 01'.

February 25th - KAIROS with four satellites

Japanese company Space One is hoping to finally have its KAIROS launch vehicle reach orbit with four satellites set to be aboard its third flight, out of Space Port Kii, in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan.