Your Guide to Space
Weekly briefing archive
The important work moved off the launchpad
Blue Origin found another home for New Glenn testing, Rocket Lab won a military campaign in Alaska, and NASA set three August spacewalks.
The consequential shifts were operational: testing moved, a defense campaign gained a range, and station maintenance became a defined program.
New Glenn’s recovery gained a second test site, Rocket Lab’s missile-defense role grew into a multi-launch program, and ISS upkeep acquired a firm August agenda. Meanwhile, six launch targets are packed between Wednesday and Sunday.
Lead stories
The developments that defined this week.
New Glenn’s bottleneck now has a second address
Blue Origin will use NASA’s Stennis Space Center for New Glenn upper-stage hot-fire testing while Launch Complex 36 is rebuilt after the May 28 explosion. The venue change does not erase the failure, but it puts testing and pad reconstruction on parallel tracks—the first practical sign that recovery is being treated as an engineering campaign instead of a waiting game.
Rocket Lab sold a campaign, not a demonstration
A $266 million Space Force award covers 12 Rocket Lab suborbital launches, with options for six more, and calls for a new operation at Kodiak, Alaska. The opening mission is expected no earlier than the end of 2026. This contract makes repeated military testing a material part of the company’s business; the challenge is standing up another range and delivering the promised tempo.
The ISS has three maintenance days that count
NASA scheduled three U.S. spacewalks for August to upgrade solar arrays, replace a communications antenna and connect power and data cables. Jessica Meir and Anil Menon are assigned to the first excursion on Aug. 6. None of this is glamorous; it is the work that keeps later station plans from being defeated by wiring. Spaceflight retains a mischievous dependence on functioning hardware.
What changed
The week's meaningful movement.
A separate Mississippi test venue lets Blue Origin work the second stage while its Florida complex is rebuilt.
Rocket Lab now has a dozen contracted suborbital attempts, another half-dozen options and an Alaska facility to establish.
NASA converted an ISS maintenance backlog into three August EVAs with named tasks.
The week ahead
What to watch next.
| When | Watch item | Type | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 29, 2026, 11:50 AM | Long March 7A | Unknown Payload The Wenchang mission lists neither its payload nor destination. | Launch | 3 cited sources |
| Jul 30, 2026, 1:00 AM | Long March 6A | Unknown Payload A Taiyuan departure is targeted, although the mission remains unidentified. | Launch | 1 cited source |
| Jul 30, 2026, 2:00 AM | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 17-52 This Vandenberg communications flight is currently marked go. | Launch | Evidence pending |
| Jul 30, 2026, 7:09 AM | Falcon 9 Block 5 | NROL-95 The classified government mission is set to leave Cape Canaveral for an undisclosed destination. | Launch | Evidence pending |
| Jul 31, 2026, 12:00 AM | Electron | The Grain Goddess Provides (iQPS Launch 7) Rocket Lab lists an Earth-science flight from Mahia with status still to be determined. | Launch | 1 cited source |
| Aug 2, 2026, 2:00 PM | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 17-53 A second California Starlink attempt closes the listed run on Sunday. | Launch | Evidence pending |
Week timeline
The week, in order.
| Moment | Target | Why it matters | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Satellite servicing left the ground | Jul 21, 2026, 9:15 PM | Falcon 9 sent Northrop Grumman’s MRV-1 toward geosynchronous orbit. Liftoff closed the easy part; rendezvous and pod installation will determine whether the life-extension model works. | Evidence pending |
| Flight 13 reached launch | Jul 24, 2026, 10:51 PM | The flagship Starship test departed Starbase and is recorded as successful, shifting attention from countdown drama to the performance SpaceX can document afterward. | 2 cited sources |
| Vandenberg returned to rhythm | Jul 25, 2026, 3:51 PM | Starlink 17-39 and 17-51 both finished successfully during the period, bookending a quick recovery from the earlier mission’s ignition abort. Routine cadence did its job; one sentence will suffice. | Evidence pending |
| Stennis joined New Glenn’s recovery | Jul 27, 2026, 10:48 AM | Moving second-stage firing work to Mississippi gives the Cape rebuild a separate workstream following the May accident. | 1 cited source |
| Kodiak gained a new customer | Jul 27, 2026, 10:00 AM | The Space Force award sends Rocket Lab to Alaska for a dozen suborbital missions and as many as six optional additions. | 2 cited sources |
| NASA defined the station work list | Jul 27, 2026, 2:35 PM | Three excursions outside the ISS now have specific August jobs, with Meir and Menon taking the opening assignment on Aug. 6. | 1 cited source |
| Hubble measured Andromeda’s slowdown | Jul 27, 2026, 2:00 PM | The telescope found that star formation in the neighboring galaxy has declined for 500 million years—a vast result delivered without a launch window. | 1 cited source |
| Amazon proposed a direct-to-device constellation | Jul 27, 2026, 11:59 AM | An FCC application describes more than 5,100 satellites using Globalstar spectrum to provide service directly to devices. Filing is the opening move, not approval. | 1 cited source |
Uncertainty
What's still in flux.
Times remain provisional, and although the newest listing marks Flight 13 successful, SpaceX has not yet supplied an objective-by-object result in the available official update.
Launch Intelligence
The story keeps moving. Stay with it.
This issue connects the week's developments. The live dashboard keeps target times, watch links, and launch detail pages one tap away as the schedule shifts.