Launch Week: May 18–24, 2026
Eight launches are scheduled for May 18–24, 2026. Headliners: Vega-C returns to flight with ESA/CAS SMILE (NET May 18/19), and SpaceX attempts Starship Flight 12 (NET May 19). Five Falcon 9 flights, Rocket Lab's Electron carrying Synspective's SAR satellite, and ULA's Atlas V for Amazon Kuiper round out the week.
Eight orbital and suborbital missions are on the manifest for the week of May 18–24. The headline events are the return to flight of Vega-C after its 2022 failure, and Starship Flight 12 — the first test of SpaceX's updated Ship design. SpaceX otherwise dominates the cadence with three Falcon 9 flights. Amazon's Project Kuiper gets another Atlas V lift, and Rocket Lab continues its Synspective manifest from New Zealand. NASA, ISRO, and Blue Origin have nothing scheduled this week.
All times UTC. Status and windows are subject to change; check operator webcasts for final T-0 times.
Monday–Tuesday, May 18–19
SMILE — Vega-C
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Vehicle | Vega-C |
| Operator | Avio / ESA, joint mission with Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) |
| Launch window | NET May 18/19, 2026 — T-0 approx. 03:52 UTC on launch day |
| Launch site | Guiana Space Centre (CSG), Kourou, French Guiana — ELA-1 |
| Payload | SMILE (Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) |
| Mission type | Science — solar-terrestrial physics |
| Target orbit | Highly elliptical orbit (HEO) |
| Status | NET May 18/19 — on schedule per SpaceflightNow 1 |
| Live stream | ESA YouTube |
SMILE is a joint science satellite developed by ESA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences to observe how the solar wind interacts with Earth's magnetosphere and ionosphere. Its instrument suite includes a soft X-ray imager and a UV aurora imager. 1
This mission is the return to flight of Vega-C following the vehicle's failure in December 2022, which destroyed the Pléiades Neo 5 satellite and grounded the rocket for over three years. A successful launch would restore Europe's medium-payload launch capability and validate the nozzle modifications made to the Zefiro-23 upper stage. 1
Starship Flight 12 — Starship / Super Heavy
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Vehicle | Starship (next Ship evolution) / Super Heavy Block 2 |
| Operator | SpaceX |
| Launch window | NET May 19, 2026 |
| Launch site | Starbase, Boca Chica, Texas — OLP-1 (Mechazilla tower) |
| Payload | No commercial payload — integrated flight test |
| Mission type | Suborbital demonstration |
| Target trajectory | Suborbital |
| Status | NET May 19 — pending FAA launch license 1 |
| Live stream | SpaceX YouTube / X.com — typically announced ~30 min before T-0 |
Starship Flight 12 is the first flight of SpaceX's updated Starship design, described as a "next Ship evolution" in NASASpaceflight reporting from May 15. 1 The flight will test the new vehicle configuration from the redesigned Starbase launch mount. Watch for a booster catch attempt using the Mechazilla arms on the launch tower — SpaceX has now executed that maneuver on earlier flights.
FAA license approval is the primary standing constraint as of the research date.
Starlink Group 17-42 — Falcon 9
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Vehicle | Falcon 9 Block 5 |
| Operator | SpaceX |
| Launch window | NET May 19/20, 2026 — approx. 02:11 UTC |
| Launch site | Vandenberg Space Force Base, California — SLC-4E |
| Payload | ~23 Starlink v2 Mini satellites |
| Target orbit | LEO, polar shell 17 |
| Status | On schedule 1 |
| Booster recovery | OCISLY drone ship |
| Live stream | SpaceX launches page |
Standard Starlink replenishment flight to polar shell 17. Booster recovery on the OCISLY drone ship.
Tuesday–Thursday, May 20–22
Globalstar 2-R Launch 1 (HIBLEO-4 replenishment) — Falcon 9
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Vehicle | Falcon 9 Block 5 |
| Operator | SpaceX, on behalf of Globalstar |
| Launch window | May 20, 2026 |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida — SLC-40 |
| Payload | Globalstar replenishment satellite(s) — HIBLEO-4 band |
| Customer | Globalstar / Apple |
| Target orbit | LEO, medium inclination |
| Status | On schedule 1 |
| Live stream | SpaceX webcast — to be announced |
The HIBLEO-4 band underpins the satellite capacity that Apple uses for its iPhone Emergency SOS via satellite feature. This flight replenishes that constellation, making it a commercially significant launch for both Globalstar and Apple's satellite connectivity roadmap. 1
Starlink Group 10-31 — Falcon 9
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Vehicle | Falcon 9 Block 5 |
| Operator | SpaceX |
| Launch window | May 22, 2026 |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida — SLC-40 |
| Payload | ~23 Starlink v2 Mini satellites |
| Target orbit | LEO shell 10 |
| Status | On schedule 1 |
| Live stream | SpaceX webcast — to be announced |
Routine Starlink replenishment to shell 10.
Viva La StriX — Electron
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Vehicle | Electron |
| Operator | Rocket Lab |
| Launch window | NET May 22, 2026 |
| Launch site | Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1A, Māhia Peninsula, New Zealand |
| Payload | StriX-3 (Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite) |
| Customer | Synspective (Tokyo, Japan — SAR earth observation startup) |
| Target orbit | Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) |
| Status | NET May 22 1 |
| Live stream | Rocket Lab YouTube — to be announced |
StriX-3 is the third satellite in Synspective's StriX SAR constellation, which provides high-resolution ground imagery for infrastructure monitoring and disaster response. This is part of Rocket Lab's ongoing dedicated launch agreement with Synspective. 1
Leo Atlas 07 — Atlas V 551
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Vehicle | Atlas V 551 |
| Operator | United Launch Alliance (ULA) |
| Launch window | NET May 22, 2026 |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida — SLC-41 |
| Payload | Amazon Project Kuiper broadband satellites |
| Customer | Amazon / Project Kuiper |
| Target orbit | LEO (Kuiper constellation orbit) |
| Status | NET May 22 2 |
| Live stream | ULA YouTube — to be announced |
Amazon's Project Kuiper broadband constellation continues its build-out with another Atlas V 551 flight. The 551 configuration uses a 5-meter fairing, five solid rocket boosters, and a single-engine Centaur upper stage — the heaviest Atlas V variant and appropriate for a dense satellite payload. The Atlas V is being retired in favor of ULA's Vulcan Centaur, so each remaining flight carries some extra note for observers tracking the transition. Kuiper is competing directly with SpaceX's Starlink for the satellite broadband market. 2
Friday, May 23
Starlink Group 17-37 — Falcon 9
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Vehicle | Falcon 9 Block 5 |
| Operator | SpaceX |
| Launch window | May 23, 2026 |
| Launch site | To be confirmed |
| Payload | ~23 Starlink v2 Mini satellites |
| Target orbit | LEO, polar shell 17 |
| Status | On schedule 1 |
| Live stream | SpaceX webcast — to be announced |
Second Starlink polar shell 17 flight of the week.
NASA, ISRO, and Blue Origin this week
No launches from these three operators fall within the May 18–24 window.
- NASA: The most recent cargo mission, SpaceX CRS-34 (which launched May 12), is docked at the ISS. No standalone NASA launch is on the manifest for this week. 1
- ISRO: No PSLV or LVM3 launch is scheduled this week. ISRO's website notes an ongoing investigation following a recent launch anomaly.
- Blue Origin: New Glenn NG-3 was the previous mission; no New Shepard or New Glenn launch is announced for this week.
References
- 1SpaceflightNow Launch Schedule
spaceflightnow.com
- 2ULA mission page — Atlas V Amazon Leo 6
ulalaunch.com
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