Launch week: July 20-26, 2026

Quick schedule

Mission cards

Starlink Group 17-39

• Vehicle and operator: Falcon 9 Block 5, SpaceX.
• UTC window: July 20, with the mission page showing a 14:36:26 liftoff and a 14:00-18:00 window. 3
• Site and pad: Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. 3
• Payload and destination: 24 Starlink V2 Mini satellites for SpaceX's low Earth orbit constellation, targeting a sun-synchronous orbit. 3
• Status: Scheduled, but delayed from July 18 in Spaceflight Now's schedule. The assigned booster is B1082, with a planned landing on Of Course I Still Love You. 23
• Live stream: SpaceX mission page. 3

MRV-1

• Vehicle and operator: Falcon 9 Block 5, SpaceX.
• UTC window: NET July 21 at 21:15 UTC; the mission page lists the window as opening at 21:15. 24
• Site and pad: Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. 4
• Payload and destination: Northrop Grumman's Mission Robotic Vehicle and three Mission Extension Pods are headed for geostationary transfer orbit. The pods are designed to extend the service life of customer satellites; the mission page identifies Intelsat and Optus as customers. 4
• Status: The Falcon 9 first stage is planned to be expended rather than recovered. 4
• Live stream: SpaceX mission page. 4

Gravity 1 unknown payload

• Vehicle and operator: Gravity 1, Orienspace.
• UTC window: July 22 at 02:50 UTC, with a 02:44-03:09 window shown on the mission page. 5
• Site and pad: Yellow Sea launch location 5 at the Haiyang Oriental Spaceport, China. 5
• Payload and destination: The payload identity and destination orbit are not disclosed in the mission record. 5
• Status: Schedule entry, payload identity uncertain. No public stream is listed on the mission detail page. 5

Long March 3B/E unknown payload

• Vehicle and operator: Long March 3B/E, listed under CASC.
• UTC window: July 23 at 12:00 UTC, with an 11:52-12:54 window. 6
• Site and pad: Launch Complex 2 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China. 6
• Payload and destination: Payload identity and target orbit are undisclosed. The mission record itself flags uncertainty around both the payload and vehicle identity. 6
• Status: Candidate schedule entry with no public stream listed on the mission detail page. 6

Starship Flight 13

• Vehicle and operator: Starship-Super Heavy v3, SpaceX. Booster 20 and Ship 40 are both listed for their first flight. 7
• UTC window: NET July 23 at 22:45 UTC. The mission page shows a 90-minute window ending at 00:15 UTC on July 24. 27
• Site and pad: Pad 2 at Starbase, Texas. 7
• Payload and destination: The suborbital test is planned to deploy 20 Starlink V3 satellites, briefly test network links, relight a Raptor engine in space, and perform controlled splashdowns in the Gulf of Mexico and Indian Ocean. The satellites are not intended to remain in orbit. 78
• Status: This is a reattempt, not a first attempt at the July 23 slot. The July 16 launch attempt aborted at ignition after multiple Super Heavy engines failed to start; Spaceflight Now reported the abort, while the current mission page carries the July 23 target. Treat the date as provisional until SpaceX confirms the next attempt. 78
• Live stream: NASASpaceflight live feed. The mission detail page also links to the NASASpaceflight Flight 13 report. 7

Kinetica 1 unknown payload

• Vehicle and operator: Kinetica 1, CAS Space.
• UTC window: July 23 at 23:30 UTC, with a 23:24-23:50 window. 9
• Site and pad: Site 130 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China. 9
• Payload and destination: The mission record names the payload as unknown and does not publish a target orbit. It also flags uncertainty around the vehicle identity, although the card labels the rocket Kinetica 1. 9
• Status: Candidate schedule entry. No public stream is listed on the mission detail page. 9

Long March 8A unknown payload

• Vehicle and operator: Long March 8A, listed under CASC.
• UTC window: July 24 at 11:00 UTC, with an 11:00-14:00 window. 10
• Site and pad: Commercial Launch Complex 1 at the Wenchang Space Launch Site, China. 10
• Payload and destination: Payload identity and target orbit are undisclosed. 10
• Status: Candidate schedule entry with no public stream listed on the mission detail page. 10

Starlink Group 17-51

• Vehicle and operator: Falcon 9 Block 5, SpaceX.
• UTC window: The Next Spaceflight mission page shows July 24 at 14:00 UTC with a 14:00-18:00 window. Spaceflight Now still lists the launch time as TBD, so use 14:00 as a working target rather than a locked appointment. 211
• Site and pad: Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. 11
• Payload and destination: 24 Starlink V2 Mini satellites for a sun-synchronous low Earth orbit. 11
• Status: Delayed from July 23 in Spaceflight Now's schedule. The mission page assigns booster B1100 and a planned landing on Of Course I Still Love You. 211
• Live stream: SpaceX mission page. 11

Watch priorities

Coverage notes

• NASA: NASA's events page lists Astrobotic Griffin-1 as no earlier than July 2026, without a precise date or launch window, so it is not counted as a July 20-26 launch. 12
• ESA: The ESA launch notice checked for this cycle gives June 17, 2026 for the next Ariane 6 launch, not a date in this week. 13
• Rocket Lab: Rocket Lab's public launches page shows 2026 missions and TBD entries, but no precise July 20-26 date in the accessible listing. 14
• ISRO: ISRO's mission list does not show a July 20-26, 2026 launch date. 15
• Blue Origin: No precise July 20-26 slot appears in the current dated schedule set. Check Blue Origin's missions page for a late operator update. 1