Chinese rockets have logged 89 orbital launch attempts this year, less than half the number of flights by US launch vehicles. But China’s launch cadence dwarfs that of the rest of the world’s nations, and the US and Chinese numbers combine account for nearly 90 percent of all orbital launches in 2025.

Rocket Lab Corporation (RKLB) announced on Wednesday that its next Electron launch will deploy the STP-S30 mission for the U.S. Space Force's Space Systems Command. The company said it is accelerating the "Don’t Be Such A Square" launch of the mission by several months to a launch window that began at 12:00 a.

STP-30 will operate the first-ever DiskSats, a new type of spacecraft developed by The Aerospace Corporation with funding help from NASA. At 40 inches wide by just 1 inch thick (102 by 2.5 centimeters), each DiskSat has the approximate dimensions of a manhole cover.

Rocket Lab's reusable "Hungry Hippo" fairing has passed qualification tests, bringing the Neutron rocket closer to its first launch.

The Long March 12A model is designed and built by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, a subsidiary of the State-owned conglomerate China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, becoming the first reusable launch vehicle from the conglomerate to undertake a flight mission.

Live updates from the Starlink 6-99 mission, which launched 8:42 a.m. Dec. 17 from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

Rocket Lab USA's stock encountered significant pressure this week, declining sharply despite a recent successful mission for Japan's space agency. The sell-o

The Long March 12A model is designed and built by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, a subsidiary of the State-owned conglomerate China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, becoming the first from the State-owned conglomerate to undertake a flight mission.