The launch manifest is full this week, with eight launches scheduled from different launch sites worldwide. The week kicked off with a SpaceX Starlink mission on Wednesday, followed by a busy Thursday, during which five different rockets — including a Vulcan, a Proton, and the first Ariane 64 — launched. SpaceX and NASA are launching the crewed Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station on Thursday.
Finally, SpaceX closed out the week with the launches of two Starlink missions from Florida and California.
Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 17-34
The first mission of the week, Starlink Group 17-34, launched on Wednesday, Feb. 11, atop a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex-4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California. Liftoff is expected at 9:11 AM PST (17:11 UTC). The payload for this mission was 24 Starlink v2 Mini satellites heading to low-Earth orbit (LEO) on a southern trajectory, deploying them into an orbit inclined 97.6 degrees to the equator.
Falcon booster B1100 launched for the third time after a 25-day turnaround. This booster has already supported Starlink Group 11-30 and, most recently, NROL-105. It successfully landed on SpaceX’s autonomous droneship, Of Course I Still Love You, shortly after liftoff.
Jielong 3 | PRSC-E02 & 6 satellites
The next launch came from the Haiyang Oriental Spaceport in China, on Launch Platform 3 in the South China Sea. Chinarocket launched its four-stage, solid-fueled Jielong 3 on its ninth mission on Wednesday. The mission followed a southbound trajectory to reach a sun-synchronous orbit. The window for this mission opened at 6:26 UTC and closed at 6:47 UTC, with liftoff coming at 6:37 UTC.
As with many Chinese launches, the payload remained unknown until after launch. It was confirmed that previously released information was correct and that at least one of the payloads’ identities was confirmed. In December 2025, during the mission’s original launch window, a Pakistani news outlet reported that Pakistan’s national space agency, the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), planned to launch an Earth observation satellite. Around the same time, a Jielong 3 with a Pakistan flag on its fairing was spotted. Pakistan has used China’s launch services before, including a launch on CAS Space’s Zhongke-1 rocket on October 19. Additionally, six other satellites were flown on this mission, with at least one more believed to be the CUHK-1 Earth observation satellite. While not yet confirmed, seven payloads are known to have flown on this flight.
Vulcan VC4S | USSF-87 (GSSAP 7 & 8)
The fourth launch of the United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan took three payloads to a geosynchronous orbit for the United States Space Force, but not without some trouble. Vulcan Centaur VC4S lifted off from Space Launch Complex-41(SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) at 4:22 AM EST (9:22 UTC) on Thursday, Feb. 12. The launch window extended until 5:30 AM EST (10:30 UTC). Vulcan flew on an eastern trajectory out of the Cape.
Vulcan took off in its VC4S configuration, featuring four solid rocket boosters and a standard-length (15.5m) payload fairing. The three payloads that were delivered to geosynchronous orbit are GSSAP 7 & 8 and Propulsive ESPA. GSSAP 7 & 8 are space surveillance satellites manufactured by Northrop Grumman that monitor other objects in orbit. Propulsive ESPA is a small training spacecraft that will be used to teach Space Force guardians how to maneuver spacecraft in orbit.
Upon the launch of this mission, one of the four solid rocket motors attached to Vulcan experienced an anomaly. As seen on the first launch of Vulcan Centaur, the solid rocket motor burned through the nozzle. ULA addressed the anomaly on X, saying, “We had an observation early during flight on one of the four solid rocket motors, the team is currently reviewing the data. The booster, upperstage and spacecraft continued to perform on a nominal trajectory.” This mission marked Vulcan’s first of 2026 and fourth overall since its debut in 2024.
Thursday’s second launch was the Russian Elektro-L n°5 mission, scheduled for 8:52 UTC atop a Proton-M/DM-3 from Site 81/24 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Proton-M took Elektro-L n°5, a weather-monitoring satellite, to a geostationary orbit.
As the name suggests, this was the fifth Elektro-L satellite to be launched into orbit, enabling better real-time weather monitoring for Russia. Proton’s DM-3 configuration adds a fourth stage to the Proton-M, increasing its payload capacity to 6,000 kg to geostationary orbit. This mission was Proton-M’s first launch of 2026.
Ariane 64 | Amazon Leo (LE-01)
Arianespace launched its first Amazon Leo mission atop an Ariane 64 on Thursday, Feb. 12, at 16:45 UTC. The Ariane 6 — the first to launch in the 64 configuration with four P120C solid rocket boosters — lifted off from pad ELA-4 at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana.
After flying on a northeastern trajectory out of Kourou, Ariane 6 deployed 32 Amazon Leo (formerly Project Kuiper) internet satellites into LEO to bolster Amazon’s internet constellation. The constellation is expected to ultimately comprise 3,236 satellites, offering internet services to users on Earth. Leo is a direct competitor of SpaceX’s Starlink constellation.
SpaceX and NASA launched the Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, Feb. 13, at 5:15 AM (10:15 UTC) from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) at CCSFS in Florida. Two NASA astronauts, one European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut, and one Roscosmos cosmonaut flew to LEO and rendezvoused with the ISS, ultimately docking with the orbiting laboratory the following day. Crew-12 is expected to spend around eight to nine months aboard the Station, longer than the average six-month stay, due to Crew 11’s early departure from the ISS following a health concern with one of the astronauts.
The Crew-12 astronauts include commander Jack Hathaway (NASA), pilot Jessica Meir (NASA), mission specialist Sophie Adenot (ESA), and mission specialist Andrey Fedyaev (Roscosmos). The crew was sent to orbit inside Crew Dragon Freedom. This mission marked Freedom’s fifth flight, following a 501-day turnaround from Crew-9.
Following stage separation, Falcon booster B1101 performed a return-to-launch-site landing at the new Landing Zone 40 (LZ-40), which is located within the SLC-40 grounds and directly adjacent to the pad. This mission served as B1101’s second flight, and its landing marked the first at LZ-40. This was the 600th Falcon 9 mission to date.
Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 17-13
Starlink Group 17-13 lifted off on Saturday at 5:59 PM PST (1:59 UTC) from SLC-4E at VSFB. Falcon 9 followed a southern trajectory, carrying 25 Starlink v2 Mini satellites to a LEO inclined 97.6 degrees to the equator.
Booster B1081 flew for the 22nd time after a 43-day turnaround. B1081 has previously supported the Crew-7, CRS-29, PACE, Transporter 10, EarthCARE, NROL-186, Transporter 13, TRACERS & Others, NROL-48, CSG-3, and 11 other Starlink missions. It landed on SpaceX’s droneship, Of Course I Still Love You, which was stationed downrange in the Pacific Ocean.
Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 6-103
SpaceX closed out the week with Starlink Group 6-103, which launched at 2:59 AM EST (7:59 UTC) on Monday, Feb. 16, from SLC-40 at the CCSFS. Falcon 9 followed a southeastern trajectory, carrying 29 Starlink v2 Mini satellites to LEO and deploying them in an orbit inclined 43 degrees to the equator.
Falcon booster B1090 flew on its 10th mission after an 84-day turnaround. B1090 has previously supported the O3b mPOWER 7&8, SpaceX Crew 10, Bandwagon-3, O3b mPOWER 9 & 10, SpX-33, and several Starlink missions. It landed on SpaceX’s autonomous droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas downrange in the Atlantic Ocean.
This mission was the 19th Falcon 9 mission of 2026 and the 36th orbital launch attempt worldwide in 2026.
(Lead Image: Crew-12 Dragon in the foreground of LC-40 before liftoff launch to the International Space Station. Credit: SpaceX)
