Here’s what’s on sale from January 26th to February: 1: SpaceX is scheduled to launch a new GPS III satellite on Tuesday, several Starlink deployments are planned for this week, Electron’s “bridge the swarm” mission is in its second installment, and Artemis 2 looms on the horizon.
In January 2023, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, carrying the sixth Lockheed Martin GPS III satellite into orbit. The ninth GPS III satellite will launch aboard a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday, January 27, 2026. Credit: SpaceX, CC BY-NC 2.0, via Flickr
Mission Highlight: GPS III SV09
SpaceX plans to launch a Falcon 9 carrying a GPS (Global Positioning System) III satellite into medium-Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Tuesday, January 27, 2026. The launch period will begin at 11:38 PM ET and the backup period is scheduled for Wednesday, January 28th at 11:34 PM ET. The first stage booster makes its fifth flight and lands on the droneship lack of gravity In the Atlantic Ocean.
You can stream the launch event here.
This mission will be the ninth next-generation GPS Block III satellite launched since SpaceX first placed the satellite into orbit in December 2018. The Lockheed Martin-designed satellite is part of an ongoing effort to modernize the satellite fleet. There are currently 31 active satellites, eight of which are GPS Block III, but the constellation only needs 24 to remain operational. Block III satellites provide three times more positioning accuracy and eight times more anti-jamming capability than previous satellites. Lockheed Martin plans to strengthen its satellite fleet with up-and-coming GPS Block IIIF (Follow-on) satellites, scheduled to launch by 2027. Block IIIF satellites will introduce better anti-jamming capabilities and the constellation’s first fully digital navigation payload. This means the satellite’s brain can be updated from the ground without redesigning the hardware.
The first GPS satellite launched in 1978. Originally a classified US asset, the signal was opened up to other industries by President Ronald Reagan in 1983, transforming global commerce and creating a utility that has become ubiquitous ever since. Today, GPS remains an important tactical tool for the U.S. military, but billions of people around the world rely on it every day, as do other global positioning satellite systems such as Europe’s Galileo, Russia’s GLONASS, and China’s BeiDou.
Other missions this week
Rocket Lab’s “Bridging The Swarm” mission continues this week, launching an electronic rocket from New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula on the 19th. Tuesday, January 27th 7:55pm ET. The launch carrying South Korea’s disaster monitoring satellite was originally scheduled for December 2025, but was canceled because the engine failed to ignite.
SpaceX plans two launches Thursday, January 29th: First, the Starlink Group 17-19 mission will launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 10:17 a.m. ET, followed by Starlink Group 6-101 from Cape Canaveral SFS at 11 p.m. ET.
Last week’s summary
To recap what happened last week, the Starlink Group 17-20 mission launched from Vandenberg SFB yesterday at 12:30pm EST.
The schedule for January 22 included Blue Origin’s NS-38 suborbital flight departing from West Texas at 11:25 a.m. ET, Rocket Lab’s “Cosmos Will See You Now” mission departing from New Zealand at 5:52 a.m. ET, and another SpaceX flight, Starlink Group Flight 17-30, at 12:47 a.m. ET.
Earlier in the week of January 19, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation launched the SatNet LEO Group 19 mission aboard Long March 12 from China’s Wenchang Space Launch Site at 2:48 a.m. ET.
Looking to the future
SpaceX continues its high pace with a series of Starlink launches scheduled for early February. This includes group 6-103 this Sunday at 6:04pm EST, followed by groups 17-32, 6-104, and 17-33 from February 2nd to 6th.
But all eyes are on NASA’s historic Artemis 2 mission. SLS Block 1 is scheduled to launch from Kennedy Space Center, with a target date of 9:41pm EST on February 6th, the first available opportunity in a series of critical launch periods.