OUTERSPACE TODAYNEWS
← All editionsTuesday, September 29, 2026 / Issue 087
[ OST Daily ]

Starship Reaches Orbit and Deploys 26 V3 Starlinks, NASA Buys Two More Starliner Flights and Backs Vulcan for Crew, and L3Harris Lands a $6B THAAD Propulsion Contract

Outerspace Today6 min read / 2026-09-29
OST Daily September 29, 2026 — SpaceX's Ship 41 rode out an engine shutdown and a 20-minute hold to reach orbit on Starship's 14th flight Monday, released 26 Starlink V3 satellites and splashed down north of Hawaii after just under two orbits; NASA said it will exercise options for a fifth and sixth crewed Starliner mission, pay Boeing $359 million to finish its thruster rebuild and certify Vulcan for crew, and fly an uncrewed Starliner in December or January; and L3Harris received a Lockheed Martin contract worth more than $6 billion to expand THAAD propulsion production.
The daily pictureOST editorial illustration · 2026-09-29
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The briefing

SpaceX's Starship reached orbit for the first time on Monday. Ship 41 lost one of its six engines during ascent, and controllers held it on its suborbital path for about 20 minutes to check the engines it needed before committing to the orbital insertion burn; it then released 26 Starlink V3 satellites through its payload dispenser. SpaceX brought the ship down early, after just under two orbits, splashing down north of Hawaii three hours after liftoff, and the Super Heavy booster again failed to relight all its engines before splashing down in the Gulf.

Hours later NASA said it will exercise options for a fifth and sixth crewed Starliner mission and pay Boeing $359 million to finish rebuilding the overheating thrusters and to certify United Launch Alliance's Vulcan for crew after Atlas V retires. An uncrewed Starliner flight is targeted for December or January, and a crewed mission commanded by Woody Hoburg for mid-2028. Administrator Jared Isaacman said NASA will buy at least one crewed mission to low Earth orbit every six months into the 2030s.

L3Harris received an undefinitized Lockheed Martin contract worth more than $6 billion over seven years to expand THAAD solid rocket motor and divert-and-attitude-control production, under a plan to quadruple output. Katalyst Space's attempt to boost NASA's Swift observatory ended without raising its orbit, leaving Swift to reenter by year's end, and ESA's Juice passed 8,640 kilometres above the Indian Ocean in an Earth flyby that added 3.5 kilometres per second toward Jupiter.

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The headlines

01

Starship reaches orbit on Flight 14 and deploys 26 V3 Starlinks

SpaceX

SpaceX's 14th Starship flight lifted off from Starbase at 7:49 a.m. Central on Monday and became the first to reach orbit. Ship 41 lost one of its six engines during ascent, and controllers held it on its suborbital path for about 20 minutes while they checked the three sea-level engines it needed to reach orbit and come home, then committed to the orbital insertion burn and released 26 Starlink V3 satellites through its payload dispenser. SpaceX deorbited the ship early, after just under two orbits and without giving a reason, and it splashed down north of Hawaii about three hours after launch.

02

NASA orders two more Starliner missions and funds Vulcan certification

SpaceX BA

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the agency will exercise options for a fifth and sixth crewed Starliner mission and will work with Boeing and United Launch Alliance to certify Vulcan for crew after Atlas V retires. NASA is paying Boeing $359 million to complete redesigned reaction control thrusters, new helium seals and thermal fixes identified after the 2024 crewed test flight, with uncrewed Starliner-1 targeted for December or January and a crewed Starliner-2 commanded by Woody Hoburg no earlier than mid-2028.

03

L3Harris receives $6B undefinitized THAAD propulsion contract from Lockheed Martin

LHX LMT

L3Harris Technologies disclosed an undefinitized contract from Lockheed Martin worth more than $6 billion, excluding escalations, over seven years to expand production of Solid Rocket Boost Motors and Liquid Divert and Attitude Control Systems for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system. The award follows an earlier framework agreement with the Department of War to quadruple THAAD propulsion output, and L3Harris plans a new facility to support the ramp alongside a separately disclosed PAC-3 MSE propulsion contract.

04

Katalyst's Swift boost mission ends without raising the observatory's orbit

A commercial mission by Katalyst Space to boost NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory concluded without raising the spacecraft's orbit, NASA said, and without intervention Swift was expected to reenter the atmosphere by the end of the year. NASA Astrophysics Division director Shawn Domagal-Goldman called it a high-risk, high-reward mission and said the agency is capturing lessons for future in-space servicing programs. Swift launched in November 2004 to study gamma-ray bursts.

05

Crew-13 cleared for October 1 launch as Canadarm2 transporter troubleshooting continues

SpaceX

NASA and SpaceX are targeting 11:10 a.m. EDT on October 1 for the Crew-13 launch of Dragon Grace from Space Launch Complex 40, carrying NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, CSA astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov on a Falcon 9 making its third flight. NASA is in parallel troubleshooting communication errors on non-robotic components associated with the station's mobile transporter and coordinating with SpaceX to confirm there is no GPS interference with Dragon's forward-port docking before launch.

06

ESA's Juice completes its Earth flyby, gaining 3.5 km/s toward Jupiter

ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer passed 8,640 kilometres above the Indian Ocean at 11:45 UTC on September 28, using Earth's gravity to bend its path by 20 degrees and add 3.5 kilometres per second, after needing only one small trajectory nudge out of six set aside in the preceding four weeks. Operators said the flyby used only a small amount of its reserved propellant, leaving more for observations of Jupiter's icy moons, and the spacecraft tested its science instruments on the way past.

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Market pulse

Archived snapshot from this edition. Prices and moves are not live.

Gainers+27
Decliners-16
Big mover MTRN+5.3%
AssetSnapshotMoveTrend
MTRNMaterion$283.82+5.3%
GLWCorning$158.75+3.2%
RDWRedwire Space$10.75+3.0%
FJETStarfighters Space$1.748-4.5%
SPIRSpire Global$10.96-2.0%
MDAMDA SpaceC$41.41-1.8%
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Launch watch

Schedule and countdowns as recorded in the 2026-09-29 edition.

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Filings

[ End of Issue 087 ]

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