Roman nears launch as Ariane 6 and SpaceX mark a packed space week

Moki

2 min read·2026/08/26

Moki

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A dense space week is taking shape: NASA’s Roman Space Telescope has entered final launch preparations, Europe is readying Ariane 6 for its first geostationary-transfer mission, and SpaceX has set another Falcon reuse and cadence milestone while lunar programs adjust their south-pole timelines.

Image / NASA

Roman telescope enters final countdown for an August 30 Falcon Heavy launch

NASA says the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is targeted to launch no earlier than August 30 at 7:26 a.m. EDT from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy. The agency has set launch coverage for 6:20 a.m. EDT and reported that Roman passed its Flight Readiness Review and was enclosed in Falcon Heavy’s payload fairing. After launch, Roman will travel to the Sun–Earth L2 region about 1.5 million km from Earth, using a wide-field infrared instrument with a field of view at least 100 times Hubble’s to study dark energy, dark matter, exoplanets and galaxy evolution.

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Image / esa.int

Ariane 6 prepares its first geostationary-transfer mission with MTG-I2

ESA and Arianespace are preparing Ariane 6 flight VA270 for August 27 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, carrying EUMETSAT’s MTG-I2 weather satellite. The launch window opens at 20:10 UTC and the flight plan calls for satellite separation about 36 minutes after liftoff. The mission matters for two reasons: it is Ariane 6’s first delivery toward geostationary transfer orbit, and MTG-I2 will add high-frequency imaging and lightning-monitoring capacity over Europe, Africa and nearby regions for severe-weather nowcasting and aviation safety.

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Image / Space

SpaceX reaches 100 Falcon 9 launches in 2026 and sets a booster reuse record

SpaceX’s August 25 Starlink Group 10-49 launch from Cape Canaveral carried 29 Starlink V2 Mini satellites and marked the 100th Falcon 9 flight of 2026. The mission also pushed booster B1067 to a 37th flight, a new reuse record, before landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. The milestone shows how Starlink remains the anchor customer for Falcon operations while SpaceX continues preparing heavier Starship capacity for future constellation deployment.

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Image / AP News

Chang’e 7 delay keeps the lunar south pole race in flux

China’s Chang’e 7 lunar south-pole mission has slipped out of its expected 2026 launch window after authorities said conditions were not suitable for launch and did not announce a new date. The mission is designed to combine an orbiter, lander, rover and small flying probe to investigate the polar environment and possible water ice. The delay intersects with NASA’s evolving Artemis and commercial lunar-delivery plans, keeping the south pole’s resource and infrastructure race active but schedule-sensitive on both sides.

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Image / NASA Science

LRO images a fresh Falcon 9 crater as a deep partial lunar eclipse approaches

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter imaged a new crater made when a Falcon 9 upper stage struck the Moon on August 5, with South Korea’s Danuri orbiter helping refine the impact location. The before-and-after observations improve impact modeling and lunar-object tracking. Separately, a deep partial lunar eclipse on August 27–28 will place most of the Moon’s disk inside Earth’s umbra at maximum eclipse, visible across large parts of the Americas, western Europe and western Africa.

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