I simply poured my second cup of espresso, opened the worldwide launch manifest, and truthfully, I needed to blink twice. In case you thought January was busy, February 2026 is shaping as much as be an absolute site visitors jam in low Earth orbit.
We’re every part from secretive area planes and human crew missions to the heavy-lifting giants of ULA and Ariane preventing for dominance. It appears like each main spaceport on the planet is energetic this month.
I’ve damaged down the chaos under, however first, I need to spotlight the missions that I’m personally setting my alarm for.
The Thriller of the “Divine Dragon”
Essentially the most intriguing launch on my radar is occurring this Saturday, February seventh. China is launching its Reusable Area Car (typically nicknamed “Shenlong” or Divine Dragon) on a Lengthy March 2F/G.
Why do I care? As a result of that is mainly the sibling rival to the US Air Drive’s X-37B. It’s extremely categorized. We don’t know precisely what it appears like, we don’t know what it’s carrying, and we don’t know the way lengthy it is going to keep up there. It launches, orbits, after which lands on a runway like an airplane. The secrecy round this mission at all times offers me chills—it jogs my memory that the area race has developed from “flags and footprints” to high-tech orbital maneuvers.
People Returning to Orbit: Crew-12
Just some days later, on Wednesday, February eleventh, SpaceX is doing what it does finest: sending astronauts to area. The Crew-12 mission is about to carry off from Florida.
Though Falcon 9 launches really feel routine now, I by no means get bored with watching a crewed launch. There’s a completely different vitality within the management room and a unique stress within the air when there are heartbeats on board. This mission retains the ISS absolutely staffed and operational.
The Heavyweight Championship: Vulcan vs. Ariane 6
That is the place the engineering nerd in me will get excited. We now have two large launches back-to-back:
USSF-87 (Feb 12): ULA is launching a Vulcan rocket for the US Area Drive. This can be a crucial nationwide safety mission.Amazon Leo (Feb 12): On the exact same day, Arianespace is launching an Ariane 64.
It’s uncommon to see two heavy-lift automobiles from completely different continents launching inside hours of one another. It actually reveals how aggressive the launch market has change into.
📅 February 2026 Area Launch Calendar
I’ve compiled the schedule under so you may monitor the insanity. Please bear in mind, spaceflight is hard—dates and instances typically slip resulting from climate or technical gremlins. All instances are listed in GMT+3 (Istanbul time).
What I’m Maintain My Eye On
Trying on the “TBD” (To Be Decided) checklist on the backside, the New Glenn launch catches my eye. Blue Origin has been engaged on this large rocket for years. In the event that they handle to launch the BlueBird Block 2 this month, will probably be a historic second for Jeff Bezos’s area ambitions.
Additionally, don’t sleep on the Firefly Alpha launch on the 14th. The small satellite tv for pc market is brutal, and Firefly must show consistency.
It will be a loud month. I’ll be updating my Twitter feed as these launches occur, particularly if we get any visuals on that Chinese language area aircraft.
Which mission excites you essentially the most: The thriller of the Chinese language area aircraft, the human drama of Crew-12, or the heavy steel energy of Vulcan and Ariane?
