Latest Developments

With Artemis II marking its halfway point in transit, attention on Earth is shifting to an active launch manifest headlined by a Falcon 9 mission carrying Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo vehicle to the International Space Station. Simultaneously, a Minotaur IV is preparing to lift off from California, adding to a dense period of launch activity across both commercial and government operators. NASA officials have publicly praised SpaceX’s commitment to the Human Landing System program, underscoring the agency’s continued reliance on the company for its deepest exploration goals. Against a Starlink constellation now numbering 10,187 operational satellites across 10,196 in-orbit assets, SpaceX’s cadence of operational missions continues to expand well beyond its own broadband network.

Space Safety

The current Starlink conjunction picture shows moderate activity with two MODERATE risk events identified in early April 2026, though no HIGH risk conjunctions are presently flagged. The most significant event involves STARLINK-6303 and STARLINK-6281 with a 17.4% collision probability on Apr 8, followed by STARLINK-32590 approaching TRANSPORTER-10 OBJECT AG at 10.5% probability on Apr 2. Concurrently, eight Starlink satellites are predicted to reenter Earth’s atmosphere between Apr 6–10, 2026, with most decay windows spanning 24–48 hours, presenting manageable but continuous operational monitoring requirements.

Detailed Coverage

Falcon 9 Targets ISS Cygnus Delivery as Launch Manifest Grows Crowded

A Falcon 9 booster is set to loft Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station in the coming days, part of a notably busy stretch of orbital activity that also includes a Minotaur IV launch from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base. The back-to-back missions highlight how demand for reliable medium-lift access to orbit remains extremely high across both NASA-contracted commercial cargo and defense-oriented payloads.

For SpaceX, the Cygnus contract represents one of several services rendered to NASA that span low Earth orbit logistics all the way to deep-space lunar architecture. Falcon 9’s established reusability record continues to make it the dominant vehicle for this segment of the market, with booster recovery operations expected to be a standard feature of the upcoming flight.

Read the full story: NASASpaceFlight

NASA Praises SpaceX and Blue Origin HLS Commitment as Artemis II Cruises Toward the Moon

NASA’s Lori Glaze offered a notably optimistic assessment of both SpaceX and Blue Origin’s dedication to the Human Landing System program, stating there has been “real commitment to try and do that” from both companies as Artemis II continues its crewed journey beyond low Earth orbit. The remarks come at a pivotal moment, as hardware readiness for lunar surface missions will need to accelerate in parallel with the success already being demonstrated by the Orion capsule and Space Launch System rocket currently in flight.

SpaceX’s Starship HLS variant remains one of the most consequential vehicles in development anywhere in the world, and NASA’s public confidence signals that internal program reviews are trending positively despite the complexity of integrating a vehicle of Starship’s scale into a crewed lunar landing architecture. With Starship’s own orbital test program ongoing, progress on the HLS-specific configuration is being watched closely by both commercial analysts and national space agencies.

Read the full story: Ars Technica

Constellation Status

There have been no changes to the Starlink constellation since the last check. As of April 7, 2026, SpaceX maintains 11,749 total launched satellites, with 10,196 currently in orbit, 10,187 of which are operational, and 1,553 that have decayed.

• Total Launched: 11749
• Total On Orbit: 10196
• Total Working: 10187

Track Starlink satellites in real-time: Track Starlink