Latest Developments

SpaceX ignited all 33 Raptor 3 engines on Starship V3 in a landmark static fire at Starbase, clearing the final major technical hurdle before Flight 12. The achievement comes as SpaceX simultaneously maintained a relentless Starlink launch cadence, firing off two Falcon 9 missions just 19 hours apart from opposite coasts and crossing the milestone of 1,000 Starlink satellites launched in 2026 alone. With 10,243 satellites currently operational out of 10,260 in orbit across an 11,828-strong launched constellation, the network’s scale continues to reshape the competitive landscape. That landscape shifted further when Apple dealt a significant blow to Starlink’s consumer ambitions, backing a rival $11.6 billion Amazon–Globalstar merger instead.

Space Safety

Current conjunction monitoring reveals 10 tracked events involving Starlink satellites with no HIGH risk conjunctions identified, though 4 MODERATE risk events warrant continued surveillance. The highest-probability conjunction occurs on Apr 13, 2026 between STARLINK-33563 and COSMOS 2251 DEB (39.73% collision probability at 0.012 km minimum range), followed by STARLINK-5601 approaching DELTA 1 DEB on Apr 11, 2026 (34.79% probability). Simultaneously, 10 Starlink satellites are under active reentry prediction across April 15-18, 2026, with decay windows ranging from 240 to 2,880 minutes, presenting standard atmospheric reentry operations without anomalous risk indicators.

Detailed Coverage

Apple Picks Amazon Over Starlink in $11.6B Satellite Deal, Reshaping Consumer Market

In a move that will reverberate across the satellite broadband industry, Amazon announced an $11.6 billion merger with Globalstar and simultaneously secured Apple as its primary satellite connectivity partner for iPhone — a contract that reportedly was first offered to SpaceX and declined or rejected years earlier. The deal effectively locks Starlink out of the world’s most lucrative consumer hardware ecosystem and hands Amazon’s Kuiper-Globalstar combination a structural distribution advantage before Kuiper’s constellation is even fully deployed.

For Starlink, the implications are meaningful. While SpaceX’s direct-to-cell strategy remains active, losing Apple’s hardware integration means Starlink must compete for consumer mindshare without the benefit of seamless native iPhone support — a channel that reaches over a billion active devices worldwide. Analysts will be watching whether SpaceX pivots its direct-to-cell partnerships more aggressively toward Android OEMs in response.

Read the full story: Ars Technica

All 33 Raptor 3 Engines Roar on Starship V3, Flight 12 Now in Sight

SpaceX conducted the long-anticipated full-stack static fire of Starship V3’s Super Heavy booster today at Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, successfully igniting all 33 Raptor 3 engines simultaneously. The test is the most critical pre-flight qualification milestone for the V3 vehicle configuration, which incorporates upgraded Raptor 3 powerplants designed for higher thrust and improved reliability over the engines used in earlier flights. With the static fire complete, SpaceX can now proceed through final data review before targeting a Flight 12 launch attempt.

Each successful static fire tightens the feedback loop between hardware iteration and flight, a cadence SpaceX has deliberately accelerated following the Flight 9 and 10 anomalies. Flight 12 will be closely tracked by orbital analysts, as the trajectory and any debris-generating events would have direct implications for the low Earth orbit environment shared by the Starlink constellation operating at altitudes between roughly 340 and 560 km.

Read the full story: Teslarati

SpaceX Crosses 1,000 Starlink Satellites Launched in 2026 with Cape Canaveral Mission

SpaceX reached a symbolic but significant milestone on April 14, launching its 1,000th Starlink satellite of 2026 on the Starlink 10-24 mission, lifting off from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 5:33 a.m. EDT aboard a Falcon 9 carrying 29 satellites. The pace — 1,000 satellites in roughly 104 days — represents an annualized rate that would approach 3,500 satellites per year, underscoring the manufacturing and launch throughput SpaceX has achieved at its Hawthorne production facility and its East and West Coast launch complexes.

Booster B1080 supported the mission, continuing SpaceX’s routine reuse of flight-proven hardware. Once the 29 satellites complete orbital raising maneuvers and reach operational altitude, they will be trackable in two-line element sets and will join the 10,243 satellites currently in active service, continuing to densify coverage for high-demand regions.

Read the full story: Spaceflight Now

Dual-Coast Falcon 9 Sprint: Two Starlink Missions 19 Hours Apart

SpaceX demonstrated the operational depth of its launch infrastructure on April 14, executing two separate Falcon 9 Starlink launches — one from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and one from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California — with only 19 hours separating liftoff times. Booster B1080 flew from the East Coast while B1082 supported the West Coast mission, with both vehicles achieving successful first-stage landings on their respective drone ships, JRTI and OCISLY.

The rapid-fire dual launch is a reminder that SpaceX now operates what is effectively a two-lane highway to low Earth orbit, enabling simultaneous management of different orbital plane insertions to fill coverage gaps in the Starlink shell. For satellite trackers and conjunction analysts, back-to-back launches into varied inclinations mean an ongoing need to monitor newly inserted objects as they begin their phasing burns toward operational slots.

Read the full story: Space.com

Constellation Status

There have been no changes to the Starlink constellation since the last check. The constellation currently consists of 11,828 total satellites launched, with 10,260 remaining in orbit, 10,243 of which are operational, and 1,568 that have decayed from orbit.

• Total Launched: 11828
• Total On Orbit: 10260
• Total Working: 10243

Track Starlink satellites in real-time: Track Starlink