Latest Developments

SpaceX cleared a critical milestone this week with the first full-duration static fire of its next-generation Version 3 Starship upper stage, setting the stage for Flight 12 as early as next month. The test represents a significant leap forward for the program, as V3 incorporates substantial design upgrades over the vehicle that flew on Flight 11. Meanwhile, SpaceX continued its relentless Starlink cadence, launching two Falcon 9 missions just 19 hours apart from opposite coasts — adding to a constellation that now stands at 11,828 satellites launched, 10,258 in orbit, and 10,242 actively working.

Space Safety

Current Starlink conjunction activity shows four MODERATE risk events clustered in mid-April 2026, with the highest concern involving operational Starlink-33563 and debris from COSMOS 2251 on Apr 13, 2026 (probability: 0.3973). The second-highest risk involves Starlink-5601 approaching DELTA 1 debris on Apr 11, 2026 (probability: 0.3479), both representing elevated collision probabilities that warrant continued monitoring despite minimum ranges exceeding 12 km. Concurrently, eight Starlink satellites are predicted to reenter Earth’s atmosphere between Apr 16-19, 2026, with decay windows ranging from 180 to 2,880 minutes—a routine turnover rate consistent with the constellation’s operational management and natural orbital decay patterns.

Detailed Coverage

Starship V3 Passes Full-Duration Static Fire, Flight 12 Targeting May

SpaceX successfully conducted the first full-duration static fire of the Starship V3 upper stage at its Starbase facility in South Texas this week, marking the final major ground-test hurdle before the vehicle’s first flight attempt. The V3 configuration features redesigned Raptor engines and structural improvements aimed at boosting payload performance and reusability over previous iterations.

With the static fire data now in hand, SpaceX engineers will review engine and systems telemetry before committing to a launch date, which the company is currently targeting for next month. Flight 12 is expected to push the boundaries of the test program further, potentially including new reentry and catch attempt objectives for both the Super Heavy booster and the Ship stage. For satellite trackers, a successful Flight 12 would accelerate the timeline toward Starship’s eventual role as Starlink’s primary high-volume launch vehicle.

Read the full story: Space.com

V3 Static Fire Confirmation: What It Means for the Road Ahead

Independent coverage confirmed the completion of the full-duration Starship V3 static fire, underscoring its significance as the direct gate to Flight 12 approval. The test was widely anticipated across the spaceflight community after earlier partial and shorter-duration engine tests in the weeks prior raised questions about readiness timelines.

Analysts note that the V3 vehicle’s upgraded specifications could meaningfully change Starship’s operational performance profile if the flight test proceeds without major anomalies. With SpaceX moving quickly through its iterative test cadence, the window between this static fire and an actual launch attempt is expected to be compressed — potentially weeks rather than months — assuming regulatory clearances align with the technical schedule.

Read the full story: Teslarati

Dual Falcon 9 Launches 19 Hours Apart Expand Starlink Constellation

SpaceX demonstrated the operational maturity of its Falcon 9 fleet on April 14, 2026, executing two separate Starlink launches from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and Vandenberg Space Force Base in California within a 19-hour window. Boosters B1080 and B1082 both supported their respective missions, with drone ship landings completing the back-to-back cadence cleanly.

The dual-launch sequence continued the steady expansion of the Starlink network, which now counts 10,242 operational satellites — a figure that underscores the extraordinary throughput SpaceX has maintained in constellation build-out. With launches originating from both coasts, the two batches were delivered to complementary orbital planes, helping fill coverage gaps and add redundancy to the existing mesh. Satellite trackers using tools like KeepTrack can observe the newly injected objects as they drift into their operational shells over the coming days.

Read the full story: Space.com

Constellation Status

The Starlink constellation has remained stable since the last check, with no new launches or orbital changes to report. The constellation currently consists of 11,828 total launched satellites, of which 10,258 remain in orbit, 10,242 are operational, and 1,570 have decayed from their orbits.

• Total Launched: 11828
• Total On Orbit: 10258
• Total Working: 10242

Track Starlink satellites in real-time: Track Starlink