It was a record year for spaceflight in California at the Vandenberg Space Force Base, and even more rocket launches should be ahead in 2026.

That’s the question being asked after the U.S. Space Force announced a plan over the holidays to develop a new launch site at the Santa Barbara County base capable of hosting “heavy” and “super-heavy” rockets that will deliver massive payloads into orbit, and beyond.

The number of orbital launch attempts worldwide last year surpassed the record 2024 flight rate by 25 percent, with SpaceX and China accounting for the bulk of the launch activity, Aviation Week & Space Technology reports.

Liftoff of the Spainsat NG-2 satellite occurred at 9:30 p.m. ET today (Oct. 23). When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. SpaceX launched its record-setting 139th mission of the year today ...

Rockets here launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center or Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Ahead of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from Cape Canaveral, people in Florida reported seeing a fireball in the sky. Some social media users thought ...

SpaceX and Blue Origin are two of the leading players in the rocket launch business. Both have big plans for 2026.

Following last week’s success of Blue Origin’s first interplanetary launch and its first landing of the New Glenn rocket’s first-stage booster, the company has announced plans to transform the rocket into a more powerful beast. And yes, SpaceX will ...