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New Glenn booster reuse milestone & China outlines packed 2026 missions - Space News (Apr 19, 2026)
Published 1 month, 1 week ago
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Episode Transcript
New Glenn booster reuse milestone
Blue Origin is set to attempt a defining milestone for its New Glenn program today, April 19th, with the NG-3 mission launching in a window opening at 6:45 a.m. EDT, or 10:45 UTC, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The payload is AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 7, a Block 2 satellite aimed at direct-to-device cellular connectivity from space. The headline, though, is the booster: the first stage nicknamed “Never Tell Me the Odds” is flying again after a successful November 2025 debut and ocean-platform recovery on Blue Origin’s autonomous ship “Jacklyn.” If New Glenn can repeat a recover-refurbish-refly cycle at heavy-lift scale, it’s a major step toward lower costs and higher launch cadence in a market increasingly shaped by reusability and constellation demand.
China outlines packed 2026 missions
China’s space program is also accelerating. In press briefings held April 17th and 18th, the China National Space Administration outlined major 2026 missions spanning robotic exploration, crewed flights, reusable rocket testing, and international cooperation. Officials cited 92 launches in 2025—up 35 percent from 2024—underscoring the pace behind the new roadmap. Among the flagship efforts is Tianwen-2, already launched and en route toward near-Earth asteroid 2016 HO3 for close-range exploration and sampling, marking China’s first dedicated asteroid sample-return attempt. The plan also emphasizes lunar exploration with Chang’e-7, continued Shenzhou crewed activity including Shenzhou-23, and multiple reusable rocket flight-verification tests—signaling that reusability is becoming a central pillar of bo
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Today's topics:
New Glenn booster reuse milestone - Blue Origin targets a landmark New Glenn NG-3 launch featuring the first real booster reflight and a major commercial payload for AST SpaceMobile, signaling heavy-lift reusability moving closer to routine operations.
China outlines packed 2026 missions - China’s space agency unveiled a broad 2026 roadmap spanning asteroid sampling, lunar exploration, crewed missions, reusable rockets, and international partnerships, highlighting a rapidly rising launch tempo.
Lyrid meteor shower peak viewing - The Lyrid meteor shower—one of the oldest recorded skywatching events—reaches peak activity with favorable moonlight conditions, offering a strong chance at 10 to 20 meteors per hour under dark skies.
Next-gen rockets: Neutron and Starship - Rocket Lab and SpaceX hit key milestones as Neutron gains FCC experimental authorization for communications and recovery, while Starship Flight 12 clears major static-fire tests ahead of a potential early-May window.
Fresh discoveries: Webb, Mars, NICER - New science results span Webb’s evidence that a borderline planet formed like a planet, Perseverance’s discovery of corundum gemstones on Mars, and NICER’s tentative gravitational-redshift probe of neutron star compactness.
Episode Transcript
New Glenn booster reuse milestone
Blue Origin is set to attempt a defining milestone for its New Glenn program today, April 19th, with the NG-3 mission launching in a window opening at 6:45 a.m. EDT, or 10:45 UTC, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The payload is AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 7, a Block 2 satellite aimed at direct-to-device cellular connectivity from space. The headline, though, is the booster: the first stage nicknamed “Never Tell Me the Odds” is flying again after a successful November 2025 debut and ocean-platform recovery on Blue Origin’s autonomous ship “Jacklyn.” If New Glenn can repeat a recover-refurbish-refly cycle at heavy-lift scale, it’s a major step toward lower costs and higher launch cadence in a market increasingly shaped by reusability and constellation demand.
China outlines packed 2026 missions
China’s space program is also accelerating. In press briefings held April 17th and 18th, the China National Space Administration outlined major 2026 missions spanning robotic exploration, crewed flights, reusable rocket testing, and international cooperation. Officials cited 92 launches in 2025—up 35 percent from 2024—underscoring the pace behind the new roadmap. Among the flagship efforts is Tianwen-2, already launched and en route toward near-Earth asteroid 2016 HO3 for close-range exploration and sampling, marking China’s first dedicated asteroid sample-return attempt. The plan also emphasizes lunar exploration with Chang’e-7, continued Shenzhou crewed activity including Shenzhou-23, and multiple reusable rocket flight-verification tests—signaling that reusability is becoming a central pillar of bo