LOVE ROCKET DOWNRANGE? SUPPORT THE PROJECT AND STAR ON GITHUB 7
NASA APOD:
NanoSail-D2
In 2011, on January 20, NASA's NanoSail-D2 unfurled a very thin and very reflective 10 square meter sail becoming the first solar sail spacecraft in low Earth orbit. Often considered the stuff of science fiction, sailing through space was suggested 400 years ago by astronomer Johannes Kepler, who had observed comet tails blown by the solar wind. But modern solar sail spacecraft designs, like NanoSail-D2, Japan's interplanetary spacecraft IKAROS, or the Planetary Society's Lightsail A, rely on the small but continuous pressure from sunlight itself for thrust. Glinting in the sunlight as it circled planet Earth, NanoSail-D2's solar sail was periodically bright and visible to the eye. These remarkably detailed images were captured by manually tracking the orbiting solar sail spacecraft with a small telescope.
The Launch Library:
Upcoming Launches You Don't Want to Miss
CSG-3
Launch Date:
1/3/2026, 2:09:16 AM
Launch Vehicle:
Falcon 9,
SpaceX
Location:
Space Launch Complex 4E,
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Overview:
CSG-3 is an Earth observation satellite for the Italian Space Agency, part of a reconnaissance constellation using synthetic aperture radars operating in the X-band.
Starlink Group 6-88
Launch Date:
1/4/2026, 5:00:00 AM
Launch Vehicle:
Falcon 9,
SpaceX
Location:
Space Launch Complex 40,
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Overview:
A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Starlink Group 6-96
Launch Date:
1/7/2026, 6:55:00 PM
Launch Vehicle:
Falcon 9,
SpaceX
Location:
Space Launch Complex 40,
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Overview:
A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Starlink Group 6-97
Launch Date:
1/10/2026, 6:34:00 PM
Launch Vehicle:
Falcon 9,
SpaceX
Location:
Space Launch Complex 40,
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Overview:
A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
EOS-N1 and others
Launch Date:
1/11/2026, 4:15:00 AM
Launch Vehicle:
PSLV-DL,
Indian Space Research Organization
Location:
Satish Dhawan Space Centre First Launch Pad,
Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India
Overview:
Small Earth observation satellite from NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) for an "Indian strategic user", details TBD.
This launch will also carry 18 other ride-share payloads.
CSG-3
Launch Date:
1/3/2026, 2:09:16 AM
Launch Vehicle:
Falcon 9,
SpaceX
Location:
Space Launch Complex 4E,
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Overview:
CSG-3 is an Earth observation satellite for the Italian Space Agency, part of a reconnaissance constellation using synthetic aperture radars operating in the X-band.
Starlink Group 6-88
Launch Date:
1/4/2026, 5:00:00 AM
Launch Vehicle:
Falcon 9,
SpaceX
Location:
Space Launch Complex 40,
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Overview:
A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Starlink Group 6-96
Launch Date:
1/7/2026, 6:55:00 PM
Launch Vehicle:
Falcon 9,
SpaceX
Location:
Space Launch Complex 40,
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Overview:
A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Starlink Group 6-97
Launch Date:
1/10/2026, 6:34:00 PM
Launch Vehicle:
Falcon 9,
SpaceX
Location:
Space Launch Complex 40,
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Overview:
A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
EOS-N1 and others
Launch Date:
1/11/2026, 4:15:00 AM
Launch Vehicle:
PSLV-DL,
Indian Space Research Organization
Location:
Satish Dhawan Space Centre First Launch Pad,
Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India
Overview:
Small Earth observation satellite from NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) for an "Indian strategic user", details TBD.
This launch will also carry 18 other ride-share payloads.
API Data brought to you by The Space Devs
Space Industry & Godot (2022):
Help wanted: LunCo Space
Recently, I was invited to join the team at LunCo where we plan to create a space simulation game that features industry real world applications. While similar to games like Kerbal Space and No Man's Sky, LunCo will be feature two game styles - digital twin mode for engineers, and story mode for casual enthusiasts. We also plan to allow user generated content (space crafts, trajectories, factories, etc.) and integration with professional tools like CAD, FEA, MBSE, and more.
For story mode, you are playing as a CEO & Founder of a Lunar exploration company in the near future. You will collect resources, build factories, and manufacture robots to create a sustainable lunar base. From there, it's up to you to turn the Moon into a stepping stone and launch past the stars!
Rocket Lab Special Event (2021):
Rocket Lab ($RKLB) goes public
On Wednesday, August 25th of 2021, Rocket Lab began trading on the Nasdaq, becoming the latest space company to close a merger with a special purpose acquisition company and go public. They closed the first day down slightly at $10.45 per share, under the ticker $RKLB.
“We are super excited to bring a high-quality space asset to the market” Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck told CNBC. “I don’t think it will take long for investors to differentiate between the company that’s consistently delivering and the ones that have aspirations to deliver sometime in the future” he later added.
Astra Special Event (2021):
Astra ($ASTR) goes public
On Wednesday, June 30th of 2021, Astra became the first launch company to be traded publicly on NASDAQ. Trading under the ticker $ASTR, with shares previously listed under the special purpose acquisition company Holicity, the announcement expects to bring in around $500 million in proceeds. Astra's idea is to use the funding to continue to develop their rockets - with a goal of launching as many of it's 40ft tall rockets as it can, aiming to launch one per day by 2025.
“Now we have a space company that everyone can invest in on the public markets,” Astra CEO Chris Kemp told CNBC. “The same kinds of things you do to make a rocket great are the same behaviors that you have to invest in to make a company great. You don’t want any inefficiencies.”
About Rocket Downrange
Breaking boundaries, setting standards and transforming humanity for the better. Space has always been the final frontier that keeps on giving. This site serves to be a side project that informs and inspires the next generation of explorers.
Rocket Downrange is an independent hobby project by a guy learning Vue. No endorsements or partnerships exist between Rocket Downrange and the included organizations.
Contact Rocket Downrange
If you love the site or think something needs changed - we want to know! Questions, comments, suggestions and more can be sent below. If you know of any free and interesting API's we should include in the site - include information about where to find necessary documentation and we'll get to it!
