The launch manifest is full this week, with eight launches scheduled from different launch sites worldwide. The week will kick off with a SpaceX Starlink mission on Wednesday, followed by a busy Thursday, during which five different rockets — including a Vulcan, a Proton, and the first Ariane 64 — will launch. SpaceX and NASA are also scheduled to launch the crewed Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station on Thursday.
Finally, assuming schedules hold, SpaceX will close out the week with the launches of two Starlink missions from Florida and California.
Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 17-34
The first mission of the week, Starlink Group 17-34, is scheduled to launch on Wednesday, Feb. 11, atop a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex-4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California. Liftoff is expected at 6:07 AM PST (14:07 UTC). The payload for this mission will be 24 Starlink v2 Mini satellites heading to low-Earth orbit (LEO) on a southern trajectory, deploying them into an orbit inclined 97.6 degrees to the equator.
Falcon booster B1100 is launching for the third time after a 25-day turnaround. This booster has already supported Starlink Group 11-30 and, most recently, NROL-105. It will attempt to land on SpaceX’s autonomous droneship, Of Course I Still Love You, shortly after liftoff. This will be the 600th Falcon 9 mission to date.
The next launch comes from the Haiyang Oriental Spaceport in China, on Launch Platform 3 in the South China Sea. Chinarocket is expected to launch its four-stage, solid-fueled Jielong 3 on its ninth mission on Wednesday. The mission is scheduled to follow a southbound trajectory. The window for this mission opens at 6:26 UTC and closes at 6:47 UTC, with liftoff expected at 6:30 UTC.
As with many Chinese launches, the payload is expected to remain unknown until after launch, though some previously released information hints at its identity. In December 2025, during the mission’s original launch window, a Pakistani news source reported that Pakistan’s national space agency, the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), was planning to launch an Earth observation satellite. Around the same time, a Jielong 3 with a Pakistan flag on its fairing was spotted. Pakistan has used China’s launch services before, including a launch on CAS Space’s Zhongke-1 rocket on October 19.
Vulcan VC4S | USSF-87 (GSSAP 7 & 8)
The fourth launch of the United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan is set to take three payloads to a geosynchronous orbit for the United States Space Force. Vulcan Centaur VC4S is expected to liftoff from Space Launch Complex-41(SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) at 3:30 AM EST (8:30 UTC) on Thursday, Feb. 12. The launch window extends until 5:30 AM (10:30 UTC). Vulcan will fly on an eastern trajectory out of the Cape.
Vulcan will be flying in its VC4S configuration, featuring four solid rocket boosters and a standard-length (15.5m) payload fairing. The three payloads that will be delivered to geosynchronous orbit are GSSAP 7 & 8 and Propulsive ESPA. GSSAP 7 & 8 are space surveillance satellites manufactured by Northrop Grumman that monitor other objects in orbit. Propulsive ESPA is a small training spacecraft that will be used to teach Space Force guardians how to maneuver spacecraft in orbit.
This mission will mark Vulcan’s first of 2026 and fourth overall since its debut in 2024.
Thursday’s second launch is the Russian Elektro-L n°5 mission, scheduled for 8:52 UTC atop a Proton-M/DM-3 from Site 81/24 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Proton-M will be taking Elektro-L n°5, a weather-monitoring satellite, to a geostationary orbit.
As the name suggests, this will be the fifth Elektro-L satellite to be launched into orbit, enabling better real-time weather monitoring for Russia. Proton’s DM-3 configuration adds a fourth stage to the Proton-M, increasing its payload capacity to 6,000 kg to geostationary orbit. This mission will be Proton-M’s first launch of 2026.
SpaceX and NASA are scheduled to launch the Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, Feb. 12, at 6:01 AM (11:01 UTC) from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) at CCSFS in Florida. Two NASA astronauts, one European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut, and one Roscosmos cosmonaut will launch to LEO and rendezvous with the ISS, ultimately docking with the orbiting laboratory the following day. Crew-12 is expected to spend around eight to nine months aboard the Station, longer than the average six-month stay, due to Crew 11’s early departure from the ISS following a health concern with one of the astronauts.
The Crew-12 astronauts include commander Jack Hathaway (NASA), pilot Jessica Meir (NASA), mission specialist Sophie Adenot (ESA), and mission specialist Andrey Fedyaev (Roscosmos). The crew will ride to orbit inside Crew Dragon Freedom. This mission will mark Freedom’s fifth flight, following a 501-day turnaround from Crew-9.
Following stage separation, Falcon booster B1101 will perform a return-to-launch-site landing at the new Landing Zone 40 (LZ-40), which is located within the SLC-40 grounds and directly adjacent to the pad. This mission will serve as B1101’s second flight, and its landing will mark the first at LZ-40.
Ariane 64 | Amazon Leo (LE-01)
Arianespace is scheduled to launch its first Amazon Leo mission atop an Ariane 64 on Thursday, Feb. 12, at 16:45 UTC. The Ariane 6 — the first to launch in the 64 configuration with four P120C solid rocket boosters — will liftoff from pad ELA-4 at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana.
After flying on a northeastern trajectory out of Kourou, Ariane 6 will deploy 32 Amazon Leo (formerly Project Kuiper) internet satellites into LEO to bolster Amazon’s internet constellation. The constellation is expected to ultimately comprise 3,236 satellites, offering internet services to users on Earth. Leo is a direct competitor of SpaceX’s Starlink constellation.
Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 6-103
Starlink Group 6-103 is scheduled to launch at 12:00 AM EST (5:00 UTC) on Saturday, Feb. 14, from SLC-40 at the CCSFS. Falcon 9 will follow a southeastern trajectory, carrying 29 Starlink v2 Mini satellites to LEO and deploying them in an orbit inclined 43 degrees to the equator.
Falcon booster B1090 will fly on its 10th mission after an 84-day turnaround. B1090 has previously supported the O3b mPOWER 7&8, SpaceX Crew 10, Bandwagon-3, O3b mPOWER 9 & 10, SpX-33, and several Starlink missions. It will land on SpaceX’s autonomous droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas downrange in the Atlantic Ocean.
Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 17-13
SpaceX is expected to close out the week with Starlink Group 17-13 on Saturday. Falcon 9 is scheduled to liftoff at 2:00 PM PST (22:00 UTC) from SLC-4E at VSFB. Falcon 9 will follow a southern trajectory, carrying 25 Starlink v2 Mini satellites to a LEO inclined 97.6 degrees to the equator.
Booster B1081 is flying for the 22nd time after a 43-day turnaround. B1081 has previously supported the Crew-7, CRS-29, PACE, Transporter 10, EarthCARE, NROL-186, Transporter 13, TRACERS & Others, NROL-48, CSG-3, and 11 other Starlink missions. It will land on SpaceX’s droneship, Of Course I Still Love You, which will be stationed downrange in the Pacific Ocean.
This mission will be the 19th Falcon 9 mission of 2026 and the 36th orbital launch attempt worldwide in 2026.
(Lead Image: Crew-12 Dragon in the foreground of LC-40 before liftoff launch to the International Space Station. Credit: SpaceX)
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