The SpaceX Report: Starship’s Six-Week Countdown and Starlink’s Polar Push

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The SpaceX Report: Starship’s Six-Week Countdown and Starlink’s Polar Push

The SpaceX Report

Starship Gears Up for Imminent Return

Elon Musk has set a clear timeline for Starship’s next big moment: a launch in just six weeks. On Monday, January 26, 2026, Musk tweeted “Starship launch in 6 weeks” alongside a video tour of the Starship factory, offering a rare glimpse into the production pace at SpaceX’s South Texas facility. While no specific mission designation was provided, the comment aligns with recent infrastructure work in Florida and Texas aimed at supporting an accelerated flight cadence.

Musk also shared ambitious technical targets for the next-generation Starship V4 variant, stating a “stretch goal” of 300 tons of thrust per Raptor engine across 33 engines—yielding a staggering 10,000 tons of total thrust. That would be three times the power of the Saturn V Moon rocket, underscoring SpaceX’s focus on exponential growth in payload capacity. In another tweet, Musk emphasized that Starship will add “~3 orders of magnitude to SpaceX mass to orbit and beyond,” a claim that, if realized, would redefine access to space.

Starbase Infrastructure: Quiet Progress Continues

While detailed updates from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, remain sparse this week, Musk’s factory tour video suggests steady production activity. The footage highlighted ongoing assembly of multiple Starship vehicles and Super Heavy boosters, though no specific vehicle numbers or test milestones were cited. Infrastructure work at the launch site appears to be supporting the upcoming launch window, with continued focus on refining the Mechazilla launch tower and its chopstick arms for rapid catch-and-reuse operations. However, no new modifications to the orbital launch mount or deluge system were reported in available sources this week.

Falcon 9 Keeps the Cadence with GPS and Starlink

SpaceX maintained its blistering launch tempo this week with multiple Falcon 9 missions. On Sunday, January 25, a Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 7:38 a.m. PST, delivering 25 Starlink satellites into polar low Earth orbit. The mission, designated Starlink 17-20, marked the seventh Starlink launch of 2026. A similar West Coast Starlink mission (Starlink 17-30) had already flown on January 21, also to polar orbit—a configuration that benefits coverage over high-latitude regions, including much of Canada.

Meanwhile, the GPS III-9 satellite, originally slated for launch on United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket, successfully launched aboard a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral on Monday, January 26, at 11:42 p.m. EST. This marks the third GPS III satellite SpaceX has launched in as many years, highlighting the company’s growing role in national security space missions.

GPS III-9 satellite encapsulated in Falcon 9 fairing

Other SpaceX News: Crew-12 Briefings, Dragon Reboosts, and Starlink Squabbles

NASA and SpaceX held a mission overview briefing on January 30 for the upcoming Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station, featuring representatives from NASA, ESA, and SpaceX. While no Canadian astronaut is assigned to Crew-12, the mission underscores the ongoing reliance on Crew Dragon for ISS crew rotations. In orbit, the Cargo Dragon spacecraft recently provided a reboost to the station, firing its engines to maintain altitude—an increasingly routine but vital service.

On the commercial front, Starlink’s global expansion continues to spark headlines. Elon Musk took a playful jab at European budget airline Ryanair after its CEO, Michael O’Leary, refused to install Starlink internet on its fleet. Musk polled his X followers on whether he should buy the airline, drawing over 900,000 responses. Meanwhile, Starlink’s cold-weather performance got a nod from Musk himself, who noted the system “melts snow to work in the coldest weather”—a feature that doubtless endears it to Canadian users facing long winters. For those in remote communities across the North, Starlink remains one of the few high-speed internet options, with service now available in all provinces and territories.

NASA and SpaceX Crew-12 mission patch and suits

Citations

Upcoming Starship Launch

Flight 12

Starship

Launch Provider: SpaceX – Commercial
Launch Date: March 31, 2026
Launch Time: 3/31/2026, 12:00 AM UTC
Vehicle: Starship
Brief: 12th test flight of the two-stage Starship launch vehicle. Maiden Flight of Starship V3

Robo Chris
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