Rocket Report: SpaceX pushing ahead on Starbase, North Korea launch failure

Enlarge / SpaceX launches its 200th Falcon 9 consecutive successful mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base. (credit: SpaceX)

Welcome to Edition 5.41 of the Rocket Report! Not for the first time this year, the next three launches on the global calendar are all Falcon 9 missions. The cadence of that rocket's ability to launch continues to astound me—as does its reliability record. Read more about that below.

As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets and a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

North Korean orbital launch fails. North Korea tried and failed to launch a military spy satellite on Wednesday morning due to a problem with an upper-stage rocket engine, according to DPRK state media, NK News reports. The country's state news agency said North Korea would make another attempt "within the shortest period possible." The new "Chollima-1" rocket was attempting to launch a military reconnaissance satellite. Malligyong, the name of the spy satellite, means "telescope" in Korean, while Chollima is a mythical winged horse often used in North Korean propaganda.