What was meant to be SpaceX's final mission of 2025 from California will now be the first of 2026. Here's when and where to see the delayed launch.

SpaceX is starting 2026 with a high profile mission that will light up the skies over California tonight, sending an Italian radar satellite into orbit on a reusable Falcon 9. The flight is poised to mark the company’s first launch of the year and an early test of how aggressively it plans to keep pushing commercial and government customers into space.

Fittingly, the first launch of the year will be SpaceX. The Falcon 9 is set to take off no earlier than the first hours of Sunday, Jan. 4. SpaceX has stated the launch window runs from midnight until 3:17 a.m. on Jan. 4. from Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

China is making significant strides in the commercial space industry with the launch of its first sea-recovery reusable rocket plant. On January 7, 2026, construction began in Hangzhou, marking a crucial step toward reducing the cost of space exploration.