# Rocket Report: FAA eyes more Starbase traffic; India's Skyroot snares US customer

> SpaceX seeks to launch Starships 18 times faster at Starbase while India's Skyroot lands its first US customer and other rocket startups race to enter the market.
- Title: Rocket Report: FAA eyes more Starbase traffic; India's…
- Summary: SpaceX seeks to launch Starships 18 times faster at Starbase while India's Skyroot lands its first US customer and other rocket startups race to enter the…
- Keywords: spacex, starship, starbase, faa, skyroot aerospace, reflect orbital, rocket lab, stoke space, leap, space development agency, international space station, technology
- Source: Ars Technica — https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/10/rocket-report-faa-eyes-more-starbase-traffic-indias-skyroot-snares-us-customer
- Published: 2026-10-16T11:00:53+00:00
- Read time: 3 min
- Topics: spacex, starship, starbase, faa, skyroot aerospace, reflect orbital, rocket lab, stoke space, leap, space development agency, international space station, technology
## Japan's Mars mission launches Monday
Japan's Martian Moons Exploration mission launches aboard an H3 rocket as soon as Monday, visiting Phobos and Deimos to collect specimens returning to Earth in 2031.
## Reflect Orbital buys Indian launch capacity
California-based Reflect Orbital announced Wednesday it purchased two launches from Indian launcher Skyroot Aerospace, one on the Vikram-1 rocket that reached orbit in July.
## Reflect's space mirror business model
Reflect Orbital plans to launch a constellation of some fifty thousand mirrors in orbit to beam sunlight to the ground for power generation and illumination.
## US launch capacity concerns grow
Satellite operators fear an under-supply of US launch capacity as SpaceX phases out Falcon 9 in favour of the larger, relatively unproven Starship.
## LEAP targets smallsat market in 2028
Colorado rocket startup LEAP aims to enter the dedicated small-satellite launch market in 2028 with its Bighorn rocket, designed for three hundred twenty pounds to low-Earth orbit.
## LEAP plans mass production of rockets
LEAP's new Denver-area factory will support initial production of six Bighorn vehicles per year, with capacity to scale to two per month.

> We know how to build remarkable vehicles. The challenge is building enough of them fast enough.
## Rocket Lab delays Neutron to 2027
Rocket Lab announced Wednesday its Neutron launch vehicle won't fly until 2027 after discovering an issue during manufacturing of the rocket's carbon composite structures.
## Carbon composite manufacturing challenges
Rocket Lab's latest problem involves small air pockets, or voids, amid carbon-fiber layers making up the forward dome of Neutron's first-stage propellant tank.
## Stoke's Nova upper stage moves to testing
Stoke Space's reusable upper stage for its Nova rocket left Kent, Washington, for Moses Lake to undergo cryo-proof testing and hotfire campaign with its Andromeda engine.
## Nova aims for launch next year
If testing succeeds, Stoke will ship Nova's reusable rocket stage to Cape Canaveral, Florida, for final launch preparations. Nova is the only fully reusable Western rocket other than Starship in advanced development.
## SpaceX launches military data satellites
A Falcon 9 rocket carried the Space Development Agency's fourth plane of Tranche 1 Transport Layer satellites to low-Earth orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, on Saturday.
## ISS resupply mission delivers solar arrays
SpaceX's Falcon 9 launched the thirty-fifth Commercial Resupply Services mission Tuesday, delivering six thousand three hundred twenty-two pounds of cargo including two new roll-out solar arrays to the International Space Station.
## SpaceX seeks 456 launches yearly at Starbase
Federal aviation regulators are reviewing SpaceX's plan to allow as many as four hundred fifty-six launches and nine hundred twelve landings a year at Starbase, roughly eighteen times the currently allowed twenty-five launches and fifty…
## Starship recovery expected this year
Both Starship upper stage and Super Heavy booster are expected to eventually land at Starbase.
## Starship survives ocean splashdown
SpaceX returned the first Starship spacecraft to survive an ocean splashdown back to Starbase for inspection after completing a trip halfway around the world in July before descending to the Indian Ocean northwest of Australia.
## Key takeaway

SpaceX is asking the FAA to allow up to 456 launches and 912 landings yearly at Starbase, while India's Skyroot Aerospace lands its first US customer and multiple rocket startups advance toward orbital operations.