CARIBBEAN SPACE NEWS

The region is
already in orbit

Satellite missions, launch infrastructure, climate data and STEM policy from across the Caribbean and its diaspora. Mission ShakthiSAT is one story on this page, not the only one.

STORIES ON FILE

BEATS COVERED

AGENCIES TRACKED

      ● GOES-19 BACK ONLINE BEFORE PEAK SEASON● STARLINK ON CARIBBEAN ROUTES BY EARLY 2027● NEVIS FLIES FIRST CARIBBEAN LIFE SCIENCES PAYLOAD● PEDERNALES SPACEPORT · US$600M
      ● GOES-19 BACK ONLINE BEFORE PEAK SEASON● STARLINK ON CARIBBEAN ROUTES BY EARLY 2027● NEVIS FLIES FIRST CARIBBEAN LIFE SCIENCES PAYLOAD● PEDERNALES SPACEPORT · US$600M
    

THE LEAD

GOES-19 full-disk GeoColor view of Earth showing the Atlantic and Caribbean

CLIMATE

NOAA REGIONAL · 17 JULY 2026 · 3 MIN READ

GOES-19 hurricane satellite back online after brief outage

The primary satellite tracking tropical waves across the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf has returned to full service after slipping into an unexpected safe hold. Engineers recovered the spacecraft within a day, restoring real-time hurricane tracking, lightning mapping and sea-surface temperature monitoring just as the 2026 Atlantic season enters its active phase.

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ISLAND

AGENCY

BEAT

Falcon Heavy lifting off with the GOES-U weather satellite

CLIMATE NOAA · REGIONAL

GOES-19 hurricane satellite back online after brief outage

Engineers recovered the spacecraft within a day of an unexpected safe hold, restoring hurricane tracking, lightning mapping and sea-surface temperature monitoring as the 2026 Atlantic season turns active.

              17 JUL 2026·3 MIN READ
            

Starlink aviation antenna panel used for in-flight WiFi

TECHNOLOGY SPACEX · PUERTO RICO

Frontier Airlines to bring Starlink WiFi to Caribbean routes

The first Starlink-equipped aircraft enter service in early 2027, putting satellite broadband on a low-fare network spanning San Juan, Punta Cana and Montego Bay.

              8 JUL 2026·3 MIN READ
            

SubOrbital Express sounding rocket launching from Esrange Space Center

MISSION ST. KITTS & NEVIS

Nevis makes history with first Caribbean space life sciences experiment

Under the CARISPACE initiative the experiment flew aboard a SubOrbital Express sounding rocket from Esrange, Sweden, reaching 260 km and studying how gravity changes affect human immune cells.

              2 JUN 2026·4 MIN READ
            

Vega-C rocket lifting off from Kourou with the SMILE spacecraft

MISSION ESA · FRENCH GUIANA

SMILE lifts off: Vega-C delivers solar wind explorer from Kourou

The ESA and Chinese Academy of Sciences mission separated 57 minutes after liftoff. SMILE will image Earth’s magnetosphere in soft X-rays for up to 40 hours per orbit.

              19 MAY 2026·4 MIN READ
            

Ariane 6 launch complex at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou

POLICY ESA · CNES · FRENCH GUIANA

ESA and CNES sign new funding pact for Guiana Space Centre through 2030

The operational agreement underwrites Europe’s equatorial launch capability in the Caribbean basin as Ariane 6 and Vega-C flight rates climb.

              30 APR 2026·3 MIN READ
            

Soyuz launch complex at the Guiana Space Centre

INFRASTRUCTURE ARIANESPACE · FRENCH GUIANA

End of an era: Soyuz launch tower demolished at Kourou

The 52-metre mobile service tower of the dormant Soyuz complex came down in a controlled demolition, closing the chapter on Russian launches from South America and clearing the site for European commercial launchers.

              24 APR 2026·3 MIN READ
            

Coastline of Bahía de las Águilas in Pedernales, Dominican Republic

INFRASTRUCTURE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Dominican Republic formally presents Pedernales spaceport project

The Ministry of the Presidency laid out plans for the nation’s first commercial spaceport in Oviedo, Pedernales province, with universities already mapping the engineering and technical careers the facility will demand.

              17 MAR 2026·5 MIN READ
            

Fully assembled SMILE spacecraft in the cleanroom

MISSION ESA · FRENCH GUIANA

ESA’s solar wind mission stages through Caribbean gateway

After a two-week ocean transit to Kourou the joint Earth-science craft entered final integration and fuelling ahead of a Vega-C window opening 8 April.

              9 MAR 2026·3 MIN READ
            

President Luis Abinader of the Dominican Republic

INFRASTRUCTURE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Dominican Republic unveils $600M commercial spaceport plan

President Luis Abinader signed a strategic partnership with a US-based launch developer, targeting a first orbital launch from Dominican territory before May 2028.

              2 MAR 2026·5 MIN READ
            

FROM THE WIRE ARCHIVE

12 FEB 2026 MISSION Ariane 6 milestone: 32 Amazon satellites launched from French Guiana 7 NOV 2025 TECHNOLOGY Starlink becomes emergency backbone after Hurricane Melissa devastates Jamaica 29 JUL 2025 POLICY Bahamas freezes SpaceX landing deal amid Starship debris fallout 8 MAR 2025 EDUCATION Haiti to join international space education initiative 7 MAR 2025 MISSION ShaktiSAT mission update: Caribbean orbit parameters confirmed 6 MAR 2025 EDUCATION Trinidad and Tobago launches STEM space program for secondary schools 5 MAR 2025 CLIMATE NASA's Caribbean climate satellite array expands coverage 4 MAR 2025 INFRASTRUCTURE Guyana opens South America's first Caribbean-linked spaceport site 3 MAR 2025 ENVIRONMENT ESA's Copernicus program adds Caribbean reef monitoring layer 2 MAR 2025 POLICY Jamaica's space ambitions: first national satellite by 2027 1 MAR 2025 POLICY CARICOM space policy framework advances at regional summit 26 OCT 2024 POLICY Latin American & Caribbean Space Agency (ALCE) formally established 7 OCT 2024 POLICY Dominican Republic signs NASA's Artemis Accords 20 FEB 2024 TECHNOLOGY Trinidad & Tobago launches free Caribbean geospatial data center at UWI