Rocket Report: New Shepard may fly soon; ULA changes mind on DoD competition

Welcome to Edition 6.11 of the Rocket Report! There's a lot going on this week, including the completion of pre-flight tests by two companies developing reusable small launch vehicles. On the larger end of the spectrum, NASA is installing engines onto its second Space Launch System rocket, and SpaceX appears to be on track to get a launch license for its second Starship launch next month.

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 as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

New Shepard may return to flight in October. As of Tuesday, it has been a full year since the failure of the New Shepard-23 booster, in which the rocket was lost at 1 minute and 4 seconds into flight. While Blue Origin has not said anything publicly, Ars reports that the company's tentative plans call for an uncrewed test flight of New Shepard in early October. If all goes well, Blue Origin is planning its first crewed mission since August 4, 2022, to take place in mid-February next year.

The suborbital space race is on ... New Shepard's long-awaited return to flight comes as its primary competitor, Virgin Galactic, has begun to demonstrate an impressive cadence of human spaceflights. With its VSS Unity spacecraft, Virgin Galactic can carry four passengers and two pilots to an altitude of about 55 miles, and this vehicle has made four spaceflights in four months this summer. Virgin Galactic's president, Mike Moses, said the company plans to continue flying humans on VSS Unity on more or less a monthly cadence from now on.

Rocket Lab expands hypersonic program. Leidos confirmed this week that it was the contractor for a hypersonic testbed launched by a Rocket Lab Electron vehicle on June 17 from Launch Complex 2 at Virginia’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport. "This successful test has demonstrated first hypersonic insertion of a payload from a commercial launch vehicle and the team is ready to move forward into the next phase of this program," said Leidos CEO Tom Bell.

Four more on tap ... The next phase of the program will expand upon this successful test with additional hypersonic flight test opportunities as the United States seeks to match and counter the hypersonic capabilities of other nations. Rocket Lab said it has signed a contract to conduct four additional "HASTE" missions with Leidos on Electron. The missions, scheduled across 2024 and 2025, will also fly from Virginia. (submitted by Ken the Bin)

Stoke Space tests hopper. The Washington-based company that is developing a fully reusable small launch vehicle, Stoke Space, said it has completed a static fire test of its "hopper" prototype of a rocket's second stage. "This all-up test was really a hop mission simulation and included everything from flight avionics, power systems, computers, GNC, RCS, tank pressurization, and, of course, the engine and heat shield," the company said on the social network X. It shared a video of the test firing.

Next up an actual hop? ... This second stage will land back on Earth after a launch. In its statement, the company continued, "The only thing we simulated was the position data, which was derived in real time from engine data. Simulating the position gave us the opportunity to inject dispersions, such as a persistent roll, which you can see the badass RCS fighting hard to correct." For more about Stoke, check out this feature story from last October. (submitted by Ken the Bin)

MaiaSpace completes stage test. MaiaSpace has completed the first cryogenic test of a full-scale prototype of the Maia rocket’s second stage, European Spaceflight reports. The offshoot of ArianeGroup is attempting to develop a small partially reusable launch vehicle. This Maia rocket is designed to be capable of delivering up to 1,500 kilograms to orbit when its first stage is expended and 500 kilograms when the stage is being recovered. A debut flight of Maia could occur in late 2025.

Capable of going fast? ... The cryogenic testing occurred at ArianeGroup’s testing facilities in Vernon, France. The prototype stage was designed, built, and integrated by MaiaSpace in less than nine months. Following the success of the first test, the company is moving forward with two additional cryogenic tests that are scheduled to take place this month. The company is attempting to lean into a new space ethos of moving quickly and iterating. It will be interesting to see whether MaiaSpace is successful in doing so. (submitted by Ken the Bin and EllPeaTea)

Astra announces reverse stock split. Astra Space announced a reverse stock split on Wednesday in an effort to prevent a delisting on the stock exchange, Payload reports. The company’s board of directors approved the stock split of Astra’s Class A and Class B common stock, both valued at $0.0001, at a ratio of one for 15, effective immediately. A reverse stock split is a common tool utilized by struggling companies, including Momentus and Spire, to artificially bump up a stock price while preserving their market cap value.

In trouble since last summer ... Astra was the first launch startup to trade on the NASDAQ back in the SPAC-apalooza of 2021, and the move fueled Astra’s plans to expand its launch services. But its ambitious foray into the stock market hit trouble in July when the company’s stock price dwindled below the $1-per-share minimum requirement set by NASDAQ. This was led, in part, by the company's struggle to reliably launch its Rocket 3.3 vehicle. (submitted by Ken the Bin)

Telesat books a big Falcon 9 order. SpaceX will launch 14 Falcon 9 rockets beginning in 2026 to deploy satellites for Telesat's Lightspeed network, a constellation designed to provide broadband connectivity for businesses, governments, and telecom operators, officials announced Monday. Each Falcon 9 mission will loft up to 18 Lightspeed satellites on a single launch, Ars reports. This announcement also signals a change in direction for Telesat, which previously announced launch contracts with Blue Origin and Relativity Space.

Willing to lift a competitor up ... Telesat called SpaceX's Falcon 9 the "most reliable and only reusable orbital rocket flying today." That's undoubtedly true, with SpaceX's Falcon rocket family currently sitting at more than 230 consecutive successful missions. Telesat said it will take advantage of SpaceX's high launch cadence to rapidly deploy the Lightspeed satellites, which will fly in a mix of polar and mid-inclination orbits roughly 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) above Earth. SpaceX has not shied away from launching satellites for its competitors in the satellite broadband market. Just this year, it has launched Internet satellites for OneWeb, Viasat, and EchoStar. (submitted by Joes S-IVB, Ken the Bin, and EllPeaTea)

Atlas V begins its long, slow goodbye. United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket returned to action Sunday with a mission to deploy multiple satellites into geosynchronous orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office and the US Space Force, Ars reports. This mission ended a 10-month gap in launches for ULA's primary rocket, the longest period between Atlas V launches in 20 years as the company winds down the Atlas V program in favor of the new Vulcan rocket. There are still 18 more Atlas V flights on ULA's launch schedule—all are reserved by customers.

Flying through the end of the decade ... While the Atlas V has a finite number of launches remaining, it's likely that the rocket will still be in service as the 2020s draw to a close. That's because Boeing's Starliner crew capsule is slated to launch seven times on Atlas V rockets, with one crew test flight followed by six operational crew rotation missions to the International Space Station. Once Starliner is operational, NASA plans to alternate between SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft and Boeing's Starliner for crew transportation services. That could put the final Starliner flight on the current contract in 2030, when NASA and its partners currently plan to decommission the International Space Station. (submitted by Ken the Bin)

Does SpaceX have a launch monopoly? A Lazard investment banker sounded the alarm about the dominance of SpaceX in the launch market, CNBC reports. "I think it’s a huge concern," Vikram Nidamaluri, managing director of telecom, media, and entertainment at Lazard, said during a panel at the World Satellite Business Week conference on Monday. “Having such a dominant launch provider is probably not healthy just in general for the commercial prospects of the industry," he added. "No one wants a monopoly choking out one point of the value chain. There are obviously other players that are ramping up capacity, but I think the timeline hasn’t moved forward rapidly enough.”

Maybe a 'benevolent' monopoly for now ... SpaceX Vice President Tom Ochinero, during a separate panel at World Satellite Business Week on Monday, responded to these concerns by saying that the Falcon 9 rocket has frequently flown satellites of competitors to its Starlink satellite Internet service. At times, he said, SpaceX has delayed its own Starlink launches to accommodate other satellite customers. And Tory Bruno, CEO of United Launch Alliance, was having none of it. “I appreciate the sentiment that [SpaceX] will be a benevolent monopoly, I don’t think you’re a monopoly and I don’t think it’s our plan for you to become one,” Bruno said. (submitted by Ken the Bin)

Russian spaceport used as political prop. Ending a global guessing game on when and where they would meet, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin got together at a rocket launch facility in the Russian Far East on Wednesday for their first summit in four years, the AP reports. The decision to meet at Vostochny Cosmodrome, a major satellite launch facility, may communicate what Kim sees as the crucial next steps in his efforts to build a viable nuclear arsenal that could threaten the United States and its allies in Asia.

Trading arms for rockets ... With the ability to dangle vast stockpiles of munitions that Putin likely covets for his war in Ukraine, Kim in exchange may have sought badly needed economic aid and sophisticated weapons technologies to advance his military nuclear program, experts said in advance of the meeting. Kim’s visit to Russia came after North Korea experienced repeated failures in recent months to put its first military spy satellite into orbit. The country has vowed to make a third try for the spy satellite in October.

FAA closes investigation into Starship failure. The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday it has closed an investigation into the problems SpaceX encountered on its first full-scale Starship test launch in April, but federal regulators won't yet give a green light for the next Starship flight, Ars reports. "The closure of the mishap investigation does not signal an immediate resumption of Starship launches at Boca Chica," the FAA said in a statement, referring to the location of SpaceX's Starship launch facility at Boca Chica Beach in South Texas.

Still a couple of weeks from launch ... Now SpaceX must convince the FAA it has checked off a list of corrective actions to prevent the same failures from occurring on the next Starship test flight. Elon Musk, SpaceX's founder and CEO, posted Sunday on his social media platform X that the company has completed 57 corrective actions required before the second integrated test flight of the Starship rocket. Six more corrective actions will be implemented before future missions. A report by Reuters said SpaceX could receive a launch license in October.

Kuiper launch companies say they're ready. The three companies with multibillion-dollar contracts to launch Amazon's Project Kuiper constellation say they are committed to deploying those satellites on schedule despite delays in the development of their vehicles, Space News reports. Amazon announced contracts in April 2022 with Arianespace, Blue Origin, and United Launch Alliance for up to 83 launches of the Ariane 6, New Glenn, and Vulcan Centaur rockets to deploy the 3,236-satellite constellation.

Let's be honest: probably not ... During a September 11 panel at Euroconsult’s World Satellite Business Week, executives of the three launch companies said they are getting closer to their vehicles’ first launches. For example, Jarrett Jones, senior vice president for New Glenn at Blue Origin, said the company is still working toward the first launch of that rocket in 2024. If we're being honest, the odds of none of these launch companies meeting their timelines to launch Kuiper satellites is far higher than all of them meeting their obligations. But we shall see. (submitted by Ken the Bin)

NASA installs first Artemis II engine. Technicians at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans have installed the first of four RS-25 engines on the core stage of the agency’s SLS rocket that will help power the first crewed Artemis mission to the Moon, the space agency said Wednesday. This mission will carry NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen around the Moon inside the Orion spacecraft for an approximately 10-day mission.

Three more to go ... The SLS rocket's core stage is powered by four engines that are refurbished from the space shuttle program. The first engine installation on Monday follows the joining earlier this spring of all five major structures that make up the core stage. NASA, lead RS-25 engines contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne, and Boeing, the core stage lead contractor, will continue integrating the remaining three engines into the stage and installing the propulsion and electrical systems within the structure. A launch is possible in early 2025. (submitted by Tfargo04 and EllPeaTea)

ULA now open to three. United Launch Alliance, one of just two US companies that provide national security launch services, does not have a problem with Department of Defense’s decision to add a third competitor, a senior ULA executive said Wednesday. Gary Wentz, ULA’s vice president of government and commercial programs, said the company is supportive of the US Space Force’s proposed strategy to add a third heavy-lift launch provider in the next round of contracts, known as National Security Space Launch Phase 3, Space News reports.

A changing posture ... Due to concerns about growing commercial demand, the Space Force said it plans to select a third provider in Lane 2 of NSSL Phase 3, alongside ULA and SpaceX, creating an opportunity for a new entrant like Blue Origin which is developing a heavy rocket. As recently as July, ULA CEO Tory Bruno expressed concerns about the Phase 3 strategy and said he was still reviewing the details. One of Bruno’s concerns was that “it’s not a competition if everybody wins.” I guess he changed his mind. (submitted by Ken the Bin)

Next three launches

September 15: Falcon 9 | Starlink 6-16 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida | 04:03 UTC

September 15: Soyuz 2.1a | Soyuz MS-24 crew mission | Baikonur Cosmodrome | 15:44 UTC

September 17: Long March 2D | Unknown Payload | Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China | 04:15 UTC