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Rocket Report: SpaceX completes launch triple-header; Rocket Lab nets big contract
Ars Technica • • business
Key Points:
- SpaceX achieved the first orbital launch of its Starship rocket on its 14th flight, successfully deploying 26 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites and demonstrating the rocket's ability to reach low-Earth orbit despite a partial engine failure.
- Rocket Lab secured its largest launch contract to date with a 20-mission agreement from Japanese Earth-imaging company Synspective, expanding their total bookings to 47 Electron launches.
- Canadian company Canada Rocket Company is developing a medium-lift rocket, the R-2, aiming for a Falcon 9-like design with reusable first stage capabilities and a planned launch readiness by 2032.
- NASA is investing $359 million to human-rate ULA’s Vulcan rocket and support Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, ensuring continued US crewed access to low-Earth orbit as Atlas V retires.
- SpaceX completed an intense launch day with three missions and four booster landings in under 13 hours, including Crew-13 to the ISS, a rideshare mission with 130 payloads, and a Falcon Heavy launch for the National Reconnaissance Office.
