Launch
Stories about the companies building a ride to space.
Skyroot Aerospace Reaches Orbit with Vikram-1 Rocket
Skyroot Aerospace became the first private Indian company to reach orbit on Saturday, when its Vikram-1 rocket lifted off from India’s primary spaceport—the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
DoD Adds $11.4B to NatSec Launch Contracts
The DoD upped its ceiling for national security space launches on Friday, more than tripling the pool of NSSL launch contracts from $5.6B to $17B.
Spinifex Space Launches With Australian Test Ranges
Spinifex Space will provide end-to-end suborbital launch campaigns, private range access, and test and evaluation (T&E) infrastructure.
US Government Studying Offshore Launch Opportunities
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) published an RFI on Wednesday seeking information, to consider building or repurposing infrastructure on the Outer Continental Shelf, for space launch and reentry.
Blue Origin Seeks $10B at $130B Valuation, Reporting Shows
Blue Origin’s days as a Bezos-funded billion-dollar pet project are coming to an end.
ispace Launches Lunar Integrator Service With Starship
The Japanese company announced Tuesday that it had secured 500 kg of payload capacity on Starship to launch no earlier than 2030.
Venus Aerospace Raises $91M Series B to Scale RDRE Production
The funding round is the latest in a string of news from RDRE engine companies, suggesting the more efficient rocket tech is having a moment in the industry.
Transporter-17 Sends the First Commercial Nuclear Sat to Orbit
SpaceX’s ($SPCX) Transporter-17 rideshare mission lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 3:12am, carrying 81 payloads to LEO.
Firefly Targets Swedish Launch in 2028 Under New Franchise Model
Firefly Aerospace ($FLY) announced today that it aims to launch its Alpha rocket from SSC Space’s Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden as early as 2028.
NASA Watchdog: Launch Infrastructure Nearing Capacity
NASA’s launch facilities will likely reach capacity by the end of the decade as the number of commercial launches continues to skyrocket, according to a report from the space agency’s inspector general released Monday.
Dawn Aerospace Raises $25M Series B
The New Zealand-Dutch space transportation company will use the new funds to accelerate development of its Aurora spaceplane, and to conduct an in-space refueling demo.
JAXA Nails H3 Return to Flight
The rocket launched on its eighth mission—the first successful flight of the new three-engine variant—Friday morning from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center, delivering all six of its payloads to space.
