Via Satellite
• Laurence Russell
As SpaceX winds down the Falcon 9 launch program, rival launch providers say the market is approaching a reset. Their view challenges the launch industry’s prevailing price-per-kilogram model and signals a potential shift in how providers compete and structure commercial launch offerings.
Launch Vehicles & Space Transportation
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As SpaceX winds down the Falcon 9 launch program, rival launch providers say the market is approaching a reset. Their view challenges the launch industry’s prevailing price-per-kilogram model and signals a potential shift in how providers compete and structure commercial launch offerings.
China conducted four launches in quick succession from the Jiuquan and Hainan spaceports, along with a maritime mission in the East China Sea. The pace and mix of launch locations highlight the country’s expanding ability to distribute missions across land-based and sea-based infrastructure.
United Launch Alliance is preparing to return Vulcan to flight with an Amazon Leo mission, but the Space Force will conduct a separate review before permitting the rocket to resume national security launches. The process adds an additional gate between Vulcan’s commercial return and military mission certification.
The SpaceX team responsible for landing Falcon 9 boosters received the inaugural Neil Armstrong Space Prize at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 15. The award recognizes the team’s achievement in developing and executing reusable rocket-landing operations.
Valor Equity Partners, one of SpaceX’s largest institutional backers, has returned approximately $8.5 billion worth of shares in the rocket and artificial-intelligence company to its investors. The transaction highlights the scale of private-market liquidity available to major commercial space investors.
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Satellite operators and space startups are reassessing their exposure to SpaceX as Falcon 9’s role in the commercial market comes under scrutiny. At the same time, Rocket Lab’s proposed Iridium acquisition, spectrum-focused strategies and direct-to-device partnerships highlight intensifying competition across launch, connectivity and satellite services.
Space Cargo Unlimited has contracted to fly microgravity research payloads on SpaceX’s Starfall reentry vehicle, adding an in-space research option as the company develops broader access to microgravity missions. The agreement positions Starfall as a potential platform for recurring commercial payload opportunities.
High activity
Roscosmos’ uncrewed Progress MS-35 cargo spacecraft launched aboard a Soyuz 2.1b rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome on Sept. 16 and entered orbit successfully. The vehicle is scheduled to dock with the ISS’s Poisk module on Sept. 19, carrying supplies and equipment for the Teledroid program.
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