Reuters
• Maria Rugamer
The European Space Agency has awarded €543.6 million in three-year European Launcher Challenge contracts to Isar Aerospace, PLD Space and Rocket Factory Augsburg, with a MaiaSpace agreement expected to follow. All three selected providers had previously targeted inaugural orbital flights in 2026.
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SpaceX’s stock has shown unusual volatility since its record IPO, with shares now largely flat for three weeks as options traders watch closely. Morgan Stanley says the company’s proposed $100 billion Louisiana spaceport could lift launch cadence and support a valuation it considers attractive, while early investors report returns exceeding 10x.
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The European Space Agency has awarded €543.6 million in three-year European Launcher Challenge contracts to Isar Aerospace, PLD Space and Rocket Factory Augsburg, with a MaiaSpace agreement expected to follow. All three selected providers had previously targeted inaugural orbital flights in 2026.
Chinese commercial launch provider Galactic Energy is targeting Sept. 1 for the first orbital flight of its Pallas-1 liquid-propellant rocket, according to airspace closure notices. The planned mission marks the company’s entry into orbital operations with a new launch vehicle.
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The Meteosat Third Generation Imager-2 is encapsulated inside an Ariane 6 fairing at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana for a planned Aug. 27 launch. NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has reached SpaceX’s Launch Complex 39A ahead of its targeted Aug. 30 launch from Florida.
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China has rolled back the Long March 5 rocket for Chang’e-7, potentially delaying the lunar mission by a year, even as Long March 6C returned to flight with seven Earth-imaging satellites. Japan’s Sarmony selected Space One’s Kairos, while CAS Space targets early 2027 for its Kinastra upper stage.
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SpaceX has completed its 260th and final Falcon 9 Starlink launch from Florida, with future East Coast deployments shifting to Starship. The transition comes as the company expands Starbase Louisiana, planned with more than 12 launch towers and a reported $100 billion investment target for 2029.
Impulse Space plans to increase the cadence of rideshare missions to geostationary orbit, citing strong commercial demand. The expansion signals continued customer interest in dedicated orbital transfer and deployment services for GEO-bound payloads, while adding another demand indicator for the emerging commercial space transportation market.
NASA will omit cubesat secondary payloads from Artemis 3 after carrying small satellites on the first two Space Launch System missions. The change reduces the mission’s rideshare activity and underscores the evolving payload priorities for the next Artemis flight to the Moon.
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