Space.com
• Mike Wall
SpaceX has completed static-fire tests of both stages of its Starship vehicle ahead of Flight 15, according to a report featuring footage of the upper-stage test. The tests mark a prelaunch milestone, but the article provides no launch date or further details on the vehicle’s readiness.
Launch Vehicles & Space Transportation
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SpaceX has completed static-fire tests of both stages of its Starship vehicle ahead of Flight 15, according to a report featuring footage of the upper-stage test. The tests mark a prelaunch milestone, but the article provides no launch date or further details on the vehicle’s readiness.
Rocket launches from Cape Canaveral are now well ahead of the pace set during the Cold War-era space race, signaling a new period of heightened activity at the Florida launch hub. The area is preparing for what the article describes as a new “boom cycle.”
High activity
Virgin Galactic has named its updated Delta-class suborbital spaceplane Apeiron and moved the vehicle to Spaceport America, where it is expected to begin test flights ahead of commercial service. The company now expects commercial flights to start in the second quarter of 2027.
The United Kingdom launched Prospero on Oct. 28, 1971, its first satellite, using the domestically developed Black Arrow rocket. The flight marked Britain’s entry into satellite operations and remains the only successful orbital launch by a British-built rocket.
High activity
A Foundation for Defense of Democracies submission recommends judging spaceport capacity by the missions each facility can support, rather than by the number of launch sites alone. A separate comparison of Starbase and Kennedy Space Center construction timelines underscores the infrastructure involved, including launch pads, vehicle integration facilities and support systems.
South Korea’s Kompsat-6 radar-observation satellite has become an example of the risks of launching as a co-passenger rather than buying a dedicated mission. The case highlights the tradeoff satellite operators face between the lower cost of a shared ride and the greater control of a dedicated launch.
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