Tag: capitalism

German rocket startup signs deal to launch from SaxaVord spaceport in Scotland

9:56 am

Proposed or active spaceports in North Europe
Proposed or active spaceports in North Europe

The German rocket startup HyImpulse yesterday signed a contract with the SaxaVord spaceport on the Shetland Islands in Scotland to do a suborbital test launch at SaxaVord later this year.

HyImpulse has agreed a launch deal with the Unst spaceport, with the aim of a suborbital launch in quarter three of 2026. It will be the second launch of the company’s SR75 suborbital launch vehicle following a successful lift-off in Australia in 2024, which used a hybrid propulsion system involving paraffin “candle wax” and liquid oxygen. HyImpulse said that initial launch, from Koonibba, showed the vehicle could demonstrate “stable flight validating system performance under operational conditions”.

Under the agreement, SaxaVord will provide launch infrastructure and operational support for the launch of the SR75.

HyImpulse is the second German rocket startup to sign a deal to launch from SaxaVord. Rocket Factory Augsburg plans its second attempt to do an orbital launch from there later this year. In 2024 it was gearing up to do that launch but an explosion during a full static fire test of the rocket’s first stage killed that plan.

Considering the red tape the United Kingdom has imposed on rocket companies, bankrupting two and delaying all launches for years from both SaxaVord and the other proposed spaceport in Sutherland, Scotland, I am surprised these two rocket companies have signed these deals. Maybe the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has been reformed and eased that red tape.

Or maybe HyImpulse will find its plans blocked by the CAA as that agency once again ponders at glacial pace the issuing of a new launch license. Stay tuned.

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OHB wins $285 million contract to build weather satellite constellation for ESA

9:36 am

ESA logo

Capitalism in space The Swedish subsidiary of the European aerospace company OHB yesterday announced it has won a $285 million contract from the European Space Agency (ESA) to build and maintain a six satellite weather satellite constellation.

The company had already successfully launched and tested a single demo satellite, proving a small satellite could do the job.

The foundation for this is the Arctic Weather Satellite (AWS), which OHB Sweden successfully placed in orbit as a demonstrator more than a year ago. The OHB SE subsidiary developed the small satellite on behalf of the European Space Agency ESA in record time, using a deliberately chosen New Space approach. Only three years passed between contract award and launch.

This new constellation is dubbed EUMETSAT Polar System – Sterna (EPS-Sterna), and will supplement and eventually replace the expensive government-built Eumetsat weather constellation presently in orbit.

OHB Sweden is the prime contractor for the delivery of the satellites for the EPS Sterna constellation. The consortium also includes Omnisys in Sweden as the supplier of the microwave instruments, which constitute the primary meteorological payload. A total of 20 satellites will be delivered under the contract. The industrial team includes approximately 30 companies. Germany is also strongly represented by SMEs that will contribute key hardware for the instrument and the satellite platform. The satellites will be procured by EUMETSAT through ESA. EUMETSAT itself will develop the ground segment, procure and provide the launch services, operate the satellites, manage the constellation and distribute the data through its data distribution mechanisms, which has a planned operational lifetime of 13 years.

This contract is another example of Europe’s fast shift in the past three years from the government model to the capitalism model. It took ESA almost a decade to finally decide to make that shift, but once it did it seems to be moving far faster than NASA did to implement it.

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Update on SpaceX’s preparations for the 12th orbital test flight of Starship/Superheavy

9:22 am

Link here. The testing has apparently verified the fueling system of Superheavy at the new launchpad.

Starship Flight 12 took another step toward launch, with Booster 19 completing an initial test campaign on the newly commissioned Pad 2 at Starbase, Texas. Culminating in a short Static Fire test, the series of tests was a first for Pad 2, the Block 3/V3 Super Heavy Booster, and for the upgraded Raptor 3 outside of single engine testing.

As the inaugural vehicle to undergo operations on this pad, B19’s campaign served as both a booster qualification test and a commissioning milestone for the expanded launch infrastructure, paving the way for a long-awaited static fire test of its Raptor 3 engines.

Lots of details worth reading. Ground testing will now shift to Starship. All in all, it does appear that an early April launch is likely.

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Why are commercial space startups shifting their focus to the military? $185 billion is the answer

9:21 am

War Department logo

In the past two years a number of space startups as well as established companies have shifted their work focus from getting NASA or commercial contracts to pursuing projects from the War Department.

The best example of this has been Sierra Space, which until three years ago was entirely focused on building a Dream Chaser reusable mini-shuttle to bring cargo to and from ISS, as well as partnering with Blue Origin to build their proposed Orbital Reef space station.

Then, in late 2023 the company underwent a major management and staffing shake-up aimed at winning military and national security contracts. At the same time work on its LIFE inflatable module — intended for Orbital Reef — practically ceased, while the effort to get Dream Chaser finished seemed to slow to a crawl, eventually causing NASA to drop it as an ISS cargo vehicle.

Sierra Space however is only one example. During this time Rocket Lab shifted its focus somewhat to the military in developing HASTE, its suborbital test version of its Electron rocket, in order to win substantial hypersonic test contracts from the Pentagon. And then there’s Tory Bruno, who quit his job as CEO of the rocket company ULA to take a job at Blue Origin heading a national security team aimed at winning that company military contracts.

So what has caused this shift? Has investment in the civil space industry dried up?

Hardly. The number of rocket startups continues to grow, fueled by the many new and established satellite companies planning constellations of tens of thousands to millions of satellites as well as the orbiting manufacturing possibilities presented by the five space stations under development. There is a lot of investment capital pouring into these efforts

The reason for this shift — which really isn’t so much a shift but a new focus that many companies are adding to their portfolio — is provided by an article today in Air & Space Forces Magazine, describing the War Department’s recent decision to add $10 billion to the budget of its Golden Dome project, raising it to $185 billion, while noting this:
» Read more

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Canada leases Nova Scotia spaceport for $200 million

9:55 am

Proposed Canadian spaceports
Proposed Canadian spaceports

The Canadian government yesterday announced it is committing significant funding to several space-related companies, including issuing a ten year $200 million lease to the Nova Scotia spaceport that has been unable to attract any launch customers for the past ten years.

The investment is a 10‑year, $200‑million agreement to lease a dedicated space‑launch pad that will serve as the central foundation for a multi-user spaceport near Canso, Nova Scotia. Operated by Maritime Launch Services, this spaceport will support the operational needs of the Department of National Defence (DND), the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), and the wider Government of Canada, while also offering ad hoc access to allies and partners.

The history of Maritime and its Spaceport Nova Scotia is far from encouraging. It was first proposed in 2016, offering satellite companies both a launch site and a Ukrainian-built rocket. That plan fell through when Russia invaded the Ukraine and the rocket became unavailable. Since then Maritime has struggled to convince rocket companies to use the spaceport, all to no avail. It signed some deals, but none has gone anywhere. This Canadian government lease appears an attempt to save it, since it is very unlikely that this government will be capable of building its own rocket during those ten years.

In order to avoid accusations of favoritism, the government at the same time also announced further $8.3 million grants to three Canadian companies to help them develop their own rockets, one of which is Nordspace, which has its own proposed spaceport, the Atlantic Spaceport in Newfoundland. According to the government, these grants are part of a $105 million program to encourage a sovereign Canadian rocket industry. The other two companies are Reaction Dynamics, which wants to launch its suborbital rocket from Nova Scotia, and a new startup dubbed the Canada Rocket Company, of which little is known.

Apparently, the leftist Canadian government is following in the footsteps of the leftist government of the United Kingdom. In both cases their private spaceports have floundered for decades, unable to attract customers for a variety of reasons. To save them, both governments are now pouring cash into their pockets to prop them up.

In the case of the UK, the obstacles have almost entirely been the red tape of the government. In the case of Canada and Maritime’s Nova Scotia spaceport, it has been a series of bad management decisions that reflect poorly on the company. Private capital has thus not been interested in investing in it. Nor have any rocket companies been interested in launching from it.

So of course, the leftist Canadian government is going to use other people’s money to fund it. How typical.

Canadian may get its own launch capability from this program, but don’t bet on it. Government programs like this have routinely failed, wasting billions and decades with little to show for the effort. The program’s one saving grace however is that the government isn’t designing, building, and owning the rockets. It is instead hiring these three companies to do the work. Under that framework, there is a chance something might actually happen.

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SpaceX completes two launches since yesterday

8:56 am

Since last night SpaceX successfully completed two Starlink launches.

First, in the evening it placed 25 more Starlink satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The first stage completed its 14th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific.

Then, in the early morning hours it launched another 29 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The first stage completed its 11th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.

Increasingly it appears SpaceX is improving the turn-around reuse time for its first stages. The two first stages on these flights had turn-arounds of 32 and 27 days respectively, which appears to be the average in recent launches. With a fleet of about two dozen stages, this pace allows the company to easily do multiple launches per week.

The leaders in the 2026 launch race:

34 SpaceX
12 China
3 Rocket Lab
2 Russia

SpaceX continues to lead the entire world combined in total launches, as it did in both ’24 and ’25.

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South Korean rocket startup Innospace pinpoints the cause of its first launch failure

8:01 am

Less than five seconds after launch
Hanbit-Nano less than five seconds after launch,
prior to its failure in December 2025.

The South Korean rocket startup Innospace today released the results of its investigation into the launch failure of its Hanbit-Nano rocket on its maiden flight on December 22, 2025, pinpointing the failure 33 seconds after liftoff to a rupture in the first stage combustion chamber assembly

The launch vehicle was confirmed to have flown nominally during the initial phase of flight, with flight data transmitted normally following liftoff. Thirty-three seconds into flight, combustion gas leakage occurred at the forward section of the first-stage hybrid rocket combustion chamber assembly, resulting in a rupture of the combustion chamber and the subsequent separation of the launch vehicle into multiple parts.

The investigation further determined that the leakage was caused by insufficient compression and uneven sealing performance resulting from plastic deformation of sealing components during the reassembly process following the replacement of the forward chamber plug during launch preparation activities in Brazil.

Based on these findings, INNOSPACE plans to strengthen assembly processes and quality management procedures. The company will also implement certain design improvements and upgrades to related components and conduct additional functional verification procedures.

The company hopes to attempt a second launch in the third quarter of 2026, once again lifting off from Brazil’s Alcantera spaceport.

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A new startup proposes a giant 88,000 satellite data center constellation

10:17 am

Starcloud-4 being deployed
A satellite of the company’s fourth generation Starcloud
constellation being deployed

A new startup dubbed Starcloud has now filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch its own giant 88,000 satellite data center constellation.

The FCC accepted for filing March 13 an application by Starcloud, a company based in Redmond, Washington, to operate as many as 88,000 satellites in a range of low Earth orbits to serve as orbital data centers for artificial intelligence and other applications.

“Starcloud is designing its satellite system to accommodate the explosive growth of datacenter demands driven by AI, which is already encountering severe roadblocks to efforts to scale on the ground,” the company wrote in its filing. “By avoiding the constraints of terrestrial deployment, space datacenters will be the most cost-effective and scalable way to deliver compute this decade.”

The company, previously known as Lumen Orbit, has so far only launched one demonstration smallsat, testing the operation of a computer processor in orbit. It plans a second larger demo satellite to launch in ’27 testing a cluster of processors. Based on its own website, it plans to launch the full constellation in four stages, eventually using rockets comparable to Starship, launching many satellites at a time.

The reasoning behind these orbiting data center constellations is that in space there is no real estate to buy or environmental concerns to overcome. You can simply launch the satellites and beam the information to and from Earth. Though it still remains unknown whether this new orbiting data center business model will be profitable, it is definitely becoming a major customer for the new emerging American rocket industry. Even if it fails in the long run, it appears it will fuel the development of a lot of new rockets, all designed to be re-usable, with large capacities, and capable of launching at a fast cadence.

With such a commercial competitive fleet, the entire solar system will be open to the United States and the world.

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New telescope array in Chile is financed entirely by private funds

9:29 am

One of Mothra's 30 mounts
One of Mothra’s 30 mounts. Click for original.

Capitalism in space: A new ground-based telescope array in Chile, dubbed Mothra, is being built using only private financing, and is being designed to map the faint hydrogen hidden between the galaxies and thus produce a more precise map of the universe.

MOTHRA is being built at Obstech / El Sauce Observatory in Chile. The telescope’s construction started in the spring of 2025 and it is expected to become fully operational by the end of 2026. By fusing its many images together digitally, the array of [30 mounts totaling] 1,140 telephoto lenses will be the equivalent of a single 4.7-meter diameter lens. It will be the world’s largest all-lens telescope, with capabilities that are unmatched by any other telescope on Earth or in space.

The funding comes mostly from a donation by British billionaire Alex Gerko, who has apparently donated millions to numerous similar research projects.

This is the right future for science research, and was the way things were done in the U.S. until World War II. Stop depending on the government, which often has political concerns that warp research and always does things inefficiently. Get the private sector, especially rich individuals, to back projects, because they will require the work to be done well, and will care personally about its success.

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Terran Orbital wins contract to build cubesat to go to Apophis with ESA’s Ramses probe

9:08 am

Apophis' path past the Earth in 2029
A cartoon (not to scale) showing Apophis’s
path in 2029.

The satellite company Terran Orbital, owned by Lockheed Martin, has won a contract from the European Space Agency (ESA) to build a cubesat to fly with its Ramses probe that will launch in 2028 and rendezvous with the potentially dangerous asteroid Apophis when it makes its very close fly-by of the Earth on April 13, 2029.

The CubeSat is named after Italian scientist Paolo Farinella and is backed by the Italian Space Agency. After successfully completing the Critical Design Review in January 2026, Tyvak International [a subsidiary of Terran Orbital] will begin the implementation phase, with launch currently planned for 2028.

…Operating aboard the RAMSES spacecraft, developed by OHB Italia, the Farinella CubeSat will be one of two spacecraft deployed to explore the asteroid’s subsurface using low-frequency radar. The satellite will also carry Horus, an optical instrument that acts as both a science imager and navigation camera, and Vista, a dust detector previously flown on the Milani CubeSat from ESA’s Hera mission.

Apophis is estimated to be about 1,200 feet across. When it does its fly-by in ’29 it will get within 20,000 miles of the Earth, dipping within the orbits used by geosynchronous satellites. It will then pass within 60,000 miles of the Moon. At its closest it will for a short time be visible to the naked eye.

Apophis’ orbit means that it has the potential in the next century or so to impact the Earth. This particular fly-by is significant because the Earth/Moon’s gravity will change the asteroid’s path in an unpredictable manner that could either increase or decrease that impact possibility on future fly-bys. And we won’t know until after the fly-by is complete.

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SpaceX launches 29 more Starlink satellites

8:33 am

SpaceX this morning successfully placed another 29 Starlink satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

The first stage completed its 6th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.

The leaders in the 2026 launch race:

32 SpaceX
10 China
3 Rocket Lab
2 Russia

SpaceX continues to lead the entire world combined in total launches, as it did in both ’24 and ’25.

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SpaceX launches 25 Starlink satellites; reuses 1st stage for 32nd time

10:57 pm

SpaceX earlier today successfully launched another 25 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The first stage (B1071) completed its 32nd flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific, moving into fourth place in the rankings of the most reused launch vehicles:

39 Discovery space shuttle
33 Atlantis space shuttle
33 Falcon 9 booster B1067
32 Falcon 9 booster B1071
31 Falcon 9 booster B1063
30 Falcon 9 booster B1069
28 Columbia space shuttle

Sources here and here.

The leaders in the 2026 launch race:

31 SpaceX
10 China
3 Rocket Lab
2 Russia

SpaceX continues to lead the entire world combined in total launches, as it did in both ’24 and ’25.

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