Welcome to the 7.01 release of Rocket Report! We are compiling this week’s report a day later than usual due to the Independence Day holiday. Ars is entering its seventh year of publishing this weekly roundup of rocket news, and there’s a lot going on this week, despite the holiday here in the United States. Globally, there were 122 launches into or beyond Earth orbit in the first half of 2024, up from 91 in the same period last year.
As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don’t want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form won’t appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small, medium and heavy rockets, as well as a quick look at the next three launches on the calendar.
Firefly begins its fifth Alpha flight. Firefly Aerospace placed eight CubeSats into orbit as part of a NASA-funded mission on the first flight of the company’s Alpha rocket since the upper stage failed more than six months ago, Space News reports. The two-stage Alpha rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California late Wednesday, two days after a problem with ground equipment aborted the launch just before engine ignition. The eight CubeSats come from NASA centers and universities for a variety of educational, research and technology demonstration missions. This was the fifth flight of Firefly’s Alpha rocket, which was capable of placing about a metric ton of payload into low Earth orbit.
Anomaly resolution … This was the fifth flight of the Alpha rocket since 2021 and the fourth flight of Alpha to reach orbit. But Alpha’s last launch in December failed to place the Lockheed Martin payload into the correct orbit because of a problem re-igniting its second-stage engine. At launch this week, Alpha deployed its NASA-sponsored payload after a single second stage burn and then completed a successful engine restart for an aircraft exchange maneuver. Engineers traced the problem on Alpha’s last flight to a software bug. (submitted by Ken the Bin)
Two companies have been added to the Defense Department’s startup fund. Blue Origin and Stoke Space Technologies, neither of which have yet reached orbit, have been approved by the U.S. Space Force to compete for future launches of small payloads, Breaking Defense reports. Blue Origin and Stoke Space join the list of launch companies eligible to compete for launch contracts offered by Space Force through the Orbital Services Program-4 (OSP-4) contract. Under this contract, Space Systems Command purchases launch services for payloads of 400 pounds (180 kilograms) or larger, allowing for launch anywhere from 12 to 24 months after the contract is awarded. The OSP-4 contract has an “emphasis on small orbital launch capabilities and launch solutions for tactically responsive space mission needs,” said Lt. Col. Steve Hendershot, Space Systems Command’s Small Launch and Target Division chief.
Even a dozen … Blue Origin aims to launch its New Glenn orbital-class rocket for the first time as early as late September, while Stoke Space aims to fly its Nova rocket on an orbital test flight next year. The addition of these two companies means there are 12 providers eligible to bid on OSP-4 contracts. Other companies include ABL Space Systems, Aevum, Astra, Firefly Aerospace, Northrop Grumman, Relativity Space, Rocket Lab, SpaceX, United Launch Alliance and X-Bow. (submitted by Ken the Bin and brianrhurley)
Italian launch test fired a small rocket. Italian rocket manufacturer Sidereus Space Dynamics has completed the first integrated system test of its EOS rocket, European Spaceflight reports. That test took place on Sunday and culminated in the ignition of the MR-5 rocket’s kerosene/liquid oxygen main engine for about 11 seconds. The EOS rocket is a new design using a single-stage-to-orbit architecture, with a reusable booster returning to Earth from orbit for under-wing recovery. The rocket is just under 14 feet (4.2 meters) tall and will be able to carry about 29 pounds (13 kilograms) of payload into low Earth orbit.
Lean operation … After completing integrated ground testing, the company will conduct the first low-altitude EOS test flights. Founded in 2019, Sidereus has raised 6.6 million euros ($7.1 million) to finance the development of the EOS rocket. While this is a fraction of the funding that has attracted other European start-ups like Isar Aerospace, MaiaSpace and Orbex, Sidereus CEO Mattia Barbarossa has previously stated that the company intends to “reshape spaceflight in a fraction of the time and with limited resources.” (submitted by EllPeaTea and Ken the Bin)