{"id":43403,"date":"2026-02-13T18:51:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T10:51:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/rocket-report-say-cheerio-to-orbex-china-is-getting-good-at-booster-landings\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T18:51:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T10:51:26","slug":"rocket-report-say-cheerio-to-orbex-china-is-getting-good-at-booster-landings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/rocket-report-say-cheerio-to-orbex-china-is-getting-good-at-booster-landings\/","title":{"rendered":"Rocket Report: Say cheerio to Orbex; China is getting good at booster landings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to Edition 8.29 of the Rocket Report! We have a stuffed report this week with news from across the launch spectrum. Long-term, probably the most significant development this week was a subscale version of the Long March 10 rocket successfully launching and then executing a picture-perfect ocean landing. China is catching up rapidly to the United States when it comes to reusable launch.<\/p>\n

As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don\u2019t want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.<\/p>\n

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Orbex is going away<\/strong>. The UK-based launch company Orbex has entered insolvency proceedings after a planned takeover by European space logistics startup The Exploration Company fell through, European Spaceflight reports. In a statement, Orbex said the decision came after all \u201cfundraising, merger and acquisition opportunities had all concluded unsuccessfully.\u201d For anyone paying attention, this decision should not come as a surprise. A decade into its existence, Orbex had yet to produce demonstrable, ready-for-flight hardware.<\/p>\n

Other companies interested in assets<\/em> \u2026 According to the company, the appointment of administrators will give Orbex time to secure \u201cas positive an outcome as possible for its creditors, employees and wider stakeholders.\u201d It added that the process could include the sale of all or parts of the business or its assets, and another UK-based company, Skyrora, has expressed some interest. (submitted by Polynomics, zapman987, and EllPeaTea)<\/p>\n

Firefly\u2019s next Alpha mission launching soon<\/strong>. This week, Firefly said that its next Alpha rocket underwent a successful 20-second static fire test. This clears the way for the rocket to make a launch attempt no earlier than February 18 from its launch site at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.<\/p>\n

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Au revoir Block I<\/em> \u2026 It\u2019s an important mission, because the previous Alpha launch, in April 2025, ended in failure when stage separation damaged one of the rocket\u2019s upper stage engines and prevented the mission from reaching orbit. Moreover, the company lost the first stage of the flight in September during an accident in Texas. The upcoming flight, \u201cStairway to Seven,\u201d will be the final flight of Block I of the Alpha booster.<\/p>\n

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\n The Ars Technica Rocket Report
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How can launch companies compete with SpaceX<\/strong>? Rocket firms are divided on how to compete with SpaceX in a market where demand outstrips supply, yet customers remain price sensitive, Space News reports. During a panel at the SmallSat Symposium on February 11, executives from several launch companies acknowledged the challenge of competing with SpaceX, which accounted for about half of all orbital launches globally in 2025, despite strong customer demand for launch services.<\/p>\n

A low price is nice<\/em> \u2026 \u201cIf your idea is to go into the market competing with SpaceX on price, you\u2019re probably not in a good competitive position,\u201d said Brian Rogers, vice president of global launch services at Rocket Lab, one of the few small launch vehicle developers to thrive despite competition from SpaceX. But this view was far from universal. Devon Papandrew, vice president of business development at Stoke Space, disagreed. \u201cYou absolutely have to have a plan to compete with SpaceX on price,\u201d he said. (submitted by EllPeaTea)<\/p>\n

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Rocket Lab blows up a few Archimedes engines<\/strong>. According to reporting by Ars, Rocket Lab has blown up two Archimedes rocket engines in the last three months at its test stand in southern Mississippi. The engine test anomalies come at a critical time for Rocket Lab, as it is attempting to finalize development of a flight version of the Archimedes engine, which burns liquid oxygen and methane and has a sea-level thrust of 165,000 pounds. Nine of these engines will power the company\u2019s much-anticipated Neutron rocket, which is aiming for a debut launch later this year.<\/p>\n

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Testing the engine to its limits<\/em> \u2026 Rocket Lab Chief Executive Officer Pete Beck downplayed concerns in a statement. \u201cWe test to the limits, that\u2019s part of developing a successful rocket,\u201d Beck said. \u201cWe often put the engine into very off nominal states to find the limits and sometimes they let go, this is normal and how you ensure rockets don\u2019t fail in flight.\u201d Beck has previously said that Rocket Lab\u2019s goal is to identify failures during component-level testing so that, when Neutron launches, it has a high chance of reaching orbit on its first attempt.<\/p>\n

Proton rocket returns to flight<\/strong>. After a nearly three-year break, a Russian Proton rocket flew again with the Elektro-L No. 5 meteorological satellite from Baikonur in Kazakhstan, Russian Space Web reports. This mission was supposed to launch in late 2025, but in December, final checks revealed a problem with the Block DM-03 upper stage.<\/p>\n

A not-so-great launch record<\/em> \u2026 The mission marked the last use of the Block DM-03 space tug on Proton, which will now be solely used as an upper stage for the Angara-5 rocket. First launched in 1965, the Proton rocket has undergone several upgrades in the six decades since then. It has launched 430 times, with 48 partial and total failures. No new Protons are under construction, and it will be phased out by the end of this decade in favor of the newer Angara vehicles. (submitted by EllPeaTea)<\/p>\n

SpaceX exempted legal labor case<\/strong>. The National Labor Relations Board abandoned a Biden-era complaint against SpaceX after a finding that the agency does not have jurisdiction over Elon Musk\u2019s space company, Ars reports. The US labor board said SpaceX should instead be regulated under the Railway Labor Act, which governs labor relations at railroad and airline companies.<\/p>\n

A common carrier?<\/em> \u2026 In January 2024, an NLRB regional director alleged in a complaint that SpaceX illegally fired eight employees who, in an open letter, criticized CEO Musk as a \u201cfrequent source of embarrassment.\u201d The complaint sought reinstatement of the employees, back pay, and letters of apology to the fired employees. SpaceX responded by suing the NLRB, claiming the labor agency\u2019s structure is unconstitutional. But a different issue SpaceX raised later\u2014that it is a common carrier, like a rail company or airline\u2014is what compelled the NLRB to drop its case.<\/p>\n

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More powerful Ariane 6 rocket launches<\/strong>. This first launch of the four-booster version of Ariane 6 took place on Thursday, launching  32 satellites for Amazon\u2019s Leo constellation to low-Earth orbit. \u201cThis first flight of Ariane 64 sustains Europe\u2019s autonomous access to space,\u201d Toni Tolker-Nielsen, the European Space Agency\u2019s director of space transportation, said  in a news release.<\/p>\n

More vrooom coming<\/em> \u2026 Previous launches of Europe\u2019s new Ariane rocket have used two solid rocket boosters. The heavier variant of the rocket is necessary to support Amazon\u2019s constellation as well as more demanding missions to geostationary orbit. And more power is coming. In the near future, the P120C boosters will be replaced by upgraded P160C models, each carrying more than 14 metric tons of solid fuel. The Associated Press provided some interesting color behind the scenes of the launch from the location in France where the rocket\u2019s main engines are manufactured. (submitted by biokleen and EllPeaTea)<\/p>\n

Stoke Space increases fundraising round<\/strong>. The Washington-based launch company announced this week that it had extended its recent Series D funding round. The round was initially announced in October 2025 at $510 million, but has now been increased to $860 million. The original Series D funding focused on completing activation of Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, and expanding production capacity for the Nova launch vehicle. Stoke will use the additional capital to accelerate future elements of its product roadmap, the company said.<\/p>\n

Putting the $ into $toke $pace<\/em> \u2026 \u201cWe\u2019re extremely grateful for our investors\u2019 continued support,\u201d said Andy Lapsa, co-founder and CEO of Stoke. \u201cWe\u2019re executing with urgency to bring Nova to market and deliver for our customers. It\u2019s a special vehicle, and there\u2019s more in the pipeline.\u201d With the extension, Stoke has now raised $1.34 billion to date. That is an impressive raise, and it will heighten expectations for the company\u2019s debut of the Nova rocket.<\/p>\n

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Falcon 9 back after second stage anomaly<\/strong>. A Falcon 9 launched a batch of Starlink satellites on Saturday after SpaceX completed an investigation into an engine malfunction during the rocket\u2019s previous launch, Space News reports. The rocket deployed its payload of 25 Starlink satellites into orbit about 62 minutes after liftoff. The launch was the first Falcon 9 mission since Feb. 2, when the rocket carried another set of Starlink satellites into orbit from Vandenberg.<\/p>\n

That didn\u2019t take long<\/em> \u2026 While that mission successfully deployed its payload, SpaceX later said an \u201coff-nominal condition\u201d with the upper stage prevented it from performing a planned deorbit burn. The Federal Aviation Administration said Feb. 6 that it had authorized SpaceX to return the Falcon 9 to flight. \u201cThe final mishap report cites the probable root cause as the Falcon 9 second-stage engine\u2019s failure to ignite prior to the deorbit burn,\u201d the agency stated. \u201cSpaceX identified technical and organizational preventive measures to avoid a recurrence of the event.\u201d The FAA provided no additional details about the anomaly. (submitted by EllPeaTea)<\/p>\n

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China performs an impressive rocket landing<\/strong>. China\u2019s space program, striving to land astronauts on the Moon by 2030, carried out a test flight of a new reusable booster and crew capsule late Tuesday (US time), and the results were spectacular, Ars reports. The launch of a subscale version of the Long March 10 rocket, still in development, provided engineers with an opportunity to verify the performance of an important part of the new Mengzhou capsule\u2019s safety system. A test version of the Mengzhou spacecraft, flying without anyone onboard, climbed into the stratosphere on top of the Long March booster before activating its launch abort motors a little more than a minute into the flight as the rocket reached the moment of maximum aerodynamic pressure, known as Max-Q.<\/p>\n

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China getting there on rocket reuse<\/em> \u2026 The abort motors pulled the capsule away from the booster, simulating an in-flight escape that might be necessary to whisk crews away from a failing rocket. The Mengzhou spacecraft later deployed parachutes and splashed down offshore from Hainan Island. Remarkably, the booster continued its ascent without the crew capsule, soaring into space on the power of its kerosene-fueled YF-100 engines before reentering the atmosphere, reigniting its engines, and nailing a propulsive landing in the South China Sea, right next to a recovery barge waiting to bring it back to shore.<\/p>\n

Vulcan experiences a second nozzle issue<\/strong>. Moments after liftoff from Florida\u2019s Space Coast early Thursday morning, a shower of sparks emerged in the exhaust plume of United Launch Alliance\u2019s Vulcan rocket. Seconds later, the rocket twisted on its axis before recovering and continuing the climb into orbit with a batch of US military satellites, Ars reports. The sight may have appeared familiar to seasoned rocket watchers. Sixteen months ago, a Vulcan rocket lost one of its booster nozzles shortly after launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The rocket recovered from the malfunction and still reached the mission\u2019s planned orbit.<\/p>\n

Next launch likely to be delayed<\/em> \u2026 Details of Thursday\u2019s booster problem remain unclear. An investigation into the matter is underway, according to ULA, a 50-50 joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin. But the circumstances resemble those of the booster malfunction in October 2024. The incident on Thursday\u2019s mission suggests the defect was not fixed, or there is a separate problem with Northrop\u2019s boosters. The next Vulcan launch is scheduled for no earlier than March with a GPS navigation satellite for the US Space Force. This schedule is now in doubt. The military\u2019s Space Systems Command said in a statement it will \u201cwork closely with ULA per our mission assurance space flightworthiness process before the next Vulcan national security space mission.\u201d (submitted by EllPeaTea)<\/p>\n

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Starship nearing next test flight<\/strong>. The upgraded Super Heavy booster slated to launch SpaceX\u2019s next Starship flight has completed cryogenic proof testing, clearing a hurdle that resulted in the destruction of the company\u2019s previous booster, Ars reports. The proof test is notable because it moves engineers closer to launching the first test flight of an upgraded version of SpaceX\u2019s mega-rocket named Starship V3, or Block 3.<\/p>\n

Launch possible within the next six to eight weeks<\/em> \u2026 SpaceX launched the previous version, Starship V2, five times last year, but the first three test flights failed. The last two flights achieved SpaceX\u2019s goals, and the company moved on to V3. Assuming that the remaining test work goes according to plan, SpaceX could be in position to launch the first Starship V3 test flight before the end of March.<\/p>\n

New Glenn pushing on second stage reuse again<\/strong>. Engineers at Blue Origin have been grappling with a seemingly eternal debate that involves the New Glenn rocket and the economics of flying it. The debate goes back at least 15 years, to the early discussions around the design of the heavy lift rocket. The first stage, of course, would be fully reusable. But what about the upper stage of New Glenn, powered by two large BE-3U engines?<\/p>\n

Do you want a job?<\/em> \u2026 Now, Ars reports, reuse is back on the menu. Blue Origin has posted a new job listing for a director of Reusable Upper Stage Development, which says, \u201cAs the Director of Program Management for the New Glenn Upper Stage and Payload Accommodations (GS2PA), you will work with the Vice President of New Glenn GS2PA and directly support the execution of a lean engineering initiative to incrementally develop a reusable upper stage.\u201d Ars estimates it presently costs Blue Origin more than $50 million to manufacture a New Glenn second stage.<\/p>\n

Next three launches<\/h2>\n

February 12<\/strong>: Falcon 9 | Crew-12 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla. | 10:15 UTC<\/p>\n

February 14<\/strong>: Falcon 9 | Starlink 17-13 | Vandenberg Space Force Base, California | 22:00 UTC<\/p>\n

February 16<\/strong>: Falcon 9 | Starlink 6-103 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida | 05:00 UTC<\/p>\n

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