{"id":44765,"date":"2025-02-14T21:11:17","date_gmt":"2025-02-14T13:11:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/rocket-report-a-blue-mood-at-blue-stoke-space-fires-a-shot-over-the-bow\/"},"modified":"2025-02-14T21:11:17","modified_gmt":"2025-02-14T13:11:17","slug":"rocket-report-a-blue-mood-at-blue-stoke-space-fires-a-shot-over-the-bow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/rocket-report-a-blue-mood-at-blue-stoke-space-fires-a-shot-over-the-bow\/","title":{"rendered":"Rocket Report: A blue mood at Blue; Stoke Space fires a shot over the bow"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to Edition 7.31 of the Rocket Report! The unfortunate news this week concerns layoffs. Blue Origin announced a 10 percent cut in its workforce as the company aims to get closer to breaking even. More broadly in the space industry, there is unease about what the Trump administration\u2019s cuts to NASA and other federal agencies might mean.<\/p>\n<p style=\"\">We don\u2019t have all the answers, but it does seem that NASA is likely to be subject to less deep cuts than some other parts of the government. We should find out sometime in March when the Trump White House submits its initial budget request. Congress, of course, will have the final say.<\/p>\n<p><iframe allow=\"autoplay; attribution-reporting 'src' https:\/\/cm.teads.tv\" scrolling=\"no\" title=\"native\" id=\"teads-native-iframe\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 100% !important; height: 385px; border: none; overflow: hidden; display: block; float: none;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>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<figure class=\"ars-img-shortcode id-1314289 align-center\">\n<p>                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"560\" height=\"81\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/smalll.png\" class=\"center full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/smalll.png 560w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/smalll-300x43.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\"><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p><strong>PLD Space continues to grow<\/strong>. The Spain-based launch company said this week that it now has more than 300 employees as it works toward an orbital launch attempt. \u201cIn this race for space supremacy, the amount of capital raised and the talent gathered have become key indicators of a company\u2019s potential for success,\u201d the company said. \u201cWhile capital acts as the fuel for these ambitious initiatives, the talent behind it is the catalyst that drives them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Working to reach orbit<\/em> \u2026 The average age of employees at PLD Space is 34, and the company is hiring 15 people a month as it works to develop the Miura 5 rocket. It\u2019s unclear which of the commercial launch startups in Europe will succeed, but PLD Space has a decent chance to be among them. With luck, the Miura 5 launch vehicle will make its debut sometime in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>,<\/p>\n<p><strong>Will NASA launch on a Transporter mission<\/strong>? NASA announced this week that it has selected SpaceX to launch a small exoplanet science mission as a rideshare payload as soon as September, Space News reports. The task order to launch the Pandora mission was made through the Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare launch services contract, intended for small missions with higher acceptance of risk.<\/p>\n<p><em>Could fly on a Falcon 9<\/em> \u2026 Pandora is an ESPA Grande-class spacecraft, a category that includes spacecraft weighing up to 320 kilograms, and is designed to operate in a Sun-synchronous orbit. That suggests Pandora could launch on SpaceX\u2019s Transporter series of dedicated rideshare missions that send payloads to such orbits, but neither NASA nor SpaceX disclosed specifics. The NASA announcement also did not disclose the value of the task order to SpaceX.<\/p>\n<h5 class=\"ars-newsletter-shortcode-header\">\n    <svg class=\"ars-newsletter-shortcode-icon\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 60 60\"><defs><clipPath id=\"rocket_svg__a\"><path fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"0\" d=\"M0 0h60v60H0z\"><\/path><\/clipPath><clipPath id=\"rocket_svg__b\"><path fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"0\" d=\"M0 0h60v60H0z\"><\/path><\/clipPath><\/defs><g clip-path=\"url(#rocket_svg__a)\"><g clip-path=\"url(#rocket_svg__b)\"><path fill=\"#e8e9ec\" d=\"M45.9 8.57c-.49-.7-.9-1.48-1.32-2.25q.525 1.095 1.32 2.25m7.78 6.85c-.77-.42-1.55-.84-2.25-1.32.77.53 1.52.98 2.25 1.32m-7.67-6.7a22 22 0 0 0 2.41 2.86c-.88-.87-1.68-1.83-2.41-2.85\"><\/path><path fill=\"#ff4e00\" d=\"M14.32 45.68a.905.905 0 0 0-1.29 0L1.99 56.72c-.36.36-.36.93 0 1.29s.93.36 1.29 0l11.04-11.05c.36-.36.36-.93 0-1.29m3.88 1.3a.905.905 0 0 0-1.29 0L5.87 58.02c-.36.36-.36.93 0 1.29s.93.36 1.29 0L18.2 48.26c.36-.36.36-.93 0-1.29m-5.17-5.17a.905.905 0 0 0-1.29 0l-9.75 9.76c-.36.36-.36.93 0 1.29s.93.36 1.29 0l9.75-9.75c.36-.36.36-.93 0-1.29\"><\/path><path fill=\"#e8e9ec\" d=\"M45.9 8.57c.04.05.07.1.11.16.73 1.03 1.53 1.98 2.41 2.85.87.88 1.83 1.68 2.86 2.41.05.04.1.07.16.11.7.49 1.48.9 2.25 1.32.39.19.76.34 1.13.47C58.05 8.86 59.48 2.94 59.99.84c.12-.51-.31-.94-.83-.83-2.11.44-8.02 1.94-15.05 5.17.13.37.29.74.47 1.13.42.77.84 1.55 1.32 2.25m-4.25 38.79c.82-1.19 1.17-2.64.99-4.08l-1.01-7.99c5.33-5.33 9.18-11.37 11.98-16.93-2.15-.51-4.87-2.15-7.34-4.62s-4.11-5.19-4.62-7.34c-5.56 2.8-11.6 6.65-16.93 11.98l-7.99-1.01c-1.43-.18-2.89.17-4.08.99L.09 26.96c-.14.1-.11.32.06.36l9.58-.71c.86-.07 1.73-.01 2.58.15l4.36.85c-1.76 2.8-2.21 3.76-2.21 3.76-2.92 5.96-1.14 9.42 1.8 12.37 2.94 2.94 6.41 4.72 12.37 1.8 0 0 .96-.45 3.75-2.21l.85 4.36c.17.85.22 1.72.15 2.58l-.71 9.58c.05.17.27.2.36.06l8.61-12.56Z\"><\/path><\/g><\/g><\/svg><br \/>\n    The Ars Technica Rocket Report<br \/>\n  <\/h5>\n<p>  The easiest way to keep up with Eric Berger\u2019s and Stephen Clark\u2019s reporting on all things space is to sign up for our newsletter. We\u2019ll collect their stories and deliver them straight to your inbox.<br \/>\n  Sign Me<br \/>\n    Up!<\/p>\n<figure class=\"ars-img-shortcode id-1314295 align-center\">\n<p>                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"560\" height=\"81\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/mediuml.png\" class=\"center full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/mediuml.png 560w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/mediuml-300x43.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\"><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p><strong>Stoke Space dishes on Andromeda upper stage<\/strong>. The Washington-based launch company has revealed the name of its Nova rocket\u2019s upper stage, Andromeda, and provided some new details about the design. Andromeda will incorporate hot staging, Stoke says, and will use fewer but larger thrusters\u201424 instead of 30. The upper stage is now mounted on Stoke\u2019s test stand in Moses Lake, Washington, the company said.<\/p>\n<p><em>Hot staging, hot talk<\/em> \u2026 The new design is focused on rapid reusability, with easier access and serviceability to components of the engines and heat shield. \u201cThese changes further reduce complexity and allow the entire engine to be serviced\u2014or even replaced\u2014within hours or minutes. Rapid turnaround isn\u2019t merely a goal, it\u2019s baked into the design,\u201d the company said. The upper stage will also incorporate \u201chot staging\u201d to improve the capacity to orbit. You\u2019ve got to appreciate the subtle dig at SpaceX\u2019s Starship program, too: the design allows for hot staging \u201cwithout the need for a heavy one-time-use interstage shield to protect Stage 1.\u201d Shots fired!<\/p>\n<p>,<\/p>\n<p><strong>European space commissioner worried about launch<\/strong>. During a keynote address at the Perspectives Spatiales 2025 event in Paris, European Commissioner for Defence Industry and Space Andrius Kubilius outlined the challenging position the continent\u2019s space sector finds itself in, European Spaceflight reports. \u201cCommercial sales are down. Exports are down. Profits are down. And this comes at a time when we need space more than ever. For our security. For our survival.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Actions, not words, needed<\/em> \u2026 Rhetorical language and bold declarations are inspiring, but when it comes to securing Europe\u2019s place in the global space race, adopted policy and appropriated funding are where aspirations are tested, the European publication stated. Without concrete investments, streamlined regulations, and clear strategic priorities, Europe\u2019s ambition to once again lead the global launch market is likely to amount to little.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Election set to create Starbase, the city<\/strong>. A Texas county on Wednesday approved holding an election sought by SpaceX that would let residents living around the company\u2019s launch and production facilities in South Texas decide whether to formally create a new city called Starbase, ABC News reports. The election was set for May 3, and votes can only be cast by residents living near the launch site, which is currently part of an unincorporated area of Cameron County located along the US-Mexico border. Approval is expected.<\/p>\n<p><em>A busy beehive<\/em> \u2026 In December, more than 70 area residents signed a petition requesting an election to make Starbase its own municipality. Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevi\u00f1o said the county reviewed the petition and found it met the state\u2019s requirements for the incorporation process to move forward. Kathy Lueders, Starbase\u2019s general manager, has previously said that the incorporation would streamline certain processes to build amenities in the area. More than 3,400 full-time SpaceX employees and contractors work at the site. (submitted by teb)<\/p>\n<p>,<\/p>\n<p><strong>China taps into commercial space for station missions<\/strong>. China will launch a pair of low-cost space station resupply spacecraft this year on new commercial launch vehicles, Space News reports. The Haolong cargo space shuttle from the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute will launch on Landspace\u2019s Zhuque-3. The reusable stainless steel, methane-liquid oxygen Zhuque-3 rocket is due to have its first flight in the third quarter of this year. The reusable Haolong vehicle will be 10 meters in length, around 7,000 kilograms in mass, and capable of landing on a runway.<\/p>\n<p><em>Following a commercial trail laid by NASA<\/em> \u2026 Meanwhile, the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft from the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of the Chinese Academy of Sciences will launch on the first flight of the CAS Space Kinetica-2 (Lijian-2) rocket no earlier than September. The development is analogous to NASA\u2019s Commercial Resupply Services program, diversifying China\u2019s options for supplying the Tiangong space station. If even one of these missions takes place successfully within the next year, it would represent a major step forward for China\u2019s quasi-commercial space program. (submitted by EllPeaTea)<\/p>\n<p><strong>H3 rocket launches its fifth mission<\/strong>. Japan\u2019s flagship H3 rocket successfully launched the Michibiki 6 navigation satellite early Sunday, enhancing the country\u2019s regional GPS capabilities, Space News reports. The launch was Japan\u2019s first of 2025 and suggests that the relatively new H3 rocket is starting to hit its stride.<\/p>\n<p><em>Getting up to speed<\/em> \u2026 The expendable launcher\u2019s inaugural launch in March 2023, after numerous delays, suffered a second-stage engine failure, leading controllers to issue a destruct command to destroy the stage and its ALOS-3 payload. Since then, it has had a successful run of launches, most recently the Kirameki 3 communications satellite for defense purposes in November last year. (submitted by EllPeaTea)<\/p>\n<figure class=\"ars-img-shortcode id-1314297 align-center\">\n<p>                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"560\" height=\"81\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/heavyl.png\" class=\"center full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/heavyl.png 560w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/heavyl-300x43.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\"><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p><strong>Blue Origin lays off 10 percent of its employees<\/strong>. A little less than a month after the successful debut of its New Glenn rocket, Blue Origin\u2019s workforce will be trimmed by 10 percent, Ars reports. The cuts were announced during an all-hands meeting on Thursday morning led by the rocket company\u2019s chief executive, Dave Limp. During the gathering, Limp cited business strategy as the rationale for making the cuts to a workforce of more than 10,000 people.<\/p>\n<p>,<\/p>\n<p><em>Growing too fast<\/em> \u2026 \u201cWe grew and hired incredibly fast in the last few years, and with that growth came more bureaucracy and less focus than we needed,\u201d Limp wrote in an email to the entire workforce after the meeting. Even before Thursday\u2019s announcement, Blue Origin sought to control costs. According to sources, the company has had a hiring freeze for the last six months. And in January, it let the majority of its contractors go. Layoffs suck\u2014here\u2019s hoping that those let go this week find a soft landing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Speaking of Blue, they\u2019re targeting spring for next launch<\/strong>. Blue Origin expects to attempt its second New Glenn launch in late spring after correcting problems that prevented the booster from landing on the first launch last month, Space News reports. Speaking at the 27th Annual Commercial Space Conference on Wednesday, Dave Limp suggested a propulsion issue caused the loss of the New Glenn booster during its landing attempt on the Jan. 16 NG-1 launch.<\/p>\n<p><em>Understanding the issues<\/em> \u2026 \u201cWe had most of the right conditions in the engine but we weren\u2019t able to get everything right to the engine from the tanks,\u201d Limp said. \u201cWe think we understand what the issues are.\u201d A second booster is in production. \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to delay our path to flight,\u201d Limp said of the investigation. \u201cI think we can still fly late spring.\u201d June seems overly optimistic. One source with knowledge of the second booster\u2019s production said October might be a more reasonable timeframe for the second launch.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Boeing warns of potential SLS workforce cuts<\/strong>.&nbsp;The primary contractor for the Space Launch System rocket, Boeing, is preparing for the possibility that NASA cancels the long-running program, Ars reports. Last Friday, with less than an hour\u2019s notice, David Dutcher, Boeing\u2019s vice president and program manager for the SLS rocket, scheduled an all-hands meeting for the approximately 800 employees working on the program. The apparently scripted meeting lasted just six minutes, and Dutcher didn\u2019t take questions. Afterward, Ars learned that NASA was not informed the meeting would take place.<\/p>\n<p>,<\/p>\n<p><em>Waiting on the president\u2019s budget request<\/em> \u2026 During his remarks, Dutcher said Boeing\u2019s contracts for the rocket could end in March and that the company was preparing for layoffs in case the contracts with the space agency were not renewed. The aerospace company, which is the primary contractor for the rocket\u2019s large core stage, issued the notifications as part of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (or WARN) Act. The timing of Friday\u2019s hastily called meeting aligns with the anticipated release of President Trump\u2019s budget proposal for fiscal year 2026, which should signal the administration\u2019s direction on the SLS rocket.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Space Force is still waiting on Vulcan<\/strong>. Last October, United Launch Alliance started stacking its third Vulcan rocket on a mobile launch platform in Florida in preparation for a mission for the US Space Force by the end of the year. However, that didn\u2019t happen, Ars reports. Now, ULA is still awaiting the Space Force\u2019s formal certification of its new rocket, further pushing out delivery schedules for numerous military satellites booked to fly to orbit on the Vulcan launcher.<\/p>\n<p><em>Falling short of ambitious goals<\/em> \u2026 In fact, ULA has started to take the rocket apart. This involves removing the rocket\u2019s Centaur upper stage, interstage adapter, and booster stage from its launch mount. Instead, ULA will now focus on launching a batch of Project Kuiper satellites for Amazon on an Atlas V rocket in the next couple of months before pivoting back to Vulcan. ULA hoped to launch as many as 20 missions in 2025, with roughly an even split between its new Vulcan rocket and the Atlas V heading for retirement. Clearly, this now won\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n<h2>Next three launches<\/h2>\n<p>Feb. 15: Falcon 9 | Starlink 12-8 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida | 06:14 UTC<\/p>\n<p>Feb. 17: Falcon 9 | NROL-57 | Vandenberg Space Force Base, California | 13:18 UTC<\/p>\n<p>Feb. 18: Falcon 9 | Starlink 10-12 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida | 23:00 UTC<\/p>\n<figure class=\"ars-img-shortcode id-1311255 align-center\">\n<p>                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"120\" height=\"120\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/rocket.png\" class=\"center full\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to Edition 7.31 of the Rocket Report! The unfortunate news this week concerns layoffs. Blue Origin announced a 10 percent cut in its workforce as the company aims to get closer to breaking even. More broadly in the space industry, there is unease about what the Trump administration\u2019s cuts to NASA and other federal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44766,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9476,21],"class_list":["post-44765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-rocket-report","tag-space"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44765"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}