by 
Rocket Laboratory
Welcome to Rocket Report 7.06! Last week, there was a lot of buzz about NASA, the Starliner crew aboard the International Space Station, and the launch of the Crew-9 mission on a Falcon 9 rocket. NASA now faces a binary choice: bring Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams back aboard Starliner or send two astronauts into orbit aboard Crew-9 and bring Wilmore and Williams back aboard that spacecraft next February. We should know NASA’s final decision next week.
As always, we welcome contributions from our readers. If you don’t want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP versions of the site). Each report will include information on small, medium, and heavy-lift rockets, as well as a quick look at the next three launches on the schedule.
Firefly Signs Another Big Alpha Contract. Firefly Aerospace announced Wednesday that it has signed a multiple launch agreement with L3Harris Technologies for up to 20 launches on Firefly’s Alpha rocket, including two to four missions per year from 2027 to 2031, depending on customer needs. The new agreement is in addition to Firefly’s existing multiple launch agreement with L3Harris for three Alpha missions in 2026. What’s not clear is exactly which satellites L3Harris wants to launch.
Put skins on the wall … “Firefly continues to see growing demand for Alpha’s small launch services, and we are committed to providing a dedicated launch option that takes our customers directly to their preferred orbits,” said Peter Schumacher, interim CEO of Firefly Aerospace. This is another major win for the Alpha rocket, which can lift about 1 metric ton to low Earth orbit. Under a separate agreement announced in June, Lockheed has purchased 15 launches from Firefly, with an option for 10 more, through 2029. (submitted by Ken the Bin and EllPeaTea)
Electron thrust launch rate. Rocket Lab announced Wednesday that it has scheduled the launch of its 52nd Electron mission, which will deploy a single satellite for U.S. space technology company Capella Space. The mission is scheduled to launch in a 14-day window that opens Aug. 11 from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula.
Get to ten much faster …If this launch occurs when that window opens, this Electron flight would occur just eight days after the last Electron mission on August 3. This upcoming mission for Capella will be Rocket Lab’s 10th mission of 2024, tying the company’s annual launch record set in 2023. (submitted by Ken the Bin)
PLD Space to start work on launch site. PLD Space plans to begin building launch facilities for its Miura 5 rocket in October from the Diamant site at the Guiana Space Center, Raúl Verdú, co-founder and director of business development, said this week, according to Space News. Diamant has been dormant for decades after being used for the French rocket of the same name, and “in the area where we are, there is nothing,” Verdú said, “we have to do everything from scratch.”
Lots of things to build …PLD Space, Germany’s Isar Aerospace and a handful of other small European launchers are working with the French space agency CNES to transform the site into a multipurpose facility. In June, the Spanish company announced a plan to invest €10 million ($11 million) for 15,765 square meters of space at Diamant, divided between a launch area and a staging area that includes an integration hangar, a clean room, a control center, and commercial and work offices. CNES is providing shared infrastructure such as roads and power grids. (submitted by Ken the Bin)
Japanese company raises $21 millionInterstellar Technologies has announced a new round of funding that brings its total capital and public funding to $117 million, Payload reports. After building and launching a suborbital rocket called Momo, the company is now building its first orbital rocket, called ZERO, with a goal of flying in 2025. The rocket is designed to carry 800 kg of payload to low Earth orbit and be cheaper than Rocket Lab’s Electron, COO Keiji Atsuta said.
Precious help from Japan … Interstellar’s latest funding round was led by Japanese venture capital fund SBI and NTT Docomo, the country’s leading mobile phone company. Previously, Interstellar received a significant $96 million in funding from the Japanese government. “The Japanese government has explicitly expressed its support for private rockets due to the growing importance of the space industry, and being selected for this support program has greatly accelerated our business,” said Takahiro Inagawa, Interstellar’s CEO. (submitted by Ken the Bin)
Cross-border agreement benefits Nova Scotia spaceportThe Canadian government says it has concluded negotiations with the United States on an agreement that would allow American space launch technology, expertise and data to be used for space launches in Canada, the AP reports. Maritime Launch Services, the company developing Canada’s first commercial spaceport in northeastern Nova Scotia, called the deal a major step forward for the industry.
US rockets could be launched from Canada …Ottawa said it hopes to position Canada as a future leader in commercial space launches. The country has geographic advantages, including a vast, sparsely populated territory and high-inclination orbits. The agreement, which has not yet been signed, will establish the necessary legal and technical safeguards while ensuring sensitive technologies are handled appropriately, the government said in a news release. (submitted by JoeyS-IVB)
