Key facts
- China's Galactic Energy successfully launched its Pallas-1 rocket.
- NASA is consolidating launch programs and considering bulk buys.
- Isar Aerospace and PLD Space announced new funding rounds.
- A Chinese Long March 6C rocket upper stage fragmented in orbit.
China's Galactic Energy successfully launched its Pallas-1 rocket on Monday, marking the sixth new Chinese rocket debut this year and the fifth with a potentially recoverable booster. However, doubts about the launch's success have been raised due to the lack of official confirmation of its orbital parameters by the US Space Force and expert trackers.
Meanwhile, NASA is exploring new procurement strategies, including the possibility of bulk buys for launches, as it consolidates its launch programs into a new Commercial Access to Space office. This approach, similar to the US Space Force's strategy, aims to aggregate demand and potentially lower costs for government launches.
In Europe, launch startups are securing new funding. Germany's Isar Aerospace is preparing for another attempt to launch its Spectrum rocket into orbit from Norway, despite a previous failure and technical issues. Spain's PLD Space has raised additional funds ahead of its Miura 5 rocket's inaugural orbital launch attempt. Germany's HyImpulse also announced an extension of its Series A funding round.
In a separate incident, a Chinese Long March 6C rocket upper stage fragmented in orbit days after delivering a satellite payload. This marks the latest in a series of fragmentations affecting the Long March 6 series, though the debris is expected to reenter the atmosphere within a few years due to its low orbit.