Rocket Report: New launch rule may limit environmental regulations, Falcon 9 to hit Moon

RFA One launch delayed. Rocket Factory Augsburg had been closing in on the debut launch of its RFA One rocket but discovered an issue this week. “After a successful week of testing RFA One on the pad for the first time, we encountered an issue with the vehicle that requires further investigation,” the company said on social media. “We have made the decision to de-stack the vehicle in order to investigate.” No new launch date set… The German company was preparing to launch from a spaceport in Scotland and had previously said the vehicle’s launch window would open on August 10. That date will now certainly be delayed, although Rocket Factory Augsburg provided no additional guidance on timing. The three-stage rocket is designed to deliver a payload of up to 1,300 kg to a Sun-synchronous orbit. This may not seem super exciting, but… The wet dress rehearsal represents the most significant publicly announced milestone in the Themis test campaign since September 2025, when the T1H demonstrator was erected on its four landing legs at Esrange, marking the start of combined testing. In January 2026, then-director of ESA’s space transportation program Toni Tolker-Nielsen explained that Kiruna, where Esrange is located, was under snow and that they were “waiting for spring.” It is not yet clear when the next milestone in the test campaign will take place. Starliner could launch this year. During a quarterly earnings call on Tuesday, Boeing Chief Executive Officer Kelly Ortberg offered some encouraging remarks in response to an analyst’s question about Starliner and other space projects at the company. “The redesign of the Starliner deficiencies is going quite well, and we’re feeling pretty good about that,” Ortberg said. The deficiencies he referred to primarily involve the vehicle’s propulsion system. Cargo mission would precede crewed flight… During the earnings call, Ortberg suggested much of that work was completed and that the primary issue now is scheduling a launch date with NASA for Starliner to ferry cargo to the space station to ensure there is an open docking port and astronaut time to unload the vehicle. Based on sources, Ars reported that this is indeed the case, that the primary factor now for when Starliner launches is port availability on the space station. It is therefore possible that Starliner will launch this year. An opportunity to study the Moon… The upper stage belongs to a Falcon 9 rocket that launched two lunar landers, Firefly’s Blue Ghost and ispace’s Hakuto-R, on January 15, 2025. Its impact will help astronomers and others studying the Moon. “Because the timing, location, and speed of the crash are known in advance, this event is a rare opportunity to learn about impact physics, the properties of lunar soil, planetary protection, and the safety of future operations on the lunar surface,” the research team said. (submitted by philip verdieck) AST SpaceMobile turns back to Falcon 9. AST SpaceMobile announced this week that its launch of the BlueBird 11, 12, and 13 satellites is currently scheduled for Wednesday, August 5, 2026, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. The additional satellites 11, 12, and 13 will further expand AST SpaceMobile’s space-based cellular broadband network, supporting voice, data, and video services directly to standard, unmodified smartphones. Company using all launch vehicles available… The company’s network is a direct competitor to SpaceX’s plans to use its Starlink satellite network to deliver direct-to-cell connectivity. AST has been starting to ramp up satellite production, and with the New Glenn and Vulcan rockets currently offline, it has had little choice but to turn to SpaceX to launch its large satellites. Can SpaceX achieve rapid reuse with this heat shield? Some experts said this week that SpaceX’s current approach may not get Starship to its ultimate goal of flying frequently at low cost, Ars reports. “Starship’s current thermal protection system is a dead-end for all missions that require full and rapid reusability,” said Dan Rasky, a former NASA engineer who studied heat shield materials for nearly four decades at NASA Ames Research Center. NASA confronted this same issue half a century ago during the development of the Space Shuttle, which used thousands of lightweight ceramic tiles, but was never able to inspect and refurbish the vehicle quickly. SpaceX is well aware of the challenge… The independent industry experts said they believe SpaceX’s heat shield will likely be good enough to deploy a next-generation Starlink constellation. But the experts are concerned that it will be unable to hit the high flight rate needed—several hundred to thousands of low-cost launches annually—for large settlements on the Moon and Mars, orbital data centers, or large-scale space-based solar power. However, the company believes it can reach a point at which the heat shield is immediately inspected and cleared between orbital flights. Time will tell. August 1: Falcon 9 | Starlink 17-52 | Vandenberg Space Force Base, California | 02:00 UTC August 4: Long March 8A | Unknown payload | Wenchang Space Launch Site, China | 08:50 UTC August 4: Falcon 9 | Starlink 17-53 | Vandenberg Space Force Base, California | 14:00 UTC