Rocket Report: Europe splashes some cash on launch startups; Pallas-1 nears debut

Skyroot is great, but India needs more. Jatan Mehta writes some of the most insightful articles about India’s space program, and we wanted to highlight his six-part series on what he calls “India’s launch vehicle crisis.” Part six of this series was published on Sunday, and it explains why, despite the recent success of Skyroot and its Vikram-1 rocket, India’s growing gap in orbital launch capacity will remain unresolved. “Even if we hope and assume that the thousand-plus people of Skyroot bag a commendable place in the small-lift launch market, that does not in itself solve India’s space access crisis,” Mehta writes. India’s government needs to be proactive … He notes that the country faces major constraints in spaceports, suppliers, and especially medium- and heavy-lift rockets. “Skyroot’s success with the first flight of Vikram-1 is only the least worst case scenario for India’s launch vehicle crisis,” Mehta says. “It’s not at the peak alongside people’s emotions but at the bare minimum level to cater to but a fraction of India’s needs in space.” A real workhorse … SpaceX launched around 260 Starlink missions on Falcon 9 from Florida, but all future Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches from Florida will carry external customer payloads. The next one is scheduled for August 30, when a Falcon Heavy rocket will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center with NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Officials eventually plan to phase out the Falcon 9 in favor of Starship, at least for commercial missions, raising concerns among SpaceX customers about the availability of reliable launch services after 2028. Pallas-1 rocket nears debut. Chinese commercial firm Galactic Energy is ready for a first orbital launch attempt with its Pallas-1 liquid propellant launch vehicle, Space News reports. Newly published airspace warnings now indicate a launch window of between 9:52 pm ET on August 31 and 12:09 am ET on September 1 (01:52–04:09 UTC, September 1). While the rocket is designed for reusability, no recovery attempt of the first stage is expected for the first flight. No payloads have so far been announced ahead of launch. Solidly a medium-lift vehicle … Pallas-1 is Galactic Energy’s two-stage liquid launch vehicle, with an optional Eros upper stage for extended missions. It has a 3.35 meter-diameter body, a 4.2 meter-diameter fairing, a liftoff mass of 283 tons, and liftoff thrust of 350 tons, according to Galactic Energy’s webpages. While payload capacity stats have fluctuated during development, the firm states a maximum payload capacity of 7,000 kilograms to low-Earth orbit. New federal policy calls for additional spaceports. A new national space transportation policy signed by President Donald Trump calls for the development of more spaceports to support more than 1,000 launches and reentries per year by 2030, Ars reports. The most notable updates to the national space transportation policy focus on increasing the country’s ability to enable those lofty forecasts. The Trump administration calls on the Pentagon and NASA to “prioritize and coordinate on infrastructure investments” to boost launch and reentry capacity and flexibility at federal launch and reentry ranges. Finding additional launch facilities … The policy document supports more efficient range scheduling criteria at federally owned spaceports, balancing the needs of commercial users and US government missions. It also directs the military and NASA to “regularly publish range schedules to ensure transparent allocation of resources and optimize launch capacity.” Today, the schedules for most rocket launches are not public until a few days or weeks in advance. The government will also identify potential locations for additional launch facilities in the United States, improve integration of space launch and reentry operations into airspace and air traffic control modernization efforts, and designate “priority airspace for critical space launch corridors.” Ariane 6 set for first geostationary launch. On Thursday, Arianespace is scheduled to launch the MTG-I2 meteorological satellite with the Ariane 62 configuration from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. According to Arianespace, the MTG-I2 mission will mark the fourth Ariane 6 launch of the year and the rocket’s first to a geostationary orbit. Flying high, for now … In addition to these milestones, this will be the ninth overall launch by the Ariane 6 program, which was developed by the European Space Agency and is now operated by Arianespace. From a technical standpoint, Europe’s workhorse rocket continues to perform well, but there are questions about its long-term viability. China delays key lunar launch. China’s “Manned Space” program issued a terse announcement on Sunday regarding its much-anticipated Chang’e 7 lunar exploration mission, Ars reports. The agency stated: “In keeping with the principle of proceeding prudently and reliably, and ensuring absolute success, after a comprehensive assessment it has been determined that the Chang’e 7 mission does not meet the conditions for launch and therefore cannot be carried out during the planned launch window this year.” A key step in the race back to the Moon … Consisting of a lunar orbiter, lander, rover, and a mini-hopper probe, the mission was due to launch as early as Sunday on a Long March 5 rocket. It is intended to land at the south pole of the Moon. Although official Chinese sources have provided no confirmed information, there has been social media chatter indicating that another suitable launch window may not open until next February or March. Why so long? It’s likely a combination of factors, including sunlight conditions in polar landing zones and the mission plan, which requires a 90-day lunar orbit reconnaissance before landing. Nearly time for Roman to fly. NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope arrived Tuesday at the SpaceX hangar at Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, just days before its scheduled liftoff on a Falcon Heavy rocket, the US space agency said. NASA, Roman, and SpaceX teams will host a Launch Readiness Review on Friday to conduct the final “go/no go” poll ahead of the planned 7:26 am ET launch on August 30, from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy. A far-seeing instrument … Launching nine months ahead of schedule, Roman is expected to transform the way we see the Universe and settle essential questions about some of the biggest mysteries out there. Roman has a wide field of view that will rapidly capture huge swaths of sky full of stars and galaxies once it reaches the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point 2, or L2. August 27: Ariane 6 | MTG-I2 | Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana | 20:10 UTC August 30: Falcon Heavy | Roman Space Telescope | Kennedy Space Center, Florida | 11:25 UTC August 31: Electron | Own Around the World | Māhia Peninsula, New Zealand | 12:05 UTC