United Launch Alliance is nearing the return of Vulcan to flight, with a date no earlier than October 29, 2026, set for an Amazon Leo mission, to be followed by another mission for the same network later in the year. If the solid-fuel boosters perform successfully on the mission, this could pave the way for a major increase in Vulcan’s launch cadence during 2027.
Amazon Leo says it is working toward two consecutive launches using Vulcan this year. Rajeev Badyal, Amazon Leo’s vice president, explained that the infrastructure the company developed with ULA allows two rockets to be processed simultaneously, with two operational integration facilities, each containing a Vulcan rocket in a vertical position in preparation for missions.
Asian Successes and a European Delay
In South Korea, the Nuri rocket succeeded on its fifth flight, placing five satellites into orbit as part of the country’s first domestic microsatellite constellation for Earth observation for national-security purposes. It also launched nine of the ten secondary CubeSats, while PERSAT-02, developed by the startup Quaternion, failed to separate from the rocket.
This was Nuri’s fourth consecutive success after the failure of its first flight in 2021, raising its overall success rate to 80%. After the launch, Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon pledged to continue government support for privately led launches, as South Korea gradually transitions from a government-led model toward a more commercial space industry.
By contrast, German company HyImpulse postponed the second flight of its suborbital SR75 rocket to spring 2027, after previously targeting the end of 2026. The company attributed the new schedule to remaining work within the licensing framework and seasonal weather conditions at SaxaVord, rather than to vehicle readiness. The flight will be the rocket’s first launch from European territory and will also carry commercial payloads for the first time.
Reuse Tests Remain Slow
The European Commission extended the SALTO project deadline to the end of 2026 to conduct the first low-altitude hop test of the reusable Themis vehicle. The project, valued at 42.8 million euros and led by ArianeGroup under a program managed by the European Space Agency, aims to test liftoff and landing followed by relaunch. The original deadline had been set for November 2025.
Germany’s Rocket Factory Augsburg also appointed Alexander Dahm as chief executive officer, succeeding Indulis Kalnins, to lead the company toward the first orbital flight of its RFA ONE rocket. This follows the loss of the first stage during a static-fire launch test in 2024.
Operational and Security Challenges Around Launch Platforms
SpaceX canceled a Falcon 9 launch attempt at the last minute of the countdown, as the rocket transitioned to the automated sequence for startup, without announcing the reason for the cancellation. The mission was intended to launch a new batch of Space Development Agency communications satellites into low Earth orbit. After another attempt was canceled on October 6, the company is targeting a launch no earlier than October 10 using booster B1103 on its sixth flight.
At Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, a directed-energy defense system is being prepared to disable drones intruding into the site’s airspace. This approach is particularly important at a facility that hosts operations by SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, Blue Origin, and Relativity Space, because conventional radio-frequency jamming could affect spacecraft.
Why Does This News Matter?
These developments show that the expansion of the space economy depends not only on developing rockets, but also on increasing launch rates, providing parallel processing infrastructure, demonstrating reusability, and protecting launch sites. While Amazon Leo’s plans indicate growing commercial demand for launch services, the delays and countdown cancellations reveal that regulatory, operational, and security readiness remain decisive factors in turning plans into regular flights.