We finally saw the debut launch of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket last week. We also saw the first of many Starship flights of 2025. While both were considered flight data-gathering missions, one seems a little more successful than the other, and spoiler, it wasn’t SpaceX.
Checkout the podcast version of Terminal Count here.
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SpaceX has been the de facto launcher for most of the world ever since the Falcon 9 started ramping up its launch cadence and lowering costs about a decade ago. While many companies say they compete with SpaceX, in reality, they are a monopoly for commercial launch; if you need something done quickly, it’s going to be on a Falcon 9. Is 2025 finally the year we see another option emerge?
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It has been a busy year full of rocket launches, broken records, and new developments. While years past have been about the possibilities of what is to come, 2024 was about seeing those renderings come to life. Here are our top developments stories from 2024.
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In what was believed to be the final strand of tests before attempting its first orbital launch, Rocket Factory Augsburg suffered an anomaly during a hot fire test of its first stage and a loss of the vehicle. So what happens now for European launch?
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Rocket Factory Augsburg is gearing up for its first orbital launch attempt of its RFA One rocket. Its spaceport, a set of Islands north of mainland Scotland, is also ready for the company’s launch, the first from the UK’s soil.
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While the US’s private launch sector has been killing it by developing multiple viable launch systems, Europe’s commercial sector has been stagnating, with only Arianespace capable of any projects, with a lot of help from ESA. However, that is not the case for Rocket Factory Augsburg, which just completed a full-duration hot fire of its privately developed second stage.
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