Rocket Report: SpaceX, Blue Origin, and the Future of Space Defense

Welcome to Edition 8.39 of the Rocket Report! There’s a lot of news to share in the universe of powerful rockets this week. The biggest rocket of them all, Starship, had a relatively quiet week as SpaceX aims to launch the vehicle’s next test flight, perhaps sometime in May. The results of that flight and the outcome of Blue Origin’s first attempt to land on the Moon with its Blue Moon cargo lander in the coming months should tell us a lot about NASA’s actual chances of putting astronauts on the lunar surface in 2028.

The US Space Force released a list April 24 of a dozen companies working on Space-Based Interceptors (SBIs) for the Pentagon’s Golden Dome initiative, a multilayer defense system to shield US territory from drones and ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missile attacks. The roster of contractors includes Anduril Industries, Booz Allen Hamilton, General Dynamics Mission Systems, GITAI USA, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Quindar, Raytheon, Sci-Tec, SpaceX, True Anomaly, and Turion Space. The agreements have a maximum combined value of $3.2 billion.

Gen. Michael Guetlein, director of the Golden Dome program, suggested SBIs for boost-phase missile intercepts may not be built if they are not affordable. “We are so focused on affordability. If we cannot do it affordably, we will not go into production,” Guetlein said in a hearing before the House Armed Services Strategic Forces subcommittee.

Virgin Galactic has completed structural assembly of the first Delta-class SpaceShip and moved the vehicle into an adjacent facility in Mesa, Arizona, to begin ground tests. The company aims to begin flight testing in the third quarter, followed by commercial private astronaut flights by the end of the year.

Astronomers say the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket that launched in early 2025 will strike the Moon on August 5, 2026. Because the Moon has no atmosphere, the stage will strike the surface intact, though the impact is expected to be too faint to be seen by Earth-based telescopes.

Russian spaceport Plesetsk has reportedly come under attack from drones on multiple occasions in the last few months. While the drones did not succeed in striking the facility, the Russian government has since implemented tighter information controls regarding launch schedules.

Russia’s new Soyuz-5 rocket lifted off for the first time on Thursday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The rocket is intended as a medium-class replacement for the Zenit rocket, with all components now manufactured within Russia.

The Federal Aviation Administration is preparing to collect user fees for commercial launches and reentries starting in 2026. The fees, based on payload weight, will go into a trust fund to support the FAA’s commercial space office operations.

United Launch Alliance completed its second Atlas V launch of the month, delivering 29 Amazon Leo satellites to orbit. Meanwhile, Arianespace launched 32 Amazon Leo satellites on an Ariane 6 rocket from the Guiana Space Center.

Blue Origin is expanding its New Glenn rocket program, with plans for a more powerful 'Quattro' upper stage variant, aiming for a production rate of 100 per year by 2029.

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy launched a ViaSat Internet satellite from Florida, marking the 12th flight of the vehicle since 2018.