Starship and New Glenn: a glimpse into the future of space launchers
Plus: lunar missions, new funding rounds, Europe one step closer to orbit and more!
Welcome to Aerospace Insider 🚀
In this week’s issue, we’re diving into the latest and greatest from Europe’s booming space sector. Big things are happening!
Today’s summary:
🚀 Aerospace News: Can this be considered the most exciting week ever?
💼 Top Space Jobs: Check out the latest job opportunities!
🔍 Deep Dive: Starship and Blue Origin: the future of space launchers.
Aerospace Weekly Roundup
Catch the latest European space industry highlights you can't afford to miss! This week is mostly all about rockets.
💰 Stoke Space secures $260M Series C
Stoke Space raised $260M in Series C funding, doubling its total to $480M, to advance its 100% reusable medium-lift rocket. This funding will boost the development of key technologies such as the Zenith engine and the actively cooled metallic reentry heat shield. Stoke, along with SpaceX is currently the only company developing a fully reusable rocket. This investment marks the largest fundraise by a space startup since Firefly Aerospace's $175 million round in November. Not bad.
🚀 RFA gets UK launch license
Rocket Factory Augsburg secured a license from the UK's Civil Aviation Authority to conduct its first orbital launch from SaxaVord Spaceport later this year. This marks the first privately developed vertical orbital launch license from Europe (Virgin Orbit got a license before but it wasn’t an air launch rocket). Despite setbacks from a static-fire test accident, RFA aims to launch the RFA ONE rocket, capable of placing 1,300 kg into sun-synchronous orbit, by 2025. The license also allows up to 10 launches annually. One step closer to reaching orbit.
🌕 SpaceX launches two lunar landers in double Moon mission
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket deployed two commercial lunar landers from Firefly Aerospace and Japan's ispace on separate trajectories to the Moon. The landers, both the size of a slightly big car, will use their engines for final manoeuvres to enter lunar orbit in the coming months. Firefly and ispace both confirmed the landers are healthy, marking a successful start to the mission.
🛰️ India completes on-orbit docking test in step towards major space plans
India's ISRO successfully docked two spacecraft in orbit, advancing its robotic lunar and human spaceflight objectives. Launched on December 30, the 220-kg SDX01 (chaser) and SDX02 (target) reached a 475km orbit. Despite delays due to satellite drift, the docking was achieved on January 15, making India the fourth nation to accomplish orbital docking.
🛰 Loft Orbital secures $170M Series C investment
Loft Orbital has raised $170M to expand its fleet of satellites and streamline operations. The company, which simplifies access to space by integrating customer payloads on shared satellites, plans several key launches in 2025, including Earth observation missions and satellites for government and commercial clients. This funding will support the growth of its space infrastructure and satellite as a service (SaaS? 😉) business.
Space Jobs Spotlight 🔍
Curated roles to accelerate your career in Europe’s thriving space sector.
🚀 Internships & Graduates
CFD Engineering Intern — Pangea Aerospace (Toulouse 🇫🇷)
Supply Chain Management Intern — RFA (Augsburg 🇩🇪)
Software Development Working Student — OroraTech (Munich 🇩🇪)
Technical Innovation Working Student — OroraTech (Munich 🇩🇪)
Graduate Programme — Alén Space (Nigrán 🇪🇸)
💼 Space Jobs (ranked by experience)
Sales Manager — Space Inventor (Aalborg 🇩🇰)
Mechanical Engineer — OroraTech (Munich 🇩🇪)
Test and Launch Operations Engineer — RFA (Augsburg 🇩🇪)
CFD Engineer — Pangea Aerospace (Barcelona 🇪🇸)
Satellite Ground Control Engineer — TUM (Munich 🇩🇪)
Propulsion Engineer — Kreios Space (Vigo 🇪🇸)
Project Manager — Exolaunch (Berlin 🇩🇪)
Senior Sales Customer — PLD Space (Elche 🇪🇸)
Do you like these jobs or think something is missing? Hit ‘reply’ and let me know!
Starship and New Glenn: A glimpse into the future of space launchers
This might have well be the most important week for the space industry so far. SpaceX flew Starship for the seventh time and, more importantly, Blue Origin launched New Glenn for the first time. Yes, at last.
What’s important to notice is that these are two of the largest rockets (if not the largest, but there’s SLS also 🤷♂️) ever built that have demonstrated launch capability and are designed with reusability in mind from day 1.
Starship’s seventh flight: a mixed result?
SpaceX’s Starship completed its seventh test flight with a mixed but impressive outcome. They managed to do what just a few years ago was thought as reckless impossible… but for a second time. They managed to catch the main booster with the tower. If you haven’t watched the video yet (and I’d be honestly surprised), see it for yourself.
Despite the successful catch, the rest of the test flight did not go as planned. After a successful separation, Starship’s upper stage, this was the first flight of Starship V2, fired its engines until telemetry was unexpectedly lost after eight and and a half minutes into the flight.
In cased you wondered what ‘telemetry was lost’ means:
This is a reminder to everyone that space is hard. Even for SpaceX.
To their credit, this is how they approach development so the test can’t be considered a failure. It could have gone better, but they will now analyse the data and improve the ships design based on the findings. Can’t wait for next flight.
New Glenn’s maiden launch: the first step for Blue Origin
Slightly before Starship’s launch, Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket also made headlines, lifting off for the first time in what is now a historic moment for the company. New Glenn is Blue Origin’s heavy-lift rocket designed to compete with SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy and Starship (although Starship’s simply massive).
Both the first and second stages performed flawlessly, delivering its payload into the correct orbit. However, the booster recovery attempt, which aimed to mimic SpaceX's Falcon 9-style landing, didn’t succeed. While Blue Origin has successfully landed its New Shepard suborbital rocket, recovering the first stage of an orbital rocket, standing at 57.5 metres tall, is a significantly more complex challenge.
New Glenn’s debut flight was nonetheless a success, demonstrating the rocket’s potential for reliable payload delivery into orbit. Like SpaceX’s Starship and Falcon 9, New Glenn is designed with reusability in mind, aiming to dramatically reduce the launch costs. As Blue Origin refines the booster recovery system and gains more flight experience, it is expected to become a key player in the global launcher market, offering an alternative to the current SpaceX’s dominance.
The Future of the Global Launcher Market
While both Starship and New Glenn are still in the testing phase, the potential these rockets have is undeniable. Once they have mastered the recovery and reusability (recovering the rocket is one thing, flying it again is another, don’t forget), both rockets could significantly disrupt the current market, making space more accessible for both governmental and commercial ventures. And making the launcher market even more competitive and difficult for smaller launcher companies.
European launcher companies will need to be ready to face a more difficult market in 2025 and beyond. Let’s hope we see a private European company reach orbit this year as well.
Thanks for reading Aerospace Insider.
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To your success,
Jaime