Launchapalooza: 26 New Boosters Debuting Worldwide

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

During the first seven months of the year, five new satellite launch vehicles from Europe, China, Russia and South Korea flew successfully for the first time. As impressive as that is, it was a mere opening act to a busy period that could see at least 20 additional launchers debut around the world.

The new launch vehicles range from massive beasts (Starship/Super Heavy, Space Launch System) designed to send astronauts to the moon and Mars to small satellite launchers capable of orbiting payloads weighing 100 kg (220 lb) or less. Rockets designed to replace boosters that have been the mainstays of the launch industries in the Europe, Japan and the United States will see their maiden flights over the next year.

Most of the new launch vehicles are designed to serve the booming small satellite market. Development has been pursued by both private companies, government space agencies and private-public partnerships. Whether there are enough payloads to support all these new boosters remains an open question.

New launchers are being developed in Australia, China, Europe, Japan, Russia, Taiwan and the United States. Launches will be conducted from at least 17 locations around the world. Seven spaceports in Australia, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States will host their first orbital launch attempts.

Let’s take a closer look at who is launching what from where and when.

Flights of New Launch Vehicles, 2022

New Launch Vehicles Debut

The table below shows new launch vehicles that flew successfully during the first seven months of the year. Europe’s Vega C, Russia’s Angara-1.2, and China’s Long March 6A and KZ-1A had successful maiden flights. South Korea’s Nuri rocket placed a payload into orbit for the first time after failing during its initial launch last year.

The upgraded Long March 6 booster features a first stage equipped with two YF-100 engines instead of one engine and four solid-rocket boosters to improve performance. The upgraded booster can place 4,500 kg (9,921 lb) into a 700 km (435 mile) high sun synchronous orbit (SSO). Long March 6 is limited to launching 1,080 kg (2,381 lb) to SSO.

Russia’s Angara-1.2 launcher made its maiden flight on April 29. Although the launch appears to have gone as planned, the MKA EMKA No. 3 (Kosmos-2555) satellite made no attempt to raise its orbit and reentered the atmosphere less than three weeks later on May 17. Experts are not sure whether the satellite failed on orbit, or if it was a mass simulator to test the new booster.

Angara-1.2 is the smallest booster in the Angara rocket family, consisting of a single first stage and an upper stage. It is designed to place 3,800 kg (8,378 lb) into low Earth orbit (LEO). A larger version, Angara-A5, is a heavy-lift vehicle with four liquid boosters attached to the first stage.

South Korea marked the summer solstice by successfully flying the nation’s first fully domestically produced satellite launcher. The Nuri rocket placed seven payloads into orbit from the Naro Space Center on South Korea’s southern coast.

The three-stage Nuri booster is designed to launch 2,600 kg (5,732 lb) into a 300 km (186 mile) high orbit or 1,500 kg (3,307 lb) into a 600-800 km (373-497 mile) high orbit.

Vega C’s maiden flight on July 13 carried the passive LARES 2 satellite, which is equipped with laser mirrors to allow scientists to study Earth’s gravitational field and conduct general relativity measurements. Six CubeSats with various scientific purposes were launched as secondary payloads.

The upgraded version of the Vega booster can deliver 2.3 metric tons into polar orbit compared with 1.5 metric tons by its smaller predecessor. Vega C’s P120C solid fuel motor will be used as strap-on boosters for Europe’s new Ariane 6 rocket.

Two weeks later, CAS Space launched China’s newest satellite booster, ZK-1A (Lijian-1). The solid-fuel launcher is capable of placing 2,000 kg (4,409 lb) into LEO or 1,500 kg (3,307 lb) into SSO. CAS Space is a commercial spinoff of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

A Range of Boosters

Twenty new rockets are looking to make maiden flights in the next year or so. Firefly Aerospace will launch its Alpha booster for the second time from Vandenberg Space Force Base after the rocket failed on its maiden flight last year.

Upcoming Flights of New Launch Vehicles

Five new American launch vehicles, a Chinese booster and an Indian rocket could make their maiden flights before summer ends on Sept. 22. The flights could include two of the most powerful launchers ever built.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) looks to extend the streak of successful booster debuts to five with the launch of the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) on Sunday, Aug. 7. The launch is scheduled for 09:18 IST (03:48 UTC/11:48 p.m. on Saturday). Coverage will begin at 08:30 IST (03:00 UTC/11 p.m. EDT on Saturday).

SSLV is designed to launch 500 kg (1,102 lb) to LEO and 300 kg (661 lb) to SSO. It will be the smallest booster in the stable of Indian rockets that includes the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mk. II and the GSLV Mk. III.

NASA has set Aug. 29, Sept. 2 and Sept. 5 as possible launch dates for its Artemis I mission. The Space Launch System (SLS) will launch an uncrewed Orion spacecraft on a weeks-long flight test around the moon from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This is a crucial test before astronauts fly aboard on the Artemis II mission two years from now.

It will be the first launch of a crew vehicle to the moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. SLS is capable of placing 95 metric tons (104.7 US tons) into LEO.

In Texas, Elon Musk’s SpaceX is preparing for the maiden launch of its Starship/Super Heavy booster, which will be able to launch more than 100 metric tons (110.2 US tons) to LEO. The giant two-stage booster will lift off from SpaceX’s private Starbase located on the Gulf Coast just north of the Mexican border.

“A ‘successful’ orbital flight is probably between 1 and 12 months from now,” Musk tweeted on Tuesday.

Starship/Super Heavy’s maiden launch will not be an orbital flight. Starship will come down in the ocean off the coast of Hawaii. SpaceX is hoping to land the Super Heavy stage back on its launch pad.

While preparations for flights of these massive rockets continue in Florida and Texas, two U.S. startup companies are getting ready to launch two much smaller boosters from Alaska and California.

ABL Space Systems is at Pacific Launch Complex–Alaska on Kodiak Island preparing for the maiden flight of its RS1 booster. The liquid-fuel rocket is designed to place 1,350 kg (2,976 lb) into LEO for $12 million per flight.

Firefly Aerospace is preparing for its second flight of its Alpha booster at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Firefly can launch 1,000 kg (2,205 lb) to LEO or 630 kg (1,389 lb) to SSO. Alpha failed during its maiden launch in September 2021 when a propellant valve failed on one of its four first-stage Reaver engines.

China Rocket is scheduled to launch its Jielong 3 (Smart Dragon 3) booster from a platform in the Yellow Sea in September. The solid-fuel rocket is capable of launching 1,500 kg (3,307 lb) to SSO. China Rocket is a subsidiary of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology.

A Broad Range of Market Segments

The table below shows new launch vehicles by payload capacity to LEO and SSO. The boosters range from the aforementioned SLS and Starship/Super Heavy designed for crewed deep-space missions down to Perigee Aerospace’s Blue Whale 1, which can launch 65 kg (143 lb) to LEO or 50 kg (110 lb) to SSO.

New Launch Vehicles by Payload Capacity

New boosters are being developed in Europe, Japan and the United States to replace launchers that have been the mainstay for military and civilian payloads.

United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket will replace the Atlas V and Delta IV launcher families. The new booster is designed to launch a wide range of payloads. It can be launched in its basic two-stage variant or be augmented with two, four or six solid rocket boosters.

The maiden launch has been delayed due to technical challenges with the BE-4 first stage engine supplied by Blue Origin. The first flight is still scheduled for the end of this year, but it could slip into 2023.

Europe’s Ariane 6 is designed to give Europe a more affordable, competitive and flexible launch vehicle than Ariane 5, which typically launches two large geosynchronous communications satellites at a time. Ariane 6 can be launched in a two-stage configuration, or augmented with between two or four solid rockets to accommodate heavier payloads.

In June, European Space Agency Director General Josef Aschbacher revealed that the rocket’s maiden would be delayed into 2023 due to a series of development issues.

Japan’s H3 rocket is designed to replace the H-IIA and H-IIB rockets. (H-IIA is operational; H-IIB was retired in 2020.) Like Vulcan Centaur and Ariane 6, the H3 is a two-stage booster whose payload can be increased by adding two tor four solid-fuel boosters.

Engineers have experienced technical challenges with the new rocket’s engines. Officials have not set a date for the maiden launch.

Launch Vehicles by Nation

Europe and the United States are tied with six new launch vehicles making their maiden or second flights. China is in third place with five new rockets, with India behind it with three boosters. South Korea has launched one new rocket — Nuri — and has another — Blue Whale 1 — awaiting its first flight. Australia, Japan Russia and Taiwan have one new rocket each.

New Launch Vehicles by Nation/Region

Four European startup — Orbex, Skyrora, Isar Aerospace and Rocket Factory Augsburg — are developing boosters for the small satellite market. Vega C and Ariane 6 will serving the medium and large satellite markets, respectively.

American companies ABL Space, Firefly Aerospace and Relativity Space are developing launchers to serve the small-satellite industry. Vulcan Centaur is designed for large satellites while SLS and Starship/Super Heavy are heavy-lift vehicles designed to support deep-space exploration.

Three of China’s new rockets are focused on serving the small to medium launch sector. ZK2 rocket will be one of the most powerful solid-fuel boosters in the world with a 3,550 kg (7,826 lb) lifting capacity to SSO. China has placed a major emphasis on commercializing its space industry through startups, spinoffs from government corporations, and a policy of civil-military fusion that involves cooperation between the two sectors.

Indian startups Agnikul Cosmos and Skyroot Aerospace are developing rockets as the nation looks to spur more private participation in its government-dominated space program. The other new booster, SSLV, was developed by the nation’s space agency, ISRO.

Australia’s Gilmour Space and Taiwan Innovative Space are both developing small-satellite launchers that use hybrid propulsion systems. Both companies will launch from new Australian spaceports.

Launches of New Boosters by Spaceport

Launches of new rockets are to take place from spaceports in Australia, China, French Guiana, India, Japan, Norway, South Korea, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The two most watched upcoming launches will no doubt be NASA’s Artemis I mission from Florida and SpaceX’s Starship/Super Heavy from the company’s Starbase facility in Texas. There haven’t been launches of rockets that powerful from U.S. soil since the Saturn V was retired in 1973.

New spaceports have been spouting up like weeds in Europe and Australia. Sutherland and SaxaVord in Scotland will host launches of the Prime and Skyrora XL rockets. Virgin Orbit is scheduled to conduct the first launch from the United Kingdom’s other new launch site, Spaceport Cornwall, in September.

New Launch Vehicle Flights by Spaceport

Andoya Space Center in Norway will host orbital launches for the first time by Isar Aerspace and Rocket Factory Augsburg. Andoya is a sounding rocket range that previously limited launches to suborbital flights.

Australia has developed two new spaceports — Abbot Point and Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex — to host orbital launches. Gilmour Space Technologies will launch from Abbot Point. Taiwan Innovative Space Inc. and Perigee Aerospace of South Korea plan to launch from Whalers Way.