In this week’s Launch Roundup, SpaceX will launch a new space telescope, India will send a spacecraft to land on the moon, and Europe will say goodbye to a venerable launch vehicle during the first half of July. In the meantime, the world is closing in on 100 launch attempts as the first half of 2023 comes to a close on Friday.

Virgin Galactic will launch its first ever suborbital flight with paying customers on Thursday, June 29, when it launches three Italian researchers on the Galactic 01 mission.

Welcome to Biz Briefs! In this edition, Virgin Galactic is selling more stock, Skyrora tests its rocket engine, Ball puts its aerospace business up for sale, China builds launch complexes for commercial rockets, the U.S. and India deepen space cooperation and much more.

Welcome to Biz Briefs! In today’s edition, merger talks between Intelsat and SES broke down, Tomorrow.io raises $87 million, Intelsat orders a Mission Extension Pod from SpaceLogistics, United Launch Alliance conducts its first launch of 2023, and much more.

Virgin Galactic’s plan to fly SpaceShipTwo’s first commercial suborbital flight next week falls near the anniversary of the first spaceflight by its predecessor, SpaceShipOne, on June 21, 2004. Here’s a look back at that day nearly two decades ago.

The temperature was still hovering around 90 degrees Fahrenheit in Mojave when the summer solstice arrived at 5:57 PM on June 20, 2004. The weather in the High Desert was a marked change from the chilly and overcast Los Angeles that we had left the day before. The LA Basin was in the middle of June Gloom, a weather phenomenon where a marine layer that normally stays offshore moves inland to block out the sun, sending temperatures plunging.

Welcome to S-SPACⁱ! In this week’s edition, AST SpaceMobile confirmed it can deliver 4G capabilities to ordinary smartphones from a satellite, Redwire supported an X-Bow rocket launch, Terran Orbit joined the TIME100 list, Intuitive Machines’ CEO was honored with an entrepreneur award, and Virgin Galactic’s chairman passed away.

In this week’s Launch Roundup, Rocket Lab conducted the first launch of its new suborbital rocket while a new Spanish suborbital booster suffered an on-pad abort during its maiden launch attempt. Meanwhile, United Launch Alliance (ULA) is scheduled to conduct its first launch of 2023 on Tuesday, and SpaceX is preparing to launch an European space telescope.

Firefly Aerospace has agreed to purchase bankrupt Virgin Orbit’s remaining assets for $3.8 million, marking an end to company founder Richard Branson’s ambitious effort to become a leading provider of satellite launch services.

Welcome to part two of this week’s Biz Briefs! In today’s edition, PLD Space will launch its first rocket tonight, Firefly Aerospace will buy Virgin Orbit’s remaining assets, NASA is partnering with seven companies on commercial space, an ESA astronaut will fly on an Axiom Space mission, Spaceflight Inc.’s former CEO Curt Blake is joining a law firm focused on NewSpace, and much more.

Welcome to Biz Briefs! In today’s edition, Vast selected Impulse Space to provide propulsion for its planned space station, Hydrosat acquired IrriWatch to improve farm irrigation, Arianespace signed memorandums of understanding with two launch startups, Astroscale introduced a new docking plate, Sri Lanka gets Starlink, and much more.

Capping nearly 19 years of effort, Virgin Galactic has announced a June 27 to 30 launch window for the maiden commercial flight of its SpaceShipTwo suborbital rocket plane. The company will conduct the launch, which is being dubbed “Galactic 01,” from Spaceport America in New Mexico.

With Europe facing a crisis in its access to space, the continent’s sole launch provider, Arianespace, has signed memorandums of understanding with startups Orbex and PLD Space to explore partnerships that could provide a range of rides to orbit for customers.