Welcome to the Launch Roundup! Last week was a bad one for small satellite launchers with multiple failures, NASA is gearing up to launch another asteroid mission, and Virgin Galactic is preparing to send three more people on a suborbital joy ride.

Welcome to the Launch Roundup! The failure of a Rocket Lab Electron rocket temporarily sent the company’s stock plunging, Firefly Aerospace launched a satellite on 24-hours’ notice, a new crew arrived at the International Space Station (ISS), and Stoke Space conducted its first hop.

Welcome to S-SPACⁱ! In this week’s edition, Rocket Lab announced a five-launch deal with BlackSky as it reported higher earnings, Virgin Galactic is on the eve of launching its first space tourists after lowering expectations on future earnings, Astra Space laid off a quarter of its employees as it pivoted to producing rocket engines, Planet Labs conducted layoffs of its own, and Momentus unveiled its first satellite bus.

A Rocket Lab Electron rocket launched a swarm of Starling satellites for NASA, and three spacecraft for Spire Global and Telesat from New Zealand on Monday, July 17 (Tuesday, July 18 local time). Rocket Lab recovered the first stage from the ocean in what the company called a major step toward making the Electron partially reusable.

In this week’s Launch Roundup, Rocket Lab launched two satellites for NASA that will provide valuable data on hurricanes and tropical cyclones on Sunday, May 7 (Monday, May 8 in New Zealand).

In this week’s Launch Roundup, SpaceX leads all launch providers thus far in 2023 as the Elon Musk-led company has averaged one flight roughly every four days.

Welcome to S-SPACⁱ. In this edition, Terran Orbital received a milestone payment for the Rivada satellite constellation, Intuitive Machines’ joint venture won a major contract, and AST SpaceMobile made an historic phone call. Plus, news about BlackSky and Rocket Lab.

SpaceX scrubbed the maiden flight test of its Starship/Super Heavy booster on Monday due to a frozen valve at the start of a busy two-week period that could see the company conduct five launches.

It is the worst of times for launch providers Virgin Orbit and Astra Space, whose futures could be decided in the next week. And two satellite operators — Momentus and Spire Global — have received delisting warnings from their respective stock exchanges. On that dour note, let’s dive right into this week’s S-SPACⁱ.

Japan’s new rocket fizzled on the pad last week as the United States and Russia prepared for key launches this week to the International Space Station (ISS).