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US — Ars Technica

You know the launch market is tough when satellite companies start building rockets

Space

AST SpaceMobile, a publicly traded Texas company building large satellites for direct-to-cell communications, announced it is developing a medium-lift rocket called Blacklift that would carry 20 metric tons to low-Earth orbit, with commercial launches starting in late 2028. The article calls that timeline wildly optimistic, but says the move highlights two trends: satellite operators must secure launch capacity years ahead, and investors are funding new medium-lift rocket entrants.

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Artemis 2: Why the NASA rocket disrupts GPS signals on Earth

A study by a team from National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, published in Geophysical Research Letters, found that the Artemis 2 launch and two of its maneuvers changed electron density in the ionosphere, as recorded by ground-based GPS systems. These disturbances, including a roughly 5,000-kilometer hole over North America during the apogee-raising burn, can cause GPS signals to arrive early or late, leading to inaccurate position measurements. The study's author, Charles Lin, warned that even a position error of a few meters could affect autonomous vehicles, and it is not known whether the disturbances caused any accidents.

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Blue Origin unveils more thrust, less haste as New Glenn slips to 2027

Blue Origin's internal memo from CEO Dave Limp says New Glenn's return to flight has slipped to January 2027, after the rocket exploded during a May ground test and damaged the launchpad. The memo came alongside announcements of GS3, a new third stage, and Northstar, a booster engine that the company says offers 715,000 pounds-force of thrust, up from 640,000 pounds-force on the BE-4.

SpaceArs Technica

Blue Origin says it is building a higher-performing rocket engine at 1/4 the cost

Blue Origin announced two upgrades to its New Glenn rocket, including a new engine called Northstar that it says will replace the BE-4 in the first stage. The company says Northstar has half the parts and 30 percent less mass, and that it can be built at 25 percent of the cost of a BE-4, with a starting thrust of 715,000 pounds versus the BE-4's 640,000 pounds. Blue Origin has also begun test-firing Northstar and is developing a hydrogen-oxygen third stage, GS3.