Rocket Report: Russian rocket lands like an airplane; SpaceX steamroller rolls

Enlarge / A Falcon 9 launch of 22 Starlink satellites on Wednesday, August 16, 2023. (credit: SpaceX)

Welcome to Edition 6.07 of the Rocket Report! I spent a few days last week in southern New Mexico, visiting Spaceport America and Virgin Galactic's facilities there. I felt a renewed sense of optimism about the company's future among the people there and pride in reaching a more operational cadence of missions. Here's hoping they can keep flying high.

As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

Astra delays debut of its Rocket 4. It's been a year since Astra shelved its first orbital-class rocket after just two successful launches in seven flights. At the time, Chris Kemp, Astra's founder and CEO, unveiled a new rocket design he said would be more reliable and capable of carrying heavier cargo into orbit. A year later, the development of Astra's new launch vehicle—named Rocket 4—appears to have slowed to a crawl, Ars reports.