Rocket Report: Key Ariane 6 test delayed; NASA urged to look at SLS alternatives

Enlarge / The Falcon Heavy rocket's two side boosters returned to Cape Canaveral for landing after sending NASA's Psyche spacecraft on its way into deep space. (credit: Trevor Mahlmann/Ars Technica)

Welcome to Edition 6.16 of the Rocket Report! Lots of news here today about big rockets, including a push by SpaceX to speed up launch licensing by the Federal Aviation Administration. The full-court press in Washington, DC, comes as the company says its Starship rocket is ready for a second flight test but still awaiting final regulatory approval. The earliest the launch could now occur is during the first half of November.

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.

Virgin Galactic to fly sixth mission in six months. The California-based suborbital space tourism company announced this week that its "Galactic 05" mission will take flight as early as November 2. Such a flight would continue Virgin Galactic's impressive monthly cadence of flying its VSS Unity spacecraft this year. This flight will carry researchers who will use the interior of the space plane as a lab for research.