It’s not often that this happens, but solar activity has forced Blue Origin to scrub today’s launch attempt of New Glenn from Cape Canaveral.
NG-2 Update: New Glenn is ready to launch. However, due to highly elevated solar activity and its potential effects on the ESCAPADE spacecraft, NASA is postponing launch until space weather conditions improve. We are currently assessing opportunities to establish our next launch…
Solar activity has been quite high in the past few days as sunspot 4274 has created coronal mass ejection events this week. Last night, aurorae were visible as far south as Central Florida, and that electrical activity is not good for rockets and payloads. According to NOAA, that activity is set to continue today:
Credit: NOAA. Retrieved November 11, 2025
The culprit is sunspot 4274 (circled in the solar disk photo above), which is nearing the solar horizon and will rotate with the sun to its side facing away from Earth. Today, however, is going be a busy one insofar as solar activity, according to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. That necessitated a launch delay.
When Will Blue Origin Try Again?
As their post on X states, Blue Origin is looking at dates and working with officials at the Eastern Range to determine a new launch date for New Glenn. Space Weather is of course a current concern, but their launch date may be affected by United Launch Alliance’s next attempt to launch Atlas V and the ViaSat-3 mission, currently scheduled for tomorrow night.
That’s where it gets sticky: ULA might also be forced to cancel their launch attempt for the same reason Blue Origin scrubbed today: solar storms affecting Earth’s atmosphere. Forecasters at Spaceweather.com posted today that, “Last night’s severe (G4) geomagnetic storm is subsiding, but the action is not over. Earth’s magnetic field is still reverberating from a double-strike of CMEs on Nov. 11th. A third CME is expected to hit Earth on Nov. 12th, elevating storm levels back to G3/G4.” How long that lasts will determine ULA’s plan and whether they have to push their launch.
Should that happen, there will be some congestion on the Range, and at that point, priorities will need to be assigned. Stay tuned,
Why Does Solar Weather Matter To Rockets?
Solar activity can disrupt the communications and navigation systems that ascending rockets rely on. Radio bursts from solar flares add noise to tracking radars and telemetry links, while geomagnetic storms disturb the ionosphere, degrading GPS accuracy used by guidance and range safety. These events also heat the upper atmosphere, increasing drag and altering ascent conditions, complicating performance predictions.
Today’s solar disk. Credit: NASA / SDO
Launch operators monitor space-weather alerts and compare conditions to launch commit criteria; when space weather indices are elevated, they may delay to keep comms, navigation, and environmental margins within acceptable limits. In other words, it’s electrical activity that can scramble vital communications and control.
Blue Origin and NASA did just that, wisely not taking these risks lightly and choosing to wait for the storms to fade and the atmosphere to calm before launching New Glenn.
As the old saying goes: “It’s better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air, than in the air wishing you were on the ground.”
New Glenn standing on its launch pad at LC-36A in Cape Canaveral. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
I nearly deleted this from my card when I saw it on the camera. The lens was a 16mm/2.8, I hated the barrel distortion and the overall softness of the shot. Then I looked at it on a laptop, and hmmm, that is actually pretty sharp. You can see the first stage for quite a long way if you look full size.
New Glenn NG-2 standing ready to launch on November 9 with omnipresent gray clouds lurking in the background. They would soon bring rain. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Blue Origin called off the highly anticipated first launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday afternoon, citing poor weather conditions at Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 36. It was a day when the sun and rain alternated, and sometimes the sun would stay out while it was raining: call it sunny rain. That proved to be unacceptable to the launch team, and a scrub was called just at the end of the launch window, around 4:15 PM ET.
Blue Origin will recycle and reset, planning for the next attempt for a launch on Wednesday afternoon. The window opens at 2:50 PM ET, and extends to 4:17 the same day.
This Launch Had Everything
It’s rare to say that a launch countdown is an adventure, but this one was — it had everything: rain, then sun, then more rain, fishing boats fouling the range, then the fishing boat losing one of two of its motors and having to limp out to a safe area, and finally, once the fishermen were safely north of the exclusion area, a cruise ship ignoring the Notice to Mariners advisory and heading out into the range, temporarily fouling it in their rush to head to sea with thousands of vacationers aboard.
The first part, weather, you could follow with your own eyes if you were watching from close by. The second, boats and ships in the exclusion area, was a drama easily followed on Channel 16 of the marine band. The weather was shifting often as a steady line of storms between Titusville and Daytona Beach would move south, then drift north. The boat captains were generally cooperative and jocular. The cruise ship? Silent on the channels we were monitoring.
Blue Origin had their own water security team to help keep the range clear. They had a busy day yesterday, starting in the morning when New Glenn started its propellant load. Look closely, and you could see him checking us out closely, even though we were outside any closed areas. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Crowds were heavy, with Jetty Park and Cherie Down Park in Cape Canaveral reaching capacity despite the weather. The beaches were lined with spectators as well, with everyone looking forward to the sight of the 322-foot rocket lumbering skyward. It was not to be on this day, but few grumbles were heard from anyone.
Jetty Park Pier was lined solid with launch spectators mixed in with the press. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
At A Glance
Countdown to Window OpenT–00:00:00Opens: Nov 12, 2025, 2:50 PM
New Glenn | ESCAPADE — Launch Details
Field
Details
Mission
New Glenn | EscaPADE Go for Launch!
Window Opens
Wednesday, 11/12/2025 2:50:00 PM
Window Closes
Wednesday, 11/12/2025 4:17:00 PM
Organization
Blue Origin
Location
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Rocket
New Glenn
Pad
Launch Complex 36A
Status
Go for Launch
Status Info
Current T-0 confirmed by official or reliable sources.
Destination
Mars Orbit
Mission Description
Second flight of Blue Origin's New Glenn launch vehicle carrying the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE), a dual-spacecraft mission from University of California, Berkeley to study ion and sputtered escape from Mars. The spacecrafts' scientific goals are to understand the processes controlling the structure of Mars' hybrid magnetosphere and how it guides ion flows; understand how energy and momentum are transported from the solar wind through Mars' magnetosphere; and understand the processes controlling the flow of energy and matter into and out of the collisional atmosphere.
As of …
Weather
The 45th Weather Squadron has released their L-2 forecast for New Glenn's second launch attempt:
The offshore landing area remains an area of concern and may yet affect the second launch attempt. We'll see. The 45th will issue another Launch Mission Execution Forecast tomorrow.
New Glenn NG-2 ready for launch on November 9, 2025. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
New Glenn NG-2 on the launch pad this morning. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Blue Origin has raised New Glenn to its vertical launch position at LC-36A, with the 322-foot-tall set to liftoff this afternoon between 2:45 PM and 5:11 PM ET. Weather may be a concern, with acceptable conditions expected to fade as the afternoon progresses.
After booster separation, Blue Origin will attempt to land the GS-1 New Glenn first stage on Jacklyn, its automated droneship.
At A Glance
Organization
Blue Origin
Location
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Rocket
New Glenn
Pad
Launch Complex 36A
Status
Go for Launch
Status Info
Current T-0 confirmed by official or reliable sources.
Window Opens
Sunday, 11 / 09 / 2025 2:45 PM
Window Closes
Sunday, 11 / 09 / 2025 5:11 PM
Destination
Mars Orbit
Mission Description
Second flight of Blue Origin’s New Glenn carrying NASA’s EscaPADE dual-spacecraft mission (UC Berkeley) to study ion and sputtered escape from Mars and the energy/momentum flow through Mars’ hybrid magnetosphere.
As of 7:34 PM Saturday November 8, 2025. Launch assignments and times are subject to change or cancellation at any time. Consult
BlueOrigin.com for updates.
New Glenn at LC-36A today. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Weather
The 45th Weather Squadron of Space Launch Delta 45 has released their latest weather forecast for tomorrow’s launch window: 65->55% GO.
An interesting area of concern is noted by the 45th: solar activity. Currently, NOAA forecasters expect moderate geomagnetic storms for the next seventy-two hours as additional Coronal Mass Ejections brush or strike Earth’s magnetic field, due to activity traced to active sunspot 4274.
Sunspot 4274, circled. Credit: NASA/SDO
Fortunately, the concern is rated low to moderate, so it’s worth keeping the corner of your eye on it.
Trajectory
Neither Blue Origin or NASA have provided any specific numbers, but the launch trajectory is expected to be ~28.5° — due east.
Payload
ESCAPADE is a pair of small, matching Mars probes built by Rocket Lab, with each carrying compact instruments to sample magnetic fields and charged particles around the planet. The sensor suite includes a magnetometer provided by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and lightweight plasma instruments developed with university collaborators, sized for a dual-spacecraft flight.
ESCAPADE Spacecraft. Credit: Rocket Lab
Their job is to observe how the solar wind interacts with Mars’ patchy crustal magnetism and how that interaction helps strip the upper atmosphere. By flying in coordinated orbits, the two spacecraft can compare conditions at different points at nearly the same time, building a time-varying picture of Mars’ magnetosphere and ionosphere that a single probe would miss.
The mission is led and operated by the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, which will command the spacecraft and manage science operations. Rocket Lab built and integrated the vehicles; Blue Origin provides launch services for the ride off Earth, with additional contributions from partners including NASA Goddard and industry and academic teams.
Launch Viewing: In Person
LC-36A is clearly visible all the way down Cocoa beach, the closest being the pier at Jetty Park. Also close to SLC-36 is The Banana River Bridge. This will be a relatively big launch, and if you plan to go to one of the more popular spots, go early.
If possible, watch one of the YouTube streams for the latest/greatest information. Things change pretty fast as the countdown heads towards zero, and Will Robinson-Smith on Spaceflight Now or the announcers on Blue Origin’s live stream will keep you up to date.
Remember that there is a delay between a launch stream and the actual countdown clock. That is simply because of physics: it takes time for the signal to travel from the launch site, through the Internet, and back down to your phone, resulting in a five to fifteen-second delay.
New Glenn NG-1 at LC-36 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Blue Origin has officially announced the launch date and time window for its second New Glenn mission, NG‑2. It is now officially scheduled to lift off no earlier than Sunday, November 9, 2025, from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The launch window opens at 2:45 PM ET and closes at 5:11 PM ET (19:45–22:11 UTC).
🚀 Launch Alert | We're targeting New Glenn's second launch no earlier than Sunday, November 9, from LC-36. NG-2 will send @NASA's ESCAPADE twin spacecraft on their journey to Mars and carry a @Viasat technology demonstration for @NASASpaceOps' Communications Services Project. pic.twitter.com/6rK6wg9yxJ
An Early Look At The Weather For Sunday November 9th
Weather might pose a problem on Sunday, as there is a ~40-50% chance of rain in the forecast. Monday the 10th looks to be the beginning of a cold spell for the Space Coast, as winds will shift to the northwest as a frigid air mass approaches the area. Veteran’s Day will bring a winter-like high of 62ºF, with northerly winds ranging from 10-20 MPH. While none of that is any sort of Launch Mission Execution Forecast, it’s reason able to expect the 45th Weather Squadron to come out with something less than an ideal forecast for this flight.
In Brief
New Glenn | EscaPADE
Organization
Blue Origin
Location
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Rocket
New Glenn
Pad
Launch Complex 36A
Status
Go for Launch
Status Info
Current T-0 confirmed by official or reliable sources.
Window Opens
Sunday, 11 / 09 / 2025 2:45 PM
Window Closes
Sunday, 11 / 09 / 2025 5:11 PM
Destination
Mars Orbit
Mission Description
Maiden flight of Blue Origin’s New Glenn carrying NASA’s twin Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE) to study ion and sputtered escape from Mars and the processes that shape the planet’s hybrid magnetosphere and energy/momentum transport from the solar wind.
As of 10:16 AM Thursday November 6, 2025. Launch assignments and times are subject to change or cancellation at any time. Consult
BlueOrigin.com for updates.
The NG‑2 mission will carry the Rocket Lab-built ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) spacecraft — a pair of identical satellites bound for Mars. Also aboard is a technology demonstration payload for Viasat, part of NASA’s Communications Services Project.
The New Glenn rocket’s first stage will attempt recovery via landing on the offshore ship Jacklyn, while the upper stage delivers the payload to its Mars-bound trajectory. Jacklyn left Port Canaveral overnight, and is now steaming towards its planned downrange position to await GS-1, New Glenn’s booster.
While Blue Origin has maintained that a successful booster landing remains a tertiary goal for the mission, it is still an important one for the company: recovering the first stage sets the table for refurbishment and reflight, a key part of the economics of the New Glenn program. Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp commented yesterday on social media on the landing attempt, saying, “What if we don’t stick the landing? That’s ok. We’ve got several more New Glenn boosters already in production.”
The first two goals are obvious: a successful ascent to orbit for the 320 ft (98 m) tall rocket flying for the second time. Following that, a successful payload deployment for NASA and ViaSat, Blue Origin’s customers for NG-2.
Stay Tuned
As always, lots of things can and probably will change prior to Sunday in regards to the mission.
New Glenn NG-2 Static Fire on October 30, 2025, at LC-36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Photo: Blue Origin
‘If at first you don’t succeed’, the old saying goes, ‘try, try again.’
That’s what Blue Origin did last night at Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral. After an apparently aborted static fire earlier in the evening, the company was able to successfully complete the vital test shortly before 10 pm ET.
The first attempt saw the water-based sound suppression system activate before a brief ignition and quick shutdown. Nonplussed, Blue’s engineers recycled their systems and around 9:59 pm, all seven BE-4 engines were started, with Blue Origin later saying that they “performed nominally with a 38 second duration test including all seven engines operating at 100% thrust for 22 seconds.”
Dave Limp, Blue Origin’s CEO, said later on social media that, “We extended the hotfire duration this time to simulate the landing burn sequence by shutting down the non-gimballed engines after ramping down to 50 percent thrust, then shutting down the outboard gimballed engines while ramping the center engine to 80 percent thrust. This helps us understand fluid interactions between active and inactive engine feedlines during landing.”
Limp went on to add that the NG-2 launch campaign can move on to payload integration and final preparation of the 322-foot tall rocket for flight. That flight is currently slated for NET November 9th, where it will carry two Rocket Lab-built satellites destined for Mars.’
The first SLS rocket, Artemis I, sits on the launch pad at KSCs LC39B in 2022
Business is picking up here on the Space Coast, and we’re heading into a very busy stretch on the Eastern Range with missions to Mars, the Moon, low Earth orbit and of course ISS all set to launch here. Best of all, they’ll ride aboard a wide array of rockets and we’ll see some rare birds taking flight from here in Florida.
Those flagship and keystone launches will be mixed in with the regular Starlink and Project Kuiper missions along with some commercial satellite missions. In short, if you like watching rocket launches, the next few months here at The Cape are going to be a treat. Get your bug spray and lawn chair ready.
New Glenn NG-1 lifts off in January from LC-36. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Regulars who watch pad activity or track transport moves out of Astrotech or the Blue Origin integration facility off Space Commerce Way are already seeing the signs: New Glenn’s first stage is at LC-36 being integrated to GS-2 (New Glenn’s second state) and preparing for an integrated static firing as part of its launch campaign. SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy is on the manifest again, albeit in lightly written pencil. And NASA’s Artemis II stack is inching toward flight, with some saying that the crew of that mission will be heading to moon as soon as February 2026. Best we can tell, here’s what’s real, what’s rumor, and what’s sitting on the pad right now:
New Glenn
Starting things off, Blue Origin rolled out its GS-1 booster — Never Tell Me The Odds — to Launch Complex 36 on October 8th. This is a sure sign of the impending second flight of Blue’s New Glenn, a 320-foot tall behemoth of a rocket that the company will use to power the multiple missions it is currently working on.
David Limp of Blue Origin posted this photo on X.com on October 10 with the caption: “Welcome to LC-36, “Never Tell Me The Odds.” Next up: GS1+GS2 stage mate and integrated launch vehicle hotfire.”
The rollout from Blue’s factory on Exploration Way kicked off final pad integration for the flight. Following completion of that and culminating in a static firing of GS-1, it’s fair to say that the launch campaign has kicked off for NG-2, carrying NASA’s EscaPADE dual spacecraft, bound for Mars orbit to study solar wind interactions, plus a secondary payload for Viasat.
The static fire is expected in the next 7–10 days according to unofficial sources, and that will be the final greenlight before range clearance. The company already has a launch license, so there will be no need to wait for any FAA approvals.
While Blue Origin hasn’t publicly confirmed a date, multiple launch tracking sites now list November 9, 2025, as the likely target. That may change, of course, so stay tuned.
Falcon Heavy In December?
Assuming a November New Glenn flight, eyes will turn from one end of The Cape to the other, for a rare SpaceX Falcon Heavy mission, this time flying Astrobotic’s Griffin Mission One under NASA’s CLPS program. The lander will ferry the VIPER lunar rover to the south pole of the Moon.
The mission is notable not just for its science payload and is a critical mission for Astrobotic, the mission’s operator. Their first attempt at a lunar landing was not successful, but after applying lessons learned from its Peregrine Mission One, which launched in January 2024 but experienced an anomaly that prevented it from reaching the Moon.
Liftoff of Falcon Heavy of June 25, 2024
Photo: Charles Boyer / Tot
The window opens in early December, though final pad dates haven’t been published.
Frankly, a delay into 2026 would not be terribly surprising. Nothing on Astrobotic’s or NASA’s websites indicates the lander is in Florida for final launch preparation and payload integration. Add in the current shutdown state of the federal government and you can see this mission shifting right on the calendar fair easily.
Artemis II
With the recent transportation of the Orion capsule stack to the VAB and the SLS rocket that awaits it there, things are literally coming together nicely for America’s first crewed mission beyond low-Earth orbit in over fifty years.
NASA is saying that Artemis II is now tracking toward a no-earlier-than February 2026 launch, with an official “no later than” window of April 2026. The mission will send four astronauts around the Moon aboard Orion and riding atop the SLS Block 1 rocket. This will be the first crewed flight of Orion and will raise the count of crewed American spacecraft systems to three, if one includes the Starliner program.
Photo: NASA
Artemis II will bring the excitement and the crowds that go along with it, so this is a launch to watch closely.
Starship – Mid 2026 If All Goes Well
While Starship continues testing from Boca Chica, SpaceX is working feverishly at LC-39A and is progressing to bring full-stack launches to the Cape.
Starship Flight 11 rising in Texas earlier in October. Photo: Chris Leymarie / Florida Media Now
No launch license yet for Florida flights, and no integration tower ready for Super Heavy booster ops. That said, groundwork is active.
Expect a first Florida-based Starship no earlier than mid-2026, contingent on pad completion and FAA approval. That launch would be key to fulfilling the Artemis HLS lander contract. After Artemis II, all eyes will turn to Artemis II, and there are going to be literally dozens of Starship launches from here and in Boca Chica to the support that mission.
First though, a lot has to happen here at The Cape: Starship must gain approval from the FAA, and secondly, the construction at LC-39A and at Hangar X must be completed. Flight hardware will be manufactured in Texas and transported to the Cape by water, and after all of that, all of the pieces need to be put together into an integrated flight system. Sounds daunting, with a lot of potential potholes, but it is foolish to ever bet against SpaceX and their capability to get things done.
So, mid-2026 optimistically. If there are delays, any time after that. Time will tell, but be sure of this: Starship is coming as NASA and the DoD both want it.
Mixed In With It All
Falcon 9, Atlas V and Vulcan will all stay busy with constellation-building, government missions and commercial missions.
They may be overshadowed for a time by the big missions set to fly from here in Florida, but the bread-and-butter rocket launches will continue apace and will be increasing: SpaceX is looking to raise its Falcon 9 pace from The Cape and launching more Starlink satellites thereby, Vulcan is now operational and with a notable backlog of flights, and New Glenn is not far behind. Let’s not forget the venerable Atlas V, it will be carrying Kuiper Project satellites to orbit at a fair steady pace as well.
So if you like rocket launches, this is going to be like Christmas for you. Good thing it’s almost Christmas!
Starship Rising: initial ascent from the Texas coast went exactly as planned.
Photo: Chris Leymarie, Florida Media Now
For a fleeting moment, New Glenn lit LC-36 blue as it lifted off on the first. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
As October progresses, Blue Origin has turned up the tempo of its preparations for the next launch of its New Glenn rocket. Plans are converging toward a liftoff sometime between mid-October and mid-November for the second mission of the 322-foot-tall (98-meter) rocket, which will carry NASA’s twin Rocket Lab-built ESCAPADE probes and place them on their way to Mars.
Though the company has not yet committed to a hard launch date, recent public statements suggest the first-stage static fire is likely to occur in the middle of the month, with a launch to follow soon thereafter. All of the pieces are coming together for a second New Glenn flight.
In a post on social media, Blue Origin affirmed that “ESCAPADE is at Astrotech and GS1 [the first stage] is headed to LC-36 in early October,” adding that the “vehicle hotfire mid-month” is the next major activity. Given that today is October 2, “mid-month” is only a couple of weeks away.
That phrasing strongly implies that the full booster test—igniting all seven BE-4 engines while the booster is held on the pad—is expected in mid-October. Assuming a successful test firing of GS1, the entire launch vehicle will then be stacked and returned to LC-36 for its eventual flight to space.
An update on NG-2: ESCAPADE is at Astrotech and GS1 is headed to LC-36 in early October. Next up is the vehicle hotfire mid-month with launch soon thereafter. pic.twitter.com/E8M2O7LbEs
Meanwhile, the second stage of the vehicle has already undergone a dedicated hot-fire test on September 23, a milestone that cleared that portion of the stack for upcoming integration work.
The FAA already licenses New Glenn Flight 2 under Blue Origin’s existing five-year Part 450 commercial space launch license, issued in December 2024 and valid through at least 2029. No separate license is required for subsequent flights under this framework, provided that Blue Origin meets the changes required after NG-1’s flight and subsequent investigation.
This license authorizes multiple orbital missions from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (LC-36), including reusability attempts for the first stage on an Atlantic barge. It covers Flight 2 following the closure of the Flight 1 mishap investigation in March 2025.
Meet our second booster, with all modules mated: “Never Tell Me The Odds.” I think the odds of landing this booster are a lot better than 3,720-to-1. Both strakes are in place, and BE-4 installation is well underway. Great job by the team as we continue getting our second… pic.twitter.com/B065jDvA7N
Pretty clearly, business is picking up for Blue Origin. Sooner rather later, skies above the Space Coast are going to turn blue again as NG-2 powers its way to orbit. And may the odds ever be in their favor.
As the International Space Station nears its 2030 planned retirement, both American and European players are accelerating efforts to ensure a continued human presence in low Earth orbit (LEO). American companies are spearheading multiple commercial station projects, while Europe is increasingly aligning itself as a strategic partner in the emerging space economy.
NASA has taken a clear stance: rather than replace the ISS with another government-owned platform, it’s backing private companies to build and operate commercial stations. Through its Commercial Low Earth Orbit Destinations (CLD) program, NASA is funding early design and development, with plans to purchase services as a customer once the stations are operational.
Here are where the key U.S. projects stand:
Axiom Station (Axiom Space)
Axiom Hab 1 under construction Photo: Axiom Space
Axiom will launch its first module to the ISS in 2026, marking the beginning of the Axiom Station. Only one module, the Payload Power Thermal Module (AxPPTM), will be attached to ISS. When Habitat 1 (AxH1) is launched, AxPPTM will detach from ISS and will dock with AxH1, separate from NASA’s orbiting outpost.
Axiom’s roadmap for station development Graphic: Axiom Space
Axiom already has experience flying private missions to the ISS, is building new EVA spacesuits, and is one of the most advanced competitors in the commercial space station market in terms of flight readiness.
Let’s hope they come up with some friendlier names for each of the modules.
Haven-1 & Haven Demo (Vast Space)
Vast Space is building a modular station beginning with Haven-1, planned for launch in May 2026 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9. It will support short-duration missions for four crew members and is designed to operate autonomously before more complex modules are added.
Artist’s rendering of Vast-1, which is currently under construction.
Ahead of Haven-1, Vast will launch a Haven Demo mission — a critical uncrewed test flight that will validate life support systems, power, comms, and other station functions. This demo is expected in 2025 and will serve as a technological shakedown before human occupation.
No launch date has been set for Haven Demo, but launching this year is more than aspirational, given that the company announced on September 26, “Haven Demo build and test are complete, and it is now undergoing final integration for launch.”
Vast’s roadmap includes Haven-2, a larger and more capable successor, anticipated by 2028. In June 2024, Vast signed a cooperation agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA), opening the door for European astronauts and payloads to fly on its platforms.
Starlab (Voyager/Nanoracks + Airbus)
A Starlab rendering of its planned orbital station. Credit: Starlab
Targeting a 2029 launch, Starlab is a collaboration between U.S.-based Voyager Space and Nanoracks, with European aerospace giant Airbus as a co-developer. The station has completed major design reviews and is moving into the full production phase. Its design supports four crew members and includes laboratory space for government and commercial users. Airbus’s involvement makes this one of the most international of the U.S.-led efforts.
Orbital Reef (Blue Origin + Sierra Space)
Artist’s conception of Orbital Reef Credit: Sierra Space
Orbital Reef, billed as a “business park in space,” is being developed with a mix of partners, including Blue Origin, Sierra Space, Boeing, and others. The plan includes large inflatable habitat modules (Sierra’s LIFE system) and facilities for research, tourism, and manufacturing. It’s an ambitious project, but it is still in its design stages.
No advanced design review or acceptance meetings have been announced, and no metal has been bent to create a first flight module for Orbital Reef. The project partners have a stated 2027 goal, but does not seem to be a priority for some of them at this point in time.
Europe: Infrastructure, Access, and Industry Roles
While Europe lacks a flagship commercial space station project of its own, ESA is actively engaging through industrial support and international partnerships.
Airbus in Starlab: The European aerospace leader plays a central role in the development of Starlab, ostensibly to ensure that European technology is integrated into the next generation of orbital stations.
ESA–Vast Agreement: ESA’s memorandum of understanding with Vast signals a shift toward broader collaboration with commercial operators outside of Europe, giving ESA member states potential crew and science access aboard Haven-class stations.
Cargo Return Services: ESA has also contracted Thales Alenia Space (Italy) and The Exploration Company (Germany) to develop LEO cargo return vehicles by 2028–2030. These efforts support future station resupply and science return — capabilities vital for any long-term orbital presence.
Exploratory Talks with Blue Origin: ESA is reportedly in talks to integrate European hardware or services into Orbital Reef, another sign of the agency’s pivot toward cooperative participation in commercial platforms rather than duplicating them.
Outlook: High Stakes, Compressed Timelines
With ISS operations expected to wind down by the end of the decade, time is tight. NASA and its commercial partners face a complex mix of engineering, regulatory, and financial hurdles. The recent postponement of NASA’s next CLD solicitation reflects industry-wide uncertainty and a need for clearer demand signals.
ISS On Orbit…For Now
Photo: NASA
Meanwhile, Europe’s more cautious strategy — focused on access, partnerships, and enabling infrastructure — may prove prudent if their own efforts with Starlab stutter. At the same time, it also risks leaving Europe dependent on foreign platforms unless greater independence is pursued.
That means money, and it is in short supply these days, as the ESA budget has flattened: €7.68 billion ($7.91 billion) in 2025, down about 1.4% from the €7.79 billion the agency had allocated for 2024.
Stay Tuned…
If early stations like Haven-1 and Axiom Station succeed, the LEO economy could expand quickly in the 2030s, with multiple platforms offering access to governments, scientists, private astronauts, and commercial industries alike.
There are surely some potholes in the road to space for all of the companies. Not only do they have to create a spacecraft that will reliably keep its occupants alive, but they will also need to establish supply chains (resupply missions) and operational groups to manage it all. It’s a daunting task for anyone.
So, as always, stay tuned, there is a lot more to come, but things are about to start getting interesting.
New Glenn NG-1 standing tall at LC-36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station earlier this year. In the foreground is the lightkeeper’s house at the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse.
Blue Origin has delayed the launch of its second New Glenn rocket to no earlier than Sept. 29. After flying a successful mission in January, Blue had stated that the target date for NG-2 was first in “late spring,” and later adjusted to NET August 15.
New Glenn’s second mission is NET September 29. We have been working closely with @NASA on the timeline and look forward to flying ESCAPADE to Mars. You’ll start seeing some exciting things happening at the pad down in Florida very soon.
The prime mission for the launch is NASA’s ESCAPADE mission. New Glenn will carry two small satellites tasked with studying the Martian magnetosphere, and will be New Glenn’s first interplanetary mission and the first multi-spacecraft orbital science mission aimed at Mars. NG-2 will also carry a technology demonstration payload for ViaSat, in support of NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate’s Communications Services Project.
A tertiary goal for this mission will be a successful landing of the New Glenn first stage on the company’s landing platform, which will be stationed downrange offshore in the Atlantic. Blue plans to fly as many as 25 missions with each booster, targeting significant cost reduction and operational efficiency for each flight, and is considered to be a necessity for the long-term financial viability of the company.
Blue Origin’s recovery ship, Jacklyn, while docked in Port Canaveral.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Finally, a successful second flight will serve as another technology demonstration for future customers, namely the Department of Defense, NASA and Amazon. Blue was awarded National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 2 heavy-lift provider status, and is a $2.4 billion contract for the company. Amazon has also contracted New Glenn for at least 12 launches of its Project Kuiper satellites, and Blue Origin itself is building out its first lunar lander, Blue Moon Mk1, part of its lunar lander services contract with NASA and the Artemis Program. That spacecraft will need a ride on New Glenn as well.
Whether Blue launches in September remains to be seen. Delays in new launch systems are hardly uncommon, and on its second flight, Blue Origin has a full plate payload and operations-wise. To successfully achieve each objective, the company will be sure to double, triple, quadruple check every component and procedure leading up to the launch, and then they’ll probably check again after that just to be sure. That takes time, and if any issues are found, it will take time to resolve them. The old axiom of “fly only when you’re ready” still applies.
So, as always, stay tuned. There’s more to come.
Blue Origin’s New Glenn on its debut launch in January. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
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