Rocket Report: Starship set for historic test flight; a century of Electron

SpaceX is preparing for a Starship test flight that would attempt something unprecedented: recovering both the rocket’s booster and upper stage for reuse. The planned flight and landing attempts, scheduled about 22.5 hours apart, could mark a significant step towards fully reusable orbital rockets.

Rocket Lab’s Electron is due to make its 100th mission on 14 November, carrying an iQPS radar satellite from New Zealand. The article also discusses questions over funding and capacity for Europe’s Vega C rocket, Firefly’s agreement to launch up to 10 missions for Japan’s Synspective through 2030, and a multi-launch deal between Stoke Space and Planet whose terms were not disclosed.