Satellite operators remain keen on dedicated, "boutique" launch services despite a global boom in rocket launch capacity, largely driven by SpaceX's Falcon 9. This appetite persists because SpaceX is scaling back Falcon 9 flights while its next-generation Starship has no confirmed timeline for carrying non-Starlink payloads, leaving a gap that smaller specialist launch providers are moving to fill, particularly in Europe.

Germany's Isar Aerospace recently reached orbit for the first time with its Spectrum rocket, launching CubeSats from Norway after a failed debut last year, a milestone welcomed across Europe's space sector as an alternative to established providers Arianespace and Avio. Satellite servicing firm Astroscale, based in Japan, signed two launch deals with Isar even before that success, for missions requiring bespoke orbits: ELSA-M, which will deorbit a Eutelsat OneWeb satellite, and ADRAS-J2, which aims to remove a defunct Japanese rocket body from orbit. Other firms such as Rocket Factory Augsburg, PLD Space and The Exploration Company are also developing rockets to compete, while US firm Katalyst Space separately used the niche Pegasus XL rocket in July for a satellite-servicing mission that ultimately failed to rescue NASA's Swift observatory.