United Launch Alliance announced that its Vulcan rocket is approaching a scheduled launch, marking a potential milestone for the company’s heavy-lift capabilities.

The statement came during a briefing in which a ULA executive said the vehicle is "weeks away" from liftoff on a mission for Amazon’s Project Kuiper, a broadband constellation. The company also confirmed plans for a second Vulcan flight later this year, with two integration facilities now capable of handling rockets in parallel.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s homegrown Nuri rocket achieved its fourth consecutive successful launch, deploying five Earth observation microsatellites and nine secondary CubeSats. One secondary payload failed to separate as intended. The Korea Aerospace Administration reported an 80 percent overall success rate for the program, which has now completed five flights since its 2021 debut. Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon reaffirmed government support for private-sector-led launches as the country shifts toward a commercially driven space industry.

HyImpulse, a German launch startup, delayed its second SR75 suborbital test flight to spring 2027. The company cited refinements to its licensing framework and seasonal weather constraints at SaxaVord Spaceport in Sweden as contributing factors. The flight will mark the rocket’s first launch from European soil and its first mission carrying commercial payloads.

SpaceX scrubbed a Falcon 9 launch in the final minute of countdown due to an automated system abort. The mission, intended to deploy satellites for the U.S. Space Development Agency, is now targeting no earlier than October 10. The company confirmed the affected booster, B1103, has flown five prior missions.

The European Commission extended the deadline for the SALTO reusable launcher project to the end of 2026, pushing back a planned hop test of the Themis demonstrator. The program, led by ArianeGroup and funded through a 42.8 million euro EU research initiative, aims to validate reusability concepts for future European launch systems.

NASA and defense officials are implementing new measures to counter drone incursions at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. A directed-energy system capable of neutralizing unmanned aerial threats will be deployed as part of broader base security upgrades, reflecting growing concerns over airspace integrity around launch operations.

In leadership news, Rocket Factory Augsburg appointed Alexander Dahm as chief executive officer. Dahm, with three decades in aerospace including work on the Ariane 5 program, succeeded Indulis Kalnins and will oversee development of the RFA ONE orbital vehicle following a 2024 static-fire test anomaly.

Amazon executive Rajeev Badyal confirmed plans for back-to-back Vulcan launches later this year, citing infrastructure readiness at ULA’s facilities. Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos stated the company is constructing three additional launch pads at Cape Canaveral to support New Glenn missions, with ambitions to eventually achieve routine, high-frequency spaceflight.

The next scheduled launches include a Long March 12 mission from China on October 9, a Falcon 9 flight from Vandenberg on October 10, and another Starlink deployment on October 12.

Eric Berger, senior space editor at Ars Technica, has covered space technology and policy for over a decade. He is the author of two books on space exploration history.

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