Rocket Report: FAA grounds Starship, Biden’s big rocket dilemma

Enlarge / Northrop Grumman conducted a validation test of its GEM 63XL rocket motor on Jan. 21 at its Promontory, Utah, facility. (credit: Northrop Grumman)

Welcome to Edition 3.31 of the Rocket Report! Most of the news this week has happened with bigger rockets, with an especially interesting bit concerning the Falcon Heavy rocket and NASA's Europa Clipper that's worth checking out. It's also exciting to see NASA and Boeing move the launch date for Starliner's second test flight forward.

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.

Firefly seeks to raise additional funding. Firefly Aerospace said this week it is looking to raise $350 million to scale up production and work on a new, larger vehicle, SpaceNews reports. Speaking during a webinar on Tuesday about investment in the space industry, Firefly CEO Tom Markusic said the funding would support its long-term growth as it brings the Alpha rocket into service while the company develops a medium-class launch vehicle named Beta.

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