Rocket Report: Electron scoops up Virgin launch, ULA flies first 2023 mission
Enlarge / United Launch Alliance's Delta IV Heavy rocket takes flight early on Thursday morning carrying the NROL-68 mission. (credit: Trevor Mahlmann)
Welcome to Edition 5.43 of the Rocket Report! I am thrilled to announce thatStephen Clark is joining Ars Technica to cover space alongside me. You've already read some of his fine work here in the Rocket Report, as he has been the long-time editor of Spaceflight Now. But now, starting Monday, he'll be writing frequently for Ars and periodically authoring the Rocket Report. Accordingly, after next week, there will no longer be any breaks in this newsletter except for the year-end holidays.
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.
North Star moves from LauncherOne to Electron. Canada's NorthStar Earth and Space has signed a multi-launch deal with Rocket Lab after Virgin Orbit's bankruptcy scotched plans to deploy its space situational awareness satellites this summer, Space News reports. Rocket Lab will launch the venture's first four satellites this fall on an Electron rocket, NorthStar said this week. Spire Global is providing the satellites, each the size of 16 CubeSats.