Dutch rocket builder T-Minus Engineering has signed an agreement with Canada’s Maritime Launch Services to carry out two rocket launches from Spaceport Nova Scotia in October.

Founded in 2011, T-Minus develops and operates a range of suborbital rockets for microgravity and hypersonic experimentation. In May 2022, during ESA’s PAC Symposium in Biarritz, France, the company unveiled its most powerful suborbital rocket to date, the Barracuda. The rocket stands approximately four metres tall and can carry payloads of up to 40 kilograms to altitudes of around 120 kilometres.

On 3 June 2023, Maritime Launch Services, a Canadian commercial launch facility operator, announced that it had signed an agreement with T-Minus Engineering for the launch of two Barracuda rockets. According to the press release, the two launches will carry various scientific and educational payloads for several customers, whose names were not disclosed. The launches are expected to take place from Spaceport Nova Scotia in October 2025.

Astroscale has completed the critical design review of a servicer aiming to remove a OneWeb broadband satellite from low Earth orbit (LEO) next year, the Japanese venture’s British subsidiary announced June 4.

The review clears the way for assembly, integration and testing of the 500-kilogram servicer’s flight model under ELSA-M, or End-of-Life Services by Astroscale-Multiple.

Mostly funded by Astroscale with support from the UK Space Agency, ELSA-M would use a magnetic mechanism to capture a defunct OneWeb satellite equipped with a compatible docking plate, then release it on a controlled path to burn up in the atmosphere.

Saved you a click:

$300 million

It's an Eric Berger interview with Tom Mueller though, so the article is still worth a read despite the mildly clickbait title.

| Scheduled for UTC | 2025-05-31 13:39 | |

|

| | Scheduled for (local) | 2025-05-31 08:39 (CDT) | | Launch provider | Blue Origin | | Launch site | Launch Site One, West Texas, Texas, USA | | Landing site | North Landing Pad | | Launch vehicle | New Shepard | | Booster | NS4 (flight 14) | | Capsule | RSS First Step (flight 13) | | Passengers | Aymette (Amy) Medina Jorge, Dr. Gretchen Green, Jaime Alemán, Jesse Williams, Mark Rocket, and Paul Jeris. | | Mission success criteria | Successful launch and safe landing of booster and capsule |

Livestreams

| Stream | Link | |

|

| | Blue Origin | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNfUra5FBaA | | Space Affairs | https://youtube.com/watch?v=LtgdisJRLYY | | The Launch Pad | https://youtube.com/watch?v=w3eANb8Da20 |

Stats

• 4th New Shepard launch of 2025, 32nd overall
• 5th Blue Origin launch of 2025, 33rd overall

https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/7865

New Shepard's twelfth crewed flight. The 6-person crew consists of Aymette (Amy) Medina Jorge, Dr. Gretchen Green, Jaime Alemán, Jesse Williams, Mark Rocket, and Paul Jeris.

Previous mission (NS-31) | Next mission (NS-33)

Please post small launch updates, discussions, and questions here! Also feel free to leave feedback or suggestions for the mod team. We welcome feedback from the community!

Established in mid-2024, Astronstone announced May 29 it had secured more than 100 million yuan ($13.9 million) in part for the development of its AS-1 (Astronstone-1) stainless steel, methane-liquid oxygen reusable launch vehicle, with a “chopsticks” system for first stage recovery.

The AS-1 rocket features a diameter of 4.2 meters, a length of 70m and a takeoff mass of 570,000 kilograms. It can carry up to 15,700 kg to low Earth orbit in expendable mode, or 10,000 kg in reusable mode. Astronstone claims the AS-1 price per kg launched will be 10,000 yuan ($1,340) when reused, or 20,000 yuan ($2,680) when the first stage is expended. Astronstone also has future plans for a much larger, 8.0-meter-diameter AS-2 rocket.

The AS-1 rocket will be powered by a customized version of the 80-ton-thrust Longyun engine developed by commercial rocket engine maker Jiuzhou Yunjian (JZYJ). JZYJ also supplied Longyun engines to Sepoch, which this week conducted a vertical takeoff and splashdown test with its own stainless steel test article.

| Scheduled for (UTC) | 2025-05-28, 17:30 | |

|

| | Scheduled for (local) | 2025-05-29, 01:30 (CST) | | Launch provider | CALT | | Launch vehicle | Long March 3B/E | | Launch site | LC-2, Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China | | Payloads | Tianwen-2 |

Webcasts:

• International Rocket Launches: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD3Y_9AyEsg
• ThatSpaceDogeGuy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn4Y0VYPXgM

Stats:

☑️ 9th Long March 3 mission this year, 168th overall

Sourced from NextSpaceflight

First Chinese mission to return asteroid samples.

The companies announced May 22 that they signed a multi-launch agreement that starts with a mission in 2027 where Impulse’s Helios kick stage, placed into low Earth orbit by a medium-class rocket, will send a four-ton SES satellite from LEO to GEO within eight hours. The announcement did not disclose the vehicle that will launch Helios and the satellite, or the specific SES satellite.