Starship and New Glenn have very different weeks

We finally saw the debut launch of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket last week. We also saw the first of many Starship flights of 2025. While both were considered flight data-gathering missions, one seems a little more successful than the other, and spoiler, it wasn’t SpaceX.

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This Week’s Launches

• January 20 (Monday)
  • Galactic Energy | Ceres 1 | Unknown Payload | 5:10 A.M. ET
    • Site 95A, Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China
  • SpaceX | Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 11-8 | 7:13 A.M. PT
    • SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
• January 21 (Tuesday)
  • SpaceX | Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 13-1 | 12:13 A.M. ET
    • LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
• January 24 (Friday)
  • SpaceX | Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 11-6 | 5:54 A.M. PT
    • SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
  • SpaceX | Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 10-12 | 5:45 P.M. ET
    • SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
• January 26 (Sunday)
  • ISRO | GSLV Mk II | NVS-02 | 5:45 P.M. ET
    • Second Launch Pad, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India

In the news…

A Utah State Senator is looking to study having the state’s own spaceport. Instead of orbital launches, this spaceport will likely focus on space tourism and scientific research. The bill is still in committee and would only fund a study of its feasibility. [Space Explored]

India successfully docked its SpaDeX mission, marking the country’s first in-space docking. The technology will further build out the nation’s capabilities for operating spacecraft in space, like its upcoming crewed spacecraft and lunar missions. [ISRO]

NASA’s Exploration Ground System team successfully stacked the second two booster segments that make up the Space Launch System’s solid rocket boosters. This begins the clock on the segments’ seals, which are certified for one year. However, NASA will likely be able to gain a waiver for an extension. [Space Explored]

Rocket Factory Augsburg was granted a launch license from the UK’s aviation authority, clearing the way for a future launch attempt in Europe. This will likely be the first vertical launch from the UK and could be poised to be the first company to launch a rocket from the European continent. [SpaceNews]

SpaceX launches seventh Starship rocket

After a few delays due to launch weather, SpaceX found a perfect day to launch its next Starship test flight. Featuring the new Block 2 upper stage, the mission was to test the new upgrades made to the vehicle. SpaceX also hoped to conduct its first satellite deployment of ten dummy Starlink satellites and stress-test the heat shield during reentry with new tile designs and removed tiles across the vehicle.

The booster was to perform a similar mission as the last two flights: hoist the ship on its suborbital trajectory and return to the launch pad to be caught. The booster performed that mission flawlessly, achieving the company’s second Starship booster catch to date.

The ship, on the other hand, did not make it far. Shortly before completing its engine burn, SpaceX lost contact with the vehicle and later confirmed before ending the stream that it lost the vehicle. This was confirmed later on by various views from the ground and air of the debris of Starship reentering over the Turks and Caicos Islands.

SpaceX concluded that early data show a fire developing on the ship that led to the breakup, but further data review is required to determine the fire’s root cause. The investigation will be conducted alongside the FAA, which activated a Debris Response Area where Starship reentered, diverting flights from potential falling debris.

This will likely put a delay on Starship Flight 8, but Elon Musk still seems confident that the next launch will not be pushed past February.

New Glenn has an outstanding debut

Another popular launch from last week was Blue Origin’s New Glenn debut flight. The rocket was launching pathfinder hardware for the company’s Blue Ring space tug and satellite bus platform.

With New Glenn being a brand new rocket, expectations were low for its first launch. Blue Origin‘s mission objectives were to just make it to orbit; anything past that would be a plus. That included landing the booster at sea, something that took SpaceX multiple tries before succeeding.

Outside of one scrub for technical issues and another for weather, the launch went off extremely smoothly. The booster and second stage performed as expected, entering into an orbit around the Earth to test the Blue Ring hardware.

The booster completed reentering the atmosphere and made its way until the relight of its BE-4 engines. While the engine relight was successful, shortly afterward we lost all contact.

However, the mission was deemed an overall success, achieving much more than expected. The company expects to fly four more New Glenns by the year’s end.