Examining the Financial Stakes of Super Heavy Lift Launch Vehicles
A new report from The Aerospace Corporation, highlighted by SpaceQ, raises questions about the financial viability of modern super heavy lift (SHL) launch vehicles. The space industry, excluding Canada at this time, is developing rockets capable of lifting more than 50,000 kilograms into low-Earth orbit (LEO), a class of vehicle previously seen only during the Apollo era. Companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin are currently testing their own SHL rockets, Starship and New Glenn, with the aim of reducing spaceflight costs through larger, reusable vehicles.
The report draws parallels to the shipping and commercial aviation industries, noting that while ultra-large container ships succeeded by integrating into global supply chains, the Airbus A380 jumbo jet faced operational complexities and costs. For new SHL rockets to be financially successful, they must fly frequently and have their large cargo bays fully utilized. The authors caution that achieving this level of efficiency remains unproven, stating, “It is too early to tell if the SHL launch vehicle will result in a boom for an audacious space race or a bust for a space economy where existing and more agile rockets succeed.”
NASA Releases Planning Document for Private Space Stations
NASA this week released a much-anticipated draft Request for Proposals for privately operated space stations in low-Earth orbit. This document provides clarity on what the agency expects from US companies in this critical endeavour. With the International Space Station set to retire around 2030, and a potential two-year extension, there is significant urgency to establish commercial replacements to avoid a gap in human presence in orbit.
The space agency had previously awarded funding to three companies, with an additional $140 million to Axiom Space, to develop space station concepts. The second phase of the program, which would provide substantially more funding for construction and launch, had faced delays due to congressional funding uncertainties and internal reshuffling at NASA. Earlier this year, suggestions of NASA building a “core module” for private stations were discarded, paving the way for the release of this draft RFP this week, focusing on independent “free-flying” stations.
China Successfully Launches and Catches Long March 10B
Yesterday, on Friday, July 10th, Chinarocket Co. achieved a significant milestone with the inaugural launch of its Long March 10B rocket. The mission successfully placed its upper stage into a stable Earth orbit and, importantly, accomplished the “catch” of the rocket’s first stage booster. This achievement makes China only the second nation to successfully perform a propulsive landing of a reusable orbital rocket, signalling a rapidly evolving landscape in the country’s space ambitions, particularly its aim to land humans on the Moon.
The Long March 10B is a two-stage vehicle, featuring a reusable booster powered by kerosene and oxygen, and a second stage that utilizes methane and oxygen. Chinarocket Co. operates as a commercial entity under the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), which is affiliated with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). The demonstration flight lifted off from Launch Complex 2 at the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site in Hainan at 12:15 PM local time.
Provider: SpaceX Date: July 14, 2026 Time: 1:16 AM UTC Vehicle: Falcon 9
A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation – SpaceX’s project for space-based Internet communication system.
Starlink Group 10-45
Provider: SpaceX Date: July 14, 2026 Time: 7:15 AM UTC Vehicle: Falcon 9
A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation – SpaceX’s project for space-based Internet communication system.
Soyuz MS-29
Provider: Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) Date: July 14, 2026 Time: 2:47 PM UTC Vehicle: Soyuz 2.1a
Soyuz MS-29 will carry three cosmonauts and one astronaut to the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The crew consists of Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina, as well as NASA astronaut Anil Menon.
Flight 13
Provider: SpaceX Date: July 15, 2026 Time: 10:45 PM UTC Vehicle: Starship
13th test flight of the two-stage Starship launch vehicle. Second flight of Starship V3
SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer E
Provider: SpaceX Date: July 16, 2026 Time: 8:22 PM UTC Vehicle: Falcon 9
Tranche 1 Transport Layer E is one of six missions by the United States Space Force Space Development Agency (SDA) for the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) Tranche 1 Transport Layer constellation, which will provide assured, resilient, low-latency military data and connectivity worldwide to the full range of warfighter platforms from Low Earth Orbit satellites.
The constellation will be interconnected with Optical Inter-Satellite Links (OISLs) which have significantly increased performance over existing radio frequency crosslinks. It is expected to operate over Ka band, have stereo coverage and be dynamically networked for simpler hand-offs, greater bandwidth and fault tolerance.
Starlink Group 15-14 ×
Mission Details
TypeCommunications
OrbitLow Earth Orbit
TargetEarth
A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation – SpaceX’s project for space-based Internet communication system.
Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. The Block 5 variant is the fifth major interval aimed at improving upon the ability for rapid reusability.
Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. The Block 5 variant is the fifth major interval aimed at improving upon the ability for rapid reusability.
The Falcon 9 first stage B1080 will land on ASDS ASOG after its 28th flight.
Soyuz MS-29 ×
Mission Details
TypeHuman Exploration
OrbitLow Earth Orbit
TargetEarth
Soyuz MS-29 will carry three cosmonauts and one astronaut to the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The crew consists of Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina, as well as NASA astronaut Anil Menon.
Agencies Involved
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Government)
• Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) (Government)
Program: International Space Station
The International Space Station programme is tied together by a complex set of legal, political and financial agreements between the sixteen nations involved in the project, governing ownership of the various components, rights to crewing and utilization, and responsibilities for crew rotation and resupply of the International Space Station. It was conceived in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan, during the Space Station Freedom project as it was originally called.
The Soyuz programme is a human spaceflight programme initiated by the Soviet Union in the early 1960s. The Soyuz spacecraft was originally part of a Moon landing project intended to put a Soviet cosmonaut on the Moon. It was the third Soviet human spaceflight programme after the Vostok and Voskhod programmes.
The Soyuz 2.1A converted the flight control system from analog to digital, which allowed launch from fixed platforms. It also allowed big fairings and payloads.
It is currently used for crewed Soyuz and Progress flights to the ISS.
Soyuz MS is the final planned upgrade of the Soyuz spacecraft.
Major changes include:
– more efficient solar panels
– modified engine positions for redundancy
– new Kurs NA approach and docking system
– new TsVM-101 computer
– unified digital command/telemetry system (MBITS) to relay telemetry via satellite, and control spacecraft when out of sight of ground stations
– GLONASS/GPS and Cospas-Sarsat satellite systems for more accurate location afterlanding
Capability
Manned and Cargo ISS Logistics, Lifeboat
Details
Soyuz is a series of spacecraft designed for the Soviet space programme by the Korolyov Design Bureau (now RKK Energia) in the 1960s that remains in service today. The Soyuz succeeded the Voskhod spacecraft and was originally built as part of the Soviet Manned Lunar programme. The Soyuz spacecraft is launched on a Soyuz rocket, the most frequently used and most reliable launch vehicle in the…
Flight Life
210 days while docked
Manufacturer: Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) (RFSA)
RFSA • Russian • Age: 48 • Time in space: 355 Days, 3 Hours, 45 Minutes • EVA time: 1 Day, 5 Hours, 49 Minutes
Born: Jan 30, 1978 • First Flight: Apr 9, 2021 • Last Flight: Apr 9, 2021
Dubrov was selected by Roscosmos as a cosmonaut on 8 October 2012, as one of eight cosmonauts selected as part of Roscosmos’s 2012 selection group. In 2020 he was assigned to the backup crew of Soyuz MS-17, backing up Russian cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov as Flight Engineer on ISS Expedition 63/64
Anil Menon is a US Air Force lieutenant colonel from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was SpaceX’s first flight surgeon, helping to launch the company’s first humans to space during NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission and building a medical organization to support the human system during future missions.
13th test flight of the two-stage Starship launch vehicle. Second flight of Starship V3
Agencies Involved
• SpaceX (Commercial)
Program: SpaceX Starship
The SpaceX Starship is a fully reusable super heavy-lift launch vehicle under development by SpaceX since 2012, as a self-funded private spaceflight project. The second stage of the Starship — is designed as a long-duration cargo and passenger-carrying spacecraft. It is expected to be initially used without any booster stage at all, as part of an extensive development program to prove out launch-and-landing and iterate on a variety of design details, particularly with respect to the vehicle’s atmospheric reentry.
The second launch and landing pad of the full version of the combined SpaceX Starship and Superheavy booster. To be first used for launch in 2025 with version 3 of Starship and the Superheavy…
Tranche 1 Transport Layer E is one of six missions by the United States Space Force Space Development Agency (SDA) for the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) Tranche 1 Transport Layer constellation, which will provide assured, resilient, low-latency military data and connectivity worldwide to the full range of warfighter platforms from Low Earth Orbit satellites.
The constellation will be interconnected with Optical Inter-Satellite Links (OISLs) which have significantly increased performance over existing radio frequency crosslinks. It is expected to operate over Ka band, have stereo coverage and be dynamically networked for simpler hand-offs, greater bandwidth and fault tolerance.
Agencies Involved
• Space Development Agency (Government)
Launch Provider: SpaceX
Commercial • United States of America • Founded 2002
Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. The Block 5 variant is the fifth major interval aimed at improving upon the ability for rapid reusability.
Robo Chris is a collection of API calls, filters, and searches - bolted together with magic and love. He preforms instructed information gathering, and does a fair bit of writing too. Everything he creates gets submitted to our editor-in-chief, actual Chris, for approval and publication!
Leave a Reply