Welcome to Edition 1.09 of the Rocket Report! This week, we have several stories about the small-satellite launch race going global. There is also coverage of Blue Origin's daring launch and success for Europe in French Guiana with the test of a critical new solid rocket booster.

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.

Blue Origin continues to stringently test New Shepard. During its ninth flight test, Blue Origin engineers subjected New Shepard to a high-altitude escape motor test. Both the rocket, which had already separated from the capsule, and the spacecraft itself passed the test with flying colors. The escape motor firing pushed the spacecraft to a record high altitude of 119km.

Bezos didn't lie... A couple of years ago, Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos said, "We'll test the ever-living daylights out of the vehicle before ever putting a human on it." This was the fourth extreme-environment test of the New Shepard system. As the vehicle continues to perform, we're beginning to believe human test flights are possible by the end of the year.

Britain joins the microlaunch space race. Orbex, a British-based company with subsidiaries and production facilities in Denmark and Germany, announced that it has raised $40 million from public and private sources to develop what it is calling the "Prime" launch vehicle. The company intends to launch Prime from a new, government-backed spaceport to be located in Northern Scotland. Lockheed Martin will help develop the launch facility, which should be ready in the "early 2020s."

The UK appears to be serious... All told, the government will invest about $50 million in launch facilities and rocket development. Already, Rocket Lab appears interested in the Scotland launch facility, which has access to polar orbits, and other companies have indicated the same. This is the first time since the late 1960s that Britain has been really serious about homegrown rocket launches.

The Rocket Report: An Ars newsletter The easiest way to keep up with Eric Berger's space reporting is to sign up for his newsletter, we'll collect his stories in your inbox. Sign Me Up!

Virgin Orbit may launch from the UK, too. In addition to the Scotland-based vertical launch site, Cornwall, in Southwestern Britain, intends to host horizontally launched rockets. The Independent reports that Virgin Orbit and Cornwall Spaceport have signed a strategic partnership that may lead to Cosmic Girl taking off from the spaceport and sending its LauncherOne into space.

A knight comes home... Right now, there are more spaceports around the world that want to launch small satellites than there are companies with launch vehicles. That may change in five years, but for now it seems to be a buyer's market for launch companies. So we are going to see a lot of these kinds of deals, not all of which will result in actual spaceflights. However, it does make sense that Sir Richard Branson would want to launch from his home country. (submitted by acornkenya)

The scope of China's commercial industry is bigger than you think. The China Global Television Network reports that about 10 private rocket firms have formed in China during the last three years. The two most well-known companies, i-Space and OneSpace Technology, have made it clear that they have no intention of grabbing government-funded missions from state-owned space giants. Rather, they aspire to meet the demand of small satellite companies.

A global race... The article provides interesting details on efforts by several of these launch companies. With private, small launch development work now underway in Europe and China, as well as the PSLV in India, the small-satellite launch race will clearly be a global competition. (submitted by tpc3)

The military's reusable spaceplane has an engine. The Los Angeles Times goes a little deeper into the development of the AR-22 engine that will power the Department of Defense's reusable spaceplane in the early 2020s. "SpaceX has had its success," said Claire Leon, director of Loyola Marymount University's graduate program in systems engineering and former director of the launch enterprise directorate at the US Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center. "I think this engine test also demonstrates that other companies are doing the technology development and having success that will enable reusability."

Launch on demand, government style... Eventually, the government wants a launch-on-demand capability that will cost about $5 million per flight. It would have the capability to deploy satellites weighing up to about 1.5 tons. This would open up some real possibilities for military espionage, communications, and more, obviously. (submitted by dangle)

Vector begins tests at Kodiak Spaceport in Alaska. According to local reports, Vector has begun to test ground systems at a launch site in southern Alaska. Among those tests were telemetry checks between the booster and the command center and fueling exercises. The company also moved the rocket around the facility.

Not a real rocket, yet... The tests were conducted with a mock-up of Vector's orbital rocket. It is not clear when flight articles will be delivered to Alaska and tested. The company says it remains on track for a launch before the end of 2018. (submitted by aubrey)

Europe's P120C booster undergoes successful test. For the first time, European space officials tested the new P120C solid rocket booster at their facility in French Guiana. The 135-second firing was a complete success, NASASpaceflight.com reported. Unlike a lot of solid motor tests, this firing was conducted in a vertical position on the test stand.

A big step... This was an important test for Arianespace, which intends to use the new, more-economical motor both as a side-mounted booster for the Ariane 62 and 64 rockets as well as the Vega C rocket. The success of this test suggests that the mid-2020 maiden launch date for the new Ariane rockets is attainable. (submitted by Ken the Bin)

Russia may increase production of Angara rocket. Roscosmos chief executive Dmitry Rogozin said this week that Russia will start building Angara rockets in serial production in 2023 at the West Siberian city of Omsk. TASS reports that the increased production will coincide with the end of Proton rocket flights.

We'll see... There are plenty of questions about how viable the Angara, which includes both light and heavy versions, will be in the commercial market once dominated by the Proton vehicle. Our guess is that, by the early 2020s, it will be priced out of the market by reusable boosters in the United States and more efficient launches by Arianespace.

Dragon rocket nearing readiness for SpaceX demo flight. The Crew Dragon that will fly SpaceX's uncrewed Demonstration Mission-1 has arrived at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, for final launch processing. According to NASASpaceflight.com, the International Space Station's crew rotation and visiting vehicle schedule will probably be the primary driver for the flight's eventual launch from the Florida Spaceport.

Rocket selected... The website says that Falcon 9 rocket Block 5 core B1051 will be used for the demonstration test, but it has not yet left the factory. Rather, B1050 will be the next rocket out of Hawthorne and on the test stand at McGregor before the demo test rocket. We expect NASA to update its launch dates no earlier than early August, when astronaut assignments are made for the Boeing and SpaceX crewed test flights in 2019. (submitted by rickbsgu and Ken the Bin)

Boeing overcoming contamination issues with SLS rocket. Boeing has completed application of the thermal protection system to a liquid oxygen tank to be used by the Space Launch System, NASASpaceflight.com says. This effort had suffered a setback earlier in 2018 when it was discovered that tubing related to SLS manufacturing was contaminated.

Contributes to delays... This contamination problem cost the SLS rocket several months in delays, and this is one reason why it is widely expected that the rocket's launch date will formally slip from December 2019 to June 2020. Further delays certainly seem possible, given that the core stage all-up test may reveal more issues with the titanic booster. (submitted by Ken the Bin)

Blue Origin will offer dual-launch capability with New Glenn. Blue Origin will begin flying two customers on the same New Glenn rocket after the launch vehicle has performed five missions with solo customers, SpaceNews reports. The rocket will have the capability to put as much as 13 tons into geostationary transfer orbit, company officials said at a conference in Indonesia.

A challenge to Europe?... One of the big selling points of the Ariane 5 (and upcoming Ariane 6) rocket is its capability to manifest two larger payloads for deployment into GEO. New Glenn’s dual-launch arrangement will allow two satellites to launch together without having to coordinate mass differences, as is done on the Ariane 5 vehicle. The GEO wars in the 2020s will be fascinating to watch. (submitted by Ken the Bin)

Next three launches

July 22: Falcon 9 | Telstar 19 VANTAGE satellite | Cape Canaveral, Florida | 05:50 UTC

July 25: Ariane 5 | Galileo satellites | Kourou, French Guiana | 11:25 UTC

July 25: Falcon 9 | Iridium NEXT satellites | Vandenberg AFB, California | 11:39 UTC