GoKawiilUS medium-lift rocket race heats up as four new vehicles near debut
Thirteen years after Orbital Sciences' Antares first flew, four new American medium-lift rockets are in development, each built with domestically manufactured engines rather than relying on foreign hardware as Antares did. The push comes as SpaceX reportedly plans to stop selling Falcon 9 launches commercially as soon as 2028, leaving a gap in the 2-to-20-metric-ton launch class.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
With Falcon 9 potentially exiting the commercial market and larger rockets like Vulcan and New Glenn already booked and pricier, satellite operators face genuine uncertainty over which providers will be flying and reliable between 2027 and 2030. This uncertainty could determine which new rocket startups survive, since winning early contracts may be essential to scaling up launch cadence and proving reliability in a market that has punished past technical shortcuts.
- Four new US medium-lift rockets with domestically built engines are approaching their debut.
- SpaceX is reportedly set to stop selling Falcon 9 commercially as early as 2028.
- Satellite operators face booking uncertainty for 2027-2030 due to unclear availability of medium-lift options.
Source: arstechnica.com, 2026-10-20
Published there as: “Does anyone actually want to win the medium-lift race in the United States?”
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