6–8 minutes

Updated 12:30 p.m. Eastern with Agile Space Industries comment.

WASHINGTON — Japanese company ispace is revising its lunar lander design and further delaying the first mission by its American subsidiary while also unveiling plans for a lunar satellite constellation.

The company announced March 27 that it decided to replace the main engine it was jointly developing with American propulsion company Agile Space Industries. That engine, called VoidRunner, was to be used on both the Apex 1.0 landers built by ispace U.S. as well as the Series 3 landers built by ispace in Japan.

In an earnings call in February, ispace executives said it was taking longer than expected to achieve the engine’s required performance levels. At the time, ispace said it was considering switching engines but warned that doing so would further delay its first U.S. lander, Mission 3. That mission had already slipped from 2026 to 2027 when ispace said in May 2025 it would work with Agile on the VoidRunner engine.

In place of VoidRunner, ispace will use an engine from an undisclosed supplier. Jumpei Nozaki, chief financial officer and executive business director of ispace, said in an interview that the contract with that engine supplier is being finalized but noted the engine already has flight experience, including on lunar lander missions.

“Agile has maintained a strong and collaborative relationship with ispace since 2021,” Chris Pearson, chief executive of Agile, said in a statement to SpaceNews. “We continue to make rapid progress on VoidRunner and look forward to offering this capability to the market.”

In parallel with the change in engines, ispace said it decided to unify the separate lander designs developed in Japan and the United States. The company will now offer a single lander design, called Ultra, that will be based largely on the Japanese Series 3 lander while incorporating some technologies from the American Apex 1.0 design.

Ryo Ujiie, chief technology officer of ispace, said one example of Apex 1.0 technology being adopted into the new design is the propellant tanks, originally developed for Apex 1.0 and later incorporated into Series 3 and now Ultra. The Apex 1.0 communications system, designed to work with relay satellites in lunar orbit, will also be used by Ultra.

The engine switch and design change mean a significant delay for the first ispace U.S. mission, known as Mission 3 by ispace. That lander, which will be used for a NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) mission being led by Draper, will now launch in 2030, a three-year delay.

Under its revised schedule, ispace’s next mission will be one in development in Japan, supported by a Japanese government SBIR award, launching in 2028. It will be followed by another Japanese lander, supported by a Space Strategy Fund award, launching in 2029. Those missions, originally designated Mission 4 and Mission 6 respectively, have been renamed Mission 3 and Mission 4. Both will use the Ultra lander design.

The revamped ispace U.S. mission, launching in 2030 and using the Ultra lander, has been renamed Mission 5. Nozaki said ispace has been in discussions with NASA about the change in lander design and schedule slip but is awaiting formal approval from the agency. That lander mission was also carrying some commercial payloads, which Nozaki said will likely move to the Japanese Mission 4 or 5 landers.

The unified lander design also involves creating a single global design team at the company reporting to Ujiie, rather than separate units in Japan and the United States.

The lander design changes will have costs that ispace is still calculating, Nozaki said. The consolidation will also result in some layoffs, but he declined to disclose specifics other than it would involve a modest fraction of its more than 350 employees worldwide. Lunar satellite system

As ispace revises its lunar landers, it is embarking on a new satellite program. The company announced its Lunar Connect Service, which will involve spacecraft in orbit providing communications and other services.

The company projects having five satellites in orbit by 2030 that will offer communications and navigation services along with imaging of the lunar surface and space situational awareness capabilities.

“We believe that by 2040, at least $3 billion in annual market size can be expected,” Nozaki said. With NASA’s lunar base plans, he added, “we believe these activities and market size can be enhanced going forward.”

The first of those satellites will launch in 2027 through an agreement with Argo Space, a U.S. company developing orbital transfer vehicles, or OTVs. ispace is calling that flight Mission 2.5.

“We wanted to explore an earlier launch option as much as possible, and then we found a great solution from Argo,” said Takeshi Hakamada, founder and chief executive of ispace. “They have a solid plan to launch their OTV in this 2027 timeframe, so we want to leverage this opportunity to begin the Lunar Connect Service as soon as possible.”

ispace U.S. had been developing two relay satellites, called Alpine and Lupine, that would launch with the original Mission 3 to provide communications services for the lander on the far side of the moon. One of those satellites will launch on Mission 2.5 instead.

Several companies and countries have announced plans for lunar communications systems. Intuitive Machines is developing a five-satellite system with support from a NASA contract, while Telespazio is working on a similar system for the European Space Agency’s Moonlight program. The two companies said in December they would collaborate to ensure interoperability of their networks.

Hakamada said it was too early to discuss how ispace’s Lunar Connect Service would differ from those efforts. He noted ispace will collaborate with Japanese company KDDI on the service, including use of KDDI ground stations. KDDI has its own Space Strategy Fund award from the Japanese government to study a lunar communications network.

He added that there may be opportunities for the Lunar Connect Service, along with its landers, to support NASA’s plans announced March 24 to develop a lunar base. “We will follow that progress and then adapt to that demand as quickly as possible,” he said.

“We are very much now set to provide our best kind of quality and solutions to NASA and all global space agencies,” Nozaki said. “If NASA wishes to have more missions, we are very happy to answer that request.”

4–5 minutes

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan rocket sits on Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral ahead of the launch of the USSF-87 national security mission. Credit: United Launch Alliance

WASHINGTON — U.S. Space Force officials are working to reshuffle launch plans for a slate of national security missions after United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket was sidelined by a booster anomaly that could take months to resolve.

At a March 25 hearing of the House Armed Services Committee’s strategic forces subcommittee, lawmakers pressed Pentagon officials on the fallout from the Feb. 12 launch issue, with Chairman Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R., Tenn.) pointing to what “will probably be at least a six month delay to any Vulcan launch.”

The Vulcan rocket experienced a performance anomaly on one of its solid rocket boosters shortly after liftoff on the USSF-87 mission. Despite the issue, the rocket and its Centaur upper stage delivered the payload to geosynchronous orbit as planned. The Space Force subsequently paused additional Vulcan national security launches pending the outcome of a joint investigation with ULA.

Lt. Gen. Douglas Schiess, deputy chief of space operations, told lawmakers the service is now assessing how to manage the disruption.

“First off, we were very concerned about this, but we were very happy that the satellites were placed in the proper orbit and would be able to perform their missions,” Schiess said. He added that officials are “actively looking through what the impacts will be.”

The Space Force has already reassigned one GPS satellite launch from ULA to SpaceX, and more missions could face delays unless alternative launch options are found. Vulcan had been expected to carry several high-priority payloads this year, including a next-generation missile warning satellite, a wideband communications satellite and intelligence spacecraft for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Only ULA and SpaceX are currently certified to launch national security missions, limiting near-term flexibility. Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket is working toward certification but must complete additional flights before it can be cleared for such missions, and its timeline remains uncertain.

“We are actively looking at several launches coming up to see what we can do,” Schiess said. “Can we extend the current satellites that are on orbit, and what we can do to maybe move other satellites to different providers?”

Thomas Ainsworth, performing the duties of assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration, said the Pentagon is examining a range of options, including rideshare opportunities and reassignment of missions where possible.

“We are looking at different options,” Ainsworth said, adding that program executives have been directed to explore ways to maintain delivery of critical capabilities.

At the same time, the Space Force and the National Reconnaissance Office are working with ULA and its parent companies, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, to resolve the issue.

“The investigation is still ongoing, but we are very focused on getting the fleet up and running,” Ainsworth said.

5–6 minutes

HELSINKI — Astronstone, one of China’s younger launch startups, has secured new funding as it builds toward the first flight of its reusable AS-1 rocket.

Astronstone’s “Pre-A+” funding round was led by investment firm Hillhouse Capital and Xingxiang Capital, affiliated with the Hunan provincial government. Minghui Zhiyuan, Qiancheng Capital, Tuofeng Capital and Zhisheng Ruiying also participated. The round shows a mix of financial, state and industrial capital, highlighting a broader pattern of mixed financial, state and industrial backing in China’s commercial launch sector.

The funding will be used for rocket final assembly and testing, validation of “chopstick” recovery technology, expansion of rocket production capacity and team growth, according to the company statement.

Astronstone says it aims for a debut flight of its two-stage AS-1 rocket in the first quarter of 2027, following planned testing milestones, including a first stage static fire, in 2026. The stainless steel, methane-liquid oxygen launcher is approximately 70 meters long with a diameter of 4.2 meters. It claims a capability of 15,700 kilograms to low Earth orbit when expendable, and 10,000 kg when recovered. The company says it is aiming to provide cost-effective launch services for the commercial satellite market at around 20,000 yuan ($2,900) per kilogram.

In addition to three early rounds secured in 2025, the company says it has now raised nearly 500 million yuan ($72 million) since its founding two years ago. Astronstone says its team has grown to 170 people as of March 2026, with research and development personnel accounting for more than 70 percent of this number. It aims to expand to 300 people by the end of the year.

Investor statements noted Astronstone’s stainless steel/methalox/reuse approach as well chosen and key to succeeding in a highly competitive sector. Private equity firm Qiancheng Capital stated its belief in the potential of space-based solar power and space computing infrastructure, with low-cost, high-capacity rocket transportation capabilities as a prerequisite. Xingxiang Capital expressed similar views in its statement.

Astronstone has made progress on hardware, having completed a second-stage static fire test campaign in December 2025 and claiming China’s first full-scale 100-ton-class “chopstick” capture arm ground test. It is also building out its industrial footprint, with a Beijing research and development center, a test base in Hebei province and a partially operational production and assembly base in Hunan province.

The company is part of a newer wave of launch startups in China which are eschewing the older approach of developing smaller or solid rockets first, and moving straight towards cutting-edge capabilities. Other early-stage entrants pursuing similar large, reusable Starship-like architectures include Nayuta Space and Cosmoleap.

China’s push for reusable launch is accelerating across both state and commercial sectors and is underpinned by demand from nascent national and commercial communications megaconstellation projects, as well as strong central government support.

Debut launches of the reusable Long March 10B and Long March 12B are expected in the coming months. The Long March 10A, also designed to be reusable and recovered using a drone ship and wire system, could launch later this year with the first full test orbital test of the new Mengzhou crew spacecraft.

Other plans include Space Pioneer and CAS Space working towards debut launches of new rockets in the near future. Deep Blue Nebula is preparing for a suborbital launch and recovery test of its Nebula-1 in the near future from new launch infrastructure at Lianli island off the coast of Haiyang, which hosts China’s maritime launch facilities. The company is working on the propulsion system for the larger Nebula-2.

In terms of commercial orbital recovery attempts, Landspace is expected to make a second launch and recovery attempt with its Zhuque-3 rocket as soon as April.

6–7 minutes

WASHINGTON — Two lunar lander companies say they are ready to meet NASA’s plans for a major increase in the cadence of such missions but offered few details about how they would meet that new demand.

In separate earnings calls March 19, Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines said they endorsed plans discussed by top NASA officials, including Administrator Jared Isaacman, to fly robotic lunar landers to the moon as frequently as once per month.

“Administrator Isaacman’s recent call for a monthly cadence of lunar landers to the moon’s south pole, starting next year, is exactly the type of forward thinking that Firefly embraces,” said Jason Kim, chief executive of Firefly.

“Administrator Isaacman has called for a higher cadence of missions to fly more equipment to the moon to learn about a sustained presence on the moon,” said Steve Altemus, chief executive of Intuitive Machines. “I think that’s excellent news for Intuitive Machines.”

NASA has not provided details about how it will implement that proposed increase in lunar lander missions, but both companies stand to benefit. Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines account for three of the four commercial lunar lander missions flown to date as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, and the companies have five additional CLPS missions under contract.

That proposal, though, faces technical challenges. One is demonstrating the ability to land safely: only Firefly’s Blue Ghost 1 lander in 2025 was able to successfully land on the moon and complete its full mission. Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 lander in 2024 and IM-2 in 2025 both tipped over on landing, limiting their missions.

Another factor is cadence. Neither company has flown a lander mission since Blue Ghost 1 and IM-2 landed days apart in March 2025. Altemus said IM-3 is scheduled for “later this year,” while Kim said Blue Ghost 2 is slated to launch late this year or early next year.

Despite operating at less than an annual cadence, the two CEOs said they believed their companies could significantly increase production of lunar landers to match greater demand from NASA.

Kim said Firefly has been investing in expansion of clean rooms and other production facilities to accommodate a higher flight rate, some of which has been funded by a grant from the Texas Space Commission.

“That will allow us to ramp up steadily the number of lunar landers we can build simultaneously,” he said. NASA plans for monthly lunar lander missions “is just a validation of the investments that we have already made.”

“Calling for that kind of cadence of missions,” Altemus said of the increased flight rate, “really does improve reliability in our systems and allows us to grow a more sustainable business.”

He noted planning by NASA for a “CLPS 2.0” contract vehicle that had been in the works before recent discussion by NASA officials of a higher flight rate. He said that contract could help through the ability to do block buys of landers, as well as production of larger landers.

Neither company, though, offered an estimate of how many additional lander missions per year they believe they could develop in the next few years. Alpha plans

Lunar landers are just part of the overall capabilities of the two companies. At Firefly, much of its recent focus has been on the successful return to flight of its Alpha rocket March 11.

“We were dead center on target all the way up,” Kim said of that launch, which carried a technology demonstration payload for Lockheed Martin. “We completed all mission objectives.”

The company is still reviewing data from that launch, but he said initial analysis indicates the vehicle performed as planned. “Everything I’ve seen to date looks nominal.”

That launch was the last of the original Block 1 version of Alpha, with subsequent launches using an enhanced Block 2 that stretches the first and second stages and includes a new avionics and battery system, as well as improved thermal protection systems.

Kim said Firefly expects to perform three more Alpha launches this year but did not give a timeframe for the next launch.

“We are always working closely with our customer for their customer readiness,” he said. “We are excited about accelerating the roadmap for our transition to Block 2.”

Firefly is also making progress on its medium-class Eclipse rocket it is developing with Northrop Grumman. He said the company plans to ship the first stage for the first launch to Northrop later this year, to be integrated with a second stage from Northrop for the initial variant of the rocket.

He said the first full Eclipse rocket, using first and second stages built by Firefly, is slated to launch no earlier than 2027. Integrating Lanteris

Intuitive Machines has been focused recently on completing its acquisition of satellite manufacturer Lanteris Space Systems, the former Maxar Space Systems. That $800 million acquisition, announced in November, closed in January.

With Lanteris, Intuitive Machines expects to generate up to $1 billion in revenue in 2026. About two-thirds of that would come from Lanteris, said Pete McGrath, Intuitive Machines’ chief financial officer, on the call.

“Our strategy will continue to be moon-first infrastructure,” Altemus said, but he added that the company expects to see growth in building low Earth orbit and geosynchronous orbit satellites.

Much of that would come from tapping into Lanteris’ satellite manufacturing capabilities, citing work to produce satellite buses for companies working on the Space Development Agency’s constellations and production of commercial GEO satellites.

“The customers are all excited about the opportunities that the business combination creates,” he said.

Lanteris will also assist other Intuitive Machines projects. Altemus said the company plans to use Lanteris satellites for part of its five-spacecraft lunar data relay network it is developing to support NASA and other customers.