Period: 29 September - 23 October 2025

Tracking the pulse of global launch and spaceport development - from Scotland’s northern shores to the Pacific Rim. 🌍

🛰️ Launch Highlights

The last month saw one of the busiest windows of 2025, with nine global orbital launches across the United States, China, and New Zealand, plus another sub-orbital test of SpaceX’s Starship - a reminder that launch cadence and reliability now define the global hierarchy of providers.

Key missions:

• 3      Oct - Falcon 9 | Starlink - 28 satellites from 🇺🇸     Vandenberg SFB (SpaceX).

• 13      Oct - Falcon 9 | Amazon Project Kuiper KF-03 - 24 broadband satellites      from 🇺🇸 Cape Canaveral SFS; Amazon’s      second test mission.

• 14      Oct - Electron | Synspective “Owl New World” - Japanese SAR satellite      from 🇳🇿 Māhia; Rocket Lab’s 52nd      Electron launch.

• 15      Oct - Falcon 9 | Starlink - 28 LEO sats from 🇺🇸     Cape Canaveral SFS.

• 16      Oct - Long March 8A | SatNet Group 12 - 9 broadband satellites from 🇨🇳     Wenchang; marks CASC’s 600th Long March mission.

• 18-19      Oct - Falcon 9 | Starlink - 28 sats from 🇺🇸     Vandenberg SFB.

• 22      Oct - Falcon 9 | Starlink 11-5 - 28 sats from 🇺🇸     Vandenberg; SpaceX’s 550th Falcon 9 flight.

• 13      Oct - Starship IFT-11 | Sub-Orbital Test - from 🇺🇸     Starbase, Texas; booster splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, ship re-entry      in the Indian Ocean.

Cadence insight: Between 29 Sept - 23 Oct, an orbital launch occurred roughly every 2½ days, demonstrating sustained global demand for LEO access and satellite constellations.

🏗️ Spaceport & Infrastructure Developments

🔹 United States

• Cape      Canaveral & Kennedy Space Center:
      Aerial imagery (NASA Spaceflight, Sept 25) confirmed rapid expansion      across the Cape - Blue Origin’s New Glenn complex approaching pad      readiness, SpaceX enlarging payload processing bays, and new test      infrastructure from Relativity & Stoke Space.

• Blue      Origin Payload Processing Facility:
      $78 M US Space Force contract for a new integration centre; IOC 2028.

• Houston      Spaceport (Texas):
  Intuitive Machines expanded its presence by 116 000 sq ft for lunar      hardware and spacecraft manufacturing, reinforcing Houston’s position as      an integrated aerospace hub.

• Midland      TX:
      Received $5 M grant to construct a vertical launch pad near Balmorhea -      the first inland vertical facility in Texas.

🔹 Canada - Atlantic Spaceport Complex - Construction at Newfoundland & Labrador progressed through October; dual-pad design to support sub-orbital and orbital flights by late 2025.

🔹 India - ISRO Kulasekarapattinam (Tamil Nadu) - ISRO’s second spaceport remains on schedule for Q4 2026; earthworks > 60 % complete and EIA approvals secured.

🔹 China - Wenchang Spaceport (Hainan) - LC-1 supported the Long March 8A launch (16 Oct). The upgraded Aerospace Science & Education Centre reopened early Oct, linking public engagement and STEM tourism.

🔹 Europe

• Kourou      (French Guiana): Ariane 6 on track for 4 Nov launch of Sentinel-1D.

• Esrange      (Sweden): EU funding approved for polar-orbit pad expansion and      re-entry corridor development in support of ESA missions.

💼 Policy & Investment Signals

• US      Executive Order (1 Oct 2025): Mandates streamlined licensing and      faster environmental review for spaceports and launch sites.

• SPACEPORT      Act 2025: Raises FAA grant match to 75 % for commercial spaceport      projects.

• Tax-Exempt      Bond Eligibility: IRS now classifies spaceport infrastructure as      "qualified facilities," unlocking new municipal finance routes.

• US      Space Force NSSL Phase II: $1.14 B awarded (5 SpaceX / 2 ULA missions,      2027-2032).

• ESA      & ArianeGroup: new industrial frameworks to stabilise Ariane 6      supply chain and achieve 8-10 annual flights by 2027.

• Blue      Origin: confirmed plans for weekly sub-orbital launch cadence and      evaluation of additional US launch sites.

🌐 Fire Arrow Insight

The period underscores a structural shift from launch as a headline to launch as an economic system.

1. Cadence, capability and credibility are emerging as the core metrics of success.

2. Infrastructure Delivery - Visible progress at spaceports in the US, India and Canada signals an infrastructure race to match launch demand.

3. Policy Enablement - Governments are moving from regulation to enablement through financial and legislative reform.

4. Integrated Ecosystems - Facilities like Houston and Wenchang illustrate the shift from pads to aerospace campuses linking manufacturing, education and tourism.

5. Global Competition - Asia’s sovereign launch ambitions and Europe’s industrial re-equilibrium define the strategic contours of the 2020s.

6. Spaceports are no longer stand-alone projects - they are national economic platforms anchoring jobs, skills and technological sovereignty.