Rocket Lab Releases Update on First-of-Its-Kind Neutron Rocket

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NASA repairs Artemis 2 moon rocket in hopes of an April lunar launch [03/04/2026]

Transcript
This week in space news, SpaceX continues to build up Starship infrastructure in Florida. Rocket Lab shares Neutron news as well as a general update on the state of their company. SLS rolls back to the VAB. And has NASA shifted the goalpost for the Artemis program? Well, let's take a look and find out.

This week, SpaceX moved more of the pre-fabricated modules of the next launch tower from Robert's Road to Space Launch Complex 37. While it'll still be several months before SpaceX begins stacking this new tower by moving the modules now, they free up the assembly area to start work on the second tower for the latest Starship launch site.

NASA released a statement from astronaut Mike Frink this week, clarifying that he was the Crew 11 member who suffered a medical issue. Assistance from his fellow space station residents quickly got his situation under control, but it was decided that returning him to Earth to better medical facilities and experts was the right path forward. On Thursday, SpaceX's Cargo Dragon C211 undocked from the International Space Station. Early the next morning, the capsule splashed down off the coast of California, bringing SpaceX's 33rd resupply mission to a successful conclusion.

Following the news late last week that NASA was having issues repressurizing the helium bottles in the interim cryogenic propulsion stage, crews began preparing for Artemis 2's SLS rocket to roll back to the Vehicle Assembly Building. On Saturday and Sunday, crews could be seen preparing the rocket for the upcoming movement, including removing the contingency platform and lowering the evacuation pods to allow the system to be disconnected. On Tuesday, the crawler was moved under the mobile launcher. The next morning, preparations were complete and the Artemis 2 rocket began the slow journey back to the VAB. Eventually, the SLS made it back into the building where its crews will address the issue so the rocket can get back to the pad for launch.

On Friday, NASA announced some major shifts for the future of their Artemis program. The Artemis 3 mission has changed to a low Earth orbit mission that will test out many systems on Orion, at least one of the lunar landers, and the new EVA suit. Going forward, NASA is looking to standardize the SLS variations as well as accelerate production and launches. For more information on this news, be sure to check out our dedicated video linked in the description below.

Blue Origin posted that Space Mobile's Bluebird satellite has arrived at the horizontal integration facility already enclosed in the payload fairing. Up next is integration with the rocket ahead of New Glenn's third launch currently expected this month. Tory Bruno, now president of the national security group at Blue Origin, shared a photo of the company's Blue Ring 1, undergoing testing at their factory after launching a prototype on the New Glenn's first launch. This would presumably be the first operational platform designed to maneuver, host, and deploy payloads in orbit.

Avid Space's own Joshua C was on the ground outside Rocket Lab's space structures facility in Middle River, Maryland. We can see that the Neutron thrust structure test article has been removed from its test stand with the cap almost ready to be removed from the interstage article. Rocket Lab also had their fourth quarter earnings call this week boasting of record annual revenue, a record fourth quarter, and record backlog. The company launched 21 times last year and booked 30 new missions for the future, including their largest contract to date to build a constellation of 18 missile warning satellites.

The call also included an update on the development of their Neutron rocket following the failure of a stage one test tank earlier this year. The company has identified a manufacturing defect on the tank that resulted in a reduction in strength. The thrust structure, however, has been successfully qualified and they're currently tracking for an inaugural launch late this year.

Rocket Lab rounded off their week with their third launch of 2026. The "That's Not a Knife" mission lifted off from LC2 at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Friday evening. The suborbital mission was part of Rocket Lab's HASTE program and carried Hypersonic's launch systems Dart AE autonomous hypersonic aircraft for its first test mission. Stoke Space announced that they performed a successful fit check mating their Nova rocket stage 2 engine with the stage 1 forward module.

And there you have it, another spaceflight news update brought to you by Avid Space. Thanks for watching and we'll see you next week.

is a neutron rocket better by any criteria than elon musk’s rockets?

Probably not. It has some design differences.

My guess is that it is meant to be a lower cost alternative. It is going to focus on the mega constellation stuff (putting up a lot of small communications satellites.)

While Musk is “first to market”, the second comers can often make money by doing what the first does, only a little cheaper or a little more often.

And these folks have put how many payloads into orbit?

Call me when they do....

100

These folks? SpaceX has put up 618 payloads with the Falcon 9 over the past ten years or so, landing the first stage more than 560 times. So, what are you talking about?

They serve a niche market.