Rocket Report: NASA’s Cryogenic Depots, ICBM Advances, and Launch Updates
By Eric Berger – Sep 5, 2025
Welcome to Edition 8.05 of the Rocket Report
Each week, we bring you in-depth coverage of small-, medium-, and heavy-lift launch vehicles, government test campaigns, and the private sector’s latest in orbital and deep-space ambitions.
Australian Launch Goes Sideways
On August 30, Gilmour Space’s 25-meter Eris vehicle ignited its quartet of 3D-printed Eris engines at Bowen Orbital Spaceport in Queensland. Two minutes into ignition, however, sensors recorded a rapid drop in chamber pressure on engines #2 and #4. The vehicle stalled by just 30 meters altitude and impacted downrange in a controlled crash zone. Video telemetry indicates a faulty propellant feed line seal as a likely culprit.
Adam Gilmour, Co-founder and CEO: “I anticipated less than a minute in powered flight, so 14 seconds with two engines is a data win. We’ll upgrade the composite LOX lines and retry in early 2026.”
Firefly Aerospace Seeks to Go Public
Firefly Aerospace filed an S-1 with the SEC aiming to raise up to $632 million via an IPO priced between $35 and $39 per share. The company sports a $5.5 billion pre-money valuation, bolstered by Blue Ghost’s successful lunar touchdown in March 2025. Firefly plans to retire debt, fund dividend distributions, and bankroll development of its medium-class Eclipse rocket (LEO payload ~10 t) in partnership with Northrop Grumman, as well as the multi-orbit Elytra spacecraft platform.
Air Force Tests Next-Gen ICBM
The LGM-35 Sentinel program, awarded in 2020 as a sole-source contract to Northrop Grumman, saw its stage-two solid rocket motor undergo a 120-second test in a 100 kPa vacuum chamber. The motor, using high-density HTPB-composite propellant and new multi-channel nozzle cooling, produced 450 kN thrust at sea-level equivalent. Data from embedded fiber-optic strain gauges will refine digital performance models ahead of a full-system flight test scheduled for Q4 2026.
Brig. Gen. William S. Rogers: “This milestone validates our digital engineering workflow and reduces risk as we replace 450 Minuteman III missiles starting in 2029.”
Starship Debris Clouds Future of Bahamas Landings
Following Starship’s mid-flight anomaly, hundreds of carbon-composite fragments washed ashore on Bahamian cays, prompting local authorities to freeze SpaceX’s Falcon 9 first-stage landing pact. The deferred agreement included a $1 million University of Bahamas endowment and $100,000 per-landing fee. Activists now demand detailed environmental impact studies before any resumption.
A Single Cloud Delays Crew-11 Launch
On August 28, cumulus cells breached the launch exclusion zone at T-plus 70 seconds, triggering an automated scrub of the Crew Dragon Endeavour. Despite a 90% favorable forecast from the 45th Weather Squadron, a single 3 km max base cloud layer forced a hold. The four-astronaut complement will attempt liftoff on September 6, with altered wind shear profiles under review.
Mysterious Rocket Engine Undergoes Testing
The Exploration Company completed a six-week hot-fire campaign on its Typhoon engine’s oxygen-rich preburner, co-funded by CNES. Using a full-flow staged-combustion cycle, the preburner achieved stable operation at 80 bar chamber pressure and 3200 K turbine inlet temperature. Typhoon targets 250 t thrust, comparable to SpaceX’s Raptor, and may support ESA’s European Launcher Challenge bid.
India’s GSLV Delivers for NASA
ISRO’s GSLV Mk III lofted the joint NISAR SAR imaging satellite into a Sun-synchronous orbit at 747 km. The 3.2-ton radar payload will revisit Earth’s land and ice surfaces every 12 days, offering L-band resolution down to 12 m. Commissioning is expected by December, marking NASA and ISRO’s largest collaboration at $1.5 billion.
Merlin Engine Joins Smithsonian Collection
The renovated National Air and Space Museum galleries now feature a Falcon 9 Merlin 1D engine and grid fin from a 2023 recovery. The engine’s 845 kN sea-level thrust and 311 s Isp over 300 flights cement its record as the most reliable modern liquid rocket engine.
Reason Foundation Calls for SLS Termination
A new report urges NASA to end the cost-plus SLS/Orion program in favor of reusable commercial vehicles, estimating $5.25 billion annual savings. Proposals include adapting Crew Dragon with descent legs as an interim lunar lander. Congress, however, remains committed to SLS through the 2030s.
NASA Finally Interested in Propellant Depots
After a decade of congressional restriction, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center resumed cryogenic fluid management research this summer. Engineers demonstrated a two-stage active cooling system using reverse-Brayton cryocoolers and high-emissivity multilayer insulation to achieve zero boil-off for liquid hydrogen over 30 days.
Kathy Henkel, Acting Manager, Cryogenic Fluid Management Portfolio: “Long-duration depots are critical for sustainable lunar and Mars missions, and for enabling refueling architectures by commercial providers.”
Deep Dive: Cryogenic Depot Technologies
In-orbit storage of LOX, LH2, and liquid methane faces boil-off rates up to 1% daily without active cooling. Marshall’s two-stage system combines a 100 W cold head at 20 K and a 500 W second-stage cooler at 70 K, integrated with precision mass gauging. Future tests will validate automated transfer lines with zero-leak commercial couplers.
Geopolitical Implications of Sentinel Deployment
The LGM-35’s modernization arrives amid renewed great-power competition. With a 13,000 km range and maneuverable reentry vehicles, the Sentinel extends deterrence reach. NATO allies are closely monitoring to align aging European roadmobile systems with US digital-engineered ICBM security protocols.
Future Outlook: Economics of In-Orbit Propellant Logistics
Depots could slash mission costs by 20–30% by enabling rideshare fueling and reuse of landers. Analysis by consulting firm BryceTech estimates a $6 billion market for orbital refueling services by 2035, with launch-on-demand fueling tankers becoming routine for crewed deep-space outposts.
Next Three Launches
- Sep 6: Falcon 9 | Crew-11 | Kennedy Space Center | 15:43 UTC
- Sep 7: Electron | JAKE 4 suborbital flight | Wallops | 01:45 UTC
- Sep 9: Falcon 9 | Starlink 12-05 | Cape Canaveral | 04:11 UTC