SpaceX's Starship program has received a significant boost with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) releasing a draft environmental assessment that approves the company's request to increase annual Starship liftoffs from Starbase in South Texas from five to 251. This approval aligns with SpaceX's ambitious launch target for 2025 and includes permissions for 25 landings of both the Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage back at Starbase12.

The FAA's decision marks a pivotal moment for SpaceX's rapid development plans, potentially allowing for:

• Increased flight frequency to test and refine Starship's capabilities

• More opportunities to perfect the "chopstick" arm catching mechanism for both stages1

• Advancement towards SpaceX's goals of lunar missions and Mars exploration2

• Progress on NASA's Artemis program, with Starship slated as the first crewed lunar lander2

This regulatory green light sets the stage for SpaceX to dramatically accelerate its Starship testing and operational schedule, potentially transforming the pace of space exploration and commercial spaceflight in the coming years34.

United Launch Alliance (ULA) reached a significant milestone in July 2024 with the successful launch of its 100th national security mission, marking the final Atlas V rocket flight for such payloads12. This launch underscored ULA's longstanding partnership with the U.S. Space Force and its commitment to national security space missions. As ULA transitions from Atlas V to the new Vulcan rocket for future national security launches, the company faces challenges in meeting its 2024 launch schedule:

• Vulcan's national security launch debut has been pushed to 2025 due to certification delays34.

• The Space Force is reviewing data from Vulcan's second certification flight in October 20245.

• ULA aims to increase its launch cadence significantly in 2025, targeting up to 20 missions, split roughly equally between Atlas V and Vulcan rockets67.

• The company is competing for future launches under the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 procurement, alongside Blue Origin and SpaceX8.

The Vulcan rocket's certification process has faced significant setbacks, with United Launch Alliance (ULA) now preparing for a likely 2025 national security launch debut instead of the originally planned 2024 launches1. Despite a technically successful second certification flight in October 2024, an anomaly with one of the solid rocket boosters is still under review1. These delays have raised concerns from the U.S. Air Force, prompting requests for an independent review of ULA's ability to scale Vulcan production to meet the required launch cadence2.

• The Space Force is working with ULA to evaluate data from the second flight, with Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant noting that Vulcan remains on track for certification despite the anomaly13.

• ULA needs to complete a backlog of 25 National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 2 Vulcan launches by the end of 20272.

• The company aims to achieve a launch rate of two Vulcan rockets per month by the end of 2025, a significant increase from their average of fewer than six launches per year over the past five years2.