{"id":487003,"date":"2026-06-20T12:20:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:20:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/487003\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T12:20:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:20:22","slug":"rocket-report-rebuild-begins-at-blue-origin-launch-pad-relativity-targets-mars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/487003\/","title":{"rendered":"Rocket Report: Rebuild begins at Blue Origin launch pad; Relativity targets Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>New launch pad in the works at Cape Canaveral. Space Launch Delta 45, the military unit that runs Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, is exploring the potential creation of a new rocket launch complex for Naval Ordnance Test Unit and US Army missions, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.floridatoday.com\/story\/tech\/science\/space\/2026\/06\/16\/space-force-plans-new-florida-launch-site-for-army-navy-missiles-at-cape-canaveral-station-near-port\/90560956007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Florida Today reports<\/a>. The new location, known as Launch Complex 51, would be located about 2 miles north of Port Canaveral, making it the spaceport\u2019s closest pad to public areas. LC-51 would encompass about a 50-acre area.<\/p>\n<p>Better real estate\u2026\u00a0The new pad would replace Launch Complex 46, which lies within the explosive clear zone of Blue Origin\u2019s nearby Launch Complex 36. Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn rocket exploded on that launch pad during a preflight test last month. LC-46\u2019s proximity to LC-36 means the two pads cannot operate simultaneously without disruption. LC-46 has hosted a handful of small satellite launches and hypersonic missile tests in recent years.<\/p>\n<p>Changes in attitude at Latitude. French launch startup Latitude has removed all mentions of the Zephyr name from its website, now referring to its rocket simply as \u201cOur Launcher,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/europeanspaceflight.com\/latitude-ditches-the-name-zephyr-for-its-two-stage-rocket\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">European Spaceflight reports<\/a>. The rocket, previously known as Zephyr, is a two-stage launch vehicle that will stand 19 meters (62 feet) tall and is designed to deliver up to 200 kilograms (440 pounds) to low-Earth orbit. The company is currently targeting the second half of 2027 for the rocket\u2019s inaugural flight.<\/p>\n<p>Due diligence\u2026 Latitude did not explain the reason for the change, but one plausible explanation is trademark risk. The Zephyr name is already trademarked within the aerospace sector by Airbus subsidiary AALTO, whose solar-powered High Altitude Platform Station aircraft bears the name. The Zephyr trademark filing, which was granted by the European Union Intellectual Property Office in 2005, covers unmanned aerial vehicles, satellites, parts and fittings, and \u201claunching apparatus for the aforesaid goods.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"560\" height=\"81\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/mediuml.png\" class=\"center full\" alt=\"\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>China\u2019s Zhuque-2E breaks up in orbit. The upper stage from a commercial Chinese rocket that launched last week has broken apart in space, spreading debris in a heavily trafficked part of low-Earth orbit home to the International Space Station and a significant portion of SpaceX\u2019s Starlink broadband network, <a href=\"https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/space\/2026\/06\/a-chinese-rocket-breaks-apart-dangerously-close-to-the-starlink-constellation\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ars reports<\/a>. The breakup occurred shortly after the Zhuque-2E rocket reached orbit on June 9 with two satellites providing direct-to-cell communications, perhaps around the time the upper stage was expected to perform a disposal burn. The US Space Force confirmed the breakup event in a post on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.space-track.org\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">space-track.org<\/a>, a website used by the military to distribute orbit data to the public.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New launch pad in the works at Cape Canaveral. Space Launch Delta 45, the military unit that runs&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487004,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[111,139,69,147,392],"class_list":["post-487003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=487003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/487004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=487003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=487003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}