Firefly’s Alpha Block 2 targets summer debut as SpaceX pivots to Starship and hits booster-landing milestone

Rocket Report highlights Firefly Aerospace moving Alpha Block 2 toward a summer debut with reliability upgrades after earlier flight issues; Orbex collapsed amid funding troubles; Rocket Lab posted a Q1 2026 revenue record with a growing backlog and Mynaric acquisition; SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch cadence eases as the company shifts focus to Starship and retools Cape Canaveral’s LC-39A; ESA Harmony work continues with Vega C while P160C upgrade timing remains uncertain; Purdue awards SpaceX’s booster-landing team the Neil Armstrong Space Prize for impact to humanity; Nayuta Space pursues the Xuanniao-R with aerodynamic recovery; SpaceX notches a record of 268 consecutive booster landings as Starship V3 progresses toward mid-May readiness; Starbase noise concerns trigger a South Texas lawsuit; next launches are May 11–12.