Rocket Report: Four Falcon Heavy launches this year; meet the Baguette-one

Enlarge / A French startup named its rockets the Baguette-one and the Orbital-Baguette-1. (credit: HyPrSpace)

Welcome to Edition 4.46 of the Rocket Report! This report is coming to you a day early because I'll be on vacation for a while—long enough that there may not be a newsletter next week. We'll see. In terms of happenings I'm likely to miss, look for the Federal Aviation Administration to finally decide on SpaceX's Starship launch site in South Texas by next Monday.

As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

France picks two small launch companies. As part of its France 2030 economic development plan, the European country seeks to provide technical and financial support to develop a nascent small launch industry. More than a dozen companies applied in a competitive bid process, and last Friday, two companies were named. According to Challenges, HyPrSpace and Sirius Space Services won. Amazingly, HyPrSpace's first rocket will be named Baguette-one. They are instantly my favorite rocket company ever.