China's Reusable Engines Threaten SpaceX's Funding.
Rocket Lab's Electron rocket will be modified to serve as a hypersonic test bed, allowing payloads of up to 600 kg to be deployed into trajectories five times greater than the speed of sound. Meanwhile, French launch company Latitude has initiated a "significant recruitment campaign" to support the development of its Zephyr smallsat rocket. China's commercial space industry is bustling, with approximately 10 commercial rocket startups that could conceivably launch a rocket within the next 12 to 18 months.