Anomaly

Isar Aerospace's second Spectrum rocket, mission "Onward and Upward," reached T-3 seconds before engine ignition at Andøya Spaceport in Norway on March 25, 2026 when the countdown was aborted. A range violation by an unauthorized vessel delayed the window, during which propellant temperatures rose outside acceptable margins — forcing the scrub. The mission was designed as a qualification flight to SSO carrying five cubesats and one Dcubed experiment, supported by ESA's Boost! programme. No new launch date has been announced.

On February 21, 2026, engineers detected an anomaly with helium flow to the SLS upper stage. NASA managers initiated rollback to the VAB on February 25 to determine the cause and make repairs. The crew was released from quarantine. Launch target moved to April at the earliest. A second wet dress rehearsal on February 19 had been successful.

Orbex, the Scottish microlauncher developer, filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators on February 11, 2026, after Series D fundraising and M&A discussions (including a potential acquisition by The Exploration Company, blocked by the UK government) both collapsed. The company, which had received over £26M in UK government-backed loans and was developing the Prime propane/LOX microlauncher, ceased trading on February 18 with approximately 150 jobs lost. FRP Advisory was appointed as administrators, citing 20+ prospective interested parties. Skyrora, the Edinburgh-based competitor with the only UK domestic launch license, immediately expressed interest in acquiring up to £10M in select Orbex assets including the Sutherland Spaceport.

Orbex, a UK-based launch startup developing the Prime and Proxima rockets, filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators on February 11, 2026 after exhausting all fundraising, merger, and acquisition options. The Danish subsidiary had already filed for bankruptcy in January 2026, resulting in ~90 redundancies. The immediate trigger was the collapse of an agreed letter of intent with The Exploration Company (signed January 21, 2026). Reports indicated the UK government declined to fund TEC's high-thrust engine programme, effectively blocking the deal. Skyrora quickly expressed interest in acquiring select assets including the Sutherland Spaceport lease.

Orbital Paradigm's KID reentry demonstrator flew on ISRO's PSLV-C62 on January 12, 2026. The launch vehicle suffered an anomaly during the third-stage burn and failed to reach orbit, losing its primary payload EOS-N1 and 14 of 15 co-passengers. KID was the sole survivor — the capsule separated from the fairing, transmitted 190 seconds of reentry flight data, and survived atmospheric entry before impacting Earth. Orbital Paradigm confirmed it achieved 4 of 5 pre-defined mission milestones despite the off-nominal profile, validating separation, power-on, data transmission, and reentry survivability.

South Korean startup Innospace launched its Hanbit-Nano rocket from Brazil's Alcântara Space Center on December 22, 2025 — the first-ever commercial orbital launch attempt by a South Korean private company, and the first commercial launch from Alcântara. The 17.3-metre, hybrid-propulsion rocket lifted off normally at 8:13 p.m. EST carrying eight payloads (five satellites, three hosted experiments) from customers in Brazil, India, and South Korea. Approximately 30 seconds into flight an anomaly occurred and the vehicle fell within the pre-designated safety zone with no injuries or ground damage. CEO Kim Soo-jong wrote to shareholders that critical flight data was gathered and that the company plans a second attempt in H1 2026. Innospace shares dropped 29% on December 23.

Intuitive Machines' Nova-C lander Athena touched down at Mons Mouton near the lunar south pole on March 6, 2025 — the southernmost lunar landing ever — but settled on its side inside a small crater ~250 m from the target site after an altimeter failure. Power depleted within 13 hours. NASA's PRIME-1 drill could not operate, though 250 MB of data was returned. The company's second consecutive sideways landing.