On the 17th of June Ariane 6 flight VA269 soared to orbit from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. The latest generation of Europe's largest and most powerful rocket launched 36 satellites for Amazon's Leo constellation. 

The debut of the four new boosters based on the P160C solid-propellant rocket motor allowed 36 satellites to be launched, four more than the two Leo launches Ariane 6 had delivered before. 

 Ariane 6 is Europe’s heavy-lift launcher and a key element of ESA’s efforts to ensure autonomous access to space for Europe’s citizens. The new P160C boosters increase considerably performance, payload capacity and competitiveness, allowing

China continued its accelerated launch pace with a series of missions, but long silence followed liftoff of a Kuaizhou-11 solid rocket Wednesday, suggesting potential issues.

Dawn Aerospace has raised $25 million to scale up its work in both in-space transportation and suborbital spaceplanes.

The European Space Agency Council has approved the appointment of two new directors: Christine Klein as Director of Controlling, Finance and Operational Procurement, and Jean-Luc Trullemans as Director of Strategy, Legal and External Affairs.

ESA Impact: a look at ESA’s spring milestones

Astrobotic showed off the lunar lander it plans to launch later this year that will be the vanguard of NASA’s new lunar base ambitions.