The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is proposing changes to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) to make it harder for tech companies to track and monetize children’s data. Some of the proposed changes include placing limits on how long companies can retain data they collect from minors and forcing parents to consent to, or opt out of, targeted marketing.

COPPA has been around since April 2000 and currently requires some level of transparency from online services and websites. Before collecting data from minors, providers need to obtain “verifiable parental consent.” In 2013, the FTC tried to narrow the definition of what a provider is to any digital service that weaves an advertising network into its platform and collects personal data — regardless of whether or not a website or online service is particularly directed toward children. At the time, they also expanded the scope of what constitutes ‘personal information’ to include geolocation and any photos or videos that depict a child’s image, among other things.

In its new proposal, the FTC wants to expand the scope of personal information in COPPA again to include biometric data. The proposal will also scrutinize digital service providers for sending push notifications that encourage kids to keep using their service and attempt to close any loopholes for data collection to “support for internal operations.”

“When we consider the harms of online behavioral advertising to children, we cannot forget one of the original reasons COPPA was envisioned and enacted: A desire to ensure that companies cannot build a commercial relationship with children that preys on their immaturity, honesty, and trust,” FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya said in a statement.

The FTC also wants to make it harder to monetize children’s data generated in the classroom in an effort to enhance privacy safeguards for students. If passed, COPPA will allow schools to gain more control over whether or not to allow educational tech providers the option to collect or use students’ personal information.

Lina Khan, the chair of the FTC, took to X to voice support for the proposal, writing: “Our proposed changes to COPPA are much-needed, especially in an era where online tools have become essential for navigating daily life,” adding that companies are deploying increasingly sophisticated ways to collect kids’ data. The FTC will collect public comments on the proposal for 60 days before taking any further regulatory action.

You can't buy the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Ultra 2 from Apple's online store anymore — and after December 24, they'll also no longer be available from the company's retail outlets. Here's why.

Why is there an Apple Watch ban?

Apple has pulled the watch models from its website after the International Trade Commission (ITC) ordered the company to stop selling them in the US.

The ITC issued the Apple Watch ban after siding with Masimo, a medical technology company, which sued Apple in 2021 and accused it of violating its patents related to blood oxygen monitoring. Both the affected models come with the feature, but older models with the capability are not included in the sales ban. Apple started offering blood oxygen monitoring with the Watch Series 6.

The ITC had upheld a judge’s previous ruling from earlier this year that Apple did violate Masimo’s patents. Apple is appealing the decision and tried to convince the commission to put a pause on the ban until it’s done. However, the ITC has denied the request, meaning the ban is pushing through unless the president himself steps in and vetoes the order. The US Trade Representative is reviewing the ITC’s decision, as well, and could choose to disapprove it due to policy reasons.

What is Apple doing about it?

Apple previously told Engadget that it’s pulling the watch models from its websites on December 21 and from its retail outlets on December 24 as a preemptive measure should the ruling stand. The import ban won’t be taking effect until December 26, and the Presidential Review Period is currently ongoing until December 25.

In 2022, Apple itself filed two patent infringement lawsuits against Masimo that accuse it of releasing a smartwatch that copies its watches’ features. If neither the president nor the US Trade Representative overturns the ban, however, the company may have to wait for the results of its appeal. It could also come to an agreement with Masimo, which most likely means money will be changing hands, or roll out a software update to deactivate or otherwise tweak the blood oxygen monitoring feature.

"Apple’s teams work tirelessly to create products and services that empower users with industry-leading health, wellness, and safety features," the company said earlier this month. "Apple strongly disagrees with the order and is pursuing a range of legal and technical options to ensure that Apple Watch is available to customers." The company added that it will "continue to take all measures to return Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 to customers in the US as soon as possible.”

How can I buy an Apple Watch now?

You can still get the brand’s older watches, or the Apple SE, which doesn’t have a blood oxygen monitor. If you’re looking to buy either of the affected models this holiday season, they will still be available from third-party retailers. 

With the Apple Watch import ban taking effect on December 26, retailers will only be able to sell through their existing stock. So your best bet for buying these models would be a reputable retailer like Amazon, Best Buy, Target or Walmart. If they're out of stock, you'll just have to wait for this mess to get sorted out — or take it as an excuse to vacation in Mexico or Canada.

A London judge has sentenced the teenage hacker who infiltrated Rockstar Games, leaking Grand Theft Auto VI footage, to an indefinite hospitalization, as reported by The BBC. The 18-year-old, Arion Kurtaj, breached Rockstar’s servers from a Travelodge hotel while under police custody, using only an Amazon Fire TV Stick, smartphone, keyboard and mouse. (He was promptly re-arrested.) Kurtaj was a central member of the Lasus$ international hacking group.

Doctors declared Kurtaj unfit to stand trial because he has acute autism. Following the judgment, the jury was instructed to determine if he committed the alleged crimes, not whether he had criminal intent. Following a mental health assessment suggesting he “continued to express the intent to return to cybercrime,” the judge decided he remained too high a risk to the public. The court also heard accounts of Kurtaj’s allegedly violent behavior while in custody, including reports of injury and property damage.

Despite Rockstar's claim that the hack cost it $5 million and thousands of hours of staff time, Kurtaj’s attorneys argued the success of the GTA 6 trailer, which racked up 128 million views in its first four days, meant his hack didn’t cause serious harm.

A second Lapsus$ member was found guilty in the same trial, but the 17-year-old’s name wasn’t made public because they’re a minor. The unnamed hacker was accused of working with Kurtaj and other Lapsus$ members to infiltrate Nvidia and phone company BT/EE, stealing data and demanding a $4 million ransom. The minor was sentenced to an 18-month youth rehabilitation order under “intense supervision,” including a ban on VPN use.

The two accomplices are the first Lapsus$ members to be convicted. Authorities believe other “digital bandits” in the group (suspected to be primarily teenagers in the UK and Brazil) are still at large. It isn’t clear what kind of payoff the hackers got from the ransom requests, if any, as none of the affected companies have admitted to ponying up.

At its heart, Squid Game is a critique of capitalism and yet, Netflix can’t stop finding ways to squeeze money from it. After renewing the show for a second season and then debuting a reality show based on the series, Netflix opened a pop-up experience in Los Angeles where fans can pay to play games inspired by the show, eat Korean snacks and maybe even buy some costumes.

If you purchase general admission tickets (starting at $39), you are agreeing to participate as a contestant in a series of six games designed by Netflix inspired by the show's deadly challenges — from glass bridge, where players have to memorize which tiles light up, to a game of ‘Gganbu’, where you have to steal all of your opponent's marbles to win. Instead of dying, though, you're given a bracelet that buzzes when you lose a game — but you get to move on anyway and play all six games.

As you move from room to room or game to game, you’re competing against other players in the game for a title to win. In a bit of a gimmick, Netflix says that if a guest passes all six challenges within the 70-minute experience window, it will give interested patrons priority casting consideration for a spot on the reality TV offshoot of the show, which was recently renewed for a second season. For now, the experience is only available in Los Angeles and is running for a limited time through the new year. Netflix hinted that ‘Squid Game: The Trials’ will later come to another city.

Samsung

In building this in-person pop-up space, Netflix partnered with Samsung – of course, one of Korea’s premier hometown companies. For example, during Red Light, Green Light, the Galaxy S23 Ultra positioned in the game room captures key moments of gameplay with Hyperlapse video and still images. Samsung TVs and Galaxy mobile devices will be dotted throughout individual games and participants will have to navigate “experiential zones” that are surrounded by Samsung TV screens, including the flagship Neo QLED 8K, the 4K and The Frame.

Once a player is done with the games, general admission grants you access to a ‘Korean Night Market’ where you can purchase street food and soju-infused cocktails. You can also buy the signature green tracksuit worn by contestants (a Halloween costume for next year, maybe, if Squid Game costumes are still cool then?). There are also arcade-style and mini-games inspired by the show available for play.

Netflix

More broadly, Netflix has been exploring ways to break free from its identity as a streaming-only service and has explored expanding into new categories outside its main service. From expanding its footprint in the gaming space (including VR) to launching brick-and-mortar branded retail stores and even dining space next year, Netflix seems determined to try to make some money selling goods and experiences inspired by its media library. The new Squid Game immersive live experience won't be the streaming company’s first bet on pop-up experiences either. It has already experimented with the format with other hit shows like Stranger Things and Bridgerton, where it invited fans to dress in ball gowns and try to win the Queen’s attention for the title of the ‘season's diamond.’

Steam’s annual winter sale is upon us, offering discounts on everything from AAA titles to overlooked indie gems. The bonanza starts today and ends on January 4 at 1PM ET. Steam offers several big yearly sales, but winter is usually the best one. In other words, break out that three-digit card security code and start browsing.

There are literally thousands of titles on sale, so it can be tough to stumble upon exactly what you’re looking for. We are here to help. Here are some of the more tantalizing deals to separate you from your money this holiday season.

The acclaimed Baldur’s Gate 3 gets a teensy discount of 10 percent, bringing the price down to $54. Sure, a $6 price slash won’t set the internet on fire, but this is a GOTY pick for many, and any discount is welcome. Larian Studios chief recently said that the title would never release on Game Pass, so this is the best price you’ll get this season for The Game Awards winner.

Speaking of TGA winners, 2022 GOTY Elden Ring is $36, a discount of 40 percent from the MSRP of $60. Arkane’s Deathloop, which was nominated for nine TGA statues in 2021, is a whopping 80 percent off, bringing the price down to $12. If you haven’t played this unique time-bending masterpiece, now’s the perfect chance.

The once-reviled and currently-beloved Cyberpunk 2077 is half off, at $30, and the same goes for Forza Horizon 5. Recent (ish) Rockstar titles Red Dead Redemption 2 and Grand Theft Auto V are 67 percent and 63 percent off respectively. Heck, even this year's Star Wars: Jedi Survivor is on sale for $35, though this is the disappointing PC port. As always with Steam sales, you can also pick up The Witcher 3 for the ridiculously low price of $10.

It’s not just AAA games taking the spotlight. If you’ve heard of a recent indie gem, it’s likely currently on sale. Dave the Diver is 20 percent off, at $16, and the same goes for the Stardew Valley meets Pokémon sim Moonstone Island. Stardew itself is, of course, also heavily discounted to $10. The Metroidvania classic Hollow Knight is $8 and the puzzle-platformer Cocoon is $20. The Lovecraftian fishing sim Dredge is 25 percent off and JRPG-inspired Sea of Stars 20 percent off.

Seriously. It’s a lot. Head to Steam and start browsing. If you don’t feel like spending any money, just treat the browsing experience itself as a game. At least, that’s what I do sometimes.

Beeper vs Apple has been our own little David and Goliath matchup, but it looks like the saga’s coming to a close. The Beeper Mini chat app has issued yet another fix after Apple once again disabled access to the iMessage platform. The company says this will be the last fix released. Beeper wrote in a blog post today that it's done “playing a cat-and-mouse game with the largest company" on the planet. 

“With our latest software release, we believe we’ve created something that Apple can tolerate existing. We do not have any current plans to respond if this solution is knocked offline,” the company wrote.

So what’s the latest workaround? It’s certainly not a simple patch. It involves pairing your current mobile device with a Mac or an old iPhone. Mac users with Beeper Cloud should be able to simply update and reconnect, though not all macOS versions will support the software update. You can also ask a friend with a Mac and Beeper Cloud to share their iMessage registration code, which can be used with the desktop app.

Finally, you can jailbreak an old iPhone (6/6s/7/8/X), install Beeper’s tool to generate an iMessage registration code and update to the latest Beeper Mini app to enter the code and access the service. The company’s also renting and selling jailbroken iPhones for this task. Jailbreaking an iPhone, after all, can be confusing for beginners.

On the upside, the company says these fixes work well and even bring blue phone numbers back to the Beeper Mini experience. However, if you don’t have a Mac or an old iPhone, or access to either, you’re pretty much out of luck. Beeper says it’ll hold onto your chat history if you happen upon an old gadget at some point in the future. 

This has been a month-long battle between the two companies, which started with the launch of the Beeper Mini app. This app offered true iMessage support to Android devices via a software exploit. Just a few days later, the app went on the fritz after Apple blocked the exploit. This led to more complicated fixes on Beeper’s part, with one requiring an official Apple ID and another requiring a Mac computer. Apple found ways around all of them, which actually spurred US lawmakers to call for a DOJ probe.

If Apple blocks this final fix, that’ll be it for Beeper Mini, but the company has made the software open-source for other folks looking to give it a go. Beeper may be giving up on iMessage integration, but it's powering full-steam ahead with its primary chat app. The company promises it’ll work throughout 2024 to turn it into the “best chat app on Earth.”

Google Chrome is getting new security and performance features. The web browser’s latest version (M12) upgrades Safety Check and Memory Saver while adding the ability to save tab groups.

Safety Check is Chrome’s security hub that checks for updates and compromised passwords and displays whether Safe Browsing is turned on. With the browser’s latest version, Safety Check becomes more proactive, running automatically in the background. “You’ll get proactively alerted if passwords saved in Chrome have been compromised, any of your extensions are potentially harmful, you’re not using the latest version of Chrome, or site permissions need your attention,” Chrome Group Product Manager Sabine Borsay wrote in an announcement post. The feature will provide alerts at the top of Chrome’s three-dot menu.

Safety Check can also now revoke sites’ permissions to access things like location, microphone or camera if you haven’t visited them in a while. In addition, it highlights when sites you rarely engage with spam you with notifications, suggesting you turn them off.

Google

Memory Saver mode, introduced in 2022 and rolled out to everyone early this year, frees memory from open tabs you aren’t using. When you hover over one while in Memory Saver mode, the tool shows more detail about the active tab’s usage. This includes how much memory you could potentially save by making it inactive.

Google says it’s also now easier to specify sites you want Memory Saver always to keep active. After installing the update, you can check out the new options in the Performance section of Chrome’s settings.

Google

Finally, Chrome will soon let you save tab groups. For example, suppose you have a project with 25 opened tabs, but you need to step away or work on something else. Saved tab groups allow you to give them an appropriate name, shut them down and pick them up later where you left off.

Google says Chrome’s security and performance updates will roll out this week. However, saved tab groups will launch “over the next few weeks.”

Windows Mixed Reality is heading to a farm upstate. Microsoft is shutting down the platform, according to an official list of deprecated Windows features. This includes the garden variety Windows Mixed Reality software, along with the Mixed Reality Portal app and the affiliated Steam VR app. The platform isn’t gone yet, but Microsoft says it’ll be “removed in a future release of Windows.”

Microsoft first unveiled Windows Mixed Reality back in 2017 as its attempt to compete with rivals in the VR space, like HTC and Oculus (which is now owned by Meta.) We were fascinated by the tech when it first launched, as it offered the ability for in-person shared mixed reality. The pricey Apple Vision Pro could offer a similar experience when it presumably launches in February.

Microsoft’s platform was ultimately adopted by several VR headsets, like the HP Reverb G2 and others manufactured by companies like Acer, Asus and Samsung. The Windows Mixed Reality Portal app allowed access to games, experiences and plenty of work-related productivity apps. However, it looks like the adoption rate wasn’t up to snuff, as indicated by today’s news.

Despite the imminent end to the platform, it doesn’t look to be impacting Microsoft’s other mixed-reality ecosystem, the HoloLens 2. Microsoft added a Windows 11 upgrade and other improvements for the business-focused headset earlier this year, according to The Verge. It also started shipping them out to the Army for combat tests. Yes. You read that last part right.

However, not everything’s rosy in HoloLens land. Reports indicate that Microsoft has stopped development on the HoloLens 3. A report in 2022 said that the company teamed up with Samsung to make an unannounced mixed-reality device, but Microsoft spokesperson Frank Shaw said that Microsoft remains "committed to HoloLens and future HoloLens development."

Additionally, Microsoft has made sweeping cuts throughout its VR division, leading to layoffs and the discontinuation of the AltspaceVR app. The company is, however, still developing its proprietary Mesh app that lets co-workers meet in a virtual space without a headset.

Arturia just surprise-dropped a new multi-fx plugin called Refract and, even better, it's free until January 4. Refract is a unison-based effect that stacks voices to create unique soundscapes, which could be a boon for sound designers or just anyone looking to add a bit of textural pizazz to their tracks.

This is a multi-fx plugin, so the unison effect can be leveraged to create a number of different Mode FX algorithms. It can duplicate a signal up to eight times, each getting its own stereo voice. This allows for movement between “unfiltered stems to a wide and powerful sound.” Arturia says each of the integrated effects can be combined to create “a dispersion pathway that fits your wildest imaginations.” We’ll see about that.

The user interface looks colorful and fun, which is usually the case with Arturia plugs, and you can easily adjust the voices, filters, LFO and other metrics. There’s also a boatload of presets that illustrate the plugin's “multi-effect capabilities.” Some of these presets offer a delay effect, while others go with distortion or a unison-based chorus.

Free plugins are something of a tradition during the holiday season, and it’s always nice to see another one drop. However, don’t sleep on this download. It’s only free until January 4, at which point the price increases to $100.

This has already been a fairly substantial holiday for Arturia, as last week saw the launch of its long-awaited V Collection X synth pack. The MiniFreak hardware synthesizer also got a robust system update earlier in the month.

It’s been a busy year for spaceflight — the busiest ever, in fact. This fall, space companies once again broke the record for successful orbital launches in a single year with 2023’s 180th flight — Starlink satellites sent up by SpaceX on November 22, according to Ars Technica. The number has since climbed to 200.

That pace has been driven in no small part by Elon Musk’s aerospace venture, which set a goal of hitting 100 launches in 2023 and is nearly there, with 92 as of December 7. Private companies have become key players in the new space race, not only vying to serve as launch providers for science and communications missions but also ushering in the era of space tourism (for anyone rich enough to nab a ticket). But spaceflight is hard, especially if you’re trying to change the game with design innovations, and for all the wins in 2023, there have been plenty of hiccups. Here’s a look at how some of the leading private space companies made out this year.

SpaceX

REUTERS / Reuters

SpaceX seemingly didn’t stop once to catch its breath in 2023. The company managed a record-setting run of orbital launches with its reusable Falcon 9 and partially reusable Falcon Heavy rockets, with the lion’s share dedicated to delivering its Starlink internet satellites to orbit (there are now more than 5,000 of them circling Earth). SpaceX also delivered payloads for other entities, including NASA, and carried out multiple crewed flights with its Dragon capsule. Four astronauts arrived at the International Space Station in March aboard a Crew Dragon, and Axiom Space contracted SpaceX for a private astronaut mission that flew to the ISS in May.

As for its experimental Starship flights, things were expectedly a bit more volatile. Starship is the biggest and most powerful launch vehicle built to date, and is designed to support future human spaceflight missions, including NASA’s return to the moon as soon as 2025. The spacecraft itself is 165 feet tall, and when stacked on top of the Super Heavy rocket, the two tower at a combined 397 feet. Both Starship and Super Heavy are planned to be fully reusable. It’s all still in development, and after a few years of suborbital flight tests without Super Heavy — Starship has six of its own Raptor engines that enable flight — the vehicle advanced to orbital tests in 2023.

SpaceX launched Starship for the first time in an integrated flight with its Super Heavy rocket on April 20, and there were problems from the moment liftoff began. Multiple engines failed, and when Starship started its flip maneuver that allows for stage separation about 3 minutes in, it just kept spinning. It was eventually given the command to self-destruct, ending the test with an explosion.

The launch left behind a lot of damage on the ground, too, tearing up the launchpad at SpaceX’s Boca Chica test site, creating a sizable crater and starting a 3.5 acre fire on the grounds of a protected wildlife refuge. But for SpaceX, it was still considered a success — its goal was just to clear the tower. Starship made it to an altitude of about 24 miles before it got caught in that uncontrolled spin. Nevertheless, the Federal Aviation Administration grounded Starship after the destructive test, and ordered the company to complete dozens of corrective actions before it could fly again.

Starship did fly again before the end of 2023, and again Starship exploded. This time, though, Starship officially made it to space, climbing to about 92 miles above Earth. It also performed SpaceX’s first attempt at hot staging — where the upper stage begins to fire its engines while still attached to its lower stage — and was able to complete separation from the Super Heavy booster. It fell well short of the planned 90-minute flight, lasting only around eight minutes, but it demonstrated hot staging was possible.

Blue Origin

Blue Origin

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin had a strong run between late 2021 and 2022 with its reusable New Shepard suborbital booster and capsule, completing six crewed flights to the edge of space following years of tests and payload missions for industry clients including NASA. But in September 2022, one of its rockets suffered a main engine failure during an uncrewed research mission, and New Shepard spent a subsequent 15 months grounded.

After investigations into the cause of the event, the company’s then-CEO Bob Smith — who is stepping down in the new year — said in June 2023 that New Shepard would again “be ready to go fly within the next few weeks” pending FAA approval. The FAA closed its investigation at the end of September and gave Blue Origin 21 corrective actions to complete before New Shepard could take to the skies again. Around that time, Ars Technica reported that sources close to the matter said Blue Origin was targeting an October return to flight, but that window came and went with no liftoff or further updates. While it was starting to look like Blue Origin wouldn’t fly at all in 2023, the company finally announced New Shepard’s return in mid-December, and pulled off a successful suborbital payload flight on December 19.

It’s mostly been crickets for Blue Origin’s still-in-development New Glenn, as the company races to get it ready for its debut. New Glenn, a partially reusable heavy lift vehicle, is expected to make its inaugural flight sometime in 2024. It’s already been tapped by NASA to send a pair of small satellites to Mars later that year, but the timeline keeps slipping. It was originally supposed to launch in 2020, but was later rescheduled to 2021, then 2022 and now 2024. The company shared some photos of the rocket’s first and second stage being assembled at its Florida factory over the summer, and confirmed to the Orlando Sentinel that it was still shooting for next year.

Blue Origin has also been busy building engines for another launch provider, United Launch Alliance, which will be used for ULA’s heavy-lift Vulcan Centaur rocket. Both New Glenn and Vulcan will rely on Blue Origin’s BE-4 engine, and have faced delays tied to its development. Most recently, in July, CNBC reported that one of these engines exploded during testing at Blue Origin’s West Texas facility.

United Launch Alliance

REUTERS / Reuters

ULA had a quiet year as well, carrying out only three launches in 2023 with its Atlas V and Delta IV Heavy rockets — down from eight the year before. Both rockets are in the process of winding down their operations ahead of their official retirement. Delta IV Heavy has just one flight left, which is expected to take place in 2024, and all of Atlas V’s remaining flights have been sold and scheduled out over the next several years. One of ULA’s few 2023 launches was the first flight in its partnership with Amazon, and an Atlas V rocket successfully delivered two of the company’s prototype Project Kuiper internet satellites to orbit.

Most of ULA’s attention right now is focused on putting the final touches on Vulcan ahead of its maiden flight. Vulcan has been in development for roughly a decade, and it, too, has faced years of delays. There was some hope it would finally launch in the first half of 2023, with the company targeting liftoff in May, but after the explosion of a Centaur upper stage during tests, it pushed this target to the end of the year. In October, ULA had said it was planning to launch Vulcan for the first time on Christmas Eve from Cape Canaveral, Florida. But, in an update posted this week, the company confirmed Vulcan wouldn't be flying in 2023 after all. 

The rocket completed some critical tests in December, and is now scheduled to fly on January 8, 2024. Vulcan’s first flight, dubbed Certification-1, will send Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander to the moon. Once Vulcan is in operation, ULA will start ramping up flights again. It’s already got a contract with Amazon for 38 Project Kuiper launches on Vulcan. It just needs to get off the ground first.

Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab

Over the last few years, Rocket Lab has risen as a company to watch in the launch sector. In the first few months of 2023, it seemed on track to beat its 2022 record of nine orbital launches in one year with its Electron rocket. The company told SpaceFlight Now it was targeting 15 launches this time around. It made it to seven by the end of August, but in September, a problem with the rocket’s upper stage resulted in its failure to reach orbit. Rocket Lab has at least three dozen successful Electron flights under its belt, and only a handful of failures, but the latest is the third such failure in as many years.

Whether or not it proves to be a major setback has yet to be seen. The FAA in October cleared Rocket Lab to resume flights following the finalization of its investigation into the issue, which wrapped up in November. According to Rocket Lab, the problem was caused by “the rare interaction” of “three rare conditions” in the low-pressure space environment that created “an unexpected electrical arc” within the power supply system for the engine’s motor controllers, “shorting the battery packs that provide power to the launch vehicle’s second stage.” The company was still able to return to flight before the end of the year. On December 15, an Electron rocket delivered a Japanese satellite to orbit in a mission dubbed “The Moon God Awakens.”

Rocket Lab has been experimenting with different ways to recover its Electron boosters after flight —including mid-air catch attempts via helicopter — as it works toward rocket reusability. It’s also developing a medium-lift, partially reusable launch vehicle, Neutron, that’s expected to be completed in 2024.

Virgin Galactic & Virgin Orbit

Virgin Orbit

Virgin Galactic, founded by Richard Branson, managed a steady cadence of flights this year with its VSS Unity suborbital spaceplane. The rocket-powered craft made six flights in six months in 2023, including its first ever space tourism trip in August. In addition to research missions, it’s now completed a total of four flights with paying tourists on board, all of them completed between this summer and fall.

The company took a bit of a hit on the stock market in December, though, after Branson said he wouldn’t be putting any more of his own money into it. Speaking to the Financial Times, Branson said, “We don’t have the deepest pockets after COVID, and Virgin Galactic has got $1 billion, or nearly. It should, I believe, have sufficient funds to do its job on its own.” Following his comments, shares took a nosedive. But, they’ve since climbed back up.

Virgin Orbit, on the other hand, didn’t fare so well in 2023. Branson’s Virgin Galactic spinoff announced in May that it was shutting down a month after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company was formed in 2017 with the intention of becoming a launch provider for small satellite missions. It had a unique approach to getting payloads to space; Virgin Orbit used a modified Boeing 747 plane to launch its rocket, LauncherOne, from the air. 

But it struggled to keep up with the competition, and in January, it suffered a failure during what was the first ever orbital launch from the UK. As a result, the satellites it had been commissioned by the UK and US governments to deliver didn’t make it to orbit. It was the company’s second failure out of a total of just six missions, and it proved unable to rebound.

Newcomers hit hurdles

California-based Relativity Space has been working for years to build the first fully 3D-printed reusable rockets, with plans for an eventual medium-to-heavy-lift vehicle that could send missions to the moon and Mars. Its first rocket, Terran 1, had its inaugural launch in March this year, but it failed not long after liftoff. It hit some key milestones, though, making it through Max-Q (the point of maximum dynamic pressure on a spaceship during flight) and stage separation. Now, Relativity Space is turning its attention to its larger vehicle, Terran 2, which it plans to have ready for launch in 2026 from Cape Canaveral.

ABL Space, also based in California, conducted its own first flight in 2023 with the launch of its RS1 rocket. Shortly after liftoff, all nine of RS1’s engines shut down, causing the vehicle to crash back down to Earth. In a Substack post at the end of October, CEO Harry O’Hanley detailed some of the work the company has been doing in the months since the first flight to prepare for its second launch, but no date for Flight 2 has been announced just yet.

More to come in 2024

David Ducros/ ESA/ Arianespace

In many ways, 2023 has felt like a primer for what’s to come in 2024, which is shaping up to be a big year for spaceflight based on the timelines of current projects, both private and government-sponsored. SpaceX has already said it’s planning to hit 12 launches a month in 2024, which would bring it to 144 by the end of the year.

This year marked the end of the road for Arianespace’s long-running Ariane 5 rocket, which has become the leading launch vehicle in Europe for heavy missions over its 27 years of service. Ariane 5 had its final flight in July, leaving the continent with few launch options for big missions until the release of its successor, Ariane 6. Like others, though, Ariane 6 has been hit by delay after delay over the years, pushing it way behind its originally targeted 2020 debut. The rocket, which Arianespace is developing for the European Space Agency, is expected to make its first flight in summer 2024.

NASA and Boeing are planning the first crewed flight of the Starliner reusable spacecraft capsule, which after being back for the umpteenth time this year, is now slated to be ready around March 2024. NASA also plans to launch the next phase of its moon mission, Artemis II, as early as November 2024. It will be the second flight for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and will have four astronauts aboard the Orion capsule for a lunar flyby. But as always, it’d be reasonable to expect some delays.