UP Aerospace has been flying since 2006, albeit at low flight rates, so I wouldn't call that early operation.
T-Minus Engineeringhttp://www.t-minus.nl/"The T-Minus DART is a system for fast and low-cost probing of the upper atmosphere. A certain part of the atmosphere is hardly investigated until now. At altitudes between 50 and 120 km, the air density is too low for balloons to float, and too high for satellites to maintain their orbit. Sounding rockets can be used to perform in-situ measurements, but these are usually too expensive for simple and frequent missions."
Another one left out: bluShift Aerospace (https://www.blushiftaerospace.com/) has been developing at least three different suborbital rockes according to their website (and an orbital launch vehicle), of which the smallest one is expected to have its maiden flight this month.
Liftoff of Stardust 1.0!Top-down view from the launch tower.
I've left out another one. The Dutch/New Zealand: Dawn Aerospace mk.II Aurora (and mk.III) rocketplane(s)The mk.II Aurora can launch a 3U payload to >100km for 150s micro gravity, probing of the atmosphere or hypersonic flight.
IAF Member @SpaceForest2 Hybrid Rocket Engine SF1000 test No. 4 had many improvements like mass reduction of the combustion chamber, modified injector geometry, stabilization of engine working parameters and more. check out onhttps://youtube.com/watch?v=fnWAetWE6jE&t#IAFMembers
Furthermore, the Safran-Airbus joint venture will present two new products. First, its new Sylex sounding rocket, which has been in development for three years. It will be available in two versions: a single-stage and a more powerful two-stage. These sounding rockets are positioned at the upper end of the spectrum for this type of vehicle, aiming for very high speeds and very high altitudes without actually reaching space. These performance figures remain confidential for the time being.They will launch from a ramp installed at the DGA military facility in Biscarosse (Landes). This type of rocket is necessary to transport scientific experiments to high altitudes to take advantage of microgravity, but also to inject military aircraft such as hypersonic gliders into the upper atmosphere.By developing its own sounding rockets, ArianeGroup is reducing its dependence on American suppliers. The first launch of the VMaX hypersonic glider in 2023, was delayed by a year, mainly due to a delay by the American supplier of the sounding rocket needed to launch the vehicle to high altitude.
To carry out this type of test [tests of a new hypersonic glide vehicle, mentionned to be up to 20,000 km/h or 5.5km/s], the DGA and ArianeGroup rely on sounding rockets manufactured by foreign manufacturers, particularly American ones, which does not allow them to control the deadlines or the sovereignty of the system. Hence the development, currently being finalized, of SyLEX, derived and adapted from the technologies of the M51 (nozzles, thrusters, etc.), in a cheaper and more robust way. SyLEX will ultimately be the transporter of the V-MAX if the latter sees the light of day. It will also be offered to private civilian customers, potentially foreign ones, or to institutions to carry out, for example, experiments in microgravity.
Arianegroup announced a large sounding rocket named "SyLEX" (SYstème de Lancement d’EXpériences, Experiments Launch System) at the Paris air show.Earlier this year, an Arianegroup trade union mentioned that the qualification rocket had been assembled and that a qualification flight would happen as soon as Q1, it seemingly hasn't happened yet but this fits with the report of the rocket being in final development phase, and the test flight may still be expected for this year.The specs are classified but it can be expected to have performances comparable or higher to the Terrier-oriole-oriole that launched the first V-Max demonstrator in 2023, and with the stated goal of high-hypersonic research, it is likely a few tons heavy.
On November 28, 2025, ArianeGroup carried out the first launch of a new sounding rocket flight test system called SyLEx (Système de Lancement d’Expériences, or Experiment Launch System) operated by the French Defence Procurement and Technology Agency’s Missile Testing Centre in Biscarrosse (DGA EM). This successful launch validates the single-stage version of the new system and its dedicated launch pad. Developed in under three years on behalf of DGA, SyLEx introduces for the first time in France a sovereign suborbital launch capability. For this first flight, SyLEx carried an ArianeGroup experimental payload, a platform for technological integration and demonstration. SyLEx is designed to support a wide range of missions, including atmospheric re-entry and microgravity experiments. It targets both civilian and military applications on the European market. This new product consists of two sounding rocket models, a single-stage and a two-stage version, completed by a dedicated launch pad. With a payload capacity up to 600kg, the new launch system will be capable of reaching altitudes between 200 and 400 kilometres. Depending on the payload and mission configuration, the SyLEx sounding rocket can accommodate multiple experiments in a single flight.“This successful first flight secures sovereign testing capabilities for France using sounding rockets. SyLEx has been designed and built by ArianeGroup teams in under three years, based on test-and-learn methods. Thus, DGA’s renewed confidence in ArianeGroup’s expertise enables France’s autonomy and sovereignty in suborbital launch capabilities. We are already advancing to the next phase of our incremental roadmap: the two-stage version.”Vincent Pery Director of Defence Programmes at ArianeGroup
CAS Space, LSP of the lijian 1/2 orbital launchers is making a large (7t) solid-propelled sounding rocket with recoverable capsule, it will commercialise it as well as use it to help develop the Lihong 2 "new-shepard-like" rocket. 1st launch was planned from Jiuquan in July as of last March.
...Succesful qualification flight of SyLEx (single stage configuration) from Biscarosse today: https://ariane.group/en/news/successfull-frst-launch-of-the-new-sounding-rocket-sylex/...
Kratos Issues Letter of Intent for 60 Full Rate Production Zeus Hypersonic System Rocket Motors from L3HarrisSAN DIEGO, Dec. 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: KTOS), a leader in defense, national security and global markets, announced today that it has issued a letter of intent to L3Harris Technologies (LHX: NYSE) for an order of 40 Zeus 1 and 20 Zeus 2 hypersonic motors. The large Zeus SRM acquisition by Kratos is representative of the existing under contract, expected future hypersonic and other system launch manifest(s), as Kratos continues to execute its longstanding strategy of making internally funded investments to move fast, and be first to market with affordable, relevant systems for U.S. National Security....This order further demonstrates Kratos’ steadfast commitment to supporting the Department of War customer by investing in systems and inventory. This investment, along with Kratos’ recent order for 60 22-inch diameter Oriole solid rocket motors, is ensuring that rapid and relevant flight test platforms are available as needed to accelerate hypersonic research and deliver capability to our warfighters.
