Not Cancelled, But Prepared

The public release specifically focuses on Osiris, the company’s current and only operational launch vehicle. Until today, the status of Osiris had remained a subject of speculation, with no flights since August 2024 and an obvious absence of the vehicle from internal planning materials for the current year.​

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“The rocket works, we made sure,” the company said. Over the course of late 2024 and early 2025, Celestial engineers conducted dozens of systems tests, propellant loading rehearsals, avionics alignments, and full stack validations including a third full vertical integration of the Osiris launch vehicle in December.​

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In January, according to Celestial, Osiris operations were officially “paused and scaled back” amid what leadership called a pursuit of “total strategic clarity” — a term previously cited in RSN’s earlier reporting from insiders familiar with the transition.

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Rather than treating the pause as a setback, Vlieland engineers took the period as an opportunity to redouble technical efforts and reduce schedule driven risk.

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"It wasn’t downtime, it was time for work.” said one systems engineer. “We finally had room to validate every assumption, to stress systems without rushing, and to chase down the smallest anomalies. The pause gave us breathing room to make the rocket better, not just ready.”​

The update confirms what RSN previously reported in its speculative article. Celestial Space was undergoing a top down internal review of all major programs, looking beyond the launch services and toward long term relevance within the community.

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That evaluation, now acknowledged in full, aimed to move the company past the identity of being “just another launch company.” Celestial’s latest language reflects this mindset:

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“We took this challenge and turned it into an opportunity… We are ready to continue on our new path.”

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“We had to ask ourselves a hard question. Not just what we’re doing, but why we’re doing it,” said Kwingo, Founder and CEO of Celestial Space Corp. “This wasn’t about adjusting a product line. It was about redefining our role in our future. We don’t want to be remembered as a company that launched rockets. We want to be remembered as one that enabled what came next.”

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For industry observers, it’s a revealing moment. Over the past six months, Celestial’s media presence faded significantly, and observers noted declining visible activity at its test and launch facility, SLC-01. The absence of Osiris from 2025 roadmaps raised questions over its future, some wondering whether the vehicle had been cancelled altogether.

The centerpiece of the update is Flight 3 of Osiris, now officially reactivated. The company says it is preparing for a “week long pre-flight ground readiness review”, followed by the return of the rocket to the launch pad for final integration testing and launch.

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This will be Osiris’s first flight in nearly a year and its most anticipated yet.

Once the review concludes, the vehicle will be mated to its launch mount, undergo final systems testing, and receive its ECHO-1 payload.

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Despite the clarity offered, some questions remain. No precise launch date has been set. Nor has Celestial specified how the Osiris program fits into the long term plan it continues to reference. However, the tone of the update, confident, technical, and forward-looking, signals a clear intent. Celestial Space wants back into the spotlight.

For critics and concerned supporters, today’s post may serve as long awaited validation. As RSN reported in early 2025, sources within the company had spoken of a growing desire among leadership to reshape the company’s identity from a mission focused operator to a foundational enabler. One that emphasises community growth, capability, and space research.

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That ambition was matched by frustration inside the company as employees struggled to find footing inside the fog of redefinition. In today’s release, that fog appears to have begun clearing.

“Osiris is almost ready, and we’re determined to making it there.”

With Osiris nearing launch readiness again, Celestial Space finds itself at a rare moment. One where it must convert promises into delivery.

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The company has now publicly committed to Flight 3, acknowledged its internal pause, and reaffirmed that Osiris is very much alive. But in a launch sector increasingly defined by cadence, competition, and clarity of purpose, what matters now is action.

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A successful return to flight for Osiris could reestablish Celestial’s momentum and buy confidence partners, and the broader Ro-Space community. A failure, technical or managerial, could further expand the doubts that came up during the company’s months of silence.

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Celestial’s founder and CEO, Kwingo, issued a direct statement to RSN reporters.

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“This has been a time of deep reflection for us,” said Kwingo, “We stepped back not because we were uncertain about our capabilities, but because we knew this company deserved more than a rushed path forward. Our teams used this pause to ensure that when we return, we do so with purpose. Flight 3 will be more than just another launch. It is the result of hard choices, engineering, and a belief that our future is still being built one step at a time.”

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For now, the waiting ends. The speculation is confirmed. Osiris is back. Celestial Space is still in the race.

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And the countdown has already begun.