December 31, 2025

Morgan Stanley Emerges As Front‑Runner For SpaceX IPO Underwriting (Source: Mach 33)
Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Dec 19, 2025 that Morgan Stanley is emerging as the likely lead underwriter for SpaceX’s anticipated 2026 initial public offering, with competing interest from Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan still under evaluation. SpaceX is expected to pursue a 2026 IPO that could raise above $25 billion and potentially value the company above $1 trillion, subject to market conditions and final underwriter selection. No definitive agreements have been announced publicly, and the bank selection process remains ongoing. The offering would potentially include SpaceX’s rocket launch business and its Starlink broadband segment.

For market participants this development reinforces that capital markets preparation for a SpaceX listing is progressing at a senior institutional level, with a marquee financial institution positioning itself for a historic transaction. Morgan Stanley’s deep ties to Elon Musk (including Tesla’s IPO and Twitter acquisition financing) may influence underwriting dynamics, deal structure, and investor confidence. A successful underwriting appointment could catalyze secondary market activity and tighten valuation expectations for related aerospace equities. Monitoring the underwriting selection and resultant investor roadshow messaging will be key for institutional allocation strategies ahead of any pricing. (12/19)

Chinese LandSpace Targets Mid‑2026 Reusable Booster Milestone And IPO Plans (Source: Mach 33)
China’s LandSpace, a private aerospace company, announced plans to achieve rocket booster recovery by mid‑2026 following a partially successful reusable rocket maiden flight in early December, according to Reuters. The company aims for a successful booster recovery on its next mission and intends to reuse that booster by its fourth flight. LandSpace also reportedly plans an initial public offering in 2026 to secure capital for further development of its rocket technologies and increase launch cadence. Company leadership acknowledged the difficulty of matching SpaceX’s Falcon 9 frequency but emphasised continued investment in engine and reusability technology. (12/24)

Starlink Surpasses 9 Million Customers (Source: Mach 33)
SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service has reportedly exceeded 9  million active subscribers worldwide as of December 2025, adding over 1  million users in under eight weeks, according to Business Insider and corroborated by associated industry tracking. (12/24)

The Forces Shaping the Space Industry in 2026 (Source: Mach 33)
2026 is shaping up to be one of the most consequential years the space industry has ever faced, with multiple structural inflection points converging at once. Outcomes will be driven less by isolated events and more by a handful of reinforcing system-level forces. To make that structure visible, we built the systems map below: a network view of the space economy where node size reflects systemic influence (nodes that connect to other influential nodes become larger), and connections reflect the strength of interdependence (thicker lines = tighter coupling). The purpose is a clean way to convey where the system’s “gravity wells” are, and how progress, or failure, could cascade across markets. Click here. (12/31) https://research.33fg.com/analysis/the-forces-shaping-the-space-industry-in-2026

Reusable Rockets Were All the Rage in 2025 (Source: Douglas Messier)
The quest to develop reusable boosters advanced in 2025 as SpaceX’s Starship launched multiple times from Starbase with mixed results, Blue Origin’s New Glenn stuck the landing on its second flight, and two Chinese companies launched partly reusable launch vehicles for the first time. If you thought 2025 was exciting, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Seven fully or partially reusable boosters could make their debuts in 2026. (12/31)

Blue Origin Astronaut Reveals Depression After 'Tsunami of Harassment' (Source: BBC)
A Vietnamese-American astronaut has opened up about her depression after she received a "tsunami of harassment" following the first all-female space trip since 1963 earlier this year. Amanda Nguyen - a 34-year-old scientist and civil rights activist - was part of the 11-minute Blue Origin space flight, which also included pop star Katy Perry and Lauren Sánchez, the journalist and wife of Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, among its crew.

The much-derided flight was criticized by some for its expense and environmental impact. Speaking about the experience, Ms Nguyen - who became the first Vietnamese woman to go to space - said the backlash saw her dreams buried under "an avalanche of misogyny". (12/30)

Tractor Beams Inspired by sci-fi are Real, and Could Solve the Space Junk Problem (Source: Live Science)
In science fiction films, nothing raises tension quite like the good guys' spaceship getting caught in an invisible tractor beam that allows the baddies to slowly reel them in. But what was once only a sci-fi staple could soon become a reality. Scientists are developing a real-life tractor beam, dubbed an electrostatic tractor. This tractor beam wouldn't suck in helpless starship pilots, however. Instead, it would use electrostatic attraction to nudge hazardous space junk safely out of Earth orbit.

The stakes are high: With the commercial space industry booming, the number of satellites in Earth's orbit is forecast to rise sharply. This bonanza of new satellites will eventually wear out and turn the space around Earth into a giant junkyard of debris that could smash into working spacecraft, plummet to Earth, pollute our atmosphere with metals and obscure our view of the cosmos. And, if left unchecked, the growing space junk problem could hobble the booming space exploration industry, experts warn. (12/30)

Here’s What to Get Excited About in Space in 2026 (Source: Scientific American)
From crewed lunar voyages to flight tests of fully reusable rockets and launches of new orbital telescopes studying the outer limits of the cosmos, 2026 should be a banner year for space science and exploration. Click here. (12/30)

NASA Craft to Face Heat-Shield Test on Its First Astronaut Flight Next Year (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Getting to space is hard. In many ways, getting back is even harder. NASA soon aims to pull off the kind of re-entry it last conducted more than 50 years ago: safely returning astronauts to Earth after they fly to the moon and back. The mission is a big moment for NASA, which will put a crew on its Orion ship for the first time. The flight will test the spacecraft’s heat shield, designed to protect the astronauts on board. (12/30)

South Korea Built a Rugged Robot Designed to Be the First to Explore the Moon’s Hidden Caves (Source: IDR)
The team from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) built the rover to address one of the key challenges in lunar exploration, accessing and exploring uncharted cave systems, which could one day serve as safe zones for human activity. The robot’s unique design focuses on mobility, adaptability, and shock absorption, combining structural strength with flexibility, has proven its resilience through a series of intense Earth-based tests that simulate the Moon’s extreme conditions.

The rover’s most distinct feature is its helix-patterned wheels, composed of interwoven metal strips that function like a piece of kinetic art. These wheels can expand from nine to 19.6 inches in diameter, allowing the rover to adjust its footprint based on terrain. When expanded, the wheels improve weight distribution and traction, making the robot better suited for the Moon’s dusty and uneven surfaces. (12/30)

Heavy-Lift Launch Site Planned at Vandenberg SFB Spaceport (Source: Space News)
Vandenberg Space Force Base is offering a new launch site for heavy-lift vehicles. The Space Force released this week a request for information about potential uses of SLC-14, a proposed launch site on the southernmost part of the base that is currently undeveloped. The service said it is looking to host heavy or super-heavy vehicles there, particularly those that do not have other launch sites at the base. The RFI includes financial and technical requirements that may give an edge to SpaceX’s Starship, although the company has not disclosed any plans so far to develop a Starship launch site at Vandenberg. (12/31)

China Plans Reusable Variant of Crewed Long March 10A for Cargo Missions (Source: Space News)
China is planning to launch a reusable variant of a new rocket for crewed missions next year. China Rocket, a spinoff from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation’s China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, stated earlier this month that it aims to launch a five-meter-diameter reusable liquid propellant launch vehicle in the first half of 2026. That rocket appears to be a derivative of the Long March 10A, a rocket being developed to launch the new Mengzhou crew spacecraft. This new variant, called Long March 10B, would be used to launch satellites for the Guowang broadband constellation. (12/31)

UK's Space Forge Advances Semiconductor Manufacturing Tech with Satellite Demo (Source: Space News)
British space manufacturing startup Space Forge says it has achieved a key milestone in its efforts to produce semiconductors in orbit. The company said its first satellite, ForgeStar-1, successfully generated plasma in orbit, which the company says shows it can create and maintain conditions needed for semiconductor manufacturing. Space Forge disclosed few details about the test but said the demonstration is a first for a commercial free-flying satellite, outside a space station environment. Space Forge ultimately plans to produce materials in space such as gallium nitride, silicon carbide, aluminum nitride and diamond, used in applications ranging from power electronics and communications to defense and high-performance computing. (12/31)

Planet and Google Partner on Orbital Data Centers (Source: Space News)
Planet says its work with Google on demonstrating orbital data centers could be a huge long-term opportunity for the company. Planet and Google announced last month a partnership to demonstrate technologies needed for orbital data centers through what they call Project Suncatcher. That effort involves two tech demo satellites built by Planet to launch by early 2027 carrying AI-optimized processors developed by Google. The satellites will test how the processors work in space and demonstrate formation flying between the two spacecraft to enable high-bandwidth intersatellite links. Google envisions clusters of satellites operating in orbit, taking advantage of solar energy to overcome the power constraints of terrestrial data centers. In an earnings call earlier this month, Planet said that while Suncatcher is still in the R&D phase at this time, it could be a “huge market opportunity” down the road with the potential for thousands of satellites. (12/31)

China Launches Tech Demo Satellites on Long March 7A (Source: Space News)
China closed out a record launch year with the launch of a pair of technology demonstration satellites Tuesday. A Long March 7A lifted off at 5:40 p.m. Eastern from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center, placing into orbit the Shijian-29 A and B satellites. The two satellites will be used to “conduct verification tests of new technologies for space target detection,” Chinese officials reported, which could include space situational awareness applications. The launch was the 92nd this year by China, shattering last year’s record of 68 launches. It is also likely the final orbital launch worldwide this year, setting another record with more than 320 launch attempts. (12/31)

India Completes Improved Small Launcher Tests (Source: PTI)
The Indian space agency ISRO has completed tests of an upgraded stage for a small launch vehicle. ISRO said Tuesday it performed a static-fire test of a new third stage for the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), qualifying it for flight. The solid-fuel stage will increase the payload performance of the SSLV, currently about 500 kilograms, by 90 kilograms thanks to decreased weight of the stage’s motor case. (12/31)

NASA PExT Tests Multi-Network Satellite Capability (Source: NASA)
A NASA payload has demonstrated the ability to roam among different communications networks. The Polylingual Experimental Terminal (PExT), hosted on a York Space Systems satellite, launched this summer to test the ability of the terminal to operate on different networks. Since its launch, PExT has successfully communicated with NASA’s TDRS satellite network as well as commercial systems. PExT is part of efforts by NASA to transition its missions from TDRS to commercial networks. Additional PExT tests are planned for 2026. (12/31)

Spain’s Indra Space, Now Owner of Hispasat and Hisdesat, Positions Itself to be Tier-1 European Space Company (Source: Space Intel Report)
Indra Group of Spain has closed its acquisition of Spanish commercial satellite fleet operator Hispasat and military satellite operator Hisdesat, setting the stage for what Indra sees as a multi-year growth path for enlarged Indra Space. Indra Group notified Spain’s stock market regulator on Dec. 30 that the transaction, announced Jan. 31, had been concluded “with the objective of consolidating Indra Group as the reference player in the satellite industry in Spain, pursuing a vertically integrated strategy and a strong commitment to defense. (12/31)

Top 5 of 2025: Out of Stealth (Source: Payload)
The space industry is growing and growing—and today we’re looking at some of the companies that threw their hat in the ring in 2025. Here are just a handful of the new companies that emerged from stealth this year. (12/31)

Space and Defense Boom Lifted Satellite Stocks in 2025 (Source: CNBC)
Wall Street grew increasingly obsessed with the artificial intelligence boom this year, pouring money into chips, data centers and applications. But investors looking beyond Silicon Valley found outsized returns in another location: space. Some of the year’s biggest market winners were defense companies that benefited from renewed interest in space exploration and military reindustrialization. President Donald Trump’s military expansion plan includes a $175 billion “Golden Dome” project and efforts to bolster American shipbuilding. (12/31)

Space42’s Mira Aerospace Flies Europe’s First Civilian-Approved HAPS Mission (Source: Defense Here)
Mira Aerospace, the High Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS) subsidiary of Space42, has successfully conducted Europe’s first HAPS flight under civilian operational approval, marking a milestone in stratospheric aviation and environmental monitoring. The flight was executed using Mira Aerospace’s ApusNeo18 HAPS platform on behalf of Telespazio Ibérica, part of the Leonardo Group. The mission demonstrated how HAPS can safely operate in controlled airspace while delivering real-time intelligence for critical environmental monitoring, particularly wildfire response. (12/30)

ESA at 50: What Europe’s Space Agency Means for Startups Today (Source: Tech EU)
ESA’s last five decades have been defined by scientific ambition, industrial development, and European cooperation. Its next chapter will be shaped just as much by commercial competition, geopolitics, and the very down-to-Earth reality that space is now critical infrastructure: for connectivity, navigation, climate monitoring, security, and more. To understand what this shift looks like in practice, I spoke with founders and operators working with ESA across manufacturing, sustainability, launch, Earth observation, and space traffic management.

For Emile de Rijk, CEO of SWISSto12, ESA’s role is clearest when you look at how European companies move up the value chain: from specialist components to full, commercially viable systems. SWISSto12, founded in 2011 as a spin-off from Switzerland’s Federal Institute of Technology, was an early adopter of 3D printing for RF and antenna products. Over time, it expanded into complete satellite communications systems — user terminals for aircraft, ships, vehicles, and ground stations. Then came a bigger pivot: geostationary orbit.

A similar point comes through from James O’Connor, Head of Imagery at  SatelliteVu (SatVu) After HotSat-1 launched, ESA ran a data evaluation exercise to validate the accuracy of the pipeline, and later purchased archive imagery to make freely available to researchers through an announcement of opportunity. From O’Connor’s perspective, ESA has increasingly signalled that it wants to be part of enabling commercial EO providers — including through anchor-style contracts. (12/30)

Florida DEP to Host January Meeting on Blue Origin Wastewater Permit (Source: Florida Today)
After significant opposition emerged, Brevard County residents will get the chance to chime in on Blue Origin's industrial wastewater permit renewal at its huge Rocket Park manufacturing complex on northern Merritt Island. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection will conduct a public meeting on Blue Origin's permit on Jan. 30. The DEP draft permit would authorize Blue Origin to discharge up to 490,000 gallons per day of process and non-process industrial wastewater into an onsite stormwater pond, then into a 3-mile drainage ditch and eventually the Indian River Lagoon.

The Brevard County Commission and Cape Canaveral City Council formally asked the DEP for the meeting by unanimous votes earlier this month. And an online petition opposing the wastewater permit has generated nearly 46,000 signatures. "If I want to go wash my vehicle, the place that washes it has to filter the water and clean it and reuse it. They don't get to simply dump it into the local waterway," Michael Myjak said. "If I have a boat in a marina and I want to wash it, I can't do it in the water. I have to manage the wash-water and the cleanup. If I have an aircraft hangar, an aircraft that I want to (wash) — same thing. It's regulated," he said.

Editor's Note: It seems this Blue Origin environmental impact/permitting effort is getting a lot more scrutiny from county and state officials than SpaceX's project to bring Starship/Super-Heavy operations to the spaceport. (12/31)

December 30, 2025

Air Force Abandons Sweeping Reoptimization as Army, Marines Push Forward with Transformation (Source: FNN)
The year 2025 has been transformational for the Defense Department. The Air Force scrapped most of its sweeping reoptimization initiative announced under previous leadership, while the Army undertook one of its most significant acquisition and organizational reform efforts in decades. Months after pausing its sweeping reoptimization initiative launched under former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, the service announced earlier this month that it would abandon more than half of its sweeping efforts. The proposed changes under the previous leadership were enormous in scope, spanning acquisition, recruiting, training and the management processes that deliver support services. (12/24)

China Launches Mapping Satellite on Long March 4B (Source: Xinhua)
China launched a mapping satellite Monday night. A Long March 4B lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Eastern and successfully placed the Tianhui-7 spacecraft into orbit. The satellite will be used for mapping and land surveys, Chinese media reported. (12/30)

Chinese Launcher IPOs Eased on Shanghai Exchange (Source: Reuters)
Chinese launch startups will have an easier path to going public. The Shanghai Stock Exchange said Friday that it will exempt Chinese reusable launch companies seeking to perform IPOs on the tech-focused STAR market from some of its requirements. The exchange said it will focus on technological milestones rather than profitability and minimum revenue requirements for such companies. Companies that are involved in major national space projects will also get priority from the exchange for going public. (12/30)

India's Third Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan (Source: India TV)
India plans to complete a third launch pad at its major spaceport in the next four years. The director of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre said the third pad will be used for supporting launches of larger vehicles and payloads. The spaceport currently has two pads used by the PSLV and LVM3 rockets. The Indian space agency ISRO is seeking contractors to build the third pad. (12/30)

Italy's SpaceLand Developing Mars Habitat Tech (Source: SpaceLand)
Leveraging its expertise in Mars-gravity flight conditions, SpaceLand is advancing a breakthrough habitat technology that enables astronauts to build safe, insulated Martian shelters entirely from the inside, working comfortably in shirt‑sleeves, thanks to innovative inflatable airforms with bio‑cementation of local regolith: strong structural shells will be erected while drastically reducing EVA time, radiation exposure and material payloads. This ISRU‑driven, inside‑out construction method will be validated through prototypes in Italy and Mauritius using Mars‑analog soils and special bacterial species to produce bio-cement. (12/29)

ISS Spacewalks Planned in January (Source: NASA)
NASA is preparing for two spacewalks at the International Space Station in January. The first spacewalk, scheduled for Jan. 8, will be by NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, who will prepare the station’s power system for the installation of a new set of solar arrays. A second spacewalk on Jan. 15 involves other maintenance work, including replacing a camera and installing a new navigational aid. NASA said it will select the astronauts for the second spacewalk at a later date. (12/30)

France's HyPrSpace Raises $24.7 Million for Rocket Development and Defense Business (Source: Space News)
A French launch startup is looking into defense applications for its hybrid propulsion technologies. HyPrSpace raised 21 million euros ($24.7 million) last month, with plans to use the funding to complete a suborbital rocket, Baguette One, that is a precursor to its small orbital launch vehicle, OB-1. Those rockets use hybrid propulsion systems the company has developed with plastic fuel and liquid oxygen. The company says defense customers are showing interest in its hybrid motors for other, unspecified uses, replacing the liquid oxygen with storable oxidizers like nitrous oxide or hydrogen peroxide. HyPrSpace is planning to launch Baguette One in the first half of 2026 with the first OB-1 launch set for late 2027. (12/30)

Isaacman Considers Discovery Shuttle Move Alternatives (Source: Space News)
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman appeared open to alternatives to moving the space shuttle Discovery from a Smithsonian museum to Houston. A provision of the budget reconciliation bill enacted in July directs NASA to perform a “space vehicle transfer” widely interpreted to mean moving Discovery from the Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington to Space Center Houston. In an interview on CNBC Friday, Isaacman said NASA was ensuring that such a move could be done within budget and safely, factors raised by critics of the move. If not, he said, “we have spacecraft going around the moon with Artemis 2, 3, 4 and 5,” suggesting the Orion spacecraft from one of those missions could go to Houston instead and still comply with the law. (12/30)

Vance Backed Isaacman's Second Chance at NASA (Source: Washington Post)
Isaacman reportedly got a second chance to become NASA administrator thanks to efforts by Vice President JD Vance. According to a report, Vance worked to smooth the relationship between President Trump and Elon Musk after a falling out between the two in May that led the White House to withdraw Isaacman’s original nomination. That included meeting with key members of the Senate Commerce Committee to ensure that, if Isaacman was renominated, he could be confirmed quickly. Susie Wiles, White House chief of staff, also worked to give Isaacman a second chance. The White House renominated Isaacman in early November and he was confirmed in mid-December. (12/30)

How NASA Changed in 2025 — Possibly Forever (Source: Space.com)
NASA in 2025 has been on a roller coaster ride of proposed budget cuts, personnel layoffs, and potential elimination of science missions. A key question: Have these various traumas changed NASA dramatically, and potentially permanently? Click here. (12/30)

ESA Says Data Breach Was Limited to Servers with Unclassified Documents (Source: European Spaceflight)
The European Space Agency (ESA) has released an initial statement regarding an alleged data breach, stating that it affected a “very limited number of science servers located outside the ESA corporate network.” On 26 December, reports began to emerge on X claiming that ESA had suffered a significant data breach, with a hacker using the alias “888” offering more than 200 gigabytes of data for sale. According to the hacker’s listing, the allegedly compromised data included source code for proprietary software, sensitive project documentation, API tokens, and hardcoded credentials. (12/30)

Montenegro Space Research (MSR) Launches the Country’s First Satellite (Source: Spacewatch Global)
Montenegro has entered the global space community. Montenegro Space Research (MSR) has successfully launched 'Luča', Montenegro’s inaugural satellite, into low Earth orbit two days ago, 28 December, from the Vostočni Cosmodrome. Following deployment aboard a Soyuz carrier rocket, Luča transmitted its first signal, confirming all systems are operating within nominal parameters. (12/30)

Hacking Space: Europe Ramps Up Security of Satellites (Source: Politico)
In the desolate Arctic desert of Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, Europeans are building defenses against a new, up-and-coming security threat: space hacks. Lithuania's Astrolight is constructing a ground station, with support from the European Space Agency, that will use laser beams to download voluminous data from satellites in a fast and secure manner, it announced last month. It's just one example of how Europe is moving to harden the security of its satellites, as rising geopolitical tensions and an expanding spectrum of hybrid threats are pushing space communications to the heart of the bloc’s security plans. (12/30)

Rocket Lab Prepares for Neutron’s Debut in 2026 (Source: NSF)
While Electron will continue to fly missions in 2026, Rocket Lab also plans to debut its next-generation vehicle, Neutron, no earlier than mid-2026. This medium-lift rocket will launch from a new launch site on Wallops Island, where an existing Electron launch site is already established. Neutron is designed to be larger and more powerful than Electron, standing 43 m tall and seven meters wide. Utilizing liquid methane (CH4) and liquid oxygen as propellants, Neutron will feature partial reusability, with its first stage intended to land on Rocket Lab’s droneship, Return on Investment. (12/29)

A Pioneering Study Assesses the Likelihood of Asteroid Mining (Source: Universe Today)
A few years ago, asteroid mining was all the rage. With the commercial space sector rapidly growing, the dream of commercializing space seemed almost imminent. Basically, the notion of having platforms and spacecraft that could rendezvous and mine Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs), then return them to space-based foundries, was right up there with sending commercial crews to Mars. After a great deal of speculation and ventures going under, these plans were placed on the back burner until the technology matured and other milestones could be accomplished first.

In addition to the need for more infrastructure and technical development, further research is needed to determine the chemical composition of small asteroids. In a recent study, a team led by researchers from the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC) analyzed samples of C-type (carbon-rich) asteroids, which account for 75% of known asteroids. Their findings demonstrate that these asteroids could be a crucial source of raw materials, presenting opportunities for future resource exploitation.

According to the team's results, mining undifferentiated asteroids (believed to be the progenitor of chondritic meteorites) is far from viable. The study also identified a type of asteroid rich in olivine and spinel bands as a potential target for mining operations. The team also noted that water-rich asteroids with high concentrations of water-bearing minerals should be selected. In the meantime, they emphasize the need for additional sample-return missions to verify the identify of progenitor bodies before mining can be realized. (12/29)

HyPrSpace Looks for Applications Beyond Launch for its Hybrid Propulsion Technology (Source: Space News)
The French launch startup is HyPrSpace, which recently secured €21 million in Series A funding to develop its hybrid propulsion tech for small rockets, and is now actively exploring defense applications for this robust, cost-effective system, potentially for missile defense or rapid-response space capabilities, leveraging its upcoming suborbital test flights from French military sites. (12/29)

Celestis Books Stoke Space Rocket for 2nd-Ever Deep Space Memorial Flight (Source: Space.com)
Texas-based Celestis, the space burial remembrance company that has made a name for itself delivering cremated remains and DNA samples of friends, celebrities, and loved ones into near-space, Earth orbit, the moon and into deep space is expanding its horizons with the announcement of a new launch partner for a future Voyager flight. Celestis chose Stoke Space and its new Nova rocket as the launch provider for its next deep-space Voyager mission named "Infinite Flight," traveling beyond our Earth-moon system and into a permanent heliocentric orbit. This mission is slated to lift off from Space Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral sometime in late 2026. (12/29)

NASA Seeks Drone Detection Capability For Kennedy Space Center (Source: Aviation Week)
NASA is looking to field a drone detection and analysis system to help spot activities over Kennedy Space Center (KSC). The system is supposed to deliver data “to make rapid and critical decisions to protect to protect personnel, the public, launch vehicles, flight hardware, high-value assets, and security interests. The system must provide rapid, timely information to multiple users for response and mitigation, and be fully compatible with Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Space Force counter-UAS systems and protocols. Key functionalities include real-time detection and alerting, technical and threat analyses, integration of analysis techniques and tools, and the ability to provide identification and operational information (type, serial number, location, speed, direction, operator location). (12/29)

Volta Space is Testing Tech for a Lunar Power Beaming Application (Source: SpaceQ)
With the successful landing of the Blue Ghost mission on March 2, 2025 along with growing rivalry between the United States and China on their future lunar presence, there’s been renewed interest in putting landers on the Moon. For most of them, though, there’s an enormous obstacle: surviving the long dark lunar nights. Until now, that’s limited the length and scope of these missions, and even created interest in more exotic fixes, like lunar fission reactors.

Volta's solution: a “lunar energy grid.” Their goal is to build a lunar satellite network called LightGrid: a network of satellites in low lunar orbit that will collect solar power, and then beam it down via lasers to equipment on the lunar surface. (12/29)

Proposal to Dismantle NCAR Would Have Space Science Impacts (Source: Space News)
The Trump administration recently announced plans to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, a move that would also affect space science research. The implications for space science stem from NCAR's involvement in research areas such as space weather, which studies the interactions between the Sun and Earth's atmosphere. NCAR's work in this area is a core component of its broad research portfolio, which includes everything from atmospheric chemistry to severe weather prediction. (12/29)

ESA Cancels Call to Procure Commercial Cargo Services to the ISS (Source: European Spaceflight)
The European Space Agency has cancelled a call for proposals to procure commercial cargo transportation services to the International Space Station (ISS). The services were intended to help the agency meet its obligations under the station’s Common System Operations Costs (CSOC) framework, which defines the shared responsibility of ISS partners to contribute to the station’s general upkeep, including crew and cargo transportation.

In the past, ESA met its CSOC obligations by transporting cargo to the ISS aboard the Automated Transfer Vehicle. More recently, the agency has agreed to supply European Service Modules for use aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft to fulfil those commitments. To ensure a continued European presence aboard the station through to its planned decommissioning in 2030, the agency is once again preparing to commit some form of in-kind services. (12/29)

March 21 -- 3/21 -- Designated Space Coast Day to Honor Brevard’s Spaceflight Legacy (Source: Space Coast Daily)
In a celebration of the region’s unmatched legacy in human spaceflight and aerospace innovation, Brevard County leaders have officially designated March 21 as Space Coast Day — a new annual observance recognizing the Space Coast’s pivotal contributions to space exploration and science. Commissioners will unveil the official proclamation on Jan. 13. The symbolic event will include a special “countdown moment” that echoes the liftoff sequences that have been the heartbeat of the region for decades. (12/28)

Black Hole Found That Contains Enough Water to Fill 'Trillions of Earth-Size Oceans' (Source: Earth.com)
Astronomers enjoy it when the universe throws a curveball, and this object does exactly that. Working in two teams, they have found the largest, most distant stash of water ever seen in the cosmos. APM 08279+5255 is a quasar – an active galaxy whose central supermassive black hole feeds on gas and releases huge amounts of light. It contains about 140 trillion times the amount in all of Earth’s oceans – swaddling a ravenous, supermassive black hole (a quasar) more than 12 billion light-years away. (12/27)

Hubble Reveals Chaos in the Largest Planet Nursery Ever Seen (Source: Universe Today)
A thousand light years from Earth, something enormous is happening. The Hubble Space Telescope has captured images of the largest protoplanetary disk ever observed, a swirling mass of gas and dust that spans nearly 640 billion km. To put that in perspective, it’s 40 times wider than our entire Solar System, from the Sun to the outer edge of the Kuiper Belt where comets drift in the darkness. But size isn’t what has astronomers puzzled. This disk, playfully nicknamed “Dracula’s Chivito” by its researchers, is behaving in ways planetary nurseries aren’t supposed to.

Hubble’s observations reveal a chaotic environment with bright, finger like wisps of material shooting vertically above and below the disk’s central plane, stretching much farther than anything previously seen in similar systems. Even stranger, these dramatic features appear only on one side of the disk. The other side cuts off sharply with no visible filaments at all. (12/29)

Hanwha to Develop Propulsion System for S. Korean Lunar Lander (Source: Yonhap)
Under the contract with the state-run Korea Aerospace Research Institute, Hanwha Aerospace will be responsible for producing, assembling and testing key propulsion components, including the engine and attitude control thrusters, through 2032. The South Korean aerospace and defense giant has developed key spacecraft propulsion systems for the country's space projects since the launch of the Arirang-1 multipurpose satellite in 1994. The company said technologies and infrastructure developed through the lunar lander project could later be applied to future space exploration missions. (12/29)

Rethinking How We End A Satellite's Mission (Source: Universe Today)
At the end of their lives, most satellites fall to their death. Many of the smaller ones, including most of those going up as part of the “mega-constellations” currently under construction, are intended to burn up in the atmosphere. This Design for Demise (D4D) principle has unintended consequences, according to a paper by Antoinette Ott and Christophe Bonnal, both of whom work for MaiaSpace, a company designing reusable launch vehicles for the small satellite market.

Simply put, those unintended consequences could go so far as to create another hole in the ozone layer. There are two main chemicals that are concerning when it comes to that possibility: nitrogen oxides (NOx) and alumina. (12/28)

Behold the Manifold, the Concept that Changed How Mathematicians View Space (Source: WIRED)
Standing in the middle of a field, we can easily forget that we live on a round planet. We’re so small in comparison to the Earth that from our point of view, it looks flat. The world is full of such shapes—ones that look flat to an ant living on them, even though they might have a more complicated global structure. Mathematicians call these shapes manifolds. Introduced by Bernhard Riemann in the mid-19th century, manifolds transformed how mathematicians think about space.

It was no longer just a physical setting for other mathematical objects, but rather an abstract, well-defined object worth studying in its own right. This new perspective allowed mathematicians to rigorously explore higher-dimensional spaces—leading to the birth of modern topology, a field dedicated to the study of mathematical spaces like manifolds. Manifolds have also come to occupy a central role in fields such as geometry, dynamical systems, data analysis, and physics. (12/28)

Synspective Tapped to Provide Satellite Imagery for Japan’s New Military Constellation (Source: Space News)
Japanese radar-imaging company Synspective has been selected as a partner in a Japan Ministry of Defense project to build and operate a satellite constellation that would give Japan’s military priority access to imagery, enhancing Japan's national security with persistent, all-weather Earth observation through a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project focused on better situational awareness and reconnaissance. (12/28)

China's LandSpace Gears Up to Take On Elon Musk and SpaceX (Source: Reuters)
China's rocket startup LandSpace has made no secret about drawing inspiration from Elon Musk's SpaceX. Earlier this month, the Beijing-based firm became the first Chinese entity to conduct a reusable rocket test. That put SpaceX on alert and LandSpace is now preparing to go public to fund its future projects, just as its bigger and far more successful U.S. rival considers an initial public offering of its own.

Even though LandSpace's Zhuque-3 rocket test ended in failure, its aspiration to become second only to SpaceX in reusable rockets is providing a fresh impetus to China's space industry, which has long been dominated by risk-averse, state-owned entities. LandSpace's focus on giving China its own low-cost launch option similar to SpaceX's flight-proven reusable rocket Falcon 9 will play a key role in Beijing's plans to build up 10,000 satellite constellations in the coming decades. (12/29)

December 29, 2025

Japanese Companies to Provide Satellite Imagery to Military (Source: Space News)
A group of Japanese companies has won a contract from the Japanese military to provide imagery. Japan’s defense ministry selected a group of seven companies last week to develop and operate a constellation under a framework known as a Private Finance Initiative, under which firms finance, build and operate infrastructure while the government commits to buying services over a multiyear contract. Under the arrangement, Mitsubishi Electric will work with trading house Mitsui & Co. and satellite operator SKY Perfect JSAT to establish a joint venture. Among the companies are iQPS and Synspective, which will provide radar imagery, and Axelspace, which will provide optical imagery. (12/29)

ESA Plans 520 Hires in 2026 (Source: Space News)
The European Space Agency plans to hire several hundred additional employees next year. At a briefing earlier this month, ESA said it would hire 520 people next year, 120 of whom would replace departing staff. The other 400 represent an expansion of the agency’s staff, bringing its workforce to 3,400 employees plus contractors. The agency said it will be hiring data scientists, IT specialists, project officers, business analysts and others alongside traditional positions in science and engineering. (12/29)

China Achieves 90 Launches in 2025 (Source: Space News)
China reached 90 orbital launches in 2025 with a pair of launches last week. A Long March 8A lifted off at 6:26 p.m. Eastern Thursday from the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Center on Hainan Island, putting a group of Guowang broadband constellation satellites into orbit. A Long March 3B lifted off  from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center and put into geosynchronous transfer orbit the Fengyun-4C weather satellite. With those two missions, China has now conducted 90 launches so far this year, a record for the country. Two more launches are expected before the end of the year. (12/29)

South Korea's Innospace Plans Second Launch in 2026 After Alcantara Launch Failure (Source: Space News)
South Korean launch startup Innospace said it will make a second launch of its Hanbit-Nano vehicle next year after the vehicle failed on its inaugural launch. In a letter to shareholders last week, the CEO of Innospace said that the company was still investigating the failed launch last Monday from the Alcântara Space Center in Brazil. The company said the vehicle suffered an unspecified anomaly 30 seconds after liftoff that caused the vehicle to crash in a safety zone around the launch pad. The company said it will attempt a second launch of Hanbit-Nano in the first half of 2026 after implementing “necessary technical improvements” in the rocket. (12/29)

Hague Retires From NASA (Source: Space News)
NASA Astronaut Nick Hague has left the agency. NASA announced last week that Hague had retired from the agency’s astronaut corps. Hague flew two long-duration missions to the International Space Station, one on a Soyuz in 2019 and another on a Crew Dragon in 2024-2025. He also launched on a Soyuz in 2018 that suffered an in-flight abort when its booster malfunctioned, with the Soyuz capsule landing safely downrange from the launch site. Hague remains in the U.S. Space Force as a brigadier general, and since September has been the assistant deputy chief of space operations for operations for the Space Force. (12/29)

Competing Efforts Race to Become Africa's Next Orbital Spaceport (Source: SPACErePORT)
Equatorial Africa's eastern coast is seeing a surge in plans for spaceport development. Djibouti in 2023 began working with a Chinese company to build a spaceport that would be completed by 2028. Somalia in 2025 entered an agreement with Turkey to build a spaceport, also by 2028. And Kenya is planning a feasibility study for a new spaceport that would be built as a public-private partnership with international collaborators. Kenya previously hosted the San Marco offshore launch platform under a partnership with Italy and NASA. San Marco was the site of nine launches of US-made Scout small orbital rockets between 1967 and 1988. South Africa is also planning to upgrade a suborbital launch site for future orbital launches. (12/29)

Auriga Space Raises Additional $6 Million to Shoot Rockets Off an Electromagnetic Launch Track (Source: TechCrunch)
Auriga’s launch platforms use electricity, and not propellants, to accelerate payloads and projectiles to hypersonic speeds. Our scalable, reusable, and controllable technology powers next-generation defense and space applications. We deliver flight-like test data on the ground by accelerating test articles through still air at pressures and temperatures representative of real-flight environments. With minimal turnaround time, we support multiple tests per day.

We replace the first stage of a rocket with electromagnetic LAUNCH, enabling frequent, dedicated access to Low Earth Orbit for defense and commercial missions. Zeus is our responsive platform that provides space access for deploying satellites and payloads at the time and cadence the mission demands. (5/10)

Turkey Building Somalia Spaceport (Source: Space4Peace)
Turkey has begun construction of a satellite and rocket launch site on Somalia’s Indian Ocean coast, a project officials say will advance Ankara’s space ambitions and that analysts say is already attracting heightened scrutiny from major world powers. The spaceport, backed by Baykar chairman Selçuk Bayraktar, is being developed under Turkish state authority on a coastal area measuring about 30 by 30 kilometers. Turkish officials say the facility will give the country its first platform for orbital launches and strengthen its ability to conduct independent space missions. (12/13)

December 28, 2025

Isar Aerospace Clears Final Tests for Second Spectrum Launch (Source: Isar)
Less than nine months after Spectrum’s first test flight, Isar Aerospace has completed stage testing and is preparing for its second launch from the company’s dedicated launch complex at Andøya Space in Norway. Both of the vehicle’s stages passed 30-second integrated static fire tests, validating vehicle readiness for final integration and launch operations.

Isar Aerospace’s rapid pace, advancing Europe’s ability to deploy and sustain critical space infrastructure, is powered by a vertically integrated, automated production system built to deliver launch capability at scale from European soil. Spectrum is designed and manufactured almost entirely inhouse, with the infrastructure to produce more than 30 vehicles per year in its new 40,000 square-meter facility near Munich. “Being back on the pad less than nine months after our first test flight is proof that we can operate at the speed the world now demands,” said CEO Daniel Metzler. (12/22)

$9.3 Million Approved by Texas Space Commission for SEARF Grant Award (Source: Texas Space Commission)
The Texas Space Commission (TSC) board of directors voted to conditionally approve a grant application totaling $9,270,000 for a proposed project led by The University of Texas at Austin. The project will support development of a Space Domain Awareness (SDA) “Tools, Applications, and Processing” (TAP) lab. The grant includes facility construction, equipment, as well as research and development costs. The Lab’s permanent infrastructure will serve as Texas’ first operational SDA innovation node, fostering economic growth, orbital safety, and strategic autonomy for both Texas and the nation. (12/20)

GomSpace Selected for Inclusion in Nasdaq First North 25 Index (Source: GomSpace)
GomSpace has been selected for inclusion in the Nasdaq First North 25 Index (FN25), the flagship benchmark comprising the 25 largest and most actively traded companies on Nasdaq First North Growth Market. The inclusion will take effect from market open on January 2, 2026. (12/19)

Caltech Gets $50 Million Gift for Aerospace Department (Source: Caltech)
The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has received a $50 million commitment from Caltech Trustee Lynn Booth and Life Member Kent Kresa, former chair of the Board of Trustees. Made jointly with their family foundations, the gift endows and names the Lynn Booth and Kent Kresa Department of Aerospace, securing the Institute's continued leadership in the rapidly evolving sectors of space science and exploration. (12/18)

ISRO Aims to Commission Third Launch Pad at Shriharikota in 4 Years (Source: Meghalayan Express)
ISRO is in the process of developing a third launch pad at the Shriharikota spaceport and is currently identifying the right vendors for it, a top scientist said. Shriharikota complex, which covers an area of 175 sq km, has been serving the space agency for the launch of various satellites using different launch vehicles. To move ahead with its plan of placing bigger satellites weighing over 12,000 – 14,000 kg in various orbits in space, ISRO requires bigger launch vehicles. To serve this purpose, ISRO is planning a third launch pad.

The third pad is required for the next series of launch vehicles, used for both crewed and uncrewed missions while the first and second launch pads are used for PSLV and GSLV missions. Meanwhile, yet another launch pad currently under construction in Kulasekarapattinam would be used to launch Small Satellite Launch Vehicles (SSLVs), which can place satellites into the Low Earth Orbit.

“These satellites may weigh about 500 kg and can be placed in LEO. For such missions, we will be using that (Kulasekarapattinam) facility,” he said. ISRO currently uses three launch vehicles — the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM3) or as previously called, Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk-III. (12/28)

The Kiwi ‘Engine’ That Could Change Spaceflight (Source: The Post)
Auckland company Zenno has spent eight years developing a propulsion system that generates a force co-founder Sebastian Wieczorek says could be reasonably compared with that you would get from pushing something with your little finger. So why is it one of the country’s hottest start-ups, having so far raised $29 million from investors in New Zealand and overseas?

The answer is that it can produce that ‘finger-force’ in space, where resistance is next to zero and it could be all that is needed to spin a one-tonne satellite on its axis, or perhaps nudge several rocket-loads of components together to self-assemble into a space station. The “engine” Zenno has developed is an electromagnetic field generated by a wire coil that could in theory be powered indefinitely by the solar panels on a satellite and energy from the sun. (12/27)

Mercury: The Planet That Shouldn't Exist (Source: BBC)
Far smaller and closer to the Sun than it should be, Mercury has long baffled astronomers because it defies much of what we know about planet formation. A new space mission arriving in 2026 might solve the mystery. A joint European and Japanese mission called BepiColombo launched in 2018 and is currently on its way to Mercury. The probe will be our first visitor to the planet in more than a decade. When it enters orbit in November 2026, after a thruster problem delayed its journey, one of its key goals is to try and work exactly where Mercury came from. (12/28)

Iran’s Satellites Launch on Russian Rocket on Sunday (Source: Wanaen)
Iran’s space industry today witnessed one of its most significant achievements in recent years. Three domestically developed satellites—Zafar-2, Paya, and the upgraded Kowsar—were successfully launched into low Earth orbit (LEO) at an altitude of about 500 kilometers by the Russian Soyuz launch vehicle from Russia’s Vostochny Cosmodrome. (12/27)

Year's Final Space Launch Planned on Sunday From Vandenberg (Source: Noozhawk)
For this mission, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will deliver the COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation FM satellite to low-Earth orbit in support of the Italian Space Agency and the Italian Ministry of Defense. The landing likely will generate sonic booms that may be heard in Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties depending on weather and atmospheric conditions. (12/27)

The Top Astronomical Discoveries of 2025 (Source: Space.com)
2025 was an exciting year for astronomical discoveries. Scientists got the best evidence yet for past life on Mars, discovered an interstellar comet zooming through our solar system, found clues of possible nearby exoplanets, and much more. Here are eight of the most spectacular space stories from the past 12 months. (12/28)

Perseverance Continues Science Mission Amid Uncertainty About Mars Sample Return (Source: Space News)
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover is continuing its mission to collect samples in Mars' Jezero Crater, despite uncertainty about how, when or even if those samples will be returned to Earth. The ambitious NASA/ESA Mars Sample Return (MSR) program faces major budget, schedule, and technical challenges, leading to budget cuts, potential cancellations, and review of alternative, cheaper, faster methods to bring those precious Martian samples back to Earth for detailed study in labs, potentially as early as 2035 but with much uncertainty. (12/26)

Space Mouse Gives Birth to First Generation of Pups, Opening Doors for Future Research (Source: CGTN)
One of the four mice that traveled aboard China's Shenzhou-21 spacecraft has successfully given birth to healthy pups after returning to Earth, the Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization at Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) said on Friday. The four mice were sent into space on October 31 for survival and adaptation experiment under the space environment. They lived in a specialized small mammal habitat onboard China's space station. (12/27)

Starbase Again Sues Texas AG Paxton Over Public Information Requests (Source: San Antonio Express-News)
The secretive nature of Elon Musk’s SpaceX keeps colliding with Texas open records laws at the new company town of Starbase. Since incorporating, the space city has filed at least four lawsuits against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over his office’s rulings on media requests for public information. The most recent came last week when Starbase attorneys sued Paxton in state District Court in Travis County over his ruling that the city must release some information it wants to keep private. (12/27)

2026 Will be the Year NASA Astronauts Fly Around the Moon Again — if All Goes to Plan (Source: NBC News)
If all goes according to NASA’s plans, 2026 will finally be the year that astronauts once again launch to the moon. In a matter of months, four astronauts are poised to fly around the moon on a roughly 10-day mission — the closest humans will have gotten in more than half a century.

The flight, known as Artemis II, could lift off as early as February and would be a long-awaited jump start to America’s lagging return-to-the-moon program. The mission will serve as a crucial test of NASA’s next-generation Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, which have been in development for more than a decade and faced years of setbacks and severe budget overruns. The system has never carried a crew before. (12/27)

NASA Wanted to Use Ireland's Shannon Airport as Emergency Landing Site (Source: RTE)
Shannon Airport has had many eye-catching visitors over the years. But the prospect of a pay-load carrying NASA space shuttle hurtling towards it in a potential crash landing scenario with an "eight to 20 second" warning understandably surprised even the most world-weary of officials. New files released to the National Archives of Ireland under the 30-year rule show that in early 1995, the government was contacted by US officials to request the use of the west of Ireland travel hub as an emergency landing location for a space shuttle. (12/27)

China Launches New Satellite, Boosting Meteorological Observation Capabilities (Source: Xinhua)
China on Saturday sent a new satellite into space from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the country's southwestern Sichuan Province. The satellite, Fengyun-4 03, was launched by a Long March-3B rocket and has entered its planned orbit. With this successful launch, China's Fengyun meteorological satellite family -- now consisting of more than 20 satellites -- has gained a new member that is considered the most capable in terms of comprehensive observation capabilities. (12/27)

Before This Physicist Studied the Stars, He Was One (Source: New York Times)
Because before he became Brian Cox, the particle physicist renowned for his adroitness in explaining the intricacies and magnificence of space, he was Brian Cox the rock star. His first professional gig, in fact, was playing keyboards in the opening band on a tour with Jimmy Page, the lead guitarist of Led Zeppelin. His second band, D:Ream, had a song that hit No. 1 on the British pop charts in 1994. (12/27)

Dark Matter May Be Made of Pieces of Giant, Exotic Objects (Source: Space.com)
It could be that dark matter isn't made of zillions of tiny particles flying through the universe. Instead, it could be composed of bunched-up collections of much larger objects. In particular, the researchers behind a new study, published in November 2025 in the open access server arXiv, investigated two kinds of exotic objects.

The first is known as a boson star. In this model, dark matter is made of an ultra-ultra-ultra light particle — potentially millions of times lighter than neutrinos, the lightest known particles. They would be so light that their quantum nature would make them appear more like waves at galactic scales than like individual particles. But these waves would sometimes bunch up and collect on themselves, pulling together with their own gravity, without collapsing.

Another possibility is called Q-balls. In this model, dark matter isn't a particle at all but rather a quantum field that soaks all of space and time. Due to a special property of this field, it could occasionally pinch off, creating gigantic, stable, lump-like balls that wander the cosmos like a floating piece of flour in gravy that hasn't been mixed well. (12/26)

The New Space Race: the Technicalities of Putting Nuclear Power on the Moon (Source: Power Technology)  
A nuclear reactor on the moon would solve space exploration’s current chicken-and-egg quandary: whether to build power systems or demand systems first. Reviving the 70-year-old space race, the US and Russia – the latter collaborating with China – are set on building the first nuclear reactor on the moon. Both projects seek to power new demand systems, with fears around ‘keep-out’ zones and future mineral dominance spurring the need to win. 

However, the timescales are ambitious; Acting Nasa Administrator Sean Duffy announced in August that the US would put a nuclear reactor on the moon by 2030, five years ahead of Russia and China’s plans to do the same. But there is some industry skepticism around the plausibility of overcoming mountainous engineering hurdles in time. Russia and China will face the same hurdles, although on a somewhat less pressured timescale, to realize their plan to power the joint International Lunar Research Station. (11/10)

December 27, 2025

Turning Structural Failure into Propulsion (Source: Universe Today)
The kirigami sail uses intentional “cuts” in the solar sail material. Each “unit cell” of a grid of solar sail panels is designed to contain some of these cuts running in axial and diagonal directions to the surface of the aluminized polyimide film, which is a standard material used in solar sails. When the film is pulled, the cuts allow the material to “buckle” - i.e. pop out of the plane that it’s being pulled in. This transforms the sail into a 3D surface where individual segments are tilted relative to the source of light.

These buckled sections act like thousands of tiny mirrors, bouncing light at a different angle of incidence depending on how steep their slope is. Due to conservation of momentum, the sail will be pushed in a direction opposite to where the light bounces towards, so each buckling segment can be tailored to pushing the overall sail in a particular direction. (12/27)

Isaacman Says U.S. Will Return to the Moon Within Trump’s Term (Source: CNBC)
Recently appointed NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman on Friday told CNBC that the U.S. will return to the moon within President Donald Trump’s second term. Isaacman, a close ally of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, said that Trump’s recommitment to exploring the moon is key to unlocking the orbital economy. “We want to have that opportunity to explore and realize the scientific, economic and national security potential on the moon,” he said. (12/26)

Inside NASA’s Mission to Defend Earth From Deadly Asteroids (Source: Washingtonian)
To observers manning the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS)—an initiative consisting of two telescopes in Hawaii, one in Chile, and one in South Africa—the dot first appeared on December 27 against the black background of a telescopic image. Not long after, researchers at the Catalina Sky Survey spotted the same dot in images captured by three telescopes in Arizona. The Minor Planet Center, a Massachusetts facility that serves as the world’s repository for asteroid observations, confirmed that the dot was indeed an asteroid—one that hadn’t been previously detected. The center also gave it a provisional name, 2024 YR4.

And for a few weeks, that was that. Astronomers are used to discovering new asteroids: On a good shift at Catalina, sunset to sunrise, researchers can tally as many as 50. Every day, our planet is hit by 100 tons of sand-size particles from the cosmos, as well as small space rocks that burn up in the atmosphere and create shooting stars. Neither are any more dangerous to human life than a newborn kitten. Meanwhile, the asteroids large enough to do damage mostly whiz by harmlessly.

YR4 was an estimated 60 meters across, or about 200 feet. In early 2025, astronomers came to a sobering conclusion: The asteroid’s orbital path around the sun could intersect with Earth’s—meaning it might crash into our planet—in 2032. If that happened, the impact would emit energy equivalent to 7.4 megatons of TNT, about 500 times the energy released at Hiroshima. Where exactly YR4 would land was unknown, but scientists drew up a collision corridor that included the cities of Bogotá and Mumbai. (12/18)

Stoke Space and Relativity Space Make Progress on Florida Launch Pads (Source: NSF)
Along Florida’s Space Coast, two ambitious aerospace companies are rapidly transforming historic launch sites into modern facilities to support their upcoming reusable rockets. Significant progress can be observed at Stoke Space’s Launch Complex 14 (LC-14) and Relativity Space’s Launch Complex 16 (LC-16), both located adjacent to each other at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport.

Key developments at LC-14 include the installation of propellant and commodity pipework on the launch mount, a critical step following the successful testing of the water deluge system. The Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF), designed for rocket assembly, shows open doors revealing a largely empty but purpose-built interior. Overall, the complex looks far more polished, with graded terrain, removal of heavy machinery, and smaller additions like a windsock now in place. Stoke indicated plans for Nova’s first flight in early 2026, supported by a major $510 million funding round announced in October 2025 to complete LC-14 activation and scale manufacturing.

Next door, Relativity Space continues major upgrades at Launch Complex 16 to accommodate its medium-to-heavy lift Terran R rocket, a partially reusable vehicle targeting first launch in late 2026. The most prominent feature is the water tower, essential for the pad’s water deluge system. The Horizontal Integration Facility is taking shape, with exterior cladding now covering more than half the building, along with installed ladders, walkways, stairs, and overhead cranes removed from production. Relativity's Terran 1 rocket launched from LC-16 in 2023, failing to reach orbit. The larger Terran R is expected to launch in late 2026. (12/26)

SpaceX Spends $20M More to Support Bastrop TX Headquarters (Source: MySA)
SpaceX's empire keeps expanding across the Lone Star State. The company is constructing a massive 157,321-square-foot parking garage at its Bastrop facility, according to Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation filings. The facility sits on the same road as Elon's growing Central Texas hub, which includes The Boring Company and X headquarters across the street at Hyperloop Plaza. Completion expected by January 2027. SpaceX's Bastrop campus is a major manufacturing hub for Starlink satellite terminals and components. (12/25)

A Strategy for Building Space Nuclear Systems That Fly (Source: Issues.org)
The future of US human space activities, including any sustained presence on the Moon and a human mission to Mars, requires the continuous, robust power that only nuclear fission can provide. As the United States shifts away from one-shot, flag-planting exercises toward long-duration, infrastructure-heavy missions, the solar power that has often provided power on previous missions will not be sufficient. Solar lets you visit. Nuclear lets you build.

The central reason previous programs have failed is that they lacked “mission pull.”  In most cases, space nuclear programs began with bottom-up technology development rather than as a top-down requirement to meet a larger need or specific mission. In this sense, space nuclear proposals were solutions in search of a customer. Without a deadline for deployment, or an institutional home that demanded the solution, the programs had no urgency. Without urgency, there was no sustained funding. Without funding, there was no constituency to fight for its survival.

Put simply, programs lacked an anchoring mission, resulting in open-ended technology development with no deployment pathway. Indecision and drift filled the vacuum. To be successful, any plan to develop nuclear power for space must have a named user, a deployment plan, and a date on the calendar. Click here. (12/26) 

James Webb Telescope Spots Inexplicable Planet with Diamonds and Soot in its Atmosphere (Source: Live Science)
A distant exoplanet appears to sport a sooty atmosphere that is confusing the scientists who recently spotted it. The Jupiter-size world, detected by JWST, doesn't have the familiar helium-hydrogen combination we are used to in atmospheres from our solar system, nor other common molecules, like water, methane or carbon dioxide. Rather, the planet seems to have soot clouds near the top of the atmosphere that condense into diamonds deeper in the atmosphere. (12/24)

December 26, 2025

Bruno Joins Blue Origin, Leading National Security Team (Source: Reuters)
Jeff Bezos-founded Blue Origin said on Friday it has hired Tory Bruno, the longtime CEO of United Launch Alliance, as president of its newly formed national security-focused unit. Bruno will head the National Security Group and report to Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp and will lead the company's national security business, the company said in a post on social media, underscoring its push to expand in U.S. defense and intelligence launch markets. (12/26)

January Brings Thousands for Space Events in Florida (Source: SPACErePORT)
Florida has become a popular destination for space conferences, especially in January. The annual Space Week in Orlando includes a Global Spaceport Summit on Jan. 27, the military-oriented Space Mobility conference on Jan. 28, and the Space Congress/SpaceCom conference and exhibition on Jan. 29-30. Space Week attracted about 5000 attendees last January and organizers hope to see even more for 2026, at the huge Orlando/Orange County Convention Center.

Two weeks prior to Space Week, on January 12-16 at the Hyatt Regency in Orlando, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) will hold its annual SciTech Forum. Catering mostly to engineers and scientists, this event will feature hundreds of aerospace-focused technical paper presentations. The AIAA event also will play host to the 36th Space Flight Mechanics meeting, co-sponsored by the American Astronautical Society (AAS). The 2025 SciTech Forum attracted more than 6,000 attendees.

Conferences in Orlando generated $94.5 billion in economic impacts in 2024, with each attendee contributing an average of $2,536 to the local economy during their visit. (12/26)

SpaceX Defends Airspace Safety Ahead of Florida Starship Launches, Substantial Flight Delays Expected (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
With plans to launch the massive Starship from Florida next year, SpaceX defended its commitment to airspace safety after a Wall Street Journal article claimed an explosive mission in early 2025 was a greater danger to some flights than previously reported. “The reporters were clearly spoon-fed incomplete and misleading information from detractors with ulterior motives,” SpaceX said. “At best, it shows a complete lack of understanding of the robust tools used by safety officials to manage airspace, which are well-defined, science-based, and have been highly effective at protecting public safety.”

SpaceX is seeking two launch sites from Florida for operational missions that could fly up to 120 missions a year if approved. Safety aside, airspace closure potential and the disruption it could cause have been a major criticism. Launch operations would close airspace over the Atlantic from 40 minutes to two hours, which could affect the Bahamas and Canada in addition to U.S. routes. That could affect 133 to 400 aircraft during peak travel periods and equates to as much as 8,800 commercial flights a year, although half the launches are expected to fall during overnight hours [when locals are trying to sleep!].

It’s the return flights, though, that could cause bigger headaches for airports, as the upper stage's west-to-east path could shut down southbound U.S. as well as international air traffic headed for Orlando, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Miami. It could also affect airspace over Mexico, Central America and Cuba. Landing approaches would prompt a minimum of 40 minutes and up to one hour of airspace closure, impacting 400 to 600 commercial aircraft during peak daily travel periods, which is from 8,800 to 13,200 per year, affecting between 900,000 and 2.3 million passengers with a collective delay of between 600,000 and 3.2 million hours. (12/23)

Lawrence Livermore Releases Open-Source Dataset Mapping 1 Million Cis‑lunar Orbits (Source: Universe Today)
When it comes to figuring out orbits in complex three-body systems, like those in Cis-lunar space, which is between the Earth and the Moon, they’d rather someone else do the work for them. Luckily, some scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory seems to have a masochistic streak - or enough of an altruistic one that it overwhelmed the unpleasantness of doing the hard math - to come up with an open-source dataset and software package that maps out 1,000,000 cis-lunar orbits.

Only 9.7% of them were “stable” over the three years the simulation was run. Others resulted in a satellite either crashing into the Moon, burning up in Earth’s atmosphere, or being ejected from the system entirely. So why is it so difficult to stay in orbit between the Earth and the Moon?

Systems where there are three bodies, each of which is both exerting gravity on, and being influence by the gravity of, the other two bodies, are known as being “chaotic”. Even one tiny change in the starting conditions of such a system or a slight deviation, such as getting hit by a solar storm, can cause massive and almost unpredictable changes in the orbital path of a satellite. Because of that chaos, its been difficult to develop orbital paths for Moon missions. That is precisely what the new dataset/software is intended to solve. (12/26)

Top 5 Launches of 2025 (Source: Payload)
The year of 2025 was also the year of the super-heavy launcher. With new milestones launched, new players in the game, and new races to watch, we’re sure that the number of minutes we spent watching launch livestreams from the edge of our seats hit an all-time high. (When is our NASA Live Wrapped supposed to drop?) Here’s an incomplete list of our biggest stories in launch from 2025. (12/26)

China Eases IPO Rules for Firms Developing Reusable Rockets (Source: Reuters)
Chinese companies developing reusable commercial rockets will have access to a fast lane for initial public offerings on the tech-heavy STAR market that exempts them from some financial requirements, the Shanghai Stock Exchange said on Friday. Beijing is seeking to address a gap in its space capabilities compared to the United States, which is currently dominant in the ability to return, recover, and reuse a rocket's first stage, or booster, after it is launched. (12/26)

The Most Exciting Exoplanet Discoveries of 2025 (Source: Space.com)
This year, the number of NASA-tracked confirmed worlds discovered beyond our solar system surpassed 6,000, and several thousand more await confirmation. The milestone, reached just three decades after the Nobel Prize-winning discovery of the first planet orbiting a sunlike star in 1995, is largely the result of the planet-hunting power of NASA's Kepler space telescope and Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The growing tally reflects how dramatically humanity's view of our home galaxy, the Milky Way, has expanded — and how diverse its planetary population has turned out to be. Click here. (12/26)

Starlab Announces Investment from Sumitomo (Source: Voyager)
Starlab Space has received an investment from Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank. As part of its broader initiatives to support projects addressing social and industrial challenges, including impact investments, SuMi TRUST Bank has been promoting efforts to provide financial backing for innovative ventures. The unique environment of a space station enables research and development that is difficult to achieve on Earth, offering opportunities for innovation in areas such as advanced materials and life sciences. (12/26)

Soyuz-5 Rocket First Launch Postponed (Source: TASS)
Russia’s Roscosmos State Corporation and Kazakhstan’s National Space Agency Kazcosmos have decided to postpone the first launch of the Soyuz-5 carrier rocket. The decision is based on technical grounds, Roscosmos said in a statement. They added that the launch date will be specified based on the results of all required procedures and agreed upon between the program participants.

The Soyuz-5 is an advanced Russian medium-class carrier rocket with increased lifting capacity, which is being developed under the Russian-Kazakh Baiterek project to deliver automatic spacecraft to near-Earth orbits, including with the use of upper stages. The new rocket is set to become fully operational in 2028. (12/26)

As NASA's Artemis II Prepares for Lunar Launch, Tourists Eye Space Coast (Source: Florida Today)
With NASA’s Artemis II crew set to launch around the moon in early 2026, the Space Coast looks poised for its own launch of elevated tourism numbers as spectators and media descend for the historic mission. As soon as February 6, four astronauts will lift off on NASA’s SLS rocket from LC-39B at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport on a 10-day mission which will return humanity to the vicinity of the moon for the first time since 1972. (12/26)

How China Powers its Space Endeavors (Source: Xinhua)
From manned spaceflight and the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System to the Chang'e lunar exploration program, China's space endeavors rely on comprehensive planning, long-term advancement, and collaboration among thousands of entities, all underpinned by such a system. While adhering to national strategic planning, the new system deeply integrates market mechanisms and technological innovation. Through systematic coordination, it stimulates the vitality of multiple innovators across the country. This has not only driven sci-tech innovation and breakthroughs but also provided sustained momentum for the country's overall development.

According to the developer of the Shenzhou spaceship, the China Academy of Space Technology, the window anomaly caused by the impact triggered a rapid mobilization of experts across the country. The study of window cracks alone involves experts from institutions such as Beihang University, Beijing University of Technology, the University of Science and Technology Beijing, and the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. (12/26)

China's Long March-8A Rocket Launches Internet Satellites (Source: Xinhua)
China launched a Long March-8A carrier rocket on Friday in the southern island province of Hainan, sending a group of internet satellites into space. The rocket successfully placed the payloads, the 17th group of low-orbit internet satellites, into preset orbit. (12/26)
 
Florida's Rocket Launches Break Record, Reaching Triple Digits in 2025 (Source: WUSF)
Florida's Space Coast hosted a record number of rocket launches in 2025, and for the first time ever, the number of launches reached triple digits. So far, the Space Coast's facilities have tallied 109 launches. A potential liftoff Sunday by SpaceX could bring the end-of-year number to 110, shattering last year's record of 93. The manifest was largely driven by SpaceX and its Falcon 9 rocket. At both its Florida facilities and pads at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, SpaceX completed 165 launches nationwide, with the potential for more by year's end. (12/26)

China: Japan's Offensive Space Policy is Extremely Dangerous (Source: China Daily)
A Chinese military spokesman on Thursday said that Japan's unrestrained development of satellite-jamming technology is accelerating the weaponization and militarization of space, and fueling a space arms race, which is extremely dangerous and unpopular. Zhang Xiaogang, spokesman for China's Ministry of National Defense, was responding to a query about Japan's claim to have made substantive progress in technologies that could disrupt satellites of other nations, as well as media analysis warning the risk of a "Pearl Harbor incident" in space. (12/25)

Pakistani Space Journey Soars, Moon Mission Planned (Source: Islamabad Post)
SUPARCO Director Shafaat Ali Friday proudly announced that 2025 will be remembered as a breakthrough year for Pakistan in space projects, with the nation’s sights already set on the Moon in 2026, backed by the collaborative support of both Pakistani and Chinese governments. While speaking with a local media channel, Director called 2025 a turning point for Pakistan, marking significant progress in space technology and exploration. He further emphasized that with continued collaboration between the Pakistani and Chinese governments, 2026 will see Pakistan make its mark on the Moon. (12/26)

Dental Health Key for Astronauts; Had Wisdom Teeth Extracted Before Space Travel (Source: The Print)
Dental health is extremely important for astronauts, Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian to reach the ISS has said, recalling that he had two wisdom teeth extracted while preparing for his space journey. Shukla said that although astronauts are trained to handle emergency medical situations, they cannot perform dental surgery on a spacecraft. (12/25)

Russia Launches Soyuz-2.1a Rocket with Military Satellite at Plesetsk Spaceport (Source: TASS)
The launch of the Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome proceeded in normal mode, and the spacecraft was inserted into its target orbit at the calculated time, the Russian defense ministry reported. It added that the spacecraft was inserted into the target orbit at the calculated time and taken over for control by the ground assets of the Aerospace forces’ space troops. (12/26)

First Launch From Kazakhstan's Baiterek Complex is Planned for Early 2026 (Source: TASS)
Kazakh authorities plan for the first test launch of the Russian-Kazakh Baiterek project to take place in the first quarter of next year. "This is our own Kazakh launch pad, from which launches of carrier rockets between the medium-and heavy-lift classes will be carried out. Active preparations are currently underway, and the carrier rocket is already in Kazakhstan," Zhaslan Madiyev said. (12/26)

Satellite Radar Advances Could Transform Global Snow Monitoring (Source: EOS)
Runoff from deep mountain snowpacks is the primary source of much-needed water for arid to semiarid regions in the western United States as well as in many other parts of the world. Each year, water managers in these regions must balance their water budgets, which account for water gained, lost, and stored in the watersheds they oversee, affecting everything from water supply to agriculture to tourism to wildfire containment.

To do so, water managers primarily rely on established statistical models that predict the volume and timing of mountain runoff. However, the information available to feed these models comes mainly from a sparse network of snow-monitoring weather stations, as well as from snow cover maps derived from optical satellite imagery that provide information on snow extent but not on the amount of water stored in the snowpack.

Managers of some basins, typically those home to watersheds that serve major population centers and agricultural producers, can also fund efforts to collect airborne high-resolution remotely sensed snow depth and snow mass estimations (e.g., from the Airborne Snow Observatories). These data significantly improve runoff models and streamflow forecasting for local water management and dam operations. However, the significant cost of these airborne surveys prevents many jurisdictions from accessing these types of data. (12/24)

36th AIAA/AAS Space Flight Mechanics Meeting Planned Jan. 12-16 in Orlando (Source: AIAA)
The 36th Space Flight Mechanics Meeting, hosted by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and co-hosted by the American Astronautical Society (AAS), will be held in Orlando, Florida, January 12-16, 2026. The conference will be part of the AIAA SciTech forum and is organized by the AIAA Astrodynamics Technical Committee and the AAS Space Flight Mechanics Committee. Click here. (12/25)

December 25, 2025

Top 5 of 2025: Europe (Source: Payload)
This year, Europe took major steps to break out on its own in space, including investing in sovereign tech, forging new relationships, and gaining an appreciation for dual-use hardware. Click here. (12/25)

60,000 Feet Above Earth, NASA is Hunting for the Minerals That Power Phones, EVs and Clean Energy (Source: Space.com)
NASA has a new high-tech sensor to help the search for critical minerals in the American West. The sensor is called AVIRIS-5 (Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer-5), and it comes from technology developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) back in the 1970s. About the size of a microwave, AVIRIS-5 fits inside the nose of one of NASA's ER-2 high-altitude research aircraft. The sensor's first iteration was employed in 1986, and JPL has worked to improve it ever since. (12/24)

An Autonomous Lunar Logistics Demo for Canada’s Lunar Utility Rover (Source: Space.com)
Recently MDA Space performed an autonomous lunar logistics demonstration at the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) analog site for the Lunar Utility Rover. MDA Space is one of three companies recently awarded contracts to develop initial technology studies for a Lunar Utility Rover. The other two companies are Canadensys Aerospace and Mission Control. (12/24)

Ancient 'Wet Lava Ball' Exoplanet Defies Expectations (Source: Science Alert)
A molten lava world cloaked in a thick envelope of vaporized rock could be the strongest evidence we have yet of a rocky exoplanet with an atmosphere beyond our Solar System. The planet TOI-561 b is an ultra-hot super-Earth with what appears to be a global magma ocean beneath a thick atmosphere of volatile chemicals, according to a new study led by Carnegie Science researchers. TOI-561 b is also an ancient astrophysical enigma that challenges what we thought we knew about searingly hot exoplanets trapped in a dizzingly fast dance around their stars. (12/25)

L3Harris to Produce 60 Hypersonic Motors for Rapid Mach 5+ Missile Testing (Source: Interesting Engineering)
L3Harris Technologies has received a letter of intent for a commercial contract to produce 60 hypersonic rocket motors for Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to expand US industrial capacity for advanced missile and hypersonic testing programs. The agreement calls for the production of 60 Zeus solid rocket motors and would increase the company’s annual output of the motors by more than 50 percent. (12/24)

India’s SBS-3 Program: How 52 Spy Satellites Watch Pakistan (Source: WION)
India’s Space-Based Surveillance-3 program marks a major leap in India’s military intelligence capabilities. With a planned constellation of 52 dedicated surveillance satellites, SBS-3 will provide round-the-clock monitoring of borders, military bases and strategic activity across Pakistan, China and the Indian Ocean. Using electro-optical, radar, infrared and AI-enabled systems, these satellites can see through clouds, darkness and camouflage. As India shifts toward persistent space-based awareness, SBS-3 quietly transforms how modern surveillance and early warning work. (12/23)

Space Force’s Commercial Reserve Fleet Moves Out of Pilot Phase (Source: Air and Space Forces)
The Space Force’s work to establish a pool of at-the-ready commercial satellite capacity during a crisis is moving out of the pilot phase as the service prepares to award its next batch of contracts in 2026. The Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve, or CASR, is modeled on the Air Force’s Civil Reserve Air Fleet, which leases aircraft capacity from commercial airliners for use by the military during a conflict. The CRAF was last activated in 2021 to help evacuate U.S. personnel and refugees from Afghanistan. 

Through CASR, the Space Force is tapping commercial space firms to provide capabilities during peacetime that can be surged on demand. The Space Force first introduced the concept in 2022 and has been working since to develop a contracting strategy and establish an initial vendor pool. Participating companies get access to threat intelligence and will be included in training events and wargames. (12/23)

NASA Tries Curiosity Rover's Mastcam to Work Out Where MAVEN Might Be (Source: The Register)
NASA's MAVEN spacecraft is continuing to evade attempts by engineers to make contact as the solar conjunction nears, halting contact with any Mars missions until January 16. The agency last heard from the MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) orbiter on December 6, and the last fragment of tracking data recovered by engineers indicated that the probe was tumbling and that its orbit trajectory might have changed.

The latter point is highly significant – if any engineers can't work out where the spacecraft is, contacting it is highly challenging, either from Earth or using one of the other Mars orbiters or rovers. According to NASA, on December 16 and 20, the Curiosity trundlebot team used the rover's Mastcam instrument in an attempt to image MAVEN's reference orbit, but the spacecraft was not detected. (12/24)

More Than 100 Moons Were Discovered in Our Solar System in 2025 (Source: New Scientist)
This year, astronomers discovered more than 100 previously unknown moons in our own solar system. There may be many more yet to be discovered, and cataloguing them could help us better understand how planets form. In March, researchers discovered 128 moons around Saturn, bringing the planet’s total to 274. The team gathered hours’ worth of images from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope in Hawaii and stacked them on top of each other to spot objects that are otherwise too dim to see. (12/24)

From Rockets to Radar, the Aerospace and Defense Industry Soars in 2025 (Source: Seeking Alpha)
The aerospace and defense industry, a cornerstone of the industrials sector, delivered an exceptional showing in 2025, handily outperforming both its parent sector and the broader equity market. Supported by sustained defense spending, rising commercial aerospace demand, and expanding space-related investment, the group benefited from powerful tailwinds throughout the year.

As the calendar turns toward year-end, aerospace and defense stands out as one of the market’s strongest performers, with the industry being +48.5% year to date. That gain far exceeds the industrials sector’s +18.5% advance and comfortably surpasses the S&P 500’s (SP500) +17% rise, underscoring the group’s relative strength. Within this favorable environment, several companies delivered outsized returns. Click here. (12/24)

Russia Plans a Nuclear Power Plant on the Moon Within a Decade (Source: Reuters)
Russia plans to put a nuclear power plant on the moon in the next decade to supply its lunar space program and a joint Russian-Chinese research station, as major powers rush to explore the earth's only natural satellite. Ever since Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to go into space in 1961, Russia has prided itself as a leading power in space exploration, but in recent decades it has fallen behind the United States and, increasingly, China. Russia's state space corporation, Roscosmos, said in a statement that it planned to build a lunar power plant by 2036 and signed a contract with the Lavochkin Association aerospace company to do it. (12/24)

Supercomputers Just Revealed What Really Happens Near a Black Hole (Source: Science Alert)
The borderlands of black holes ought to be chaotic spaces where the rate at which matter is drawn across into oblivion is held back only by the blinding fury of radiation spilling away from the edge of darkness. This zone is considered to be unstable, prone to flares, jets, and outbursts. Yet, predicting these dynamic events can be complicated, with mathematically accurate descriptions of the warped space and extreme physics surrounding proving a challenge. A new modeling study led by researchers from the Flatiron Institute in the US now provides the most detailed simulations to date of how stellar-mass black holes gobble up and spew out matter at varying rates. (12/24)

Enceladus is An Attractive Target in the Search for Life (Source: Phys.org)
A small, icy moon of Saturn called Enceladus is one of the prime targets in the search for life elsewhere in the solar system. A new study strengthens the case for Enceladus being a habitable world. The data for those new research findings come from the Cassini spacecraft, which orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017. In 2005, Cassini discovered geyser-like plumes of water vapor and ice grains erupting continuously out of cracks in Enceladus' icy shell. (12/24)

Russia Patents Space Station Designed to Generate Artificial Gravity (Source: Space.com)
Russian state-owned Energia rocket company has secured a patent for a novel spacecraft architecture designed to generate artificial gravity, a capability which could provide a huge boost for long-duration crewed missions.

A report from Russian state media outlet TASS, which obtained the patent, states that the rotating system is designed to generate a gravitational force of 0.5g, or 50% of Earth’s gravity. The patent documentation includes illustrations of a notional space station structure with a central axial module with both static and rotating components, with modules and habitats connected by a hermetically sealed, flexible junction. (12/23)

NASA's Apollo 8 Moonshot Saved 1968. Could Artemis 2 Do the Same in 2026? (Source: Space.com)
Fifty-seven years ago, three American astronauts set forth on one of the most audacious and inspiring journeys in human history. In late December 1968, NASA astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders launched to the moon aboard Apollo 8, becoming the first humans to break free of Earth's gravity and travel to another world.

The moon of 1968 was different from the one that shines today. In a year scarred by assassinations, social upheaval, and a grinding war in Vietnam, the moon became something more than a distant celestial body. It emerged as a symbol of hope, national purpose and American resolve. Just as the nation was seemingly spinning out of control and being drained of the last ounces of its spirit, the moon suddenly came within its grasp.

In a bold decision, stunning in both its simplicity and audacity, NASA chose to "bet the farm" to blunt Soviet lunar ambitions in the space race to the moon. Still recovering from 1967's devastating Apollo 1 launch pad fire that killed three astronauts (including Mercury astronaut Gus Grissom), the space agency abandoned its careful, methodical building-block approach of increasingly complex Apollo Earth orbital missions and threw a "Hail Mary pass." (12/24)

Record Launches, Reusable Rockets and a Rescue: China Made Big Strides in Space in 2025 (Source: Space.com)
China is rounding off what has been a year of big progress in space, including major crewed lunar landing tests, new rockets and booster landing attempts, a new deep space mission and even successfully resolving its first human spaceflight emergency.

The country has already smashed its previous record for launches in a calendar year (68, set in 2024), amassing more than 80 orbital launch attempts at time of reporting, with a couple of weeks still to go. Two of these launches ended in failure, both from commercial launch providers, but the venerable Long March rocket series continued a long, failure-free run dating back to 2020.

China hit a major milestone in 2025 with the country's first launch and landing attempt of a reusable orbital rocket. Commercial company Landspace successfully sent its first Zhuque 3 rocket into orbit, but the first stage landing effort ended in spectacular failure during the landing burn. To end the year, China is looking to launch its new reusable Long March 12A rocket in late December as China closes in on attaining reusable launch capabilities, a decade after SpaceX successfully landed a Falcon 9 first stage for the first time. (12/24)

Avio Launch Deal Highlights Uncertainty in Vega Upgrade Roadmap (Source: European Spaceflight)
With the announcement of two new launch contracts for its Vega C rocket, totalling more than €100 million, Italian rocket builder Avio appears to have revealed that the launcher could remain operational until 2031. This, in turn, raises questions about when the company plans to introduce its successor, Vega E, and how long it would remain in service before being replaced by its next-generation Vega Next rocket.

On 19 December, Avio announced that it had signed launch service agreements with two undisclosed customers to deploy multiple satellites into Sun-synchronous orbit using the Vega C launch system. The company added that the launch services outlined in the two agreements would be carried out between 2028 and 2031. This would imply that Vega C could remain in operational use until 2031. (12/24)

The “Delete” Agenda Hits Space (Source: The Hill)
In Washington, modernization is usually a euphemism for forming a committee to study a problem. For FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, it appears to be a euphemism for a demolition crew. Carr summarized his first year at the helm with a metric that matters more than any policy speech: the Space Bureau processed 3,418 applications in 2025, a 21% increase over the previous year, effectively cutting the agency’s notorious backlog in half.

The numbers validate what industry insiders have felt since October’s declared “Space Month”: the regulatory friction that once defined the FCC’s interaction with the commercial space sector is being systematically stripped away. This is no longer an agency acting as a gatekeeper; it is positioning itself as a launchpad. Perhaps the most significant long-term victory mentioned in the report is the formal initiation of the “Part 100” rulemaking. This proposal seeks to replace the decades-old Part 25 framework with a modular, industrialized licensing model. (12/23)

Japan Must Use Lessons from H3 Failure for Future Space Ambitions (Source: The Mainichi)
The launch of the H3 No. 8 rocket, Japan's large core launch vehicle, has ended in failure, unable to place the Michibiki No. 5 satellite into its intended orbit. The satellite was supposed to form part of the country's own GPS system. This marks the second failure since the inaugural launch in March 2023, following five consecutive successful missions.

Japan is planning crucial launches, including the Michibiki No. 7 satellite, the Mars moon exploration spacecraft MMX, and the HTV-X cargo spacecraft for the International Space Station. The H3 is also tasked to launch intelligence-gathering satellites, which are effectively spy satellites. With the expansion of space development, delays in resuming launches could impact disaster prevention and national security sectors. The H3 rocket was developed to maintain the reliability of the H2A while halving launch costs to enhance international competitiveness. (12/24)

SoCal Companies to Work on $1.6 Billion in Space Force Missile Tracking Projects (Source: Daily Breeze)
Satellite builders in Redondo Beach and Long Beach will work on $1.6 billion in projects with the U.S. Space Force to continue developing its missile tracking network. Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach and Rocket Lab USA in Long Beach were awarded the contracts, worth $16 billion, to build missile warning, tracking, and defense satellite sensors for the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. (12/24)

The SpaceX Mafia is Here (Source: Business Insider)
Former SpaceX employees have launched startups with over $3 billion in venture funding. The SpaceX Mafia is backed by top venture firms like Andreessen Horowitz and Founders Fund. The SpaceX culture of ownership and innovation shaped these leaders and their companies. Here's Business Insider's list of 18 startups helmed by SpaceX-employees-turned-founders, in alphabetical order by company name. (12/25)

Avio to Launch Four Earth Observation Satellites for Taiwan (Source: European Spaceflight)
The Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) has awarded Italian rocket builder Avio a launch contract for its FORMOSAT-8C and 8D, and FORMOSAT-9A and 9B Earth observation satellites. On 19 December, Avio announced that it had signed two launch contracts with undisclosed customers, with a combined value of over €100 million. While the company left it up to the customers to make the announcement themselves, it did share that one of the customers was European and the other non-European. (12/25)

Roscosmos Plans to Launch 52 Satellites From Vostochny Spaceport (Source: TASS)
Fifty-two satellites will be launched on a Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East, including the Aist-2T satellites for stereoscopic imaging of the Earth, Russia’s state-run corporation Roscosmos has reported. "Fifty-two satellites will be launched into orbit from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, including Aist-2T No. 1 and No. 2, developed and manufactured by the Progress Space Rocket Center," the state corporation said in a statement on its official Telegram channel. (12/25)

China's LandSpace Hopes to Complete Rocket Recovery in Mid-2026 (Source: Reuters)
Chinese rocket developer LandSpace plans to successfully recover a reusable booster in mid-2026, a company executive said. The ability to return, recover, and reuse a rocket's engine-packed first stage, or booster, after launch is crucial to reducing costs and making it easier for countries to send satellites into orbit, and to turn space exploration into a commercially viable business similar to civil aviation. (12/24)

Sidus Space Raises $25 Million With Share Sale (Source: Sidus Space)
Sidus Space announced the closing of its previously announced best-efforts public offering of 19,230,800 shares of its Class A common stock. Each share of Class A common stock was sold at a public offering price of $1.30 per share for gross proceeds of approximately $25 million. (12/24)