November 9, 2025

South Korea's Innospace Plans Orbital Launch From Brazil on Nov. 22 (Source: Korea Times)
The HANBIT-Nano, Korea’s first commercial space launch vehicle developed by Innospace, will launch at 3 p.m. on Nov. 22 in Brazil (local time), the company said Friday. The launch date was set after the Korea AeroSpace Administration consulted with the Brazilian Air Force on weather conditions, integration procedures between the launch vehicle and satellite, launch safety controls and the local operation schedule. Having secured contracts with five clients from Brazil, India and Korea, the HANBIT-Nano will carry eight payloads and one commemorative branded payload. (11/7)

Firefly Aerospace Closes Acquisition of SciTec (Source: Firefly)
Firefly Aerospace (Nasdaq: FLY), a market leading space and defense technology company, today announced the successful completion of its acquisition of SciTec, Inc., a leader in advanced national security technologies. The purchase price consisted of a combination of cash and Firefly common stock paid to SciTec owners for the acquisition. (11/5)

UK's Filtronic Secures Order for Satellite Payload Assemblies (Source: Filtronic)
Filtronic has secured a contract, with a leading European aerospace manufacturer, to supply RF assemblies for integration into a major Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation  program. The contract, valued in excess of €7 million, represents a significant commitment to be delivered over the next three years. (11/6)

Isaacman Attends Alabama Conservative Gathering, Praising Charlie Kirk (Source: YellowHammer)
A surprise guest at Turning Point USA’s campus tour in Neville Arena at Auburn University connected the night’s tribute to the late Charlie Kirk to Alabama’s leading role in America’s space future. Benny Johnson said he had the privilege to introduce a special guest: President Trump’s “newly, newly named selection” for NASA Administrator, Jared Isaacman.

Said Isaacman: "I didn’t grow up very religious at all — my mother’s family, we celebrate Christmas. My father’s family, we celebrated Hanukkah. But I can tell you, having gone to space twice and looking back on our planet, looking at the stars around us, it is very hard not to be spiritual. But it was only recently, in the last couple weeks that I was inspired for the first time in a very long time to pick up the Bible, and I’ll tell you why. It’s because of Charlie [Kirk]." (11/6)

ispace Selected for Japan’s Space Strategy Fund Project (Source: ispace)
ispace, a global lunar exploration company, has been selected by Japan’s Space Strategy Fund for a project titled “Establishing Surveying and Ground Investigation Technologies to Realize Lunar Base Construction”. For the project, ispace will contribute to its success based on its experience in developing lunar landers and rovers, ground-based validation activities, and operational experience in space. (11/4)

13 Best Space Museums in the U.S. (Source: Travel + Leisure)
Space tourism may be inching closer, but until off-planet travel is within reach for everyone, the best way to dive into all things intergalactic is to visit a space museum. In addition to being a fun way to spend an afternoon, these institutions can also help inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, and explorers. From coast to coast, here are the best space museums in the United States. (11/8)

Malta Officially Joins European Space Policy Institute (Source: Times of Malta)
At the historic Vienna Rathaus, Malta was officially welcomed, through Xjenza Malta, as a new member of the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI), marking a new chapter in the country’s growing participation in European and international space governance. (11/9)

Ohio’s Bold Role in America’s Next Frontier Prominently Features NASA Glenn (Source: Cleveland.com)
Ohio has always held a deep respect for service — service to our country, to our communities, and to the pursuit of progress. When called upon, Ohioans step up, whether to defend our nation or to dream and build the inventions that expand our horizons.

This spirit is not just part of our history; it defines who we are today. Right now, in Northeast Ohio, we have an extraordinary example of this spirit in action at NASA Glenn Research Center. From propulsion systems that will power deep-space missions, to cutting-edge work in hypersonics, advanced materials, electric aircraft propulsion, and in-space power and energy systems, NASA Glenn is pioneering technologies you won’t find anywhere else. These teams are building the engines, energy systems, and scientific breakthroughs that will carry American astronauts farther and make space exploration more sustainable for future generations. (11/9)

China Launches Lijian-1 Y9 Rocket (Sources: Xinhua, SpaceNews)
China on Sunday launched the Lijian-1 Y9 rocket with two technical experiment satellites onboard. The rocket blasted off from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation pilot zone near the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. China has now surpassed its previous record for orbital launch attempts in a calendar year. (11/9)

Office of Space Commerce Faces an Uncertain Future Amid Budget Cuts and New Oversight (Source: Space.com)
The Office of Space Commerce, an office of about 50 people, exists within the Department of Commerce's NOAA. To paraphrase its mission statement, its chief purpose is to enable a robust U.S. commercial interest in outer space. OSC has three main focus areas. First, it is the office responsible for licensing and monitoring how private U.S. companies collect and distribute orbit-based images of Earth. A second primary job of OSC is space advocacy. OSC works with the other U.S. government agencies that also have jurisdiction over commercial use of outer space to make the regulatory environment easier.

The OSC also coordinates commercial satellites' flight paths in near-Earth space, which is its third and largest function. The Department of Defense keeps track of thousands of objects in outer space and issues alerts when the probability of a collision gets high. In 2018, President Donald Trump issued Space Policy Directive-3, which included tasking OSC to take this role over for nongovernment satellites. Deep in the text of Trump's Aug. 13 executive order called Enabling Competition in the Commercial Space Industry, there's a directive to elevate OSC to report directly to the office of the secretary of commerce.

While all of this sounds good for promoting space as a place for commercial activity, OSC has been under stress in 2025. In February, DOGE targeted NOAA for cuts, including firing eight people from OSC. Because about half of the people working in OSC are contractors, this represented a 30% reduction of force. In March, Trump's presidential budget request for the 2026 fiscal year proposed a cut of 85% of the $65 million annual budget of OSC. And on Sep. 9 the Department of Commerce requested a 40% clawback to OSC's fiscal year 2025 budget. (11/9)

OHB Plans to Push Back on the Airbus-Thales-Leonardo Merger (Source: Payload)
Marco Fuchs, CEO of the German A&D prime OHB, plans to participate in the antitrust process against the proposed merger between Airbus, Thales, and Leonardo—to make a case that the merger would be bad for the European space industry. “We will be vocal about our view that we think that this is limiting competition,” Fuchs said in an interview with Payload yesterday. “We are concerned, and we will participate in the antitrust process against it.” (11/7)

Blue Origin Seeks FAA Exemption for Additional ESCAPADE Launch Attempts (Source: Space News)
Blue Origin says it is working with the government to secure additional launch opportunities for the upcoming New Glenn launch of a NASA Mars mission, given new restrictions placed on commercial launches by the FAA. (11/8)

Probing Planetary Surface Compositions in 3D (Source: Springer Nature)
We designed and built a breakthrough instrument called INSPECT3R, which is a device that can see inside planetary surfaces in 3D with no need to drill or dig. Using high-energy neutrons as powerful probes and advanced particle imaging techniques, INSPECT3R reveals what lies on and beneath the surface, layer by layer, identifying elements and even buried objects with stunning precision. In recent tests using lunar soil simulants, the system measured and distinguished different minerals placed side by side, layered structures, and imaged a buried meteorite in full 3D. (11/4)

Euclid Has 8 Extra Years of Fuel. A Scientist Has A Brilliant Plan To Use It (Source: Universe Today)
Currently calculations give Euclid an extended life of about 8 years, thanks to the additional fuel the craft has on board. That would more than double the 6-year original mission, which is already well underway. With that additional time, Dr. Luigi Bedin suggests Euclid do something completely outlandish - do the exact same thing that it did for the first six-year mission.

Getting a second data point would allow us to see what moved in those six years - an astronomical value called “proper motion”. This is a calculation of how closer objects (such as stars in the Milky Way) move against a background of further objects (like distant galaxies) over time. (11/8)

Blue Origin Will ‘Move Heaven and Earth’ to Help NASA Reach the Moon Faster, CEO Says (Source: Ars Technica)
This year it has become increasingly apparent that, should NASA stick to its present plans for the Artemis III lunar landing mission, China is on course to beat the United States back to the Moon with humans. In recognition of this, about three weeks ago, NASA acting administrator Sean Duffy said the space agency was reopening the competition for a human lander.

“We just want to help the US get to the Moon,” said Dave Limp, CEO of the space company founded by Jeff Bezos. “If NASA wants to go quicker, we would move heaven and Earth, pun intended, to try to get to the Moon sooner. And I think we have some good ideas.” Blue Origin began work on a faster architecture, involving multiple versions of its Mk. 1 cargo lander as well as a modified version of this vehicle tentatively called Mk 1.5. Limp said that after Duffy asked for revised proposals, Blue Origin responded almost immediately. (11/8)

First Private Space Telescope Could Transform Astronomical Research (Source: Futura)
The British-built Mauve telescope is preparing for launch before the end of the year—a bold, privately funded mission designed to seek out exoplanets, especially those that might harbor life. Developed in just three years, Mauve’s exact price tag remains undisclosed, but insiders describe it as remarkably low-cost. Soon, it will embark on its mission to identify potentially habitable worlds beyond our solar system.

As the first satellite launched by the UK-based company Blue Skies Space, Mauve is a compact spacecraft scheduled to lift off aboard a Falcon 9 rocket as early as November. Once in orbit—about 500 kilometers above Earth—it will begin a three-year research mission. Though weighing only 18.6 kilograms and equipped with a modest 13-centimeter mirror, Mauve marks a historic milestone: it’s the first space telescope designed entirely by a private company. (11/8)

GHGSat Continues to Expand its Methane-Monitoring Constellation (Source: Space News)
GHGSat announced plans to launch two additional satellites, expanding its methane and greenhouse gas-monitoring constellation from 12 to 14. This expansion is part of the company's larger strategy to nearly double its fleet by 2026, which will enable daily monitoring of industrial sites worldwide. (11/7)

Space is Key to the Army’s Long March to a Connected Force (Source: Space News)
For decades, the U.S. Army has been chasing the same mirage: a fully connected battlefield where every soldier, vehicle and sensor shares data seamlessly. Each time, the promise has been the same — a “data-centric” force that can see, decide and act faster than any adversary. Each time, the results have been disappointment, delay and billions of dollars down the drain. Satellite networks are key to the Army's plans because they can provide the resilient, persistent connectivity for seamless communication and data sharing across all warfighting domains (land, air, sea, space, and cyberspace). Past efforts failed due to relying on fragile, monolithic terrestrial systems. (11/7)

MDA/Rocket Lab’s 17-Satellite Globalstar Contract Delayed Again, to Mid-2026; Globalstar to Impose Liquidated Damages (Source: Space Intel Report)
The contracting team of MDA Space and Rocket Lab USA has encountered repeated delays in the construction of 17 mobile communications satellites for Globalstar and will be liable for liquidated damages under the contract, Globalstar said. The satellites were originally scheduled for launch on two SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets in 2025. Globalstar now expects neither to occur before sometime in 2026, with the first by mid-year. (11/7)

JWST Makes 1st-Ever Detection of Complex Organic Molecules Around Star Beyond Our Galaxy (Source: Space.com)
Frozen complex organic molecules have been discovered for the first time around a young protostar in a galaxy other than our own. Astronomers used JWST's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) to detect myriad complex organic molecules (COMs) in ice that encase grains of dust around the massive protostar ST6 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, which is a neighboring dwarf galaxy about 163,000 light years away. (11/7)

With Transporter-15, Exolaunch is Planning its Biggest Mission Yet (Source: Payload)
SpaceX is aiming to launch its 15th Transporter rideshare mission on Tuesday—which means German launch integrator Exolaunch is working behind the scenes to make sure dozens of satellites are integrated and ready to deploy on orbit without a hitch. The flight will be Exolaunch’s busiest rideshare mission to date. Exolaunch is managing 58 satellites from 30+ customers across 16 countries—but that’s nothing compared to what they have in store. (11/7)

SWISSto12 Advances Mission Control Center Capabilities for HummingSat Launches (Source: Spacewatch Global)
SWISSto12 has announced details of new capabilities regarding its Command-and-Control Center in Georgia, USA. The facility provides the technical infrastructure, software, and operational processes necessary for managing launch, orbit raising, and in-orbit testing for SWISSto12’s geostationary satellite, HummingSat, before customer handover. Going forward, the platform will form the operational backbone for HummingSat missions as they progress toward launch. (11/7)

November 8, 2025

Heat Leaking From Saturn's Ocean Moon Enceladus Bolsters its Case for Life (Source: Space.com)
One of Saturn's moons, Enceladus has been known to be an active ocean world ever since 2005, when the Cassini mission found giant plumes of water vapor squirting up from the ocean deep below through huge fractures in the surface. These plumes are powered by energy from tidal interactions with Saturn, which flex the moon's interior, subtly squeezing and stretching it and ultimately keeping its interior warm enough for liquid water. The question of how long Enceladus' ocean has existed is an unanswered one, but with water, heat and the right organic chemistry for life, Enceladus is viewed as a prime target for the search for life beyond Earth. (11/7)

Jupiter's Volcanic Moon Io May be Hundreds of Times Hotter Than Scientists Thought (Source: Space.com)
Using data from NASA's Juno spacecraft, scientists have discovered that the solar system's most volcanic body is even hotter than we thought. In fact, Jupiter's moon Io could be emitting hundreds of times as much heat from its surface as was previously estimated. (11/7)

Lunar Water Traced to Solar Wind: Latitude and Regolith Maturity Shape its Abundance (Source: Phys.org)
The abundance, distribution, and origin of lunar surface water has recently drawn significant scientific interest, owing to its critical role in future space exploration. A research team China has found that soil samples from the lunar farside contain high concentrations of OH/H2O and low deuterium-to-hydrogen (D/H) ratios. These characteristics align with lunar water originating from the solar wind. Analyses suggested a strong link to latitude—with water content ranging from tens of parts per million (ppm) at low latitudes to approximately 750 ppm at the poles. (11/7)

UCF Helps Shape the Future of Space Hospitality and Tourism (Source: UCF)
At UCF's Rosen College, students are exploring how food and beverage preparation can adapt to long-duration space travel, experimenting with tofu coagulation, texture and preservation techniques to help define what future astronauts — and eventually space tourists — might eat in orbit. Rosen’s efforts are also being integrated into the classroom through a new food and beverage in space module within the Techniques of Food Preparation course led by Chef César Rivera Cruzado. (11/6)

Meteors Explosively Strikes Moon (Source: Mashable)
A space rock slammed into the moon just days ago, lighting up at the surface so brightly, it was briefly visible from Earth through telescopes. Daichi Fujii, curator at Hiratsuka City Museum in Japan, recorded the impact. What makes this new sighting astounding is that it was the second flash he had captured hitting the moon since last Thursday. (11/7)

Globalstar Stays Mum on Rumored Sale of Company (Source: Fierce Network)
Globalstar CEO Paul Jacobs declined to discuss potential talks with SpaceX or anyone else, for that matter, during the Q3 earnings call. The company is upgrading its network with new ground infrastructure to serve its up-and-coming C-3 constellation. In private wireless, Globalstar is expanding its XCOM RAN platform for industrial applications, highlighting better performance and cost advantages over traditional Wi-Fi. (11/7)

ATMOS to Launch Demonstration Mission Aboard Baguette One Rocket (Source: European Spaceflight)
German space logistics company ATMOS Space Cargo has signed a memorandum of understanding with French launch services provider HyPrSpace to carry out a demonstration mission aboard its Baguette One rocket.

Founded in 2019, HyPrSpace is developing a suborbital demonstration rocket called Baguette One, slated for launch in 2026. The rocket will serve as a technology demonstrator to validate the company’s hybrid rocket engine for its OB1 (Orbital Baguette One) rocket, which will be capable of delivering payloads of up to 235 kilograms to low Earth orbit. Following the completion of its Baguette One demonstration, HyPrSpace plans to move forward with preparations for the inaugural flight of its OB1 rocket in 2027.
(11/8)

Food Bank Helps NASA Employees as Government Shutdown Becomes Longest in U.S. History (Source: Houston Chronicle)
A food bank brought milk and fresh produce to the JSC area on Wednesday, assisting more than 100 households as the government shutdown became the longest in U.S. history. NASA’s federal employees have been furloughed or working without pay for more than a month, causing a ripple throughout the Clear Lake community as businesses report slowdowns and seek to support the workers behind Space City’s namesake. (11/6)

World’s Largest Rocket Plant is in Alabama and it’s Just Getting Started (Source: AL.com)
United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno admits the decision to build only Vulcan rockets at the world’s largest rocket factory in Decatur is a little “bittersweet.” That means saying goodbye to the Delta IV and Atlas V rockets that have been built at the 2.2 million-square foot facility not far from the Tennessee River since it opened in 1999.

“The Atlas V, what a workhorse,” he said of the latter. The last of the Atlas Vs have been built, with 12 currently in storage at the plant or at launch sites, with one scheduled for launch this week. The Delta IV was retired in 2024. The Vulcan rocket is designed to go deeper into space, travel faster and carry a heavier payload. It has been designed to meet the needs of one of ULA’s largest clients, the U.S. government. (11/6)

Space Force Astronauts? New Report Says Guardians in Space Would be Asset (Source: Defense One)
Today, guardians go to space only in popular misconception, but tomorrow? There might be solid tactical reasons to put Space Force personnel in orbit, argues a new report from the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. “The adaptability and flexibility of human decision-making, as well as their ability to conduct a variety of mission operations, could present fundamental challenges to an adversary’s decision calculations,” the report said. (11/6)

AST SpaceMobile Plans Sovereign Direct-to-Device Service for Europe (Source: Space News)
AST SpaceMobile has registered plans with international regulators via Germany for a sovereign, space-based network that would provide broadband directly to devices across Europe, the U.S.-based satellite operator said Nov. 7. (11/7)

Celestis Wants to Send Human Remains to Mars (Source: Space.com)
Texas-based Celestis has established a reservation list for customers to stake out coveted spots on the memorial spaceflight company's first planned journey to Mars. Celestis aims to send canisters containing cremated ashes and DNA samples as a secondary payload for a future, yet-to-be-named Mars-bound cargo spacecraft. (11/7)

Shutdown Pinches SES (Source: Aviation Week)
SES says the U.S. government shutdown has delayed some contract awards and could push them into next year, denting the satellite service provider’s third-quarter earnings. SES posted a 10% drop in adjusted operating earnings from the year prior. (11/7)

British Airways to Offer Free High-Speed Starlink (Source: The Independent)
British Airways is set to revolutionise its onboard experience by introducing free, video-streaming Wi-Fi across its fleet, powered by Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service. The move, part of a significant £7 billion transformation initiative, will see the high-speed connectivity rolled out on flights from next year. (11/7)

Houston, We Have a Problem, Because UCF is the Real Space U! (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
On Friday night, when UCF takes the field against Houston in what’s being billed as “The Space Game,” there’s really only one question worth asking: Which school is truly America’s “Space University”? Spoiler alert: it’s not the one that keeps reminding everyone that NASA Mission Control happens to be in its city limits. Because, let’s face it, Texas might be home to, “Houston, we have a problem” — but UCF is home to “Orlando, we have the solution.” Editor's Note: UCF lost the game. (11/5)

Brevard EOC Text Alert System Fails During Falcon 9 Launch (Source: Hometown News)
If you heard the rumble of last night’s SpaceX Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station — but never received an alert from Brevard County Emergency Management — you’re not alone. The alert platform used to send text notifications to residents experienced a technical issue during the Falcon 9 launch activation. The Brevard County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) routinely sends out alerts before and after launches to notify residents of activation periods, road closures and other public safety concerns. (11/6)

Space Force Rebrands Operations Command as Combat Forces Command (Source: Air and Space Forces)
The Space Force officially renamed Space Operations Command as Combat Forces Command on Nov. 3, a change it says better reflects the service’s warfighting focus. “This redesignation aligned the command’s name with its core purpose of forging combat-ready Space Forces for America and its allies, and the evolution of the United States Space Force as a warfighting service,” the command said. (11/6)

Insects on the Space Menu: A Sustainable Food Source for Future Missions (Source: Phys.org)
Long before humans reached orbit, insects had already shown they could handle the hurdles of spaceflight. Light, highly adaptable and nutritionally rich, these resilient animals present an attractive option for European researchers studying reliable food sources for long-duration missions. Eating insects is not unusual: billions of people do it every day. According to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, humans consume more than 2,000 species of insects around the planet. The European Space Agency has now brought together a team of food, biology and space experts from across Europe to study whether insects could become part of an astronaut's menu. (11/7)

Jimmy Buffett Patch to Fund ISS Science (Source: CollectSpace)
The first mission patch to directly fund research on board the ISS went on sale Nov. 5. The emblem is the first product of a long-standing but little known collaboration between the ISS National Laboratory and Margaritaville. Yes, that Margaritaville — the lifestyle and hospitality brand inspired by the late Jimmy Buffett, whose tropical-rock style songs celebrate the themes of escape and relaxation. Buffett also championed environmental causes and had a lifelong interest in space exploration. (11/5)

'Runaway' Planet Acting Like a Star, Eating 6 Billion Tons Per Second (Source: LiveScience)
Astronomers have spotted a "rogue" planet gobbling gas and dust at a record rate, and they can't explain its baffling behavior. Cha 1107-7626 appears to be the fastest-growing free-floating planet ever discovered, gorging at a peak rate of 6.6 billion tons of matter per second, according to observations with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile and the JWST. (11/6)

Sierra Space Is Raising Cash in Pivot to Defense (Source: The Information)
Sierra Space is raising approximately $300 million as it pivots to a greater focus on national defense contracts, which is a shift from its original plans for the Dream Chaser spaceplane. This pivot is driven by a boom in defense spending, including opportunities with the U.S. Space Force and new military systems. The company has already secured substantial defense contracts and is restructuring its operations, including its NASA agreement, to accommodate this new strategy. (11/7)

EchoStar Loss Widens on Charges (Source: Wall Street Journal)
EchoStar’s third-quarter loss widened due to lower revenue and a charge on its multibillion-dollar sales of wireless spectrum. The company also said it agreed to sell more spectrum to SpaceX. (11/6)

Minuteman-III ICBM Launches From California (Source: Independent)
The launch of a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile in the early morning hours of November 5 was successful in testing “the continued reliability and accuracy of the ICBM weapon system,” a cornerstone of America’s national defense, said Lt. Col. Karrie Wray. The launch was initiated from aboard a Navy aircraft and monitored by an Air Force base in Wyoming, with the Minuteman III travelling more than 4,200 miles to a test range in the Marshall Islands equipped with sensors that measure the missile’s performance in its last stages of its flight. (11/5)

SpaceX Set to Win $2B Pentagon Deal for Golden Dome Missile Defense Satellites (Source: Army Recognition)
SpaceX is expected to receive about $2 billion to develop an air-moving target indicator (AMTI) satellite network for President Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense program. The award would mark SpaceX’s entry as a prime integrator for national security constellations, shaping the architecture of the United States’ next-generation missile defense shield. (11/4)

Arc Orbital Supply Capsule Aims To Put Military Supplies Anywhere On Earth Within An Hour (Source: TWZ)
California-based space startup Inversion has unveiled its design for a fully reusable, lifting-body spacecraft named Arc. The spacecraft is intended to deliver critical cargo from space to any point on Earth within an hour, landing on water, snow or soil with a precision of around 50 feet, the company says. The concept, aimed squarely at the defense sector, reflects longstanding U.S. military interest in using space-based systems to rapidly move cargo around the globe to meet commanders’ urgent needs. (11/6)

The "Anti-Weather" Of Venus (Source: Universe Today)
New research takes what little data has been collected from Venus’ surface and uses it to model what the wind and dust conditions there would be like.
The project focuses on two main metrics - temperature swings and dust transport. Importantly, it models different parts of the planet differently, the first time any such study has been done, but one that is absolutely critical to isolate some of the features that are the driving forces behind those two conditions. But the key underlying force for both temperature and dust transport is the same on Venus as it is on Earth - the wind.

Measurements from Venera, one of the only craft to ever successfully land on Venus’ surface, put the wind speed down at the bottom of the atmosphere at a measly 1 m/s. Compared to 20 m/s on Earth or even 40 m/s on Mars, that may not sound like much. But Venus’ atmosphere is thicker than either ours or Mars’, so it would require a lot more energy to get it up to speeds equivalent to that of its sister planets. Even so, it still has a major impact on both the temperature on the surface and the amount of dust in the air. (11/7)

Archer To Acquire Los Angeles Airport As Strategic Air Taxi Network Hub and AI Testbed (Source: Archer)
Signed definitive agreements to acquire control of one-of-a-kind aviation asset in LA, Hawthorne Airport, for $126M* in cash. The airport is located in the heart of the City, less than three miles from LAX, and the closest airport to some of the city’s biggest destinations — SoFi Stadium, The Forum, Intuit Dome, and Downtown LA. Archer plans for the airport to serve as its operational hub for its planned LA air taxi network. (11/6)

Many Mini-Neptunes Once Thought to be Lava Worlds May Actually Have Solid Surfaces (Source: Phys.org)
One of the puzzles is a kind of planet that appears to be one of the most common types in the universe. Known as "mini-Neptunes" because they run a little smaller than Neptune in our solar system, these planets are made of some mix of rock and metal, with thick atmospheres mostly made of hydrogen, helium, and perhaps water. Despite their abundance elsewhere, they have no analog in our own solar system, making the population something of an enigma.

Though it was previously thought these planets are generally covered in planet-wide oceans of molten magma, a new study found the surfaces of many of them may actually be solid. These planets still wouldn't be very fun for a human to stand on, though: The rocky surface is only solid because it's under tremendous pressure from the weight of a thick atmosphere. (11/5)

NatGeo Test Drives NASA's Competing Lunar Rovers (Source: NatGeo)
The winner is set to be announced by year’s end. Before that, National Geographic asked all three companies the same question: Can we take them for a test-drive? The new LTVs are a full reboot from Apollo. Instead of short-term scouts, Artemis requires long-term pathfinders. Each LTV is required to be capable of driving for 800 miles each year, and 12 miles each day, on a single battery charge, all while carrying a total payload mass—from deployable solar panels to sections of a lunar base—of at least 1,765 pounds.

All three rovers are designed to use a robotic arm to assist with construction. This appendage can change its tool end whenever it wants by plugging itself into a series of enclosed drawers and switching out, say, a gripping claw for a drill, all by itself, with no human input. And each vehicle can be operated remotely. No matter how it’s voyaging across the moon, each LTV has similar methods of perception: lidar, which uses hyper-frequent pulses of lasers to map out surroundings, and stereo cameras, which offer eyelike vision.

Each rover will have multi-layer impact shielding and use NASA’s newly invented electrodynamic dust shield to protect against the corrosive lunar dirt. Because each company has a novel vision for how astronauts will venture across the lunar south pole, all three designs are materially distinct. Click here. (11/6)

November 7, 2025

The Threat of Space Terrorism is No Longer Science Fiction (Source: Space Daily)
Though under-reported, space terrorism is not a new phenomenon. In 1999, the UK's Skynet military satellite was allegedly targeted by hackers demanding ransom. While the Ministry of Defense remained tight-lipped, reports suggested communication channels were compromised, hinting at a sophisticated breach of national security. More recently, Russia has been accused of persistently jamming UK satellites. This tactic disrupts communications and poses serious risks to both civilian and military operations.

These incidents have intensified concern that satellite attacks - whether through hacking, jamming or physical destruction - will become more frequent and sophisticated in the coming years. Groups and individuals once considered insignificant in the realm of space security are now capable of launching cyber attacks on satellites and ground stations. In March 2022, Network Battalion (NB65), a group affiliated with Anonymous, allegedly hacked the Russian civilian space agency Roscosmos in protest of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The group claimed control over several satellites, prompting Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin to declare that disabling another country's satellites could be considered a "casus belli" - a cause for war. (11/6)

BlackSky Signs Contract Exceeding 30 Million to Supply Gen-3 ISR for Defense Client (Source: Space Daily)
BlackSky Technology Inc. has secured a multi-year contract worth over 30 million dollars to integrate its Gen-3 high-cadence tactical intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) services into the secure operational environment of a strategic international defense customer. The program aims to boost sovereign space-based intelligence capacities by leveraging BlackSky's commercial technologies for high-frequency, low-latency Gen-3 tasking and AI-supported analytics. Through this integration, the company's commercial high revisit satellite constellation will function within the customer's secure workflows, enabling autonomous and secure operations for intelligence delivery. (11/5)

After Russian Spaceport Firm Fails to Pay Bills, Electric Company Turns the Lights Off (Source: Ars Technica)
One of Russia’s most important projects over the last 15 years has been the construction of the Vostochny spaceport as the country seeks to fly its rockets from native soil and modernize its launch operations. However, the initiative has been a fiasco from the start. After construction began in 2011, the project was beset by hunger strikes, claims of unpaid workers, and the theft of $126 million. Additionally, a man driving a diamond-encrusted Mercedes was arrested after embezzling $75,000. Five years ago, there was another purge of top officials after another round of corruption.

Through it all, there has been some progress. In 2016, a Soyuz-2 rocket launched from the first pad, “1S.” And eight years later, a second pad, “1A,” opened with a successful Angara rocket launch. Eventually, the Russian space corporation, Roscosmos, would like to operate seven launch pads at the Vostochny in the far eastern area of Russia, so development work continues. And therein lie the current problems.

The latest bit of skullduggery involves the non-payment of sizable electric bills by the primary contractor building the spaceport, the Kazan Open Stock Company (PSO Kazan). According to the Moscow Times, the Far Eastern Energy Company cut off electricity supplies to the areas of the spaceport still under construction after PSO Kazan racked up $627,000 in unpaid energy charges. The electricity company did so, it said, “to protect the interests of the region’s energy system.” (11/6)

Florida's Seagate Space Hires Puente to Develop Sea Launch Business (Source:  Seagate Space)
St. Petersburg based Seagate Space was formed earlier this year to develop offshore platforms that will unlock the possibility of launch at sea. This week the company announced that Melodie Puente will serve as its vice president for business development. Click here. (11/6) 

Starlink Signs Global Direct-to-Cell Deal with Veon (Source: Reuters)
Starlink, a subsidiary of SpaceX, secured its largest direct-to-cell deal yet with telecoms group Veon , granting access to over 150 million potential customers, both companies said, as competition in satellite-to-smartphone connectivity intensifies. Direct-to-cell technology allows smartphones to connect to satellite networks in space that beam telephone signals back to Earth. (11/6)

BlackSky Revenue Hit by US Budget Cuts, Shifts Focus to International Users (Source: Space News)
Satellite imagery company BlackSky said Nov. 6 that revenue fell short of expectations in the third quarter as U.S. government spending slowed following the Trump administration’s proposed cuts to a key intelligence contract. But executives said growing international demand for Earth-observation data is helping offset the downturn and could soon make foreign sales the company’s largest source of revenue. (11/6)

D-Orbit and mhackeroni Conduct In-Orbit Cybersecurity Competition (Source: Space News)
D-Orbit and mhackeroni just concluded CTRL+Space, Europe's first in-orbit Capture-the-Flag (CTF) cybersecurity competition. This groundbreaking event saw teams of ethical hackers trying to find and exploit vulnerabilities in a real satellite in space. This was Europe’s first in-orbit cybersecurity competition and the first live CTF contest involving multiple satellites. (11/6)

Sceye Wins NASA Award for Stratospheric Earth Observations (Source: Space News)
Sceye, a company specializing in high-altitude platform systems (HAPS), has received a $850,000 NASA award to partner with Spectral Sciences, Inc. for environmental monitoring using its stratospheric platform. The award is for a Phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, which will fund the development and demonstration of a hyperspectral sensor on Sceye's HAPS for continuous environmental monitoring. This initiative aims to provide persistent, high-quality data for various applications, including detecting methane super-emitters, monitoring wildfires, and tracking storms. (11/6)

Arianespace Aiming for As Many as Eight Ariane 6 Launches in 2026 (Source: European Spaceflight)
Arianespace is aiming to double its Ariane 6 launch cadence in 2026, with between six and eight missions planned. The European launch provider will open its 2026 manifest with the first flight of the more powerful four-booster variant of the rocket. The inaugural flight of the Ariane 6 rocket took place in July 2024, followed by its first operational mission in March 2025, which carried the CSO-3 spy satellite to orbit for the French Armed Forces.

With the successful launch of Sentinel-1D earlier this week, Ariane 6 has now flown three times in 2025, with a fourth mission expected before the end of the year. By comparison, the United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket, which also debuted in 2024, has flown only once so far in 2025. Following an unfortunate failed launch in March 2023, the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H3 rocket managed three flights in 2024 and, to date, has completed just two missions in 2025. (11/6)

EchoStar Selling More Spectrum to SpaceX (Source: Space News)
EchoStar is selling more spectrum to SpaceX for $2.6 billion. EchoStar announced Thursday it would sell 15 megahertz of nationwide, unpaired AWS-3 uplink spectrum licenses to SpaceX. The spectrum would improve SpaceX direct-to-device services in the United States. EchoStar sold a larger block of spectrum to SpaceX in September for $17 billion in cash and stock; SpaceX will pay for the new spectrum in stock. EchoStar announced a new division Thursday called EchoStar Capital, which will hold its equity in SpaceX and be responsible for investing in complementary growth opportunities as an “asset-light” company. (11/7)

FAA Limits Commercial Launches to Overnight Hours During Shutdown (Source: Space News)
The FAA is temporarily limiting the hours commercial launches can take place because of the effects of the government shutdown. In an order Thursday, the FAA said that, effective Monday morning, commercial launches can only take place between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. local time. The restriction is intended to reduce strain on the air traffic control system as controllers, unpaid since early October, fail to report for work. The order also requires airlines to reduce flight operations at 40 major airports nationwide by 10%. The order could affect several Falcon 9 launches next week, as well as Blue Origin’s second New Glenn launch if it slips from Sunday. (11/7)

FCC Commissioner Warns U.S. Influence on Satellite Spectrum Debates Could Wane (Source: Space News)
An FCC commissioner said declining American “soft power” could make it difficult to win support for key satellite spectrum priorities at international meetings. Speaking by video at the Economist Space Summit Thursday, Anna Gomez said she was concerned that moves like the elimination of USAID could affect American influence with other nations when it comes time to seek their support at the next World Radiocommunication Conference in 2027. Much of the agenda of that meeting is focused on satellite spectrum issues, and she said other countries could take advantage of any decline in American influence to block U.S. priorities at the conference. Gomez said that, domestically, she supported FCC efforts to streamline satellite licensing processed but wanted to ensure the FCC maintained a “pro-competitive system.” (11/7)

SpaceX Launches Starlink Mission on Thursday From California (Source: Noozhawk)
SpaceX launched more Starlink satellites Thursday from California. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 4:13 p.m. Eastern carrying 28 Starlink satellites. This was the 61th launch so far this year of missiles or orbital rockets from Vandenberg, with Falcon 9 accounting for all but six of the launches. (11/6)

ULA Atlas Mission Scrubbed Again for Valve (Source: Spaceflight Now)
For the second day in a row, a valve problem scrubbed an Atlas 5 launch. United Launch Alliance called off the launch of the ViaSat-3 F2 satellite, scheduled for 10:16 p.m. Eastern Thursday from Cape Canaveral, after a liquid oxygen valve problem that scrubbed Wednesday’s launch reoccurred. ULA did not immediately reschedule the launch, saying it would first evaluate hardware. (11/6)

SES Reports Quarterly Loss After Intelsat Acquisition (Source: Luxembourg Times)
SES reported a loss in the first quarter after completing its acquisition of Intelsat. The company reported Thursday a loss of 69 million euros ($79.8 million) in the third quarter on revenues of 769 million euros. SES blamed the loss in part on delays with U.S. government contracts caused by the reassessments of those contracts, exacerbated by the government shutdown. SES shares, which had rebounded from all-time lows last December, fell sharply Thursday. (11/6)

Astronaut Hauck Passes at 84 (Source: Collect Space)
Rick Hauck, the NASA astronaut who commanded the shuttle’s return to flight mission after Challenger, has died. Hauck became a NASA astronaut as part of the famous 35-person class in 1978. He was pilot on STS-7 in 1983, a mission whose crew included the first American woman in space, Sally Ride, and also commanded STS-51A in 1984. He is best known as commander of STS-26, the first shuttle mission after the Challenger accident. He left NASA after that 1988 mission and later worked in industry, including as CEO of space insurer AXA Space. Hauck was 84. (11/7)

In-Q-Tel Invests in Vast (Source: Space News)
An In-Q-Tel investment in commercial space station developer Vast is not necessarily a sign of military interest in human spaceflight. Vast announced last week that In-Q-Tel, a fund affiliated with the U.S. national security community, made an investment of undisclosed size in Vast and would become a board observer. An In-Q-Tel partner said at the Economist Space Summit that the investment did not mean it saw dual-use applications for commercial stations, noting that many investments by the fund “are purely for insight, to understand how markets are evolving.” Vast, which hosted Space Force procurement chief Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy earlier this year, has previously said it could see roles for Space Force personnel in space. (11/7)

Data Management a Major Challenge for Orbital Situational Awareness (Source: Space News)
The challenge of monitoring satellites and debris in orbit is less about collecting data than analyzing it. Growing demand to monitor space objects has created a crowded, fragmented market of space domain awareness platforms built on different sensors, catalogs and analytics. That results in overlapping data streams and inconsistent alerts that risk confusing operators rather than clarifying decisions. Rather than another proprietary map, space trackers increasingly see the way forward as some kind of air traffic control for space, built on shared data standards, interoperable systems and federated networks that would respect national sovereignty while enabling real-time coordination. (11/7)

Space Force Prepares Plan for Dynamic Space Operations (Source: Defense Daily)
The US Space Force is in the process of developing a 15-year plan that is expected to address dynamic space operations, including satellite refueling, on-orbit maintenance, and modernization. According to retired Col. Charles Galbreath, this approach aligns with recent Space Force strategies and leadership discussions, signaling a shift toward more versatile and responsive space capabilities. (11/6)

Former Florida Lt. Gov. Retains Space Florida Board Seat After Taking Leadership Role at FIU, Creates University Role in Latin American Space Policy (Source: Space Daily)
Jeanette Nunez continues to serve as chair of Space Florida, a position to which she was reappointed by the governor following her resignation as lieutenant governor. In her new role as president of Florida International University, Nunez has hired space policy specialist Laura Delgado Lopez as a senior fellow at FIU's Jack Gordon Institute for Public Policy. Delgado Lopez's work at JGI centers on space governance and security, with a particular focus on Latin America. (11/5)

Globalstar Expands Satellite Infrastructure Across Brazil with Eight New Antennas (Source: Space Daily)
Globalstar has begun installing eight new six-meter C-3 tracking antennas at its ground stations across Brazil to enhance its mobile satellite services. Three Globalstar-owned stations in Manaus, Petrolina, and Presidente Prudente will each receive two additional antennas. In Sao Paulo, the company is working with Ascenty Data Centers e Telecomunicacoes S.A. to add two more antennas at Ascenty's teleport facility. (11/5)

OlmoEarth AI Platform Released to Expand Access to Planetary Data and Insights (Source: Space Daily)
Ai2 has introduced the OlmoEarth Platform, an open end-to-end solution designed to transform satellite and sensor data into real-time environmental insight. The platform builds on OlmoEarth, a new family of state-of-the-art multimodal foundation models, trained on millions of Earth observations and integrating radar, optical, and environmental data. OlmoEarth is designed to make environmental AI accessible to governments, NGOs, and communities without requiring specialized AI expertise or infrastructure. Key applications include monitoring deforestation, assessing crop health, and predicting wildfire risk. (11/5)

Robotic Exosuit Designed to Assist Astronaut Movement Tested in Simulated Lunar Mission (Source: Space Daily)
A soft robotic exosuit created at the University of Bristol is engineered to boost astronaut mobility and reduce muscle fatigue while allowing natural movement. The lightweight garment, which incorporates fabric-based artificial muscles, is designed to be worn underneath a standard spacesuit. The exosuit features two-layer artificial muscles, with an outer nylon component and an inner thermoplastic layer that inflates to provide motion support. Kevlar components are used for the waistband and knee straps to ensure high strength and resistance to tension. (11/5)

Satys Expands North American Footprint on Florida’s Space Coast (Source: EDC of FSC)
The Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast welcomes Satys, a world leader in aerospace painting and sealing, to Florida’s Space Coast bringing $1.5 million in capital investment and 40 high-wage jobs. The company chose Melbourne to expand in North America through a strategic partnership with Dassault Aviation, among others. Satys introduces its state-of-the-art paint hangars with high-tech solutions such as remote-controlled gondolas and aircraft scanning. Painting and sealing activities will be carried out for major U.S and France-based aerospace players located on Florida’s Space Coast. (11/6)

Safran Defense & Space Names Christopher Keeler President of Space Solutions (Source: Safran)
Safran Defense & Space has named Christopher Keeler president of Space Solutions, where he will lead the company’s expanding U.S. space business focused on spacecraft propulsion systems, onboard communications, ground systems and space domain awareness. (11/6)

New Zealand Plans Space Mission, Satellite Fleet (Source: Space Daily)
New Zealand is planning a national space mission which could see a small fleet of state-owned satellites launched into the skies over the Pacific nation, a minister said. "Actions to progress to a large-scale mission are being advanced," Minister for Space Judith Collins said. The mission would involve sending up "one or more government-owned satellites" for "regular coverage of areas of national interest, such as humanitarian and disaster response or monitoring for illegal fishing". (11/5)

Jacksonville's Star Catcher Aces Record-Breaking Power Beaming Demo at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Star Catcher)
Star Catcher Industries has set a new world record for wireless optical power transmission, surpassing the previous benchmark set by DARPA. Star Catcher completed a series of historic optical power beaming tests at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport to validate core technologies for its orbital energy grid, the Star Catcher Network.

Using an advanced suite of multi-wavelength lasers, the team delivered more than 1.1 kW of electrical power to commercial off-the-shelf solar panels at Space Florida's Launch and Landing Facility. The most recent record high was 800 watts set by DARPA in May 2025. Star Catcher delivered more than 10 megajoules of energy throughout the test campaign.

To date, Star Catcher has signed six Power Purchase Agreements collectively valued in the tens of millions of dollars in annual recurring revenue through the end of the decade. These agreements have been signed with organizations operating across core markets including orbital data infrastructure, remote sensing, and satellite platforms. (11/4)

Continuous US Presence in Orbit Questioned (Source: Space News)
The space industry, or at least a vocal contingent of it, breathed a collective sigh of relief last year when Pam Melroy, then NASA deputy administrator, announced that the agency would pursue a “continuous heartbeat” — a permanent human presence in LEO — rather than merely maintaining the “continuous capability” to send humans into orbit on the International Space Station’s commercial successors. But now, it appears there may be gaps in humanity’s presence in orbit after all. 

A July 31 memo signed by Sean Duffy, NASA’s acting administrator, said that the “Full Operational Capability” — defined by NASA as having four crewmembers including two NASA astronauts on the ISS at all times — “required by NASA will no longer be binding.” Former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said “it would be catastrophic from a diplomatic presence if we didn’t have a permanent human presence in space. It would be catastrophic from a science perspective.” (11/5)

South Korea Set to Join Space Data Center Race (Source: Business Korea)
Space data centers, which refer to data centers built in outer space to maximize efficiency, have emerged as a new field of hegemonic competition, with Korea launching full-scale countermeasures following the United States and China. The Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) plans to conduct research to secure core technologies for space data centers in the first half of next year. KASA plans to apply for budget as an R&D project for 2027. (11/6)

Space is America’s Next Frontier, Not EU’s Next Bureaucracy (Source: Asia Times)
When the United States (US) publicly condemned the European Union’s (EU) proposed Space Act as “unacceptable,” it wasn’t merely a diplomatic disagreement — it was a fundamental clash of philosophies over who gets to govern the final frontier. The EU, through its ambitious legislative framework, seeks to regulate satellite services, orbital debris management and space sustainability, even beyond its borders. The US, in contrast, insists that space remains an arena of freedom and innovation, not bureaucracy and overreach. (11/6)

China to Debut Space Tourism Project Next Week (Source: China Daily)
Officials from the Shenzhen municipal government announced that the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) will introduce a Chinese space tourism initiative at the 27th China International High-Tech Fair (CHTF), set for Nov 14 to 16. (11/6)

India Gears Up for Mangalyaan-2 Mission to Mars in 2030 (Source: Business Today)
Twelve years after India’s remarkable achievement with the Mangalyaan mission, the Indian Space Research Organization has officially announced its plans to land on Mars for the first time. The Mangalyaan-2 mission, set for launch in 2030, was confirmed by ISRO Chairman Dr. V Narayanan during a recent address. (11/6)

ExoMars Rover Ramp Built by Poland’s Astronika (Source: European Spaceflight)
A pair of ramps that will allow ESA's Rosalind Franklin rover to roll from its landing platform onto the surface of Mars has passed a key testing milestone. Polish space-mechanics specialist Astronika appears to have begun work on the egress system. (11/5)

US Slams ‘Discriminatory’ Draft EU Space Law as Imperiling NATO Cooperation (Source: Breaking Defense)
The US has come out swinging against a draft law by the European Union that Washington claims would establish restrictive market barriers, impose costly environmental protection requirements, and create regulatory hurdles for US commercial firms — thus undermining bilateral, as well as NATO-wide, cooperation. The US “expresses deep concern regarding measures in the proposed Act that would impose unacceptable regulatory burdens on U.S. providers of space services to European customers,” the State Department charges in a document submitted to the EU on Tuesday. (11/5)

NASA Has Lost Thousands of Workers. Here’s What That Means for Science (Source: Washington Post)
For 13 consecutive years, NASA has been named the “Best Place to Work in the Federal Government” among large agencies. But since the Trump administration took over and proposed deep budget cuts, there has been an exodus from the agency — with many of those who remain feeling demoralized and unsure about the future of their work. The low morale may be an unanticipated challenge for billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, should he be confirmed as NASA administrator.

A dozen current and former employees, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, described months of turmoil and sweeping changes that, if fully implemented, could transform NASA and American science beyond the Trump years. “I think NASA has always been an exceptional agency, filled with exceptional people doing exceptional things. And yet we are just getting decimated,” one NASA employee said. “What was so fundamentally broken that we needed to get to this point?”

Among the initiatives that have lost support and significantly slowed, one NASA worker noted, are programs that help respond to floods, track fires and forecast what will happen long-term to the world’s oceans, ecosystems and crops as the planet warms. In the aeronautics division, a project designed to test and develop a new generation of hybrid electric-powered aircraft is being phased out, according to staff. Other aeronautical and astrophysics projects are being phased out or are in limbo. (11/6)

China Reached Out to NASA to Avoid a Potential Satellite Collision (Source: Space.com)
China recently reached out to NASA over a maneuver to prevent a possible collision between satellites, a space sustainability official said, marking a first for space traffic management. "For years, if we had a conjunction, we would send a note to the Chinese saying, 'We think we're going to run into you. You hold still, we'll maneuver around you,'" Alvin Drew, director for NASA Space Sustainability, said on Oct. 2.

A big shift had come a day earlier, Drew revealed. "Just yesterday, we had a bit of a celebration because, for the first time, the Chinese National Space Agency reached out to us and said, 'We see a conjunction amongst our satellites. We recommend you hold still. We'll do the maneuver.' And that's the first time that's ever happened," Drew said. (11/6)

Isaacman on His "Athena" Plan for NASA (Source: NASA Watch)
"While the full plan exceeded 100 pages, it centered around five main priorities. [...] There is the question–why not release the entire document? Well, one party is clearly circulating it, so I am sure it is only a matter of time before it becomes public–in which case, I will stand behind it. I think there are many elements of the plan that the space community and NASA would find exciting, and it would be disappointing if they never came to fruition." Click here. (11/6)

November 6, 2025

Starcloud Launches First Satellite With NVIDIA H100 GPU to Kickstart Orbital Data-Centers (Source: Mach 33)
Y Combinator announced that portfolio company Starcloud successfully launched its first satellite just 21 months after founding, marking the first-ever deployment of an NVIDIA H100 GPU in space. The milestone positions Starcloud as a pioneer in the emerging field of orbital data centers, leveraging solar power and on-orbit compute to process data directly in space. The satellite’s payload will demonstrate high-efficiency AI inference and onboard processing capabilities designed to reduce latency and bandwidth costs associated with downlinking massive datasets. (11/2)

Isaacman Renomination Gains Industry Support (Source: Space News)
Jared Isaacman’s renomination to lead NASA is winning support from industry. At a conference Wednesday, industry officials said they welcomed the announcement by President Donald Trump late Tuesday that he would again nominate Isaacman to be NASA administrator. That move could also help advance pending nominations of Matt Anderson to be deputy administrator and Greg Autry to be NASA's chief financial officer. The announcement came hours after Isaacman took to social media to comment on a leaked “Project Athena” document he wrote before his first nomination was withdrawn outlining his vision for NASA. Isaacman said reporting on the document misrepresented some of his views on topics such as Artemis and space science. (11/6)

Isaacman Support Weakens Duffy Ambitions (Source: Douglas Messier)
Providing Trump doesn’t change his mind again, the biggest loser in all this is former reality show cast member Duffy. He’s really been enjoying the publicity that has come his way running NASA, a government agency that people actually like and admire. He hoped to preside over the first American Moon landing in more than half a century. All that would be a positive for a man who wants to be president.

Until Isaacman is confirmed, Duffy will continue to do double duty running NASA and presiding over the collapse of the nation’s commercial aviation sector. Thousands of flights have been delayed or canceled, and travelers have stood in line for four hours to get through security as unpaid air traffic controllers and airport screeners don’t show up for work. (11/6)

Duffy’s Airspace Shutdown Threat Exposes the Real Crisis (Source: AvBrief)
When a Transportation Secretary publicly starts talking about shutting down parts of the NAS, it raises questions. Is it really about safety, or something else? Sean Duffy’s talk of “mass chaos” does not sound like concern for the system. It sounds like control. It sounds like a message to the people who keep it running: Stay quiet, keep working, and take the blame if it fails.

Controllers and technicians continue holding the NAS together with skill and professionalism, though even that loyalty is starting to feel taken for granted. They are called essential but treated as expendable. They keep showing up without pay while those above them never miss a check. It makes you wonder if that dedication is being counted on, not respected. What Duffy calls a worst-case scenario may not be what it seems. It looks less like a warning and more like a managed crisis, one that shifts the pressure away from him and onto the workforce and the public. (11/4)

Astranis Plans Small GEO Satellites to Extend Range for Disaster and Defense Operations (Source: Space News)
Astranis announced plans Wednesday to use its small geostationary satellites to extend the range of point-to-point communications for disaster relief or secure defense operations. The company said its Vanguard service enables customers to quickly set up a private network capable of voice, video and data transport anywhere within the beam footprint of an Astranis broadband satellite, roughly 2,250 kilometers. Astranis CEO John Gedmark said Vanguard is available anywhere an Astranis satellite serves as an additional service that existing and future customers can opt into “starting immediately.” (11/6)

Iceye Offers Guaranteed Access to Radar Imagery (Source: Space News)
Iceye is giving defense customers guaranteed access to radar imagery from its satellites. Iceye last week announced a new “tactical access” program that offers subscribers on-demand tasking of its synthetic aperture radar satellites, ensuring images can be captured wherever and whenever required. The model contrasts with the traditional “first-come, first-served” approach, in which operators queue imaging requests from multiple clients. The offering underscores how private-sector players are racing to meet growing government demand for assured satellite intelligence, a market reshaped by the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and by rising tensions in East Asia. (11/6)

Pentagon Can’t Forget About PNT for Golden Dome (Source: Air & Space Forces)
The Pentagon should establish a dedicated budget to support its Golden Dome missile defense shield’s positioning, navigation, and timing needs and assign a PNT lead to coordinate needed improvements to ground and space-based navigation systems, according to a new report from the National Security Space Association. (11/5)

Deloitte Develops Satellites for Cyberattack Detection (Source: Space News)
One company is working to defend satellites from cyberattacks using its own satellites. The Deloitte-1 satellite, launched in March, is the first of nine that the consulting firm Deloitte expects to be operating over the next 18 months to demonstrate a technology to detect cyber intrusions targeted at satellites in space. The company is building these satellites to prove that defending space networks from a cyberattack requires putting defenses in orbit and not just on the ground, comes amid a broader rethink of how to protect space infrastructure from cyber threats. (11/6)

Blue Origin Plans Sunday ESCAPADE Launch (Source: Space News)
Blue Origin plans to launch its second New Glenn rocket on Sunday from Cape Canaveral. The company announced Wednesday the launch date for the NG-2 mission, carrying NASA’s ESCAPADE Mars mission. NG-2 will also fly a Viasat payload to test commercial launch telemetry and data relay systems as part of NASA’s Communications Services Project. The launch will be the first since the inaugural New Glenn mission in January. (11/6)

Rocket Lab Launches Another Japanese Satellite From New Zealand (Source: Space News)
Rocket Lab launched a Japanese radar imaging satellite Wednesday. An Electron rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 2:51 p.m. Eastern and placed the QPS-SAR-14 satellite into orbit for the Japanese company iQPS. This is the sixth satellite that Rocket Lab has launched for iQPS, including five this year. This was also the 16th Electron launch of 2025, matching the company’s total from 2024 with several more launches scheduled through December. (11/6)

SpaceX Launches Wednesday Starlink Mission From Florida (Source: Space.com)
SpaceX launched more Starlink satellites Wednesday from Cape Canaveral. A Falcon 9 put 29 Starlink satellites into orbit. The launch was the 141st so far this year of the Falcon 9, and a SpaceX executive said at a conference Wednesday that he expected the company to finish the year with 165 to 170 Falcon 9 launches, a record. (11/6)

Atlas 5 Launch Scrubs on Wednesday with Valve Problem (Source: Spaceflight Now)
An Atlas 5 launch scheduled for Wednesday evening from Florida was scrubbed. United Launch Alliance called off the Atlas 551 launch of ViaSat-3 F2 after detecting a valve problem that could not be resolved before the launch window closed. ULA rescheduled the launch for Thursday. (11/6)

ESA's Civilian Focus Blurs (Source: Space News)
ESA’s backing of a “space resilience” plan suggests the agency is moving from its roots as a purely civil agency. ESA will seek funding for the European Resilience from Space (ERS) program at this month’s ministerial conference in Germany, which includes beginning development of a constellation of Earth imaging satellites as well as new communications and navigation capabilities. The initiative hints at a shift in how the agency envisions its mandate, positioning space systems for dual-use and defense applications rather than purely civilian missions. It also signals a growing alignment between ESA’s civil mission and Europe’s broader security ambitions. (11/6)

Universe Expansion May Be Slowing (Source: New Scientists)
The expansion of the universe may be slowing down, not speeding up. A team of South Korean astronomers argues in a new study that a class of supernova explosions used to measure the distance of distant galaxies suffers from an “age bias” that, once corrected, indicates that the universe’s expansion is now slowing down rather than accelerating. Other astronomers, though, argue that the changing brightness of those supernovae are already accounted for and that previous similar work by this team has been refuted. (11/6)

Ecosmic Partners with ESA to Validate SAFE on Agency Satellites (Source: Spacewatch Global)
ESA is testing SAFE, Ecosmic's flagship Space Domain Awareness (SDA) solution, on a selection of ESA-operated satellites. The 12-month collaboration began earlier this year and sees ESA’s Space Debris Office at ESOC evaluating how SAFE integrates into live operational scenarios, and the related daily workflows to assess collision risks and support secure satellite operations. (11/6)

Google Considers Orbital Data Centers (Source: Ars Technica)
It was probably always when, not if, Google would add its name to the list of companies intrigued by the potential of orbiting data centers. Google announced Tuesday a new initiative, named Project Suncatcher, to examine the feasibility of bringing artificial intelligence to space. The idea is to deploy swarms of satellites in low-Earth orbit, each carrying Google’s AI accelerator chips designed for training, content generation, synthetic speech and vision, and predictive modeling. Google calls these chips Tensor Processing Units, or TPUs. (11/5)

SpaceX Aiming for 170 Falcon 9 Launches This Year (Source: Aerospace America)
SpaceX is on track to launch its Falcon 9 rockets up to 170 times by the end of the year, after surpassing its 2024 total in late October. “We’re aiming for around 170 — between 165 and 170 — which means 25 to 30 more launches to go,” Kiko Dontchev, the company’s vice president of launch, said during a Wednesday session at the Space Economy Summit 2025. In fact, he told attendees, the next launch is scheduled for Wednesday night. (11/5)

World’s First Hydrogen-Fueled Hypersonic Jet Could Fly at Mach 12 (Source: Interesting Engineering)
Australia’s Hypersonix Launch Systems has secured $46 million in funding from a Series A round. This funding is provided by the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC), the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC), and a group of international defense investors.

The investment supports Australia’s goal of excelling in hypersonic flight and building a robust aerospace manufacturing industry. Hypersonix, a Brisbane-based company, employs 45 people across engineering, advanced manufacturing, and testing, and is developing the world’s first reusable, hydrogen-fueled hypersonic aircraft capable of reaching speeds of up to Mach 12, which is twelve times the speed of sound. (11/3)

US Space Force to Use 3 Weapons to Jam Chinese Satellites (Source: SCMP)
The US military is close to fielding two new weapons designed to temporally jam Chinese and Russian intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance satellites, giving the Pentagon three counter-space capabilities, according to new Space Force data. The weapons, called Meadowlands and Remote Sensing Terminals, will join a larger and less mobile “Counter Communications System” jammer – an upgraded big dish that was declared operational in 2020. (11/5)

Starbase Becomes Home for Unwanted Cybertrucks (Source: Teslarati)
Tesla Cybertrucks have taken over at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas, as hundreds of the all-electric pickup trucks were spotted late last week. The Cybertruck fleet is geared toward replacing gas vehicles that are used at Starbase for everyday operations. Cybertruck uses the same exterior, a stainless steel alloy, as SpaceX rockets. This synergy between the two companies and their very different products shows a very unified mentality between Musk companies.

Some media outlets are seeing this as a move of weakness by both Tesla and SpaceX, as the aerospace company is, in a sense, “bailing out” lagging sales for the all-electric pickup. It’s no secret that Tesla has struggled with the Cybertruck this year, and deliveries have been underwhelming in the sense that the company was anticipating between 1 million and 2 million orders for the vehicle before it was widely produced. (11/3)

X-37B an Example of US Military Innovation (Source: ORF)
Technological innovation has always been the primary yardstick in assessing a nation’s military capabilities. It explains why new technologies are often developed through military research before spilling over to societal applications. The US Space Force’s X37-B program provides a shining example of how this dynamic plays out. The X-37B initiative offers valuable insights for India to augment and refine its defense R&D capabilities and achieve its ambitions for ‘Make in India’. (11/3)

Starlab Names Leidos as Primary Assembly, Integration and Testing Provider (Source: Starlab)
Starlab Space LLC today announced that Leidos (NYSE: LDOS), an industry and technology leader with decades of experience in civil space and defense integration, will lead Starlab’s U.S.-based assembly, integration and testing (AI&T) activities for the commercial space station. The collaboration reflects Starlab’s ongoing strategy to align with proven aerospace leaders and reduce risk across development, execution and long-term operations. With Leidos, Starlab gains an experienced integrator capable of providing a wide range of activities, including real-time crew support and ground-based logistics and training infrastructure. (11/5)

Orlando Company Supporting California Space Tourism (Source: Ideas Orlando)
Pale Blue Dot Ventures (PBDV) knows it has an exceptional opportunity to tell the story and teach the science of future space exploration with Space Base California, an exciting space-themed STEM educational and entertainment venue. Planned for an 82-acre site in Lompoc, California, on the Pacific Coast Highway, Space Base California is just 10 miles from Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB).

As a partner and the exclusive creative team for Pale Blue Dot, IDEAS developed the complete guest Experience Design Plan and brand. It’s part space exploration complex, part multiday science camp and part regional science center. It also hosts unique on-site lodging and large event venues. Space Base California will offer an entirely new way to educate, entertain and inspire. (11/5)

How to Make Rocket Fuel on the Moon (Source: Dynamic Tech)
In today’s space economy, there’s real demand for in-space refueling. This demand for energy is the driving force for establishing a lunar economy. In order to create and sell a product to meet that demand—rocket fuel that’s manufactured on the lunar surface—a series of technologies will need to be developed and deployed. The value chain must then be integrated to function in lockstep.

In the case of the manned lunar landings planned for NASA’s Artemis program, the current estimate is that it would take approximately 10 refueling launches of SpaceX Starship vehicles to provide enough fuel for a single mission. SpaceX’s technical difficulties aside, even with no setbacks it would still be expensive enough that lunar-derived propellant would be a cost-effective alternative. That’s not to say it would be cheap—lunar-derived propellant must still be valuable enough for private industry to invest in bootstrapping this capability. Click here. (11/2)

Federal Employees Feeling Stressed (Source: FNN)
Federal employees have experienced nearly a year of sweeping workforce overhauls. Over the course of 2025, they have faced reductions in force, an effort to decrease headcount through the deferred resignation program, mass firings of probationary employees, a full return-to-office push and a monthslong hiring freeze, among many other changes.

In its latest data, Gallup found that 24% of federal employees are “extremely” or “very” concerned about being laid off or seeing their position eliminated in the next 12 months. In comparison, 11% of U.S. employees said they were concerned about layoffs. More federal employees than U.S. employees have reported feelings of anger and loneliness, Gallup found. The percentages of employees who are feeling stress, worry, anger and sadness are also all higher this year than they were in 2024. (11/6)

US Government Grapples with Questions About Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS Amid Shutdown (Source: Defense Scoop)
Amid the U.S. government shutdown, federal personnel are monitoring the rare interstellar comet known as 3I/ATLAS as it moves through the solar system. Sources confirmed that NASA experts were set to connect with at least one congressional lawmaker about the mysterious object on Wednesday, following her official request. Questions have been swirling about the nature and origin of 3I/ATLAS and its bizarre trajectory since the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescope in Chile first spotted it in July.

3I/ATLAS is massive in size and traveled at the highest speed ever recorded for such an object. Intrigued by its unusual composition and several unique features, astronomers across the world have been studying the comet since its initial observation. Some early data suggests that it brightened dramatically and also exhibited what could be a non-gravitational acceleration. The International Asteroid Warning Network, a world-wide planetary defense partnership of organizations, announced a dedicated campaign to collect data on 3I/ATLAS between Nov. 27 and Jan. 27. (11/4)

The Dulling of America’s Scientific Edge (Source: Washington Post)
You know there’s a problem when scientists in the United States increasingly see European bureaucracy as a safer setting for conducting their cutting-edge research than their home country’s own institutions. The European Research Council, which grants funding for academic work in the European Union, has seen a surge in applications. That included nearly triple the number of proposals from Americans compared with the year before.

It’s a dangerous time to dull the country’s competitive edge. Like so many of President Donald Trump’s initiatives, his effort to take down the wall that progressives built around U.S. academia started with a worthy cause — pressing universities and other research institutions to seek greater viewpoint diversity — but it is faltering due to overreach. (11/4)

No Golden Dome Requirements Yet, but Space Firms Already Betting on Dual-Use Tech (Source: Air and Space Forces)
Companies planning to compete for Golden Dome contracts say they’re already investing in capabilities that could have a range of defense and commercial applications—regardless of whether they’re selected for the Pentagon’s sweeping program to create an advanced homeland missile defense shield. (11/3)

TecMasters, Orbit Beyond, and Canadensys Aerospace Partner for Lunar Mobility-as-a-Service (Source: Canadensys)
TecMasters, Orbit Beyond and Canadensys Aerospace announced a strategic partnership to deliver Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) for upcoming lunar surface missions, beginning with NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) CT-4 mission.

Under this three-party partnership: Orbit Beyond will lead lander development, payload integration, and surface mission execution, providing lunar delivery and communications infrastructure; TecMasters will serve as prime integration and mission operations partner, responsible for system-level integration, testing, and mission assurance; and Canadensys will lead lunar surface mobility activities, including supply of lunar rover platforms. (10/22)

SpaceX Moves to Block Third-Party Starlink Sales in Unauthorized Markets (Source: PC Mag)
SpaceX is cracking down on Starlink dish sales in countries where it doesn't have an official presence. The company recently sent emails to authorized Starlink resellers about revising the terms and conditions for offering the satellite internet service. SpaceX is now banning them from shipping Starlink hardware to countries where it doesn’t operate, even for display purposes, unless they get permission from SpaceX. (11/3)

New Report: Space Force Must Take ‘Decisive’ Steps Toward Dynamic Operations (Source: Air and Space Forces)
The Space Force should take bold, decisive steps—and soon—to develop the capabilities and architecture needed to support more dynamic operations in orbit and counter Chinese aggression and technological progress, according to a new report from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. (11/4)

Chinese Astronauts Enjoy 'Space BBQ' From New TSS Oven (Source: Space.com)
They may not have all the fixins, but the astronauts aboard China's Tiangong space station are sure eating well. A new oven delivered to Tiangong has been put to quick work by the six people currently living aboard the outpost, the astronauts of the Shenzhou 20 and Shenzhou 21 missions. (11/4)

Astronomers Observe How Magnetic Fields Shape New Planets (Source: Earth.com)
Astronomers have, for the first time, mapped magnetic fields inside a planet-forming disk and seen how those invisible forces shape the gas and dust into distinct patterns. The new study reveals a magnetic field about 10 milligauss in strength, gently guiding material around the young star TW Hydrae. (11/4)

Musk’s Plan for 100 GW of Compute in Orbit (Source: Mach 33)
Elon Musk’s pivot toward orbital-scale computing signals a major shift in focus from communication networks and Mars to large-scale data infrastructure in Earth orbit. By pursuing high-Earth-orbit compute platforms, he’s effectively embracing Gerard K. O’Neill’s vision of Earth orbit as an industrial and computational frontier.

Today’s orbital power (~0.00023 TW, mostly from Starlink) could rise to 0.10 TW in the near term, roughly matching global data-center demand by 2030, and eventually scale toward 100 TW once lunar-orbital infrastructure matures. Orbital compute capacity is constrained by a three-way balance between power generation, heat rejection, and compute density. Each must improve together: if one lags, the entire system stalls. Compute power per kilogram drives the biggest gains, but solar and thermal systems set the ceiling. (11/5)

November 5, 2025

French New Space Standout Hemeria Says GEO-Orbit Guard-Dog Satellites’ Launch Unlikely Before 2028 (Source: Space Intel Report)
Two small satellites designed to act as guard dogs stationed around larger French military telecommunications satellites in geostationary orbit are unlikely to be launched before 2028, four or five years later than initially planned, because of the complexity of requirements from both the French space agency, CNES, and the French Defense Ministry, prime contractor Hemeria said. Another factor in the delay is that the French government insisted that Yoda must be launched on an Ariane 6 rocket, which after accumulating operational delays now has a full manifest. (11/5)

China Postpones Astronauts’ Return From TSS After Suspected Debris Strikes (Source: SCMP)
China has postponed the return of the Shenzhou-20 space mission following a suspected impact by small space debris, the China Manned Space Agency said on Wednesday, adding that it was carrying out an impact analysis and risk assessment. (11/5)

Telesat Makes $5M Farcast User Terminal Investment, Reports Q3 Revenue Decline (Source: Via Satellite)
Telesat is making a $5 million U.S. dollar investment into flat panel antenna developer Farcast as it prepares for its Lightspeed network. The Canadian operator announced the investment on Tuesday along with its third quarter financial results, reporting 27% revenue decline year-over-year for its Geostationary Orbit (GEO) business.

Farcast is a San Francisco-based startup that has developed a proprietary Active Electronically Scanned Antenna (AESA) that can simultaneously transmit and receive data from the same aperture. Telesat has worked with the company since 2022 building and testing hardware to operate on the Lightspeed network. (11/4)

White House Renominates Isaacman to be NASA Administrator (Source: Space News)
The White House said it is renominating Jared Isaacman to be NASA administrator, the latest twist in an unprecedented saga over the agency’s leadership. The move comes a little more than five months after President Donald Trump abruptly withdrew the original nomination. The statement did not explain Trump's decision. The description of Isaacman was identical to what Trump wrote in December 2024 when he first announced his intent to nominate the billionaire businessman and private astronaut. Trump previously withdrew Isaacman's nomination because he had donated to democrats. (11/4)

AI Fixed the James Webb Space Telescope's Blurry Vision (Source: Space.com)
But a team of Australian researchers created an AI algorithm that fixes the problem — a major relief for the scientific community, which hopes to use the instrument to search for exoplanets around stars in our Milky Way galaxy.

The affected instrument is the Aperture Masking Interferometer (API), designed and built by a team of astronomers led by Professor Peter Tuthill from the University of Sydney in Australia. API is not one of the main four instruments on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) but a device that enables a special type of imaging on one of the observatory's main instruments — the Near-InfraRed Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS). (11/5)

Sun Unleashes 2 Colossal X-Class Solar Flares, Knocking Out Radio Signals Across the Americas and Pacific (Source: Space.com)
The sun has fired off not one but two colossal X-class solar flares in less than 12 hours, causing radio blackouts across the sunlit portion of Earth at the time of eruption and marking a dramatic uptick in solar activity. The first eruption, an X1.8-class flare, exploded from sunspot AR4274 and peaked at 12:34 p.m. EST. It triggered a strong R3 radio blackout across much of North and South America. A few hours later, at 5:02 p.m. EST, a second X.1.1-class flare erupted from a region still hidden beyond the sun's southeastern limb, triggering another strong radio blackout across the North Pacific Ocean, New Zealand and parts of eastern Australia. (11/5)

Reflecting Sunlight Into Space Could 'Buy Time' Against Global Warming - But Experts Warn of 'Rogue Nations' Risk (Source: Sky News)
Reducing the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth could take the edge off global warming and limit the damage caused by climate change, according to Britain's leading scientific body. But the Royal Society has warned that strategies aimed at bringing about these changes are not without risk. The society, which sparked the scientific revolution in the 17th century, said in a new report that bold new technology for reflecting sunlight back into space could "buy time" for cuts in fossil fuel emissions to take effect.

It said two strategies - pumping reflective particles high in the atmosphere and spraying salt into clouds over the sea to make them whiter - are likely to be effective, as well as technically feasible. But the report's authors warn a rogue nation going alone, and attempting to dim sunlight in one region, could cause extreme droughts and other weather disturbances elsewhere in the world. (11/5)

Astronomer Captures 2 Meteors Slamming Into the Moon (Source: Space.com)
Two bright meteors were caught slamming into the moon on Thursday (Oct. 30) and Saturday (Nov. 1), by Japanese astronomer Daichi Fujii, curator of the Hiratsuka City Museum. The flashes, visible from Earth for just a split second, were caused by space rocks striking the lunar surface at high speed, producing brief but brilliant explosions of light. (11/4)

LambdaVision Closes $7M Seed Round to Make Retinas in LEO (Source: Payload)
A biotech company hoping that space can help some people on Earth regain their vision closed a $7M seed round on Wednesday. LambdaVision said the funding will allow it to continue operations through 2027, including scaling up manufacturing in LEO for artificial retinas. Seven Seven Six and Aurelia Foundry Fund led the round, which also included participation by Seraphim Space. (11/5)

Portal Unveils Starburst, Set for Flight Next Year (Source: Payload)
Portal Space Systems has a new craft hitting the market, and it’s set to fly for the first time next year. The Washington-based space maneuverability startup has unveiled Starburst, an ESPA-class vehicle that can maneuver payloads in orbit. Starburst was initially designed as a way to de-risk thruster and rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) tech that would be used on Supernova, the company’s larger planned inter-orbit shuttle. However, Portal found that customers were interested in the smaller Starburst architecture for its ability to maneuver precisely within a given orbit, and spun the de-risking vehicle out into its own product for hire. (11/5)

Artemis Accords By the Numbers (Source: Payload)
The US led the establishment of the Artemis Accords in 2020. Nations who sign on commit to exploring space in a peaceful, transparent, and sustainable way. The accords celebrated their fifth anniversary last month. As of Nov. 4, 60 nations have signed on to the accords, representing every continent except for Antarctica. Europe has the most signatories, with 29 nations represented, while Oceania (which has far fewer nations than Europe) has the fewest with just two. 2024 was a banner year for the agreement, with 19 nations signing onto the accords—the most number of additions in a year.

Editor's Note: Are Artemis Accords signatories committed to working with a NASA-led lunar program, as opposed to working with China? No. The Artemis Accords don't explicitly prohibit signatories from working with China's lunar program. At least two Artemis nations are also working with China's International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) initiative, including Thailand and Senegal. Also, multiple European signatories supported China's Chang'e lunar missions. (11/4)

Space Force Fields L3Harris, CACI Satellite Jammers (Source: SCMP)
The US Space Force is set to deploy the L3Harris Meadowlands system and Remote Sensing Terminals built by Northstrat and CACI International, systems designed to disrupt Chinese and Russian surveillance satellites. The deployments come in addition to the Counter Communications System jammer, which became operational in 2020, and will be dispersed globally. (11/5)
 
Raytheon Software to Enhance UK Space Operations (Source: Electronic Weekly)
The UK Space Agency has contracted Raytheon UK to supply NORSSTrack software to enhance its space domain awareness capabilities. The software will be used at the National Space Operations Centre at Royal Air Force Base High Wycombe to map and track satellites and monitor potential collisions and debris. (11/5)

Accelerate U.S. Lunar Exploration with a Robotic Sample Return Campaign (Source: Space News)
A realistic and cost-effective path for the United States to advance the exploration and development of the moon, and to keep our nation in the forefront of that enterprise, is to dramatically increase robotic exploration efforts and to focus with urgency on a comprehensive campaign to collect and return geologic samples from a wide range of locations on the moon. (11/5)

Telesat Lightspeed Satellites to Begin Deployment in Late 2026 (Source: Space News)
Telesat plans to launch the first satellites for its Lightspeed constellation late next year. The company said in an earnings call Tuesday that two pathfinder satellites would launch in December 2026, followed by 96 satellites in 2027 that will provide initial broadband services globally. The two pathfinder satellites are designed to confirm ground tests of the spacecraft, being built by MDA Space. Telesat signed a contract with SpaceX in 2023 for 14 launches to deploy a 198-satellite constellation. Telesat is counting on Lightspeed to offset declining revenues from its traditional GEO satellite business. (11/5)

SES Leases Capacity to Meet Aircraft Connectivity Demand (Source: Space News)
SES is turning to another satellite operator to help it meet demand for aircraft connectivity services. SES said Tuesday it is leasing the entire Ku-band capacity on SKY Perfect JSAT’s Superbird-C2, an aging geostationary satellite launched over Japan in August 2008. Superbird-C2 will move from 144 degrees east to another orbital slot over Japan that the company did not disclose. Services are expected to start this winter. SES plans to use the satellite to provide extra capacity needed to meet growing demand for inflight connectivity services in Asia. (11/5)

Ariane 6 Launches Sentinel-1D Satellite (Source: Space News)
An Ariane 6 successfully launched an Earth observation satellite Tuesday. The Ariane 62 lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana, at 4:02 p.m. Eastern and deployed the Sentinel-1D satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit a little more than a half-hour later. Sentinel-1D carries a synthetic aperture radar payload for the Copernicus Earth observation program. The 2,184-kilogram satellite is similar to Sentinel-1C, which launched last December on a smaller Vega C rocket. European officials said they chose to launch Sentinel-1D on Ariane 6 because that was the fastest option to get it into orbit and replace the aging Sentinel-1A satellite. (11/5)

Canada Plans Major Investment in Spaceport (Source: SpaceQ)
The Canadian government is proposing to invest in developing its own launch capability. A federal budget proposal released Tuesday included $182.6 million Canadian ($129.2 million) for work on a sovereign launch capability. The funds would be spent over the next three years, but the budget did not include details on how it would be spent. The funding is part of broader investment in building up the Canadian military. (11/5)

Blue Skies Space Offers Cubesat Telescope Data for Sale (Source: Science)
A startup is allowing astronomers to buy data from a small space telescope. Blue Skies Space said it will sell data collected by Mauve, a 16U cubesat with a 13-centimeter telescope collecting optical and ultraviolet observations. Mauve is scheduled to launch later this month on a SpaceX rideshare mission. Blue Skies Space is offering annual subscriptions to data from Mauve, with nine research groups signing on so far. If successful, the company plans to develop Twinkle, a larger spacecraft with a 50-centimeter telescope for studying exoplanets. (11/5)

Tingle Becomes NASA's Top Astronaut (Source: Collect Space)
NASA has a new chief astronaut. Scott Tingle is taking over this week as head of the astronaut office at the Johnson Space Center. He succeeds Joe Acaba, who is moving into a new role as a technical adviser to JSC director Vanessa Wyche. Tingle spent 166 days on the ISS in 2018 and for a time was slated to command Starliner-1, the first operational mission of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner, before problems with the spacecraft delayed that flight. (11/5)

Laser-Powered Networks Set to Transform Coordination of Future Satellite Constellations (Source: Space Daily)
The University of Michigan, supported by a $2 million grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, has launched a three-year research project aimed at enabling satellites in orbit to exchange power and momentum using laser links. The initiative, named ORACLE (Orbital Architectures for Cooperative Laser Energetics), seeks to augment existing laser-based data interlinks with new modes for transferring energy and facilitating fuel-free satellite maneuvers. (11/4)

Protein Production Tested in Microgravity for Sustainable Space Missions (Source: Space Daily)
European Space Agency (ESA) has initiated the study phase of the HOBI-WAN project, aimed at addressing astronaut food supply on extended Moon or Mars missions without Earth resupply. Funded by ESA's Terrae Novae Exploration Programme, HOBI-WAN (Hydrogen Oxidizing Bacteria In Weightlessness As a source of Nutrition) will test Solar Foods' gas fermentation technology for producing Solein protein powder in microgravity on the ISS. OHB System AG is the Prime Contractor, collaborating with Solar Foods to adapt the fermentation process for space conditions. (11/4)

Florida Space Coast Set to Break Launch Record (Source: Space Daily)
Five launches are planned this week at the two space complexes in central Florida, including doubleheaders on Wednesday and Saturday involving three companies. The missions at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport would break the record of 93 in one year from Florida's Space Coast. There have already been 91 launches. (11/3)

The U.S. Shouldn’t Simply Race to Lagrange Points (Source: Space News)
From the first satellite in orbit, to the first human in space, to the first steps on the moon, the United States government has always framed space exploration as a race. As U.S.-China space competition intensifies, so too does our American instinct to reach the next first. The Earth-moon Lagrange points may be next. In 2024, the U.S. House Select Committee on the China adopted the most definitive U.S. guidance yet on these special locations in cislunar space: “ensure that the United States is the first country to permanently station assets at all Lagrange points,” as part of a broader strategy to “counter [China’s] malign ambitions in space.” (11/4)

Germany's Reflex Aerospace Raises €50M (Source: Payload)
German satellite manufacturer Reflex Aerospace closed a €50M ($57.5M) Series A to expand its production capacity and meet the rising demand for European-made sats. Reflex will use the capital to expand the manufacturing capacity at its facility in Bavaria, which will be able to churn out 60 to 70 highly complex satellites per year, according to CEO Walter Ballheimer. (11/4)

For New Lunar Collaboration, Look to India and Japan (Source: Space News)
The renewed interest in the moon can arguably be traced back to the 2009 discovery of water ice on the lunar surface. Much of the narrative in the intervening decade and a half has been set to a background score of a military drumroll slowly gathering pace. The competing visions vis-à-vis lunar exploration and exploitation have pitted two international coalitions against each other — the United States and its partners on one hand, and China, Russia and their partners on the other — and that dichotomy has dictated much of the conversation around the second lunar race. (11/4)

Chasing Falcon 9: China’s New Launch Vehicles Gear Up (Sources: Spacewatch Global, SPACErePORT)
As the deployment of low-Earth-orbit satellite-internet constellations enters a critical phase, demand for high-capacity, low-cost launch has soared. Despite this, production ramp-up of the state-built Long March series of rockets has not kept pace with demand, with SOEs preferring a “slow and steady” approach that prioritizes reliability over rapid iteration.

This has led to the exploration and development of new facilities and processes (such as the "test-and-launch pulse" model) to increase the launch cadence of vehicles like the Long March 8A to meet demand. To help bridge this gap, China is encouraging the development of its commercial space sector, with private companies like Landspace, Space Pioneer, and Galactic Energy developing their own reusable medium-lift launch vehicles (e.g., Zhuque-3, Tianlong-3, Pallas-1) that are benchmarked against the Falcon 9 and expected to debut around 2025-2026. (11/4)

Geopolitical Shifts and AI Reshapes Earth Observation Market (Source: Space News)
Over the past year, geopolitical tensions have prompted nations to seek sovereign observation capabilities, fueling demand for commercial EO solutions. This surge has pushed the EO data market to $2.2 billion in 2024, growing at a 7% CAGR since 2019, with defense applications accounting for over 65% of data demand. Simultaneously, the EO Value-Added Services (VAS) market reached $3.2 billion, also growing at 7% CAGR, and projected to reach $5 billion by 2034.

The next frontier in EO lies in data fusion, the seamless integration of multi-sensor inputs into actionable intelligence. This evolution is giving rise to specialized service providers capable of orchestrating complex, multi-source architectures. These market advancements see security emerging as a strategic imperative. Technologies such as quantum key distribution and secure data relay are becoming essential to protect EO data integrity and ensure resilient communications across increasingly interconnected networks. (11/4)

Intuitive Machines Secures AFRL Contract Extension for In-Space Nuclear Power Tech (Source: Spacewatch Global)
Intuitive Machines has announced an $8.2 million contract extension from the U.S. AFRL to develop nuclear power systems for spacecraft and lunar infrastructure. The award builds on Intuitive Machines’ earlier $9.5 million progress under a previous AFRL program, an initiative by AFRL to develop compact nuclear power systems for space applications. (11/4)

Vodafone IoT Partners with Iridium to Provide its Customers with NTN NB-IoT Connectivity (Source: Iridium)
Iridium Communications announced a new partnership with Vodafone IoT to integrate its Iridium NTN Direct service. The new partnership will extend Vodafone IoT's coverage for customers wanting NB-IoT connectivity – meaning that devices in the most remote locations will now be connected. (11/4)

Experience, Not Funding, is Hindering European Smallsat Launchers (Sources: Space News, SPACErePORT)
Increasing tensions with Russia have prompted defense spending boosts throughout Europe that will benefit fledgling smallsat launcher companies across the continent. But Europe is still years away from meeting its own space access needs, analysts said. Analysts indicate the primary hindrance is a lack of flight heritage and operational experience, not a lack of funding.

European smallsat companies, such as Rocket Factory Augsburg, HyImpulse, Isar Aerospace, and Orbex, have secured healthy amounts of funding through a mix of private investment and government grants, but none have yet completed a successful orbital flight. The main challenges they face are technical difficulties and a need for proven operational experience.

The reliance on foreign launchers, particularly amidst global political volatility, has intensified calls for European "strategic autonomy" in space. The European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission are pushing initiatives, like the "European Launcher Challenge" and the proposed EU Space Act, to foster a competitive, internal market and ensure independent access to space. (11/4)