February 2, 2025

Two Launches. Two Companies. Two Billionaires (Source: Aerospace America)
The debut of Jeff Bezos’ New Glenn rocket design vividly illustrated the contrast between Blue Origin’s “step by step, ferociously” approach and the “break it till you make it” philosophy that Elon Musk and SpaceX have embraced for the Starship-Super Heavy vehicles. Click here. (2/2)

Satellite Servicing Companies Face Reality Check (Source: Space News)
Space companies that specialize in satellite servicing and debris removal are making a renewed push into commercial markets and trying to prove the economic viability of their services, executives said. Companies are caught in a challenging cycle: The Pentagon, long viewed as a potential anchor customer, wants to see more mature technology before committing significant funding, while commercial satellite operators remain skeptical about the cost-effectiveness of extending their satellites’ lives rather than simply replacing them. (2/1)

India Turns to Private Sector for Rocket Launches (Source: Financial Times)
India aims to mirror the success of Nasa and Elon Musk’s SpaceX by turning to the private sector to build rockets and satellites, according to the head of a government space agency. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government plans to use private start-ups to manufacture launch vehicles formerly produced by ISRO, India’s national space agency, said Pawan Goenka, chair of IN-SPACe, which is overseeing the private sector’s push into space. The country also aims to become a “global leader” in the export of small satellites. (2/1)

SpaceX Launches More Starlinks From Foggy Vandenberg SFB (Source: KVTA)
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket Saturday afternoon from Vandenberg SFB in northwestern Santa Barbara County. The payload was 22 Starlink satellites headed for low earth orbit. This was the 17th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched SDA-0A, SARah-2, Transporter-11, and 13 Starlink missions. (2/1)

Japan Successfully Launches Flagship H3 Rocket for More Precise GPS (Source: Kyodo News)
Japan on Sunday successfully launched a flagship H3 rocket and put into orbit a quasi-zenith satellite, aiming to improve the accuracy of global positioning data for various applications. The No. 5 H3 rocket marked its fourth consecutive successful liftoff following a failed debut in 2023, carrying the No. 6 Michibiki satellite to enhance positioning accuracy by operating alongside previously launched satellites, reducing errors to just a few centimeters. (2/2)

How Much Did SpaceX's Starship Flight 7 Explosion Pollute the Atmosphere? (Source: Space.com)
The rapid unscheduled disassembly (aka explosion) of SpaceX's Starship megarocket that rained scorching fragments of metal across the Caribbean in mid-January may have released significant amounts of harmful air-pollution into the upper layers of Earth's atmosphere. The rocket's upper stage blew up at an altitude of around 90 miles according to astronomer and space debris expert Jonathan McDowell, and weighed some 85 tons without propellant.

Its plunge back to Earth through the atmosphere may have generated 45.5 metric tons of metal oxides and 40 metric tons of nitrogen oxides, according to University College London atmospheric chemistry researcher Connor Barker. Nitrogen oxides in particular are known for their potential to damage Earth's protective ozone layer.

Barker stressed that the numbers are a rough, preliminary estimate rather than an accurate calculation of the accident's environmental impact. The scientist said that the amount of metallic air pollution potentially produced in the accident equals that generated by one third of meteorite material that burns up in Earth's atmosphere every year. (2/2)

Industry Executives Predict “More Thoughtful” New Wave of Space Deals (Source: Space News)
Space company executives project a new wave of investment and consolidation in the industry that one called a “more thoughtful” version of the previous surge five years ago. Representatives of several companies said they were seeing signs of both renewed investment in the industry as well as potential merger and acquisition (M&A) activity.

“I think we are entering a more thoughtful version of 2020 from an industry perspective,” said Andrew Rush, co-founder and chief executive of Star Catcher, a space-to-space power beaming company that raised more than $12 million last year. Rush is the former chief executive of Made In Space, a space 3D-printing company acquired by Redwire. (2/1)

Safety Panel Urges NASA to Reassess Artemis Mission Objectives to Reduce Risk (Source: Space News)
A safety panel is calling on NASA to reassess to plans for upcoming Artemis missions, arguing that the agency is packing too many objectives into each mission. At a Jan. 30 public meeting of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), members reiterated past concerns about the number of first-time objectives planned for Artemis 3, the first crewed lunar landing of the overall campaign, and later missions. (2/1)

The Mars Dream Is Back — Here’s How to Make It Actually Happen (Source: New Atlantis)
As far as meeting the central political and technical conditions for making a bold reach to the Red Planet are concerned, it’s game on. First and foremost, NASA, the government agency that one would expect to lead such an endeavor, is currently not competent to do so. And while SpaceX is far more competent, it should not be put into the position of executing a Mars mission alone, as some would like.

NASA needs to be leading the effort because America should go to Mars, not just a private space enterprise. But to effectively lead human space exploration, NASA first needs to be fixed. Click here. (1/31)

NASA Becomes Latest Federal Agency to Block China’s DeepSeek on ‘Security and Privacy Concerns’ (Source: CNBC)
NASA is the latest federal agency to ban use of China’s DeepSeek AI technology by employees and block access to the platform, CNBC has learned. NASA personnel were informed of the rule in a memo on Friday from the agency’s chief artificial intelligence officer. The memo said DeepSeek’s servers “operate outside of the United States, raising national security and privacy concerns.” (1/31)

The Sky is Not Falling: Why Trump May Not Need the Space Council Anyway (Source: Breaking Defense)
Since the inauguration of President Donald Trump to his second term, close observers of American endeavors in space seem to be wringing their hands over the potential dis-establishment of the National Space Council. The council, established in the late 1980s but dormant for many years before its 2017 revival by an executive order by Trump and continued through the Biden years, was designed to “[synchronize] the nation’s civil, commercial, and national security space activities to advance the broader priorities” of the United States in space, according to a Biden-era fact sheet.

But media rumors suggest Trump could ax the council, egged on by lobbying from Elon Musk’s SpaceX, according to Reuters. That, in turn, has prompted concerns related to how “we need a National Space Council to chart our future in outer space.” There are several layers to this argument, but the long and short of it is that it’s overblown. (1/31)

Former Head of Boeing’s Starliner Program Returns to Role (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
A familiar face is once again leading the Starliner development and mission execution work. On Thursday, a Boeing spokesperson confirmed that John Mulholland is back in the role of vice president of the company’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP), which manages work involving the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft.

He previously served in the role from 2011 to 2020 when he became the VP and program manager for Boeing’s International Space Station program. He oversaw the initial development of the CST-100 before it was named “Starliner” and managed the program through the inaugural flight of the spacecraft: the Orbital Flight Test (OFT) in 2019. (1/31)