July 3, 2025

All Points and Quantum Space Strike Payload Processing Agreement for Ranger Missions (Source: Space Coast News)
Quantum Space has selected Florida-based All Points Logistics for spacecraft processing services for future Ranger missions. Beginning in 2026, All Points’ new “Space Prep” service will support pre-launch Ranger integration and checkout in specialized facilities at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. The Ranger spacecraft is an advanced, maneuverable, mission-adaptable platform designed to deliver space superiority across defense and commercial missions and extend the life and value of critical orbital assets for commercial and government satellites. (6/30)

Growing Evidence for Evolving Dark Energy Could Inspire a New Model of the Universe (Source: Space Daily)
The South Pole Telescope is a 10-metre telescope with 16,000 detectors sensitive to millimeter-wavelength light, located at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica. Our international team collected data over two years with the main instrument. We analyzed this data, which covers 1/25th of the sky, to make precise measurements of temperature and polarization patterns caused by the distribution of matter in the cosmic microwave background of the early Universe.

We combined the maps of the early Universe from the South Pole Telescope with observations of the 3D distribution of galaxies made previously by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) collaboration. What we saw in the DESI experiments, and now strengthened by our South Pole Telescope observations, is that dark energy is becoming weaker with time, or time-evolving. Dark energy's acceleration of the Universe's expansion may stop far in the future. (7/2)

European Students Complete Immersive Analog Mars Mission in Portugal (Source: Space Daily)
This pioneering analog mission, part of the EU-backed EXPLORE project, has brought a cohort of European high school students out of isolation following their participation in a simulated Mars expedition in Monsaraz, Portugal. Launched in 2023 under the Erasmus+ program, EXPLORE-short for EXpeditionary Program for Learning OppoRtunities in analog space Exploration-seeks to ignite interest in STEAM fields through experiential learning in space analog environments. (7/2)

Chinese 3D Printing System Uses Lunar Soil to Construct Habitats (Source: Space Daily)
A pioneering 3D printing technology developed by Chinese researchers is enabling the creation of lunar structures using only soil collected directly from the Moon, eliminating the need to transport building materials from Earth. Engineers at China's Deep Space Exploration Laboratory have built a working prototype of a lunar regolith 3D printer. The device utilizes a reflective concentrator and fiber-optic transmission system to focus solar energy at temperatures sufficient to melt lunar soil for construction. (7/2)

New Alloy is Enabling Ultra-Stable Structures Needed for Exoplanet Discovery (Source: Space Daily)
Achieving this extreme contrast ratio will require a telescope that is 1,000 times more stable than state-of-the-art space-based observatories like NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and its forthcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. New sensors, system architectures, and materials must be integrated and work in concert for future mission success.

A team from the company ALLVAR is collaborating with NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to demonstrate how integration of a new material with unique negative thermal expansion characteristics can help enable ultra-stable telescope structures. A unique new material that shrinks when it is heated and expands when it is cooled could help enable the ultra-stable space telescopes that future NASA missions require to search for habitable worlds. (7/2)

Space Cargo Unlimited Secures €12.5M for BentoBox In-Orbit Platform (Source: European Spaceflight)
Luxembourg-based Space Cargo Unlimited has secured €12.5 million in funding from the European Innovation Council Accelerator to advance the development of its BentoBox in-orbit testing and manufacturing platform. In October 2022, Space Cargo Unlimited announced a partnership with Thales Alenia Space to develop REV-1, a returnable platform designed to support in-orbit manufacturing and microgravity research. (7/3)

Colorado Aerospace Leaders, Stakeholders Back NASA Funding (Source: Daily Camera)
Colorado aerospace leaders have sent a letter to Colorado’s congressional delegation urging them to maintain funding for space science and workforce training programs at NASA in the next fiscal year and beyond. The joint letter signed by aerospace company leaders and industry stakeholders, including Lockheed Martin and ULA, notes that Colorado is home “to some of the nation’s top university aerospace programs.”

More than 55,000 people are directly employed and another 184,000 people are indirectly employed by the state’s aerospace industry, the letter says, adding that NASA contracts support 21,600 jobs and $190 million in state tax revenue. In the 2023 fiscal year alone, those contracts generated more than $5 billion in economic activity.

Other companies and business groups signing onto the letter are Colorado Space Coalition, Aerospace States Association – Colorado Chapter, Colorado Space Business Roundtable, Citizens for Space Exploration, Astroscale, Ursa Major, Advanced Space, and Red Canyon. (7/2)

NGA Awards Millions to BlackSky, Maxar, Ursa, Others for Satellite Imagery and Analytics (Source: Space News)
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has awarded more than $70 million in contracts to commercial satellite imagery and analytics firms. NGA said Wednesday the awards were part of its Luno program, a new initiative aimed at expanding the integration of artificial intelligence and commercial data into national security operations. Among the largest awards, BlackSky secured a $24.4 million Luno A contract for facility and object monitoring. Other companies receiving awards included Maxar Intelligence, Ursa Space Systems and Geospatial. (7/3)

Boeing Completes More O3b mPower Satellites, Electrical Issues Resolved (Source: Space News)
Boeing has completed more O3b mPower satellites with fixes to their power systems that may no longer be needed. The ninth and tenth satellites for the SES next-generation medium Earth orbit constellation recently left manufacturing facilities in California and will launch later this summer on a Falcon 9 from Florida.

Like the seventh and eighth satellites launched in December, the latest duo carries redesigned power modules to address electrical issues that hampered the first six O3b mPower spacecraft already in MEO. However, SES said earlier this year that severe solar storms last year helped clear a buildup of protons that had been triggering sporadic power module failures on the satellites. According to industry sources, the electric anomalies have not returned since the storms, although there is no guarantee the issue won’t recur. (7/3)

DARPA: Decreasing Launch Costs, New Analysis Led it to Cancel DRACO Nuclear Propulsion Project (Source: Space News)
DARPA said it canceled a nuclear thermal propulsion program because of changing technologies and requirements. DARPA had been working with NASA on the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) since early 2023, but NASA revealed in its budget request in May that DARPA had canceled the program. DARPA Deputy Director Rob McHenry said on a recent webinar that the agency concluded that decreasing launch costs reduced the efficiency gains that DRACO would have provided, while a recent study found that an alternative approach, nuclear electric propulsion, might be more effective. DARPA added that “infrastructure barriers” for testing DRACO also played a role in the cancellation decision. (7/3)

UK's Open Cosmos Acquires Portugal's Connected (Source: Space News)
British smallsat maker Open Cosmos has acquired Connected, a Portuguese startup developing satellite connectivity technologies. Connected raised $2 million in pre-seed funding soon after being founded in 2023 with plans to use spare space on third-party satellites for a network connecting remote, off-the-grid Internet of Things (IoT) devices using 5G technologies. Connected was working on a new round when Open Cosmos approached them about an acquisition.  Connected will now be Open Cosmos’ dedicated IoT connectivity unit, strengthening the British manufacturer’s capabilities alongside its Earth observation and data services. (7/3)

Atomic-6 Wins Space Force Contract for Solar Power Array (Source: Space News)
Composite materials startup Atomic-6 won a Space Force agreement to advance its solar power array technology. The company said Wednesday it won a $2 million Tactical Funding Increase agreement to allow it to test and qualify its “Light Wing” solar array designed for energy-intensive operations in orbit. Of interest to the military is the solar array’s “stow and redeploy” design which would allow satellites conducting close-proximity operations near other spacecraft to stow its arrays to reduce collision risk, then redeploy them once in a safer orbit. (7/3)

Latitude Gets New Facility to Produce Zephyr Rocket (Source: Space News)
Latitude is expanding its ability to produce a small launch vehicle. The French startup said Wednesday it reached a deal to convert a former AstaZeneca facility in the city of Reims into a factory for building its Zephyr rocket. Once fully built out, the new facility will be able to produce up to 50 rockets a year. Latitude is planning a first launch of Zephyr from French Guiana as soon as the third quarter of 2026 and recently announced several contracts and agreements with European customers. (7/3)

York Teams with Rockies with Patch (Source: MLB.com)
The Colorado Rockies hope to get a boost from York Space Systems. The Denver-based satellite manufacturer has signed a deal with the Major League Baseball team, becoming the “jersey patch” sponsor. A patch with the York logo will be on the sleeves of Rockies’ jerseys under the deal, which runs through 2030. York will be the “exclusive aerospace partner” of the Rockies with other sponsorship opportunities. York is the first space company to enter into a jersey sponsorship deal with any major professional sports team. The Rockies can use any help they can get: the team is currently on a pace for about 125 losses this season, a league record. (7/3)

SpaceX Rocket Sets Reuse Record on 500th Falcon 9 Launch (Source: Space.com)
SpaceX conducted its 500th Falcon 9 rocket launch early this morning (July 2) and broke its own reuse record in the process. The milestone mission lifted off with 27 Starlink satellites at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. Booster 1067 landed on the drone ship "A Shortfall of Gravitas". It was the 29th successful recovery for this stage, three more than any other in SpaceX's fleet. It was the 472nd Falcon 9 first stage landing since December 2015, and the 439th reuse of a SpaceX rocket. (7/2)

New Interstellar Object Candidate Heading Toward the Sun (Source: Earthsky)
There’s a new object in the solar system headed toward the sun, and it may have come from interstellar space. We only know of two other interstellar objects that have entered into our solar system before, ‘Oumuamua and Comet 2I/Borisov. Currently named A11pl3Z, this object has a trajectory that suggests it didn’t originate inside our own solar system. It’s likely either a comet or an asteroid, but it’s too soon (and too far away) at this point to say with any certainty.

The International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center added the object to their Near-Earth Object confirmation list on July 1, 2025. The object is also on NASA/JPL’s website for Near-Earth Object Confirmation Page under A11pl3Z. Despite being listed as a near-Earth object, there is no fear of it hitting Earth or even coming particularly close. (7/2)

Physicists Start To Pin Down How Stars Forge Heavy Atoms (Source: Quanta)
Scientists have a solid understanding of how stars forge the elements on the periodic table up to iron. But the processes that give rise to heavier elements — zinc, lead, barium, gold and the rest — are more elusive. Now, tangible results have emerged in a field replete with postulates and presumptions.

The FRIB lab is currently replicating one of the three main processes by which heavy elements are thought to form, and homing in on where this “intermediate neutron-capture process,” or i-process, occurs. The lab also plans to re-create one of the other two processes as well, the one that yields “jewelry shop elements” such as platinum and gold. (7/1)

ArianeGroup Completes Key Prometheus Rocket Engine Tests (Source: European Spaceflight)
European rocket builder ArianeGroup has announced that it completed a series of Prometheus rocket engine test ignitions on 20 June, marking a key milestone in the program. Developed under a European Space Agency contract, Prometheus is a reusable rocket engine capable of producing around 100 tonnes of thrust. It is designed to be manufactured at a fraction of the cost of current European engines, with the use of additive manufacturing playing a key role in reducing production costs. (7/2)