August 3, 2025

Space Force's Next Spaceplane Mission Will Test Navigation Without GPS Using Quantum Sensors (Source: Jalopnik)
The Space Force (and the Air Force before it) have been flying the Boeing X-37B spaceplane drone since 2010, demonstrating how advanced vehicles like this could maneuver on orbit and testing out a variety of advanced equipment. Now, the Space Force has announced the next (eighth) mission of the craft, launching on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on August 21. Its objective: to test quantum sensors and lasers in space.

Researchers hope to use atom interferometry to track how the vehicle has moved with exacting precision. So long as you know your origin point, you can therefore always know where you are, no GPS satellites required. This is useful if, say, an enemy is trying to jam your navigation. (7/31)

Scientists Propose a Bold New Theory About the Universe’s Origins (Source: SciTech Daily)
A team of researchers has introduced a groundbreaking new theory about how the Universe began. Unlike many traditional models, this new approach avoids relying on speculative or unproven assumptions. Instead, it begins with a well-established cosmic state called De Sitter space, which is consistent with current observations of dark energy. It suggests that natural quantum fluctuations in space-time, gravitational waves, were sufficient to seed the small density differences that eventually gave rise to galaxies, stars, and planets. (7/26)

Thousands of Space, Defense Leaders Converging on Huntsville (Source: AL.com)
U.S. Space Command will be coming to Huntsville next week. No, the White House has not announced the anticipated move to the Rocket City. But leaders from Space Command will be among thousands of space and defense industry leaders in town for the 28th Space and Missile Defense Symposium Tuesday through Thursday at the Von Braun Center. (8/1)

Astronomers Discover a Planet Orbiting the “Wrong Way” (Source: SciTech Daily)
Astronomers have confirmed the existence of a rare, retrograde-orbiting planet in a tight binary star system. Most stars throughout the Universe are part of binary or multiple star systems. In these systems, a nearby companion star can make it difficult for planets to form and remain in stable orbits around just one of the stars. (8/1)

EchoStar Orders Initial MDA Satellites for $5 Billion LEO Constellation (Source: Space News)
EchoStar has placed a $1.3 billion order with MDA Space for the first 100 satellites of a $5 billion direct-to-device (D2D) connectivity constellation, even as regulatory scrutiny of the company’s spectrum licenses threatens to push it into bankruptcy. (8/1)

Space Force Aims to Share Classified Threat Info with Industry (Source: Air and Space Forces)
The Space Force’s neighborhood watch-style initiative to share information with the private sector about threats to space assets will eventually grow to include classified intelligence, the general in charge said last week. SSC oversees Front Door, the service’s single point of contact for the space industry, and Front Door launched the Orbital Watch program in April to share threat intelligence with space asset owners and operators.

Initially, Orbital Watch briefings are including only general declassified threat intelligence products on a quarterly basis. But at last week’s ASCEND space industry event, Garrant noted that some companies in the sector have executives and even offices that are cleared to handle classified material. He predicted that eventually Orbital Watch will be able to brief companies on specific threats they face, even when the need to protect intelligence sources and methods means the warnings can’t be declassified. (8/1)

How the Trump-Musk Feud Could Reshape Space Policy and Rein in SpaceX (Source: National Interest)
A full nationalization of SpaceX, as Steve Bannon suggested, would be politically explosive, legally problematic, and expensive, given the market capitalization of the company is estimated at around $400 billion. The Defense Production Act would have to be significantly reinterpreted, or Congress would have to invoke the Fifth Amendment “takings clause” in an unprecedented manner, still requiring that the company is bought for a reasonable price.

Instead, Congress should force a partial sale of Musk’s 79 percent controlling stake. This would not be without precedent. In 2024, Congress compelled TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell its American operations, citing national security and privacy concerns over American user data. Now, there is more than enough political will to force a partial divestment of SpaceX. Trump’s loyalists in Congress, combined with the Democratic caucus, which would undoubtedly support this sale, would be enough to pass a bill that could force Musk to sell at least 30 percent of his voting power.

But rather than having these shares bought by different private investors or foreign entities, which could further exacerbate the national security issues linked to the company, the US government could simply buy the shares itself. The Pentagon has already secured a $205 billion procurement budget for 2026, more than enough to fund the acquisition. (8/1)

WARN Act Notices Coming to NASA Contractors for Mass Layoffs (Source: NASA Watch)
The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires employers to provide 60 days advance written notice of mass layoffs. FY 2025 ends on 30 September and FY 2026 begins on 1 October. So if presidential directives are going to be implemented legally, would not WARN notices start to be sent out to employees on 1 August i.e. Friday?

I have learned that NASA Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility contractors (Peraton) have received WARN letters. Significant contractor cuts (15-20% overall) are coming at the NASA Shared Services Center and WARN letters are going out. Also, NASA Goddard WARN notices are arriving with contractor employees: “We anticipate that the separations will become effective on October 1, 2025." (8/1)

The Military’s Squad of Satellite Trackers is Now Routinely Going on Alert (Source: Ars Technica)
The Space Force has an array of sensors scattered around the world to detect and track satellites and space debris. The 18th and 19th Space Defense Squadrons, which were both under Col. Raj Agrawal's command at Mission Delta 2, are the units responsible for this work. His command pulls together open source information, such as airspace and maritime warning notices, to know when a launch might be scheduled.

This is not unlike how outside observers, like hobbyist trackers and space reporters, get a heads-up that something is about to happen. These notices tell you when a launch might occur, where it will take off from, and which direction it will go. What's different for the Space Force is access to top-secret intelligence that might clue military officials in on what the rocket is actually carrying. China, in particular, often declares that its satellites are experimental, when Western analysts believe they are designed to support military activities.

That's when US forces swing into action. Sometimes, military forces go on alert. Commanders develop plans to detect, track, and target the objects associated with a new launch, just in case they are "hostile," Agrawal said. (8/1)

Russia's Charm Offensive with NASA Gets Little US Coverage (Source: Ars Technica)
Notably, NASA has provided almost no coverage of the Roscosmos visit at KSC. However, the state-operated Russian news service, TASS, has published multiple updates. For example, on Thursday at KSC, TASS reported that Bakanov and Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy discussed the future of the International Space Station.
 
During their meetings Duffy and Bakanov also discussed plans to deorbit the space station in 2030 and potential collaborations beyond 2030. Prior to Bakanov's visit it was thought that NASA and Roscosmos might cease relations entirely after the space station's demise, but now it seems that some kind of partnership might still be possible, although it is not clear what format this might take.

What is clear about Bakanov's visit is that he has embarked on a sort of charm offensive with NASA, and with the multiple TASS reports wants to be sure his audience in Russia knows that Roscosmos is seeking to reestablish warm relations with NASA. (8/1)

Space Entrepreneurs See Defense Projects as a Future Frontier for Funding and Innovation (Source: Geekwire)
Will the Golden Dome be a golden opportunity for commercial space ventures? That may be a bit of an exaggeration. But at a Seattle Tech Week presentation on the space industry, a panel of entrepreneurs agreed that military projects — including a plan to create a missile defense shield along the lines of Israel’s Iron Dome by as early as 2028 — seem to be the most promising vehicles for getting commercial space ventures off the ground.

Part of the reason for that has to do with the uncertainty that’s currently surrounding America’s civilian space program. At the same time that the White House is pushing plans for the $175 billion Golden Dome project, it’s seeking to trim billions of dollars from NASA’s budget. (8/1)

Draft Trump EO Would Loosen Commercial Space Regs, Citing National Security Links (Source: Breaking Defense)
A draft White House executive order (EO) would lift licensing rules deemed by the commercial space industry to be onerous, as well as ease the advent of new types of space activities — many of which are of interest to the Pentagon. While happy with what they have been hearing about the draft EO, several space industry sources say they are a bit disappointed that the administration has not shared it with industry or asked for input.

President Trump is expected to sign off on the EO sometime within the next couple of weeks, these sources said. Noting the criticality of commercial space to national defense, the order, obtained by Breaking Defense, explains that the goal is to eliminate “unnecessary regulatory barriers” and increase the number of launches and “novel” on-orbit activities “by an order of magnitude by 2030.”

The expected order comes after the Space Force for several years has been working to expand its pool of commercial launch providers, in part to reduce its reliance (Opens in a new window)on SpaceX for national security missions. To that end, the service in March (Opens in a new window)added Rocket Lab and Stoke Space to its approved list of potential carriers for small and medium payloads for missions not considered critical or high risk. (8/1)

CNES Issues Call for Lunar Power Station Prototype (Source: European Spaceflight)
The French space agency CNES has initiated a call for the development of a lunar power station prototype intended for terrestrial testing. CNES began work on the Lunar Integrated Shelter for Exploration (LISE) initiative in September 2021 as part of its Spaceship France program.

Launched in 2018, Spaceship France aims to lead the development of key technologies for future crewed missions to the Moon and Mars, focusing on critical areas such as habitats, energy generation and storage, and in-situ resource utilization. With LISE, the agency aims to develop reusable lunar habitat modules that will support crewed missions to the surface of the Moon. (8/1)

Goodbye Landing Zone 1 (Source: Ars Technica)
On most of SpaceX's missions, Falcon 9 boosters land on the company's offshore drone ships hundreds of miles downrange from the launch site. For launches with enough fuel margin, the first stage can return to an onshore landing. But the Space Force, which leases out the landing zones to SpaceX, wants to convert the site of LZ-1 into a launch site for another rocket company.

SpaceX will move onshore rocket landings to new landing zones to be constructed next to the two Falcon 9 launch pads at the Florida spaceport. Landing Zone 2, located adjacent to Landing Zone 1, will also be decommissioned and handed back over to the Space Force once SpaceX activates the new landing sites. (8/1)

NASA Budget Woes Could Delay Crew-11 Return (Source: Ars Technica)
There's some unexpected uncertainty going into this mission about how long the foursome will be in space. Missions sometimes get extended for technical reasons, or because of poor weather in recovery zones on Earth, but there's something different in play with Crew-11. For the first time, there's a decent chance that NASA will stretch out this expedition due to money issues.

The Trump administration has proposed across-the-board cuts to most NASA programs, including the International Space Station. The White House's budget request for NASA in fiscal year 2026, which begins on October 1, calls for an overall cut in agency funding of nearly 25 percent. (8/1)

Moonquake Dangers that Could Threaten Future Missions (Source: UMD)
A new paper revealed that ground acceleration from moonquakes, rather than meteor impacts, was responsible for shifting lunar landscapes at the moon’s Taurus-Littrow valley, where Apollo 17 astronauts landed in 1972. The study also pinpointed a possible cause for those surface changes and assessed damage risk using new models of the quakes—findings that may impact the safety of future lunar missions and the establishment of long-term bases on the moon. (7/30)