September 14, 2025

Golden Dome’s Cost: Anywhere From Billions to Trillions (Source: SpaceNews)
A new report estimates the Golden Dome missile defense program could cost anywhere from $252 billion to $3.6 trillion over 20 years — depending on which threats it counters and where it provides coverage. The vast range underscores how many questions remain unanswered eight months after Trump announced the initiative, according to a study published Sept. 12 by the American Enterprise Institute. (9/13)

SpaceX Launches Starshield/Starlink Mission From California on Saturday (Source: KSBY)
A SpaceX launch, potentially supporting the Department of Defense, lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base Saturday, carrying 24 Starlink (and possibly some Starshield) satellites into low-Earth orbit. This was SpaceX's 300th Starlink launch. (9/13)

Scientists: It’s Do or Die Time for America’s Primacy Exploring the Solar System (Source: Ars Technica)
Federal funding is about to run out for 19 active space missions studying Earth's climate, exploring the Solar System, and probing mysteries of the Universe. This year's budget expires at the end of this month, and Congress must act before October 1 to avert a government shutdown. If Congress passes a budget before then, it will most likely be in the form of a continuing resolution, an extension of this year's funding levels into the first few weeks or months of fiscal year 2026. (9/12)

55 Years On, Families Evicted for Indian Spaceport Await Jobs (Source: New Indian Express)
As India gears up to launch a space station, commoners on the land are left jobless. Fifty-five years and three generations have passed since families were evicted from their land in Veli, for what is now known as the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). Considering the issue, the High Court had directed the VSSC in August to look into the issue and solve the job crisis within four months. Over 550 families were displaced from 1962 to 1975, for setting up the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station. (9/13)

UAW Workers Reach Tentative Deal with GE Aerospace at Ohio, Kentucky Plants (Source: Reuters)
Members of the United Auto Workers union at GE Aerospace's Evendale, Ohio, and Erlanger, Kentucky, facilities have reached a tentative agreement with the company, the union said. Workers secured victories on all fronts - job security, health care costs, and time off, the UAW said in a statement on Saturday. It said GE will cover nearly all health care premium increases over the term of the contract and workers will receive additional vacation time. (9/13)

Lockheed Martin (LMT) Hit with Class Action Over Program Losses (Source: TipRanks)
A class action lawsuit was filed against Lockheed Martin by Levi & Korsinsky on July 28, 2025. The plaintiffs (shareholders) alleged that they bought LMT stock at artificially inflated prices between January 2024 and July 2025 and are now seeking compensation for their financial losses. (9/12)

Ohio State Engineers Design Liquid Uranium Nuclear Rocket Concept for Mars Trip (Source: Interesting Engineering)
The Ohio State University is developing a new nuclear thermal propulsion system called the centrifugal nuclear thermal rocket (CNTR). Rather than solid fuel elements, this new design uses liquid uranium to heat the rocket propellant directly. The result is an engine that could be twice as efficient as conventional nuclear designs. (9/12)

Court Finds OPM Unlawfully Directed Mass Firings, Tells Agencies to Update Personnel Files (Source: FNN)
A federal judge found the Office of Personnel Management unlawfully directed agencies to fire probationary federal employees en masse. U.S District Court Judge William Alsup ruled that OPM “exceeded its own powers,” and “directed agencies to fire under false pretense,” telling probationary employees that they were being terminated for poor performance.

The ruling doesn’t reinstate any of the 25,000 probationary federal employees fired around mid-February, but it does direct many agencies to update their personnel records to specify that these employees were not fired for poor performance or misconduct. Agencies must also send letters to impacted employees starting they were not fired for performance. The ruling, in a lawsuit led by federal employee unions, applies to the departments of Commerce, Defense, Health and Human Services, Labor, Treasury, Transportation and Agriculture.

OPM, NASA, the State Department and the Office of Management and Budget are exempt from the ruling. Under normal circumstances, his ruling would invalidate OPM’s mass-firing directive, and would return terminated employees back to their posts, but the Supreme Court ruled in July that the Trump administration has broad authority to reshape and shrink the federal workforce. (9/13)

Did the Dwarf Planet Ceres Once Host Life? (Source: Smithsonian)
Ceres, the only dwarf planet in our inner solar system, is covered in ice and salt deposits. Its daytime temperatures range from a frigid minus 136 degrees to minus 28 degrees Fahrenheit. According to a new study, the dwarf planet might have one had long-lasting chemical energy that could have sustained microbial life. While there is no evidence that life—not even single-celled organisms—ever existed on the dwarf planet, the new findings suggest that if any organisms were there, they might have had “food” available. (9/9)

This Trio Of Robots Could Explore Lunar Caves (Source: Universe Today)
A team of European researchers have designed a trio of robots with different capabilities that could work together to explore lunar caves and assess their potential. The researchers have tested them on Lanzarote, a volcanic island in Spain's Canary Islands. The team are working on a three-member team of heterogeneous robots that work together autonomously to explore lava tubes in four phases.

SherpaTT is a hybrid wheeled and legged robot that performs surface exploration and acts as a surface anchor to lower another robot, Coyote III, into the lava tube. Coyote III is a small, lightweight, highly-mobile wheeled rover. LUVMI-X is the third rover. It's lightweight and cost effective, and performs mapping along with SherpaTT. (9/12)

Astronomers Discover Rogue Black Hole Speeding Through Distant Dwarf Galaxy (Source: Space.com)
New research suggests that not all feeding massive black holes sit stably at the heart of their home galaxies. A team of astronomers has discovered a black hole wandering through its home dwarf galaxy, taking its active region with it. Making this discovery even more remarkable is the fact that this is an intermediate-mass black hole, a type of object that has eluded astronomers for decades. (9/12)