September 19, 2025

Ursa Major Receives $35M Order for Draper Engine (Source: Flight Global)
Ursa Major has secured a $35 million contract from an unnamed US defense and aerospace company for its Draper rocket engine, aimed at national security applications such as hypersonic flight and space vehicles. The Draper engine, based on Ursa Major's hypersonic-capable Hadley engine, uses advancements such as a closed catalyst cycle design and significant use of additive manufacturing, with two-thirds of its components 3D-printed. The reusable engine operates without cryogenic propellants, can be stored for up to 10 years and offers restart and throttle control. (9/17)

Leonardo USA Opens Support Center Near Pensacola (Source: Pensacola News Journal)
Leonardo USA has opened a 73,000-square-foot support center at Whiting Aviation Park in Florida. The center will primarily service military aircraft, especially those from Naval Air Station Whiting Field, and is expected to employ about 150 people. The center will also maintain about 1,000 Leonardo helicopters operating in the region. (9/19)

Interlune Signs Bluefors as Helium-3 Customer (Source: Washington Post)
Interlune has announced a new customer for helium-3 it plans to extract from the moon. Bluefors, a Finnish company that makes refrigeration systems for quantum computers, said it will buy tens of thousands of liters of helium-3 from Interlune, a deal that could potentially be worth more than $300 million. The deal covers helium-3 sales between 2028 and 2037. Interlune previously announced other customers for helium-3, but called this the biggest sale yet involving resources extracted from space. Interlune has yet to mine any helium-3 from the moon and will fly its first prospecting instrument, a camera, on a rover launching as soon as late this year. (9/19)

JAXA's Target for Asteroid Landing Smaller Than Thought (Source: Space.com)
It may be much harder than previously expected for a Japanese spacecraft to land on an asteroid. The Japanese space agency JAXA is sending the Hayabusa2 spacecraft on an extended mission to the asteroid 1998 KY26, arriving in 2031 to touch down on the asteroid’s surface. The asteroid was initially estimated to be about 30 meters across, but new observations of 1998 KY26 show it is instead only about 11 meters across. The asteroid is also spinning faster than first estimated, with a period of just five minutes. The new observations raise concerns about the ability of Hayabusa2 to touch down safely on the asteroid. (9/19)

US and UK Militaries Coordinate Satellite Maneuvers (Source: Space News)
The United States and United Kingdom militaries have conducted their first coordinated satellite maneuvers. U.S. Space Command said Thursday the maneuvers with the United Kingdom took place Sept. 4 through 12, when a U.S. satellite repositioned into close range of a U.K. spacecraft to inspect, monitor and validate its status. No further details about the spacecraft were disclosed.

The operation marks an expansion of allied cooperation in the increasingly militarized space domain, where nations are developing capabilities to protect critical satellite infrastructure from potential threats. This operation occurred just months after the U.S. revealed it had conducted similar operations with France, and is part of Multinational Force Operation Olympic Defender, a U.S.-led initiative aimed at bolstering international cooperation in space defense. (9/19)

Space Force Moving Forward with Commercial Satellite Use (Source: Space News)
The Space Force is moving ahead with plans to tap commercial geostationary small satellite constellations to bolster military communications. The service released this week an updated request for information for its Maneuverable Geosynchronous Orbit (MGEO) Commercial Satellite-Based Services program. The MGEO program seeks to support mobile ground forces that may find themselves in battlefields where satellite communications signals are being jammed or disrupted. The MGEO program specifically seeks solutions across both widely available and traditionally scarce spectrum, including bands difficult to secure commercially. (9/19)

Educating Customers May Be Half the Battle for Nascent Hyperspectral Sector (Source: Space News)
Companies developing hyperspectral satellite services say one of their biggest challenges is making customers aware of applications of such imagery. Hyperspectral datasets can reveal atmospheric greenhouse gases, identify stores of lithium and other high-value minerals, measure nitrogen in agricultural fields and pinpoint the telltale signs of biological, nuclear and chemical weapons, but satellite operators said at World Space Business Week that awareness of those capabilities remains limited. To help the market mature, startups are offering training online, working directly with customers to demonstrate potential use cases and employing artificial intelligence to simplify queries of hyperspectral data cubes. (9/19)

Space Norway and SSTL Partner for Radar Maritime Awareness (Source: Space News)
Space Norway and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) are partnering on a radar satellite program for maritime domain awareness. The companies said Friday they are developing a synthetic aperture radar imaging satellite optimized for tracking ships. The first spacecraft is scheduled to launch in 2027 and will be used by the Norwegian military to monitor the North Atlantic. The companies say they are considering a six-satellite constellation to provide rapid revisits of that region as well as others of potential interest to customers. (9/19)

China's iSpace Raises $98 Million for Medium-Lift Rocket (Source: Space News)
Chinese launch startup iSpace has raised $98 million. The company, formally known as Beijing Interstellar Glory Space Technology Ltd., will put the funding towards development of the medium-lift Hyperbola-3 launcher. The company raised several tens of millions of dollars earlier this year. Hyperbola-3 is a methane-liquid oxygen rocket that can put 8,500 kilograms to low Earth orbit in reusable mode and 13,400 kilograms when expended. In March, iSpace stated it was targeting December for an inaugural flight, and did not provide an update in this funding announcement. (9/19)

Blue Origin Retires New Shepard Capsule (Source: Space News)
Blue Origin is retiring a New Shepard capsule after a 12th flight on Thursday. The New Shepard vehicle lifted off at 9 a.m. Eastern from the company’s West Texas launch site on the NS-35 mission, carrying several dozen research payloads. The capsule landed a little more than 10 minutes later after completing a typical flight profile to about 105 kilometers. The capsule, called RSS H.G. Wells, will be retired after this flight, the company said, after making 12 suborbital trips since its introduction in 2017. Blue Origin has two other New Shepard capsules it currently uses for crewed suborbital flights. (9/19)

Stratospheric "Satellites" Gain Popularity (Source: Space News)
Stratospheric “pseudo-satellites” are winning more business from governments and industry. Such vehicles, known as high-altitude platform stations (HAPS), are being flown regularly by companies such as Aalto, Aerostar and Sceye. Following an investment from Japanese internet giant Softbank, Sceye is planning a commercial pilot next year that would see its stratospheric vehicle take off from New Mexico to provide mobile broadband over Japan. Aalto is gearing up for a commercial demonstration of its Airbus-backed solar-powered, fixed-wing Zephyr platform over Japan in 2026. While current interest is primarily from governments, HAPS companies say commercial use cases, particularly direct-to-device connectivity, are catching up. (9/19)

Building a Lunar Network: Johnson Tests Wireless Technologies for the Moon (Source: NASA)
NASA engineers are strapping on backpacks loaded with radios, cameras, and antennas to test technology that might someday keep explorers connected on the lunar surface. Their mission: test how astronauts on the Moon will stay connected during Artemis spacewalks using 3GPP (LTE/4G and 5G) and Wi-Fi technologies.

With Artemis, NASA will establish a long-term presence at the Moon, opening more of the lunar surface to exploration than ever before. This growth of lunar activity will require astronauts to communicate seamlessly with each other and with science teams back on Earth. 

“We’re working out what the software that uses these networks needs to look like,” said Raymond Wagner, principal investigator in NASA’s Lunar 3GPP project and member of Johnson Space Center’s Exploration Wireless Laboratory (JEWL) in Houston. “We’re prototyping it with commercial off-the-shelf hardware and open-source software to show what pieces are needed and how they interact.” (9/18)

NATO’S DIANA Accelerator Selects Reaction Dynamics for Phase 2 (Source: SpaceQ)
Reaction Dynamics (RDX) is one of two Canadian companies to make it to Phase 2 of NATO’s Defense Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA). In the first phase 73 companies from 20 countries from over 2600 entries were selected including seven Canadian companies. In Phase 2, 15 companies from 10 countries were selected including RDX. NATO said that each company will receive “€300,000 in non-dilutive funding, as well as continued access to NATO test centers, and tailored support to accelerate adoption.” (9/17)

Trump’s Golden Dome: Golden Dream or Black Nightmare? (Source: Space News)
With great fanfare, the newly installed American President Donald Trump launched the idea of the United States creating an "Iron Dome" to protect America against aerial threats, similar to how the Iron Dome provides security to Israel. However, I find that the Golden Dome will bring the opposite of what the president thinks it will deliver. (9/17)

Amazon Set to Launch 27 Kuiper Satellites with ULA (Source: Aviation Week)
Amazon is set to launch its fifth group of Kuiper broadband satellites next week, with 27 satellites set to be deployed via a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. Amazon plans three more missions for Kuiper this year, aiming for over 200 satellites in orbit, and expects to start broadband services in the US, Canada, Germany, France and the UK early next year. (9/17)   
 
Space Force Integrates Commercial Data for Battlefield (Source: Breaking Defense)
The Space Force's Joint Commercial Operations cell is undergoing a reorganization to integrate space domain awareness data from commercial operators into military operations across all combatant commands. The reorganization aims to transform the JCO from a test bed into an enduring unit. (9/17)

Blue Origin Completes 35th New Shepard Mission (Source: Blue Origin)
Blue Origin successfully completed its 35th New Shepard flight and 15th payload mission in West Texas. The flight carried more than 40 payloads from students, NASA, research institutions, and commercial companies, bringing the total number of science payloads flown on New Shepard to more than 200. Club for the Future, Blue Origin’s nonprofit, flew thousands of postcards as part of its Postcards to Space program. (9/18)

New Software Tool Aims to Democratize Access to Space Camera Development (Source: University of Glasgow)
A powerful software tool capable of accurately modelling how cameras capture light could help democratize the development of new imaging systems for use in space. The open-source tool, called SIMply, is available as a free download on the online code repository GitHub.

SIMply aims to provide scientists and engineers with easy access to a level of sophisticated image simulation that is traditionally available only to large corporations or other highly-funded research and development organizations with access to specialized tools. (9/18)

Blue Origin's New Marketing/Comms Chief Based at Space Coast Campus (Source: PR Week)
Blue Origin has hired Christopher Fuller as head of marketing and communications. Fuller started at Blue Origin on Monday and is based at the Rocket Factory in Cape Canaveral, Florida. He is leading all marketing and communications and coordinating with government relations, sales and strategy. Fuller was previously chief communications officer for Inspire Brands, which includes restaurant brands Arby's, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin', Jimmy John's and Sonic Drive-In. (9/16)

India-US Space Partnership Expands From Satellites to Moon, Mars (Source: The Federal)
India and the US signaled a new phase of space partnership at a special event hosted by the Embassy of India in Washington DC earlier this week. Officials and astronauts highlighted how decades of cooperation paved the way for missions to the Moon and Mars. (9/18)

ISRO Chief Narayanan Opens Spacetech Startup OrbitAID’s R&D Facility (Source: Economic Times)
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Chairman V Narayanan on Wednesday opened space technology startup OrbitAID Aerospace’s research and development (R&D) facility in Bengaluru, which will serve as a hub for providing lifetime refueling services to current and upcoming satellites. (9/17)

Hungary and Japan to Deepen Cooperation in Space (Source: Hungary Today)
Japan is ready to develop cooperation in areas of critical importance to Hungary, such as peacebuilding, space exploration, and the nuclear industry, Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade said on Wednesday in Tokyo. Following his meetings, the Minister stated that during his talks with his Japanese counterpart, he was convinced that the East Asian country is ready to strengthen cooperation with Hungary in these areas. (9/17)

Rocket Lab Looks To Raise $750M In Share Sale (Source: Aviation Week)
Space access and satellite provider Rocket Lab is looking to raise $750 million gross from a share sale, according to a securities filing. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing said the company on Sept. 15 entered into “at-the-market” share sale agreements with several investment firms. (9/17)

Poland to Commission Six Satellites as Added IRIS2 Contribution (Source: European Spaceflight)
Poland’s Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy has announced that the country has allocated 2 billion PLN (€470 million) for the purchase of six secure communications satellites and the construction of the associated ground infrastructure. Announced on 11 September, the new project is part of the final revision of Poland’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan, a program designed to strengthen the Polish economy after the COVID-19 pandemic. (9/17)

Starbase Borrows Another $1 Million From SpaceX (Source: Valley Central)
The city of Starbase plans to borrow another $1 million from SpaceX. During a meeting on Wednesday night, the City Commission agreed to borrow $1 million from SpaceX at 0% interest. The city plans to pay SpaceX back in 2026, when Starbase collects property taxes. Every member of the City Commission is a current or former SpaceX employee. They voted 3-0 to approve the deal.

Starbase had no sales tax and SpaceX, the city’s largest landowner, wouldn’t pay any property taxes until January 2026. That left Starbase strapped for cash. The City Commission, though, didn’t want to wait more than six months to provide residents with basic services. Many people in Starbase, which is located in a rural part of Cameron County near Boca Chica, had concerns about safety. To address concerns about safety, Starbase inked a five-year, $3.5 million contract with the Cameron County Sheriff’s Office for extra law enforcement. (9/18)

New Mexico's Spaceport is Key to Continued Economic Growth and Diversification (Source: Albuquerque Journal)
The Spaceport Development Act, passed by the Legislature in 2005, created a statutory framework to empower New Mexico to blaze the trail in this burgeoning new industry, while also making key investments in the necessary infrastructure and workforce training to support it. This work ultimately supported the building of a world-renowned, purpose-built facility in Spaceport America.

The facility’s success does not hinge on one tenant. Regardless of whether Virgin Galactic is ultimately able to increase its commercial flights in New Mexico from once a month to twice a week, Spaceport America is currently home to six other innovative space technology companies that offer exciting opportunities for aerospace development. This, in turn, supports good jobs and economic growth in the state. (9/15)

Groundbreaking Spaceport America is Hitting its Stride (Source: Santa Fe New Mexican)
To the many skeptics of Spaceport America, good news. The commercial spaceport, paid for by New Mexico taxpayers, is realizing its potential, producing an economic impact of some $240 million for New Mexico in 2024. The figure comes from New Mexico State University’s Arrowhead Center and the Center for Border Economic Development, which conducted a study from 2019 to 2024 to dig deep into how Spaceport America was impacting New Mexico.

Contained within the $240 million figure are 790 total jobs, 313 of them direct, with $24.4 million paid in taxes. Economic output increased from $72.3 million in 2019, and total jobs expanded from 396. Numbers in 2024 are down slightly from 2023, when economic impact was $266 million. (9/17)