September 5, 2025

Stem Cells Age Faster in Space (Source: The Scientist)
According to Einstein’s theory of relativity, time passes more slowly in space. As a result, astronauts would experience a delay in aging. However, scientists found that space travel may have the opposite effect by accelerating aging in human cells, likely due to the extreme physiological stresses it imposes on the body.

“Space is the ultimate stress test for the human body,” said Catriona Jamieson, a stem cell biologist at the University of California, San Diego, in a statement. Recently, Jamieson’s team discovered that spaceflight accelerates aging in human blood-forming stem cells.1 The researchers found that stem cells that spent about a month in space had a reduced self-renewal capacity and showed signs of molecular aging. Their results, published in Cell Stem Cell, demonstrate the possible dangers of spending extended time in space. (9/4)

Commercial Space Launches and Maritime Activities: Issues and Challenges (Source: ScienceDirect)
While extensive research has explored the economic and operational impacts on airlines and aircraft operators, there is a notable gap regarding the effects of space activities on maritime operators and the repercussions of non-compliance with maritime safety protocols for commercial space operators. This study examines the intricate challenges arising from the dynamic relationship between commercial space activities and maritime operations. The effectiveness of safety zones is questioned, given instances of non-compliance leading to scrubbed or postponed launches, incurring substantial costs for space operators. Click here. (9/4)

Fears of a Carte Blanche for SpaceX on the Space Coast (Source: SPACErePORT)
The FONSI finding that will potentially double Falcon 9 missions at one of SpaceX's (soon-to-be) three launch pads in Florida is the first of what are expected to be multiple regulatory green lights for the company. The promise of rapid growth is cheered by many but feared by many others. In a letter to Space Coast Congressman Mike Haridopolos, one critic is amazed that the FAA and Air Force are finding there will be no significant environmental impacts.

"Many of these [environmental] issues are avoidable assuming the right people care enough to do the work to honestly assess the impacts and the alternatives available," he wrote. "At this point I can only pray that someone in authority will step in and do what is right before it is too late."

He asks Haridopolos to "challenge just two or three major areas that will bring much needed attention and effective actions to evaluate and confirm that all those FONSI findings really have evidence to support them or are all just 'window dressing' to disguise the actual facts already known and emerging every day. You need go no farther than the work at Boca Chica to find ample evidence of issues of concern for folks in Texas and those will be the same for us." (9/5)

Safran DSI Acquires Attollo Engineering, Expands Sensing Capabilities (Source: Safran)
Safran Defense and Space announced the acquisition of Attollo Engineering, a California-based company with 60 employees specializing in compact, high-performance imaging and laser sensing solutions. The acquisition will strengthen Safran DSI's product offerings by enhancing its capabilities in advanced imaging and sensing technologies. (9/4)

Space Force Aims for 8 NSSL Launches by Year's End (Source: Aviation Week)
The US Space Force plans to launch eight National Security Space Launch missions in 2025, working with United Launch Alliance and SpaceX. The effort follows the successful USSF-36 mission, which utilized a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to deploy the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle. (9/3)

Tech From NASA's Hurricane-Hunting TROPICS Rides Commercial Satellites (Source: Space Daily)
NASA science and American industry have worked hand-in-hand for more than 60 years, transforming novel technologies created with NASA research into commercial products like cochlear implants, memory-foam mattresses, and more. Now, a NASA-funded device for probing the interior of storm systems has been made a key component of commercial weather satellites.

The novel atmospheric sounder was originally developed for NASA's TROPICS (short for Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of SmallSats), which launched in 2023. Boston-based weather technology company Tomorrow.io integrated the same instrument design into some of its satellites. (9/3)

ESA and JAXA to Seize Ultra-Rare Chance to Study Asteroid in a Close Earth Flyby (Source: Notebook Check)
ESA and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) are collaborating on the Ramses (Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety) mission. The Ramses mission will launch a spacecraft that will meet with Apophis and accompany it as it flies past Earth on April 13, 2029. (8/30)

JetBlue Chooses Amazon’s Kuiper for In-Flight Wi-Fi (Source: Amazon)
JetBlue will be the first airline to implement Amazon's Project Kuiper satellite technology, enhancing its free Fly-Fi service starting in 2027. Under the agreement, JetBlue will implement Project Kuiper's low Earth orbit satellite technology on select aircraft beginning in 2027. JetBlue introduced free high-speed Wi-Fi with its Fly-Fi service in 2013 and will continue offering complimentary connectivity to all customers with the Kuiper-powered system. (9/4)

Connecticut Aerospace Company to Expand Operation in the State, Add New Jobs (Source: WTNH)
GKN Aerospace manufacturing company announced plans to expand its additive manufacturing operations on Wednesday, adding new jobs in Connecticut. GKN has two operations and employs more than 450 people across the state. GKN officials say this expansion will help them advance the aerospace market in Connecticut. State leaders say this represents the state. (9/3)

Schwab Increases Stake in Intuitive Machines (Source: Market Beat)
Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Intuitive Machines by 27.7%, acquiring an additional 30,447 shares, bringing its total to 140,208 shares valued at approximately $1,045,000. Intuitive Machines reported a loss of ($0.11) earnings per share for the last quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by ($0.05), with revenues of $50.31 million compared to expected $69.19 million. (9/4)

Duffy Angered by China Assessment (Source: Space News)
NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy said he was “angry” after hearing testimony that China would get astronauts to the moon before the United States. In a town hall meeting Thursday, Duffy referenced testimony at a Senate hearing Wednesday when a former NASA administrator, Jim Bridenstine, said it was “highly unlikely” that NASA would beat China to the moon. “That was shade thrown on all of NASA,” Duffy said of the comments, without mentioning Bridenstine by name.

He added that “I’ll be damned if that is the story that we write.” He offered few specifics, though, about what NASA would do to ensure Artemis remains on schedule. Duffy also used the town hall to defend NASA’s budget proposal that would cut overall agency spending by nearly 25%, noting that the budget increases spending on exploration programs. (9/5)

Space Force Graduates New Officers (Source: Space News)
The Space Force has graduated a first class of officers trained with a new emphasis on space operations, cyber warfare and intelligence. The 80 officers, which included graduates from the Air Force Academy and ROTC programs, completed a year-long program that immerses them in space operations, intelligence analysis, cyber warfare and acquisitions. Space Force leadership says those are the interconnected disciplines essential for modern space warfare.  The program represents a shift for the Space Force as it moves from a focus primarily on operating satellites in what was once considered a peaceful domain to a force prepared for combat against sophisticated adversaries. (9/5)

Spain's Orbital Paradigm Signs Customers for Reentry Capsule Mission (Source: Space News)
A Spanish startup has announced plans for its first reentry capsule mission. Orbital Paradigm said Thursday it had three customers for its first mission, called Kestrel Initial Demonstrator (KID), which will launch later this year on an undisclosed rocket. KID is a small capsule primarily intended to test technologies for larger capsules. Orbital Paradigm hopes to start launching its full-sized Kestrel capsule as soon as 2027, with long-term plans for monthly flights of the spacecraft to carry payloads seeking to operate in the microgravity environment before returning. The company built KID in less than one year for less than one million euros. (9/5)

Boeing Defense Plans to Replace Striking Workers with New Hires (Source: Reuters)
Boeing Defense plans to hire new workers to replace striking members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) who assemble munitions, fighters and other military aircraft in the St. Louis area, the company said in a message to employees on Thursday. (9/5)

"Dynamic Targeting" Could Improve Earth Observation Efficiency (Source: Space News)
NASA and companies are testing technologies to enable Earth observation satellites to determine where they should take images. The “Dynamic Targeting” technology is being tested on an Open Cosmos cubesat using an AI processor from Ubotica and machine-learning algorithms from JPL. The camera on the spacecraft looks ahead for interesting features that should be photographed, or if regions should not be images because they are cloud-covered. That analysis is done onboard the spacecraft in a matter of seconds without human intervention. Tests confirmed that the system was able to collect cloud-free imagery. (9/5)

ESA Renames LEO-PNT to "Celeste" (Source: ESA)
ESA has turned to history to rename an experimental navigation satellite program. ESA said this week that its LEO-PNT mission would now be named Celeste, after the daughter of Galileo. Celeste will include 10 satellites in low Earth orbit intended to augment the Galileo navigation satellite system in medium Earth orbit, providing greater resilience from jamming and interference. The mission could be a precursor to a larger operational constellation of navigation satellites in low Earth orbit. (9/4)

Eutelsat Now Eutelsat (Source: Eutelsat)
Satellite operator Eutelsat, meanwhile, is rebranding itself as… Eutelsat. The company announced Thursday that it was changing its formal name from Eutelsat Group to simply Eutelsat, although most had always called the company Eutelsat. The company started using the Eutelsat Group name after acquiring OneWeb, the LEO constellation operator that became known as Eutelsat OneWeb. The company is retaining the OneWeb name for the constellation. It also unveiled a new visual identity using colors called “Space Blue” and “OneWeb Red." (9/4)

NASA's InSight Lander Reveals Mars Core Secrets (Source: New York Times)
Data from a NASA Mars lander is helping scientists better understand the interior of the red planet. One study published this week, using seismic data collected by the InSight lander, found that Mars has a solid inner core, like Earth, with a liquid outer core. Mars, though, lacks the magnetic field the Earth has, perhaps because the planet’s mantle is less effective at pulling heat away from the core and causing circulation there. Another study last week found evidence that there are chunks of material embedded in the mantle of Mars. That may be debris from ancient asteroid impacts, scientists argue. (9/4)

ULA to Launch Second ViaSat-3 Satellite in October (Source: Via Satellite)
Viasat plans to launch the second satellite in its ViaSat-3 constellation in late October using a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, with service expected to start in early 2026. The company says the satellite will provide more bandwidth than the entire current fleet amid increasing demand from commercial and defense customers. (9/4)