September 8, 2025

SpaceX Vindicates "Dumb" Approach to Rocket Reuse (Source: Ars Technica)
Many people in the industry were skeptical about SpaceX's approach to reuse. In the mid-2010s, both the European and Japanese space agencies were looking to develop their next generation of rockets. In both cases, Europe with the Ariane 6 and Japan with the H3, the space agencies opted for traditional, expendable rockets instead of pushing toward reuse. As a result, both of these competitors for commercial satellite launches are now about a decade behind SpaceX in terms of launch technology.

ULA's reaction to SpaceX's plan to reuse first stages a decade ago was dismissive. The company's engineers wrote papers and performed studies that argued SpaceX's plans were impractical compared to their engines-only recovery. ULA dubbed this approach SMART, an acronym for Sensible Modular Autonomous Return Technology. The implication in this name, of course, is that SpaceX's booster flyback approach was dumb.

According to the ULA analysis in 2015, the SMART plan would result in cost savings as soon as the second launch of a booster. SpaceX's approach, by contrast, would require 10 flights for there to be any cost savings. One imagines that those engineers never dreamed that, a decade later, SpaceX would fly the same rocket 30 times and reach an annual launch cadence that approaches the total number of rockets United Launch Alliance has flown during its 20-year existence. As for SMART, it remains a theoretical concept. (8/28)

No Dissent Allowed: EPA Employees Suspended After Signing Dissent Letter (Source: FNN)
Dozens of EPA employees who signed a “declaration of dissent” received notices from the agency stating that they had been suspended without pay for two weeks. (9/8)

EchoStar Drops Constellation Plan, Will Sell Spectrum to SpaceX (Source: Space News)
EchoStar is dropping plans to develop its own direct-to-device constellation and is selling spectrum to SpaceX. EchoStar announced Monday that it would sell S-band spectrum to SpaceX for $17 billion in cash and stock, with SpaceX making $2 billion in EchoStar debt interest payments through late 2027.

Customers of EchoStar’s Boost Mobile wireless service will get access to Starlink direct-to-cell capabilities as part of the deal. EchoStar had planned to use that spectrum for its own direct-to-device satellite constellation, awarding MDA Space a contract just over a month ago to build 100 satellites. MDA Space said in a separate statement Monday that it received a notice from EchoStar terminating that contract. (9/8)

NASA Advances $1.5 Billion Plan for Commercial Space Station (Source: Space News)
NASA has released more details on how it plans to spend up to $1.5 billion on the next phase of commercial space station development. The agency released Friday a draft solicitation for the Commercial Destinations – Development and Demonstration Objectives, or C3DO, effort, where it will award multiple Space Act Agreements to support work on commercial stations intended to succeed the International Space Station.

That would include a four-person crewed mission to such stations for one month by 2030. The document states that NASA anticipates providing $1 billion to $1.5 billion from 2026 to 2031 for the C3DO agreements. NASA announced a little more than a month ago that it was changing direction on commercial station development, moving away from earlier plans to award contracts that would lead to permanently crewed commercial stations. (9/8)

Anduril and Blue Origin to Study Rocket Cargo for AFRL (Source: Space News)
Anduril Industries and Blue Origin won small study contracts for “rocket cargo” services. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) last month awarded Blue Origin $1.3 million and Anduril $1 million under the Rocket Experimentation for Global Agile Logistics program, known as REGAL. Blue Origin will assess how its space vehicles could be adapted for point-to-point transport of cargo, while Anduril will examine how to integrate multiple government payloads into a single rocket cargo delivery system. Several other companies have won similar contracts to study rocket cargo services, but cost, safety and infrastructure challenges have kept the concept experimental. (9/8)

Lynk Accelerates Direct-to-Device (Source: Space News)
Lynk Global says leveraging SES satellites will allow it to accelerate plans for a global rollout of its direct-to-device services. Lynk CEO Ramu Potarazu said in a recent interview that the company expects to achieve global, continuous services in 2027 by augmenting its small constellation of LEO satellites with satellites in medium and geostationary orbits owned by SES. Potarazu, a former SES executive, said working with SES also helps with regulatory issues. Lynk recently abandoned plans to go public through a SPAC merger, and Potarazu said the company had enough money to operate for the next two years as it lines up a new round of funding. (9/8)

GHGSat to Monitor Methane for ExxonMobil (Source: Space News)
GHGSat announced a deal with ExxonMobil to monitor methane emissions. The companies said Friday that ExxonMobil will use GHGSat satellites to track and mitigate methane emissions at its onshore facilities in North America and Asia. ExxonMobil has now made “a significant investment” in GHGSat’s emissions monitoring, the companies announced, but did not disclose the size of the deal. GHGSat has 13 spacecraft in orbit that monitor millions of industrial facilities worldwide. (9/8)

Orbital Sidekick Reveals Iran Nuclear Facility Air Strike Damage (Source: Space News)
Orbital Sidekick hyperspectral sensors revealed new information on damage sustained by Iran’s Fordow nuclear fuel enrichment plant after a June air strike. The company said its Global Hyperspectral Observation Satellite (GHOSt) constellation exposed the outline of a rectangular subsurface structure at Fordow that indicated the “potential collapse or damage” of an underground facility. That damage was not seen in conventional optical imagery of the site, the company said. (9/8)

NOAA Orders Radio Occultation Weather Data From PlanetiQ and Spire (Source: NOAA)
NOAA has ordered more radio occultation weather data from two companies. The agency said last week it awarded PlanetiQ more than $24.3 million and Spire nearly $11.2 million to provide radio-occultation atmospheric profiles using their satellites. Those profiles, made by monitoring signals from navigation satellites as they pass through the atmosphere, provide information on atmospheric conditions used in weather forecasting models. (9/8)