September 9, 2025

Iran Eyes Launch of 4 Satellites, Open Chabahar Spaceport by Spring 2026 (Source: AL Monitor)
Iran plans to launch four satellites and open its new Chabahar spaceport by the end of the Iranian year, which is mid-March 2026. The Chabahar spaceport will provide access to a wider range of orbits for future launches, and while Western governments express concern that Iran's space program could support its ballistic missile technology, Iran states it has the internal capacity to develop its space industry further. (9/8)

Relocation Expert: Space Command Workers Likely to Move (Source: AL.com)
The potential reluctance of U.S. Space Command personnel to relocate from Colorado to Huntsville, Ala., is being dismissed by John Boyd Jr., principal at The Boyd Company, who cites Huntsville's lower cost of living and larger aerospace industry as attractive factors. Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle expects about half of the 1,400 direct jobs to be filled by relocating employees, with the rest offering opportunities for local residents. (9/8)

Gilat Wins $7 Million US Defense Contract for Transportable SATCOM Systems (Source: Space Daily)
Gilat Satellite Networks announced that its U.S. subsidiary, Gilat DataPath, has secured a contract exceeding $7 million to deliver transportable SATCOM terminals for the U.S. Department of Defense through a prime contractor. Deliveries of the systems are scheduled for completion by the end of 2025. (9/7)

NASA Announces CHAPEA Crew for Year-Long Mars Mission Simulation (Source: Space Daily)
Four research volunteers will soon participate in NASA's year-long simulation of a Mars mission inside a habitat at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston. This mission will provide NASA with foundational data to inform human exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Ross Elder, Ellen Ellis, Matthew Montgomery, and James Spicer enter into the 1,700-square-foot Mars Dune Alpha habitat on Oct. 19 to begin their mission. The team will live and work like astronauts for 378 days. Emily Phillips and Laura Marie serve as the mission's alternate crew members. (9/7)

Spire Wins NOAA pair of Satellite Weather Data Contracts Totaling $13.7 Million (Source: Space Daily)
Spire Global has secured two NOAA orders that together total $13.7 million, extending the company's role in supplying satellite-derived weather intelligence for U.S. government forecasting and research. The larger award is an $11,190,900 task order for one year to deliver GNSS radio occultation (GNSS-RO) profiles of pressure, humidity, and temperature worldwide for near-real-time assimilation. NOAA, working alongside NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Navy, will ingest Spire's GNSS-RO data into weather and space weather models. (9/7)

AI Powered SAR Imagery Analysis Tool Launched by SATIM and ICEYE (Source: Space Daily)
SATIM and ICEYE have jointly introduced Detect and Classify, a product designed to automate analysis of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite imagery. The system identifies vessels, aircraft, and vehicles with accuracy exceeding 90 percent, reducing dependence on manual review and enabling defense and security organizations to act more quickly.

The product integrates ICEYE's high resolution SAR data with SATIM's proprietary artificial intelligence models, delivering both imagery and automated detections in one package. It provides rapid situational awareness across land, sea, and air domains and supports missions requiring timely intelligence. (9/7)

SpaceX Challenges Wisconsin, Colorado BEAD Plans (Source: Broadband Breakfast)
SpaceX has challenged at least two more states’ tentative grant winners under a $42.45 billion broadband expansion program, asking the Commerce Department to step in and mandate that states hold another round of bidding. In those comments on Colorado and Wisconsin’s plans, the company pointed to locations it thought it should have won: those where cost came in 10 times the cost of the lowest offer and those that on average cost more than $10,000 to connect, collectively representing 3.5 percent of the locations eligible for funding in the state. (9/8)

SpaceX Wants Louisiana’s BEAD Plan Reversed (Source: Broadband Breakfast)
Elon Musk’s SpaceX is bashing another state the company thinks is shortchanging its satellite broadband service. The company said to Louisiana’s broadband office that the National Telecommunications and Information administration should reject the state’s final spending plan under the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program. SpaceX said under new rules handed down by the Trump administration, more of its bids should have won out against fiber providers. (8/18)

Space Force Wants To Go Lower Than Low-Earth Orbit To Counter China (Source: Jalopnik)
America has been carefully watching China's on-orbit capabilities become more advanced, and at the same time, China is getting closer to landing people on the Moon again. Now, the Space Force is also realizing that China has ambitions a lot closer to home, so close that the U.S. hasn't even tried to compete in this environment before. The area in question is called very low-Earth orbit (VLEO), which, as you might imagine, is even lower than low-Earth orbit, usually the nearest environment where spacecraft operate. VLEO covers anywhere from 55 to 280 miles above the Earth's surface.

Part of this comes down to how the two countries actually think about air and space. Even the way I just wrote that, "air and space," is a clue: the West tends to think of these as two separate categories, with a hard line between them. That means different considerations, technologies, regulations, and even military branches.

By contrast, the Chinese "see it as a continuum," according to Space Force Chief Deputy Science Officer Dr. Gillian Bussey, via Via Satellite. "In the U.S., we say the Von Karman line, above that 100 kilometers you're in space, below that in air, whereas I'm not sure our adversaries see it that way. They're pursuing technologies that blend those two domains and operate seamlessly between them." (9/7)

Starship Launches Face Pushback in Florida Over Noise, Flights—and Nudists (Source: Teslarati)
Starship’s larger scale compared to Falcon 9 means expanded exclusion zones for air, sea, and beach access. The analysis also projected more than 60 annual closures of Playalinda Beach, alongside potential flight delays across Florida airports lasting 40 minutes to two hours. Port Canaveral would also be affected by maritime restrictions.

Public comments reflected a mix of optimism and unease. Aviation officials, such as Tampa International Airport COO John Tiliacos, warned of significant disruption to commercial flights. “There is the potential that there’s going to be significant impact to commercial aviation and the traveling public. That’s something that certainly the FAA needs to give consideration to and, frankly, come up with a plan to mitigate,” he stated.

Others raised health concerns, noting that chronic sleep disruption from launch noise could impact veterans and trauma survivors. Robyn Memphis, a neuroscience and psychology graduate student, stated that sleep disruptions from launch noise and sonic booms could carry lasting effects. Erich Schuttauf, the executive director of the American Association for Nude Recreation, also argued that places like Playalinda Beach, a nudist beach, are crucial for people who travel to places where public nudity is legal. (9/6)

Gemini’s Wing and a Prayer: Rogallo Wings, the Paresev, and Crashes in the Desert (Source: Space Review)
In the early 1960s, NASA considered installing a parachute-like device called a Rogallo Wing to allow Gemini capsules to return to dry land rather than splash down. Dwayne Day recalls the initial mishap-filled testing of that concept. Click here. (9/9)
 
Golden Dome Dilemma: Diplomatic and Military Risks of Space-Based Missile Defense (Source: Space Review)
A major new initiative of the US military is the development of the Golden Dome missile defense system, which will include a space-based component. Carlos Alatorre argues that including space-based interceptors as part of Golden Dome brings with it military and diplomatic risks. Click here. (9/9)
 
More Than Machines: When AI Explores the Stars Without Us (Source: Space Review)
Advances in artificial intelligence could revolutionize space exploration. Alex Li warns that they could also strip away what makes exploration such a fundamentally human endeavor. Click here. (9/9)
 
Go Faster, Somehow (Source: Space Review)
At a Senate hearing last week, a former NASA administrator said it was “highly unlikely” the United States would land humans back on the Moon before China got there, a statement that riled the current acting administrator. Jeff Foust reports on the debates about what’s wrong with Artemis and what, if anything, can be done to fix those problems. Click here. (9/9)
 
The Forms of Space Entrepreneurship (Source: Space Review)
The growth of entrepreneurial space activities has become clear for years. Alexander William Salter examines how space entrepreneurship embodies various forms of entrepreneurship in general. Click here. (9/9)

Trump Budget Clawback Takes 40% From Commerce Space Office and TraCSS (Source: Space News)
The Office of Space Commerce has lost 40% of its current-year budget in a rescission. Industry sources said the office was informed in late August of the rescission affecting 40% of its $65 million budget for fiscal year 2025. The move may slow work on the TraCSS space traffic coordination system, primarily how the office parters with companies on pathfinder projects. Neither NOAA, within which the office is located, nor the Commerce Department responded to questions about the rescission. (9/9)

Thales Alenia Developing Tech to Enable Direct-to-Device (Source: Space News)
As SpaceX expands its plans for direct-to-device services, Europe is investing more in key technologies for it. Thales Alenia Space announced Monday it is leading a 55 million euro ($65 million) project called U DESERVE 5G, aiming to test connectivity compliant with terrestrial 3GPP mobile standards from low Earth orbit by early 2028. The payload would feature an active antenna designed to enable voice calls and data services directly with a standard mobile device, without routing via a ground station.

The announcement came the same day as SpaceX’s deal to acquire EchoStar spectrum for direct-to-device services for $17 billion. One analyst said the EchoStar spectrum will “dramatically change the throughput capacity” for Starlink direct-to-device services. (9/9)

BlackSky and Iceye Developing Earth's Digital Twin (Source: Space News)
Earth imaging companies BlackSky and Iceye are joining an effort to create a digital twin of the Earth. The joint campaign with AI-visualization specialists Aechelon Technology and Niantic Spatial intends to create a planetary-scale geospatial model called Project Orbion that can be frequently refreshed with satellite observations. BlackSky high-resolution visual imagery and Iceye synthetic aperture radar data will feed into Skybeam, Aechelon’s three-dimensional global database. Applications ranging from wildfire monitoring to military targeting require background global models with accurate coordinates. (9/9)

China Launches Offshore Jielong-3 and Long March 7 on Monday (Source: Space News)
China conducted a pair of launches Monday. A Jielong-3, or Smart Dragon-3, commercial rocket lifted off from a ship in waters near the city of Rizhao. It put into orbit a group of satellites called Geely-05, part of a constellation being developed by GeeSpace to provide Internet-of-Things services. Additionally, a Long March 7 rocket lifted off at 10 p.m. Eastern from the Wenchang spaceport on the island of Hainan. It put into orbit the Yaogan-45 satellite, described by Chinese media as a remote sensing satellite but likely with military applications. (9/9)

Chinese Apophis Mission Proposed (Source: Space News)
Chinese scientists are proposing a mission to the asteroid Apophis when it makes a close approach to the Earth in 2029. The mission, discussed at a planetary science conference Monday, would consist of two small satellites sent into a halo orbit around Sun-Earth Lagrange point 1 to await the approach of Apophis. They would then transfer into a flyby orbit to meet the asteroid shortly after its close encounter with the Earth in April 2029. The mission would build upon a related proposal called CROWN to place six spacecraft into Venus-like, heliocentric orbits intended to substantially improve the searching and tracking of near Earth objects. (9/9)

Iceye to Develop Radar Imaging Satellites for Finland (Source: European Spaceflight)
Iceye has won a contract from Finland’s military for radar imaging satellites. Iceye said Monday it signed a contract with the Finnish Defence Forces for an undisclosed number of SAR satellites. The contract is worth 158 million euros and includes options to both extend the life of the satellites and acquire additional ones. The announcement did not disclose when the satellites would be launched. (9/9)

TRAPPIST-1e Hints at Habitability (Source: Space.com)
Observations of an exoplanet have turned up hints of habitability. Astronomers used the James Webb Space Telescope to take the spectra of the exoplanet TRAPPIST-1e as it transited in front of its parent star. One explanation for the data is that it shows signs of an atmosphere with nitrogen, a sign that it could be habitable given that the planet is in an orbit where it could support liquid water on its surface. However, astronomers said the data is also consistent with a planet with no atmosphere. Astronomers said they are planning additional observations of the exoplanet in the next few years to see if they can determine which explanation holds up. (9/9)

Norway's Kongsberg to Supply Key Hardware for Ariane 6 Launcher (Source: Space Daily)
Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace has secured a contract with ArianeGroup to deliver critical hardware for Europe's Ariane 6 launch system. The agreement covers supply of Optical Safety Barriers (OSB) and Upper Part Attachment (UPPA) mechanisms over the next three years. The launcher, which had its maiden flight in July 2024, has since flown two commercial missions in March and August 2025 and is now ramping up operations. (9/7)

China Planning for a Trillion-Dollar Deep Space Economy by 2040 (Source: Space Daily)
The global deep space economy could expand into a trillion-dollar market by 2040, with growth centered on energy, internet, tourism, and cultural creativity, according to insights shared at the third International Deep Space Exploration Conference. Shi Pingyan, chief engineer of China's Deep Space Exploration Lab, identified ten priority sectors shaping the deep space economy. These include resource exploitation, internet, energy, biology, transportation, smart technologies, construction, tourism, security, and cultural creativity.

Shi explained that China's exploration strategy is advancing from scientific research and technological breakthroughs toward economic empowerment and industrial-scale development. He emphasized that deep space industries will become a primary driver of new productive forces and a catalyst for upgrading aerospace capabilities. (9/7)

Kenya Looks to the Stars for Tourism (Source: Space Daily)
Under the Kenyan stars tourists and tribal dancers looked up at the rust red "blood moon" as the east African country launched a new tourism initiative promoting the country's night skies. The country has some of the lowest light pollution levels in the world, according to the Bortle dark-sky scale -- which measures night sky light -- and an already thriving tourism industry which accounts for almost 10 percent of the country's GDP. (9/7)

Duke Launches $2 Million SPACE Initiative to Unite Science and Policy for Cosmic Exploration (Source: Space Daily)
With $2 million in backing from an anonymous alumnus, Duke research will soon reach new heights. Last week, the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences announced a new multidisciplinary initiative that aims to unite science with policymaking to support human exploration of the final frontier. Termed Science and Policy to Advance Cosmic Exploration, or SPACE, the program aims to bring together research, professional programs and strategic partnerships. (9/7)

Star's Warped Ring May be Shaped by a Hidden Planet (Source: Earth.com)
Fomalhaut has long been the poster child for bright, nearby stars with spectacular debris disks. But even by cosmic standards, its dusty ring has always looked odd. Now, the sharpest radio images yet from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) show that the disk’s lopsided shape doesn’t just look off-center – it actually changes shape with distance from the star. That quirk, astronomers say, is a smoking gun for an unseen planet sculpting the system from within. (9/8)

Space Development Agency Director Leaves Post for Academia (Source: Defense News)
Space Development Agency Director Derek Tournear is stepping down from his position at the agency to be Auburn University’s new director of space innovation. SDA’s deputy director, Gurpartap Sandhoo, will lead the agency in an acting capacity. (9/8)

Companies Demo Golden Dome Tech (Source: New York Times)
In May, more than 100 employees of Varda Space Industries gathered at the aerospace start-up’s Southern California headquarters to watch a real-time feed of a capsule hurtling toward Earth at more than 18,000 miles per hour. The exercise was intended to show that Varda and its partners could successfully track a hypersonic missile, rocket or drone and calculate its trajectory from space within minutes, so that the object could theoretically be intercepted.

Many tech companies and defense tech start-ups have recently conducted similar drills to show off their technological prowess as they aim for the same goal: getting a piece of President Trump’s “Golden Dome” project, a hypothetical defense system that can intercept rockets and missiles.

“We will have the best system ever built,” he said in an Oval Office address discussing the defense shield in May. Defense experts have said Mr. Trump’s plan could cost more than $1 trillion, adding that it is unclear if even the most advanced technology could create an impenetrable barrier around the United States. (9/8)

Could Colorado Win a Legal Case to Keep Space Command? (Source: The Gazette)
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, who has sued President Donald Trump over tariffs, birthright citizenship, federal worker layoffs and funding freezes, among other things, is now vowing to sue to stop him from moving Space Command out of Colorado to Huntsville, Alabama. Is there a legal case for keeping Space Command here?

Experts in administrative law say Colorado’s path is narrow — courts usually defer to the Pentagon or executive branch on all basing matters. But if Weiser frames his argument as the Department of Defense failing to follow required administrative procedures, he may have a plausible case under the Administrative Procedure Act. (9/7)

With EchoStar Constellation Nixed MDA Space Contract Terminated (Source: MDA)
MDA Space has received a termination for convenience notification from EchoStar Corporation related to the constellation contract announced on August 1. The contract termination is the result of a sudden change to EchoStar’s business strategy and plan in the wake of spectrum allocation discussions with the FCC EchoStar has agreed to sell its AWS-4 and H-block spectrum licenses to SpaceX.

This arbitrary development is completely unrelated to MDA Space performance and our products and services. The company will be compensated for all related termination costs and fees as per the EchoStar contract. (9/8)