November 12, 2025

As the Government Shutdown Ends, Can NASA Please Release the 40-Day-Old HiRISE Images of 3I/ATLAS? (Source: Medium)
Lets be honest. We are born for a short time on a rock we call Earth, a tiny relic from the formation of a nearby star we call the Sun, which formed in the last third of cosmic history. Most of the 100 billion stars in our Milky-Way galaxy formed billions of years before the Sun. Our record is not very impressive in the cosmic scheme of things. There is a vast amount of space and time that we have never explored. We can learn new things as long as we maintain humility and an open mind.

In the coming weeks leading to the closest approach of 3I/ATLAS to Earth on December 19, 2025, we will be able to measure the speed, mass density and composition of these jets and search for multiple fragments from the fireworks of perihelion — as expected if 3I/ATLAS is a natural comet. Seeking scientific data is key to learning the truth. On October 2–3, 2025, the HiRISE camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took side images of 3I/ATLAS with 30 kilometers per pixel resolution. As the government shutdown is about to end, can NASA please release the data that was held hostage by politics for 40 days? (11/11)

AST SpaceMobile: We Have $1B+ in Revenue Commitments From Telco Customers; 3.2B in Liquidity Means We’re Fully Financed (Source: Space Intel Report)
Mobile satellite direct-to-device (D2D) service provider AST SpaceMobile said it had secured over $1 billion in revenue commitments from its commercial telco partners who will use the service to fill in gaps in their cellular coverage, and $3.2 billion in liquidity. The most recent addition to the revenue commitment is a 10-year agreement with Saudi Arabia's stc group, with $175 million in prepayments. The liquidity is sufficient for the company to deploy the 90 satellites it says it will need. (11/11)

T-Minus Engineering Launch Scheduled NET Nov. 18 From Spaceport Nova Scotia (Source: SpaceQ)
The first rocket launch to reach the edge of space from Canada since 1998 could happen as soon as November 18 from Spaceport Nova Scotia for a Dutch rocket built by T-Minus Engineering. A Notice to airmen (NOTAM) has been issued for the launch of the T-Minus Engineering suborbital launch of its Barracuda hypersonic test platform. The only other launch to date from Spaceport Nova Scotia was a university launch by York University in July 2023 which reached 13.4 kilometers.

The T-Minus Engineering Barracuda hypersonic test platform “is a single-stage, solid-fuel suborbital vehicle that stands approximately 4 meters tall. It features a booster with a diameter of 200 millimeters and a payload compartment measuring 1000 millimeters. Barracuda can carry payloads of up to 40 kilograms to altitudes reaching 120 kilometers.” (11/10)

The Forgotten Story of NASA’s Most Life-Threatening Spacewalk (Source: Time)
The last thing Tom Stafford wanted to do was cut Gene Cernan loose in space. Stafford liked Cernan; he had trained hard with Cernan. For more than a year, the two of them had worked together to get ready for their three-day flight of Gemini 9, and now, in early June 1966, they were actually aloft. But the business of cutting Cernan loose was all at once a very real possibility.

Stafford, the commander of the mission, was inside the spacecraft, buckled into his left-hand seat. Cernan, the junior pilot, was outside, dangling—actually spinning, tumbling, and flailing—at the end of a long umbilical cord, completely unable to control his movements. It was Deke Slayton, the head of the astronaut office, who first raised the possibility of what Stafford should do in a situation like this.

Cut him loose, Slayton said to Stafford. If it comes to that, cut him loose. Stafford nodded his understanding, left Slayton, and returned to the suit-up room. “What was that all about?” Cernan asked. “Everything’s fine, Geno,” Stafford answered. “No big deal.” (11/11)

One Part of Earth Is at Higher Risk of Impact by an Interstellar Object (Source: Science Alert)
New research titled "The Distribution of Earth-Impacting Interstellar Objects" tries to understand the risk. "In this paper we calculate the expected orbital elements, radiants, and velocities of Earth-impacting interstellar objects," the authors write. When it comes to what part of Earth is most at risk of an ISO impactor, low latitudes near the equator face the greatest risk. There's also a slightly elevated risk of impact in the Northern Hemisphere, where almost 90 percent of the human population lives. (11/12)

Kratos Plans $356M Acquisition of Israeli Satellite Firm Orbit (Source: San Diego Business Journal)
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has agreed to buy Israeli satellite communications company Orbit Technologies for $356.3 million in cash. Kratos plans to integrate Orbit into its Kratos Microwave Electronics Division, which is in Jerusalem. (11/11)
 
European Defense Leaders Highlight Need for Unified Satcom (Source: Via Satellite)
European defense leaders are drawing attention to the need for a unified satellite communications framework to enhance military capabilities. Maj. Gen. Armin Fleischmann of the German Federal Armed Forces has called for a coherent European investment strategy and standardization to improve interoperability. David Philips of the European Space Agency has highlighted the need for industrial capacity to build low-Earth-orbit assets, and Swiss Armed Forces official Ludovic Monnerat has highlighted the importance of partnerships for smaller nations. (11/11)

Germany's New Goals for Space (Source: Space News)
Back to those two realities mentioned earlier – Russia and sovereignty – that are resonating around the continent. Germany is showing it’s willing to put money behind these projects. Two examples: First, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) is looking to purchase satellites capable of jamming other spacecraft and inspecting objects in space, and it wants to do so on tight deadlines. The other area is in small satellite launch.

But these big, hairy, audacious goals are also coming with a bit of skepticism. In both cases, analysts are asking how will the German space community meet these deadlines? Can Germany achieve these ambitions including launches on a yet unflown domestic rocket after years of underinvestment into its private space sector. And can money make up for the launch experience that Germany appears to lack? (11/12)

China Moves Forward with Orbital Internet Network Expansion (Source: Space Daily)
A Long March 12 rocket placed the latest batch of low Earth orbit satellites into space on November 10, 2025, launching from the Hainan commercial spacecraft site in southern China. China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) confirmed the successful deployment shortly after liftoff. This group represents the 13th installment of hardware for China's internet satellite network. Twelve prior launches this year have continued assembling the nation's space-based internet system, which aims to deliver worldwide coverage through approximately 13,000 satellites operating in low-Earth orbit. (11/11)

Saturn Moon Mission Planning Shifts to Flower Constellation Theory (Source: Space Daily)
Researchers have developed a satellite constellation approach designed for exploration around Titan, Saturn's largest moon. The framework, known as the 2D Necklace Flower Constellation, prioritizes stable orbital configurations by integrating frozen orbits and repeating ground tracks. This model supports continuous observation and reduces the frequency of maintenance for multi-satellite missions. Titan's dense atmosphere, irregular gravity, and low sunlight make orbital missions particularly challenging. Conventional satellites often struggle to maintain surface coverage and transmit data reliably due to environmental disruptions and gravitational interactions from Saturn and its moons. The new constellation design uses scientific modeling to address these issues, achieving robust orbital stability and even surface monitoring. (11/12)

LandSpace Prepares Reusable ZQ 3 Rocket for First Launch After Major Tests in China (Source: Space Daily)
LandSpace, a private Beijing-based rocket manufacturer, is moving toward the debut flight of its ZQ 3, also known as Rosefinch 3, at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China's Gobi Desert. The company is aiming to recover the rocket's first-stage booster after launch. The ZQ 3 is a substantial reusable rocket, measuring 66.1 meters in height and 4.5 meters in diameter, with a fully fueled mass of nearly 570 metric tons. Its liftoff thrust exceeds 750 metric tons, allowing it to deliver heavy satellites to low Earth and sun-synchronous orbits.

The vehicle uses nine TQ-12A methane engines on its first stage and a single TQ-15B engine for the second stage. LandSpace's methane engines enhance environmental credentials and make the first-stage booster reusable. Four grid fins and four landing legs provide the structure required for recovery. Technical testing is currently underway at Jiuquan, which boasts a dedicated launch service tower for the ZQ 3 series. Engineers selected stainless steel for the rocket's tanks, prioritizing strength and resistance to high temperatures and corrosion, as well as keeping costs competitive. (11/12)

NASA Scrubs ESCAPADE Launch Due to ‘Highly Elevated Solar Activity’ (Source: Spaceflight Now)
Blue Origin was able to secure permission from the Federal Aviation Administration for a daytime launch attempt while the emergency order constraining commercial launches remains in place during the government shutdown. However, the solar storms are forcing Blue Origin and NASA to find a new launch opportunity. (11/12)

How Fast Blue Origin Can Scale New Glenn? (Source: Mach 33)
The next two years will determine whether Blue Origin can convert years of development into repeatable launch cadence. Our deterministic two-year model (Bear, Base, Bull) projects between 15 and 36 total launches, depending on factory throughput, engine allocation, and reuse efficiency. But even in the Bull case, Blue Origin falls short of its public goal of 24 launches in 2026, underscoring the gap between marketing ambitions and near-term manufacturing capacity.

Launch growth depends far more on BE-4 engine flow and upper-stage output than on reuse tempo. Reuse reliability is not the bottleneck. Once recovery is proven, cadence will be gated by how fast new boosters and upper stages can be built, not how often they can be re-flown. Whether the ESCAPADE flight succeeds or not, its effect is quickly outweighed by the production ramp, by mid-2026, cumulative cadence is driven almost entirely by factory throughput.

At lower launch rates, capacity remains concentrated on Amazon Kuiper, with NASA missions prioritized next for credibility and certification value. A faster ramp would allow Blue Origin to accommodate AST SpaceMobile deployments alongside government flights and begin early U.S. Space Force Phase 3 participation. (11/12)

From Thuraya to the Asteroid Belt: The UAE’s Expanding Universe of Discovery (Source: Arabian Business)
The UAE recently marked 25 years since the launch of its first satellite, Thuraya 1. That mission, which began as a practical effort to improve connectivity, marked the start of a journey that has transformed a small nation into one of the world’s most ambitious space players. The UAE has shown it can move from buying space services to building and operating them with purpose. On World Science Day, as I work with my students to recreate lunar and Martian conditions in the lab, I am reminded how far the country has come. (11/11)

New Deployable Structures Could Help Astronauts Maintain Muscle Mass in Space (Source: Northeastern U)
One way astronauts in space try to counteract microgravity’s negative effect is by using specialized exercise equipment, but the available options still fall short in many respects in actually preventing muscle or bone loss. A team of researchers may have just offered the best solution yet in  addressing the issue — and they turned to geometry to do it. Jeffrey Lipton and his colleagues have created a new class of deployable structures that could one day be used to create artificial gravity space habitats for astronauts to maintain their muscles during long-duration missions.

These high-expansion-ratio deployable structures, or HERDS, are composed of a series of triangle-shaped pop-up extending trusses, or PET, that use a scissor-based mechanism to retract and expand. These systems are small enough — both in size and weight — to be stored compactly on a spacecraft, but are capable of expanding into a kilometer in length and function properly at high spin rates. (11/10)

Rocket Lab Shares Surge With Bigger Launch Planned for 2026 (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Rocket Lab’s stock shot up more than 8% in after-hours trading, after the space company’s quarterly results exceeded Wall Street forecasts. The company’s 3-cents a share net loss for the third quarter was smaller than investors expected, and its $155 million in total revenue also surpassed expectations. Investors are anticipating that Rocket Lab's rocket launch and satellite systems businesses will win a growing slice of space spending. (11/10)

Kazakh Farmers Put Starlink on Horses and Dogs to Herd Livestock (Source: Intellinews)
On the vast steppes of Kazakhstan, where herders have guided sheep and horses across the grasslands for centuries, a quiet technological revolution is taking place. Farmers are now using artificial intelligence, drones and even Starlink satellite internet to monitor and herd livestock — sometimes attaching terminals to their horses and dogs. (11/10)

India Tests Parachutes for Gaganyaan Astronaut Capsule (Source: Space.com)
India took another step toward its first-ever human spaceflight last week, successfully testing the parachute system for its Gaganyaan astronaut capsule. The test occurred on Nov. 3, using an Indian Air Force IL-76 aircraft and a capsule mass simulator that tipped the scales at 7.2 tons. The plane took off from Babina Field Firing Range, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. It dropped the dummy capsule at an altitude of 1.6 miles. (11/11)

MethaneSAT Failure's Cause Still Cloudy (Source: Space News)
The failure of a privately operated methane-monitoring satellite does not have a clear root cause. MethaneSAT, launched in March 2024, stopped communicating with the ground in June, and the Environmental Defense Fund, which operated the mission, declared it a failure soon thereafter. A report released last week said MethaneSAT likely failed because of a “solitary event” either with its avionics or electrical power subsystem, but could not further narrow down the cause. That report was released by a New Zealand government ministry that had funded part of the mission, including operation centers in the country. The report noted there had been a series of technical problems with the spacecraft since its launch, which at one point led the spacecraft manufacturer, Blue Canyon Technologies, to take over mission operations. (11/12)

Atmos and Space Cargo Unlimited Partner on Microgravity Free-Flyer Mission (Source: Space News)
Two European companies are partnering on a microgravity research and manufacturing mission launching next year. Atmos Space Cargo and Space Cargo Unlimited said Wednesday they will fly a mission using Space Cargo Unlimited’s BentoBox research platform on Atmos’s Phoenix 2 spacecraft. That platform will operate in orbit for several weeks before returning to Earth using a reentry system developed by Atmos. The mission is the first of seven planned by the two companies. (11/12)

Russia Readies First Launch of Soyuz-5 Rocket (Source: TASS)
Roscosmos said it is on track to conduct the first launch of its Soyuz-5 rocket before the end of this year. The first flight model of the Soyuz-5 was delivered to the Baikonur Cosmodrome for launch in December, Roscosmos said Wednesday. Soyuz-5, in development for nearly a decade, offers medium-lift launch capabilities and could potentially be used for future crewed spacecraft. (11/12)

Vodacom Bringing Starlink to Africa (Source: Reuters)
SpaceX signed an agreement with a South African telecom company to provide Starlink services in Africa. Under the agreement, Vodacom Group will integrate Starlink services into its mobile network and also be an authorized reseller for Starlink services. It was unclear if the agreement will include services in Vodacom’s home country of South Africa, where SpaceX has sparred with regulators in its efforts to secure a license there. (11/12)

G4 Solar Storm Creates Auroras Visible in Florida (Source: Washington Post)
A powerful solar storm created brilliant auroral displays across much of the United States last night. The storm, rated a G4 on a 1-to-5 scale by NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, resulted in auroras seen as far south as Alabama and Florida. An ongoing series of solar flares raises the prospects of more auroras Wednesday night. (11/12)