November 15, 2025

Researchers Find Surprisingly “Young” Meteorite Crater from the Dawn of Human Civilization (Source: ZME Science)
We’ve identified only around 200 meteorite craters worldwide, and there’s a very good reason for that: they’re hard to find. Craters get eroded and covered by vegetation and soil, and this new crater is no exception. The latest crater was confirmed on a lush, green, rain-soaked hillside in southern China. It’s a vibrantly alive place, covered with thick soil, dense vegetation, and relentless monsoons. It is, by all accounts, the last place you’d expect to find a pristine scar from space.

Yet, they proved that the crater (called Jinlin crater) is there. This is the first impact crater ever found in southern China. With a diameter of 900 meters, it’s also the biggest “modern” crater ever discovered on Earth. It also shows that our planet is hiding far more of its violent past than we ever realized. (11/14)

A U.S. Partnership Model for the Middle East in Space (Source: Space News)
The Middle East is no longer asking whether it should develop domestic space capabilities; it’s deciding with whom it will develop them. If the United States wants to be the country of choice ahead of China, it must create a joint space partnership agreement framework to align American and partner nations’ industry, government and financial goals. The U.S.'s partnership with the United Arab Emirates can serve as a replicable model for broader collaboration with the region. A repeatable space partnership framework can shift U.S. space cooperation in the Middle East from one-off deals and memoranda to a scalable diplomacy tool that strengthens U.S./Middle East relations and bolsters the U.S. space industry. (11/14)

The Fallacy of Being First — Let’s be Enduring Instead (Source: Space News)
As the global space community looks toward permanent lunar bases, Mars outposts and beyond, we must pivot from high-cost, high-risk missions to a strategy focused on sustainable infrastructure rather on being first and planting the flag. This is more than an engineering problem — it’s a matter of strategic architecture. Without sustained logistics, permanent presence on the moon or Mars is impractical. With it, we open the door to lasting habitation, industrial activity and new markets.

The next era of space activity will not be defined by single missions but by the systems we build to make space accessible and productive. The Highway into Space and the Bridge between Worlds markets are strategic imperatives. It’s time we start treating them that way. The lesson from history is clear: winning the race to be first is not the same as winning the future. What matters most is not whose flag flies first, but whose foundations endure. (11/10)

How Spacefaring Nations Could Avoid Conflict on the Moon (Source: Space.com)
The US, China and international partners on both sides have plans to establish permanent bases on the lunar surface – raising the possibility of conflict. The bases will be located at the south pole of the moon, which has valuable resources such as abundant water in the form of ice. The moon may also have valuable minerals, such as rare earth metals, that countries may want to extract.

But such resources will be limited, as are suitable sites for landing and building lunar bases. The potential for conflict between nations in space is not beyond the realms of possibility. However, there are measures that can be taken to ensure that the future is a cooperative one. International treaties could be the solution, together with a willingness of countries to operate responsibly. Section 10 of the Artemis accords says that the "extraction of space resources does not inherently constitute national appropriation under Article II of the Outer Space Treaty".

It also proposes the use of temporary "safety zones" around operations to extract resources. Signatories to the Artemis accords must provide notification of their activities to other nations and commit to coordinating to avoid harmful interference. However, these safety zones are highly controversial because they could be seen as a breach of the outer space treaty's non-appropriation principles. A major impediment is that neither China, nor the US nor the Russian Federation have signed up. However, in my view, the moon agreement provides the best framework for the future – without further treaties or accords. (11/15)

China's Space Station Delivers Fresh Batch of Samples for Research (Source: Xinhua)
The latest samples from 26 scientific experiments conducted aboard China's space station, totaling approximately 46.67 kilograms, were brought back to Earth on Friday, according to the Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization (CSU) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Marking the ninth transfer of materials from the orbiting laboratory, the Shenzhou-21 return capsule brought back samples from experiments in space life sciences, materials science and combustion research. (11/15)

China’s Chief Space Contractor Readies Plans for Suborbital Tourism Flights (Source: SCMP)
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC), the primary contractor for the country's space program, will unveil details at the China Hi-tech Fair, which opens on Friday in Shenzhen. Reportedly, reusable rockets and spacecraft will catapult passengers to the edge of the atmosphere, with each paying a hefty fee for the out-of-this-world experience; ticket prices have been estimated to start at 1 million yuan ($140,534). (11/14)

NASA Faces Another Shift in its Leadership — and its Vision (Source: Cosmic Log)
As the space agency braces for another leadership change, it’s clear that the year ahead will also bring further challenges. How will NASA fare? Here are a few of the questions that the next NASA administrator will have to resolve: How deeply will science be slashed? How soon to the moon? Focus on the moon, or Mars? What about Isaacman's SpaceX connection?

The Planetary Society's Casey Dreier said he’s worried about SpaceX’s dominant role in America’s space effort, including the plan to send American astronauts to the moon. “If you frame this as a national space race and as a national goal, we have therefore put our nation’s reputation and goals in the hands of literally one company to deliver on that space race,” he said. He’s also worried that NASA will tighten its focus on “just one or two celestial bodies” while cutting back on space science in general. (11/14)

Blue Origin Planning Next New Glenn Flight for Early Next Year (Source: Space News)
After a successful second flight of New Glenn, including the first landing of the booster, Blue Origin is looking to perform its next launch early next year, possibly with the same booster. In an interview a day after the Nov. 13 NG-2 launch of New Glenn, Blue Origin Chief Executive Dave Limp said that while data reviews have only just started, the vehicle appeared to perform exactly as expected. He said Blue Origin was targeting “very early in the new year” for the next New Glenn launch.

Blue Origin expects the next flight of New Glenn to carry its Blue Moon Mark 1 uncrewed lunar lander. That lander is finishing development and will soon be shipped to the Johnson Space Center for thermal vacuum testing. “Assuming that stays on the schedule that we’re on right now, I think it’s likely our third mission” for New Glenn, he said. If Blue Moon’s schedule did slip, he said the company might fly another payload on the next New Glenn and move the lander to the fourth launch. (11/14)

SpaceX Launches 2 Rockets Less Than 4 Hours Apart at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Space.com)
SpaceX pulled off a doubleheader overnight on Friday (Nov. 14), launching two Starlink missions less than four hours apart from Florida's Space Coast. The action started at 10:08 p.m. when a Falcon 9 lifted off from LC-39A, its first stage landing downrange on the drone ship "A Shortfall of Gravitas" about 8.5 minutes later. Then, at 1:44 a.m. on Saturday, another Falcon 9 launched from LC-40, its booster landing downrange on "Just Read the Instructions". These were the 145th and 146th Falcon 9 launches of 2025. (11/15)

EchoStar’s Hughes is Facing a Liquidity Crisis (Source: Space Intel Report)
EchoStar Corp.’s Hughes Satellite Systems said it does not have sufficient liquidity to fund its business for the next 12 months, particularly its debt maturing in August, and is considering options including Chapter 11 bankruptcy as a result. Hughes’s principal satellite asset, the Jupiter 3/EchoStar 24 Ka-band broadband satellite in geostationary orbit, is owned not by Hughes but, since Dec. 31, 2023,  by EchoStar. Hughes leases the satellite’s full capacity from EchoStar for about $190 million per year. (11/14)

European Spacesuit To Be Tested Aboard ISS in 2026 (Source: European Spaceflight)
During her mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2026, French astronaut Sophie Adenot will be tasked with testing a European intravehicular activity (IVA) spacesuit. In late 2023, the French space agency CNES contracted Spartan Space, the Institute of Space Medicine and Physiology (MEDES), and the sporting goods retailer Decathlon to conduct an initial study for a European intravehicular activity (IVA) spacesuit. Following the successful completion of this phase of the project, CNES awarded the trio a second contract in late 2024 to develop a prototype that could be tested aboard the ISS. (11/15)

MDA Space: No Financial Effect From EchoStar Contract Pull-Out; Termination Payment TBD; Suppliers Caused Globalstar Delay (Source: Space Intel Report)
Satellite manufacturer MDA Space said it continues to engage credible proposals from multiple prospective operators of direct-to-device (D2D) constellations and LEO broadband networks, with no apparent letup given the increasingly crowded competitive landscape. Two months after SpaceX purchased EchoStar Corp.’s mobile satellite spectrum for $17 billion, causing EchoStar to cancel its D2D constellation contract with MDA, some prospective operators have concluded that they should move more quickly to line up their own programs. (11/14)

'Kitten Space Agency' is the Spiritual Successor to 'Kerbal Space Program' (Source: Space.com)
The team at RocketWerkz is working on a spiritual successor to Kerbal Space Program, called Kitten Space Agency (KSA). Felipe Falanghe, creator of the original Kerbal Space Program, is working on the project. Beyond the more solid technical foundation, RocketWerkz is taking a very fluid and open approach to KSA's development. "The point of the game is to find the fun, hang on to it, and then just like build out from there." (11/14)

Race for First Private Space Station Heats Up (Source: Space Daily)
American aerospace firm Vast has stepped into a frenzied race for the world's first commercial space station. Haven-1 -- a mini station scheduled for launch in May 2026 -- has been designed for comfort, according to Andrew Feustel, a former NASA astronaut now an advisor at Vast. Vast then aspires to replace the ISS with Haven-2, a larger version of the first model. But Vast faces fierce competition from other contenders, including Axiom Space, Voyager Space in partnership with Airbus, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin.

Hopes rest on securing funding from a NASA budget of up to $1.5 billion for the development of commercial space stations, which is set to be awarded in April 2026. In replacing the ISS, NASA plans to purchase services rather than manage programs itself -- a real boon for private companies in the space market.

Thales Alenia Space is set to deliver the first two pressurized modules for Axiom's planned commercial space station, which could be operational as early as 2028. It has also manufactured half the pressurized modules for the ISS. The company's main challenge, however, is to "remain competitive in terms of prices." Companies are counting on increased demand from governments and the private sector to generate revenue. Vast predicts that 85 percent of its crewed mission revenues will come from agencies, and 15 percent from private clients. (11/13)

Dream Chaser Passes Pre-Flight Tests at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Space Daily)
Sierra Space announced completion of a series of critical pre-flight tests for its Dream Chaser spaceplane at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, marking progress toward the vehicle's first uncrewed mission. Dream Chaser underwent Electromagnetic Interference and Electromagnetic Compatibility testing in NASA's Space Systems Processing Facility to confirm the spacecraft's operation in expected electromagnetic conditions for various missions.

The vehicle also completed high-speed tow testing at Kennedy and Space Florida's Launch and Landing Facility, simulating runway landing dynamics. Daimler Truck North America's Freightliner Cascadia truck towed the spaceplane to validate autonomous navigational parameters. (11/14)

Europe Commercial Satellite Life Extension Mission Set for 2027 (Source: Space Daily)
Infinite Orbits and SES have agreed to conduct a geostationary satellite life extension mission, marking the first commercial undertaking of its kind in Europe. The operation will use Endurance, a 750kg docking satellite designed for in-orbit services. Launch is planned for 2027, and docking with a SES satellite is set to follow an in-orbit demonstration. The agreement establishes Infinite Orbits as a key partner for geostationary in-orbit services in the region. With the demonstration completed, Infinite Orbits will extend the operational life of at least one SES satellite by five years. Additional missions are being evaluated. (11/14)

Brazil Gears Up to Harness ESA's Biomass Data (Source: Space Daily)
As the COP30 climate conference gets underway in Brazil, the world's attention is once again drawn to the plight of the Amazon - the planet's largest and most vital rainforest. With the European Space Agency's Earth Explorer Biomass satellite now in orbit, ESA is helping Brazil prepare to transform this new mission's groundbreaking data into actionable knowledge for protecting the rainforest and confronting climate change. Launched earlier this year, the Biomass mission is designed to unlock novel insights into how forests are changing and their pivotal role in regulating Earth's carbon cycle. (11/14)

CSES Satellite Tracks Shifting South Atlantic Anomaly and Impact on Solar Cycle Twenty Five (Source: Space Daily)
The South Atlantic anomaly represents the region of Earth's radiation belts with the highest particle concentrations and weakest geomagnetic shielding. This area poses risks to the electronics aboard low-Earth orbit satellites and to the health of astronauts. Researchers analyzed data spanning six years from China's Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite. Their study examined the movement of geomagnetic fields and high-energy proton levels across the anomaly throughout the ascent of Solar Cycle twenty five. The analysis identifies that the core region of proton flux within the anomaly has drifted westward and northward over five years. (11/14)

Poland Sets Up First-Ever Military Satellite Launch (Source: Defense News)
In a bid to secure an Earth observation system for the country’s armed forces, Poland is advancing a project to have its first three military satellites launched this month. Developed by a consortium of Finnish manufacturer ICEYE and Wojskowe Zakłady Łączności No 1, an offshoot of Poland’s state-run defense group PGZ, the national satellite reconnaissance system will be the first component of the military space capabilities Warsaw aims to field in the coming years. The synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite is to be deployed into low Earth orbit onboard the next Transporter-15 mission by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. (11/14)

Sidus Space Reports Third Quarter Financial Results (Source: Sidus Space)
Sidus Space reported third quarter revenue of $1.3 million, down 31% compared to $1.9 million in Q3 2024. The cost of that revenue was $2.6 million, up 42% from Q3 2024 due to increased satellite and software depreciation and an increase of material and labor costs. The company posted a loss of $1.3 million, compared to $38,000 profit in Q3 2024. (11/14)

Two Launches in a Day? How About Two in an Hour? (Source: SPACErePORT)
On the heels of an historic New Glenn / Atlas-5 double-header at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, the Eastern Range is prepped for a Friday night salvo of Falcon 9 missions, scheduled within a single hour. SpaceX added two Starlink launches to the Range's manifest from LC-39A (at 10:08 p.m.) and LC-40 (at 10:55 p.m.). That's not just two in an hour, it's four launches within two days. Whether or not the Falcon 9s both fly as planned, the Space Force's (and the FAA's) confidence in setting this schedule suggests the Eastern Range is technologically ready for a dramatically increased launch rate at the Florida spaceport, with a wide variety of launch companies and rocket types. (11/14)

DARPA Seeks Tech to Track Objects in Cislunar Space (Source: Space.com)
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is seeking optical signal processing technology to track objects in cislunar space. The initiative aims to address the gap in monitoring spacecraft near the moon as part of a broader effort by the U.S. military to enhance situational awareness in lunar space amid a new space race with China. (11/13)

US Spy Satellites Built by SpaceX Send Signals in the “Wrong Direction" (Source: Ars Technica)
About 170 Starshield satellites built by SpaceX for the US government’s National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) have been sending signals in the wrong direction, a satellite researcher found. The SpaceX-built spy satellites are helping the NRO greatly expand its satellite surveillance capabilities, but the purpose of these signals is unknown. The signals are sent from space to Earth in a frequency band that’s allocated internationally for Earth-to-space and space-to-space transmissions.

Experts believe the NRO likely coordinated with the US National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to ensure that signals wouldn’t interfere with other spectrum users. A decision to allow the emissions wouldn’t necessarily be made public, they said. But conflicts with other governments are still possible, especially if the signals are found to interfere with users of the frequencies in other countries. (11/14)

Almost Everything About NASA’s Latest Mission to Mars Is Unusual (Source: New York Times)
NASA’s latest robotic mission to Mars, ESCAPADE, should perhaps have been named the Great Escape, given how many times it has eluded doom. The mission, which launched on Thursday, could also serve as a “trailblazer” for how NASA could get more bang for its buck from its science missions, said Rob Lillis. NASA initially rejected Dr. Lillis’ proposal several years ago. Later, ESCAPADE — a shortening of Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers — only got the go-ahead from NASA because of a federal government shutdown in 2018.

And then it got kicked off its ride to space. The rocket that would eventually launch it — a brand-new design called New Glenn — was not ready. So the two spacecraft were shipped back to California and put in storage, and mission planners had to figure out yet another path to Mars. The two spacecraft, named Blue and Gold after the Berkeley school colors, are each about the size of a mini fridge. They are to enter orbit around Mars in September 2027, but because the sun will be inconveniently located between Earth and Mars at that time, blocking communications, the science mission won’t start until June 2028.

This is the first time that a mission to another planet has used multiple orbiters to make simultaneous measurements in different locations. The two spacecraft will shift into different elliptical orbits, one swinging farther out, the other moving a bit closer. That will allow measurements of the long-distance effects from the buffeting of the solar wind. The two spacecraft carry identical instruments: a magnetometer to measure the magnetic fields; a device called an electrostatic analyzer; and a probe that measures the temperature, density and voltage of the charged particles. (11/14)

The Exploration Company Tests Nyx Micrometeoroid Shielding (Source: European Spaceflight)
European space logistics firm The Exploration Company has successfully tested the shielding that will protect its Nyx spacecraft against micrometeoroid and orbital debris impacts. The Exploration Company is developing Nyx, a modular, multirole spacecraft expected to make its debut in 2028. The vehicle is initially intended to transport cargo to and from the International Space Station, with later variants planned for missions to lunar orbit, lunar surface operations, and eventually even crew transportation. (11/15)

ISS Astronauts Take Cover From Radiation as Solar Storms Spark Auroras (Source: Space.com)
It's not all about pretty auroras when the sun shoots some ejecta our way. As people across the Earth gazed at the sky the past few nights, staring up at the brilliant auroras brought on by recent intense solar storms, Earthlings in orbit had to take some precautions. Astronauts aboard the ISS were forced to rearrange some of their sleeping arrangements due to the potential threat posed by recent solar storms, a recent communications exchange between ISS mission control and crew members aboard the space station shows. (11/13)

Lockheed Martin’s Lunar Inflatable Habitat Passes Key Burst Test (Source: Aviation Week)
The race to the Moon is on, and Lockheed Martin is confident that its inflatable habitat technology can help fast-track sustainable human operations, from Earth orbit to the lunar surface and beyond. The company is conducting an intense test campaign of its softgoods technology, the culmination of which is expected to be an in-space demonstration in orbit—or on the lunar surface—around the end of the decade.

The latest test, the fifth burst evaluation conducted in the campaign, took place on a former Titan rocket test stand built deep into a ravine behind Lockheed Martin Space’s Waterton Canyon facility in Colorado. The test unit was a barrel-shape structure with a fully inflated diameter of about 10.8 ft. Once the pressure exceeded 125 psi, observers donned double-ear protectors as the test unit’s material strained. Suddenly, the still afternoon air was shattered as the unit burst with a thunderclap at a pressure of 224 psi. (11/13)

Eutelsat Signs 2 LEO Agreements in Africa (Source: Via Satellite)
Eutelsat signed two agreements this week for Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) services in Africa, with MSTelcom in Angola, and Paratus for southern Africa. Paratus, a network services provider in Sub-Saharan Africa signed a multi-year, multi-million agreement to expand its work with Eutelsat for OneWeb connectivity services. The expanded agreement includes solutions for fixed sites, comms-on-the-move and comms-on-pause in South Africa, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, and Zambia. (11/13)

What Would a “Simplified” Starship Plan for the Moon Actually Look Like? (Source: Ars Technica)
First, let’s make a couple of assumptions. Any approach to shortening the Artemis III timeline should not involve major hardware changes. This rules out a “stubby” version of Starship, which would require a significant reworking of the vehicle’s internals. Essentially, any new plan should use hardware that exists largely in the structural shape and form it’s in. There are two changes that SpaceX, in conjunction with NASA, could make to simplify or potentially accelerate Artemis: expendable Starships and a Dragon capsule approach.

There is one relatively straightforward way to cut down on the number of “tanker” launches included in the current plan. Using an optimized, expendable Starship might reduce the number of tanker missions required by up to 50 percent. There are downsides, including a significant increase in costs and an undermining of the whole point of Starship: full and rapid reuse. The other change would involve using a Falcon 9-launched Dragon capsule to ferry astronauts to a tanker-fueled Starship in LEO, riding that Starship to the Moon where a second tanker is loitering in lunar orbit, and (after completing lunar surface operations) refueling the Starship for a ride back to LEO to deposit the astronauts in the waiting Dragon for return to Earth. (11/13)

AAC Clyde Space Cuts 2025 forecast following delays in Eumetsat, Square Kilometer Array Contracts (Source: Space Intel Report)
Small satellite hardware and services provider AAC Clyde Space reported a 10% decline in sales, a sharp drop in EBITDA and negative operating cash flow for the three months ending Sep. 30 because of delays in two major contracts. The company remains confident that the two programs will move forward. (11/13)

OHB: Double-Digit Growth in Revenue, Profit, Backlog (Source: Space Intel Report)
Space hardware and services provider OHB SE of Germany reported double-digit increases in revenue, profit and order backlog for the nine months ending Sept. 30 and said it sees increased government spending in Europe coming from every direction. The company is investing in a new satellite production facility for its OHB Sweden subsidiary and a new electronics-component facility in Germany to capture expected German government demand for sovereign national supply chains. (11/13)

Iraq Explores Launch of National Satellite for Research and Security Applications (Source: Iraqi News)
In a significant move toward advancing Iraq’s technological and security capabilities, the Iraqi National Security Advisory announced on Wednesday the discussion of a national project to develop and launch Iraq’s first satellite dedicated to research and security purposes. “The goal is to strengthen Iraq’s independence in space-based data and enhance decision-making capabilities for both research and security institutions,” the statement noted. (11/5)