November 19, 2025

Taiwan Advances “Full Satellite” Capabilities to Enter Global Space Supply Chain (Source: Mach 33)
Taiwan’s Space Agency is reportedly shifting from component‑supply towards full satellite design and integration, leveraging Taiwan’s established semiconductor and manufacturing base to position itself in the global space supply chain. The report suggests Taiwanese firms may now bid for end‑to‑end satellites rather than only chips or subsystems, potentially opening opportunities in Asia Pacific.

From a sector vantage this development suggests new entrants may alter cost structures and competitive dynamics in satellite manufacturing globally. For incumbents, particularly Western manufacturers, this shift could compress margins and accelerate outsourcing of assembly/integration to high‑volume low‑cost regions, necessitating strategic re‑thinking of manufacturing footprints. (11/17)

Blue Origin Targets Well Over A Dozen New Glenn Launches In 2026 (Source: Mach 33)
Blue Origin chief executive Dave Limp said the company is building enough hardware to support well above a dozen New Glenn launches in 2026, with an upper bound of 24 missions. Their new emphasis on second stage production throughput and BE 4 and BE 3U engine manufacturing shows where near term execution risk sits. If Blue Origin sustains this manufacturing trajectory, it could become a credible counterweight to SpaceX in heavy lift markets for the first time. (11/17)

Stout Street Capital Invests in CisLunar Industries (Source: CisLunar Industries)
CisLunar Industries, a leader in advanced hardware and software for space power, received new investment in its Seed Round from Denver's Stout Street Capital. This investment will accelerate the development and production of CisLunar Industries’ EPIC Product Line for power conversion. Resilient, scalable, and intelligent, these products are meeting growing market demand for multiple use cases in aerospace and defense. (11/18)

NASA to Divest, Demolish Buildings at Maryland’s Goddard Center (Source: Bloomberg)
NASA is planning to divest or demolish nearly half of its footprint at the Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, after President Donald Trump’s efforts to shrink the federal workforce led to a mass employee exodus, according to an email seen by Bloomberg News. One of NASA’s premier science centers, Goddard operates the agency’s Hubble Space Telescope and works on science missions including ones that explore the solar system, study Mars’ atmosphere and monitor space weather. (11/18)

James Webb Space Telescope May Have Found the 1st Stars in the Universe (Source: Space.com)
Astronomers have discovered that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) may have already found the long-sought first generation of stars born shortly after the Big Bang. These initial stars, referred to as Population III or POP III stars, dwell in a galaxy called LAP1-B which was previously studied by the $10 billion space telescope. The light from this galaxy has been travelling for 13 billion years to reach the JWST, meaning that we see LAP1-B as it was just 800 million years after the Big Bang. (11/18)

SpaceX Launches Tuesday Starlink Mission From Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Spaceflight Now)
SpaceX launched more Starlink satellites Tuesday night. A Falcon 9 lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, placing 29 Starlink satellites into orbit. SpaceX moved up the launch from later in the evening after the FAA lifted restrictions Sunday on commercial launches that allowed them to occur only between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. during part of the government shutdown. (11/19)

China Launches Three Experimental Satellites on Long March 2C (Source: Xinhua)
China launched three experimental satellites Tuesday night. A Long March 2C rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 11:01 p.m. Eastern and put into orbit three Shijian-30 satellites. Chinese media described the satellites only as carrying out space environment exploration and related technology verification. (11/19)

Rocket Lab Launches HASTE Suborbital Electron at Virginia Spaceport (Source: Rocket Lab)
Rocket Lab conducted a suborbital Electron launch for the Missile Defense Agency Tuesday. The suborbital version of Electron, called HASTE, lifted off from Launch Complex 2 on Wallops Island, Virginia, at 8 a.m. Eastern. Rocket Lab said the rocket carried a Missile Defense Agency payload built by the Applied Physics Lab as well as several secondary payloads intended to test key technologies for missile defense applications. This was the sixth launch overall of HASTE and the third in the last two months. (11/19)

Canada Increases Funding to ESA (Source: Reuters)
Canada plans to significantly increase contributions to the European Space Agency. Canada’s industry minister, Mélanie Joly, announced at a conference Tuesday that Canada would increase its ESA contributions by $528 million Canadian ($377 million) to ESA programs over the next three to five years, ten times more than previous Canadian contributions to the agency. She did not discuss specific ESA programs Canada would back but said the money would come from a much larger increase in Canadian defense spending. Canada is not a full member of the ESA but works with the agency under a cooperation agreement for several decades. (11/19)

Aerospace Startup Ursa Major Valued at $600 Million With New Funding, Hypersonic Demand (Sources: Space News, Bloomberg)
Ursa Major raised $150 million to advance work on propulsion systems as it moves further into the defense market. The company announced Tuesday it raised $100 million and secured $50 million in debt commitment, plus more than $115 million in bookings through the first three quarters of 2025. Most of the demand comes from U.S. defense agencies along with Stratolaunch and BAE Systems. The company now counts liquid engines for hypersonic vehicles and solid rocket motors as its core lines of business, a clear pivot from its origins offering engines for commercial launch vehicles. (11/19)

Eutelsat Plans $1 Billion Capital Raise (Source: Space News)
The board of satellite operator Eutelsat has approved a proposal to raise nearly $1 billion from existing shareholders. The 828 million euro ($959 million) capital raise, approved by the board Tuesday, was priced at 4 euros per share, a 32% premium to their average price over the 30 days before it was announced June 19.

Alongside plans to sell passive ground segment infrastructure, the operator said the extra capital will enable it to take out loans on more favorable terms to invest in OneWeb and contribute to IRIS², Europe’s proposed sovereign broadband constellation. Eutelsat expects to invest up to 2.2 billion euros for the 440 LEO satellites needed to sustain OneWeb over the coming years and has also committed about 2 billion euros for its share of the IRIS² public-private partnership. (11/19)

U.S. Government and Companies Criticize Draft EU Space Act (Source: Space News)
A draft of a European space law is facing criticism from the United States and other nations outside the European Union. Scott Woodard, consul general at the U.S. Consulate in Hamburg, said the draft of the EU Space Act, intended to harmonize European space regulations, could “stifle innovation” and put financial burdens on U.S. companies operating in Europe. The speech echoed formal comments made by the State Department on the draft earlier this month as well as those from U.S. companies and trade groups.

The impact of the act is also being considered in other countries who are not part of the EU, such as Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom. A European Commission official defended the draft act at the conference but welcomed the comments from the U.S. and elsewhere, noting that an updated draft of the bill could be ready by the end of the year. (11/19)

European Officials Stress Space Autonomy Despite Lingering Dependencies (Source: Space News)
European officials emphasized the need for strategic autonomy in space but are still relying on capabilities outside the continent. In a panel Tuesday at Space Tech Expo Europe, officials emphasized the need for European independence and autonomy in space services, citing shifting geopolitics. That includes programs up for funding at next week’s ESA ministerial focused on space security and strengthening Europe’s overall competitiveness in the global space sector.

However, an Italian official acknowledged that launch issues forced the government to move the launch of the next Cosmo-Skymed Second Generation radar-imaging satellite from Vega C to Falcon 9. That satellite will launch by the end of the year from California. A contract previously signed to launch it on Vega C will instead be used for another Cosmo-Skymed satellite in 2027. (11/19)

Senate Plans Isaacman Confirmation Hearing on Dec. 3 (Source: Space News)
The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a second confirmation hearing for Jared Isaacman next month. The committee said Tuesday that it will hold a Dec. 3 hearing on Isaacman’s renomination to be NASA administrator. Isaacman appeared before the committee in April for his original nomination, which the White House withdrew at the end of May. Some had hoped that the committee could skip a second hearing, but committee members reportedly have questions on events since April, such as the NASA budget proposal in May that sought steep cuts to NASA and Isaacman’s “Project Athena” policy document. (11/19)

Stratolaunch Plans Weekend Hypersonic Test Flight (Source: Florida Today)
Stratolaunch may conduct a hypersonic test flight from California's Mojave Air Space Port this weekend as part of a Department of War program to counter hypersonic threats. Using the world's largest airplane, Roc, Stratolaunch's approach is to launch its Talon vehicles in flight. The Talon-A2 reached speeds over Mach 5 during a March test. (11/19)
 
Navy Extends NEXCOM Contract with Viasat (Source: Fast Mode)
Viasat has secured a five-year contract extension with the Navy Exchange Service Command to provide managed connectivity services for personal-use networks at base installations worldwide. The contract includes significant network upgrades to improve bandwidth and infrastructure, aligning with the Barracks Task Force's mission to enhance living conditions for service members. (11/18)

Future Moon Base? Robots Explore Lava Tubes As Shelter for Astronauts (Source: SciTech Daily)
Ancient volcanic activity on the Moon and Mars has left behind lava tubes that are now seen as promising locations for future base camps, offering natural protection beneath the surface. Skylights, collapsed sections of tube ceilings, and long sinuous rilles identified in orbital imagery hint at extensive subsurface voids, but images alone cannot reveal which tubes are intact or suitable for habitats, making direct robotic exploration essential despite the harsh conditions and restricted access.

Now, a European consortium, which includes the Space Robotics Laboratory at the University of Malaga, has designed an innovative lava tunnel exploration mission concept. This concept has just been published in the scientific journal Science Robotics. It comprises a team of three heterogeneous robots that collaborate autonomously to explore and map these extreme environments efficiently, and they are being tested in caves of Lanzarote (Spain) with a view to the Moon. (11/18)

Starlink’s Method of Dodging Solar Storms May Make it Slower, for Longer (Source: The Register)
Researchers have found Starlink’s efforts to mitigate the effects of solar storms can create degraded performance that persists for a day or more after geomagnetic conditions ease. Solar storms disturb magnetic fields and disrupt radio communications. They also heat Earth’s upper atmosphere, expanding it just enough that Starlink’s fleet of broadband birds feel a little more atmospheric drag and can lose some altitude. When that happens, the paper suggests “Starlink responds by temporarily raising the affected satellites above their nominal altitude.”

SpaceX’s broadband biz typically lets those sats return to their original altitude within a day or two. But according to the paper: “This corrective action triggers a cascading effect, with orbital adjustments propagating across neighboring satellites in both spatial and temporal dimensions. Full stabilization of the orbit often takes 3–4 days. These dynamic adjustments can disrupt satellite links and routing paths, contributing to performance issues such as a sustained increase in round-trip time.” (11/18)

Astronomers Witness the Moment a Fatal Shockwave Bursts Through the Surface of a Star (Source: Futurism)
An international team of astronomers say they’ve gotten the earliest and most detailed peek yet at a supernova right as one unfolded. In observations made with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope, the astronomers were able to document the powerful shockwave caused by the star’s collapse as it tore through the star’s surface — revealing, for the first time, the actual shape of these explosions. (11/18)

Former NASA Chief of Staff Bale Dalton Runs for Congress in Spaceport-Adjacent Florida District (Source: Daytona Beach News-Journal)
A new Democrat has emerged in the 2026 race for Florida's 7th Congressional District, a seat held by Republican Cory Mills. Bale Dalton, a Navy veteran and former NASA chief of staff, announced on Nov. 17 that he is entering a race already populated by three other Democrats. The primary election will be Aug. 18, 2026. Dalton — like his three Democratic rivals — hit Mills over recent scandals.

Mills was under a House Committee on Ethics investigation into an assault involving a live-in girlfriend, and a restraining order issued against him by a judge after his ex-girlfriend alleged he threatened to release "intimate videos." Mills has also faced stolen-valor accusations from former soldiers and military contractor colleagues that he has not been truthful about his service. (11/17)

U.S. Launch Sites Prep for Future Growth (Source: Aviation Week)
The U.S. space launch enterprise stands at a critical inflection point as decades of exponential growth collide with Cold War-era infrastructure limitations. The Pentagon is spending billions of dollars on ambitious spaceport modernization efforts to deploy proliferated satellite constellations and national security assets rapidly and to support commercial operators that are pushing launch cadences to unprecedented levels.

The Space Force is investing $1.8 billion in FY-2024-28 to modernize and expand its spaceport capabilities and range instrumentation. Congress appropriated about $1/3 billion of that sum in 2024 and funded the remainder under the budget reconciliation bill that passed in July. Much of this will support the Spaceport of the Future effort, which includes 192 projects across both coasts, ranging from upgrades to physical infrastructure, facility relocations, and investments in digital systems for inventory and maintenance tracking.

Space Launch Delta 30 at Vandenberg will use $861 million to revitalize its 60-year-old roads and utilities, digitize key systems, and enhance the resilience of energy, water, and communications systems. The Space Force awarded a $4 billion contract to Amentum (a Jacobs subsidiary) to transform its launch sites into more efficient, high-capacity and multi-user spaceports at Vandenberg and Cape Canaveral. Support equipment at these spaceports (telemetry, radar and optical tracking systems) is more than a half century old. (11/18)

Space Force Aims for 300 Launches Annually at Eastern Range by 2035 (Source: Aviation Week)
SpaceX's effect on Cape Canaveral operations is poised for another transformative leap. The FAA in September agreed to let SpaceX increase the number of falcon launches from LC-40 to as many as 120 flights per year. The FAA also approved SpaceX's ongoing construction of a new landing pad at LC-40, for up to 34 booster landings.

SpaceX also looks to boost Falcon launch rates at LC-39A to 36 per year, 16 more than currently allowed. And SpaceX intends to turn LC-39A into a Starship-Super Heavy complex too, seeking approval for up to 44 Starship missions per year. Add to this two more Starship-Super Heavy pads at LC-37 (former ULA Delta 4) with up to 76 launches per year planned.

The sheer number of Starship launches, launch attempts, landings, tests, and other activities will affect the rest of the spaceport's users. ULA's LC-41 is 2.3 miles from LC-37 and 3.9 miles from LC-39A, meaning Starship operations would require frequent evacuations and other restrictions on ULA Vulcan activities, and cause structural damage from liftoff acoustics and reentry sonic booms. (11/18)

US Navy Expands Operations at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Aviation Week)
The Space Force's Eastern Range commander, Col. Brian Chatman, said the range is "increasingly being utilized for operational and test programs beyond orbital launches." The US Navy, for example, is making "a substantial investment into their test programs and projects increased testing happening in the mid-2030s." Editor's Note: The Naval Ordnance Test Unit (NOTU) hosts US and UK submarines for testing Trident ICBMs both on the Cape and with offshore launch tests. (11/18)

Riches From Outer Space Lure Meteor Hunters to the Sahara Desert (Source: LA Times)
Morocco now produces more meteorite discoveries than anywhere on Earth, with some Martian and lunar fragments selling for millions of dollars. The government legalized meteorite exports in 2020, fueling a gold rush in remote regions where poor communities see it as vital economic opportunity. While urban legends celebrate hunters who struck it rich and built hotels, most locals have not found a fortune. (11/18)

Starship to Launch From Kennedy Space Center as Soon as Next Year, Per SpaceX (Source: Florida Today)
SpaceX's massive Starship is getting closer to a Florida launch, with a senior SpaceX official suggesting it could come as early as next year. Kiko Dontchev, VP of Launch at SpaceX, said progress is being made toward the first Starship launch from Cape Canaveral. Dontchev mentioned the upcoming V3 (Version 3) Starship launch from Texas as soon as January, which will be the configuration planned to launch from Florida. He followed with "soon after, the first Starship launch from the Cape". (11/17)

UAE Space Agency Eyes Local Spaceport With New Strategy (Source: Aviation Week)
The United Arab Emirates is looking to develop an indigenous launch option as part of a broader pivot of the country’s space agency to secure a share of the growing space economy. The years since the agency’s founding in 2014 were largely driven by government-led initiatives to create a basic underpinning of some private companies, research centers and broader skills. That is now changing.

“We are developing our own space strategy where our primary focus is on the space economy,” says Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi. “The main goal is to make the UAE the destination for space economy in the region,” Al Falasi adds. The strategy is due for completion soon. Space companies locally initially focused on upstream services such as data provision, but they are increasingly moving into space manufacturing and similar activities. Launch is among the issues next on the agenda, Al Falasi says, with the UAE looking to establish a spaceport to have some level of autonomy. (11/17)

Blue Origin Sees Oasis Opportunity In UAE (Source: Aviation Week)
Blue Origin sees an opportunity to replicate the framework of its Project Oasis lunar resource mapping mission with Luxembourg in other countries, including potentially here in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The space company in late September announced Project Oasis, which will range from identifying resources on the Moon to harnessing them in-situ. Oasis-1 is slated to take place in two to three years. (11/17)