November 21, 2025

NASA KSC Progresses Toward Artemis II Moon Launch (Source: NASA)
As 2026 nears, NASA continues moving forward to launching and flying Artemis II, the first crewed mission under the Artemis campaign, no later than April next year. NASA’s Orion spacecraft, complete with its launch abort system escape tower, is now integrated with the SLS rocket in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center. Following Orion stacking, teams completed testing critical communications systems between SLS and Orion, and confirmed the interfaces function properly between the rocket, Orion, and the ground systems, including end-to-end testing with the Near Space Network and Deep Space Network, which aid in communications and navigation. (11/20)

Orbit Fab Lands ESA, UK Space Agency Refueling Contract (Source: Payload)
Colorado-based Orbit Fab landed the first stage of a contract from ESA and the UK Space Agency worth £1.3M ($1.7M) to demonstrate in-space refueling capabilities by 2028 alongside a consortium of European partners from the UK, Austria, and Lithuania. The Advance Satcom Technology with Refueling and Logistics, or ASTRAL contract is co-funded through ESA’s ARTES program and carries a total value of $3.8M. (11/21)

Newest Starship Booster is Significantly Damaged During Testing Friday (Source: Ars Technica)
During the pre-dawn hours in South Texas on Friday morning, SpaceX’s next-generation Starship first stage suffered some sort of major damage during pre-launch testing. The company had only rolled the massive rocket out of the factory a day earlier, noting the beginning of its test campaign: “The first operations will test the booster’s redesigned propellant systems and its structural strength.”

That testing commenced on Thursday night a couple of miles down the road from the company’s main production site at Starbase Texas. However an independent video showed the rocket’s lower half undergo an explosive (or possibly implosive) event at 4:04 am Friday. Post-incident images showed significant damage, perhaps a crumpling of sorts, to the lower half of the booster where the vehicle’s large liquid oxygen tank is housed. (11/21)

Blue Origin Unveils Plan for Bigger New Glenn Rocket Variant to Take on Starship (Sources: Reuters, Ars Technica)
Blue Origin said on Thursday it will build a bigger, more powerful variant of its New Glenn rocket, drawing early plans for a family of orbital satellite launchers. The new rocket, announced after New Glenn's second mission launched last week, will be called New Glenn 9x4, a name referencing nine engines that will power its first stage and four engines on its second stage. That is an increase of two engines for each stage from New Glenn's current design.

Such a booster would be a notable vehicle, with a lift capacity nearly on par with NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. However, it would have a fully reusable first stage with a larger payload fairing and would likely cost less than one-tenth the estimated $2.2 billion cost of NASA’s super-heavy rocket. Blue Origin said that both its 7×2 and 9×4 variants will fly concurrently. This, the company said, will give “customers more launch options for their missions, including mega-constellations, lunar and deep space exploration, and national security imperatives such as Golden Dome.”

Blue Origin also announced other modifications intended to improve the overall performance of the rocket: increasing the thrust of a BE-4 engine from current levels, 550,000 pounds (lbf), to 640,000 pounds; increasing thrust of BE-3U upper stage engines from 320,000 pounds to 400,000 pounds; use of cryogenic propellants; development of a reusable payload fairing; higher performing and more reusable heat shield; and a lower-cost tank design (presumably for the upper stage, which is not reusable). (11/20)

ICEYE and SSC Sign Letter of Intent to Strengthen Nordic and NATO Space-Based Capabilities (Sources: Iceye, Space News)
ICEYE, the global leader in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite operations, and Swedish Space Corporation (SSC), a leading global provider of advanced space services, signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to leverage their complementary strengths, aiming to enhance sovereign space capabilities for Nordic and NATO security. Meanwhile, SSC rolled out a new ground station service designed to provide streamlined support for operators of small satellites and constellations. (11/20)

Two Launches in Two Days from Two Hemispheres: Rocket Lab Beats Annual Launch Record (Source: Rocket Lab)
Rocket Lab completed its second launch in two days from its launch sites in two hemispheres, setting a new annual launch record for the Company: 18 Electron launches in 2025 with 100% mission success. The “Follow My Speed” mission lifted off from New Zealand on Nov. 20 with a confidential payload. The mission launched just two days after a launch from Wallops Island, Virginia, Rocket Lab’s third HASTE launch this year. (11/20)

Canada Demonstrates why ESA’s Geographic-Return Rule is Just as Powerful Today as Ever (Source: Space Intel Report)
ESA's "geographic return rule" is a policy that guarantees member states receive contracts for ESA programs in proportion to their financial contributions. The Canadian government on Nov. 18 gave the clearest possible answer to France’s repeated overtures to scrap or revamp the rule. Canada’s answer: Because it creates jobs in our country. Canada’s decision to sharply increase its contributions is all about jobs, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said in announcing the spending increase. (11/20)

ITU to UK: Failure of an Unproven OTV with a Challenging Flight Profile Doesn’t Constitute “Force Majeure” (Source: Space Intel Report)
International regulators rejected Britain’s appeal to extend a deadline to register two Ku- and Ka-band GEO orbital positions after the in-orbit failure of an orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) carrying a satellite to register the slots, saying the UK should have known that using unproven technology was risky. As a result, the failure of the OTV to deliver the satellite into GEO orbit cannot be called “force majeure,” the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Radio Regulations Board (RRB) said.  (11/19)

LLMs to Accelerate Both Cyber Defenders and Hackers, OpenAI Exec Says (Source: Via Satellite)
The balance between space industry cyber defenders and the hackers, online spies and cyber warriors attacking their systems will tilt in dramatic and largely unpredictable fashion over the next few years as increasingly proficient generative AI models provide growing capabilities to both sides, Open AI executive Alexis Bonnell said. “We must recognize the duality. AI is an accelerant for both offense and defense,” said Bonnell. “What determines who wins is how fast we adopt it.” (11/19)

White House NASA Budget Request is Out. Big NASA Spending is In (Source: Politico)
NASA is on track for its biggest budget in decades, a stunning turnaround for an agency that just months ago was bracing for drastic cuts. Now that the shutdown stalemate is over, Congress is preparing spending legislation that basically ignores the White House’s 2026 budget request, which proposed an overall 20 percent reduction to the agency’s budget — and slashed 50 percent of its science funding. (11/21)

Electron Rocket Featured at California Science Center Gallery (Source: CollectSpace)
It took the California Science Center more than three years to erect its new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, including stacking NASA's space shuttle Endeavour for its launch pad-like display. Now in place are a space shuttle main engine (SSME), a walkthrough segment of a shuttle solid rocket booster and a Rocket Lab Electron rocket. "The biggest thing we have put in — other than the space shuttle — was the Electron, which we think is really significant." (11/18)

Expansion Underway for California Space Center (Source: CollectSpace)
A former astronaut led a ceremonial ground breaking on Nov. 17, beginning to clear the way for a new education complex and permanent home for the original full-scale "inspiration" for NASA's winged space shuttle orbiters. Garrett Reisman, who flew on two shuttle missions, took hold of the center gold shovel at the future site of the 20,000-square-foot "Inspiration" expansion of the Columbia Memorial Space Center in Downey, California. (11/18)

US Space Force Establishes Combat Forces Command (Source: USSF)
In a ceremony held at Peterson Space Force Base, Nov. 3, Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman officially redesignated Space Operations Command as United States Space Force Combat Forces Command, marking a significant shift in the command's focus toward enhanced combat readiness and integrated space defense. The redesignation reflects the command's commitment to aligning with its core purpose of forging combat-ready Space Forces for America and its allies, and with the evolution of the United States Space Force as a warfighting service. (11/17)

U.S. Military Spacecraft May Soon Get Designations Like Aircraft (Source: Ars Technica)
A little more than a century ago, the US Army Air Service came up with a scheme for naming the military’s multiplying fleet of airplanes. The 1924 aircraft designation code produced memorable names like the B-17, A-26, B-29, and P-51—B for bomber, A for attack, and P for pursuit—during World War II. The military later changed the prefix for pursuit aircraft to F for fighter, leading to recognizable modern names like the F-15 and F-16.

Now, the newest branch of the military is carving its own path with a new document outlining how the Space Force, which can trace its lineage back to the Army Air Service, will name and designate its “weapon systems” on the ground and in orbit. Ars obtained a copy of the document, first written in 2023 and amended in 2024. The changes could ultimately lead to the retirement, or at least the de-emphasis, of bulky bureaucratic acronyms. You might think of it as similar to how the Pentagon’s Joint Strike Fighter program evolved into the F-35 Lightning II. (11/20)

Poland's SpaceForest Announces Launch Date for PERUN Return-to-Flight Mission (Source: European Spaceflight)
Suborbital launch services provider SpaceForest has announced that the third flight of its PERUN rocket will take place on 22 November. The flight will be the rocket’s first since 2023 and follows the completion of a redesign of the SF-1000 hybrid propulsion system that powers it. PERUN is an 11.5-meter suborbital rocket designed to be capable of carrying payloads of up to 50 kilograms to an altitude of 150 kilometers.

Following a successful flight, SpaceForest will look to complete the second of its four qualification flights before the end of the year, targeting an altitude of 80 kilometers. The company will then attempt its first space shot, aiming to reach an altitude of 100 kilometers, the recognized edge of space known as the Kármán line. It will then proceed with a test of the rocket’s full performance to an altitude of 150 kilometers. Both flights are expected in 2026. The first of the two flights is planned to take place on the island of Santa Maria in Portugal, and the second from a sea-based platform in the North Sea. (11/20)

Space Force Must Define Acceptable Risks of Rapid Acquisition Push (Sources: Breaking Defense, Politico)
As the Space Force doubles down on its efforts to further speed acquisition cycles to implement the Pentagon’s reform push, it needs to figure out how to define what minimum capability is good enough for any new kit to be operationally useful, according to the service’s top acquisition official. The Space Force hasn’t yet “gotten the work done on test and operational acceptance,” needed to hash out the issues that “center around risk and operational risk,” said Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Space Force acquisition professionals left the government through the Trump administration’s deferred resignation program — a loss that could hurt Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s ambitious acquisition overhaul. (11/20)

The Strange and Totally Real Plan to Blot Out the Sun and Reverse Global Warming (Source: Politico)
For decades, scientists had theorized that lacing the atmosphere with a cloak of dust could temporarily reduce global warming. Few, however, had actually advocated researching the practice, and none could say how dangerously it might destabilize weather patterns, food supplies or global politics. Many scientists still warn it will take many years to know whether such technology would prove wise or disastrous. The terms for it — “solar geoengineering,” “stratospheric aerosol injection” or “solar radiation management” — sound deceptively anodyne.

Stardust Solutions has been moving full speed ahead. In October, the company announced a fundraising milestone: It had secured $60 million from funds linked to, among others, Silicon Valley luminaries and an Italian industrial dynasty, bringing the total amount raised by the two-year-old startup to $75 million. It was a stunning development, far larger than any previous investment in solar geoengineering, and it placed Stardust way out in front of the few other groups looking to turn it from a theory into a business. Click here. (11/21)

Chinese "Lunar Soil Bricks" Return From Space, Paving Way for Construction on Moon (Source: Xinhua)
China has inched closer toward its ambitious goal of building infrastructure on the moon, as the first set of experimental "lunar soil bricks" returned to Earth after a year-long exposure to the harsh environment of space. The bricks, part of a pioneering experiment aboard China's space station, arrived last week on the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft. Experts confirmed that the sample unit was in good condition following initial inspections. This signals an engineering progress in China's long-term lunar program, which includes landing astronauts on the moon by 2030 and constructing a basic model of the International Lunar Research Station by 2035. (11/19)

The Pentagon Can’t Trust GPS Anymore. Is Quantum Physics the Answer? (Source: Wall Street Journal)
At a tiny airport in the Australian countryside last month, a small plane took off carrying a device that could transform how U.S. drones, aircraft and ships navigate across future battlefields. The flight carried an instrument that shines lasers at atoms, which behave like compass needles to measure Earth’s magnetic field in real time. Readings from the device can be compared to a magnetic-field map, helping a user determine their location—and offering a backup to satellite-based navigation like GPS. (11/19)

Black Holes May be Source of Milky Way’s High-Energy Cosmic Rays (Source: Science)
For decades, astrophysicists have pondered the mystery of the origin of cosmic rays, charged particles that sometimes crash into Earth at energies exceeding a petaelectronvolt (PeV), higher than the energies of even physicists’ most powerful atom smashers. They imply the existence of violent cosmic accelerators, whimsically dubbed PeVatrons, that whip the particles up to extreme energies. Astronomers debated whether the Milky Way could host PeVatrons or they were only possible in distant galaxies.

Now, an international team has reported the possible source of the Milky Way’s highest energy cosmic rays, based on observations at the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO), operated by China's Institute of High Energy Physics. They have traced light associated with these cosmic rays back to five known microquasars in the Galaxy—stellar-mass black holes that consume matter from companion stars and kick it up to high energy. (11/19)

Space Force Nears Completion of 15-Year Blueprint (Source: Space News)
The Space Force is nearing completion of a 15-year strategic blueprint. Gen. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations, said at a CSIS event Thursday that the framework, known as the “objective force,” is now in its final stages and expected to be approved early next year. The 15-year horizon is meant to go beyond fleet lists of satellites and launch vehicles but instead serve as a plan to build a force that can outpace adversaries and sustain space control. Saltzman said the Space Force, now almost six years old, needs to formally articulate long-term requirements to provide a “demand signal,” especially to Congress and to companies investing in national security missions. (11/21)

Voyager Acquiring Estes Energetics (Source: Space News)
Voyager Technologies is acquiring Estes Energetics, which makes solid rocket motors and energetic materials. Estes is the country’s only producer of military grade black powder, a key ingredient used as an igniter in solid propellant systems. The acquisition continues Voyager’s buying streak across propulsion, sensors and space infrastructure since the company went public this summer, as it works to position itself for future military programs, such as Golden Dome. (11/21)

Starlab Space Gains Another Investor for Planned Space Station (Source: Space News)
Starlab Space has secured funding from a financial firm. UK-based Janus Henderson Group did not disclose the size of its investment. Starlab Space is a joint venture of Voyager, Airbus, Mitsubishi and MDA Space among others. It is developing the Starlab space station for use by NASA and other customers. A company executive said earlier this month that Starlab would soon go through a critical design review as part of development toward a planned 2029 launch. (11/21)

SpaceX Starlink Mission on Thursday Was 100th Launch of 2025 at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
A Starlink launch Thursday night was the 100th so far this year from Florida’s Space Coast. A Falcon 9 launched 29 Starlink satellites into orbit. SpaceX accounts for 93 of those 100, with United Launch Alliance performing five and Blue Origin two. (11/21)

T-Minus Launches Suborbital Rocket at Nova Scotia Spaceport (Source: Globe and Mail)
A Canadian spaceport under development hosted a sounding rocket launch Thursday. A rocket built by T-Minus Engineering, a Dutch company, lifted off from Spaceport Nova Scotia near Canso, Nova Scotia, at 10:54 a.m. Eastern. The rocket was intended to fly to an altitude of more than 100 kilometers but fell short by an unspecified amount. The spaceport considered the launch a success, though, testing procedures for future launches there. Maritime Launch Services, the company that is developing the spaceport, hopes to start hosting orbital launches there as soon as 2027. (11/21)

Former ESA DG, Jan Wörner, Joins Space Cargo Unlimited as Chief Strategy Officer (Source: Spacewatch Global)
Space Cargo Unlimited has announced the appointment of Johann-Dietrich “Jan” Wörner, former ESA DG and former Chairman of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), as Chief Strategy Officer. As Chief Strategy Officer, Wörner will guide the development of Europe’s first sovereign commercial microgravity platform, ensuring researchers and industries maintain reliable, standardized access to microgravity conditions. (11/21)

The Exploration Company Acquires German Additive Manufacturing Company (Source: European Spaceflight)
In-space transportation startup The Exploration Company has acquired German additive manufacturing firm Thrustworks to expand its production capacity and unlock new commercial revenue streams. Founded in 2023, Thrustworks Additive Manufacturing produces high-performance metal components for space and defense applications. (11/20)

How Mega-Constellations Are Learning to Manage Themselves (Source: Universe Today)
In traditional satellite megaconstellations, the ground control units are responsible for communicating with each individual satellite. This leads to bottlenecks in both processing power and communications channel bandwidth as the number of satellites each ground station is responsible for grows. Those bottlenecks are then reflected in increased latency times, which can be a death knell for constellations that get too large, as latency is one of the primary metrics by which end users judge a communications network.

Designing a system that off-loads the control and networking decisions from the ground station sounds relatively simple, but in practice it is much harder to implement. Software Defined Networking (SDN) move the decision for the control layer up to a series of satellites they called “Center Nodes”. Each of these Center Nodes would be responsible for communicating both with the ground stations set up to support the constellation, but also with all the “Member Nodes” (i.e. other physically identical satellites) in their general area. (11/21)

Virgin Galactic: Commercial Flights Set for Next Year, But Can it Actually Achieve? (Source: Douglas Messier)
Virgin Galactic officials made the following projections during the company’s third quarter earnings call last week: flight test program for new Delta-class SpaceShipTwo vehicles are on track to commence in Q3 2026; the company will ramp up to 125 space flights per year once the first two new ships are flying; most of the approximately 800 ticket holders will fly within the first year of commercial operations; Delta-class suborbital vehicles are designed for 500 flights each; and an additional pair of suborbital vehicles and two new WhiteKnightTwo mother ships will follow.

The current schedule represents a slip of one quarter from the one Virgin Galactic announced earlier this year. The upgraded Delta-class ships will carry six people, an increase of two over VSS Unity's capacity. That all sound good, right? Right? Maybe not. Virgin Galactic has been on track to achieve one goal after another since Richard Branson announced plans to fly tourists to space in September 2004. In 21 years the company has seldom met its schedule. (11/20)

Jacksonville Authority Approves $600K for Cecil Spaceport to Pursue FAA Space Vehicle Reentry License (Source: News4Jax)
The Jacksonville Aviation Authority voted on Wednesday to allocate thousands of dollars into the growing Cecil Spaceport. The JAA board unanimously approved $600,000 in the budget to establish the reentry license project for the Cecil Spaceport. The funding will pay for updates to operational plans, safety and airspace analysis, and FAA coordination, and the readiness of commercial reentry operation at Cecil Spaceport. "Those vehicles will launch vertically from the Cape, and land at Cecil Spaceport,” Tony Cungo said. (11/19)

Trump Served with Summons in Battle Over Space Command HQ (Source: Fox 54)
The legal confrontation between the State of Colorado and the White House accelerated this week as summonses were officially served on Tuesday to President Donald Trump and other named defendants in the administration. The service of process triggers the official timeline for the federal government to respond to Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser’s high-stakes lawsuit, which seeks to block the relocation of U.S. Space Command from Colorado Springs to Huntsville. The delivery of documents to the White House and Pentagon triggers a 60-day countdown to a response deadline. (11/19)

Starbase Clears the Way for SpaceX to Collect $7.5 Million Tax Incentive (Source: Valley Central)
The Starbase City Commission cleared the way for SpaceX to collect a $7.5 million tax refund on Wednesday. The City Commission nominated two SpaceX projects — the Gigabay rocket factory and launch pad infrastructure — for the Texas Enterprise Zone program. “Between the first project and this project we’re adding over 1,000 jobs in about a one-year span,” Damian Barrera, a tax manager at SpaceX, told the City Commission.

Under the Texas Enterprise Zone program, a company that spends at least $250 million and creates at least 500 jobs may receive a $3,750,000 tax refund. Two projects would allow SpaceX to collect $7.5 million. To participate in the program, though, a company must be nominated by a local community. (11/19)

Significantly More Launches of the Ariane 6 Soon (Source: Blue Win)
The European launcher Ariane 6 is to be launched into space much more frequently in future. The aim for next year is to double the number of launches compared to 2025, as Jens Franzeck, German Managing Director of ArianeGroup, announced. So far this year, the rocket has lifted off three times from the European spaceport in Kourou in French Guiana, with another launch planned for December. (11/20)

Successful Demonstration of Boot-Strap Mode Start of India's CE20 Cryogenic Engine (Source: ISRO)
The CE20 cryogenic engine, powering the LVM3 upper stage, is already qualified for operation at thrust levels ranging from 19 to 22 tonnes in flight with a single start. During nominal operation, the engine ignition is initiated under tank head conditions, followed by the start of turbopumps using a stored gas start-up system. For future missions, multiple in-flight restarts of the CE20 engine will be required for mission flexibility towards multi-orbit missions.

However, with the present configuration, each restart demands an additional start-up gas bottle and associated systems, leading to a reduction in vehicle payload capability. Hence, achieving boot-strap mode start - where the engine builds up to steady operation without external start-up assistance - is essential. In this regard, a boot-strap mode start test on the CE20 Cryogenic engine was successfully conducted under vacuum conditions in the High-Altitude Test (HAT) facility at ISRO Propulsion Complex. (11/19)

Understanding Gravity’s Impact on Heart Health (Source: Texas A&M)
Human health is influenced by many factors: diet, exercise, family history and — believe it or not — gravity. The Earth’s gravitational pull, or its absence, affects the movement of fluid throughout the body, impacting blood flow. As space travel becomes more common, it’s crucial to understand the body’s reaction to changes in gravity and its effects on astronauts’ health. Using tilt tables, researchers from the Bioastronautics and Human Performance (BHP) Laboratory at Texas A&M University are investigating the effects of different gravity levels on the body, all without leaving campus. (11/19)

Cybersecurity Standards Updated for Satellite Providers (Source: Air & Space Forces)
The Pentagon has issued cybersecurity rules for commercial satellite operators that serve intelligence agencies and military services. The Committee on National Security Systems will require real-time onboard intrusion detection and prevention systems, a hardware root of trust and security patch management. (11/19)

The Billionaire Trump Chose to Lead NASA Has Ties to Chinese Government (Source: Oligarch Watch)
Should billionaire Jared Isaacman successfully navigate his second nomination process to lead NASA, his top policy priority would be to beat China in a race to send astronauts back to the moon. But given his business interests, Isaacman, 41, who is the executive chairman and top shareholder of Shift4 Payments, is a curious choice to direct President Trump’s space race. Shift4, a payment processing firm, recently added a pair of new strategic partners with ties to the Communist Party of China. Over the summer, Tencent and Ant Group, the two Chinese companies, invested a combined $88 million in Shift4. (11/18)

Top SaxaVord Roles are Given at Shetland Spaceport (Source: Shetland Times)
SaxaVord Spaceport has bolstered its growing team with two new senior appointments in operations as it prepares for first launch. Ian Palmer has joined as director of operations and Nadine Armiger-Drake as spaceport operations manager. (11/19)

Spaceflux Awarded Multimillion-pound UK Government Contracts to Deliver Sovereign Space Surveillance and Tracking (Source: Spaceflux)                        
Spaceflux Ltd, a UK-based leader in space domain awareness (SDA) and space intelligence, has won three major multimillion-pound, multiyear UK government contracts to provide advanced space surveillance and tracking (SST) data across multiple orbital regimes. The UK Space Agency and the UK Ministry of DefenSe contracts, awarded under the National Space Operations Center framework, secure Spaceflux’s central role in delivering the UK’s orbital intelligence capability. (11/20)

Orbital Cloud Project to Combine Solar Powered AI Compute and Satellite Network in Low Earth Orbit (Source: Space Daily)
PowerBank Corp. is partnering with Smartlink AI under the Orbit AI banner to develop an orbital cloud architecture that combines satellite communications, AI computing and blockchain verification in low Earth orbit powered by solar energy.
The project centers on two linked systems: DeStarlink, described as a decentralized low Earth orbit network for global connectivity, and DeStarAI, a set of orbital AI data centers using solar arrays and space-based cooling. Together they form the Orbital Cloud, which is intended to provide a unified infrastructure layer for connectivity and in-orbit compute. (11/20)

Gravitational Wave Detectors Complete Two Year Campaign with Record Signal Count (Source: Space Daily)
The LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA collaborations have finished their fourth observation campaign, known as O4, marking the longest and most comprehensive period of coordinated gravitational wave monitoring to date. Initiated in May 2023 and spanning more than two years, the campaign involved simultaneous data analysis and resulted in the detection of 250 new gravitational signals, which account for more than two-thirds of all signals recorded by these observatories to date.

Improvements in detector technology and sensitivity enabled this increase in the number of observed events. Data from the latest run contributed to major advances in the understanding of compact binary systems and fundamental processes in the universe. Key discoveries were announced and published as the campaign progressed. (11/19)

New Laboratory Showcases Advanced Satcom Capabilities for Australian Defense Force (Source: Space Daily)
ST Engineering iDirect and Black Cat Systems are working together to establish an Advanced Satcom Technology Demonstration Lab to support the Australian Defence Force (ADF). Central to this lab is the ST Engineering iDirect 450 Software Defined Modem (SDM), which provides multi-waveform and multi-orbit capabilities, as well as interference mitigation technology tailored for defense needs.

Black Cat Systems has purchased additional Evolution Defense hubs and 9-Series modems and will demonstrate the new 450SDM model. This modem is designed for mission-critical communications and operates across HEO, GEO, MEO, and LEO orbits, supporting several waveforms on a single platform. It offers a 30 percent reduction in size, weight, and power compared to earlier models and integrates security features such as TRANSEC and FIPS 140-3 Level 3 compliance. (11/18)

Redesigned Satellite Battery Set to Advance LEO Power Systems (Source: Space Daily)
ESI Motion has announced SatBat, a new battery engineered for spacecraft in Low Earth Orbit. SatBat integrates a Heater and Battery Management System, aiming to improve power storage and management in orbital environments. The battery uses ESI Motion's expertise in radiation-tolerant electronics and energy management. It delivers high power density, thermal stability, and advanced battery control, setting standards in space power systems. SatBat weighs half as much as typical space Lithium-Ion batteries and offers twice the useable capacity and operational life. It retains 98 percent of its original charge after a four-year LEO mission. (11/15)

Machine Learning Tool Distinguishes Signs of Life From Non-Living Compounds in Space Samples (Source: Space Daily)
Researchers developed LifeTracer, a machine learning framework, to analyze mass spectrometry data from space and terrestrial samples. They used advanced two-dimensional gas chromatography and high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry to study eight carbonaceous meteorites and ten terrestrial rock samples. LifeTracer applies logistic regression to compound-level features and achieved 87 percent classification accuracy, distinguishing samples derived from meteorites and Earth rocks.

In their results, scientists detected thousands of molecular peaks in each sample category - 9,475 in meteorites and 9,070 in terrestrial rocks. Key molecular differences included weight distributions and chromatographic retention times, with meteorite compounds showing greater volatility and lower retention values. These findings help define the molecular boundaries between abiotically and biotically formed materials. (11/19)