November 24, 2025

Oman Signs Agreement with Airbus for its First Communications Satellite (Source: Reuters)
Oman signed an agreement with Airbus on Sunday to design, manufacture and launch the sultanate's first communications satellite, Oman's state news agency reported.  he new satellite would help boost Oman's communications system and build capacities in areas of space and future technologies, the state news agency said. (11/23)

Billion-Dollar Tax Break Poised to Fuel Spaceport Development (Source: Bloomberg)
Days before a SpaceX mission lit up the night sky with the record 94th launch this year from Cape Canaveral, Rob Long sat in a nearby office talking about doubling or even tripling that rate. Long’s an aerospace engineer and retired Space Force colonel who runs Space Florida, the authority tasked by Florida lawmakers to support the country’s busiest spaceport. The reason for his optimism: a long-sought but little discussed tax break tucked into Congress’ massive tax-and-spending law that could unlock billions in new funding.

The provision means spaceports can use tax-exempt bond proceeds to finance key infrastructure projects, much like municipal authorities do to build airports and highways. One analysis predicted at least $20 billion in new investment over the next decade. For Space Florida, it creates a potential path to building roads and bridges, improving fuel delivery, increasing wastewater treatment capacity and expanding the oceanfront wharf to collect the remnants of their launches or return vehicles.

Decades in the making, the bond tax break passed thanks in large part to the Republicans’ sweep of the House, Senate and White House. It represents the latest move by Congress to help companies that are owned by the world’s wealthiest men—a point critics emphasize—but that also are seen as critical cogs in the bid to out-muscle Russia and China in the space race. Still, the benefits could be broader, boosting a spaceflight industry seeing a surge. (11/21)

Dassault and Space Cargo Unlimited Partner to Integrate BentoBox with VORTEX Spaceplane (Source: Space Cargo Unlimited)
Dassault’s VORTEX (Véhicule Orbital Réutilisable de Transport et d’Exploration) represents the next generation of reusable orbital vehicles, conceived as a versatile and intrinsically dual-use European platform for space operations, including orbital cargo transport, in-orbit servicing, scientific research, and industrial manufacturing. To advance this vision, Dassault and Space Cargo Unlimited have agreed to integrate BentoBox, Space Cargo Unlimited’s autonomous payload operations platform, aboard VORTEX. (11/20)

Amazon Leo Starts to Roll Out its Fastest Satellite Internet Service (Source: Geekwire)
Amazon Leo — formerly Project Kuiper — says it has started shipping its top-of-the-line terminals to select customers for testing. Today’s announcement serves as further evidence that Amazon is closing in on providing space-based, high-speed access to the internet to customers around the world after years of preparation. Amazon Leo is still far behind SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network, but has lined up a wide array of partners to help get its network off the ground.

The top tier of Amazon Leo’s global broadband service, known as Leo Ultra, will offer download speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second and upload speeds of up to 400 megabits per second, Amazon said today in a blog post. That’s the first time Amazon has shared details about uplink performance. (11/24)

Blue Ring Testing Advances for Hosted Payloads In-Space Transport (Source: Space News)
Blue Origin’s Blue Ring spacecraft passed a key development milestone toward its first flight. The company said Friday it integrated the first Blue Ring spacecraft’s primary structure with its propulsion module ahead of additional testing. Blue Ring is built to deliver, host and transport payloads in orbit and shift between orbits as missions require, supporting the U.S. military’s desire for “dynamic space operations” among other applications. The Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) awarded Blue Origin a contract in 2024, of undisclosed value, to help fund Blue Ring’s development, and DIU is working with the Space Force for the first operational flight of Blue Ring next spring. (11/24)

Iceye and Japan's IHI Team on Earth Observation Constellation (Source: Space News)
Iceye is partnering with Japanese company IHI Corporation on an Earth observation constellation. IHI ordered four synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging satellites and an associated image acquisition system from Iceye, with the option to purchase 20 additional satellites at a later stage. The first of those satellites will enter service next spring. While Iceye is known for its SAR spacecraft, the company is considering expanding into other areas. (11/24)

Thales Alenia Leads ESA Lunar Cargo Lander Team (Source: Space News)
Thales Alenia Space will lead an industrial consortium developing a cargo lunar lander for ESA. The agency announced last week a contract with Thales Alenia Space Italy to serve as the prime contractor for the Argonaut lunar lander. It will lead a consortium that includes Thales Alenia Space France, Thales Alenia Space UK, OHB and Nammo Space. Argonaut is designed to carry large payloads to the lunar surface with a first flight by the end of 2030. ESA is seeking 600 million euros ($692 million) for Argonaut at this week’s ministerial conference. (11/24)

Broad Support in Europe for EU Space Act (Source: Space News)
A member of the European Parliament says there is broad support there for the proposed EU Space Act. Speaking at Space Tech Expo Europe last week, Christophe Grudler, a member of the parliament from France, said discussions among political groups have recently started on advancing the act, a draft of which was released in June. He said all the political groups in the parliament believe there needs to be action to address space safety and security concerns, such as the growth in the number of satellites. He noted, though, that the process for enacting the EU Space Act is just starting, and its provisions may not take effect until the end of the decade. (11/24)

SpaceX Launches Starlink Missions From Florida and California (Source: Spaceflight Now)
SpaceX performed two Falcon 9 launches of Starlink satellites last weekend. One Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Saturday, putting 29 Starlink satellites into orbit. That launch was the 150th for the Falcon 9 so far this year. SpaceX followed with another Falcon 9 launch Sunday from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, placing 28 Starlink satellites into orbit. That launch was the first for the Falcon 9 booster B1100, the 100th Falcon 9 booster produced to date. (11/24)

Space Force Anticipates 2026 Starship Launch at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Space News)
Space Force officials said the first Starship launch from Florida could occur as soon as the middle of next year. The commander of Space Launch Delta 45, which runs the Eastern Range, said Friday that those launches would likely begin at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A, where SpaceX is in advanced development of Starship launch infrastructure there, followed by Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 37. The two sites could support up to 120 launches annually, along with landings of the Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage. The Space Force is bringing launch operators together next month to discuss how to address challenges of operating more frequent launches of larger rockets like Starship from the Cape. (11/24)

Embry‑Riddle Partners With Space ISAC to Elevate Space Cybersecurity Research and Education (Source: ERAU)
To advance space cybersecurity research and education, Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University has joined the Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center (Space ISAC), a coalition of industry leaders, government agencies and academic institutions that are leading efforts to enhance cybersecurity and threat sharing to protect the global space mission.

Embry‑Riddle’s Space ISAC membership, which was forged through the Center for Aerospace Resilient Systems (CARS) at Embry‑Riddle, connects the university’s researchers, faculty and students to a network of cutting-edge tools and resources vital to understanding and addressing emerging security challenges in space. This includes access to the Space ISAC Watch Center, a platform where analysts provide real-time intelligence on cybersecurity threats and safeguards. (11/13)

Embry‑Riddle Student Teams Test Tools in NASA’s Giant Pool (Source: ERAU)
When a NASA diver carried an Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University student team’s engineering device into Johnson Space Center’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, the moment was 10 months in the making. “We created 13 distinct prototypes,” Aidan Magann, Team SEAM lead and senior Mechanical Engineering student, said of the run-up to the testing session. “It was an amazing experience.” Two Embry‑Riddle squads were among 17 universities and 18 total teams selected for the final phase of NASA’s Micro-g NExT Competition, which called on the undergraduates to create, build and then test a solution to one of three space exploration challenges provided by NASA. (11/5)

ESA Picks Lithuania's Astrolight for Polar Jam-Resistant Satellite Laser Links (Source: Astrolight)
The Arctic is becoming a key geopolitical hotspot, and Greenland is central to Europe’s security. Since Russia has intensified satellite and naval jamming around the region, especially in Svalbard, expanded electronic warfare in the region, and increased high-latitude military activity, the vulnerability of Europe’s polar communications was exposed.

ESA has just announced a contract with Lithuanian space and defense tech company Astrolight to build the region’s first jamming-resistant optical ground station. Using laser links that cannot be intercepted, the station will secure high-volume satellite data in an area where Russia routinely disrupts radio-frequency systems. It will be the northernmost optical ground station ever built and the first in the Arctic, set to deliver more than 10x faster and safer communications at 70% lower cost, solving a massive bottleneck. (11/24)

L3Harris Breaks Ground on Arkansas Advanced Propulsion Facilities (Source: Aerospace Manufacturing & Design)
The campus will include more than 20 buildings across 110 acres at the company’s Arkansas site and is expected to increase large solid rocket motor manufacturing capacity six-fold. The campus will add 230,000 square feet of manufacturing and office space to the broader 2,000-acre Camden site, bringing total manufacturing square footage to more than 1.5 million. Program-agnostic equipment and buildings will also allow the company to rapidly change production based on current demand and quickly adapt to evolving customer needs.

Of the more than $400 million investment in the campus, the company plans to spend $193 million with Arkansas businesses. L3Harris has been producing rocket motors in Camden since 1979. The location produces more than 115,000 solid rocket motors a year, from those that fit in the palm of your hand to those the size of a truck. Overall, the company is investing more than half-a-billion dollars at its major solid rocket motor sites across the country to support production of motors of all sizes, including in Virginia, Arkansas, and Alabama. (11/24)

The New Space Race: These are the Different Space Strategies Across Europe (Source: EuroNews)
Germany and France recently launched new space strategies. What do other countries have in place?
Across Europe, space agencies are expanding their strategies to blend science with security. Countries such as Germany, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom are investing in space satellites, defense, and launch capabilities to protect assets, boost competitiveness, and respond to emerging threats in orbit. Click here. (11/24)

SUAPS Launches Global Effort to Establish UAP Studies as Rigorous Academic Discipline (Source: Douglas Messier)
As public interest in Unidentified Aerial–Undersea and Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) surges worldwide, the Society for UAP Studies (SUAPS) is leading a groundbreaking movement to legitimize and institutionalize the study of UAP within academia. SUAPS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to building a rigorous, interdisciplinary foundation for UAP research and education. “Evidence matters,” said Dr. Cifone. “Too often, UAP research has suffered from speculation and fragmentation. SUAPS is here to change that by advancing careful, transparent, and accountable scholarship grounded in critical inquiry and open-minded curiosity.” (11/24)

Nammo UK Wins Main Engine Supplier for ESA Lunar Lander (Source: Nammo)
Nammo UK’s next generation high-performance bi-propellant engine named RELIANCE, with a thrust capability of 6kN, will support Europe’s first ever lunar lander mission as part the NASA Artemis program planned for 2031. (11/24)

Water Production on Exoplanets Revealed by Pressure Experiments (Source: Space Daily)
Researchers led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory postdoctoral scientist Harrison Horn have demonstrated a pathway for producing water on sub-Neptune exoplanets. The team recreated the boundary conditions between hydrogen atmospheres and magma cores using a laser-heated diamond-anvil cell. (11/20)

Smarter Satellite Teamwork Can Speed Up Connections in Space (Source: Space Daily)
Low Earth orbit (LEO) mega-constellations are rapidly changing how we connect to the world, offering potential for faster communications, more accurate earth observation, and better disaster forecasting. Unlike previous, smaller satellite configurations, these mega-constellations involve thousands of satellites operating together, creating huge challenges for ground-based controllers struggling to keep up with the sheer volume of management tasks.

To prevent bottlenecks and speed up network operations, researchers now propose that satellites should do more of their own management by organizing into smaller "management domains." Each domain is managed by a central satellite, allowing these groups to make decisions and share information faster, with less need for ground-based oversight. (11/20)

40,000 Near-Earth Asteroids Discovered (Source: Space Daily)
Astronomers recently discovered the 40 000th near-Earth asteroid! These space rocks range from a few meters to a few kilometers in size and are on orbits that bring them relatively close to Earth. Each new discovery is both a reminder of our planet's vulnerability and a testament to how far the field of planetary defense has advanced in just a few decades. (11/21)

More Than 3,600 Federal Workers Get Notice Their Shutdown RIFs are Rescinded (Source: FNN)
In total, 3,605 federal workers got notice that their jobs were being eliminated during or because of the government shutdown. Each RIF has now been reversed. In all, agency-by-agency filings show the administration attempted to fire a total of 3,605 employees during the shutdown. (11/24)

The European Space Agency Explained (Source: ESA)
We are the European Space Agency, committed to peacefully exploring and using space to benefit everyone. Since our creation as an intergovernmental organization in 1975, we've been championing European scientific and industrial interests in space. In short, ESA’s job is to draw up the European space program and carry it through. ESA's programs are designed to find out more about Earth, its immediate space environment, our Solar System and the Universe, as well as to develop satellite-based technologies and services, and to promote European industries. ESA also works closely with space organizations outside Europe. Click here. (11/22)

New Data Confirms Black Holes Never Shrink (Source: SciTech Daily)
A decade after the first detection of gravitational waves from two merging black holes, the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration, including Columbia University astronomer Maximiliano Isi, has captured another signal from a nearly identical cosmic event. Thanks to major advances in detector sensitivity, the team observed the collision with nearly four times greater clarity than before, allowing them to confirm two long-standing theoretical predictions: that black holes formed by mergers never shrink, in line with Stephen Hawking’s theory, and that they “ring” after merging, just as Albert Einstein’s general relativity predicts. (11/23)

Amazon Unveils Production-Ready Gigabit-Class Leo Ultra Broadband Terminal (Source: Space News)
Amazon has unveiled the final production version of Leo Ultra, the company’s highest-performing enterprise terminal for the low Earth orbit (LEO) broadband constellation it aims to bring into service next year. (11/24)

Rocket Lab Chief Opens Up (Source: Ars Technica)
Rocket Lab broke its annual launch record with the Electron booster—17 successful missions this year, and counting—and is close to bringing its much larger Neutron rocket to the launch pad. The company also expanded its in-space business, including playing a key role in supporting the landing of Firefly’s Blue Ghost mission on the Moon and building two small satellites just launched to Mars. "We can never outspend Elon (Musk) and Jeff (Bezos)," said Peter Beck. "We have to out-hustle. And that’s just the reality. The Rocket Lab hustle comes down to just not accepting no as an answer."

On Electron reusability: "If you look at an Electron recovery, we might recover sort of a million dollars worth of stage one booster. And of course, the more we make, the cheaper they get, because we’re continuing to scale so that it’s ever decreasing that return. Quite frankly, and honestly, it’s just like, do we have reusability and recovery teams working on something that returns a million dollars every time it flies? Or, do we have them working on Neutron, where it’s tens of millions of dollars every time you fly? So it’s just about, you know, directing the resource for the biggest bang for the buck."

Regarding Neutron delays: "We’re not going to put something on the pad that doesn’t meet kind of the standard that’s made us successful. Say something might pass the qualification test, but if we see something in a strain gauge on the back of the panel, or something that we don’t understand, we just don’t move on. We’re not going to move on unless we understand every little element of what’s going on." (11/24)

The Box vs The Bulldozer: The Story of Two Space Gas Stations (Source: Universe Today)
Using in-situ propellant has been a pillar of plans to explore the solar system. The logic is simple - the less mass (in the form of propellant) we have to launch, the less expensive and more plausible the missions requiring that propellant will be. Despite the allure of creating our own fuel on the Moon, it might not be worth it to develop the systems to do so. There are two main techniques put forward for propellant production on the Moon: carbothermal reduction process, and mining polar ice.

Both have severe logistical disadvantages and limited de-risking of their technology. Methane is a key ingredient to the carbothermal process, and it must be shipped from Earth. In this process, regolith is heated to over 1650℃ where it creates a melt pool. Methane is then introduced to reduce the oxides present in the regolith, releasing the oxygen stored within. Not only does this require an external feedstock of an explosive gas, it requires significant power to get a reactor up to that temperature. It also requires a 14-step production cycle which will have to include autonomous excavators, vibratory inclines, and waste dumpers.

While we know the general chemical makeup and form of regolith, we have much less data about the ice in the polar caps on the Moon. We know it's there, but is it snow or rock hard permafrost? No one really knows, and that would dramatically change the processing technique used to extract it. VIPER was supposed to provide some ground-truths to that question, but its cancellation leaves a gaping hole in our knowledge of the water resources available there. (11/24)

Terma to Power Europe’s ‘LISA’ Mission, Advancing a New Era of Astrophysics (Source: Spacewatch Global)
Terma has secured its largest space contract to date from OHB System AG to supply critical hardware for the European Space Agency’s Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission, planned for launch in 2035. Under the agreement, Terma will deliver Power Conditioning and Distribution Units (PCDUs) for the spacecraft together with six specialized ground test systems that verify performance and readiness before launch, leveraging next-generation of power technology to maximize efficiency. (11/24)

Simera Sense and Zaitra Partner to Streamline Earth Observation with Edge Suite for On-Orbit Intelligence (Source: Spacewatch Global)
Simera Sense and Zaitra have announced a strategic collaboration to combine their respective technologies to address pressing bottlenecks in Earth Observation. In a world that demands instant decisions, satellites can’t afford to be just cameras in orbit as they need to be smart, fast, and efficient. In addressing this, Simera Sense and Zaitra are combining their technologies for smart compression, fast detection, and rapid decision-making; a breakthrough onboard processing solution designed to transform Earth Observation missions. (11/24)