November 25, 2025

JetBlue Among Initial Users of Amazon Satellite Service (Source: PC Mag)
Amazon has started a preview program for its satellite internet service, Amazon Leo, which aims to provide gigabit speeds. The program, currently working with JetBlue and Hunt Energy Network, includes the Leo Ultra satellite dish, which offers download speeds of 1Gbps. (11/24)

China Exploring How to Block Musk’s Starlink in Taiwan (Sources: Telegraph, The Times)
Chinese scientists have explored ways to block Starlink in Taiwan, raising fears that it could stop the island from using the satellite system during a potential attack. Researchers connected to the military have conducted simulated exercises and found that blocking Starlink was technically feasible but would require an ambitious deployment of between 1,000 and 2,000 jamming drones. (11/24)

Alabama Rep: Lawsuit Won't Hinder Space Command's Move to Huntsville (Source: Fox54)
Representative Dale Strong spoke about plans to relocate U.S. Space Command headquarters to Redstone Arsenal on Monday, calling Colorado's federal lawsuit challenging the move a "last-ditch effort" that won't delay the transfer. Colorado filed a suit against the federal government seeking to halt the relocation of Space Command headquarters from its current location to the north Alabama military installation. (11/25)

Space Force Needs More Funding, Training to Counter China’s Space Ambitions (Source: Air and Space Forces)
The Space Force needs to invest more resources in cutting-edge technologies—including launch and simulation capabilities—to maintain the upper hand over China in space, according to a congressional commission tasked with tracking threats from Beijing. In its annual report to Congress, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission highlights China’s “aggressive long-term, whole-of-government campaign” to gain an edge over the U.S. in space. (11/24)

Germany Eyes New Space Partnership With India (Source: Deccan Chronicle)
In a significant diplomatic and scientific development, a high-level German delegation has conveyed its strong interest in partnering with ISRO on some of the most cutting-edge frontiers of space exploration. (11/24)

Japanese Delegation Visits ISRO to Review Chandrayaan-5/ LuPEX Mission (Source: The Hindu)
A Japanese delegation recently held discussions with the senior leadership of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and visited the facilities of the space agency to review the status of the Chandrayaan-5/ LuPEX mission and explore future opportunities. (11/24)

Tingle Becomes NASA Chief Astronaut (Source: The Exponent)
Over 20 astronauts have graduated from Purdue. Now one of them, Scott Tingle, has started a new position as NASA’s chief astronaut. As chief of the Astronaut Office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Tingle will be responsible for managing astronaut resources and operations. He will also help develop astronaut flight crew operations and make crew assignments for future human spaceflight missions, including Artemis missions to the Moon. (11/24)

Terran Orbital Announces Cheryl Paquete as Chief Financial Officer (Source: Space News)
Terran Orbital Corporation is pleased to announce that Cheryl Paquete has joined the company full-time as Chief Financial Officer, transitioning from her previous temporary role into a permanent leadership position. (11/25)

NASA GSFC Now Does National Security Technology Work (Source: NASA Watch)
As part of the administration's restructuring of several agencies, NASA was “hereby determined to have as a primary function intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work." This was in-part a way for the administration to legally exert more control of the agency's activities, despite Congressional authorizations. This week Goddard leadership confirmed this new role: "Our focus now is on meeting our commitments, Moon-to-Mars, Planetary Defense and National Security technologies." (11/24)

Huge Solar Storm in 2024 Shrank Earth's Protective Plasma Shield (Source: Space.com)
When last year's solar superstorm "Gannon" slammed into Earth, it not only painted the sky with beautiful auroras, but also shrunk one of the planet's protective layers to just one-fifth its usual size. Data from Japan's Arase satellite revealed the most dramatic collapse of the plasmasphere — a protective layer of charged particles that encircles our planet — ever recorded after the Gannon solar storm struck Earth on May 10, 2024. (11/25)

Polish Consortium Successfully Tests Three-Stage Suborbital Rocket (Source: European Spaceflight)
A consortium of Polish state-owned and private companies has successfully tested a three-stage suborbital rocket being developed to carry research payloads above the Kármán line. The project began in early 2020 and received roughly €4.1 million in EU funding through the European Regional Development Fund. While initially intended to carry payloads into space, WITU has stated that the technology could also be used for the development of anti-aircraft and tactical missiles. (11/25)

Spaceflux Wins UK Government Contracts for Sovereign Space Surveillance and Tracking Capabilities (Source: Spacewatch Global)
Spaceflux has won three UK government contracts to provide advanced space surveillance and tracking (SST) data across multiple orbital regimes. Under the three contracts, Spaceflux will deliver persistent surveillance across all orbits – from LEO to GEO and beyond – combining routine monitoring of priority UK satellites with on-demand tasking in the event of collisions, fragmentations, or unexpected maneuvers. (11/25)

China Sends Replacement Capsule to TSS (Source: Space News)
China sent a replacement Shenzhou spacecraft to the Tiangong space station. A Long March 2F rocket lifted off Monday, putting the uncrewed Shenzhou-22 spacecraft into orbit. The spacecraft docked with Tiangong Tuesday. China launched the uncrewed spacecraft to replace Shenzhou-20, which suffered damage to a window from a micrometeoroid or orbital debris impact. The astronauts who flew to Tiangong on Shenzhou-20 returned earlier this month on Shenzhou-21, while the astronauts who arrived on Shenzhou-21 will now use Shenzhou-22 for their return trip next spring. (11/25)

BlackSky Was Rocket Lab's Confidential Customer (Source: Space News)
BlackSky confirmed it was the confidential customer of an Electron launch last week. The company released Tuesday initial images from its third Gen-3 satellite, which took its first images within 24 hours of its launch. The company said it was the confidential commercial customer of Rocket Lab "Follow My Speed" mission last Thursday, which took place less than five hours after Rocket Lab announced plans for the launch. BlackSky did not disclose why it elected to be confidential at the time, given that the company has a launch contract with Rocket Lab and said in an earnings call earlier in the month that its next satellite was at the launch site being prepared for launch within weeks. (11/25)

Blue Ring to Fly Space Domain Awareness Payload (Source: Blue Origin)
Blue Origin will fly a space domain awareness payload on its first Blue Ring spacecraft. The company said Monday that the first Blue Ring spacecraft, launching next year, will carry an optical sensor from Caracal to track and identify objects in GEO. Blue Origin said the payload will operate flexibly in “dynamic orbits” during a year-long mission. Scout Space will have its own space domain awareness sensor on the spacecraft along with internal Blue Origin payloads. (11/25)

Golden Dome Solicitation for Space-Based Interceptors (Source: Defense Scoop)
The Space Force plans to issue a solicitation early next month to demonstrate space-based interceptors for Golden Dome. Space Systems Command issued a recent pre-solicitation notice, stating that a formal call for proposals will be issued by Dec. 7. The command says it expects to issue multiple awards using its other transactions authority for companies to develop prototypes of kinetic interceptors for midcourse missile defense. (11/25)

South Korea Plans Reusable Launch Vehicle (Source: Chosun)
South Korea’s space agency plans to embark on a project to develop a reusable launch vehicle. The Korea AeroSpace Administration adopted the plan at a national space committee meeting Tuesday. The vehicle would use methane fuel and be reusable, although the agency did not provide additional details about the proposed vehicle or its schedule. (11/25)

Should You Be Worried About a Tiny Black Hole Hitting Your Body? (Source: Gizmodo)
What would happen if you got hit by a primordial black hole? The bad news is that a large primordial black hole might cause serious injury to the human body—the good news is that there’s probably not enough of them for this to ever happen. Primordial black holes are theoretical black holes that came to life potentially within a second of the Big Bang. Some researchers suggest that the universe’s dark matter—the mysterious substance that constitutes around 85% of the universe’s mass—is mostly or partially made up of primordial black holes. Their hypothesized masses span from 100,000 times less than a paperclip to as much as 100,000 solar masses. (11/24)

Could Satellite-Beaming Planes and Airships Make SpaceX's Starlink Obsolete? (Source: Space.com)
A new generation of stratospheric balloons and high-altitude uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) could soon connect the world's unconnected with high-speed internet at a fraction of the prices commanded by operators of satellite megaconstellations such as Starlink. High-altitude platform stations, or HAPS, have been around for a while, but the technology hasn't fully taken off yet.

Google spent 10 years trying to develop balloons that would hover in the stratosphere above remote rural areas and beam internet to residents but abandoned that project, called Loon, in 2021, concluding that it couldn't be made sustainable. Four years later, companies such as World Mobile Stratospheric and Sceye say they are on the verge of making internet-beaming from the stratosphere a reality. Moreover, they claim that their offerings will be better and cheaper than that of satellite megaconstellations. (11/24)

DOGE Has Mostly Evaporated (Source: NASA Watch)
Remember DOGE? Well, it no longer exists as a thing with that name – although some of the chaos it caused is now formally part of OPM and other parts of the agency. According to Reuters: “U.S. President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency has disbanded with eight months left to its mandate, ending an initiative launched with fanfare as a symbol of Trump’s pledge to slash the government’s size but which critics say delivered few measurable savings. (11/24)

Rivals Object to SpaceX’s Starship Plans in Florida (Source: Ars Technica)
Launch companies with facilities near SpaceX’s Florida Starship pads are not pleased. SpaceX’s two chief rivals, Blue Origin and ULA, complained last year that SpaceX’s proposal of launching as many as 120 Starships per year from Florida could force them to routinely clear personnel from their launch pads. The companies previously sought to prevent NASA from leasing a disused launch pad to SpaceX in 2013, but they lost the fight.

Col. Brian Chatman confirmed that Starship launches will sometimes restrict SpaceX’s neighbors from accessing their launch pads—at least in the beginning. Chatman’s unit is responsible for clearing danger areas during testing and launch operations. Safety officials worry what would happen if a Starship/Super-Heavy detonated with full propellant tanks. The keep-out zones around Starship launch pads will extend farther than other sites because the rocket uses more propellant than any other. Other launch pads will inevitably fall within the footprint of Starship’s range safety keep-out zones. (11/24)

Evolving Blast Danger Zones Complicate Launch Pad Access (Source: Ars Technica)
The blast danger zones around SpaceX's two proposed Starship/Super-Heavy launch pads in Florida will initially be based on the maximum explosive potential of an amount of TNT equivalent to the rocket's methane/liquid oxygen (methalox) fuel mix. Nearby pads for New Glenn and Vulcan use similar fuels and have the same blast zone calculation. This is a problem because the blast zones encompass multiple nearby launch pads and will disrupt their operations.

Regulators use the same-as-TNT approach because they lack sufficient explosive test data on methalox to accurately establish new smaller zones. The Space Force is prepared to update its zones once SpaceX and Blue Origin complete testing and analyze their results. The Commercial Spaceflight Federation argued to Congress that  the government should use “existing industry data” on the explosive potential of methalox, which suggests a TNT blast equivalency of no greater than 25 percent, a change that would greatly reduce the size of blast danger zones around launch pads.

The Federation’s members include prominent methane users SpaceX, Blue Origin, Relativity Space, and Stoke Space, all of which have launch sites at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. SpaceX forecasts a future in which it will launch Starships more often than the Falcon 9, requiring near-continuous operations at multiple launch pads. (11/24)

Slingshot Aerospace Hires Adrian Thompson as Chief of AI and Data Science (Source: Via Satellite)
Slingshot Aerospace has named a new chief of AI and Data Science, hiring Adrian Thompson, an engineering leader with experience at companies like Waymo, Uber‘s Advanced Technologies Group, and L3 Technologies. Thompson is tasked with overseeing Slingshot’s AI strategy and development, integrating the company’s AI foundation across its data, analytics, and modeling products. (11/24)

China's Rising Influence in Space Prompts Senate to Call for New US Research Institute in Post-ISS Era (Source: Space.com)
A bipartisan group of senators wants the U.S. to establish a new National Institute for Space Research to "ensure the nation is equipped to lead in the next space race" against China. The institute would coordinate national research on whichever private space stations will pick up the baton after the International Space Station (ISS) retires in 2030. But that outcome requires Congress' approval of the newly proposed Space RACE (Research And Continuing Exploration) Act.

The senatorial group, which includes former NASA astronaut Mark Kelly (D-AZ), argue that the new institute is needed to reduce opportunities for China's Tiangong space station to pick up multinational research after the ISS retires. Editor's Note: Odd that there's no mention in this article of the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), the entity responsible for managing the ISS as a national laboratory for space research. (11/24)

ESA Optimistic About Nov 26-27 Ministerial. Italy’s Promised Boost Helps, Canada’s Too; France, Germany TBD (Source: Space Intel Report)
European Space Agency (ESA) Director-General Josef Ascbacher has maintained his goal of collecting 22 billion euros ($25.3 billion) in the final days before the agency’s Nov. 26-27 ministerial conference, scheduled in Bremen, Germany. That would be a remarkable 30% increase over the 16.9 billion euros committed at the last ministerial in November 2022, which was a 17% boost over the subscriptions registered at the 2019 conference. (11/24)

The Exploration Company Inaugurates New Facility in France (Source: European Spaceflight)
Less than a month after opening its new headquarters in Germany, in-space logistics startup The Exploration Company has opened a new facility in Le Haillan, France. The Exploration Company is developing a modular, multi-role capsule called Nyx that will initially be tasked with ferrying cargo to and from the International Space Station. Future developments will include variants to carry cargo to the surface of the Moon and transport crews to and from low Earth orbit. (11/24)

NASA Reduces Flights on Boeing's Starliner After Botched Astronaut Mission (Source: Reuters)
NASA on Monday slashed the number of astronaut missions on Boeing's Starliner contract and said the spacecraft's next mission to the ISS will fly without a crew, reducing the scope of a program hobbled by engineering woes and outpaced by SpaceX. The most recent mishap occurred during Starliner's first crewed test flight in 2024, carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Several thrusters on Starliner's propulsion system shut down during its approach to the ISS. (11/24)

Evidence of Ancient Life on Mars Could Be Hidden Away in Colossal Water-Carved Caves (Source: Space.com)
Possible giant "karstic" caves that formed when slightly acidic water dissolved bedrock have been identified on Mars and hailed as one of the best locations on the Red Planet to search for preserved biosignatures. The caves, in the Hebrus Valles region between the extinct volcano Elysium Mons and Utopia Planitia in Mars' northern mid-latitudes, are revealed by eight skylights, which are holes in the ceiling of the caves that are visible on the surface as pits ranging from tens to over 100 meters across. (11/24)

Amazon's Satellite Internet License Faces Legal Challenge in France (Source: Reuters)
A French union filed a legal challenge on Monday against a decision by the country's telecoms regulator to grant radio spectrum to Amazon's satellite internet service, the biggest test yet of the U.S. tech giant's broadband ambitions. The CFE-CGC Telecoms union said it had asked France's highest administrative court to annul a July decision by regulator Arcep to award Amazon 10-year rights to frequencies for its low earth orbit (LEO) satellite network. (11/24)

Helium-3 and the Limits of Speculation (Source: Space Geotech)
The renewed attention around helium 3 has value. It draws companies, investors, and policy makers into a conversation that has long been dominated by abstract models and surface-level assumptions. For the first time in decades, the idea of a functioning cislunar economy is being discussed in practical terms rather than as a distant aspiration. This shift is healthy. It pushes the community toward questions of infrastructure, logistics, and industrial capability instead of speculation alone.

Yet one fact continues to be overlooked, and it is fundamental: We have never drilled a single engineering grade borehole on the Moon. Not one. No project, civil or industrial, would be evaluated on Earth with such an absence of subsurface data. Still, we speak confidently about resource volumes, extraction concepts, and production rates as if the ground had already been characterized. The reality is that the ground remains unknown. (11/14)

Revisiting the Wolf Amendment After 15 Years (Source: Space Review)
It’s been nearly 15 years since Congress passed legislation with a provision sharply restricting bilateral cooperation between NASA and China. Jeff Foust reports on a recent debate about whether that restriction should be lifted. Click here. (11/25)
 
Space is the Front Line and Not the Final Frontier (Source: Space Review)
Space is increasingly seen as a domain of warfare alongside air, land, and sea. Magdalena Bogacz argues that means the United States and allies must promote efforts to develop norms of space warfare. Click here. (11/25)
 
How AI is Making Spacecraft Propulsion More Efficient (Source: Space Review)
A desire to go further and faster in space is driving interest in advanced propulsion technologies, such as nuclear systems. A team of researchers discusses how another advanced technology, artificial intelligence, is assisting those efforts. Click here. (11/25)