December 20, 2025

Rocket Lab Awarded $816M Prime Contract to Build Missile- Defense Satellite Constellation (Source: Rocket Lab)
Rocket Lab has been awarded a landmark prime contract by the U.S. Space Development Agency (SDA) to design and manufacture 18 satellites for the Tracking Layer Tranche 3 (TRKT3) program under the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA). The award is Rocket Lab’s largest single contract to date and underscores its growing reputation as a trusted prime in national security space. Under the $816 million contract, Rocket Lab will deliver satellites equipped with advanced missile warning, tracking, and defense sensors to provide global, persistent detection and tracking of emerging missile threats, including hypersonic systems. (12/19)

Space Development Agency Awards $3.5 Billion in Contracts for Missile-Tracking Satellites (Sources: Space News, Breaking Defense)
The Space Development Agency announced Dec. 19 it awarded about $3.5 billion in contracts to four companies to build 72 missile-tracking satellites for the next phase of a low Earth orbit constellation designed to detect and follow advanced missile threats. The Other Transaction Authority (OTA) awards went to teams led by Lockheed Martin, Rocket Lab USA, Northrop Grumman, and L3Harris Technologies, according to the announcement. Each team is to “deliver and operate 18 space vehicles (SV) as part of the Tracking Layer constellation for Tranche 3, launching in fiscal year 2029.” (12/19)

BAE-Built Stratospheric Aircraft Wins Five-Year AFRL Contract (Source: Aviation Week)
The BAE Systems PHASA-35, an uncrewed, high-altitude, pseudo-satellite (HAPS), will operate monthslong airborne surveillance missions in coordination with U.S. Southern Command under a new contract. Acting on behalf of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), NASA quietly awarded a contract five months ago worth up to $10 million for the PHASA-35 to resume airborne missions operating from July 23, 2025, to April 17, 2030. (12/18)

Debris Strike? Starlink Satellite Is Tumbling Toward After a Strange Anomaly in Orbit (Source: Gizmodo)
SpaceX has lost contact with one of its broadband satellites, which is now falling toward Earth due to an unspecified and seemingly mysterious anomaly. The company revealed that a Starlink satellite experienced an anomaly on Wednesday that led to a complete loss of communication. The satellite suddenly dropped around 2.5 miles in altitude (4 kilometers) and created a small field of debris, according to SpaceX. (12/18)

IMAP's Instruments Are Coming Online (Source: Universe Today)
The Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) recently collected first light on its 10 primary instruments, and everything seems to be in working order. Instruments not working even with a flawless launch is not unheard of. Hubble famously had to undergo a series of corrective operations for its main lens, which involved people physically making spacewalks up to the telescope to repair and fix things. The result was some of the most famous astronomy images ever taken. However, IMAP won’t have that luxury - it's destined for the L1 Lagrange point directly between the Earth and the Sun - way out of the range of currently operational human-carrying spacecraft. (12/20)

Scotland’s Ascent in the New Space Age (Source: Royal Astronautical Society)
Space-Comm Scotland 2025, on 3–4 December 2025, marked a major space industry gathering with more than 2,000 delegates, 100 speakers and 50 exhibitors converging at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) in Glasgow, showcasing Scotland’s expanding role in the UK and European space sector. Across the two days of keynotes and panel discussions, leaders from government, industry and academia highlighted developments and innovations from imminent launch capabilities to data-driven services.

RAeS partner organisations represented included the CAA, UK Space Agency (UKSA), Department for Transport, Airbus, Lockheed Martin, Skyrora, Space Logistics Network and the University of Strathclyde, among others. (12/20)

NASA Safety Panel Recommends Review of Artemis Plans (Source: Space News)
NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) is urging NASA to rethink its Artemis moon landing plan and incident response, specifically suggesting a review of the complex Artemis 3 mission's "first-time activities" to balance risk, and better managing incidents like the Boeing Starliner test flight issues, highlighting concerns over schedule pressure and technology gaps like in-orbit refueling for SpaceX's Starship, emphasizing NASA needs clearer long-term vision for human spaceflight.

NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) made these points at a public meeting in December 2025, ahead of their annual report release. NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) has raised similar concerns about Artemis's risks in previous reports. (12/19)

Korean Startup Again Delays 1st Commercial Orbital Launch (Source: Korea Times)
Korean space startup Innospace said Saturday its first commercial orbit launch has been delayed again due to technical problems. The Hanbit-Nano rocket was scheduled to lift off from the Alcantara Space Center in Brazil earlier in the day, but the launch was delayed. Innospace had originally aimed to launch the vehicle Wednesday. The space startup said it will reschedule the liftoff in cooperation with the Brazilian Air Force. (12/20)

Hungary’s 4iG Commits to $100 Million Axiom Space Investment (Source: Space News)
Hungarian communications provider 4iG has agreed to invest $100 million in U.S.-based space station developer Axiom Space, broadening its footprint in the space industry amid a broader push toward vertically integrated capabilities in the industry. The company said Dec. 19 it has committed to invest $30 million in Axiom by the end of 2025, followed by an additional $70 million by March 31, 2026. (12/19)

Companies Teaming to Offer Insurance for Space Debris Strikes on Satellites (Source: Space.com)
A pair of companies are teaming up to provide customers with pioneering insurance for spacecraft specifically to cover space debris collision events. Space insurance underwriters typically offer premiums that are mission-wide and include possible satellite replacement and can therefore be very expensive. California on-orbit services startup Arkisys is now teaming up with London-based Odin Space to offer its customers specific collision insurance, based on verified debris impact data from Odin Space's sensors.

Arkisys's upcoming Cutter mission will carry sensors from Odin Space, which is developing advanced space debris detection. Odin Space's Nano Sensors are designed to act as a "black box" for spacecraft, being able to pinpoint the exact moment of an impact to a spacecraft and its location. Forensic on-orbit data collected by the sensors can then be used to verify that a damaged spacecraft experienced an on-orbit impact event consistent with debris or micrometeoroid strikes. (12/19)

Keeping Satellites Safe Through Proper Logistics (Source: Space News)
The modern space economy is increasingly powered by dual-use satellites that support both civilian services and national security needs. These assets deliver critical capabilities, from communications to Earth observation, but they also face growing risks. Protecting them, along with the intellectual property they carry, requires an integrated end-to-end approach that connects logistics, compliance and mission assurance into one continuous system. (12/19)

PROBA Satellites Demonstrate Millimeter Precision Formation Flying (Source: ESA)
ESA has achieved a historic milestone, autonomous formation flying with millimeter-level precision. With PROBA-3, two spacecraft operate as one distributed system - fully autonomously, without guidance from Earth. Powered by on-board autonomous vision and optical and laser metrology, they detect each other from kilometers away, rendezvous, and maintain an ultra-stable formation in orbit. (12/18)

Trump Shifts Priority to Moon Mission, Not Mars (Source: Space Daily)
US President Donald Trump on Thursday confirmed that he wants to send astronauts back to the Moon as soon as possible, putting eventual Mars missions on the back burner. In an executive order on his space policy, Trump said he wanted to get Americans to the Moon by 2028, under NASA's Artemis program launched during his first White House term. Such a lunar landing would "assert American leadership in space, lay the foundations for lunar economic development, prepare for the journey to Mars, and inspire the next generation of American explorers," the order says. (12/19)

BlackSky Accelerates Gen-3 Satellite Into Full Commercial Service in Three Weeks (Source: Space Daily)
BlackSky Technology Inc. (NYSE: BKSY) has placed its third Gen-3 imaging satellite into commercial service just three weeks after launch, marking a major reduction in commissioning time compared with the company's first Gen-3 unit. The new spacecraft adds further capacity for 35-centimeter-class very high-resolution imagery and AI-enabled analytics for BlackSky customers worldwide. (12/18)

NASA CubeSat Puts Dual Micropropulsion Systems Through Orbital Trial (Source: Space Daily)
NASA and commercial partners are using a small satellite mission called DUPLEX (Dual Propulsion Experiment) to demonstrate new propulsion options for small spacecraft operating in low Earth orbit and on future missions deeper into the solar system. Two micropropulsion systems that draw propellant from spools of polymer fibers are now undergoing an in-space test campaign after the CubeSat's deployment from the International Space Station on Dec. 2. (12/18)

Space is Now Essential to European Security (Source: Euractiv)
Space has become a geopolitical frontline for Europe. Our adversaries are seeking to jam, dazzle, and destroy our satellites, and at a pivotal moment for European security, our ability to act independently in space is under threat. We must now act decisively. This begins with ensuring that we treat space as the security domain that it is. Indeed, space is the foundation of modern defense readiness, enabling critical surveillance, connectivity, and security capabilities.

In the United States, defense accounts for roughly 60 per cent of all space spending. Yet while Europe has finally woken up to the need for greater defense spending, too often European leaders have hesitated to go big on defense in and from space. Fortunately, that mindset is beginning to change. Space technology is inherently dual-use, enabling both civilian and military capabilities. Europe is now embracing that reality more openly. (12/18)

Moody’s Ratings Downgrades SES Rating (Source: Via Satellite)
Moody’s Ratings downgraded the credit assessment of SES from ba1 to ba2 on Dec. 17, citing weaker pro forma results for the first nine months of 2025 and the high integration and restructuring costs for the Intelsat acquisition. Moody’s withdrew SES’s Baa3 long-term issuer rating and assigned the company a Ba1 long-term corporate family rating. The company’s outlook has changed from stable to negative. (12/18)

Reentry Enters the Field (Source: Payload)
At the start of the decade, reentry services were almost exclusively offered by expensive, human-rated, or ISS-compatible vehicles often built by aerospace and defense primes with decades of history flying in space. This year, that model changed. At least three startups flew reentry vehicles to space and back, marking a new era of comparatively low-cost launch-and-return missions.

Varda Space Industries launched its first reentry mission in 2023, landing in the Utah desert the following year. In 2025, the company started to make reentry flights look easy, launching four missions throughout the year, with two still in orbit today. In April, ATMOS Space Cargo launched the demonstration mission of its Phoenix reentry capsule, which spent two hours in orbit before streaming back to a splash down off the coast of Brazil. And The Exploration Company launched its first demo mission in June—though it lost contact with the vehicle at 26km altitude. (12/18)

Interstellar Comet Keeps its Distance as it Makes its Closest Approach to Earth (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
NASA continues to aim its space telescopes at the visiting ice ball, estimated to be between 1,444 feet and 3.5 miles in size. But it’s fading as it exits, so now’s the time for backyard astronomers to catch it in the night sky with their telescopes. The comet will come much closer to Jupiter in March, zipping within 33 million miles. It will be the mid-2030s before it reaches interstellar space, never to return, said Paul Chodas, director of NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies. (12/15)