December 21, 2025

The SpaceX Explosion That Put Flights in Danger (Source: Wall Street Journal)
A JetBlue plane was en route to Puerto Rico when its pilots got word from air-traffic control they were about to fly through a danger zone. The plane initially went into a holding pattern to stay safe. “You want to go to San Juan,” an air-traffic controller told the JetBlue flight crew, “it’s going to be at your own risk.” The risk that January evening was from an experimental SpaceX rocket ship that exploded minutes after liftoff. The jet’s pilots had a decision to make while positioned north of San Juan: continue the trip through a possible rocket debris field, or risk running low on fuel over water.

Three planes (including JetBlue and Iberia) had to divert, with two declaring fuel emergencies, as controllers worked to keep them clear of debris. The FAA wasn't immediately alerted via SpaceX's hotline; Miami controllers learned of it from pilots seeing debris. This was the second major Starship issue in 2025, following another explosion in March that also disrupted air traffic over Florida. (12/21)

Lunar VR Attraction Launches at Orlando Mall (Source: LUNA)
LUNA is Virtual Zone’s most breathtaking experience yet — a journey that places you in the boots of real astronauts. Step into the story of Apollo 11 and relive every defining moment: the NASA training, the rocket launch, and that timeless first step on the moon. Powered by cutting-edge virtual reality, Luna transforms the dream of pioneering space exploration into something deeply personal — an experience that’s truly yours to live. Click here. (12/20)

Mona Luna Rover Takes First Drive on Simulated Moon, Previews Potential Artemis LTV (Source: AutoEvolution)
Europe's dream of flying a home-brewed rover to the Moon ended abruptly when the Japanese ispace lander called Resilience, which carried the Tenacious rover, crashed into the Moon on June 6, 2025. Ok, the dream didn't actually end, as Europe will have another go at it with a machine called Mona Luna, scheduled for launch in 2030. The Mona Luna is the work of a company called Venturi Space, one of the competitors in the NASA quest for the Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) that will support later Artemis missions on the Moon..

Not all the details of the machine are yet known, given how the project is still in its early stages. We do know that, at least as it presents itself today, it weighs 1,653 pounds (750 kg), but that can be extended to 2,200 pounds (1,000 kg) depending on needs. Some of Mona Luna's systems, including the wheels, were put through their paces recently during the rover's first test drive, which took place at the LUNA center in Cologne, Germany, where the ESA simulates lunar conditions. (12/16)

Foreign Ship Gets Penalty for Illegally Using Starlink Within Chinese Waters (Source: SCMP)
China has issued a penalty to a foreign vessel for illegally using Starlink – SpaceX’s satellite-based internet service – within Chinese waters in the first case of its kind, according to local media. The vessel, which was not identified, was found with a “micro rectangular antenna” installed on its top deck during a routine inspection by maritime law enforcement officers. (12/19)

The Crash of the MIRA-I Spaceplane is Raising Serious Concerns in the Space Industry (Source: Futura)
Polaris Spaceplanes had high hopes for its Mira I prototype, but its debut flight ended almost as soon as it began. Designed to test an experimental aerospike rocket engine in flight for the very first time, the spaceplane crashed right after leaving the runway—before the engine could even be activated. The crash was caused by a crosswind combined with a nosewheel swerve that proved impossible to recover from. While internal subsystems survived the impact, the fiberglass airframe was completely destroyed and is beyond repair.

This flight was meant to showcase the company’s AS-1 LOX–kerosene linear rocket engine. It would have marked the first ever in-flight test of an aerospike engine—an old concept that dates back 75 years, but which has never made it out of the lab. The next model, Mira II, will feature a five-meter wingspan and the same AS-1 aerospike engine. A third model, Mira III, is also in the works. Like Mira I, both new prototypes will include four jet turbines in addition to the rocket engine. (12/20)

Runaway Black Hole Escapes Its Galaxy—and It’s Leaving Baby Stars in Its Wake (Source: Gizmodo)
Astronomers have long theorized about runaway black holes, but none have been observed until now. The Webb space telescope confirmed the first runaway black hole, which broke away from its home galaxy for a speedy life on the run. The black hole is one of the fastest-moving objects observed in the cosmos, traveling at a speed of 2.2 million miles per hour (1,000 kilometers per second). At that speed, it could travel from Earth to the Moon in 14 minutes. It is leaving a trail of gas that’s spawning newborn stars in its wake. (12/19)

Chinese Long March-5 Launches TJSW-23 on Saturday (Source: SciNews)
The Long March-5 Y10 launcher carried the TJSW-23 (Communication Technology Test Satellite 23) from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site Hainan Province, China, on 20 December. According to official sources, the satellite entered the planned orbit and will be “mainly used to carry out multi-band and high-speed communication technology validation tests”. (12/20)

China Turns Hainan Into Free-trade Zone (Source: WION)
China has officially designated Hainan, home of its newest spaceport, as a free-trade zone, aiming to attract investment, boost trade, and strengthen its economic influence in the region. The move is part of broader reforms to open China’s markets and enhance global commerce. This video explains the implications of Hainan’s new status and what it means for businesses and investors. (12/18)

SpaceX Could Go Public by Merging With EchoStar. It Isn’t a Crazy Idea (Source: Barron's)
Rather than pursue a conventional initial public offering, SpaceX could go public through a merger with wireless phone, TV, and satellite company EchoStar. It’s an admittedly an unconventional and seemingly far-fetched idea, but SpaceX’s leader and controlling shareholder, Elon Musk, is a maverick who has succeeded by flouting conventional rules.

A merger with EchoStar probably would allow SpaceX to go public more quickly than through a traditional IPO. It would permit SpaceX to make greater use of financial projections in wooing investors than an IPO. The S-4 document used in mergers allows more freedom on forward guidance than IPO prospectuses that tend to be almost entirely backward looking. (12/19)

ESA Weighing Options to Address Exploration Funding Shortfall (Source: Space News)
The European Space Agency expects to decide in February how to address a 20% funding shortfall in its exploration program. There's a roughly 20% funding gap in its Human and Robotic Exploration program. ESA leaders must decide on scaling back missions or finding other funds to maintain ambitious plans like Mars Sample Return and the Moonlight lunar communications program. (12/19)

Blue Origin Breaks the Accessibility Barrier by Sending the First Wheelchair User to Space (Source: Geekwire)
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture added a page to the space history books today by sending the first wheelchair user into space. “It was the coolest experience,” said Michaela Benthaus, a German-born aerospace and mechatronics engineer at the European Space Agency who sustained a spinal cord injury in a mountain biking accident in 2018. Blue Origin’s suborbital New Shepard rocket ship lifted off from the company’s Launch Site One in West Texas on Saturday. (12/20)

Helium-3 Is Now a Priority. The Ground Will Decide If It’s Feasible (Source: Space Geotech)
Helium-3 has moved from technical curiosity to stated priority. With the new NASA administration placing it on the strategic agenda, the discussion is no longer speculative. It now sits alongside power, mobility, and long-duration presence as an enabling resource. Once a topic reaches that level, the relevant question changes. It is no longer whether the resource exists, but whether it can be accessed with acceptable risk, cost, and schedule.

Most current narratives around helium-3 remain centered on abundance, correlation with ilmenite, and long-term exposure to the solar wind. These elements establish presence. They do not establish accessibility. Excavation systems, mobility platforms, and surface plants do not interact with spectra or mineralogy. They interact with strength, stiffness, density, resistance, and disturbance behavior. Those properties determine whether repeated operations are feasible or fragile.

At present, the lunar surface is still often treated as mechanically simple. It is described as shallow, loose, and easily worked. That description is inconsistent with decades of Apollo observations, drilling resistance, sample recovery behavior, and recent CLPS penetration data. The regolith behaves as a structured, impact-worked material with a stress history that persists. Ignoring that history does not remove it from the system. It transfers risk into hardware, operations, and cost. (12/19)

Vantor Images Disabled Starlink Satellite (Source: Vantor)
Vantor partnered with SpaceX to rapidly image a Starlink satellite following a reported on-orbit anomaly. Within hours, their WorldView Space capability collected a 12 cm image that provided visual intelligence about the condition of the spacecraft. WorldView-3 was 241 km away from the Starlink when it collected this image, which showed the satellite is largely intact. This collection highlights how responsive space operations can deliver actionable insights in the most time-sensitive situations. (12/20)

What Problem is Charging for Space Situational Awareness Supposed to Solve? (Source: Space News)
An executive order issued Dec. 18 suggests that the U.S. government could charge for Space Situational Awareness (SSA) services. Richard DalBello, former director of the Office of Space Commerce, suggests three reasons the White House may have for charging for SSA data, including conjunction warnings: cost recovery, market forcing and deliberate ambiguity on the governments role as a provider of baseline SSA services.

The fact that the White House's aims aren't clear, though, clouds the situation, Dalbello says. "The problem is not that one of these approaches is inherently illegitimate. Reasonable people can disagree about the proper balance between public infrastructure and private provision. The problem is that charging means very different things under each model. Without clarity, it risks achieving none of the intended outcomes: insufficient revenue to sustain government services, insufficient trust to support commercial adoption and increased operational risk in the meantime." (12/20)

NASA Veteran Kathy Lueders Joins Vast as Advisor (Source: Vast)
Vast announces today the appointment of Kathy Lueders as its newest Advisor. Lueders’ career spans over three decades working at NASA and SpaceX. She now serves as Vice Chair of the Texas Space Commission, and is a globally recognized leader in the space community, within industry and government alike. (12/18)

Earth's Seasons Are Strangely Out of Sync, Scientists Discover From Space (Source: Science Alert)
Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have watched our planet's seasons from space and discovered that spring, summer, winter, and fall are surprisingly out of sync. Just because two places exist in the same hemisphere, at similar altitudes, or at the same latitude doesn't guarantee they'll experience the same seasonal changes at the same time. Even regions that are side by side can experience different weather and ecological patterns, sculpting wildly different neighboring habitats. (12/20)

Lockheed Martin Secures Tracking Layer Contract From Space Development Agency (Source: Lockheed Martin)
The Space Development Agency has awarded Lockheed Martin a contract for 18 space vehicles for its Tranche 3 Tracking Layer (TRKT3) constellation, with a potential value of more than $1 billion. These satellites will provide missile tracking capabilities for the SDA's Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), a layered network of missile defense and military communications satellites in low Earth orbit. Under the award, Lockheed Martin will provide 18 missile warning, tracking, and defense space vehicles. Once in orbit, these space vehicles will turn fire–control–quality tracks into actionable engagements. (12/19)

L3Harris Wins US Contract to Bolster Missile Tracking in Space (Source: Bloomberg)
The Space Development Agency has awarded L3Harris Technologies a nearly $1 billion contract to build satellites that would bolster a missile tracking layer above Earth, a key element of President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome defense shield. The $843 million contract for 18 satellites is in addition to two previous orders for 34 of the systems that began as an experimental capability developed for the Missile Defense Agency just a few years ago. (12/19)

Colorado Boost: Space Force Sees Budget, Manpower Increase as it Marks Year Six (Source: Gazette)
Congress set aside some gifts for the Space Force in a recently passed defense bill as the military branch marks its sixth birthday. With more than 50% of the Space Force’s guardians working in Colorado, it is an economic driver for the state and a critical piece of national infrastructure as space becomes more contested and fills up with satellites and debris that must be managed. The Space Force got an additional $1.1 billion for research and development, boosting that piece of its budget up to about $16 billion. (12/19)

India to Launch U.S. Satellite on December 24 (Source: The Hindu)
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will launch the 6,500 kg BlueBird communications satellite on December 24 from Sriharikota. The national space agency on Friday announced that the communication satellite developed by the U.S.-based AST SpaceMobile will be launched as part of the LVM3-M6 mission. (12/20)

India Closer to Human Spaceflight (Source: Business Today)
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has successfully completed a critical series of qualification tests for the drogue parachutes that form a key part of the deceleration system of the Gaganyaan Crew Module, marking another important milestone in India’s human spaceflight program. The objective of the test series was to rigorously evaluate the performance and reliability of the drogue parachutes under extreme and varying flight conditions. (12/20)

From Competition to R&D: Launch Canada to Build Critical Turbopump Tech (Source: SpaceQ)
Launch Canada is going to be branching out into technology development. The organization, which hosts and organizes the Launch Canada Challenge student rocketry competition, will be working with students and industry professionals to design and build a made-in-Canada turbopump.  The turbopump is a crucial and difficult-to-engineer part of rocket propulsion systems, and if Launch Canada is successful, this will be the first time that one of them is built by a Canadian organization. (12/19)

Impulse and Starfish Prove You Don't Need to Break the Bank to Rendezvous in Space (Source: Ars Technica)
It may be happening quietly, but there is a revolution taking place with in-space transportation, and it opens up a world of possibilities. In January, a small "Mira" spacecraft built by a California-based company called Impulse Space launched along with a stack of other satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket. Mira dropped off several small CubeSats and then performed a number of high-thrust maneuvers to demonstrate its capabilities. This was the second flight by a Mira spacecraft, so Impulse Space was eager to continue testing the vehicle in flight.

Then this summer, Impulse handed control of Mira over to another company, which had installed its own software package on the vehicle. And this second company, Starfish Space, took control. Starfish Space activated its camera on board the spacecraft and started flying the vehicle. To what end? Founded in 2019, the Washington-based company seeks to build affordable spacecraft that can service satellites in space, providing propulsion or other aids to extend their lifetimes.

Starfish says its full-size Otter spacecraft's cost is significantly lower than existing solutions, about an order of magnitude lower than Northrop Grumman's MEV-1 or other options that limit the number of applications for servicing satellites. “I think what is really impressive in this case is we took a vehicle that’s rather versatile in its own right but then upgraded it to something that’s RPO capable, with just a camera and a little bit of software.” (12/19)

Russia's Post-ISS Station Plans Leverage ISS Modules While Deploying New Polar-Orbit Station (Source: Ars Technica)
For several years now, in discussing plans for its human spaceflight program beyond the International Space Station, Russian officials would proudly bring up the Russian Orbital Station, or ROS. The first elements of ROS were to launch in 2027 so it would be ready for human habitation in 2028. Upon completion in the mid-2030s, the station would encompass seven shiny new modules, potentially including a private habitat for space tourists. It would be so sophisticated that the station could fly autonomously for months if needed.

Importantly, the Russian station was also to fly in a polar orbit at about 400 km. This would allow the station to fly over the entirety of Russia, observing the whole country. It would be important for national pride because cosmonauts would not need to launch from Kazakhstan anymore. Rather, rockets launching from the country’s new spaceport in eastern Russia, the Vostochny Cosmodrome, would easily reach the ROS in its polar orbit. But it will also leverage Russia's existing ISS segment, presently in a different orbit.

So in 2030, the Russian segment of the ISS will separate from the American-controlled side. Russia would continue operating in the aging ISS-heritage modules. Russian media reports are critical of the plan, due to built-up bacterial contamination and degrading life support systems. Meanwhile ROS would be deployed at an inclination of 51.6 degrees, an orbit that Russia says will enable interaction with a planned Indian station in the same orbital neighborhood. (12/19)

ESA Staff Rising by 13% in 2026 (Source: Space Intel Report)
The European Space Agency (ESA) is increasing its staff by 13.3% in 2026 to account for additional program demands following its governments’ approval of a 31% increase in three-year funding approved at its Nov. 27 ministerial council. The staff increase, of 400, will bring ESA’s full-time headcount to 3,400. The agency also has several thousand contractors, many of whom work at the agency’s various facilities. (12/19)