December 24, 2025

Travel Agency, Venture Join Forces for Space Tours in 2040s (Source: Asahi Shimbun)
A travel agency and a space business venture plan to commercialize space travel services for everybody in the 2040s. And considering the expected price tag, “everybody” apparently refers to wealthy individuals. Nippon Travel Agency Co. and Innovative Space Carrier Inc., both based in Tokyo’s Chuo Ward, signed a business alliance agreement on Oct. 28 to market space travel products.

“We are developing this new travel category of space,” NTA President Keigo Yoshida told a news conference in the Nihonbashi district of the capital. NTA and ISC officials envisage developing their space travel services in three steps. The initial stage, called “Space Tour 1.0,” involves experiences on Earth, such as sampling space food and touring space-related facilities. (12/23)

Scottish Satellite Firm Goes Global with £6m Boost and Former Virgin Galactic Boss on Board (Source: Scotsman)
Sofant Technologies, the Edinburgh-based satellite communications developer, has raised more than £6 million in a “seminal” funding round as it looks to go global. The firm, which recently unveiled Scots-born industry guru Will Whitehorn, the founding president of Virgin Galactic, as its new chairman, said it was now transitioning from years of research and development work into a commercial launch and production phase.

Proceeds from the fundraising will support the scaling of Sofant’s operations, final qualification of its first commercial products, and preparation for early customer deployments in satellite communications, defense and advanced wireless markets. Supported by programs with the European Space Agency and UK Space Agency, Sofant has advanced the development of its next-generation satellite communication terminal, designed to provide users with “high-speed, low-latency” satellite connectivity. (12/23)

AST Trusts Indian Rocket for ISROs Most Powerful Launch Yet (Source: WION)
ISRO’s LVM3 rocket is set to attempt its heaviest launch ever, carrying the 6,100 kg BlueBird satellite built by US-based AST SpaceMobile. The mission aims to deliver space-based cellular broadband that can connect directly to smartphones, without ground towers.

This landmark launch positions ISRO at the center of a fast-growing, multi-billion-dollar space communications race dominated by players like SpaceX. With massive commercial and strategic stakes, the mission marks a defining moment for India’s rise as a trusted global launch partner and a major force in next-generation satellite technology. (12/23)

Sea Level Rise has Doubled Along the U.S. Coast (Source: Earth.com)
Sea levels along the United States coast are rising faster than they did in the past, and new research shows that the change is not subtle. A study published in AGU Advances reveals that the pace of coastal sea level rise has more than doubled over the last century, directly challenging recent claims that U.S. sea levels are not accelerating. (12/22)

NASA Launches Science Balloon in Antarctica (Source: Space.com)
Before a space telescope ever reaches orbit, and long after satellites are up there, NASA has another way to do frontier science: high-altitude scientific balloons. These balloons can loft instruments to roughly 120,000 feet — high in the stratosphere, above most of Earth's atmosphere—at a fraction of the cost and complexity of a space mission, while still enabling serious astrophysics, heliophysics, Earth science, and technology testing. Antarctica is one of the best places on Earth to fly these missions. NASA's annual Antarctic Long-Duration Balloon campaign operates from a site on the Ross Ice Shelf near the U.S. National Science Foundation's McMurdo Station. (12/22)

Scientists Prove “Impossible” Earth-to-Space Quantum Link is Feasible (Source: Science Daily)
Researchers have shown that quantum signals can be sent from Earth up to satellites, not just down from space as previously believed. This breakthrough could make global quantum networks far more powerful, affordable, and practical. (12/17)

Europe’s Next Solid Propellant Rocket Motor Passes Review (Source: ESA)
After firing up on ground at Europe’s Spaceport during a hot-fire test in April, the P160C solid propellant rocket motor has been thoroughly analyzed, with a qualification review confirming its use for flight. This review concludes over three years of intense development work involving engineers in continental Europe and French Guiana.

The P160C is an upgrade of the P120C motor developed jointly by ArianeGroup and Avio, and it is one of the world’s largest carbon-fiber one-piece solid-propellant rocket motors. The development program is managed and funded by ESA. The P120C is currently used as a booster for the Ariane 6 rocket, and as the first stage for the Vega-C launcher. The upgraded P160C carries over 14 tonnes more solid fuel, increasing both rockets’ performance, increasing their payload capacity and competitiveness. (12/19)

Is SpaceX Ready to Start Testing Orbital Refilling? (Source: LabPadre Space)
This week at Starbase construction rolls on at the launch site and air separation plant, work continues on Booster 19 and Ship 39, and an interesting new truss structure begins taking shape at the Massey Outpost. Click here. (12/22)

Bolivia Lifts Restrictions on Satellite Companies to Upgrade its Internet Connectivity (Source: AP)
Bolivia’s new government on Tuesday issued a decree that will allow global satellite internet companies such as Starlink or Kuiper to provide internet access across the Andean nation as it tries to upgrade its technology and speed up its notoriously slow connectivity rates. Bolivia’s centrist President Rodrigo Paz signed the decree, which waives the restrictions placed on international satellite companies by the socialist administration of his predecessor, Luis Arce. (12/23)

Starfighters IPO Stock Goes Supersonic With 370% Gain On Day 3 (Source: Investors.com)
Starfighters Space is making an emphatic debut as the latest publicly-traded aerospace name. Shares of the civilian aerospace IPO stock soared 370% Monday after completing its initial public offering last week. Cape Canaveral-based Starfighters Space (FJET) owns and operates the largest commercial fleet of supersonic aircraft, which consists of seven Lockheed F-104 Starfighters. Starfighters is developing a StarLaunch air-launch capability for microsatellites. (12/22)

Russia Developing Anti-Satellite Weapon to Target LEO Constellations (Source: PBS)
Intelligence findings seen by The Associated Press say the so-called "zone-effect" weapon would seek to flood Starlink orbits with hundreds of thousands of high-density pellets, potentially disabling multiple satellites at once but also risking catastrophic collateral damage to other orbiting systems. Analysts who haven't seen the findings say they doubt such a weapon could work without causing uncontrollable chaos in space for companies and countries, including Russia and its ally China, that rely on thousands of orbiting satellites for communications, defense and other vital needs. (12/22)

Safety Panel Says NASA Should Have Taken Starliner Incident More Seriously (Source: Ars Technica)
For the better part of two months last year, most of us had no idea how serious the problems were with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft docked at the ISS. A safety advisory panel found this uncertainty also filtered through NASA’s workforce. A Starliner delivered NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the ISS in June 2024. They were the first people to fly to space on a Starliner spacecraft after more than a decade of development and setbacks.

The astronauts expected to stay at the ISS for one or two weeks, but ended up remaining in orbit for nine months after NASA officials determined it was too risky to return them to Earth in the Boeing-built crew capsule. Managers from NASA and Boeing repeatedly stated that the spacecraft was safe to bring Wilmore and Williams home if the station needed to be evacuated in an emergency. But officials on the ground ordered extensive testing to understand the root of the problems. Buried behind the headlines, there was a real chance NASA managers would decide—as they ultimately did—not to put astronauts on Boeing’s crew capsule when it was time to depart the ISS.

Precourt said officials from Boeing and NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which oversees the agency’s Starliner contract, “were signaling return on Starliner was the expected outcome” for Wilmore and Williams. “Other NASA entities in the decision process were not in concurrence,” Precourt continued. “As a result, there was significant stress on the workforce, with many believing the sole objective was to determine a means by which we could enable crew return on the Starliner.” (12/22)

Blue Origin Wastewater Plan to Get Public Meeting Amid Growing Opposition (Source: Florida Today)
Four weeks ago, Cocoa Beach Realtor Jill Steinhauser launched an online petition opposing Blue Origin's draft permit to discharge wastewater into the Indian River Lagoon, writing that "decades of nutrient pollution, algae blooms, seagrass collapse, habitat loss, and record manatee deaths have pushed this fragile ecosystem to the edge."

Since then, Space Coast buzz has significantly grown opposing Blue Origin's permit-renewal bid to operate a 490,000-gallon-per-day industrial wastewater treatment facility at its massive rocket manufacturing plant just south of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. And on Thursday, Dec. 18 — the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's deadline date for public comment — Steinhauser submitted 43,475 verified petition signatures to the state agency.

Now, DEP spokesperson Sarah Fayed said agency officials are planning a public meeting in Brevard County after the holidays "to walk through the draft permit, answer questions and help clear up any misconceptions." A meeting date has yet to be finalized. (12/22)

SDA Taps Northrop for Missile Tracking Satellites (Source: Defense Post)
Northrop Grumman will deliver 18 satellites for US Space Development Agency's Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. The contract covers the production of satellites designed to detect and track advanced missile threats, with manufacturing taking place in dedicated facilities to support large-scale delivery. (12/24)