January 11, 2026

China to Put 200,000 Satellites in Space After Calling Starlink a Crash Risk (Source: SCMP)
Chinese firms have signaled plans to launch more than 200,000 internet satellites, filing submissions with a UN agency just as Beijing accused Elon Musk’s SpaceX of crowding shared orbital resources. A dozen or so submissions from various Chinese satellite players were filed with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) at the end of last month. The biggest projects – CTC-1 and CTC-2 – were for 96,714 satellites each and filed by the newly established Institute of Radio Spectrum Utilization and Technological Innovation.

The United States and China have been racing to launch internet satellite megaconstellations in recent years, with the US-based SpaceX taking a big lead with its Starlink constellation, which accounts for most of the satellites in low Earth orbit. But radio frequency bands and orbital slots in low Earth orbit are limited, and first movers for those resources can gain priority. (1/11)

FCC Approves SpaceX Plan to Deploy an Additional 7,500 Starlink Satellites (Source: Reuters)
The Federal Communications Commission said on Friday it has approved SpaceX's request to deploy another 7,500 second-generation Starlink satellites as it works to boost internet service worldwide. The FCC said Elon Musk's SpaceX can now operate an additional 7,500 Gen2 Starlink satellites, bringing the total to 15,000 satellites worldwide. The FCC is also allowing SpaceX to upgrade the satellites and operate across five frequencies and is waiving prior requirements that prevented overlapping coverage and enhanced capacity. Those satellites must be in orbit by the end of 2031. (1/9)

The First Private U.S. Liquid-Fueled Rocket Launch at Sea Since 2014 (Source: Spaceport Company)
The Spaceport Company and micro-G, led by rocket legend John Garvey, conducted an offshore launch of a small liquid-fueled rocket on December 12, 2025. This was the first privately funded offshore launch of an American liquid-fueled rocket since Boeing Sea Launch ended over 12 years ago. Preliminary analysis indicates the rocket flew a nominal trajectory and achieved a peak altitude of 3,100 feet ASL. The Spaceport Company and micro-G were pleased to be joined by Havoc, who augmented range clearance via their autonomous surface vessels. (1/8)

Astronaut Memorial Ceremony on Jan. 25 on Space Coast (Source: American Space Museum)
The annual Astronaut Memorial Ceremony for the 17 crew members of Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia who perished in America’s space program will be conducted Sunday Jan. 25 at 1 pm EST at Sand Point Park in Titusville, Florida. Three-time Space Shuttle astronaut Jan Davis will be the keynote speaker. The public is invited to attend this reverent and patriotic ceremony that honors the lives and sacrifice made by these pioneers of NASA’s manned space program. (1/8)

Lunar Spacecraft Exhaust Could Obscure Clues to Origins of Life (Source: Space Daily)
Over half of the exhaust methane from lunar spacecraft could end up contaminating areas of the moon that might otherwise yield clues about the origins of earthly life, according to a recent study. The pollution could unfold rapidly regardless of a spacecraft's touchdown site; even for a landing at the South Pole, methane molecules may "hop" across the lunar surface to the North Pole in under two lunar days.

As interest in lunar exploration resurges among governments, private companies and NGOs, the study authors wrote, it becomes crucial to understand how exploration may impact research opportunities. This knowledge can help inform the creation of planetary protection strategies for the lunar environment, as well as lunar missions designed to minimize impact on that environment - and the clues about our past it may contain. (1/8)

Australian STARS System for Autonomous Space Threat Detection (Source: Space Daily)
Space Machines Company (SMC) has been awarded a 2.9 million Australian dollar contract by Defence's Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator (ASCA) to develop the Space Threat Analysis and Response System, or STARS, under the Emerging and Disruptive Technologies Decision Advantage program. The capability is intended to strengthen the protection of Australian and allied space assets in increasingly contested orbits by improving threat detection and response planning.

STARS is being developed to enhance Australia's space situational awareness by predicting close approaches, rendezvous and proximity operations windows, and potential interference with Australian and allied spacecraft by other objects in low Earth orbit. The system is planned for integration into space command-and-control environments such as SMC's Solstice OS, which is used to manage spacecraft fleets and on-demand orbital services. (1/6)

Starfighters Space Positions for Rapid Hypersonic Era Missions (Source: Space Daily)
The shift away from chasing the lowest launch price toward speed and responsiveness underpins the investment narrative around Starfighters Space and others. lobal commercial launch services are reported to be expanding at roughly 14.6 percent annually, with the sector valued at about $8.2 billion in 2024 as satellite operators look for faster deployment and more flexible missions.

Prospective U.S. Space Force budget authorizations approaching $40 billion in fiscal 2026 are framed as a driver for reusable platforms, hypersonic propulsion and satellite constellations that can respond to threats in hours instead of months. Starfighters Space recently issued a year end update following its successful NYSE American listing, describing 2025 as a transformational period for the aerospace firm. Operating from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida alongside large launch providers, the company says it owns and runs the worlds largest commercial supersonic aircraft fleet and is currently the only commercial operator offering sustained Mach 2 mission profiles. (1/3)

Lithium Ion battery Study on Tiangong Space Station Explores Microgravity Effects on Performance (Source: Space Daily)
A lithium ion battery experiment has been completed aboard China's Tiangong space station, focusing on basic electrochemical processes that govern performance and lifetime. Researchers at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences reported the work, which was carried out by the three astronauts of the Shenzhou XXI crew.

The experiment is designed to clarify how internal battery processes behave when gravity is removed from the system. According to the institute, the goal is to separate the effects of gravity from electric fields inside the cells so that their individual roles in shaping battery behavior can be identified. (1/8)

Thin Ice May Have Protected Lake Water on Frozen Mars (Source: Space Daily)
Small lakes on ancient Mars may have remained liquid for decades, even with average air temperatures well below freezing. Using a climate model adapted for Martian conditions, a team of researchers from Rice University discovered that lakes in locations such as Gale Crater, near Mars' equator, could have persisted under thin seasonal ice for at least decades and likely as long as climate conditions were stable. These findings contribute to resolving a long-standing puzzle in Mars science: Surface features shaped by sustained liquid water coexist alongside climate models suggesting that early Mars was too cold to support such conditions. (1/6)

Musk Relies on Gwynne Shotwell to Make SpaceX Soar (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Gwynne Shotwell, the longtime president of SpaceX, confronted a delicate problem last June. As her boss, SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk, was feuding with President Trump, he made a major threat: Musk would decommission a spacecraft that transports cargo and astronauts to the ISS. Shotwell stepped in to reassure NASA, assuring them they would manage the situation, despite the severity of Musk's threat.

Shotwell's Influence: It showcased Shotwell's crucial role in maintaining stability and managing crises for SpaceX and its relationships with government partners. Shotwell has long played an expansive role at SpaceX, which in December confirmed it was preparing for a potential public offering that some bankers believe would raise more than $30 billion for the company. Shotwell is about to be pushed into the spotlight as SpaceX considers whether or not to move forward with an offering that would expose the company to the scrutiny of the public markets.

At SpaceX, Shotwell is a customer emissary, a diplomat for an increasingly global company and the top day-to-day leader of a group of executives who have bought into its intense culture. With many government leaders, she serves as a Musk translator, especially for officials who depend on SpaceX but are occasionally unnerved by his activities. (1/9)

Pentagon Chief Takes ‘Arsenal of Freedom’ Tour to Rocket Lab (Source: Space News)
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth used a stop at Rocket Lab’s Long Beach, California, facility on Jan. 9 to sharpen the Trump administration’s message to the defense industry: invest in production and people, or risk falling behind. (1/9)

Pandora, a Keen-Eyed Satellite Built to Study Exoplanets, Readies for Launch (Source: Phys.org)
Pandora, the latest in a long portfolio of University of Arizona's space science missions, has cleared its last major milestone on its journey into space. This week, Pandora—a satellite about the size of fridge—was mounted inside the launch vehicle, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Pandora now awaits blast-off from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. (1/10)

No More Fee Rides: It’s Time to Pay for Space Safety (Source: Space News)
Last month, the White House released a new executive order on space policy, and one sentence in particular has caused an uproar in the space community: no longer is the United States government required to provide space situational awareness data and space traffic management service for free. Audrey Schaffer, the senior vice president of global policy and government strategy at Slingshot Aerospace, said it's high time spacecraft operators start pitching in rather than benefitting from services paid exclusively through tax dollars.

And while government services shouldn't be disassembled overnight, she argued that "continuing to leverage this infrastructure to provide free space traffic coordination services to any operator will become increasingly untenable as the number of satellites grows exponentially. ... Wholly disestablishing a U.S. government civil space traffic coordination system just as TraCSS becomes operational is unwise, but making operators contribute to funding space safety services is smart and fiscally responsible policy," Schaffer wrote. (1/9)

China Builds Wild Gravity Machine (Source: Futurism)
China has unveiled an extremely powerful “hypergravity machine” that can generate forces almost two thousand times stronger than Earth’s regular gravity. The futuristic-looking machine, called CHIEF1900, was constructed at China’s Centrifugal Hypergravity and Interdisciplinary Experiment Facility (CHIEF) and allows researchers to study how extreme forces affect various materials, plants, cells, or other structures. (1/10)

MaiaSpace to Launch “Minimum Viable Product” in 2026 (Source: European Spaceflight)
French small launch services provider MaiaSpace has explained that an initial flight of its Maia rocket in 2026 will represent the deployment of a “minimum viable product.” MaiaSpace was founded in 2022 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of ArianeGroup. The company is developing a partially reusable two-stage rocket called Maia that is designed to be capable of delivering payloads of up to 1,500 kilograms to low Earth orbit.

It is also developing an optional kick stage that will increase the launch vehicle’s payload performance by as much as 1,000 kilograms. Maia is planning to launch an initial suborbital demonstration flight in late 2026 to validate key elements of the Maia launch system. (1/10)

Commercial Space Launches Pose U.S. Airspace Challenges (Source: AIN)
With plans advancing to launch Starship from Florida as early as mid-2026, environmental impact statements for proposed sites at KSC and CCSFS outline substantial airspace closures tied to both launch and reentry operations. According to the analyses, launch windows could close Atlantic airspace for 40 minutes to two hours, affecting routes over the U.S., Atlantic, and Caribbean, with 133 to 400 aircraft potentially impacted during peak periods.

Reentry operations are expected to be similarly disruptive and could shut down southbound domestic and international traffic into major Florida airports, including Orlando, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Miami, as well as airspace over Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Those projected impacts have prompted formal concern from Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA), which submitted comments on the Kennedy Space Center Draft EIS, citing FAA delay assumptions.

ACI-NA estimated that proposed Starship operations could affect between 900,000 and 2.3 million commercial air passengers annually, resulting in 600,000 to 3.2 million hours of cumulative delay and economic costs ranging from $80 million to $350 million per year. ACI-NA's Christopher Oswald questioned whether air traffic management measures such as ground stops, miles-in-trail restrictions, and dynamic reroutes can scale safely and practically as launch frequency increases, urging additional review and stakeholder engagement as commercial space operations expand into heavily traveled airspace. (1/9)

Air Force Thunderbirds Train for 2026 at Spaceport America (Source: Spaceport America)
For the fifth time in as many years, the United States Air Force (USAF) Air Demonstration Squadron Thunderbirds have touched down at Spaceport America. There, the team members will engage in an extensive training period leading up to their 2026 performances. Throughout much of January, the Thunderbirds, comprised of roughly 70 team members (12 of whom are officers) serving in dozens of Air Force job specialties, will log dozens of training hours at the Sierra County site to hone their individual and collective skills. (1/9)

Space Force Awards $739 Million in Launch Orders to SpaceX (Source: SpaceX)
The U.S. Space Force announced Jan. 9 it awarded SpaceX nine national security space launch missions worth $739 million, issuing task orders under the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 1 program. (1/10)

“We’re Too Close to the Debris” (Source: ProPublica)
Delta Airlines Flight 573 took off from San Juan, Puerto Rico, at 4:45 p.m. Eastern time on Jan. 16, 2025, and headed for Atlanta. At 5:49 p.m., air traffic controllers told pilots over the Caribbean that a SpaceX Starship rocket had exploded. All planes were ordered to avoid an area where the Federal Aviation Administration estimated debris would fall. The plane turned sharply south to get out of the debris zone.

And it wasn’t alone. ProPublica identified 20 other planes that appeared to make sudden turns to exit or avoid the danger zone in the minutes after the explosion. While none of the planes were damaged by the debris, such emergency maneuvering can be risky. The airspace remained closed for 86 minutes, during which time flight patterns show dozens of other planes likely had to change course — making pilots and passengers unwitting participants in SpaceX’s test of the most powerful rocket ever built. Click here. (1/8)

Is the Race for Moon Missions Lunacy? (Source: Space News)
Is NASA rushing a return to the moon before solving the critical technological and human safety risks involved in establishing a long-term presence there — something the United States government is particularly interested in doing before China? Dennis Meredith argues that the answer is a resounding yes.

Meredith laid out a long list of logistical challenges and health risks that NASA has identified but not yet solved. On the list of these "red risks" are health issues such as the effects of cosmic radiation, degraded vision, cognitive decline and deficient food and nutrition, as well as logistical challenges such as dealing with lunar dust (which, Meredith wrote, can causes health issues in its own right), and establishing proper infrastructure on the moon to support landing, launch and habitation. (1/9)

SpaceX Launches 29 Starlink Satellites on its 3rd Mission of 2026 (Source: Space.com)
SpaceX's third mission of 2026 is in the books. A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 29 of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Spaceport on Friday. (1/10)