January 23, 2026

DoD Failed to Provide Congress with Details on $23B Golden Dome (Source: FNN)
Lawmakers are still waiting for the Defense Department to provide details on how it plans to spend $23 billion already approved for the Golden Dome effort. Congressional appropriators say the Pentagon has not provided key budget information such as deployment schedule, cost, schedule and performance metrics, as well as a finalized system architecture. The White House has estimated the project could cost as much as $175 billion over the next three years. As a result, House and Senate appropriators were unable to conduct oversight of Golden Dome programs for fiscal 2026. Lawmakers want Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to submit a detailed spending plan within 60 days of the bill’s enactment. (1/22)

China Readies Shenzhou and Crew for TSS Mission (Source: Space News)
A new Shenzhou spacecraft has arrived at a Chinese launch site as a damaged one returned. Chinese media reported this week that the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft is now at the Jiuquan spaceport. It provides a capability for an emergency launch to the Tiangong space station in the coming months, before the spacecraft flies the next crew to the station this spring. Its arrival was accelerated after the Shenzhou-22 spacecraft was pressed into service to replace the damaged Shenzhou-20 spacecraft. Shenzhou-20 returned earlier this week, landing safely despite a crack in a window. (1/23)

SpaceX Picks Banks for IPO (Source: Reuters)
SpaceX has lined up several major banks to handle its planned IPO. The company is considering Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley for major roles in the initial public offering, which could happen later this year. The IPO will likely raise tens of billions of dollars for SpaceX, valuing the company at $1.5 trillion. (1/23)

Dem House Appropriator Committed to Restoring NASA Funding (Source: Space News)
A key House appropriator wants to ensure that NASA gets at least as much money in 2027 as in 2026. Speaking at a Capitol Hill event Thursday, Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY), ranking member of the commerce, justice and science appropriations subcommittee, said the 2026 spending bill recently passed did a good job overturning proposed steep cuts in NASA programs. She added, though, that there’s “room for improvement” for a fiscal year 2027 spending bill, with a goal of ensuring that NASA funding remains stable or grows. She highlighted priorities in the coming year that include plans for landing astronauts on the moon on Artemis 3, as well as more details on NASA’s shift from the International Space Station to commercial stations at the end of the decade. (1/23)

New Shepard Launches Tourists on Suborbital Mission From Texas (Source: Space News)
The first Blue Origin New Shepard flight of 2026 carried five customers and one employee to the edge of space Thursday. The NS-38 mission lifted off from West Texas at 11:25 a.m. Eastern, going to an altitude of 106 kilometers on the 10-minute flight. The vehicle carried five paying customers as well as a company employee, Laura Stiles, the director of New Shepard launch operations. She replaced a sixth customer originally announced for the flight but who fell ill. (1/23)

DOGE Drain: Space Force Rebuilds Acquisition Workforce After Losing Hundreds (Source: Space News)
The Space Force’s main acquisition arm is working to rebuild its workforce after the departure of hundreds of people last year. Those reductions, driven by voluntary early retirement and deferred resignation programs, hit particularly hard in acquisition and contracting roles just as the Pentagon is pushing the military services to move faster and adopt new procurement approaches. Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, head of Space Systems Command, said his organization is moving to hire contracting and procurement specialists to fill some of those positions. He called contracting workforce shortages “my greatest challenge” at Space Systems Command. (1/23)

Tomorrow.io Plans Weather Forecasting Constellation (Source: Space News)
Weather intelligence startup Tomorrow.io announced plans for a satellite constellation to improve forecasting. DeepSky will involve satellites larger than the company’s current 6U cubesats that carry microwave sounders. The satellites will carry “instruments of a completely different caliber,” a company executive said, but did not disclose details about them. The data from those sensors will feed AI models for weather forecasting, complementing data from existing satellite systems. (1/23)

Embry‑Riddle Professor Awarded NASA's Outstanding Public Leadership Medal (Source: ERAU)
Dr. Aroh Barjatya, professor in the Department of Physical Sciences at Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University, has been honored with NASA's prestigious Outstanding Public Leadership Medal — the second-highest recognition given to a non-governmental employee. Barjatya — who is also associate dean for research and graduate studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, director of the Space and Atmospheric Instrumentation Lab and interim executive director of the Center for Space and Atmospheric Research — earned the award for initiating, organizing and leading a mission to launch six sounding rockets during two solar eclipses. (12/18)

When Engineering Quietly Becomes Geopolitics (Source: Space Geotech)
The Moon has entered its infrastructure phase. For decades, lunar activity was framed as exploration. That framing no longer fits. Programs are now converging on specific terrain with the intent to place permanent assets: landing pads, power systems, communications infrastructure, and habitable structures. Once infrastructure touches ground, the nature of competition changes. This is no longer about who arrives first. It is about who defines the ground conditions that everyone else must work around.

On Earth, this transition is well understood. Ports, tunnels, energy corridors, and transport hubs do not merely support economic activity; they structure it. Early infrastructure decisions constrain later entrants through geometry, access, load limits, and exclusion zones. The Moon is following the same logic, compressed into a far shorter timeframe and applied to a far more constrained physical environment. Nowhere is this more evident than at the lunar South Pole.

This is where engineering quietly becomes strategy. Much of the current discussion focuses on material characterization: regolith type, grain size, maturity, volatile content. These are necessary inputs, but they are not decision criteria. Knowing what the ground is made of does not determine whether a site can host infrastructure, support expansion, or coexist with neighboring systems. Construction decisions are governed by a different question: can this ground be built on without compromising everything around it? That question is captured not by material classification, but by constructability. (1/2)

Why the United States Cannot Afford to Arrive Second on the Moon (Source: Faulconer Consulting Group)
Calls to “stop talking about China” may be emotionally satisfying, but they are strategically naïve. The question before the United States is not whether humans have been to the moon before. It is whether America—or China—will define the operational, political, and economic reality of cislunar space for the next half-century. On that question, timing matters profoundly. This Is not Apollo redux—it’s a competition over strategic geography.

It is true that being “second” to do something is rarely celebrated. But that framing misses the point entirely.  The U.S. is not racing China for bragging rights. It is competing for positional advantage in a domain that will underpin future space security, economic activity, and exploration. The moon is not Everest. It is not the four-minute mile. It is a platform/domain—one with choke-points, resource-rich regions, power advantages, and long-term strategic value.  In every other domain—sea lanes, airspace, cyberspace, geosynchronous orbit—the nation that establishes presence early and continuously shapes the rules that follow. Space will be no different. (1/22)

The Space-Hibernation Equation: Frogs, Freezing, and the Final Frontier (Source: SpaceCom)
Enter the Alaskan wood frog. Unlike bears or squirrels that slow things down during hibernation, this frog goes all in. It freezes completely. No heartbeat. No breathing. No brain activity. For weeks or even months, it exists as a frog shaped ice cube. When temperatures rise, it thaws out and hops away like nothing happened. That trick has caught the attention of scientists, doctors, and space agencies for a very good reason.

Int the interview with Dr. Seedhouse, we discussed the current use versions of metabolic suppression here on Earth. In emergency medicine, therapeutic hypothermia helps critically injured patients recover by lowering body temperature and reducing metabolic demand. Seedhouse explains that dropping body temperature by about ten degrees Fahrenheit can cut metabolism in half for short periods. That is manageable for days or weeks.

NASA and the European Space Agency have invested millions into studying how torpor could work in space. Research teams have explored everything from specialized crew habitats to medical protocols designed to slow the body safely during deep space transit. The goal is not freezing astronauts solid, at least not anytime soon, but learning how biology can help reduce stress on the human body while also easing demands on life support systems and spacecraft mass. (1/23)

Stratolaunch, Varda Space Selected As Launch Providers For Hypersonic Test Bed (Source: Defense Daily)
The Defense Department and one of its technology accelerators have picked Stratolaunch and Varda Space Industries to provide reusable and recoverable launch services for a test bed aimed at increasing the cadence of flight-tests for hypersonic technologies. The Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonic Test Bed (MACH-TB) 2.0 program Task Area 3 launch providers will help DoD meet its goal of 50 hypersonic flight tests annually. (1/22)

How Elon Musk’s Starlink is Changing American Foreign Policy (Source: Politico)
Internet access can fuel massive political shifts — social media was a crucial organizing tool during the Arab Spring in 2011. Yet lawmakers here and abroad have raised concerns about how Starlink gives Musk considerable influence over conflict zones, not least after his company sent terminals to Ukraine to ensure connectivity for the country’s military. The CEO in fact ordered a blackout in the region that disrupted Ukraine’s attempt to reclaim territory from Russia in 2022.

In Iran and Venezuela, however, Starlink is primarily providing internet access to civilians, rather than troops. The developments raise distinct questions about Musk’s role not only in wars, but also popular uprisings and regime changes. His potential business opportunities in the countries also add wrinkles to a debate over whether internet connectivity products should be regulated to align with America’s foreign policy interests.

“How do we regulate [...] military use among our allies, let alone regulating the ability for a CEO to provide or not provide internet access to oppress peoples around the world?” said Wes J. Bryant, former chief of Civilian Harm Assessments at the Pentagon. (1/22)

Huntsville Approves Incentives for Blue Origin to Bring New Jobs (Source: WHNT)
The City of Huntsville has approved a development agreement with Blue Origin. Huntsville officials said Blue Origin will invest $71.4 million to expand its operations in Cummings Research Park and Jetplex Industrial Park. The city said the investment will establish Alabama as Blue Origin’s home for thruster production and create 105 jobs. The agreement will see the city provide up to $200,000 in hiring incentives to support infrastructure improvements as the project meets certain targets. (1/22)

Jacksonville Business Creates Rubber Stamp to Go on NASA’s Artemis II Mission (Source: CBS47)
Simply Stamps is a personalized product manufacturer based out of Jacksonville. NASA asked Simply Stamps if they can create a rubber stamp using their logo for the astronauts to have during the upcoming Artemis II Mission to take around the moon. However, the stamp needed to match NASA’s engineering requirements. For the next few months, Simply Stamps engineers worked to develop a prototype that matched NASA’s requirements. When they sent back what they created, NASA gave them their stamp of approval. (1/22)

Musk Hints At Starlink Air-To-Ground Laser Link (Source: Aviation Week)
SpaceX plans to deploy a space-to-ground laser link on its Starlink constellation, CEO Elon Musk said shortly after rival Blue Origin disclosed plans to deploy its own broadband satellite constellation. “Starlink space-to-ground laser links will exceed this,” the hypercompetitive billionaire said. (1/22)

China's First Reusable Liquid Rocket Test Offshore Platform Set for Operation (Source: Xinhua)
China is preparing to operationalize its first offshore platform designed for launching and recovering reusable liquid-propellant rockets, a strategic move aimed at significantly reducing space access costs and advancing its commercial space capabilities. Located at the Oriental Aerospace Port in Haiyang in east China's Shandong Province, the country's sole commercial maritime launch base, this new test facility is in its final construction phase. (1/23)

Eastern Range Ready for Same Day Fueling of Space Launch System, Vulcan Rockets (Source: Spaceflight Now)
February 2026 is shaping up to be a blockbuster month for launches from Florida’s Space Coast. In addition to a now regular cadence of Falcon 9 launches from SpaceX, Cape Canaveral is poised to see launches from Blue Origin, ULA and potentially NASA via its Space Launch System rocket. The current schedule has two marquee operations scheduled for the same day, Feb. 2: the launch of USSF-87, a national security mission, on a ULA Vulcan rocket and the wet dress rehearsal tanking test for the SLS, a critical milestone on the road to launching Artemis 2, a crewed flight around the Moon. (1/23)

Wobbling Exoplanet Hints at a Massive Hidden Exomoon (Source: Space.com)
A gas giant planet beyond the solar that wobbles as it circles its star, hinting to astronomers that it is orbited by its own moon. To make this suspected discovery even more remarkable, if this moon exists it would be absolutely massive, comparable to around half the mass of Jupiter. (1/22)

Last Year, Falcon 9 Rocket Fragments Fell on Poland, Including Populated Area (Source: European Spaceflight)
The European Space Agency has published a call to tender for a study examining the re-entry and breakup of a SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage in February last year. In the early hours of 19 February 2025, a Falcon 9 second stage underwent an uncontrolled atmospheric re-entry over Poland. At least four fragments of the stage survived re-entry and landed in various locations across the country. While no one was injured and no property was damaged, at least one fragment landed in a populated area. (1/23)

Sinking Ice on Jupiter's Moon Europa May Be Feeding its Ocean the Ingredients for Life (Source: Space.com)
Unlike Earth, Europa's ocean is deprived of oxygen and sealed off from sunlight, ruling out photosynthesis and requiring any potential life to rely on chemical energy instead. A key unanswered question has been how ingredients for that energy — such as life-supporting oxidants created on the moon's surface by intense radiation from Jupiter — could be transported through Europa's thick ice shell to the ocean below. Now, a new study suggests the answer may lie in a slow but persistent geological process that causes portions of Europa's surface ice to sink, carrying those chemicals downward. (1/23)

Luxembourg Greenlights a Second GovSat Satellite Towards National, EU and NATO Security Efforts (Source: Spacewatch Global)
Luxembourg's Chamber of Deputies has authorized the financing for the acquisition, launch and operation of a EUR 301 million GovSat-2 satellite, intended for government and military communications, as well as to acquire satellite capabilities. GovSat-2 takes the current and future needs, technological developments and, above all, the present space context marked by an increase in threats into account, thereby offering more communication capabilities and better protection against hostile attacks such as high-altitude nuclear explosions and interference attacks. (1/23)

Launch Operators are Required to Galvanize Spaceports in Europe (Source: Space News)
Europe stands on the precipice of launching a satellite from the mainland. Until now, the Guiana Space Center in South America has operated as Europe’s “gateway to space” but spaceports in SaxaVord and Andøya offer the tantalizing prospect of launches much closer to home. Yet infrastructure alone will not get us there. A launchpad is only as valuable as the rockets that lift off from it. Without a vibrant launch operator sector to drive sustained demand, Europe’s commercial spaceport model cannot succeed.

Across the continent, from SaxaVord in Scotland to Andøya in Norway and Esrange in Sweden, a network of new and revitalized spaceports is taking shape. Each reflects different commercial and regulatory models — some privately financed, others government-backed, some hybrid. This diversity demonstrates the entrepreneurial energy behind the emerging launch ecosystem, but it also exposes the risk of fragmentation. If every spaceport operates to different standards, with different levels of government engagement, investment and regulatory readiness, Europe’s ability to compete on the global stage will suffer.

Europe must start treating spaceports as strategic national infrastructure. Just as governments once led the construction of airports, seaports and rail networks, public investment and coordination are essential to ensure secure space access. However, even the best infrastructure means little without the operators to use it. A thriving European launch industry requires not just multiple spaceports, but a competitive market of launch providers. Sustained cadence — not one-off demonstrations — drives cost reductions and builds the experience base that attracts investment and customers. (1/23)

Orbital Congestion - Are We Heading for a Catastrophe? (Source: Douglas Messier)
On Jan. 21, Blue Origin announced plans for a brand new communications constellation composed of 5,408 satellites to provide data to enterprise, data center and government customers. Twelve days earlier, the FCC gave approval to SpaceX to launch a second batch of 7,500 Starlink Gen2 satellites to provide broadband and direct-to-cell services.

To date, the FCC has approved Elon Musk’s company for nearly 27,000 Starlink satellites. SpaceX wants to expand its constellation to 42,000. The company has already launched just under 11,000 Starlink satellites. The FCC’s approval came on the heels of the Chinese Institute of Radio Spectrum Utilization’s application to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to launch two constellations named CTC-1 and CTC-2 that would include 193,428 satellites.

That filing came after years of Chinese complaints about the “security and safety” risks posed by SpaceX’s expanding Starlink constellation. The logic here is a little difficult to follow. So they claim Starlink is increasing the risk of satellite collisions that would create more orbital debris. And their solution is to launch nearly 200,000 satellites. How exactly is that going to work again? There are clear signs that Earth orbit is already stressed. SpaceX announced it was moving 4,400 Starlink satellites to a lower orbit to avoid collisions with other spacecraft. (1/22)

Anduril to Invest Another $1 Billion in California with New Long Beach Campus (Source: LA Times)
Anduril Industries will invest $1 billion in a new Long Beach campus developing advanced weapons systems. The complex will create roughly 5,500 jobs and expand the defense contractor’s presence. Long Beach [aka "Space Beach"] is undergoing an aerospace renaissance, with Anduril joining companies like Rocket Lab and Vast in revitalizing the city’s historic defense sector. (1/22)

Unlikely New Way to Track Space Junk: Sonic Booms in the Atmosphere (Source: CNN)
Current methods to monitor falling space junk use radar and optical tracking but they struggle to accurately predict where most objects could land, especially if the debris breaks up during reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. This lack of precise location data can delay or prevent the recovery of dangerous toxic space residue.

Now, researchers say they’ve found a new way to help spot space junk during reentry. Their approach uses seismometers, the instruments that normally detect earthquakes in the ground. The trick is to look for data indicating a sonic boom — the shock wave falling debris generates as it tumbles through the atmosphere.

To test their method, the researchers used the uncontrolled reentry of China’s Shenzhou-15 spacecraft, a 2022 mission to the Tiangong space station. The spacecraft’s orbital module, measuring 3.5 feet wide and weighing more than 1.5 tons, reentered the atmosphere in April 2024. The sonic booms it produced reached the ground, creating vibrations that seismometers picked up. (1/22)

Trump’s Golden Dome Is No Silver Bullet (Source: Foreign Policy)
The Golden Dome missile defense system remains little more than a concept nearly 12 months after it was first unveiled. Although Trump has said that Golden Dome will be completed before the end of his second term, that’s looking increasingly unlikely. He has even tied in his pursuit of Greenland to the initiative, calling it the “land on which we’re going to build the greatest Golden Dome ever built.”

There are many open questions as to whether such a system is truly worth the cost, both in terms of the funds it will take to build and maintain—with some estimates placing the cost as high as trillions of dollars—and its potential to fuel a new arms race. While some experts agree that current U.S. missile defense capabilities are subject to vulnerabilities that could be exploited, they also have doubts about whether Golden Dome is truly the solution. (1/22)

Blue Origin to Reuse New Glenn Booster on Next Launch (Source: Ars Technica)
Blue Origin confirmed Thursday that the next launch of its New Glenn rocket will carry a large communications satellite into low-Earth orbit for AST SpaceMobile. The rocket will launch the next-generation Block 2 BlueBird satellite “no earlier than late February” from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

However, the update from Blue Origin appears to have buried the real news toward the end: “The mission follows the successful NG-2 mission, which included the landing of the ‘Never Tell Me The Odds’ booster. The same booster is being refurbished to power NG-3,” the company said. (1/22)

Space Force Plans for Growth and a Broader Role (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Space Force could double in size within the next decade as the Pentagon increasingly treats space as a contested military domain rather than a supporting utility, according to the service’s second-highest-ranking officer. (1/22)

Telesat Calls Creditor Lawsuits ‘Without Merit’ (Source: Via Satellite)
Telesat confirmed reports that certain creditors have filed lawsuits against the company, calling the lawsuits “without merit” in a statement on Jan. 21. The Canadian operator confirmed that creditors holding portions of the company’s Geostationary Orbit (GEO) debut filed lawsuits in New York and Ontario about an equity distribution that took place in September 2025.

“The lawsuits, filed at the direction of a group of distressed debt hedge funds, are without merit. The equity distribution at issue followed a robust governance process and was accomplished in strict accordance with relevant debt agreements and applicable law. Telesat intends to defend itself vigorously,” Telesat said. (1/22)

L3Harris to Supply Imager for Korean Weather Satellite (Source: Space News)
L3Harris Technologies will provide the primary imagery for the Korean Meteorological Administration’s (KMA) next-generation geostationary weather satellite. The contract was awarded to L3Harris by Korean aerospace manufacturer LIG Nex1. The meteorological imager will improve the accuracy and timeliness of forecasts for the Korean Peninsula by identifying the spectral signatures of clouds, snow, water moisture and fog. (1/22)

Europe’s Space Defense: Autonomy, Partnership, or Strategic Dependence? (Source: Spacewatch Global)
The strategic trajectory of the United States is becoming increasingly explicit as the current administration advances into its second term. Washington’s security focus is shifting decisively toward the Indo-Pacific and a long-term competition with China, a shift underscored by recent punitive measures such as the strict sanctioning of Venezuelan oil exports, including those destined for Chinese markets.

Within this framework, Europe is no longer viewed by the US as “a security beneficiary” but as a region expected to assume greater responsibility for its own defense. These are blunt words, but in practice they mean that European NATO members are expected to function as semi-autonomous pillars within a U.S.-led deterrence architecture. (1/22)

Astronauts Say Space Station’s Ultrasound Machine was Critical During Medical Crisis (Source: AP)
The astronauts evacuated last week from the ISS say a portable ultrasound machine came in “super handy” during the medical crisis. NASA’s Mike Fincke said the crew used the onboard ultrasound machine once the medical problem arose Jan. 7, the day before a planned spacewalk that was abruptly canceled.

The astronauts had already used the device a lot for routine checks of their body changes while living in weightlessness, “so when we had this emergency, the ultrasound machine came in super handy.” It was so useful that Fincke said there should be one on all future spaceflights. “It really helped,” he said. (1/21)