January 28, 2026

Wet Dress Rehearsal Readies Artemis SLS for Launch (Source: NASA)
This weekend, Kennedy’s Exploration Ground Systems team plans to perform a wet dress rehearsal, which is the final major test to clear the vehicles for launch. For about two days, teams from Kennedy, Johnson, and Marshall Space Centers will work in tandem with the Space Force Eastern Range to power on different rocket and spacecraft systems and ground support equipment and run through the same timeline used for launch day, including practicing for a scrub. After the tests are complete, NASA will review the data and determine next steps, which could include rolling back to the VAB for additional work or proceeding to target a specific launch date. (1/28)

Exotrail and Astroscale France Join Forces to Build Deorbiting Capability for LEO (Source: Space News)
Exotrail, a French company specializing in multi-orbit satellite mobility and focused on LEO service vehicles, together with Astroscale France, the French subsidiary of the Japan-based on-orbit servicing company, announced Jan. 28 a partnership aimed at testing deorbiting capabilities in low Earth orbit. (1/28)

NOAA Solar Observatory Reaches Lagrange Point 1 (Source: Space News)
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s latest space weather observatory has reached Lagrange point 1. The Space Weather Follow On — Lagrange 1 executed its final engine burn Jan. 23 to reach its destination roughly 1.6 million kilometers from Earth. It was then renamed SOLAR-1, short for Space weather Observations at L1 to Advance Readiness. (1/28)

Europe Needs Space Spending To Rise To 33% Of U.S. Levels (Source: Aviation Week)
Europe needs to increase its level of spending on space to avoid falling further behind rivals, argues the head of the European Space Agency (ESA), calling for spending levels to rise to around 33% of U.S. spending. (1/28)

POLARIS Spaceplanes Wins Contract for Reusable Hypersonic Vehicle (Source: European Spaceflight)
The German government agency responsible for military procurement has awarded a contract to POLARIS Spaceplanes to build and flight test a reusable hypersonic vehicle. The vehicle is expected to be ready for its first flight toward the end of 2027. On 27 January, POLARIS Spaceplanes announced that it had been awarded a contract by the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) to build a fully reusable, horizontal take-off, two-stage hypersonic vehicle. (1/28)

EU GOVSATCOM Begins Operations (Source: Space News)
A new European Union government satellite communications program has started operations. GOVSATCOM, which pools capacity from eight already on-orbit geosynchronous satellites, began operations last week, European Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius said Tuesday at the European Space Conference. The program is designed to provide secure communications capabilities to the EU and its member states and could expand by 2027, he said. GOVSATCOM is conceived as a "system of systems," merging existing national and commercial satellite capacities into a common EU pool. Kubilius added that he was confident the planned IRIS² constellation for secure connectivity will be ready in 2029. (1/28)

FAA Sees Continued Space Launch and Reentry Licensing Growth (Source: Space News)
The FAA expects commercial space transportation to continue to grow at a fast clip. Speaking at a spaceport conference Tuesday, an FAA official said there were 205 licensed launches and reentries in 2025, a 25% increase from 2024 and exceeding the FAA's forecast for 2025. The FAA, which has licensed roughly 1,000 launches and reentries since the 1980s, expects to see another 1,000 in the next four years. That growth has raised concerns about the FAA's ability to keep up, but the agency said it is working on various streamlining efforts, including those mandated by an executive order last August.

The FAA also expects companies to meet a March deadline to move their launch licenses to new regulations, known as Part 450. Editor's Note: An increasing number of "spaceport" sites are also seeking re-entry-only licenses from the FAA. Also, there are emerging capabilities for AI to be employed for satisfying FAA and other regulatory paperwork, processing hundreds of pages of complex, multi-agency filings for both the operator and regulator in a fraction of the time normally required. (1/28)

What is "Commercial" Anymore? (Source: Space News)
While government agencies in both the United States and Europe say they are "going commercial" in their procurements, there is little consensus on what that really means. A report Wednesday by the European Space Policy Institute and Aerospace Corporation's Center for Space Policy and Strategy found that "commercial" has become a catch-all term applied to everything from open-market data purchases to government-anchored development programs where the state remains the only customer.

Both the United States and Europe are expanding their reliance on private space companies, and the report finds that they are doing so for different reasons and through different procurement cultures, with the U.S. making more use of fixed-price contracts and competition. European governments, by contrast, more often pair commercial language with strong public control, motivated by industrial policy, sovereignty and strategic autonomy.

Editor's Note: This question was raised again by a US Space Force commander at the Space Mobility conference. Commercial launch and satellite services are increasingly dual-use and serve military needs despite being provided by private-sector players. (1/28)

NOAA Faces Budget Pressure for Weather Satellites (Source: Space News)
A NOAA weather satellite program is still facing budget pressures despite scaling back aspects of it. The Geostationary and Extended Operations (GeoXO) constellation currently fits within anticipated budgets, a NOAA official said at the American Meteorological Society annual meeting Tuesday. That comes after NOAA scaled back GeoXO, reducing the number of satellites from six to four last year and removing instruments for observing ocean and atmospheric conditions. The first GeoXO satellite will use an imager built as a spare for the current GOES-R satellites, while later ones will use a new imager. NOAA said it will further scale back the GeoXO program if it cannot stay in projected budgets. (1/28)

SpaceX Launches GPS Satellite From Florida (Source: Space News)
A Falcon 9 launched a GPS satellite Tuesday night. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 11:53 p.m. Eastern after being postponed a day because of weather. The rocket placed into orbit the GPS 3 SV09 spacecraft, the ninth of 10 GPS 3 satellites built by Lockheed Martin under a 2008 contract. This is the third consecutive GPS launch originally assigned to United Launch Alliance but later transferred to SpaceX to speed deployment, after Falcon 9 launches of SV07 in December 2024 and SV08 in May 2025. ULA will instead launch later GPS 3F satellites originally assigned to SpaceX. (1/28)

NASA Confirms Radio Occultation for PlanetiQ Satellites (Source: Space News)
NASA has confirmed the quality of radio occultation data collected by PlanetiQ satellites. The company said Tuesday that the one-year evaluation, which compared PlanetiQ observations with data from the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate-2 (COSMIC-2) and commercial constellations, found that the PlanetiQ data were "broadly comparable" to other data for science applications. The radio occultation data, measured as navigation satellite signals pass through the upper atmosphere, are used for monitoring space and terrestrial weather. (1/28)

EU Wants European Space Command (Source: Euractiv)
An EU official wants to establish a European Space Command. European Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius said at the European Space Conference Tuesday that there should be a partnership of national space commands among European militaries to share space surveillance data. This would lead to a creation of a virtual European Space Command to share space assets during wartime, and be linked to proposals for a European Space Defense Shield military satellite system. (1/28)

NASA Aircraft Makes No-Wheels Emergency Landing at Houston Airport/Spaceport (Source: KHOU)
A NASA aircraft made an emergency landing at a Houston airport Tuesday. The WB-57 plane landed on its fuselage at Ellington Airport after its landing gear failed to lower. The two people on board were not injured, and NASA is evaluating the damage to the plane. The aircraft is one of three WB-57 aircraft the agency has that are used for high-altitude monitoring of launches and reentries. (1/28)

Golden Dome Missile Shield Marks One Year With Limited Progress (Source: Mach 33)
One year after its launch, the U.S. “Golden Dome” missile‑defense initiative has shown limited tangible progress despite receiving $25 billion in congressional funding, according to Reuters reporting. The initiative, announced on January 27, 2025, aims to integrate space‑based components with existing defense systems, but internal debates over classified technologies like anti‑satellite systems and communications have slowed procurement and architecture decisions. (1/27)

Senate Bill Proposes 1‑Year FCC Satellite Application Timeline (Source: Mach 33)
Bipartisan U.S. Senators Ted Cruz and Peter Welch introduced the SAT Streamlining Act, a legislative proposal that would require the FCC to adjudicate satellite license applications within one year. Official text and industry reporting confirm the bill is a response to increasing satellite filings and industry concerns about regulatory lag, and it simultaneously advances a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking at the FCC that would revise broader application procedures.

If enacted, the proposal would reshape regulatory timelines for LEO broadband systems, Earth observation constellations, and other satellite services. Coverage across multiple industry outlets positions this as credible legislative movement, though passage timing remains uncertain.

This proposed reform could materially accelerate deployment cycles for satellite operators and new entrants alike, reducing regulatory bottlenecks that have historically delayed constellation rollouts. Faster approvals may lower execution risk premiums and compress time to revenue for constellation builders, amplifying competitive pressure and potentially influencing investment valuations in early‑stage space infrastructure companies. (1/22)