January 8, 2026

Vulcan Set for February Launch (Source: ULA)
The next Vulcan launch by United Launch Alliance is scheduled for early February. ULA said Wednesday it is planning to launch the USSF-87 mission for the Space Force no earlier than Feb. 2 from Cape Canaveral, deploying a multimanifested payload. The launch will be the fourth overall for Vulcan since its debut two years ago and its second national security mission. (1/8)

Fast-Spinning Asteroid Discovered by Vera Rubin Observatory (Source: Geekwire)
Astronomers have discovered an asteroid that spins faster than any other of its size found to date. Astronomers working with the Vera Rubin Observatory said Wednesday that initial observations by the large telescope in Chile, as part of the commissioning process, detected 2,100 solar system objects. That included a newly found asteroid, 2025 MN45, that is 710 meters across and completes one rotation in less than two minutes. That is the fastest spin rate for any asteroid more than 500 meters across, and indicates that the asteroid is a solid piece of rock rather than a loosely bound “rubble pile” like some smaller asteroids. The finding is the first peer-reviewed publication from Rubin, which will soon enter regular science operations. (1/8)

South Korea's Innospace Plans Launches From Portugal's Azores Spaceport (Source: Innospace)
South Korean launch startup Innospace announced an agreement to use a European launch site. The company said it signed a deal with Portugal’s Atlantic Spaceport Consortium to launch from the planned Malbusca Launch Center in the Azores. The first launch by Innospace could take place there as soon as the fourth quarter of 2026. Innospace conducted the first, unsuccessful launch of its Hanbit-Nano launch vehicle from Brazil in December and recently announced an agreement to also launch from Australia. (1/8)

Medical Concern Forces Spacewalk Cancel and Potential ISS Mission Shuffle (Source: Space News)
An unspecified “medical concern” could force an early end to an International Space Station mission. NASA said late Wednesday it was postponing a spacewalk scheduled for Thursday at the station, citing a medical issue with a member of the crew. NASA did not disclose who was suffering the medical concern or other details. Overnight, NASA said it was considering “the possibility of an earlier end to Crew-11’s mission” and would provide mode details in the next 24 hours. Crew-11 launched to the ISS in early August with NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. They were expected to remain on the station through at least the latter half of February, with their replacements launching on Crew-12 no earlier than Feb. 15. NASA has never ended an ISS mission early because of a medical issue. (1/8)

Artemis 2 Launch Working Toward Early February (Source: Space News)
NASA says it is still working toward a launch of the Artemis 2 mission as soon as early February. At a meeting of a lunar exploration group this week, Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator for exploration systems development, said Artemis 2 could launch in a window in early February provided “a lot of things go smoothly and go well” in the coming weeks, including rollout of the SLS and a wet dress rehearsal. That launch window opens Feb. 6 and lasts for several days, although NASA has not disclosed details about launch opportunities. Backup launch windows are in March and April. NASA has provided relatively few updates about the progress of Artemis 2, the first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit since 1972, in the last few months, although NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said on social media recently the agency would be “very transparent about technical readiness and timelines after rollout.” (1/8)

Falcon ExoDynamics Picked to Develop Space Force Modular Satellite Interface (Source: Space News)
The Space Force has selected a company to develop a modular satellite interface. Under a $3.3 million contract awarded late in 2025, the Space Force’s Space Safari office selected Falcon ExoDynamics to develop Handle 2.0, an upgraded version of a modular, open-system electronics interface that serves as a common connection point between satellite buses and payloads. The effort supports the military’s push to shorten satellite development and deployment timelines under its Tactically Responsive Space initiative. It is based on Handle, originally developed by The Aerospace Corporation to reduce the need for custom redesign when integrating payloads onto small satellites. Handle was tested on Aerospace’s Slingshot 1 mission in 2022. (1/8)

Liberty Latin America Warns EchoStar SpaceX Spectrum Deal Could Strand Spectrum Assets (Source: Mach 33)
Liberty Latin America argued in filings and commentary that the EchoStar SpaceX spectrum transaction could create a spectrum dead zone and strand licenses it previously acquired from EchoStar. The piece focuses on how the deal’s structure and waivers might impair buildout expectations and downstream network plans. This is a stakeholder pushback rather than a final regulatory outcome.

This is relevant because it raises the probability of extended FCC review timelines, conditions, or litigation risk, which can affect perceived timing of SpaceX direct to device expansion and any associated valuation signals. It also adds complexity for EchoStar on narrative consistency around network commitments versus monetization. The market will watch whether other stakeholders echo similar arguments and whether the FCC signals receptiveness to conditions that reshape deal economics. (1/5)

Starship Production Could Reach 10,000 Vehicles Per Year (Source: Mach 33)
Elon Musk said on X that SpaceX could manufacture as many as 10,000 Starships per year, responding to commentary on the scale of its new Gigabay infrastructure at Starbase. The statement materially exceeds the roughly 1,000 vehicles per year capacity implied by the currently disclosed $250 million 700,000 square-foot facility and represents Musk’s highest publicly stated Starship production ambition to date. The comment was framed aspirationally, not as a near term guidance update.

If approached even partially, this production rate would imply a fundamental shift in how launch vehicles are manufactured, capitalized, and utilized, moving closer to aircraft style throughput rather than traditional aerospace cadence. At that scale, Starship economics, depreciation assumptions, and cost per flight collapse into a different regime, enabling entirely new classes of missions and markets.

Starship cost reduction is driven primarily by manufacturing scale, not extreme reuse. Applying Wright’s Law to manufacturing with a conservative aerospace learning rate shows that most $/kg gains are captured by ~10–20 flights per vehicle; beyond that, costs asymptote as operations and payload economics dominate. Some Starships, particularly terrestria-based ones, must fly more frequently to offset one-way or slow-return missions such as Mars flights. (1/7)

SpaceX Is Under a Lot of Pressure Now. It’s Not Alone (Source: Bloomberg)
SpaceX’s dominance of rocket launches and satellite broadband internet service was reaffirmed last month with news of an insider share sale that would value the company at $800 billion. There was even speculation that Elon Musk’s space venture might sell shares to the public this year with a target valuation of almost double that amount.

This increased investor enthusiasm comes when SpaceX is under intense pressure to perform this year. Musk’s company will launch for the first time its latest, third version of Starship, its huge and completely reusable rocket. Even more important, SpaceX needs to pull off a test to refuel Starship in space. This is indispensable for meeting NASA’s goal of taking astronauts and materiel to the moon’s surface. (1/7)

SpaceX and Blue Origin are Likely Competitors for California Launch Site (Source: San Antonio Express-News)
Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin may soon be sparring over a stretch of land along the California coast that the Space Force wants to see turned into a launch site for massive rockets. Officials at the sprawling Vandenberg Space Force Base about 150 miles north of Los Angeles have asked for proposals from space firms to build a launch complex for so-called heavy or super-heavy spacecraft on a desolate stretch at the base’s southern tip. Both Starbase-headquartered SpaceX and Kent, Washington-based Blue Origin are expected to submit bids to develop the future site for their giant rockets — Starship and New Glenn respectively.

Though it could be the first West Coast site for either of the vehicles, a competition over launch infrastructure wouldn’t be the first for the two billionaires and their space companies. In 2013, Blue Origin balked at SpaceX’s plans for an exclusive lease for Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, a historic pad previously used for the Apollo and Shuttle programs. The Government Accountability Office denied the protest and NASA awarded a 20-year-lease to SpaceX for the site. (1/6)

California Ends 2025 with Record Number of Launches. What's Next? (Source: VC Star)
It was a record year for spaceflight in California, and even more rocket launches should be ahead in 2026. SpaceX led the way in 2025 – helming a whopping 90% of the missions that got off the ground at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County. Billionaire Elon Musk's company blasted off its Falcon 9 rocket more than 60 times throughout the year on a variety of missions, most of which were to deploy SpaceX's commercial Starlink internet satellites.

The regular cadence of rocket launches in 2025 reliably attracted crowds in Southern California and even as far away as Arizona, drawing spectators eager to glimpse SpaceX's famed two-stage Falcon 9 thundering into the sky. But for officials at Vandenberg, who regularly tout the site as a growing epicenter for spaceflight, the best may be yet to come. Officials estimate that more than 80 missions could get off the ground in 2026, though SpaceX has approval for its Falcon family of rockets to launch up to 100 times within the year from Vandenberg. (1/6)

Is NASA’s Artemis Program Safe? What’s Next for Huntsville’s Marshall Space Flight Center (Source: AL.com)
Advocates for space science research are concerned about job losses and cuts to funding at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. Marshall has lost about 350 people through the deferred resignation program established by the Trump administration as part of its cuts to federal agencies, said Jack Kiraly, director of government relations for the Planetary Society. That’s in addition to dozens of employees being laid off because the International Space Station is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2030.

Roger Baird, associate director at Marshall, did not mention job losses or budget cuts during the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber’s Redstone Arsenal. But he said the space center faced “challenges.” He did not elaborate on the challenges. Marshall is currently without a permanent director following Joseph Pelfrey’s resignation in September. Kiraly is concerned about the loss of expertise of those departing from the agency. (1/7)

L3Harris Awarded 3-Year Contract to Assist in NASA Observatory Science (Source: Rochester First)
L3Harris has been chosen for a contract with NASA to advance the technology that will be used for the agency’s “flagship space telescope.” According to NASA, the Habitable Worlds Observatory is the first mission to picture the “Earth-like planets around stars like our Sun.” The telescope will also assist NASA as it studies the atmosphere and chemical conditions of the imaged planets for signs of life and to support future exploration of Mars and the solar system. L3Harris is among six others whose selected proposals were awarded three-year contracts to develop the system. (1/6)

Billionaire NASA Chief Will Allow ‘Exceptional’ Employees to Fly in His Privately-Owned Fighter Jet (Source: New York Post)
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman is offering government employees who do “exceptional work” flights aboard his privately-owned fighter jet, the space agency revealed. Isaacman, a billionaire tech entrepreneur confirmed by the Senate last month to lead NASA, will also make his sleek plane – capable of supersonic flight – available for a slew of public events at no cost to taxpayers.

“Administrator Isaacman has an extensive background in aviation and has generously made his privately owned F-5 aircraft available for NASA workforce incentive flights, flyovers, participation in America’s 250th birthday celebrations, and to inspire the next generation to take an interest in STEM fields and contribute to the greatest adventure in human history,” NASA spokeswoman Bethany Stevens said. “All costs associated with these flights are covered by the Administrator, with zero burden to the taxpayer,” Stevens noted. (1/6)

Starlink Lab Exposed Workers to Toxic Chemicals. Records Show SpaceX Didn't Act Until the State Got Involved (Source: Investigate West)
In 2023, at a SpaceX campus just northeast of Seattle, the company converted a small office room into a production lab to help make satellites for global internet service provider Starlink. The impromptu lab was known by some within SpaceX as the “Starshield” lab — referring to a special Starlink satellite program offered to government intelligence agencies that uses encrypted messaging services.

Lab technicians worked under a recent corporate mandate to “triple production,” one later told a Washington state Department of Labor & Industries compliance officer. The workers in the Starshield lab and an additional lab next door handled lead and solvents that contained dangerous chemicals linked to cancer and reproductive toxicity. Yet the lab shared a ventilation system with the SpaceX customer support hub, which at any given time contained up to 50 workers who did not wear any protective equipment and who were never told about the potential exposure, records show. (1/7)

Sierra Space Completes First Nine Satellite Structures for the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 2 Tracking Layer (Source: Sierra Space)
Sierra Space, a proven defense-tech company delivering solutions for the nation’s most critical missions and advancing the future of security in space, announced today the completion of the first nine satellite structures, Plane 1 of the 18 total satellites Sierra Space is contracted to deliver for the Space Development Agency’s (SDA) Tranche 2 Tracking Layer (T2TRK) program. Achieved three months ahead of schedule, this milestone underscores Sierra Space’s ability to meet key program milestones with efficiency and precision, helping to ensure that the T2TRK program remains on track for delivery and launch readiness. (1/6)

Space Force Moves to Standardize Satellites with ‘Handle 2.0’ Contract (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Space Force tapped Falcon ExoDynamics, a small defense contractor, for a $3.3 million contract to evolve "Handle," an open-system satellite interface (common connection for payloads/buses), from a prototype into Handle 2.0—a commercial standard for Tactically Responsive Space (TacRS) missions, enabling faster, modular satellite assembly and deployment. This effort by Space Systems Command (SSC) and The Aerospace Corporation aims to provide "plug-and-play" capabilities for rapid response space operations. (1/7)

NASA To Resume Search For Lost Mars Orbiter (Source: Aviation Week)
NASA plans to resume searching for its MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) spacecraft, which lost contact in early December 2025, with teams working to recover it after it likely entered an unexpected spin and orbit change behind Mars, but efforts are complicated by the ongoing solar conjunction (Mars passing behind the Sun) until January 2026. MAVEN, crucial for understanding Mars' atmospheric loss and serving as a comms relay for rovers like Perseverance and Curiosity, is a vital asset, and recovery efforts continue, though no new telemetry has been received since the initial signal loss. (1/7)