July 1, 2026

Blue Origin Still Doesn’t Know Why its New Glenn Rocket Blew Up (Source: Tech Crunch)
Blue Origin wants to return the rocket to flight as quickly as it can because the company has become one of the central players in NASA’s push to return humans to the moon before President Trump leaves office. CEO Dave Limp said his company is still trying to “identify and correct the root cause” of the explosion. “Early analysis points to the aft section of the first stage” of the rocket, Limp wrote, saying the company is pulling on “extensive data from multiple camera angles and sensors.” (6/30)

Raytheon To Build Private Space Telescope For Eric Schmidt’s Nonprofit (Source: Aviation Week)
Raytheon is building a private, large-aperture space telescope for billionaire Eric Schmidt’s nonprofit, Schmidt Sciences. The Lazuli Space Observatory is in production and scheduled to be delivered in 2028, having passed an “accelerated” preliminary design review, Raytheon said on June 30. (6/30)

South Korea Studies Second Spaceport to Expand Launch Capacity (Source: Aviation Week)
South Korea is officially seeking metropolitan and provincial government bids to host its second national space center, with site evaluations concluding in a final selection in October. The proposed 5.6 million-square-meter spaceport will target the growing demand for reusable rocket operations and frequent satellite launches. The push for a second spaceport is being led by the Korea AeroSpace Administration, which is tasked with expanding domestic space transportation capabilities to reduce reliance on foreign launch providers. (6/30)

Rice Grown on the Moon? (Source: Tohoku University)
Securing sustainable food supplies is a key challenge for long-term human exploration and potential habitation of the Moon. The Moon's soil contains no organic material, and essential plant nitrogen sources like ammonia and nitrate are virtually nonexistent. Researchers from Tohoku University and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) addressed this obstacle by creating a green, energy-efficient plasma technology capable of synthesizing nitrogen fertilizer from atmospheric air. (6/30)

Astrobotic, Firefly, Intuitive Machines Win More NASA Moon Lander Missions (Source: Reuters)
NASA on Tuesday awarded $590 million worth of contracts to Astrobotic, Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines for more uncrewed lunar lander missions in late 2028 ‌as the agency seeks to ramp up commercial moon activities under its Artemis program. Astrobotic, a Pittsburgh-based moon lander company in the process of being acquired by Voyager Technologies, won a $297.9 million contract to deliver two landers. ​Firefly won a $144.2 million contract for a single lander mission and Intuitive Machines was awarded $148.3 million, also for a single lander mission. (6/30)

FAA Says Employees Can’t Purchase SpaceX Stock (Source: Politico)
Federal Aviation Administration employees can’t buy or hold stock in Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which went public earlier this month, according to an internal agency web page. The FAA licenses the commercial spaceflight firm’s launches and reentries, and it requires company-led investigations into rocket mishaps. (6/30)

Thales Alenia Space Wins Software-Defined Satellite Order from Es’hailSat (Source: Via Satellite)
Thales Alenia Space has won a major new software-defined satellite order from Es’hailSat, one of the biggest satellite operators in the Middle East. The satellite called, Eshail-3/Türksat-Biruni, will offer high-speed broadband connectivity services across Europe, Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East, and will be shared with Turkish satellite operator Türksat. Thales Alenia Space announced the contract on June 30.

Eshail-3/Türksat-Biruni will rely on Space Inspire, the Thales fully software-defined satellite platform, which is designed to offer instant in-orbit adjustment to broadband connectivity demands. As prime contractor, Thales Alenia Space is responsible for the design, manufacturing, testing, and on-ground delivery of the satellite, as well as for the ground segment and associated services. (6/30)

SpaceX Cuts Starlink Internet Prices in Memphis After Data Center Opposition (Source: Bloomberg)
SpaceX is offering discounts for Starlink internet plans in Memphis, Tennessee, as the Elon Musk-led company endures blowback and legal challenges from opponents of its data centers in the area and neighboring Mississippi. Customers that opt in will be able to access Starlink service plans for half the monthly price, which can range from $55 to $130 per month. The discount can be shared with friends and family. New users won’t have upfront hardware costs, according to a company statement. (6/30)

MaiaSpace Plans to Double Its Rocket’s Performance with One Extra Engine (Source: European Spaceflight)
ArianeGroup subsidiary MaiaSpace is examining the possibility of doubling the performance of all variants of its Maia rocket “if market response for such a configuration is favorable.” According to the company, this upgrade would involve the addition of a fourth Prometheus rocket engine powering its first stage and would not increase the average cost per launch.

MaiaSpace is currently working toward an early 2027 debut of Maia. The two-stage rocket’s first and second stages are powered by Prometheus methalox engines developed by ArianeGroup under a European Space Agency contract for the Themis demonstrator. (6/30)

Space Force Fields Mobile Satellite-Jamming System (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Space Force has placed into operational service a new mobile satellite-jamming system capable of temporarily disrupting an adversary’s communications. The Meadowlands system, developed by L3Harris, uses ground-based radio frequency units to disrupt satellite communications. (6/30)

Germany's Satellite Lasercom Terminal Builder Tesat: Production Ramping to 5 Per Day (Source: Space Intel Report)
Tesat Spacecom of Germany, which pioneered the use of satellite optical laser communications terminals on satellites, has seen multiple competitors surface and a veteran competitor, Mynaric, purchased out of bankruptcy from Rocket Lab of the United States. Based in Backnang, Tesat is a subsidiary of Airbus but acts with a degree of independence that can be useful in Europe, especially for the future Iris2 multi-orbit secure communications network. (6/30)

NASA Tests New Device for Future In-Space Refueling Missions (Source: NASA)
For NASA’s next generation of deep space exploration missions, spacecraft may need to refuel in Earth orbit before pushing farther into the solar system. Similar to how a gas pump needs a nozzle to fit your fuel tank, future spacecraft could require a special device in order to fill up prior to departure, known as a cryocoupler.

Cryocouplers would allow spacecraft to connect to future orbital propellant depots, which would serve as the gas stations of space. The technology comes with the challenge of reliably transferring cryogenic, or super-cold, fluids without losing propellant or performance. Cryogenic propellants like liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen must stay chilled to hundreds of degrees below zero Fahrenheit, placing strict demands on the materials, seals, and mechanisms that move them. (6/26)

South Korea Prepares Naro Spaceport for Private Launches (Source: UPI)
South Korea's space agency released guidelines Monday for private companies seeking to use the Naro Space Center, beginning preparations for the country's first dedicated commercial launch facilities. The Korea AeroSpace Administration said the guidelines outline a four-stage consultation and approval process, methods for calculating fees and safety and security requirements. (6/29)

Australian Spaceport CEO Owed $2.3m After Employer's Misconduct Defense Fails (Source: HCA)
When Australia's first commercial spaceport collapsed into liquidation, its former chief executive came out of court owed millions over the payout she was promised. On June 19, 2026, the Federal Court found that Carley Scott, the former CEO of Equatorial Launch Australia, was entitled to $2,367,430.25 under a special contract built around her work for the start-up, plus $17,458.58 in unpaid employment entitlements. (6/30)
   
Southern Launch Secures $25m to Help Scale Australia's Sovereign Launch Infrastructure (Source: Business News Australia)
Adelaide-based spaceport operator Southern Launch has raised $25 million in a funding round led by national security investor Brindabella & Company, with the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC) committing $10 million in direct equity to help scale Australia's sovereign launch infrastructure.

The capital will fund expansion of Southern Launch's two facilities - the Koonibba Test Range on the far west coast of South Australia and the Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex near Port Lincoln - as the company works to meet growing demand from domestic and international launch customers. Among them is US-based Varda Space Industries, which manufactures pharmaceuticals in microgravity and uses Southern Launch's Koonibba facility to land its reentry capsules. (6/30)

NordSpace CEO Rahul Goel Details Canadian Spaceport Progress and New Tempest Rocket (Source: SpaceQ)
It’s been a few months since the announcement of the three Phase 1 winners of Canada’s Launch the North IDEaS Challenge. NordSpace, Canada Rocket Company, and Reaction Dynamics evenly split a $25-million award to “develop and demonstrate breakthrough technologies to advance Canada’s sovereign space launch capabilities.”

Each is pursuing a somewhat different type of launcher technology: Reaction Dynamics is developing hybrid solid/liquid propellant rockets, NordSpace is working on launchers that use more traditional liquid kerosene/oxygen propellants and Canada Rocket Company, which recently emerged from stealth mode, is working on launchers with methalox engines that use liquid oxygen and liquid methane as propellants. (6/29)

So Paso Robles Wants to Build a Spaceport? Here’s What It Has to Do (Source: The Tribune)
The space industry is booming — in fact, its economy is projected to go from $500 billion in 2025 to $1 trillion by 2030. And Paso Robles wants a piece of the pie — since 2022, in fact. But before it can create its own spaceport, it must first be licensed through a process that’s known to be highly complex and rigorous with the FAA. After four years of pursuing such a goal, the city announced that it finally had a “solid foundation for advancing the project while identifying the remaining steps needed to complete the licensing process.”

By June 16, the city opened an RFP in hopes of finding a consulting firm to help with the final push of its application for license. The city is preparing an application to the FAA to convert its municipal airport into a spaceport, which would accommodate space planes. The FAA’s launch and reentry site operator license authorizes a non-federal entity to operate a launch or reentry site within the United States, allowing them to host, manage and facilitate third-party commercial vehicle activities. (6/29)

New SpaceX Millionaires are Reshaping SoCal Coastal Real Estate (Source: KTLA)
The recent initial public offering of SpaceX stock has created a wave of new millionaires, boosting demand for luxury homes in Southern California. The Hawthorne-based aerospace company went public June 12 and quickly raised $75 billion. Around 4,000 current and former SpaceX employees are expected to become millionaires, with roughly 400 of them making $100 million or more from the stock.

With its headquarters in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County, Realtors expect a surge of interest in homes along the “Silicon Beach” corridor, from Santa Monica to the Palos Verdes Peninsula, including Venice and Manhattan Beach. Other upscale neighborhoods could also see a bump in wealthy homebuyers. Melissa Pilon, a South Bay real estate agent with Compass, told the Times that one SpaceX buyer contacted her the day of the IPO about a property in north Redondo Beach. (6/29)

ISU Seeking Investors or Buyer (Source: Douglas Messier)
The financially distressed International Space University, based in Srasbourg, is seeking investors or a buyer: "An investment or takeover opportunity is currently open for International Space University, a private higher education institution specializing in the space sector...  Interested investors or buyers can contact the CBF Associés teams for more information. CBF Associes bills itself as “a team of 28 crisis management and turnaround professionals.” The company appears to be an administrator appointed by the court to deal with ISU’s financial problems. (6/30)

AIA Highlights Need to Grow Space Industrial Base (Source: CyberWire)
Aerospace Industries Association Vice President for Space Systems Steve Jordan-Tomaszewski highlights challenges facing the space industry's supply chain, citing limited system capacity and the need to "grow and scale the current supply chain to match all of this new, incoming demand." He says expanding the space industrial base will require close collaboration between industry and government. (6/28)

BAE Systems Validates Endura SOC for Space Radiation (Source: ExecutiveBiz)
BAE Systems successfully demonstrated its Endura system-on-chip processor in severe radiation environments. This test validated the processor's ability to operate reliably under high-radiation conditions, confirming its suitability for challenging space missions requiring robust performance in harsh environments. (6/29)

‘Pink Planet’ Surrounded by Salty Clouds (Source: News Nation)
The universe’s famous “Pink Planet” is surrounded by salty clouds, astronomers have discovered using data from the James Webb Space Telescope. A team of astronomers led by Northwestern University discovered exotic chemistry in the rosy atmosphere of a planet too faint for scientists to dissect its light from Earth. The new study, published in the Astronomical Journal, supplies direct evidence for salt clouds in a cold object’s atmosphere, something scientists first theorized over 15 years ago. (6/29)

SpaceX is Putting Top Starship and Starlink Engineers to Work on Grok (Source: Business Insider)
It's all hands on deck at SpaceX as the company plays catch-up in the AI race. Elon Musk said on Sunday that SpaceX had deployed "a few dozen" top Starlink and Starship engineers to help overhaul its Grok model. "The SpaceXAI cadence of model and harness improvement is speeding up tremendously, particularly due to a few dozen of the top Starlink/Starship engineers shifting much of their time to AI," wrote Musk in a post on X. (6/29)

Orbital Seeks FCC Approval for 100,000-Satellite Data Center Constellation (Source: Space News)
Another company has filed plans for a massive constellation of orbital data center satellites. Orbital asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to deploy as many as 100,000 data center satellites, aiming to bring 10 gigawatts of computing power from space to meet rising artificial intelligence demand. The filing comes just weeks after the company emerged from stealth with $5 million in pre-seed funding ahead of a demonstration mission next year.

Orbital is seeking to deploy 100-kilowatt-class satellites in low Earth orbit at altitudes of 500 to 850 kilometers, with solar arrays and radiators spanning around 100 meters and a dry mass of 1.5-2.5 metric tons. Orbital joins fellow startups Cowboy Space and Starcloud, along with Blue Origin and SpaceX, seeking permission for giant orbital data center constellations. (6/30)

Isakowitz Joins Vast as Advisor (Source: Space News)
The former CEO of The Aerospace Corporation is now an adviser to commercial Space station developer Vast. The company announced Tuesday that Steve Isakowitz, who retired from Aerospace last year, has joined its team of advisers, leveraging his experience in industry and government. The move comes as Vast and other companies await a draft request for proposals from NASA on the next phase of its Commercial LEO Development program to support the development of commercial successors to the ISS. (6/30)

Space Force Is Learning To Scramble Rocket Launches Like They're Fighter Jets (Source: Jalopnik)
Planning a rocket launch usually takes ages, as in months of sometimes even years. Rocket Lab just demonstrated it can be done in less than a day, and with an actual payload that then went on to do actual work. Essentially, the Space Force is figuring out how to scramble space rockets the way the Air Force scrambles fighter jets. As activity in space gets bigger and bigger, it's getting more and more likely that satellites could get targeted in a conflict. The USSF wants to be able to respond rapidly, like every other military branch does. (6/28)

June 30, 2026

Study Argues Bigger Launch Vehicles May Not Always Be Better (Sources: Space News, Aerospace Corp.)
The Aerospace Corporation report "Super Heavy Lift Launch: Unlocking the Future of Space" analyzes the commercial viability of SHL vehicles and notes that, similar to the Airbus A380, excessive scaling can lead to diminishing returns, high operational complexities, and potential market unsuitability. While mega-constellations drive demand, the study suggests that over-sizing vehicles can reduce cost-effectiveness and market flexibility. Click here. (6/29)

Blue Origin Shares Update on Path Forward at LC-36 (Source: Blue Origin)
We know that we lost the lightning tower, the transporter-erector, and the hydraulic cylinders, but we caught a lot of breaks, too, and intend to make the most of them. The tank farm, Integration Facility (IF), vehicle access tower, and water tower are in good shape. As part of our pad cleanup and rebuild efforts, we've relocated Never Tell Me the Odds and three GS2 vehicles from the IF. Hardware recovery and debris removal operations are complete, and reconstruction of the pad has started.

To return to flight this year, we're not rebuilding the same pad. We're going straight to a horizontal/vertical hybrid CONOPS we had already been developing for our 9x4 New Glenn launch vehicle, using existing infrastructure, skipping a new transporter-erector, and creating a common CONOPS across two pads. Click here for a CONOPS video. (6/30)

Ukraine Hits Moscow’s Space Communications Node for Second Time (Source: Kyiv Post)
Ukraine on Tuesday said it has struck a major Russian space communications facility near Moscow for the second time, targeting what Zelensky described as a satellite system used for military reconnaissance and coordination. Kyiv said the facility is part of a broader campaign against Russian long-range military infrastructure. USF commander Brovdi confirmed involvement, while Russia has not independently detailed the damage. (6/30)

TMC Technologies Awarded 1-Year Contract Supporting NASA IV&V Program (Source: TMC)
TMC Technologies announced the award of a 1-year contract to provide specialized systems and software engineering support to The Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) Facility, the home of NASA’s IV&V Program in Fairmont, West Virginia. TMC will contribute technical expertise that enhances the reliability, safety, and performance of complex aerospace systems through rigorous verification and validation processes. (6/23)

NextSTEP-3 A: Lunar Enabling Technology (Source: NASA)
NASA issued a draft Broad Agency Announcement under NextSTEP‑3, Appendix A, on June 29, 2026, to advance concepts that accelerate the technological readiness of critical systems for lunar surface and cislunar architecture. This solicitation seeks to close key technology gaps and mature capabilities in vertical solar arrays, ISRU oxygen production systems, Stirling radioisotope generators, in‑space manufacturing, and advanced nanomaterials production. (6/29)

Honeywell Aerospace Begins Trading as Standalone Company (Source: Breaking Defense)
Honeywell Aerospace has officially spun off as an independent, publicly-traded company focused on defense and commercial aviation. Honeywell previously announced in February 2025 its strategy to split its businesses into three parts: an automation business known as Honeywell Technologies, an advanced materials unit spun off in 2025 and now known as Solstice, and the aerospace segment. (6/29)

Firefly Advances Plans for Launching From Sweden (Source: Payload)
Firefly Aerospace aims to launch its Alpha rocket from SSC Space’s Esrange Space Center in Sweden as early as 2028. In 2024, SSC Space and Firefly signed an agreement to launch Alpha from Esrange, then targeting a first flight in 2026. In June 2025, the US and Sweden signed a Technology Safeguards Agreement, providing the legal framework for US commercial launches to fly from Swedish spaceports.

In April, the Swedish National Space Agency signed an agreement with the FAA to streamline the launch licensing process, clearing the way for Alpha to fly from Sweden. Firefly and SSC Space have begun work on the launch infrastructure and completed multiple milestones at Esrange, including a launch control center, payload processing facility, vehicle integration facility, and tracking and control systems. What's left now is the launch pad. (6/30)

Restructuring at Germany's Mynaric After Rocket Lab Acquisition (Source: Aerospace Insiders)
According to information shared by a current Mynaric employee who requested anonymity, the company is undergoing significant restructuring, with its R&D activities potentially being reduced to a fraction of their previous scale. The official narrative is the usual one: become cash flow positive as fast as possible. The reality could be much bigger than a simple cost cutting exercise.

The concern inside Germany is obvious. When foreign acquisitions of critical technology companies are approved, they often come with commitments regarding domestic capabilities, research activities and national interests. If R&D is gradually hollowed out and transferred elsewhere, the spirit of those agreements becomes meaningless even if the legal paperwork remains intact. European governments keep talking about technological sovereignty while allowing the engineering base to disappear one acquisition at a time. (6/30)

Rocket Lab’s $8 Billion Deal Shows Growth Means Owning The Whole Ecosystem (Source: Business Index)
Launch providers compete on price and reliability for a service that, frankly, anyone can shop around for. Owning the satellites and the communications layer on top is a different game entirely — it's recurring revenue, customer lock-in, and a story you can tell investors that doesn't depend on how many rockets you can physically build this quarter.

Owning the ecosystem around your core service, even partially, is how you turn a single offering into something stickier and harder to replace. And for larger, more established players watching this unfold: consolidation in capital-intensive industries tends to reward whoever moves first and decisively. $8 billion isn't a toe in the water. It's a statement that Rocket Lab intends to be a platform, not a contractor — and platforms get to set the terms that contractors just have to accept. (6/30)

Capella Prepares to Validate Mynaric Optical Terminal on Latest SAR Satellite (Source: Satellite Today)
Capella Space is preparing for tests to validate a Mynaric optical communications terminal on its newest satellite — the first time Capella has deployed an optical terminal. Capella Space released the first synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images from its Acadia-10 satellite on Wednesday, after the satellite launched in March. Capella is currently completing operational check out on the Acadia-10 satellite and planning to conduct operational tests with the terminal at 2.5 gigabits per second. (6/25)

A Swift Effort to Boost the Prospects for Satellite Servicing (Source: Space Review)
A Pegasus XL is set this week to launch a mission to reboost NASA’s Swift space telescope. Jeff Foust reports on the rapid development of the unique mission and the prospects of using that technology for other applications, including boosting Hubble. Click here. (6/29)
 
Security and Sustainability in Space: a Proposed Cap-and-Trade Model for Orbital Debris Mitigation (Source: Space Review)
Orbital debris poses a growing risk to satellite operations with no clear solution for addressing it. Isha Gupta proposes an approach based on regulating pollutants as a way to control the debris population. Click here. (6/29)
 
The Last Days of the Persian Cats (Source: Space Review)
The conflict in the Middle East may have destroyed the last of Iran’s F-14 Tomcats that it bought from the US a half-century ago. Dwayne Day and Harry Stranger describe how spysats tracked the status of those planes for decades. Click here. (6/29)
 
A New Age for Astronomy Enabled by Space-Based Solar Power (Source: Space Review)
One of the criticisms of space-based solar power (SPSB) systems is that the platforms would interfere with astronomy. Benjamin Calloway describes how SBSP could also create technologies to enable space-based astronomy. Click here. (6/29)

NASA Faced More than $5.3B in Overruns on Canceled Artemis Elements (Source: Douglas Messier)
NASA was facing projected cost overruns of more than $5.3 billion and delays of up to 9 years on four elements of the Artemis Moon program before it issued stop-work orders on earlier this year, according to an interim memorandum from the space agency’s Office of Inspector General (OIG). OIG estimated the final cost of the Habitat and Outpost Module (HALO), Exploration Upper Stage (EUS), Mobile Launcher 2 (ML-2), and Universal Stage Adapter (USA) would have been at least $8.1 billion. (6/29)

ML2 Launch Tower at KSC Would Have Cost $2 Billion (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The ML2, which took shape adjacent the Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC over the last two years, was near completion by prime contractor Bechtel National Inc., which had said it was targeting delivery by May this year. The company had added the last modular block to the tower last summer, bringing it to a height of 377 feet.

NASA halted work in February, though, and announced parts of the ML2 would be harvested to support the agency’s mobile launcher 1. ML1 had been used on both the Artemis I and II missions that used the SLS rocket, and is parked inside the VAB awaiting stacking of the SLS rocket for next year’s planned Artemis III flight.

ML2’s purpose was based on NASA using the EUS, which would have made the SLS rocket a little taller, and have required different propellant line connections than could be handled by ML1. The original $383 million contract issued in 2019 called for the ML2 to be delivered by March 2023. NASA’s OIG had signaled problems with its timeline and costs over the years because of management issues on both the contractor and NASA sides that were exacerbated by the COVID outbreak and supply chain challenges. (6/29)

Space Tango To Expand Kentucky Headquarters With $7.4 Million Investment, Create 25 New High-Wage Jobs (Source: Team Kentucky)
Gov. Andy Beshear announced exciting momentum within the state’s aerospace and technology sectors as Space Tango, a nationally recognized leader in commercial space infrastructure and mission operations, will expand its Lexington operation with a $7.4 million investment, creating 25 quality, good-paying jobs.

To support future company growth, Space Tango will expand its Kentucky presence, leasing and developing a substantially larger facility at the Greyline Station campus in Lexington. The new facility will include dedicated mission operations space, build laboratories, biological laboratories, electrical laboratories, machine shops, testing laboratories, engineering offices, collaboration areas and supporting employee amenities. The project will be implemented in phases beginning in 2026, with additional expansion capacity available for future growth. (6/25)

The Day Rocket Lab Became SpaceX's Only Real Peer (Source: Meidad Pariente)
When Peter Beck founded Rocket Lab, the pitch was small rockets for small satellites. Today, he's built a company that designs, manufactures, and launches satellites on its own rockets, and now operates a global communications constellation with exclusive spectrum rights and 2.55 million paying subscribers. That is not a launch company. That is a space utility.

This deal wouldn't make strategic sense if Rocket Lab were just a launch company. It isn't. Over the past five years, Rocket Lab has quietly assembled one of the most complete vertically integrated space hardware stacks outside of SpaceX. The strategic logic is clear: when Iridium's current NEXT constellation reaches end of life, Rocket Lab can design the replacement satellites in-house, manufacture them in its own facilities, and launch them on Neutron. No third-party launch costs. Margin captured at every step of the value chain. (6/29)

Rocket Lab Gains Valuable Spectrum, and Aireon, with Iridium Acquisition (Source: Meidad Pariente)
Iridium exclusively controls 7.775 MHz of globally licensed L-band spectrum (1616 to 1626.5 MHz), with an additional 0.95 MHz shared allocation. The L-band spectrum is among the most valuable and scarce radio-frequency assets in the world. It penetrates buildings, works in adverse weather, propagates well at low power, and is globally harmonized. The same frequencies work in every country on Earth without having to renegotiate local licenses.

To put the value in perspective: in terrestrial mobile, the L-band spectrum has traded for billions of dollars, despite far smaller allocations. Iridium's L-band rights are global, exclusive, and already operationally deployed with regulatory approvals in over 160 countries. You cannot buy this on the open market. There is no second source. Peter Beck just acquired what may be the single most strategically irreplaceable asset in commercial space.

Most analysts are not paying enough attention to this: Every single one of Iridium's 66 NEXT satellites carries an "Aireon" hosted payload, a space-based ADS-B receiver that tracks every ADS-B-equipped aircraft on Earth in real time. Before Aireon, over 70% of the planet's airspace (including oceans, poles, and remote regions) had no air traffic surveillance. Pilots flew procedural separation over the Atlantic because no one could see them. Aireon changed that overnight. (6/29)

June 29, 2026

ESA to Seek Lunar Mapping Capability for Argonaut Lander (Source: Space News)
The European Space Agency will rely on external lunar topographic data during the design phase of its Argonaut lunar lander, and possibly for its first mission, while working toward developing its own lunar mapping capability for later missions. Argonaut, first proposed at ESA’s Ministerial Council in Paris in 2022 and confirmed at the latest ministerial meeting in 2025, is a cargo lander designed to support NASA’s Artemis program while providing Europe with independent access to the lunar surface.

Several spacefaring countries with lunar ambitions have invested over the past two decades in high-resolution topographic mapping, which is essential for identifying safe landing areas and potential sites for future lunar infrastructure. (6/29)

ISS Risk Margin is "Alarming" as 2030 Extension Date Nears (Source: Payload)
Time is running out to keep the ISS in orbit, as the chair of a NASA advisory committee warned last week that risk margin for regular operations “is now reduced to an alarming level.” And the worry extends to parts, too: the supply chain for the decades-old spacesuits is wearing thin, according to Susan Helms, a former astronaut who chairs the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel. “It is increasingly difficult for NASA to ensure the ISS risks remain manageable for day-to-day operations, with enough contingency margins,” Helms said. (6/29)

Max Space Wins NASA Funding to Advance Expandable Lunar Habitat Technology for Permanent Lunar Presence (Source: Spacewatch Global)
Space Coast-based Max Space is among the companies picked by NASA under its Announcement of Collaboration Opportunity (ACO) to mature its "soft-goods" inflatable habitat design, solving a crucial bottleneck for the Artemis program: getting maximum usable floor area onto the lunar surface without prohibitive launch costs. (6/29)

JWST Observation Surprises Experts (Source: Space.com)
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have spotted a massive and densely packed galaxy cluster that "is so highly evolved [it] could change theories of cosmic evolution, as it seems to exist before such structures were thought to be possible. Designated XLSSC 122 and first seen in 2014, the cluster immediately stood out because, being so large and concentrated, it resembled the galactic clusters found much closer to our own galaxy. However, this cluster is seen as it was around 10.4 billion years, just around 3.4 billion years after the Big Bang, a time when such structures were theorized to have only just begun to assemble. (6/29)

The Exploration Company is Recruiting for Its Nyx Crew Team in Houston (Source: European Spaceflight)
The Exploration Company has published some of its first dedicated job openings for the development of a future crewed variant of its Nyx spacecraft. All three of these initial positions will be based in Houston, Texas. When asked why it’s recruiting for these positions in Houston, the company cited “a deep pool of human spaceflight expertise” as one of its primary motivations.

While The Exploration Company is currently working towards completing an initial demonstration mission of its Nyx Earth cargo capsule, it has announced plans for several other variants of the vehicle. These variants would be used to transport cargo to lunar orbit and the Moon’s surface, and to ferry crew to and from low Earth orbit. (6/29)

Investor Summit Planned at KSC on Nov. 4-6 (Source: UP.Summit)
UP.Summit is an invitation-only gathering of 400+ of the world’s most innovative minds rethinking the future of transportation. Investors in attendance represent over $1T worth of investable capital. These are the leaders of the most impactful companies moving people and goods with a common goal of Transforming the Moving World. The UP.Summit was founded in 2017 and is co-hosted with our partners Tom and Steuart Walton, Ross Perot Jr. and Phillip Sarofim. Click here. (6/29)

GAO: NASA Fears Gap in LEO After End of ISS (Source: Douglas Messier)
In 2017, Congress directed NASA to plan for a smooth transition from operating the International Space Station (ISS) to commercial stations on which the space agency would be one of many customers to purchase services. Here we are nine years later. So, how’s that effort going with ISS retirement looming in 2030?

Not great. A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report said NASA is concerned there will be a gap between the ISS retirement and the debut of the new stations. The concerns come amid NASA’s shifting approach on how to support private stations and uncertainty about the amount of funding available to do so.

A gap would leave NASA and private companies without a way to conduct microgravity science and technology research in low Earth orbit (LEO). The U.S. risks ceding leadership in the commercial LEO space economy to China, which is planning to double the size of its Tiangong space station. (6/29)

Amazon Leo to launch 29 Satellites on Atlas V's Last Flight (Source: Advanced Television)
Amazon Leo is set to launch 29 satellites July 2 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, marking the final Atlas V flight for Amazon. Future Amazon Leo launches will use ULA's Vulcan Centaur, SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Blue Origin's New Glenn. Amazon Leo has more than 350 satellites in orbit. (6/29)

Rocket Lab to Acquire Iridium in $8 Billion Deal (Source: Aerospace Global News
Rocket Lab has agreed to acquire Iridium Communications in an $8 billion deal that would transform the launch and space systems company into a vertically integrated satellite communications operator.

The two companies announced on 29 June that Rocket Lab will purchase all outstanding shares of Iridium common stock for $54 per share in a cash and stock transaction. The transaction is expected to close in mid-2027, subject to Iridium shareholder approval and regulatory clearances.

If completed, the deal would combine Rocket Lab’s launch, satellite manufacturing and space systems capabilities with Iridium’s global low Earth orbit communications network, L-band spectrum and established customer base across government, maritime, aviation, emergency response and industrial markets. (6/29)

SpaceX Launches 15,000-Pound SiriusXM Satellite to Orbit From Florida (Source: Space.com)
SpaceX launched a big SiriusXM radio satellite to orbit from Florida's Space Coast on Sunday night (June 28). A Falcon 9 rocket topped with the 15,400-pound SXM-11 spacecraft lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport and its first stage came back to Earth for a landing about 8.5 minutes after launch as planned, touching down in the Atlantic Ocean on the SpaceX drone ship "A Shortfall of Gravitas." (6/29)

AiRanaculus to Advance Networking Technologies for NASA Lunar and Space Communications Networks (Source: Via Satellite)
Networking technology company AiRanaculus has received a $5 million award from NASA for its technologies to be used to support NASA lunar and space communications networks. Under a $5 million Civilian Commercialization Readiness Pilot Program (CCRPP) contract from NASA announced June 25, AiRanaculus will enhance two products — CLAIRE and INSPiRE — to support lunar and space networks. AiRanaculus will work with Nokia, which is under contract with NASA to deploy the first cellular network on the Moon. (6/26)

UK's SatVu Begins Service with HotSat-2 (Source: Space News)
British thermal imaging startup SatVu has resumed commercial services with a new satellite. The company said Monday its HotSat-2 satellite, launched in March, was now in commercial service, routinely delivering mid-wave infrared imagery to government and commercial customers such as Norwegian defense and aerospace giant Kongsberg's geospatial intelligence services. The company's first satellite, HotSat-1, failed in orbit in 2023 just six months after launch. SatVu is planning a constellation of at least 10 satellites to provide thermal imagery. (6/29)

China Focuses on VLEO with Industry Alliance (Source: Space News)
China has established a national very low Earth orbit (VLEO) industry alliance. The VLEO Technology Innovation and Industry Development Alliance, co-founded by 34 organizations including leading universities, research institutes and commercial space companies, was announced at a conference Saturday. VLEO offers potential significant advantages for Earth observation and communications, such as higher resolution imagery, lower signal latency and reduced power requirements, but satellites operating in orbits below 300 kilometers must also contend with increased atmospheric drag. Orbital data reveal that China currently has two experimental satellites operating in VLEO, while funding activity indicates a demand and backing for related technologies. (6/29)

Spain's FOSSA Raises $10.5 Million for Constellation Expansion (Source: Space News)
Spanish startup FOSSA Systems has raised about $10.5 million to expand its connectivity constellation. Spanish private investment firm Kibo Ventures led FOSSA's funding round announced last week, bringing its total raised to date to nearly 20 million euros. The round included participation from the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation, a technology investment vehicle backed by Spain's government. The proceeds will help fuel FOSSA's push beyond the tiny picosatellites it once used to connect low-power monitoring devices toward larger cubesats in low Earth orbit, enabling additional sovereign communications and space-based intelligence capabilities. (6/29)

India's First Gaganyaan Flight Might Slip to 2027 (Source: Express News)
The first test flight of India's Gaganyaan crewed spacecraft might slip to 2027. In a presentation Saturday, the chairman of ISRO, V. Narayanan, said the uncrewed flight was on track to launch by the end of this year, but his slides said the launch would instead take place in the third quarter of 2027. Asked about the discrepancy, Narayanan said that the Gaganyaan program is "undergoing constant review" and did not say whether his comments or his slides were correct. (6/29)

NASA Picks 41 Projects for ACO Collaborations (Source: NASA)
NASA will support the development of dozens of space technologies with potential to assist its Artemis lunar exploration program. NASA announced Friday it selected 41 technologies from 37 companies for the latest round of its Announcement of Collaboration Opportunity (ACO) program. ACO gives companies access to NASA expertise and facilities on a no exchange of funds basis. The selected technologies range from power generation and in-space logistics to dust mitigation techniques. (6/29)

China Leads in GPS-Style, Reconnaissance and Anti-Satellite Abilities (Source: SCMP)
China has leapfrogged the United States in a few mighty important sectors of space technologies: GPS-style navigation, spy-in-the-sky reconnaissance and even the ability to knock satellites out of orbit, according to a report from a US think tank.

The report from the Washington-based Information Technology and Innovation Foundation said China had rapidly built a powerful commercial space sector under strong state backing and was narrowing the innovation gap with the US.

“If the United States does not take decisive action soon, China will claim the top spot in the global space economy,” the report, released on June 8, said. The warning comes as analysts project the global space economy could exceed US$1 trillion within the next decade. According to the report, China has already surpassed Russia as America’s main competitor in space. (6/28)

Could Future Astronauts Use Oysters as Water Filters? (Source: Space.com)
Engineers looking for safe water and recycled air for astronauts should look no further than nature, according to one team of researchers. Oysters and other forms of "biogenerative" life support systems, which use living beings for food, water recycling and air regeneration, are under study at Pennsylvania's Harrisburg University with Monolith Space, a small company featured on the This Week in Space weekly podcast with Space.com's Tariq Malik and author Rod Pyle in March.

The shelled creatures aren't the only ones Harrisburg researchers are looking at: students and researchers are also examining algae, mollusks and even finfish. Hydroponics, or growing plants in water, is another approach. Monolith founder Jacob Scoccimerra, who is based in D.C., said the research is not only crucial for future astronaut living, but also unique among food projects in space. (6/28)

A First Look at NASA’s Newest Space Camp Facility (Source: Fodor's Travel)
The same VR simulator that astronauts and pilots use to practice parachute skills will now train the next generation of space enthusiasts attending Space Camp at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville. The new parachute simulators are part of a 47,079-square-foot expansion that also includes a 90-foot zip line, an indoor drone launch, a night-vision lab, and more. The new facility, which opened in May 2026, is called the Inspiration4 Skills Training Complex.

Training in the facility will focus on lessons in robotics and space-related problem-solving. The opening comes on the heels of the Artemis II mission’s success, in which four NASA astronauts made an unprecedented orbit of the moon’s far side. Registrations for Space Camp doubled since the completion of the Artemis II mission in April. To meet that demand, the U.S. Space and Rocket Center have added this new facility, with plans to launch more later, including a new Space Camp dormitory. (6/27)

China Is About To Land On Earth’s ‘Mini-Moon’ (Source: Forbes)
China is about to begin one of the most unusual asteroid exploration missions ever attempted. In early July, the Tianwen-2 spacecraft is expected to arrive at a Statue of Liberty-sized near-Earth asteroid often described as Earth’s “mini-moon.” If it arrives safely, it will take a sample and send it back to Earth in a capsule.

Discovered in 2016 and also known as 2016 HO3, 469219 Kamoʻoalewa is one of only a handful of known quasi-satellites. Measuring just 130 to 330 feet (40 to 100 meters) across — roughly the size of the Statue of Liberty — it could become the smallest asteroid ever visited by a spacecraft. (6/28)

Potential Habitable Planet Just 18 Light-Years Away (Source: Space Daily)
The search for life beyond the Solar System often sounds impossibly remote. Many promising planets orbit stars so far away, or so close to their stars in the sky, that even knowing they exist is a technical achievement. GJ 251 c is different in one important respect. It is nearby.

Researchers report the discovery of GJ 251 c, a candidate super-Earth orbiting in the habitable zone of a red dwarf star about 5.5 parsecs away. That is roughly 18 light-years, close enough that the planet may become one of the best northern-sky targets for future direct imaging of a potentially rocky world in a temperate orbit. (6/27)

June 28, 2026

PLD Space strengthens its Board of Directors (Source: PLD Space)
Hilario Albarracín, former Chairman of KPMG in Spain, will bring his expertise in financial strategy and corporate governance as an independent board member of the company. With this second appointment, PLD Space consolidates a Board of Directors designed to lead its global growth and demonstrates the company’s ability to attract top-tier talent. (6/22)

Indian Scientist Decry Needless Secrecy Over PSLV Failures (Source: New Indian Express)
The Ministry of Science and Technology’s refusal to publicly share the Failure Analysis Committee (FAC) report on the back-to-back PSLV-C61 and C62 mission failures has sparked concern among space scientists and private industry players. Union Minister Jitendra Singh recently said the report was out and anomalies were detected, but that they cannot share it on a public platform. Singh also acknowledged that experts were working on resolving it. But scientists said such secrecy is counterproductive at a time when the government is actively seeking private sector participation in India’s space program. (6/27)

Large, Harmless Asteroid Zips Past Earth (Source: AP)
A large asteroid will zip past Earth this weekend, but don’t worry: It poses no danger. The space rock — 1997 NC1 — makes its closest approach Saturday morning, coming within 1.6 million miles, according to the European Space Agency. Discovered nearly three decades ago by an asteroid-tracking system in Hawaii, the asteroid is between 2,461 feet (0.75 kilometer) to 5,413 feet (1.65 kilometers) wide — roughly the size of two to four Empire State Buildings. (6/26)

Inside Texas A&M's Centrifuge: Simulating Gravity on the Moon and Mars (Source: Houston Chronicle)
The Texas A&M centrifuge was previously owned by NASA. It was built during the agency’s Constellation Program and put into storage after that program was cancelled.It was later transferred to Texas A&M. KBR has a contract with Texas A&M to operate the 4,000-pound centrifuge and provide new displays and instrumentation systems. Texas A&M is using the centrifuge to better understand how the human body responds to low-gravity environments such as those on the moon and Mars, where NASA wants to send its astronauts. (6/28)

Greece Sets Out Space Strategy (Source: Protothema)
Greece’s ambition to become a serious player in space technology gained a human face this week, as Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis chaired a meeting on the country’s first planned astronaut mission to the International Space Station, alongside the launch of a new €350 million national space program. (6/26)

Report Calls For US Leadership In Space Traffic Coordination As Orbital Congestion Accelerates (Source: Hoover Institution)
A new Hoover Institution report argues that the United States must take proactive steps to enhance space traffic coordination as rapid growth in satellite launches, combined with a lack of standardized international regulations and data sharing practices, increases pressure on the orbital environment and creates significant risks for orbital safety. (6/26)

Shetland Spaceport Plans to Dump 'Huge' Rocket Parts Into Sea (Source: The National)
Scotland's first spaceport on Shetland plans to use the sea as a “dustbin” to dump tonnes of debris from rockets, prompting claims it could endanger tourism and fishing. SaxaVord Spaceport in the island of Unst is applying for a license to start dropping large, disused rocket components into the sea north of Shetland over the next 12 months. The application reveals that there is a “significant risk” that the debris could hit tourist and fishing boats, posing a threat to life.

The Shetland tourism industry, however, flatly rejects the spaceport’s plans and warns that sea ­dumping could be “devastating” for some ­island businesses.  A report by the German company Rocket Factory Augsburg, which is planning the first launch from ­SaxaVord later this year, makes clear that discarded rocket parts will not be recovered from the sea. (6/28)

Lockheed Martin Outlines GPS III, GPS IIIF and Puantum Navigation Approach for Resilient, Precise Positioning in Contested Environments (Source: Defense Industry Europe)
Lockheed Martin has outlined how GPS and quantum navigation could work together to provide resilient and ultra-precise positioning. The company said the Global Positioning System constellation remains a backbone of modern navigation, supporting civilian users and critical defense operations. The company said its GPS III satellites and upcoming GPS IIIF spacecraft are designed around environmental, operational and signal resilience.

These features are intended to help maintain navigation capabilities in difficult physical, military and electronic environments. Lockheed Martin said GPS III and GPS IIIF satellites are engineered to survive hurricane-force conditions, severe space weather events and high-radiation environments. The satellites are also hardened against cyberattacks, kinetic threats and the extreme effects of nuclear detonations. (6/27)

SpaceX, Charter Discuss Mobile Phone Partnership in US (Source: Reuters)
SpaceX and internet ​provider Charter Communications have held ‌executive-level talks about partnering on a consumer mobile phone offering in the United ​States. Charter ⁠could run some of SpaceX's phone traffic through its ground-based internet infrastructure, the report said. (6/26)

SDA Cuts 11 Satellites From Low-Earth Orbit Demo to Focus on Operational Work (Source: Air and Space Forces)
The Space Development Agency last year quietly canceled plans to launch 11 satellites meant to conduct communications experiments in low-Earth orbit, Air & Space Forces Magazine has learned. The agency made the decision to “descope” the Tranche 1 Demonstration and Experimentation System late last year, according to an SDA official, as a deliberate move to focus on operationalizing its first satellites.

While the plan had been to launch the remaining 11 T1DES satellites this year, the agency opted to cut the program short and instead apply lessons learned from that single satellite to future missions. While cost was a factor in that decision, the official said Dragoon’s success and the need to focus on SDA’s operational objectives were the primary drivers for scaling back the demonstration effort. (6/25)

Rocket Lab Gets Major Stock Upgrade (Source: Insider Monkey)
With market capitalization of $62.08 billion, Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB) is among the 10 Stocks That Could Double Over the Next 2 Years. On June 14, KeyBanc upgraded Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB) to Overweight from Sector Weight and assigned a $135 price target, citing what it views as attractive opportunities emerging across the commercial space industry. (6/25)

NASA, US Small Business Administration to Announce Partnership (Source: NASA)
NASA and the U.S. Small Business Administration will sign a memorandum of agreement during a ceremony Monday, June 29, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The agreement will create a new interagency initiative that directly responds to President Donald Trump’s National Space Policy and supports the growth of the American space economy. (6/25)

Hiring for Jobs in the Space Economy is Hot (Source: CNBC)
The space economy is growing domestically and around the globe, at an annual rate of 9%, according to the World Economic Forum. In the U.S., gross output in the space economy increased by nearly $51.5 billion from 2012 to 2023. The sector’s total value reached an all-time high of $613 billion in Q2 2025, according to the Space Foundation.

As the space economy grows, it is spurring national job creation. In the private sector alone, over 373,000 employees work space-sector jobs, according to the most recent estimates from the Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis. That remains a small fraction of the total U.S. private-sector workforce, but one that is growing rapidly. Space-sector employment increased by 27% in the decade through 2024, far outpacing total private-sector employment growth at 14%, and with its rate of growth accelerating in the more recent years. From 2019 to 2024 alone, the space economy’s job market grew by 18%.

Young workers in particular have played a major role in this growth. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly half of the new jobs being added to the space economy are filled by workers under the age of 35, accounting for a 3% total increase in young workers’ share of its workforce from 2014 to 2024. Across most major lines of work in the space sector, there has been an increase in the share of young workers employed. (6/27)

China Plans to Double the Size of its Tiangong Space Station While the ISS Nears its End (Source: Space.com)
China is set to expand its space station from three to six modules in the coming years and add a co-orbiting Hubble-class space observatory, even as the International Space Station approaches the end of its lifetime. The three-module, T-shaped Tiangong space station was assembled in orbit across 2021 and 2022 and has hosted numerous three-astronaut Shenzhou crews, but China is now set to expand the orbital outpost with new modules, citing growing research demands and more frequent crew and cargo missions.

The planned expansion will see Tiangong grow into a "double-T" shape, with the addition of the multipurpose module and two new experiment modules, and allow China to extend the scale of operations aboard the station. Additional docking ports on the new modules will allow Tiangong to welcome more spacecraft and provide greater operational flexibility when needed. (6/26)

Finland's ReOrbit Secures Finnish Funding for ‘OrbitCloud’ R&D Program (Source: Via Satellite)
ReOrbit is launching a new OrbitCloud R&D program to create a space-based edge computing network, with initial funding from Business Finland of 4.6 million euro ($5.3 million). The company describes OrbitCloud as “a private satellite network providing direct-to-device connectivity for drones and mobile devices, uniquely combined with orbital AI inference for fast intelligence.”

The total value of the program is projected to exceed 40 million euro ($46 million). ReOrbit described an architecture to deliver real-time intelligence to drones and mobile devices, by integrating D2D with orbital AI, and inter-satellite links. (6/26)

Boeing’s Starliner Is Such a Disaster That We Don’t Even Have Words (Source: Futurism)
Boeing’s Starliner, originally intended to serve as an alternative to SpaceX’s workhorse Dragon spacecraft, has been nothing short of a disaster. It’s been just over two years since the spacecraft launched to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams on board, a maiden crewed voyage following years of delays and major technical setbacks.

But thanks to persistent issues with the thrusters and major helium leaks, the capsule stranded the duo in space for nine months, and eventually returned without anybody on board. Since then, Boeing has continued to struggle to get its act together — over a decade and a half after it struck up its Commercial Crew Program contract with NASA. The long-awaited follow-up to the calamitous test flight — which won’t even have a crew on board — still doesn’t have an official launch date and could be as far as a year away.

The clock is ticking. The ISS will be retired in a matter of four years, which could make the spacecraft obsolete after spending well over $2 billion on it and failing to ever successfully send astronauts to space and back on the type of round trips it was designed for. The news comes roughly four months after NASA released a Program Investigation Team (PIT) report, classifying Wilmore and Williams’ harrowing journey as a “Type A mishap,” a classification that indicates “property damage equal to or greater than $2 million or more.” (6/27)

Rocket Lab Launches Another Japanese Earth-Observing Radar Satellite (Source: Space.com)
An Electron rocket lifted off from Rocket Lab's Launch Complex-1 (LC-1) in New Zealand today (June 26). The "Ten Owl of Ten" mission sent up Synspective's 10th synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite, which will expand the company's network above Japan to provide imaging data for use in city planning, monitoring infrastructure and responding to natural disasters. (6/26)

Space Force Backs Autonomous Factories to Speed Rocket, Missile Parts Production (Source: Interesting Engineering)
The U.S. Space Force has awarded California-based Orbital Composites a $1.9 million contract to advance AI-driven manufacturing of heat-resistant components used in rockets, hypersonic vehicles, missile defense systems, and nuclear reactors. The funding comes through SpaceWERX’s Tactical Funding Increase (TACFI) program and will support development of the company’s robotic additive manufacturing platform for producing extreme-environment materials. (6/26)

LEO 'Crash Clock' Tightens to 5.5 Days (Source: Space Daily)
In a recent study titled An Orbital House of Cards: Frequent Megaconstellation Close Conjunctions, researchers propose a metric they call the CRASH Clock. The name stands for Collision Realization And Significant Harm, and the idea is simple enough to be unsettling: estimate how long it would take for a potentially catastrophic orbital collision to occur if satellites could no longer dodge one another, or if operators lost the situational awareness needed to know where objects would be.

The finding is worth taking seriously, but it should not be read as the final word. This is a preprint, not a peer-reviewed consensus statement. It is also a model of a stressed scenario, not a prediction that a collision is due in ordinary operations. But the comparison at the heart of the paper is stark. The authors calculate that, in 2018, the CRASH Clock stood at 164 days. By their current estimate, after the rapid growth of megaconstellations, it had fallen to 5.5 days. (6/27)

Musk's SpaceXAI to Invest Hundreds of Millions to Expand 'Colossus' in Memphis (Source: Biz Journals)
SpaceXAI's 'Colossus' data center in Tennessee, became operational in July 2024. Its primary purpose is to train the Grok AI, while also providing computing support to X and SpaceX. The company has purchased a third building in Memphis, expanding Colossus to a planned 2 gigawatts of total capacity, housing 555,000 NVIDIA GPUs purchased for approximately $18 billion — making it the world's largest single-site AI training installation.

The site was chosen because the abandoned Electrolux factory could be repurposed to expedite construction. SpaceXAI brought in up to 35 gas turbines to generate a combined 422 MW to power 'Colossus', drawing criticism for their large NOx emissions. Data center cooling is a major constraint at this scale, so SpaceXAI planned an $80 million wastewater treatment project in October, but the project stalled. Following a meeting between Memphis Mayor Paul Young, SpaceXAI committed to resuming construction on the wastewater treatment facility. (6/27)

June 27, 2026

Flight Ticket Initiative Aims to Foster European Launch Industry (Source: Douglas Messier)
The European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission are inviting commercial launch providers to apply to the European Flight Ticket Initiative, which would allow companies to bid to launch satellites into orbit. If accepted into the program, launch providers would compete to launch In-orbit Demonstration and Validation (IOD/IOV) satellites that test new space technologies in orbit. Funding for the launches will be provided through the EU Horizon Europe program and ESA’s ‘Boost!’ program. (6/27)

Space Weather Could Bust the AI Boom (Source: Space News)
Space weather such as solar storms can disrupt electrical systems on Earth, and it can damage satellites or alter their orbits, creating downstream problems. As the AI industry looks to megaconstellations of orbital data center as a solution to the power and environmental constraints of terrestrial data centers, leaders must take space weather seriously. That's the warning issued by Scott McIntosh, vice president of space operations for Lynker Space and former deputy director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

"As that dependence grows, the grid’s resilience against space weather becomes both an economic and a national security imperative... Another major solar storm will eventually strike. The companies building the future of AI should be among the loudest voices pushing to ensure our energy infrastructure is ready for it." (6/27)

Space Command's Second Redstone Facility (Source: Axios)
After a leadership event on Redstone Arsenal this week, U.S. Space Command is taking control of its second facility there. Space Command continues to gain momentum in its move from Colorado Springs to Huntsville as it plans construction of its permanent headquarters. (6/26)

Blue Origin Cleared Debris From LC-36 New Glenn Explosion (Source: MyNews 13)
Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp says reconstruction has started at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 36 after a New Glenn rocket exploded on the pad last month during a test fire. This week, Limp shared a video on X that showed crews working at Launch Complex 36 to repair the damage caused by the New Glenn explosion. He said it only took nine days to clear all the debris from the site. (6/26)

FTC Gives Musk the OK to Acquire Startup Mesh Optical Technologies (Source: Tech Crunch)
Elon Musk is eyeing an acquisition of Mesh Optical Technologies, a startup founded by three former SpaceX engineers last year developing hardware for fast data center communications. The potential acquisition, which was revealed in a Federal Trade Commission filing and first reported by Bloomberg, confirmed the agency expedited its antitrust review. Mesh Optical came out of stealth in February when it announced that it raised a $50 million Series A led by Thrive Capital.

Before founding Mesh Optical, the startup’s co-founders, Travis Brashears, Cameron Ramos, and Serena Grown-Haeberli, developed the optical communication links that keep thousands of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites interconnected. (6/26)

NASA’s Cheapest Missions Deliver Less Scientific Bang for the Buck (Source: Science)
A sweeping analysis of NASA missions suggests its cheapest spacecraft rarely deliver breakthrough science, raising questions as the agency considers relying more on low-cost missions amid budget pressures. Researchers at the Planetary Society analyzed 90 NASA science missions across astrophysics, heliophysics, and planetary science that launched since 1994 and began science operations by 2023.

They compared the missions’ inflation-adjusted life cycle costs with their scientific output, as measured by papers cited more than 100 times. The most expensive missions generally produced the most highly cited papers. Missions costing less than $100 million produced few such papers. In fact, all NASA planetary science missions below that threshold didn’t publish any highly cited science results—a sign that many of the spacecraft had failed. (6/26)

India Tests Next Generation Rocket Engine at 88% Thrust (Source: CNBC)
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has taken a significant step towards upgrading its heaviest operational rocket, successfully test-firing a semi-cryogenic engine powerhead at 175 tonnes of thrust, the highest level achieved in the program so far. The test, the eighth in a series, was conducted on June 24 at the ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC). It ran the engine's Power Head Test Article (PHTA) — a configuration that includes all engine systems except the thrust chamber — at 88% of the SE2000 engine's full rated capacity. Previous tests in the series had topped out at 60% thrust, or 120 tonnes. (6/27)

SaxaVord Spaceport Tells Unst Folk to Apply for Local Resident Passes to Access Homes During Launch Windows (Source: Shetland Times)
Spaceport officials have told people in Unst they will need to apply for “local residents passes” to access their homes during launch windows. In a letter sent out last month, SaxaVord Spaceport informed residents about temporary traffic regulation orders (TTROs) which will be in place for “several hours at a time” at the north of the island. “Managed control points” will be in effect during the launch windows—the first of which could potentially take place as soon as next month.

External affairs manager Elizabeth Johnson said the restrictions are essential for ensuring public safety and the secure operation of the launch. The spaceport has permission to carry out as many as 30 launches per year, although it will take several years to build up to that level. (6/27)

Army Establishes New Branch Dedicated to Space Operations (Source: Defense Scoop)
The Army announced Thursday that it has officially created a branch for soldiers specializing in space operations. The new Space Operations Branch will consolidate the service’s space professionals — including Army Space Operations Officers and enlisted Tactical Space Operations Specialists under the military occupational specialty (MOS) 40D created in 2025. The decision elevates space ops from a functional area to basic branch, formalizing the career within the service. (6/26)

Japan to Rename Air Force in Nod to Growing Space Capabilities (Source: Breaking Defense)
Japan’s government has confirmed it will rename its air force to reflect a broadened mission set to include outer space. The upper house of Japan’s parliament approved a bill today to rename the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) to the Japan Aerospace Self-Defense Force. The name change will come into effect at the beginning of the next Japanese fiscal year, which starts on April 1, 2027, according to the JASDF. (6/26)

$1 Billion Needed to Repair KSC's Stressed Infrastructure (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
NASA officials have been shouting for years more money is needed to support infrastructure of a souped-up launch rate on the Space Coast, and now it has an audit confirming things are bad, and could get worse. NASA’s Office of the Inspector General identified needs at both Kennedy Space Center and the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. While both are in need of help, the situation at KSC is already crumbling and the OIG warns a potential deal breaker for the agency’s Artemis plans. KSC alone needs $1 billion to address its shortcomings and so far has only about $250 million set aside to help allay the needs.

Those funds will go to many of the things detailed in the new audit, including beginning work on an electrical grid upgrade and dealing with the increase in wastewater from increased activity. "The sewer lines are as valuable as the launch pad,” said Rep. Mike Haridopolos (R-FL).

“At Kennedy, common use launch infrastructure that the Center and government and commercial partners use to provide electrical power, gas supply and distribution, and transportation to launch pads is in poor condition and lacks the capacity to support growing needs,” NASA's audit reads. The electrical grid problems are among the most critical. Some of its issues result from hardware installed in the 1960s, with collapsed duct banks that prevent easy electrical line replacement, as well as corrosion on transformers. (6/26)

SpaceX Might Have To Acquire T-Mobile For As Much As $320 Billion To Break The Carrier-Led Chokehold Over Terrestrial Spectrum (Source: WCCF Tech)
The idea that SpaceX might acquire one of the so-called 'Big Three' carriers in the US is getting floated on a weekly basis now. SpaceX recently acquired around 65 MHz of nationwide, exclusive-use, contiguous spectrum for $19.6 billion, divided into three distinct bands.

But apart from the relatively limited AWS-3, the bulk of SpaceX's existing terrestrial spectrum is not supported by most existing cellphones (AWS-4 and H-Block). What's more, OEMs like Apple, Samsung, and Google are unlikely to make the effort to bridge this compatibility gap unless SpaceX has substantial skin in the game, so to say.

At the same time, AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile have refused to enter into a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) agreement with SpaceX as they feel eminently threatened by the satellite giant's ambitions. Without an MVNO with one of these three carriers, SpaceX has no easy path to gaining access to the correct terrestrial spectrum in bulk quantities to power its planned direct-to-cell services. (6/26)

Germany: Europe is Key to US Space Success (Source: Times of India)
Germany has a strong reminder for America and it is that the United States of America needs Europe to go to outer Space. In an interview to Politico, German Space Minister Dorothee Bar said, "Germany and Europe provide critical key technologies" for U.S. space missions. "That is why we can confidently say: without us, it cannot be done." She added pointing to European-built technology used in NASA's missions as proof that Europe still has leverage in the new space race. “There are clear mutual dependencies,” she said. (6/23)

Musk-Connected Company Buys Land, Water Infrastructure Before Texas County’s SpaceX Tax Vote (Source: KBTX)
Documents show WIT TECH LLC, a company connected to Elon Musk, purchased six parcels of land in Grimes County on May 27, 2026. The acquisitions include critical water infrastructure, a three-acre parcel containing a pump station on the Navasota River, and a one-acre parcel consisting of the river itself. This happened one week before Grimes County commissioners voted on June 4th to approve a 100% tax abatement for the SpaceX Terafab project, a deal worth up to $119 billion.

On May 5th, SpaceX announced it was potentially bringing its massive Terafab chip manufacturing center to Grimes County. Three of the parcels sit directly on or adjacent to Gibbons Creek, a major water source in the area. Documents show WIT TECH LLC purchased a three-acre parcel containing a pump station on the Navasota River. Right next to it, it bought a one-acre parcel that consists of the river itself and what appears to be a low dam. The deed explicitly references river pumps. This wasn’t just land acquisition. This was a water infrastructure acquisition.

A semiconductor manufacturing facility the size of Terafab requires enormous amounts of water for cooling and processing. The strategic positioning of these purchases, particularly the acquisition of the Navasota River pump station and direct river access, suggests SpaceX was securing critical water infrastructure before publicly announcing the project to Grimes County. These heavy-duty pumps have drawn water directly from the Navasota River and piped it to the Gibbons Creek basin, a critical backup system for the area’s water supply. (6/26)

Embry‑Riddle Professor Spies Stellar System’s Orbit Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory (Source: ERAU)
A massive star locked in orbit with an unknown object became a source of fascination for Dr. Pragati Pradhan, assistant professor of Physics and Astronomy at Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University. The stellar system, known as IGR J16318-4848, has been shrouded in mystery since its discovery in 2003, due to the thick clouds of gas and dust surrounding it. Astronomers know one member of the pair is a giant star. But the identity of its companion — a compact object that is feeding on the star’s material — is unclear. “We think it’s a neutron star or a black hole. We don’t know for sure,” Pradhan said. (6/16)

Hegseth Reinstates Vaccine Mandate for Military, After Sicknesses and Death (Source: New York Post)
The Pentagon is once again requiring recruits across all branches of the military to receive flu vaccines, an exception to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s earlier decision to lift the military’s long-standing annual flu vaccine mandate. This reinstated mandate comes amid news of a flu outbreak at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. In recent weeks, at least 275 recruits have been diagnosed with influenza, and four have been hospitalized with the virus. The Air Force confirmed that a recruit died in a military hospital on June 16, but it is unclear if the loss is linked to the flu outbreak. (6/26)

Astronauts Report 'Observer' Sensation After Long Missions (Source: Space Daily)
Astronauts coming home from long stays on the International Space Station have, for years, described a strange perceptual aftertaste: a sense of watching their own lives from a half-step outside the frame. They sit at dinner with family and feel like a guest. They drive on a familiar street and feel like they’re piloting it. The room is loud and they are in it, but a part of them is hovering near the ceiling, taking notes. (6/26)

Two Approaches for Easing Solar Panel Development on the Moon (Source: Autonocion)
Blue Origin wants to stop shipping one of the heaviest things a Moon base needs and grow it on site instead. The company wants to make solar panels out of the dust already lying on the lunar surface, with nothing in the cargo hold: no panels, no glass, no wire. Dirt goes into a reactor, finished solar cells come out the far end. That used to be a slide in a conference deck. It is a lot closer to hardware now.

Blue Origin’s regolith-to-power system, called Blue Alchemist, cleared its Critical Design Review in September 2025, the engineering checkpoint that says a design is locked down enough to start building for real. The next step is a full demonstration in 2026, and there is a university team chasing the same prize from a completely different angle. Both are circling the one number that decides whether anyone ever lives up there: how much of this you have to launch from Earth.

Blue Origin’s approach is the maximalist one, making everything, silicon included, from scratch on the surface. A separate group of researchers thinks there is a faster way in. Their argument is that purifying silicon is the hard, energy-hungry step, so why not skip it. Instead, they melt regolith into a rough “moonglass” and use that as both the base and the protective layer, then ship up only the active ingredient: an ultrathin film of perovskite, a cheap crystal that is very good at turning light into electricity. (6/25)

Space Force Seeks Fresh Bidders for Satellite-Control Antennas (Source: Space News)
The Space Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office earlier this month issued a pre-solicitation under the Satellite Communication Augmentation Resource program, known as SCAR, seeking industry proposals for electronically steered phased-array antennas that can supplement the military’s aging Satellite Control Network. (6/25)

Austrian Startup Readies for First Launch of Microgravity Pods (Source: Aerospace America)
When SpaceX’s next rideshare mission lifts off, among the payloads onboard will be a cubesat containing four soda-can-sized pods that represent an Austrian startup’s first step toward making microgravity as accessible as terrestrial mail service is today. Tumbleweed is among the handful of companies developing spacecraft meant to loiter in low-Earth orbit for extended periods, allowing customers to utilize the microgravity environment for research, manufacturing and other purposes. (6/25)

Mitsubishi Electric Contracts MDA Space for Digital Payload for Japanese Defense Satellite (Source: Via Satellite)
MDA Space secured a significant contract to support a next-generation defense communications satellite for Japan. Mitsubishi Electric Corporation has contracted the Canadian manufacturer to build the digital payload, antennas, and various subsystems for a communications satellite that will replace Japan’s Kirameki-2 milsatcom satellite. (6/25)

What Time is it on the Moon? The US and China Disagree (Source: Space.com)
The U.S. and China, the two largest space powers, disagree on what time it is on the moon. That's a problem because experts say satellites from one country will be unable to coordinate with spacecraft from the other during future space missions — which could risk accidents. The White House has tasked NASA with establishing Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC) as a universal time on the moon, which would set the standard for NASA's LunaNet satellite system. But China has other ideas.

China's Chang'e Program, named after the Goddess who flew from the Earth to the moon in Chinese folklore, is the only space program with active lunar relay satellites, Queqiao-1 and Queqiao-2. These relay satellites are the first basis of a moon-wide GPS system meant for future space missions could rely on, meaning they compete with NASA's LunaNet — and because of the way GPS works, these satellites will need a standardized time situation.

While the U.S. surpasses China in terms of total space missions, the relay satellites could give China the edge when it comes to establishing the first lunar GPS system for future moon landings. China also hasn't agreed to use LTC for this system, raising the prospect that timekeeping standards could diverge. Private space-faring companies are also looking to governments to set international standards before spending money on expensive equipment. If China sets the standards before the US, private companies might gear with investments for Chinese customers, giving the country the edge over competitors. (6/25)

Weather Stream Releases First Imagery From GEMS2 Microwave Radiometer (Source: Space News)
Weather Stream, a Boulder, Colorado, commercial weather satellite operator, is collecting global atmospheric observations with its GEMS2-Amethyst satellite. Launched March 30 aboard the SpaceX Transporter 16 rideshare mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, GEMS2-Amethyst is equipped with a commercial microwave radiometer to provide 3D atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles. (6/26)

Quantum Space Gets CFO Before Going Public (Source: Quantum Space)
Quantum Space has hired a new chief financial officer as it prepares to go public. The company said Thursday it hired Adarsh Parekh, who previously worked as CFO at Terran Orbital and Sidus Space. Quantum Space announced plans earlier this month to go public through a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger. (6/26)

Eclipse Space to Support Satellite Design and Manufacturing (Source: Space News)
Former SpaceX engineers who helped build and scale Starlink have launched a startup aiming to deliver megaconstellations for governments and companies. Eclipse Space emerged from stealth Friday a year after its founding in Redmond, Washington. Eclipse's business model is to design satellites and set up the manufacturing process, and also work with regional partners to assemble them, giving customers more control and ownership without first having to build a SpaceX-scale organization. Eclipse sees a future where every nation, along with most major enterprises, will want their own constellations, rather than buy capacity on other systems, as satellite networks become increasingly critical infrastructure. (6/26)

SpaceX Rideshare Missions Curtailed? (Source: Space News)
Satellite companies are increasingly worried that SpaceX's rideshare program, which has offered low-cost access to space for several years, is going away. At least nine SpaceX partners and customers say that SpaceX is not accepting Transporter reservations beyond late 2028 or early 2029, and the manifest for the next couple of years is nearly full. The lack of capacity has left satellite companies scrambling to find a way to space, given limited and more expensive alternatives. While some look to SpaceX's Starship to provide new launch opportunities, others warn that the initial years of Starship operations may be focused on SpaceX's own programs, like Starlink and Artemis lunar landings. (6/26)

ISS Spacewalk to Replace Cadadarm2 Joint (Source: Space News)
A planned International Space Station spacewalk highlights concerns about the aging station. NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Chris Williams are scheduled to conduct a 6.5-hour spacewalk next Tuesday to replace a joint on the Canadarm2 robotic arm. NASA says the arm is designed for such repairs, with spare parts like replacement joints stored there. During a meeting of NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, though, members warned of reduced margins for spare parts for the ISS that had reached "alarming levels," as well as the health of the spacesuits needed for spacewalks. (6/26)

Boeing Using 702MP Bus for MUOS (Source: Space News)
Boeing will use its 702MP bus for two military communications satellites. The company said Thursday that the two Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellites it won as part of a $2 billion Space Force contract to build earlier this week will use that bus. The 702MP was introduced more than 15 years ago and is widely used for commercial communications satellites as well as the Space Force's Wideband Global Satcom satellites. The two new MUOS satellites are projected to launch in 2031 and 2032. (6/26)

L3Harris Expands in Arkansas for Propulsion Systems (Source: Defense Post)
L3Harris has broken ground on two facilities at its Arkansas Advanced Propulsion Facilities campus to support production of the US Army's PAC-3 propulsion systems. The expansion includes a 75,000-square-foot assembly facility, as well as a 70,000-square-foot case preparation facility, and will feature advanced manufacturing technologies such as automated X-ray inspection and fully automated casting. (6/25)

Artemis In-Space Refueling Drives Heavy-Lift Cadence Boost, a Challenge for Launchers and Spaceports (Source: Politico)
Buried in a footnote of a new report, NASA revealed just how challenging SpaceX’s plan is to land humans on the moon. The company needs more than a dozen Starship launches to refuel its lunar lander. Starship has launched once this year, leaving it just over two years to step on the gas and meet NASA’s goal of landing humans on the moon in 2028.

And beyond the complex engineering needed to pull off in-space refueling, NASA’s watchdog agency warns that Starship launches, coupled with other rocket companies’ projected launch rates, could overwhelm current launch pad infrastructure. (6/26)

June 26, 2026

Amid Government-Wide Spending Growth, Agencies Awarded $179 Billion to Small Firms in 2025, Down From 2024 (Source: FNN)
Federal agencies spent more money on federal procurements in 2025. The Government Accountability Office said in June that the government spent about $793 billion on contracts in 2025, up from $755.1 billion in 2024. So despite all the turmoil in federal contracting over the last year, agencies surpassed the 23% governmentwide goal for awards to small businesses in fiscal 2025. Agencies awarded 28% of all prime contracts to small firms last year. But the total dollars going to small businesses dropped to $179 billion last year from $183.5 billion in 2024. (6/25)

SpaceX Plans to Launch Starlink Mobile Service in the US (Source: Ars Technica)
SpaceX has told investors that it plans to launch a new Starlink mobile service for US consumers, in a move that would upend the country’s multibillion-dollar phone network market. The move would require Starlink to build a new retail offering by selling mobile contracts to individual customers, competing directly with the three big US network operators Verizon Wireless, AT&T. and T-Mobile.

To date, SpaceX has offered more limited direct-to-consumer services in the US, preferring to give telecoms groups such as T-Mobile access to its satellites to supplement their existing network coverage in rural areas. (6/26)

NASA Delivers Braking Engines for ESA Rosalind Franklin Mars Mission (Source: European Spaceflight)
NASA has delivered the first braking engines for the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rosalind Franklin mission to Mars. The braking engines are one of three major contributions NASA has committed to the mission, along with launch services and Radioisotope Heater Units (RHUs) to keep the rover’s instruments warm during cold Martian nights. (6/26)

SpaceX Alum Have Raised $9.2B, New Data Shows (Source: Payload)
SpaceX’s impact on the space industry is much broader than the company’s own achievements. As an organization that’s employed thousands of engineers in its 24-year history, SpaceX has acted as both a breeding ground for high-level talent, and as a launch pad for new ideas. Crustdata found that ~1,330 SpaceX alumni have founded new ventures after leaving the company. Collectively, these founders have raised $9.2B to date. (6/26)

Another 'Star' is Born: SpaceX Names AI Megaconstellation 'Starmind' (Source: Space.com)
Once again, SpaceX has looked to the stars for naming inspiration. Elon Musk confirmed on Tuesday (June 23) that SpaceX will call its planned AI satellite megaconstellation "Starmind". The choice should come as no surprise, as it continues the company's long-running stellar naming theme. Starmind is perhaps the most ambitious of all of these projects. If everything goes according to plan, the megaconstellation will be about 100 times bigger than the current version of Starlink. (6/25)

NASA Selects Rocket Lab to Launch Sun, Earth Science Missions (Source: NASA)
NASA has selected Rocket Lab to provide the launch service for both the agency’s PolSIR (Polarized Submillimeter Ice-cloud Radiometer) and Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor-2 (TSIS-2) missions. The two selections are part of NASA’s Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) launch services contract. This contract allows the agency to award fixed-price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity launch service task orders during VADR’s 10-year ordering period, with a maximum total contract value of $300 million. (6/25)

Infleqtion Teams With Voyager in New Quantum Space Initiative (Source: Via Satellite)
A group of companies and organizations including Infleqtion, Voyager Technologies, Monarch Quantum, Armada, and the University of Colorado Boulder have joined forces to move the U.S.’s quantum space ambitions forward. This week, the partners announced America’s Quantum Space Initiative, to position the U.S. as a global leader in quantum tech.

The initiative is designed to foster collaboration across industry, academia, and government to accelerate innovation, expand opportunities for quantum technologies in space, and strengthen U.S. leadership in next-generation technologies. Founding innovators will help bring together leaders across these disciplines, identify opportunities for technology development, demonstration, and deployment, and accelerate the transition of quantum technologies from pioneering demonstrations to real-world space applications through a Quantum Space Hub. (6/25)

Japan Eyes Sovereign D2D Satellite Network (Source: Payload)
Japan plans to select a proposal this month for its domestically owned and operated D2D satellite network, called J-LEO. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) has already allocated ~$1B in subsidies, covering up to half the total project cost. The winning operator will be required to match that investment with private funds—meaning the full build-out could run to ~$2B.

The autonomy argument: As an archipelago vulnerable to natural disasters, Japan has a clear rationale for pursuing D2D capabilities. Multiple Japanese mobile network operators (MNOs)— including KDDI, SoftBank, and NTT DOCOMO—already provide D2D services in partnership with SpaceX’s Starlink. Yet the Japanese government doesn’t see this option as reliable enough for data sovereignty. J-LEO will be a domestic alternative for LEO D2D comms, reducing dependency on foreign-controlled satellite (read: SpaceX Starlink) networks.

The J-LEO project will require companies to meet the following conditions: Achieve a nationwide rollout by March 2029; Complete all network and data control domestically in Japan; Support video calls on regular smartphones for at least 70% of the day; and Enable free roaming across carriers during disasters. (6/25)

R-Space is Set to Launch Austria’s First Commercial Satellite Aboard Isar Aerospace’s ‘Spectrum’ Vehicle (Source: Spacewatch Global)
Vienna-based newspace company, R-Space, has unveiled AT-Astra, its first fully in-house satellite mission and the first commercial satellite designed and built entirely in Austria. Scheduled for this autumn, the satellite will launch aboard the third flight of Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum rocket from the Andøya Spaceport in Norway. (6/25)

SpaceComputer and Spacemanic Partner on Security Demo Mission (Source: Payload)
Digital security startup SpaceComputer will fly a demo mission of its secure compute architecture on a Spacemanic satellite in 2027. The architecture—dubbed Space Fabric—is SpaceComputer’s solution not only for the growing hacking threats on-orbit, but also for the increasing number of shared-compute modules operating on rideshare sats.

In its demo mission, Space Fabric aims to validate two novel security features that offer assurance and protection to virtual payloads. Space Fabric creates a physical barrier between different payloads on-board the same satellite, by setting up a wall within shared systems to ensure orbital compute operations aren’t tapped or altered. Space Fabric also provides cryptographic proofs to confirm that processes run in orbit were, in fact, run in orbit. (6/25)

House Appropriations Committee Approves $55.5 Billion for U.S. Space Force (Source: Space News)
The House Appropriations Committee on June 24 advanced a fiscal 2027 defense appropriations bill providing $1.07 trillion for the Pentagon, a $234 billion increase over enacted 2026 funding. For the Space Force, the bill allocates about $55.5 billion, including $35.3 billion for research and development, $9.6 billion for procurement, $8.8 billion for operations and maintenance, and $1.78 billion for military personnel. (6/25)

Pentagon Rushes to Allocate $152B Before Budget Cuts (Source: Breaking Defense)
The Pentagon is working quickly to allocate $152 billion from the "One Big Beautiful Bill" by the end of September to avoid an 8.3% cut to any unallocated funds. The bill funds a range of defense initiatives, including nuclear modernization and the Golden Dome system. War Secretary Pete Hegseth has acknowledged the challenge, noting that only $26 billion has been contracted so far, and Elaine McCusker of the American Enterprise Institute emphasizes the importance of utilizing every dollar to address long-term issues. (6/24)

Space Force Relaunches Stalled Antenna Program (Source: Space News)
The US Space Force has relaunched its mobile satellite-control antenna program, originally halted after ending a $1.7 billion AeroVironment contract. This revived effort, under the Satellite Communication Augmentation Resource program, seeks commercially derived phased-array antennas to enhance the aging Satellite Control Network, which currently relies on mechanically steered dishes and faces capacity constraints as the number of satellites increases. The program aims for scalable production and supply-chain resilience, drawing interest from both established defense contractors and emerging commercial firms. (6/24)

Firefly Aerospace Acquires Space-ng AI Company (Source: Douglas Messier)
Firefly Aerospace has acquired Space-ng Inc., a leader in AI-powered vision navigation and autonomous guidance systems whose technology was used to land Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 on the Moon in March 2025. Space-ng brings high-resolution spacecraft cameras and AI compute hardware to Firefly’s Blue Ghost landers and Elytra orbital vehicles to enable advanced space domain awareness, onboard optical navigation, rendezvous and proximity operations, and docking without requiring GPS or GNSS. (6/25)

Small Satellite Operators Confront a Bottleneck to Space Access (Source: Space News)
At least nine SpaceX partners and customers tell SpaceNews that SpaceX is not accepting Transporter reservations beyond late 2028 or early 2029, and the manifest for the next couple of years is nearly full. Some customers said they expect SpaceX will extend Falcon 9 rideshares if its super heavy-lift Starship rocket does not come online as quickly as company leaders anticipate. But the lack of spots — potentially as few as half as many as in recent years — has left satellite companies scrambling to find a way to space. (6/25)

ICEYE to Double Radar-Satellite Capacity by Late 2027 as Demand Surges (Source: Defense News)
Finland’s ICEYE expects to double global production to 100 radar satellites by the end of 2027, the company told Defense News in a clarification of comments by CEO Rafal Modrzewski at a defense-industry conference in Brussels on Tuesday. (6/25)

SpaceX Plans to Build 'Starpipe' Natural Gas Pipeline in Texas to Fuel Starship Rockets (Source: Reuters)
SpaceX plans to begin next month building an eight‑mile (13-km) natural gas pipeline called "Starpipe" to its Texas launch facilities, according to county filings, as the company seeks to ramp up launches of its next‑generation Starship rocket. Starpipe, which will end at SpaceX’s Texas company town of Starbase, is ‌expected to be in service by January 26, according to a document filed last month with the Texas Railroad Commission by SpaceX affiliate Lone Star Mineral Development. (6/25)

Defense Research Facilities are ‘Deteriorating,’ Need Funding Reform (Source: Aerospace America)
The Pentagon’s aging research facilities need infrastructure investments and centralized information-sharing systems, according to a report released by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. The report followed a 90-day review of the Defense Research Enterprise, which includes in-house laboratories, federally-funded centers and affiliated university facilities.

The report found research, development, test and engineering “infrastructure is deteriorating” because authorized military construction projects “continually slip due to the Services’ reprioritizing of scarce” funding. (6/24)

13 Years and $500 Million for a Stage Adapter? Report Justifies NASA Cancellations (Source: Ars Technica)
NASA’s Office of the Inspector General prepared a memorandum on the elements of the Artemis Program that NASA was canceling as its focus shifted to the Moon’s surface. "Over the course of their life cycles, the combined contract values for these efforts ballooned from nearly $2.8 billion to $5.9 billion and NASA extended their contracted delivery dates by up to seven years,” states the report by the inspector general. “However, our projections indicate that if NASA allowed work to continue to completion, the systems would have cost more and taken longer than what was on contract.” (6/24)

China Dumping More Rocket Bodies in Space, Endangering Low Earth Orbit Satellites (Source: Breaking Defense)
China has been abandoning used launcher rocket stages in low Earth orbit (LEO) at an ever-increasing pace, putting both military and commercial satellites in that crowded orbital regime at greater risk of serious debris-creating collisions, according to a new report. Used rocket bodies are among the most dangerous kinds of space junk because they carry residual amounts of fuel that often causes them to explode, thus creating even more on-orbit debris.

The analysis from space monitoring firm LeoLabs found that from January 2021 to January 2025 China has abandoned 51 spent rocket bodies in LEO above 650 kilometers (about 404 miles) in altitude, more than doubling the number for the previous five years to bring the total to 96. (6/25)

Botswana Signs the Artemis Accords (Source: Space News)
Botswana became the 68th country to sign the Artemis Accords during a ceremony at NASA Headquarters. Signed on June 25, 2026, by Minister of Communications and Innovation David Tshere, the nation committed to the transparent, safe, and peaceful exploration of space. (6/25)

Did NASA Just Find Evidence of Ancient Life on Mars? (Source: Space.com)
Could Martian mudstones be holding evidence of ancient microbes? New findings strengthen the case that the Red Planet once held life. New data from NASA's Perseverance rover has revealed complex carbon in two Martian mudstones found in Mars' Jezero crater, the same location where previous evidence of possible ancient life has been found.

Scientists think this macromolecular (meaning large) complex carbon, could hold evidence that ancient microbial life once existed in the same sedimentary material, according to one new paper describing these observations. "Measurements of two mudstones show hundreds of organic detections, making this the most robust organic detection in Jezero crater," the paper reads. (6/24)

ESA Chief Calls for Greater European Space Autonomy as Trust in US Partnership Erodes (Source: Space.com)
The head of ESA has issued a wakeup call to decision makers amid partners canceling missions and geopolitical changes affecting the space sector. ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher stated "Europe has become too exposed to decisions beyond its control." With trust in the U.S. as a reliable partner taking a hit, collaboration with other space actors such as Japan, South Korea and Australia could grow, while Europe also pursues its own capabilities. (6/24)

Is Space Tourism Finally Poised for Liftoff? (Source: New York Times)
The modern space tourism landscape is more robust and commercial than when Dennis Tito took flight in 2001. For one, it is dominated by private, billionaire-led companies: Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin lead the way, though their short-term plans have diverged in recent months. Twenty-five years later, the frenzy surrounding the initial public offering of SpaceX, along with the recent success of NASA’s Artemis II mission, has people dreaming of space travel again. (6/25)

The modern space tourism sector is evolving from suborbital joyrides toward deep-space travel. While Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin dominate suborbital flights, SpaceX aims to send private citizens around the Moon. Virgin Galactic focuses on suborbital spaceplanes, with flights departing from Spaceport America in New Mexico and the company adding new spaceships.

Blue Origin offers suborbital missions from Texas aboard its New Shepard rocket and is expected to resume flights after a stand-down to focus on New Glenn orbital rocket development. And SpaceX is developing its Starship to transport private individuals on week-long loops around the Moon. (6/25)

Capella Validates Mynaric Optical Terminal on Latest SAR Satellite (Source: Via Satellite)
Capella Space validated a Mynaric optical communications terminal on its newest satellite — the first time Capella has deployed an optical terminal. Capella Space released the first synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images from its Acadia-10 satellite on Wednesday, after the satellite launched in March. The satellite is currently demonstrating data transfer at 2.5 gigabits per second in onboard tests. (6/25)

China Schedules Long March 10B Rocket Launch and Recovery Attempt (Source: Space News)
China is preparing for the highly anticipated debut flight of the reusable Long March 10B rocket, scheduled to launch from the Wenchang Space Launch Site this month. The mission aims to conduct China's first orbital booster recovery by catching the rocket’s first stage at sea using an arrestor net. The Long March 10B is a commercial, partially reusable variant of the Long March 10 family. It features a methalox second stage and its first stage is powered by seven engines. (6/25)

UK's Shield Space and Switzerland's ClearSpace Partner to Defend Satellites From Orbital Threats (Source: Space News)
British startup Shield Space plans to combine its autonomous satellite operations software with ClearSpace’s in-orbit servicing capabilities to address emerging orbital threats. The collaboration will focus on integrating cutting-edge technologies designed to protect satellites. One such innovation is the use of compact sensor modules that provide high-performance inertial sensing optimized for aerospace applications. These sensors can help satellites detect and track potential threats in real-time. (6/24)

The Startup Preparing For Space’s Neighborhood Watch Era (Source: Aviation Week)
From a modest workshop in Southern California, a new startup is pursuing the ambitious vision of building patrol-like satellites for critical space infrastructure, much like the guards on alert around valuable facilities here on Earth.

Fortastra, founded last year, is preparing to test its first hardware on orbit to burn down risk on its long-term goal: building a line of satellites to serve as security guards in space for U.S. government, allies and partners, and commercial customers, founder and CEO Mike Smayda told Aviation Week at the company’s headquarters here. The company—with the unofficial tagline “Strength among the stars”—is readying its first two spacecraft for launch later this year on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare, he said. (5/24)