October 29, 2026

China and the US Are Competing for Space Dominance (Source: Bloomberg)
It’s Oct. 1, 2049, the centennial of the People’s Republic of China, and celebrations are truly otherworldly. Chinese researchers are marking the occasion at the nation’s permanent bases on the moon, including a flagship station that opened near the lunar south pole in the 2030s. The outposts are part of the country’s wide-scale investment in space infrastructure that includes orbital data centers, solar power stations and navigation satellites. Chinese astronauts are even commemorating the anniversary from Mars, achieving a decades-in-the-works goal to send a crewed mission to the red planet by midcentury.

At least, that’s the future envisioned by President Xi Jinping and other officials as they try to surpass the US in today’s space race, a competition that’s mostly centered on which superpower will send people to the moon for the first time since the final Apollo mission in 1972. NASA is targeting 2028, before the China Manned Space Agency’s goal of doing so by 2030. The US’s plans, however, hinge on spacecraft made by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, which face daunting engineering challenges, prompting critics such as Jim Bridenstine, NASA chief during President Donald Trump’s first administration, to warn that the US is at risk of ceding its lead to China. (10/29)

Putin Praises Musk as Russia Develops a Starlink Rival and Says Moscow is Coordinating with US Partners (Source: The Independent)
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow is coordinating on low-Earth-orbit satellite networks with Elon Musk and other US partners, while Russia works to develop its own answer to Starlink. His remarks underscore the strategic value of large satellite-internet constellations for civilian and military use, amid reports that Starlink access for Ukraine had recently been slowed. (10/28)

Perseverance Detects Ultrafine Martian Dust and Samples a Potentially Ancient Rock (Source: Reuters)
NASA’s Perseverance rover has measured ultrafine dust particles on materials designed to represent spacesuit surfaces, sharpening concerns about crew exposure during future Mars missions. Separately, the rover collected a sample from a rock dubbed Singita that may be more than 3.9 billion years old. (10/28)

Flexell Space and Satoro Plan 2027 and 2028 Demonstrations of Next-Generation Solar Cells (Source: Space News)
South Korea’s Flexell Space and Singapore-based Satoro have agreed to demonstrate and validate next-generation space solar cells in orbit, with missions planned aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 launches in 2027 and 2028. Flexell will supply solar cells and test modules; Satoro will provide a satellite-as-a-service solution. (10/28)

Components Ready for Starfighters’ F-104 Mach 2 Testbed (Source: AIN)
Component manufacturing is complete for the first two underwing carriers that Starfighters Space plans to fly on its Lockheed F-104 Starfighters for Mach 2 test flights, the Florida-based company announced on October 8. Robby Moto Engineering, based in Casalmaggiore in northern Italy’s Lombardy region, manufactured the parts, which have been received at the company's base at the Kennedy Space Center for assembly.

The underwing carriers form the core of what Starfighters Space calls Wind Tunnel in the Sky, a service that offers customers several minutes of sustained flight at Mach 2 for testing hardware, while a run in a ground wind tunnel typically lasts a minute or less.

Each assembled carrier will measure 12 feet long and 7 inches in diameter, matching the size of the AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile that the carrier resembles. Interchangeable nose sections, tail assemblies, fins, and internal payload compartments let the company adapt each carrier to a customer’s hardware while keeping the same external shape. While an airplane may need hardware under both wings to stay balanced, a carrier under one wing can be paired with a different type of store under the other. (10/28)

SpaceX No Longer Needs NASA, and that’s a Problem for America’s Space Agency (Source: Ars Technica)
For nearly a quarter of a century, Elon Musk and his essential partner at SpaceX, Gwynne Shotwell, viewed the United States government as El Dorado, the mythical city of gold. Over time, against long odds, the pair cleared a path for SpaceX to contracts at NASA and the US military. They sued when things did not go their way. They hollered about unfair playing fields. Most importantly, they delivered quality space products to the US government for less.

Then they started winning everything. So much so that the relationship between the customer and contractor began to change. Slowly at first, but ever more quickly, SpaceX went from needing the US government as an indispensable customer to becoming an indispensable contractor for the nation. The pendulum has swung so far now that SpaceX seems increasingly disinterested in the US government for most contracts outside of data services, such as Starshield for military communications and observations.

Musk believes the government moves too slowly and simply isn’t ambitious enough when it comes to space. Often, in meetings at SpaceX, he will describe working with the US government as “like wearing lead shoes and walking through molasses.” Instead, Musk wants to build bigger things, like Starship. Reaching stratospheric financial targets requires launching incredible numbers of Starlink and Starmind satellites, all of which can be dispensed like Pez candy into space. Launch services for third parties, which include NASA and other Moon Base customers, represent a rounding error in SpaceX’s revenue in the post-IPO world. (10/29)

Cape Canaveral Braces for its New "Boom Cycle" (Source: Axios)
Last year, Space Launch Delta 45, the military command overseeing the Cape, supported 109 orbital liftoffs from the base — the most in its history. In April, Space Launch Delta 45 oversaw five different rocket launches for unique missions, breaking a record set at the height of the U.S.-Soviet space race in the 1960s. Space Force officials estimate that the number of Cape launches could rise from the 109 it reached in 2025 to "approximately 1,200 by 2036" annually, according to the service's vision plan. (10/29)

Seraphim Space Launches Space Academy (Source: Payload)
Thinking of going back to school? Seraphim Space is taking applications. The space-focused venture capital firm today announced the launch of the Seraphim Academy, a new program for early-stage space startups offering courses in fundraising, scaling, and operations. The program comes with up to a year of support, and $150,000 of investment for each company that takes part. (10/29)

UCF Planning Suborbital Launch From Seagate's Launch Barge (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
During "Space Week" at UCF, the university announced plans to launch a rocket to space, combining the efforts of two rocket clubs on campus. The project is aiming to work with St. Petersburg-based Seagate Space and launch an 18-foot-tall, two-stage rocket off Florida’s Gulf Coast on Seagate’s in-development launch barge.

That may not come until 2028, but the clubs are planning a test launch with a smaller rocket working with the Florida Institute of Oceanography on a barge in summer next year. Shelby Wooten, a UCF junior majoring in mechanical engineering representing the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space club said that launch “technically makes us the first U.S. rocket launch from sea, even though we’re collegiate, and if you’re not including some defense companies like Lockheed Martin.” (10/29)

Annual UCF-Baylor Football Game is a Florida-Texas Space Rivalry (Source: UCF)
UCF's Space Week culminates with a football rivalry when the Knights take on Baylor. The UCF football team hosts Baylor for the annual "Space Game" on Friday, Oct. 30, at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN. The Space Game has grown annually since it debuted in 2017, paying tribute to the university’s origin story as a provider of talent for nearby Kennedy Space Center and the U.S. space program in the 1960s. The game features space themed uniforms for the UCF Knights. (10/28)

Firefly Aerospace Says Space Systems Command Using FORGE for WFOV Satellite (Source: Defense Daily)
U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command System Delta 84 has used the Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution (FORGE) system developed by Firefly Aerospace's [FLY] SciTec subsidiary, according to the company. "The latest milestone incorporates data from the SSC’s wide field of view [WFOV] space vehicle in geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) and expands the system’s observational reach to strengthen missile warning and defense," according to the company. (10/28)

Space Force Missile-Tracking Satellite Launch Slips to 2027 as SDA Reassesses Acquisition Approach (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Space Force’s first operational missile-tracking satellites are now expected to launch in spring 2027, nearly two years later than originally planned, as the government considers additional flight demonstrations before committing to large purchases of next-generation sensors. (10/28)

BAE Systems Buys a New Colorado Manufacturing Facility (Source: Aerospace Colorado)
BAE Systems completed the purchase of a 130,000-square-foot production facility in Weld County to expand manufacturing of space hardware and sensor systems. The company expects to hire more than 200 employees over 12–24 months, with potential employment of approximately 600 at full capacity. Production is expected to begin in early 2028. This is one of the clearest new manufacturing investments in Colorado's space industry this week. The expansion could create opportunities for local suppliers in precision machining, electronics, testing, equipment, and specialized manufacturing. (10/26)

Metrea Special Aerospace, ISR Inc Awarded Defense Contract (Source: Aerospace Colorado)
A contract notice posted October 22 identifies an $80 million award to Metrea Special Aerospace, ISR Inc. for contractor-operated airborne intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance services supporting border-security operations. The listed place of performance is Colorado Springs. This is a relevant defense-services award in Colorado Springs, although the awardee is headquartered in Florida. (10/26)

Kompsat-6 Illustrates the Schedule Risks of Booking a Shared Launch (Source: Space Intel Report)
South Korea’s Kompsat-6 radar-observation satellite has become an example of the risks of launching as a co-passenger rather than buying a dedicated mission. The case highlights the tradeoff satellite operators face between the lower cost of a shared ride and the greater control of a dedicated launch. Kompsat-6 was to be a co-passenger instead of riding on a dedicated launch. The 1,750-kg Kompsat-6 has been fully built and in storage since August 2022. Its planned 2022 launch on Russia’s Angara rocket was scrapped following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. (10/28)

NASA Confirms $590 Million UVEX Space Telescope, Targeting Launch by January 2031 (Source: Universe Today)
NASA has confirmed the Ultraviolet Explorer mission with a total lifecycle budget of $590 million and a commitment to launch by January 2031. The telescope is designed to survey the ultraviolet universe and is described as about 100 times more powerful than GALEX, whose mission ended in 2013. (10/28)

Spaceport Siting Proposal Focuses on Usable Launch Capacity (Source: New Space Economy)
A Foundation for Defense of Democracies submission recommends evaluating spaceport capacity through the missions a facility can support, rather than treating the number of launch sites as a sufficient measure of national capability. The October 26 document addresses the FAA's request for information on new spaceport locations and priority airspace for designated launch corridors. It recommends comparing expansion at existing facilities, including Kodiak and Wallops, with the development of new sites.

Supporting facilities also determine whether a site can conduct a mission. Payload processing, tracking, utilities, and trained personnel contribute to usable capacity. A launch pad without the supporting systems required by its operator is not equivalent to a fully prepared launch capability. (10/28)

Comparing KSC, Starbase Construction Timelines to Understand the Development of Starbase, Louisiana (Source: NSF)
NASA built the Kennedy Space Center in about five and a half years, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station took 14 months, and Starbase, Texas, has taken about four and a half years thus far. With SpaceX’s recently announced Starbase site in Louisiana planned to support its first launch in approximately three years, a closer look at how other launch sites were built could offer insights into when we might expect the world’s latest spaceport to become operational. Click here. (10/28) https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/10/construction-timeline-comparisons/

Space Force Missile-Tracking Satellites Slip to Spring 2027 as SDA Reconsiders Acquisition Approach (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Space Force’s first operational missile-tracking satellites are now expected to launch in spring 2027, nearly two years behind the original plan. The delay comes as the Space Development Agency considers additional flight demonstrations before committing to large purchases of next-generation sensors. (10/28)

Delegation Urges Trump to Put Space Academy in Tennessee (Source: Rep. Van Epps)
Rep. Van Epps, Governor Lee, Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, and Rep. Scott DesJarlais announced Tennessee’s intention to pursue having the United States Space Academy in the Volunteer State. The initiative, established by President Trump to strengthen America’s space superiority, presents an opportunity to build on Tennessee’s existing strengths and prepare the next generation of leaders for America’s future in space. (10/28)

Far EasTone Partners with Elveo Mobile to Pursue Satellite-to-Phone Service in Taiwan (Source: Beyond LEO)
Taiwanese telecom operator Far EasTone (FET) has announced a partnership with Elveo Mobile, a company offering direct-to-device (D2D) satellite connectivity, with the stated aim of advancing satellite services that reach ordinary mobile phones in Taiwan. The announcement, made on October 27, sets out a direction rather than a product. No service, launch date, price, satellites or spectrum for Taiwan were named, and no financial terms were disclosed. (10/28)

Turkey Detains 85 After Raids on Gang Suspected Over Starlink Fire in Poland (Source: TVP World)
Police in Turkey have arrested 85 people in nationwide raids on an organized crime group suspected of involvement in crimes including an arson attack on a Starlink facility in Poland. Police conducted raids in 30 Turkish provinces on Tuesday, taking the suspects—including 35 minors—into custody for questioning. The suspects are believed to be connected with the ‘Dalton’ gang, an Istanbul-based crime group accused, among other things, of recruiting young people via social media to commit criminal acts. (10/27)

U.S. Space Force Wants Multivendor ‘GPS Gen’ Constellation (Source: Aviation Week)
As the U.S. Space Force contemplates the future of its GPS constellation, the service says it wants a multivendor and integrated architecture that can operate in a more contested environment and adapt to future needs. (10/27)

SpaceX Starlink Shift Sends California Past Florida in Launches (Source: Florida Today)
Move over Florida. California raced past a new launch record with no slowdown in sight — all while Cape Canaveral launch activity remains quiet. SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket early Oct. 27 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. It was a routine Starlink mission but clocked in as the 72nd rocket launch of 2026 from California, breaking the state’s all-time yearly launch record. It also put California well ahead of Florida, which has only counted 60 launches as of late October.

This marks the first time since the 1970s that California has surpassed Florida’s yearly rocket launch cadence. Like Florida’s record-breaking 109 launches in 2025, California’s launch surge has been mostly SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets on Starlink missions. (10/28)

Starlink Brinkmanship Is Driving Allies to Rethink US Reliance (Source: Bloomberg)
European officials have intensified discussions about ways to reduce their reliance on the US and American defense contractors following the recent blame game around Ukraine’s Starlink restrictions, according to people familiar with the matter. After days of finger-pointing about changes to Starlink’s speed in Ukraine, Elon Musk said in a post on X that the company had acted after Ukraine violated the company’s rules by using Starlink for offensive drone strikes. (10/27)

SpaceX Pauses Florida Rocket Launches for 6 Weeks (Source: Florida Today)
A company official has indicated that SpaceX is completely pausing rocket launches for a period of six weeks in Florida. “I think you Floridians are noticing we’re not launching Falcon 9 as much right now, right?” SpaceX vice president Kiko Dontchev said on Oct. 21. "We have a six-week gap before the next Falcon 9." The reason for the ongoing six-week launch drought in Florida is much the same for why SpaceX phased out its Falcon 9 rocket in the first place. The company is in the final stretch of setting the stage for the highly anticipated Florida debut of its massive Starship rocket. (10/27)

Virgin Galactic Unveils Spaceship Apeiron (Source: Virgin Galactic)
Virgin Galactic announced the name of its new Spaceship will be Apeiron (A'-per-on). Drawn from the ancient Greek concept of the boundless, Apeiron embodies the infinite possibilities that spaceflight brings to each of us individually and all of us collectively. The name was chosen by a public vote that drew thousands of responses from around the world. This included 83 countries and six continents, giving the global space community a direct role in shaping the identity of the company’s lead Spaceship. (10/28)

India Aims to Expand Space Economy From $8.4 Billion to $44 Billion (Source: Economic Times)
Rising demand for low Earth orbit satellites is expected to enhance India's space industry growth. A new Small Satellite Launch Vehicle launch pad will increase launch capacity in Tamil Nadu. The government's reforms have facilitated increased private participation in space activities. Various funds and technology transfers aim to support startups and enhance their capabilities. The Indian space economy is targeted to expand significantly over the next decade. (10/27)

NASA, Agriculture Department Partner On Space Data Sharing (Source: Payload)
NASA and the Department of Agriculture signed an agreement on Saturday to cooperate on EO and geospatial analytics to improve the data available to American farmers. The MoU is the second this month signed by the space agency to boost collaboration among government agencies. (10/27)

Deadline for the 2026 Sacknoff Prize for Space History - 25 November 2026 (Source: Space 3.0)
The deadline for the Sacknoff Prize for Space History is 25 November 2026. Awarded since 2011, the Prize is designed to encourage original research by university students in the field of space history. Undergraduate and graduate students are encouraged to submit their original manuscript for consideration! Click here. (10/28)

Democrats Want to Punish Elon Musk. Nationalizing SpaceX Would Punish Innovation (Source: Reason)
Elon Musk is under attack! Countless Democrats are admitting they plan to investigate or even jail him if they take back power on Congress in the midterms. They can't tell you what he specifically did wrong, but they'll come up with something. Just as bad, or even worse, however, is that some of his critics want to nationalize his companies, including Starlink, which provides crucial infrastructure to Ukraine. Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, a far-left populist Democrat, thinks Starlink is too important to be left under Musk's control, and that the federal government would do a better job administering it. (10/27)

ULA Plans November Return To Flight for Vulcan, Carrying Amazon Leo Satellites (Source: Space News)
United Launch Alliance plans to resume Vulcan launches in mid-November after a nine-month hiatus caused by a solid rocket booster anomaly. The rocket will carry 40 Amazon Leo satellites to low Earth orbit no earlier than Nov. 13. (10/28)

Ukraine's Himera Starts Testing with GomSpace for Proposed Constellation (Source: Space News)
A Ukrainian startup has started testing a communications satellite as part of a proposed constellation. Himera announced Tuesday its Obria Nano satellite, built by Danish company GomSpace, is undergoing tests after a launch on a SpaceX rideshare mission earlier this month. The companies plan to design a constellation that would provide communications coverage across Ukraine. It is one of at least two European-backed initiatives aimed at giving Ukraine greater control over satellite communications following disruptions this month to SpaceX's Starlink and Starshield services that affected Ukrainian military operations. Finnish companies Iceye and Nokia announced an agreement with the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense earlier this month to study a broadband satellite constellation. (10/28)

NASA Astrophysics Mission EVEX Passes Review (Source: Space News)
A NASA astrophysics mission has cleared a key review. NASA announced Tuesday that the Ultraviolet Explorer (UVEX) mission passed its Key Decision Point C review, allowing the mission to go into full-scale development. UVEX is scheduled to launch no later than January 2031 with a total cost of $590 million. UVEX will perform an all-sky survey at ultraviolet wavelengths and will also be able to rapidly observe events like supernova explosions. NASA is proceeding with UVEX despite omitting funding for the mission in its fiscal year 2026 and 2027 budget proposals. The project's principal investigator said recently the mission is working through challenges such as communications for the spacecraft, which will be in a highly elliptical orbit, and how it will be launched given the projected retirement of Falcon 9. (10/28)

Blue Origin Pad Rebuild Ready by December for Potential Launch (Source: Space News)
Blue Origin expects to complete repairs to its New Glenn launch pad in Florida by December. A company executive said at a conference this week that the rebuilt pad at Launch Complex 36 should be activated by early to mid-December. That would clear the way for a return-to-flight of the rocket by the end of the year. FAA planning documents show a notional Dec. 28 date for that launch. The company has nearly 1,200 people working on the pad around the clock. NASA officials recently said they were impressed with Blue Origin's speed while noting that launch could slip to January. (10/28)

India's NVS-03 Satellite to Fly with Open Valve (Source: The Federal)
An Indian navigation satellite launching this week will fly with a problematic valve left open. The NVS-03 satellite is scheduled to launch as soon as Friday on a GSLV Mark 2. Its predecessor, NVS-02, was stranded in a transfer orbit last year when a pyro valve in an oxidizer line failed to open. Indian space agency officials said NVS-03 will launch with that valve open, relying instead on a different valve elsewhere in the line to keep oxidizer from leaking. Some officials said that while this prevents a repeat of the previous failure, it creates new risks for the spacecraft because of the increased reliance on the other valve. (10/28)

Germany's OHB Investing in MediaMobil (Source: OHB)
German satellite manufacturer OHB is investing in a provider of satellite communications solutions. OHB announced this week it is taking a 25% stake in MediaMobil, a Germany company that develops technologies for satellite communications in remote locations. The companies have been working together since 2020 on concepts for an offshore launch platform in the North Sea. OHB said the investment will help it expand across more of the satellite value chain. (10/28)

Blue Origin Plans Manufacturing Expansion in Washington (Source: KING 5)
Blue Origin will make Des Moines WA the site of a new manufacturing facility. The company's expansion in King County will include a mix of lab, development, and light production, Blue Origin said, adding that, at full capacity, the facility is expected to support hundreds of employees. Commercial real estate brokerage Newmark announced a full-building lease for the 265,922-square-foot industrial facility last week, indicating the deal had brought Prologis' holdings in the Des Moines Creek industrial corridor to 100% occupancy. (10/27)

U.S. Ambassador Hoekstra Makes the Case for Canada’s Sovereign Push (Source: SpaceQ)
U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra came to Space Canada’s SpaceBound conference in Gatineau last Tuesday with a message for Ottawa, one he delivered many times: Canada is making a mistake by going its own way. By the time the “fireside chat” was over, he had completed his task and inadvertently made the case for Canada’s push for sovereign space capabilities.

Hoekstra pointed to 67 years of space collaboration between the two countries, which he dated to 1959. He described the U.S. vision for space, from returning to the moon to turning research into business. And he described Canada’s role, transitioning from space to politics. “Now we’re waiting for where Canada wants to go,” he said. “[The] Prime Minister [and the] minister this morning have indicated that Canada maybe sees a different future than what we do...  We’re talking to people around the world, we’ve got lots of people that want to partner with the United States, that will work with us in space… If it’s not Canada, the space will be filled."

When Hoekstra says “Canada wants to go somewhere else,” he isn’t talking about the moon. Canada has been an all-in Artemis partner for years, and spent money on a Lunar Gateway the U.S. unilaterally shelved after politely telling its partners it had changed plans mid-stream. That’s partly why Canada is hedging. People were shaking their heads, and the applause at the end was brief and polite. Some said they felt insulted. (10/27)

China has Tripled its Satellite Fleet Since 2018 (Source: Breaking Defense)
A new report by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) finds that China has tripled its fleet of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) satellites since 2018 and continues to expand capabilities to detect, track and target US and allied forces on the ground and at sea. (10/27)

'They Smoke Us': Why a Moon Astronaut Thinks F1 is Ahead of NASA (Source: ESPN)
How does NASA compare to Formula 1? The answer was surprising. "Oh, they crush us," Reid Wiseman replied. "I mean, the level of engineering here, they smoke us." Wiseman's view is rooted in the priorities of the two disciplines. NASA places a premium on proven technology and backup systems, even if that means carrying additional weight into space to ensure the mission objectives are met. Formula 1, meanwhile, is about the relentless pursuit of performance and pushing the boundaries of engineering in search of even the smallest advantage.

As we spoke, we were surrounded by Mercedes' race operation -- engineers, mechanics, media team, performance coaches, who have impressed him as much as the technology. "In spaceflight, what we really need is tried and true, redundancy, and we can accept a little bit of a mass penalty," he said. "Here, they're just pushing everything to the next level, and just every single thing is ... it's not just the cars, it's the humans. You know, everybody's walking around with WHOOP straps, and monitoring everything about themselves. They're all basically athletes. They're all going all in at all times. I love the way they deal with human performance and mechanical performance." (10/27)

Astroscale Proposes Feet of 'Bodyguard' Spacecraft to Protect Satellites From Orbital Attacks (Source: Space.com)
Technologies developed and tested in orbit to remove space junk and fix broken satellites can be speedily repurposed to build fleets of bodyguard spacecraft to protect important satellites from adversary attacks, space clean-up company Astroscale thinks. Astroscale made history with its 2024 up-close in-orbit inspection of a discarded Japanese rocket stage during the pioneering ADRAS-J mission in low Earth orbit (LEO), the region of space below altitudes of 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers).

The firm's ELSA-D mission, which ran from 2021 to 2024, was the first commercial endeavor to demonstrate orbital capture technologies in LEO. Now, this technology can come in handy as Western space assets face increasing threats from Russia. (10/27)

Vancouver Company has Bagged a $3 Million Task Order From NASA (Source: National Post)
A Canadian space organization has received a $3-million task order from NASA to evaluate how its commercial satellite data can be used to complement data recorded by Landsat. Landsat is the longest-running continuous U.S. Earth observation program, dating back to 1972, and the data it records is accessible to anyone across the world. Vancouver-based EarthDaily, which launched in 2021, will provide Earth observation data to NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), who both assist in operating Landsat. (10/27)

SpaceX Is Raising Raptor’s Sea-Level Thrust While Holding Engine Mass Steady (Source: Teslarati)
SpaceX’s Raptor engine family has steadily increased sea-level thrust while simultaneously reducing mass, turning iterative engineering gains into substantially higher performance for the Super Heavy booster. Raptor 1 delivered 185 metric tons of thrust at roughly 2,080 kilograms, while Raptor 2 raised that to 230 tons while cutting mass to about 1,630 kilograms. SpaceX data for Raptor 3 lists a target of 280 tons at 1,525 kilograms (with further reductions in associated vehicle hardware), while operational flight ratings have been cited near 250 tons.

Elon Musk stated that Raptor 4 is expected to reach 300 tons of sea-level thrust at roughly the same mass as Raptor 3. Across these versions, thrust has risen by more than 60 percent from the first engines while engine mass has fallen, producing a sharp improvement in thrust-to-weight ratio. With 33 engines on SuperHeavy, the jump from earlier versions to a 300-ton Raptor 4 would produce roughly 9,900 metric tons of total liftoff thrust, nearly three times the Saturn V’s approximately 3,400 metric tons from its five F-1 engines.

For Starship’s architecture, the practical effects are large. Greater liftoff thrust supports heavier vehicles, larger propellant loads, and higher payloads to low Earth orbit, figures SpaceX has targeted in the 100-plus-ton reusable range. That capacity underpins orbital refueling, lunar missions, and eventual Mars cargo and crew flights. Continued growth in sea-level thrust therefore tightens the gap between theoretical rocket performance and the high flight rates and reusability needed to make large-scale space transport practical. (10/26)

Boeing to be Awarded Sole-Source Deal Worth up to $946 Million to Maintain Military Satellites (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Space Force plans to award Boeing a sole-source contract worth up to $945.9 million to maintain and modernize military communications satellites and ground systems, citing the company’s ownership of proprietary technical data and software needed to perform the work. (10/28)

October 28, 2026

Florida's Spaceport Designation for Homestead Spurs Development (Source: Miami Today)
Two aerospace and aviation-related businesses have established or are establishing operations in Homestead as the city seeks to build on a state spaceport territory designation granted more than two years ago. The companies are Texas-based AST SpaceMobile, which is developing a space-based cellular broadband network, and Miami-based Global Engine Stands, which signed a 10-year lease for 35,000 square feet at Homestead’s Commerce Park.

Mayor Steven Losner said the city receives inquiries almost weekly from aerospace and defense companies exploring industrial space in Homestead and surrounding areas. AST SpaceMobile has expanded its satellite manufacturing operations into Homestead, while Global Engine Stands, which manufactures equipment used to transport and store aircraft engines, is establishing a presence in the city’s industrial park. (10/27)

UCF Researcher Designing Hypersonic Jet Engine for Seamless Atmospheric and Space Travel (Source: UCF)
UCF Professor Kareem Ahmed is developing a dual-mode liquid detonation propulsion engine that will operate as an air-breathing engine at hypersonic speeds and transition into a rocket engine. Funded by the Department of War’s Joint Hypersonics Transition Office, the UCF-led project aims to develop and test a design for a dual-mode, liquid, rotating detonation engine at UCF’s brand-new Center of Excellence in Hypersonic and Space Propulsion (HyperSpace Center).

The project builds on previous UCF research and may improve energy efficiency and reduce costs for commercial space access and transatlantic travel. The research is in its early stages, but Ahmed says he’s hopeful this transformative technology will be realized over the course of the project. (10/26)

ESA’s Celeste Demonstrates End-to-End LEO-PNT in Orbit (Source: Inside GNSS)
The European Space Agency’s Celeste program has passed another milestone, with its first in-orbit demonstration satellite transmitting navigation signals successfully tracked and decoded by ground receivers. Presenting results at ION GNSS+ 2026, Carlos Catalán of GMV described the first end-to-end validation of the company’s Celeste LEO-PNT demonstration system. (10/26)

Telespazio and EUSPA Sign Agreement to Expand Galileo Fucino Control Center for Second-Generation Constellation (Source: SatNews)
On Monday, October 26, 2026, European space services provider Telespazio and the European Union Agency for the Space Program (EUSPA) signed an agreement to expand the Galileo Control Centre at the Fucino Space Centre in Abruzzo, Italy. Under the accord, EUSPA will fund the facility expansion on behalf of the European Commission, enlarging the ground infrastructure to support orbital operations for the Galileo Second Generation navigation constellation. (10/26)

We’re Going Back to the Moon! Here’s Where We Might Land (Source: UC San Diego)
The National Academy of Sciences issued Oct. 21 an independent report commissioned by NASA recommending four potential crewed lunar missions and outlining their scientific value. The report recommending where this should be done, authored by a committee co-chaired by James Day, a geologist at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, argues that NASA should explore beyond the moon’s south pole and pursue a global exploration strategy to investigate different parts of the moon to answer a wide range of scientific questions. (10/27)

UCF Alum ‘Returns to Earth’ After 378-Day Mars Mission (Source: UCF)
Two-time UCF electrical engineering graduate Matthew Montgomery ’08 ’09MS is one of four crew members selected for NASA’s Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) — a series of analog missions that simulate long-duration stays on the surface of Mars. From Oct. 19, 2025, through Oct. 31, 2026, the crew is living in a 1,700-square-foot, 3D-printed habitat to test how people could live and work on Mars.

The crew’s primary projects included simulated spacewalks with and without virtual reality, navigating time-delay communications, crop growth, meal preparation and consumption and data collection for exercise, hygiene activities, maintenance work, personal time, science work and sleep. (10/27)

Space Force Wants Cislunar Kit Ready to Launch by 2029 (Source: Air and Space Forces)
For years now, Space Force officials have said the service is getting serious about defining its role and crafting an architecture for future cislunar capabilities. Now, the Space Force is taking steps to realize that vision, asking industry to rapidly invest and develop satellites and software that could be ready for operations as soon as 2029. Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy said he’s seen the Pentagon’s posture toward cislunar operations and planning efforts change drastically over the past year.

“There was no talk of cislunar, and basically I was told, ‘Don’t talk about cislunar, and stop getting into it,’” Purdy said. Now, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine, and even a December 2025 executive order from President Donald Trump are emphasizing the importance of cislunar operations and advocating for more investment. The shift is in part linked to China’s lunar ambitions, Purdy said. Beijing has a cislunar roadmap of its own and has already landed several uncrewed spacecraft on the lunar surface. Now, it plans to launch a crewed Moon mission by 2030. (10/27)

Cowboy Space Announces 20,000 Data Satellites (Source: Douglas Messier)
Cowboy Space founder Baiju Bhatt, who co-founded the electronic trading and investing platform Robinhood, announced that Cowboy Space will launch 20,000 artificial intelligence (AI) Stampede satellites aboard its own reusable rocket, Big Iron. The launch vehicle’s second stage will transform into the satellite with solar arrays longer than a football field, which measures 120 yards or 109.7 meters. The math on this plan is pretty complicated. Let’s see what that comes out to: 20,000 satellites ÷ 1 satellite per launch = 20,000 launches. Very ambitious.

Bhatt said the company is aiming to conduct the first launch of Big Iron in December 2028. There will be multiple launches per day of the reusable rocket from multiple launch sites with rapid turnarounds between flights. He believes each launch site can be developed for $1 billion. Cowboy Space is also pursuing the beaming of energy from orbit to Earth. The company’s first satellite, Reason-1, was launched on Oct. 1. The spacecraft carries laser communications system, large-aperture optics, beam-steering systems, and power and thermal architecture.

Cowboy Space announced a $275 million Series B funding round in May. The company has raised $365 million since its founding two years ago. The company is headquartered in San Carlos, California with a production facility in Kent, Washington. (10/27)

Isaacman Confirms Alabama a ‘Strong Contender’ for U.S. Space Academy (Source: 256 Today)
Alabama is among the strong contenders to become home to the proposed U.S. Space Academy, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman confirmed Saturday in an exclusive interview with 256 Today ahead of the Alabama-Texas A&M football game. “Oh, I’m quite sure that Alabama is one of the strong contenders right now,” Isaacman said. (10/26)

Karman Space & Defense Selected to Develop Parachute Deployment System for NASA JPL’s SkyFall Mars Mission (Source: Business Wire)
Karman Space & Defense has been selected by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to design and develop the parachute deployment system, referred to as a mortar, for NASA’s SkyFall mission to Mars. The mortar is a mission-critical element of SkyFall’s entry and descent sequence. As the spacecraft enters the Martian atmosphere, Karman’s system will deploy a parachute to slow the vehicle before the mission releases three helicopters to study Martian weather patterns and search for subsurface ice deposits. (10/26)

Potential New Dwarf Planet Found by Harvard Astrophysicists (Source: WGBH)
Astrophysicists from Harvard University have found what they believe is a previously undiscovered dwarf planet in our own solar system. The object, which the scientists say is probably between 600 and 1,500 kilometers in diameter, is one of the brightest objects discovered in the solar system in decades. (10/27)

New Space Exhibit to Open at Smithsonian (Source: WTOP)
The latest exhibit for the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum renovation is set to open later this week in Southwest D.C. “At Home in Space” will show visitors the 50-year history of experimenting with humans living and working in space. WTOP got a sneak preview of the exhibit. (10/27)

FCC Clears Amazon Leo's $11.5 Billion Acquisition of Globalstar (Source: Space News)
The Federal Communications Commission approved Amazon Leo’s planned $11.5 billion purchase of satellite operator Globalstar, clearing a key regulatory hurdle. Amazon’s satellite business aims to build a communications network, including direct-to-device connectivity, to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink; the FCC said the transaction would serve the public interest. (10/27)

OSCP Unveils Photonic IMU with up to Three Photonic Gyro Axes for Small Spacecraft (Source: Beyond LEO)
OSCPS Motion Sensing wants to give small spacecraft the kind of gyroscope performance that has usually come in bigger, heavier boxes. On October 27, 2026, the Montreal company unveiled the MK2Z-3, a photonic inertial measurement unit (IMU) that it says is now in development, at Silicon Valley Space Week in Mountain View, California. The unit is not finished. OSCP says its specifications are design targets that may change during development, and it plans to ship samples in 2027. (10/28)

Astronomers Band Together to Mine the Open Data Stream from the Roman Telescope (Source: Sky Nightly)
Astronomers have formed a large collaboration to work out how to process and exploit the  data from NASA's Nancy Grace Roman  Space Telescope, a mission that will release its observations to everyone almost as soon as they are taken. The group, called the Roman Science Collaboration, is led by Jessica Lu of UC Berkeley and David Weinberg of Ohio State University. UC Berkeley, which announced the effort on Oct. 23, 2026, put its size at nearly a thousand scientists and growing. The collaboration has been meeting regularly for the past 18 months. (10/27)

DARPA Backs SpaceNukes Ground Test of Kilopower Reactor with Active Control Rods (Source: Beyond LEO)
The team behind a 2018 American space reactor test is planning a follow-on nuclear ground test, this time of a Kilopower reactor whose control rods are actively operated, under an agreement with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Space Nuclear Power Corporation (SpaceNukes), based in Los Alamos, New Mexico, announced on Oct. 21, 2026, that DARPA had awarded it an Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) under the Fast Capacitance (Fat Cat) program. According to SpaceNukes, the contract supports development and ground testing of advanced reactor control technologies. (10/27)

ICEYE Launches Four Radar Satellites, Two of Them for Portugal (Source: Beyond LEO)
ICEYE has put four more synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites into orbit, two of them for Portugal's Atlantic Constellation, its second batch of launches this month. The Helsinki-based company said the same day that all four had been deployed, that each had established communication and that routine commissioning was underway. (10/27)

Researchers Create New Database to Track Origins of Water From Space (Source: Rice University)
All water comes from somewhere. Researchers who want to know where it comes from rely on water isotopes, variants of water molecules with slightly different masses, as location identifiers. In particular, the specific fraction of heavy to light water isotopes is unique to the water’s origin and processes it has undergone and can provide information on how water travels across the globe. From 2002 to the present, eight different satellite missions have been measuring the isotopes of water vapor around the planet, creating a rich dataset of water’s origins and movements. (10/26)

Ottawa Opens Canadian Space Act Consultation, Unveils PNT Plan (Source: SpaceQ)
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly opened consultations at SpaceBound last week on a Canadian space act that would put in-space activity, and the ground segment that controls it, under one authorization. The government also released Canada’s first positioning, navigation and timing resilience framework. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) published the consultation document and the Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Resilience Framework on Oct. 20, the day Joly spoke in Gatineau, Que., and the news release followed on Oct. 22. Submissions on the act are due Dec. 21. (10/26)

Lawsuit Seeks to Void SpaceX Tax Deal, Alleging Violations of Louisiana Open Meetings Law (Source: NoLa)
A citizens group and three residents sued the Vermilion Parish police jury and a newly revived industrial development board Monday, alleging they repeatedly violated Louisiana’s open meetings law while advancing SpaceX’s planned $100 billion spaceport.

The suit says the police jury revived the Vermilion Parish Industrial Development Board, inactive since 1997, at a July 15 meeting. On Aug. 25, the board approved a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement with SpaceX tied to a 25-year property tax exemption estimated at nearly $24 billion.

The agenda referred to the deal only as “Project Osprey,” a code name the suit says was used so that “even if a member of the public happened across the meeting notice, they wouldn’t know what the meeting was about.” After the vote, according to the suit, an unnamed lawyer urged everyone to “take a second to savor the history that was literally just made,” in a room with no members of the public present. (10/26)

The Myth of the Space Pearl Harbor: Why Space Superiority Requires Staying Power (Source: Space Review)
The disclosure last month that the US has fielded space control weapons has ignited new debates about what space warfare would look like. Four experts explain that strategies should focus not on a preemptive strike but instead staying in a war of attrition. Click here. (10/27)
 
Two Commons, One Pattern: the Ethical Kinship of the Ocean and Outer Space (Source: Space Review)
The space community is grappling with challenges as space activities grow, such as orbital debris and access to space resources. Stephen Wood says there are lessons space can learn from stewardship, or lack thereof, of the oceans. Click here. (10/27)
 
Dodging Bullets and Firing Blanks (Source: Space Review)
NASA continues to emphasize an ongoing race to the Moon between the US and China. Jeff Foust reports that, despite this rhetoric, both countries have delayed lunar lander missions that are precursors for crewed missions. Click here. (10/27)
 
Sensor-to-Shooter is a Decision, Not a Wire (Source: Space Review)
The Space Force has emphasized the need to rely on automation for the Golden Dome missile defense system. Bharath Gopalaswamy and Daniel Dant argue the program has not done enough to describe how that automation, including how it will select targets, will work. Click here. (10/27)
 
Space Situational Awareness in Southeast Asia (Source: Space Review)
More countries are developing capabilities to track and monitor spacecraft and debris in orbit to ensure safe operations of their spacecraft. Iuna Tsyrulneva discusses those efforts in Southeast Asia. Click here. (10/27)

UCF Aerospace Medicine Faculty Honored as International Leaders (Source: UCF)
Two UCF College of Medicine faculty have been elected Academicians of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) — a lifetime distinction recognizing worldwide leaders in space travel. UCF Associate Professors Emmanuel Urquieta and Jennifer Fogarty were honored at the IAA’s 79th annual International Astronautical Congress in Antalya, Turkey.

The academy includes 1,200 fellows worldwide who are committed to collaborative research and education that advance space exploration to serve humanity. Urquieta and Fogarty are leaders in the College of Medicine’s emerging aerospace medicine program that is creating a new frontier in healthcare as humans prepare for longer missions to the moon, Mars and beyond. (10/26)

Martian Dust Poses Health Risk to Future Crewed Missions (Source: ConnectSCI)
“Fine particles are smaller than 2.5 microns, and ultrafine particles are around 100nm,” co-author Michael Jones from Australia’s Queensland University of Technology says. “On Earth, airborne particles, or particulate matter, below 2.5 micrometers (i.e., fine particles) are tied to a range of negative health effects because they can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream. Studies have shown that ultrafine particles can travel from the nasal cavity to the brain along the olfactory nerve.”

“Lunar dust is created by micrometeorite impacts and, with no wind or water to wear it down, stays sharp and jagged. Much of the concern about lunar dust is derived from its shape,” he explains. “Martian dust is likely rounded by wind making its chemistry more the concern. Martian dust is enriched in sulphur, chlorine and iron and contains more silica.” (10/26)

October 27, 2026

FCC Clears Amazon Leo’s $11.5 Billion Acquisition of Globalstar (Source: Via Satellite)
The Federal Communications Commission approved Amazon Leo’s deal to acquire U.S. satellite operator Globalstar, removing a key regulatory hurdle for the roughly $11.5 billion transaction. Amazon says the acquisition will support a communications network spanning satellite broadband, 5G and direct-to-device connectivity, positioning the company to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink. (10/27)

U.S. Intel Confirms This Is China’s Secret Spaceplane (Source: TWZ)
The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has confirmed that an image that has been circulating online for years does indeed show an experimental Chinese reusable spaceplane in orbit. A newly released higher-resolution copy of the image underscores that the design is nearly a dead ringer for the X-37B miniature space shuttles now operated by the U.S. Space Force.

DIA included the higher-resolution image of the Chinese spaceplane in a new unclassified report on global security challenges outside of the Earth’s atmosphere, which was released yesterday. A satellite belonging to Maxar Technologies (now Vantor) captured the image, but when exactly remains unclear. It does have a 2024 copyright date. (10/27)

DIA: China has Tripled its ISR Satellite Fleet Since 2018, Expanding Ability to Track US and Allied Forces (Source: Breaking Defense)
A new Defense Intelligence Agency report says China has tripled its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance satellite fleet since 2018. The expansion is improving Beijing’s ability to detect, track and target US and allied forces on the ground and at sea. (10/27)

Voyager to Manage Interstellar Lab Plant-Growth Experiment on the ISS (Source: Spacewatch Global)
Voyager will manage Interstellar Lab’s BioPod EDEN ISS experiment, which will study plant growth in microgravity. The work is intended to inform future space agriculture, linking an ISS research project with technologies for growing plants beyond Earth. (10/27)

Israeli Ad Tech Company Allegedly Targeted Starlink Users in Suspected Spying Effort (Source: Reuters)
Experts at a digital defense firm found that an Israeli ad tech company was heavily targeting users of Starlink’s satellite internet service, according to six people familiar with the matter. The activity was described as a likely effort to spy on those users. (10/27)

Craft Prospect, Fraunhofer CAP and Vector Photonics Launch PERSEUS Project on Space Optical Communications (Source: Space News)
Craft Prospect is working with Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Photonics and Vector Photonics on PERSEUS, a project exploring next-generation laser technology for high-performance optical communications in space. The announcement identifies the partners and research focus, but provides no technical specifications, schedule or funding details. (10/27)

Elon Musk Says SpaceX was Behind Restrictions to Ukraine’s Starlink Access (Source: Washington Post)
Elon Musk said his company SpaceX was behind the Ukrainian military’s recent Starlink satellite service restrictions, after Ukraine said its access to the communications network had been restored. Ukraine’s military had experienced days of disrupted access to Starlink and its militarized version, Starshield, impeding its strike campaign on Russian-occupied territory and prompting widespread questions over who had ordered the restrictions. (10/25)

US Space Command Applies Gag Over Auckland Space-Watching Hub (Source: RNZ)
A space-watching network funded by the Pentagon that has one of three global hubs in Auckland has played a direct role supporting combat operations in the Iran war. But US Space Command has gagged the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) from giving details about the Auckland hub's activities to RNZ.

While the NZDF has said it retained sovereignty over the hub, it also said it was not authorised to release the information. "We have received advice from US Space Command that does not change the decision on your request," the NZDF said. It suggested RNZ, instead of using the Official Information Act (OIA), try using the US Freedom of Information Act. (10/25)

What Would Australia Gain by Paying for Astronaut Flight (Source: The Conversation)
We don’t know precisely how much Australia has offered ESA to put our own astronaut forward for a mission, but we assume it’s lower than the reported A$100+ million the agency originally asked for. Some have questioned whether such a steep price tag is worth it for a “ticket to space”. But we must look at this more broadly. Sending Bennell-Pegg to space is about far more than one Australian reaching orbit. It’s about opening doors to international partnerships, research and opportunities that can help shape Australia’s future. In short, we can get a lot in return for the money paid. (10/26)

Blue Origin On Track To Resume New Glenn Pad Ops In November (Sources: Aviation Week, Fox 35)
Blue Origin installed the final segment of a new 430-ft. tower to support launches of New Glenn rockets from Launch Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. “The Vehicle Access Tower is fully assembled, with every module repaired and back in place,” Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said.

NASA leaders praised the swift reconstruction and confirmed more than 100 agency teams are actively assisting with the return-to-flight process. But industry experts warn that Blue Origin has shared minimal details about the rocket issues that triggered the initial blast or potential stage fixes. (10/26)

Space Force Wants Cislunar Kit Ready to Launch by 2029 (Source: Air and Space Forces)
In April, the Space Force set up a new Cislunar Coordination Office, housed within Purdy’s portfolio and tasked with crafting a roadmap for cislunar technology and a future space architecture. Since then, that office – led by Jaime Stearns—has refined that roadmap and crafted strategies for various mission areas, like space domain awareness, communications, and lunar navigation.

The CCO has also drafted a list of high-priority but unfunded requirements, which Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy said includes relatively low-dollar “ticky-tacky” efforts that can help the Space Force make real progress in this area. The service is also pursuing multiple technology development and rapid fielding efforts, Purdy said. In partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory and the innovation arm SpaceWERX, it plans to launch an industry challenge called Lunar Prime to get after some of its more nascent technology and research needs.

The effort has $30 million in funding and is targeting flight demonstrations within two years of contract award. The Space Force also has two requests for information it plans to release “imminently,” Purdy said. The first will call for existing commercial technology that can be ready to launch by 2029. (10/26)

Verizon Says SpaceX Needs Up To 8 Years and a Half Trillion Dollars to Compete in Wireless (Source: Business Insider)
Setting aside Musk's track record of delivering on his eyebrow-raising promises, Schulman said there are significant technical and financial hurdles that Starlink would have to clear to meaningfully compete with established networks like Verizon. But it is possible. "If they build a terrestrial network, it will basically look and feel like every other network," he said. "I think we should take it quite seriously."

"Their service just can't compete with a terrestrial network in suburban and urban areas, where like 98% of our revenues are," he said of the satellite-based system. "We're somewhere between 100 to 1000 times more efficient than they are." (10/26)

Space For Humanity Launches World’s First Citizen Space Agency (Source: Space For Humanity)
For generations, space agencies have carried the ambitions of nations beyond Earth. Today, Space for Humanity is announcing an agency that will carry the hopes of all to the cosmos. Space for Humanity (S4H), a nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to space for everyone, unveiled its plans for the world’s first nongovernment, nonprofit Citizen Space Agency at its annual Celestial Soirée in New York City on Friday — a bold new model for human space exploration designed to ensure that access to the power of space belongs not just to governments, corporations, or the privileged few, but to all people everywhere. (10/26)

Want to Go to Space from UAE? It Could Cost You Dh257 Million (Source: Khaleej Times)
The UAE generates about 100 enquiries a year for space tourism, with roughly 15 to 18 percent coming from serious, financially qualified buyers, according to the founder of SpaceVIP. Roman Chiporukha said some enquiries were speculative as people went silent when he told them the price. A seat on a private trip to low Earth orbit costs about $70 million, he said. He said the UAE had made substantial progress through its space agency over the past decade, but argued that the country needed a domestic talent pipeline. (10/27)

Sierra Space Appoints Second CFO In Four Months (Source: Aviation Week)
Sierra Space, the military and civil space spinoff of Sierra Nevada, on Oct. 26 announced the appointment of Daniel Gittsovich as chief financial officer. He is Sierra Space’s second CFO since last summer. Gittsovich joins Sierra Space from L3Harris Technologies. (10/26)

Starlink Doubts Have Put a Rocket Under SpaceX’s Rivals (Source: Bloomberg)
What does a technological kill switch look like? Ask Ukraine. Reports of speed restrictions on its military use of Elon Musk’s satellite network Starlink, essential for fending off Russian aerial assaults, have reminded America’s allies that they rely far too much on access to critical tech that they ultimately don’t control. Using access to life-or-death tech as leverage in a conflict isn’t new but this is a clarifying moment. “Something you can’t unsee,” as Canada’s Mark Carney put it. Even if the restrictions appear to have been lifted, as Ukraine said at the weekend, the threat of being cut off is still there. (10/26)

Virgin Galactic to Move Next Suborbital Vehicle to New Mexico (Source: Douglas Messier)
Virgin Galactic announced that the lead Spaceship of its next-generation fleet is set to fly to its operations base at Spaceport America, New Mexico on October 28. The Spaceship, mated to launch vehicle Eve for a captive-carry flight, will depart the company’s Spaceship Factory in Mesa, Arizona. The arrival marks the transition from vehicle assembly to the start of flight test preparations. (10/27)

Cowboy Space Plans to Enter Launch Services Market (Source: Space News)
Cowboy Space outlined plans for a launch vehicle to support its orbital data center constellation and other applications. The rocket, called Big Iron, is a two-stage rocket with a reusable booster capable of placing about 15,000 kilograms into sun-synchronous orbit. The company is designing the rocket's upper stage to also serve as an orbital data center spacecraft, deploying large solar arrays and radiators. Cowboy Space outlined in a presentation Monday an aggressive schedule for developing the rocket, with a first launch at the end of 2028 even though the company has just started testing one component of the engine it is developing for the vehicle. While Big Iron is designed primarily for the company's constellation of up to 20,000 satellites, it can also be used for flying other payloads. (10/27)

China Could Field Space-Based Directed-Energy Weapons Soon (Source: Space News)
A new assessment concludes China could field space-based directed-energy weapons by the end of the decade. The study by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency released Monday said China already has multiple ground-based lasers capable of disrupting, degrading or damaging satellites in low Earth orbit and could deploy directed-energy weapons in space in the late 2020s. The assessment provides one of the more specific public timelines from U.S. intelligence for China's development of space-based directed-energy weapons. The same study also noted Russia is developing an expanding arsenal of weapons capable of attacking satellites in orbit, including a kinetic anti-satellite weapon and a nuclear weapon. (10/27)

Air Force Recovers Starfall Cargo (Source: Space News)
The Air Force has recovered experimental military cargo containers that traveled into space aboard a SpaceX Starfall capsule earlier this month. The Air Force Research Lab flew experimental cargo pods on the Starfall vehicle to study whether commercial spacecraft could be used to rapidly deliver supplies to forces around the world. The recovery allows researchers to examine equipment that was exposed to the stresses of launch and atmospheric reentry and analyze data collected by sensors measuring temperature, shock and vibration. (10/27)

Space Force Opens Ground Station and Networking Work Under BMC3I (Source: Space News)
The Space Force is opening up work on ground stations and communications networks to companies. The portfolio, known as Battle Management, Command, Control, Communications and Space Intelligence, or BMC3I, covers $21 billion in work that is largely classified. However, at a conference last week, officials with BMC3I outlined upcoming opportunities ranging from satellite-control antennas and data networks to artificial intelligence and battle-management software. One such opportunity is Autonomous Tactical Fabric, a proposed network and computing architecture intended to connect Space Force systems that currently operate largely independently. (10/27)

SpaceX Launches Tuesday Starlink Mission From California (Source: Spaceflight Now)
SpaceX launched more Starlink satellites overnight. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California carrying 27 Starlink satellites. The launch was the 26th flight of this Falcon 9 booster. [Spaceflight Now]

Former Tesla Engineers Developing Australian Satellite Battery Venture (Source: Space News)
Two former Tesla engineers have established a startup to develop batteries for satellites. Australian company MP Space announced a $16 million seed round Monday led by Australian venture capital firm Blackbird Ventures. The company wants to bring advanced battery technology used in terrestrial systems to spacecraft, meeting a growing demand for spacecraft power systems. Eight MP Space battery systems were recently deployed in orbit across multiple satellites with the systems planned for more than 500 satellites in development. (10/27)

ESA Orders Four Galileo Satellites From Airbus and Thales Alenia (Source: ESA)
ESA ordered four new Galileo satellites from two European companies. ESA announced Tuesday it extended contracts with Airbus Defense and Space and Thales Alenia Space, awarding each two additional Galileo Second Generation satellites. The four new satellites, slated for delivery in 2031, will be identical to the 12 previously ordered from the two companies. Neither ESA nor the companies disclosed the value of the satellite orders. (10/26)

Utah Identifies Proposed Spaceport Site (Source: KUTV)
A Utah committee has identified a site for a potential spaceport in the state. A draft report by the state's Spaceport Exploration Committee concluded that a site near Delta in west-central Utah is the preferred location for a spaceport in the state. The report, to be considered by the committee later this week, recommends the state fund additional study of that site. It does not state what vehicles might operate from there, an inland location usually not considered for orbital vehicles. (10/26)

October 26, 2026

Hawaiian Wisdom Fuels Students’ Mars Breakthrough for NASA (Source: University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo)
Two University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo seniors just beat out hundreds of global competitors, including corporate research teams, to win a $50,000 national NASA award by proving ancient Hawaiian farming holds the key to feeding astronauts on Mars. Out of more than 100 final competitors in NASA’s Deep Space Food Challenge: Mars to Table, ʻOhā Kanu — created by Leilani Jensen and Raven Kromer — was selected as one of only five winning designs nationwide.

Their design adapts the ancient Hawaiian ahupuaʻa land management system into a modern, multi-zone space agricultural framework. By integrating hydroponics, aquaculture, field crops, and orchards, the zero-waste system creates a self-sustaining ecosystem that eliminates reliance on resupply from Earth. “One of the jokes we made was, ‘Ancient Hawaiians were the first space explorers,’” said Kromer, an astronomy and English major who publishes research under the name Raven Daegmorgan. (10/25)

University of Alabama Celebrates its Contributions to Artemis Missions at Texas A&M Game (Source: AL.com)
The University of Alabama commemorated its role in NASA’s Artemis II mission at this weekend’s game against Texas A&M. NASA astronauts and U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-AL, held a plaque honoring a university flag that traveled more than 685,000 miles to the moon and back as part of the mission. (10/25)

Des Moines Exhibit Makes Space Exploration Accessible to Visitors of all Abilities (Source: WHO Des Moines)
A free traveling exhibit is making space exploration more accessible to Iowans who are disabled, allowing visitors to experience the wonders of the universe through touch and sound instead of sight alone. The exhibit was the star of Saturday's Community STEM Festival at the Iowa Library for the Blind and Print Disabled. (10/24)

Lawsuit Alleges Legal Violations in Starbase Louisiana Approvals (Source: Douglas Messier)
Today, a nonprofit and three Vermilion Parish residents filed a lawsuit contending that over the last few months, the Parish government has “used a variety of mechanisms to try to keep the public in the dark about what they are doing for SpaceX.”

The lawsuit addresses eight incidents that plaintiffs say violated the state’s Open Meetings Law, including government officials voting on items not listed on public agendas, failing to provide legally-required notices to publicize meetings, and – in at least one case – using a “code name” in a public notice to prevent the public from understanding what was proposed.

Furthermore, the lawsuit alleges that the “efforts to keep the public in the dark are so extreme” that Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry’s office sent a staff member to take away every single copy of a coastal lawsuit settlement agreement with ExxonMobil that was integral to the SpaceX deal and signed by the parish government. The lawsuit suggests that this was to prevent Vermilion citizens from reviewing what their elected officials agreed to. Without a copy of the written agreement, the plaintiffs suggest that parish officials would have little or no way to determine if the specific terms have been upheld or not - or whether or not their citizens are receiving what they are entitled to under the agreement. (10/26)

Russia is Losing the Space Race. Europe May Pay the Price (Source: FTM)
Driven by international sanctions following the annexations and full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s once-mighty space agency has experienced a severe downfall. This has been heavily worsened by structural mismanagement, deep-rooted corruption (with over $1 billion calculated as stolen in 2018 alone), and a massive brain drain of over a million highly educated citizens fleeing mobilization.

Joint space operations between Roscosmos and western agencies like the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA have effectively dissolved or been canceled. Historically, Western agencies relied on Russian Soyuz rockets for human spaceflight, but Europe has increasingly shifted its financial backing toward private entities like SpaceX to launch its satellites, starving Russia of crucial revenue. (10/25)

JAXA Selects ispace to Design Lunar Solar Power Tower for South-Pole Exploration (Source: Spacewatch Global)
Japan’s space agency has selected ispace to design a solar power tower intended to support sustained exploration near the Moon’s south pole. The project focuses on energy infrastructure for lunar activity, though the available announcement provides no schedule, funding or technical specifications. (10/26)

Rubin Telescope Could Reveal More of Earth’s Temporary Mini-Moons (Source: Space.com)
Earth’s small, temporary natural satellites may offer accessible targets for future missions. The Rubin telescope is expected to help find more of these objects, potentially expanding the set of nearby asteroids available for exploration. (10/26)

Ukraine Strikes Russia’s Energia Plant (Source: NV)
Ukraine’s Defense Forces struck a workshop producing power components for Russian weapons systems at the Energia plant in the town of Yelets on Oct. 25 and overnight into Oct. 26, Ukraine’s General Staff said. The strike reportedly hit a workshop that produces power elements for Russian weapons. A fire broke out on the plant’s grounds after the attack. According to the General Staff, the Energia enterprise is important to Russia’s military-industrial complex. It said the plant is the only producer in Russia of batteries for planning and correction modules (UMPK) used on aerial bombs.

Editor's Note: Despite sharing the name "Energia" (derived from the Russian word for energy), this aerospace corporation is a completely separate entity located hundreds of miles away from the battery plant in Yelets and was not the facility targeted in the October 2026 strike. (10/26)

Analog Astronauts Simulate Space Mission Underwater in Florida (Source: Space.com)
Commander Dr. Musilova and her crew spent several days living and working 22 feet underwater in Florida as aquanauts, simulating a space mission. The Jules’ Undersea Lab is a research station located 22 feet underwater near Key Largo, Florida. You have to scuba dive to get in and out of the station. To become an aquanaut, you have to stay underwater for at least 24 hours in a so-called state of saturation.

I had been preparing for many years for this aquanaut experience, both as a scientist and as an analog astronaut. An analog astronaut is someone who takes part in a simulated space mission, where they live and work in conditions similar to those that astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) experience today, or will one day experience on the moon and Mars.

I’m no stranger to simulated space missions, either; I have been the Commander of almost 40 such missions in different facilities around the world. Almost all of those missions were on land, though, which made them substantially safer than a mission underwater. The risks of something going wrong during a simulated spacewalk or even during basic maintenance activities underwater are significantly higher than during standard analog missions on land. (10/26)

Flexell Space Establishes French Subsidiary to Support European Customer and Production Talks (Source: Space News)
Flexell Space has created FLEXELL SPACE FRANCE SAS in Paris, establishing a local base to support ongoing contract and volume-production discussions with European customers. The company says the entity will handle engagement ranging from technical reviews to supply planning. (10/26)

Pentagon Conditionally Commits $150 Million to Stoke Space for Second Cape Canaveral Launch Pad (Source: Space News)
The Pentagon has conditionally committed $150 million in financing to Stoke Space to build a second launchpad at Cape Canaveral. The commitment links federal support to the startup’s launch-infrastructure expansion, though the announcement provides no further details on the conditions or project timeline. (10/26)

Australia's MP Space Raises $16 Million to Scale Standardized Satellite Power Systems (Source: Space News)
The Australian startup, founded by two former Tesla engineers, raised $16 million in seed funding to expand production of standardized satellite power and energy-storage systems, it announced Oct. 26. The financing targets manufacturing scale-up for components serving satellite operators and builders. (10/26)

Astranis Upgrades 2028 Falcon 9 Launch to Carry its Full Block 4 Satellite Production Run (Source: Space News)
Astranis says its fourth launch contract with SpaceX has been upgraded to a dedicated Falcon 9 mission in 2028. The flight is set to carry all satellites in the company’s Block 4 production run, replacing the prior launch arrangement with a mission reserved for the group of MicroGEO spacecraft. (10/26)

Poland Seeks Deeper Space Cooperation with Germany to Build Sovereign Technology (Source: Space 24)
Polish Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski said Poland sees substantial scope to deepen cooperation with Germany in the space sector. He emphasized the need for sovereign technology to bolster security amid external pressures, framing closer bilateral collaboration as part of a broader effort to strengthen national capabilities. (10/26)

Possible Roberts Road Expansion as SpaceX Pushes for Flight 16 (Source: NSF)
As SpaceX prepares to fly Flight 15 in November, with a successful Static Fire test occurring at Starbase on Sunday, the company is pushing to launch Flight 16 from LC-39A as soon as possible and expand operations at Kennedy Space Center. To do that, the Gigabay and pad must be ready to host Booster 23 and Ship 43, both of which have completed cryo-proof testing.

Given how expansive the Starship program is set to be, one Gigabay isn’t enough, and SpaceX hasn’t started a Starfactory in Florida yet. With that in mind, the company will need much more room to build more Gigabays, a ship static-fire test stand, a Payload Processing Facility (PPF), and other buildings to support the Starship program. To that end, SpaceX, in conjunction with NASA, has applied to expand its Roberts Road campus from 167 acres to nearly 400 acres. (10/25)

Musk Fears Russia Could Target Starlink Satellites With Anti-Satellite Weapons (Source: United 24)
Elon Musk has raised concerns that Russia could target Starlink satellites with anti-satellite weapons if the network is used to carry out offensive military strikes, warning that such attacks could generate dangerous debris and threaten other spacecraft in orbit. (10/25)

NASA Eyeing Year-End Tanking Test and Summer 2027 Launch for Artemis III (Source: Aerospace America)
NASA’s Artemis III mission, set to test rendezvous and docking with commercial lunar landers, is on track for a mid-2027 launch, agency officials said Friday. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said during a Friday press conference the agency is preparing to integrate the SLS solid rocket boosters with the rocket’s core stage this month, progressing toward a “year-end tanking test and summer 2027 Artemis III launch.” (10/26)

DoD Taps Orbital Operations for Cryogenic Spacecraft Demo (Source: Payload)
For decades, the Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft and variants have hauled cargo, flown as gunships, and refueled military jets midair. Now, Orbital Operations wants to do the same in space. The Long Beach, CA, startup has won up to $35M from the DoD under a prototype Other Transaction Agreement to fly a full-scale, in-orbit demo of Astraeus—its cryogenic-maneuvering vehicle. The company also closed a $7M seed extension led by DTX Ventures, bringing its total raised to ~$16M. GoAhead Ventures and Solaris Ventures also participated alongside follow-on investment from Initialized Capital, Harpoon Ventures, TRAC VC, and others. (10/23)

Australia Counters ESA’s Offer for Mission to ISS for Bennell-Pegg (Source: European Spaceflight)
The Australian government has submitted a counteroffer to the European Space Agency (ESA) to secure a flight to the International Space Station for Australian astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg. Support for the mission is not universal in Australia, with one government official calling the spending “reckless.” Australian Minister for Science Tim Ayres confirmed on 23 October that the government had formally responded to an offer from ESA earlier this year.

Bennell-Pegg completed basic astronaut training at ESA’s European Astronaut Centre in Germany in April 2024, becoming the first person to qualify as an astronaut under the Australian flag. The cost of Australia’s potential place on the proposed mission has been a significant obstacle. Speaking on 21 October, Ayres said Australia’s required contribution was “well north of $100 million dollars”, adding that the government would need to secure financial support from state governments and private backers. (10/26)

Trump's Pentagon Seeks $54 Billion for New Autonomous Warfare Command (Source: Defense One)
The Pentagon is seeking $54 billion through budget reconciliation to establish an Autonomous Warfare Command that would oversee purchases of autonomous technology. Officials aim to launch the command within a year, while congressional funding approval and details of its force structure remain unresolved. (10/25)

Gagnon: Space Force Needs More EW Equipment (Source: Space News)
A Space Force general says the service needs to acquire more electronic warfare equipment. Lt. Gen. Gregory Gagnon, commander of Space Force Combat Forces Command, said recent military operations have exposed shortcomings in a force built around relatively small numbers of equipment and fixed operating sites. He said additional equipment would allow units to absorb losses in a conflict and continue operations. The service is considering buying as many as 24 additional Meadowlands satellite jammers and separately preparing to support a worldwide fleet that could eventually number as many as 56 systems. (10/26)

China Launches Three Friday and Saturday Missions (Sources: Space News, China in Space)
Two Chinese launches Friday placed reconnaissance satellites into orbit. A Long March 6A rocket lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center and placed into orbit the Yaogan-50 (03) satellite. This is the third in a series of classified reconnaissance spacecraft sent into an unusual highly retrograde orbit. A Long March 4B rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan spaceport with six satellites, Yaogan-53 (07-09) and Yaogan-56 (19-21). China provided no details about the mission for those satellites. China also launched a set of Guowang satellites Saturday on a Long March 8A from the Wenchang spaceport, placing nine Guowang satellites into orbit. There are now 231 Guowang satellites in orbit, part of a constellation intended to ultimately reach 13,000 satellites. (10/26)

October 25, 2026

Why The Boom Overture Will Be The 1st Supersonic Jet With Affordable Flights (Source: Simple Flying)
The upcoming Overture aircraft is designed from the get-go to operate with 100% SAF, and is being designed with the latest generation of materials and composites, along with the latest technology. This indicates its operations will be more sustainable than those of Concorde. However, the key question that remains is, will the Overture be affordable? While a ticket on board Concorde cost $8,000 for a business class round-trip in the mid-90s, which equates to nearly $17,000 in 2025, how does that compare to commercial airlines operating on the London-New York market today?

A quick fare search on the top four carriers operating on the London Heathrow Airport (LHR) to New York JFK Airport route for a round-trip service on their premium cabins can help us to understand this question. It is clear that flying in premium cabins, on board subsonic jets available in the market today, is considerably cheaper than flying Concorde back in the day. Airlines taking delivery of the Overture will be operating a much lighter, technologically advanced, and more efficient jet than Concorde. Furthermore, the external infrastructure in terms of communication and navigation can enable the Overture to be operated using more efficient routing, which further reduces the operational costs of the aircraft.

A key advantage the Overture will have over Concorde is the ability for 'boomless' cruise flight, which prevents sonic boom sound waves from reaching the ground. This would enable the Overture to fly up to 50% faster than commercial aircraft over land and twice as fast over water. Other key factors include the number of routes it can serve, with Concorde having been very limited due to limited market demand then. This meant that there were very few routes on which the aircraft could operate with economic viability. With the Overture, however, Boom Supersonic claims the aircraft can be operated profitably on over 600 routes around the world. (10/18)

AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon Fight FCC Satellite Proposal That Helps SpaceX (Source: PC Mag)
AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon have teamed up to try to stop an FCC proposal that could free up more radio spectrum to SpaceX’s upcoming challenger, Starlink Mobile. Representatives for the carriers met with FCC officials this week and urged them to amend the proposal, according to a regulatory filing spotted by SpaceX and Tesla watcher Sawyer Merritt. (10/23)

Ukraine’s Starlink Woes Should Be a Wake-Up Call for Taiwan (Source: SCMP)
Taiwan should not rely on a single foreign satellite provider for critical wartime communications, analysts have warned, after sudden restrictions on the use of Elon Musk’s Starlink disrupted Ukrainian drone operations. (10/24)

U.S. Allies Race to Escape SpaceX’s Orbit (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Elon Musk’s decision to abruptly impose limits on Ukraine’s use of his Starlink communications network—which is critical to the country’s efforts to fight off Russia’s invasion—is prompting U.S. allies to intensify efforts to come up with their own alternatives. Europeans are expressing concerns about relying on a system with a built-in kill switch that gives Musk the power to deactivate a vital network without consultation. (10/24)

Hypersonic, Rocket Motor Production Gets $21.2 Million in US Funding (Source: Interesting Engineering)
Albany Engineered Composites has invested more than $36 million in manufacturing capabilities for hypersonic vehicles, solid rocket motors, and space systems, as the company expands production infrastructure for advanced high-temperature materials. The company announced the expansion through AEC Advanced Programs (AEC-AP), a wholly owned subsidiary established in 2021. Its approximately 70,000-square-foot facility in Rochester, New Hampshire, is designed to support the production of advanced composite hardware for extreme operating environments. (10/23)

Rocket Lab's New Solar Cells Could Solve A Big Bottleneck For Spacecraft (Source: BGR)
Rocket Lab has launched a new space-grade solar cell that addresses a key supply chain bottleneck for spacecraft and satellites, while maintaining modern efficiency standards. The solar cell is called Inverted Metamorphic (IMM) Apex, which is produced without germanium substrates. Germanium is a scarce mineral critical to the production of highly efficient radiation-hardened solar cells. Most modern satellites and spacecraft need solar arrays for power generation, and many legacy solar cells on satellites use germanium substrates. (10/23)

Starfighters Space: Inside The Company Flying F-104s From Kennedy Space Center (Source: Simple Flying)
Starfighters Space is the proud owner of the world’s only civilian fleet of flight-ready Lockheed F-104 Starfighters. This unique flightline also happens to be based in a hangar right beside the old Space Shuttle runway at Kennedy Space Center. Originally founded by pilot Rick Svetkoff in 1995, the company has spent over two decades keeping these legendary Cold War interceptors in active service. Surrounded by the burgeoning commercial space race at Cape Canaveral, Svetkoff saw that the F-104’s rapid rocket-like climb made it a virtual first-stage booster.

NASA signed a Space Act Agreement with the company after inviting Svetkoff's team to KSC and contracted the F-104s to fly simulated suborbital profiles from the runway to help measure sonic boom effects for future commercial launches. NASA described the flights as a pathfinder for routine use of the site for future projects in development. While the company's ultimate goal remains launching satellites into orbit via the Starlaunch program, the revenue-generating operations have thus far focused on high-speed research missions for defense contractors as well as NASA.

The company has since engineered the 'Wind Tunnel in the Sky' platform, which is a specialized, modular underwing pylon system designed to host external customer sensors, experimental materials, and advanced electronics. An F-104 mission can provide up to ten minutes of continuous Mach 2+ exposure during a single flight. This allows clients like the US Air Force Research Laboratory and Lockheed Martin to gather very valuable streams of flight testing data outside of a sterile lab in real-world conditions. (10/23)

Science-Focused Montana Spaceport Could Host Exos Aerospace (Source: Billings Gazette)
Billings is ready for takeoff. Plans were revealed for a Montana Spaceport and Test Range during the annual Billings Chamber AM meeting, at the Northern Hotel Friday morning. The compact vertical-launch facility would be located in the Billings area and focus on scientific research launches. Officials said a specific location has not been identified and did not disclose the project’s cost.

Billings Chamber Board Chair Sylvia Warrick introduced the representative of the project, Montana Spaceport and Test Range President Edgar Johansson, who Warrick noted the chamber has been working with for the past 12 months to support and develop the statewide aerospace ecosystem. With launch partner Exos Aerospace — a Texas-based company looking to move operations to Montana — the plan is to establish Billings as a central hub for launch capability and for a wider Montana aerospace program. (10/23)

“Getting People Into Space Is One Thing. Creating Somewhere They Actually Want To Live Is Quite Another" (Source: Dezeen)
For most of the space age, architects could fantasize freely about building off-world. Inflatable lunar villages and glass Martian domes could be sketched out without anyone having to worry too much about who cleaned the toilets. That luxury is disappearing as we start to seriously consider the possibility of living in space. Next year, the first commercial space station will be launched – Haven-1 – and will be joined by a second, Axiom, a few months later. Click here. (10/23)

SpaceX Affiliate Racks Up $6.1M in Fines by Mississippi Environmental Agency (Source: WREG)
A SpaceXAI affiliate company was fined by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality for violations across three sites. The state agency alleges that “land-disturbing construction activities at sites occurred prior to coverage under Mississippi’s Large Construction Stormwater General Permit.” MDEQ issued notice to MZX Tech in August and is seeking civil penalties of up to $25,000 per day with preliminary claimed exposure of about $6.1 million across three sites. (10/24)

Supersonic Jet Maker Unveils $150M Factory Expansion That Could Create 500 Jobs in Colorado (Source: 9News)
A Centennial company developing a new generation of supersonic passenger jets has doubled down on Colorado and on Thursday unveiled a $150 million factory expansion that could create 500 high-paying jobs. Boom Supersonic⁠'s “Superpower Superfactory” in Centennial is already operational and producing parts needed for Superpower, the company’s natural gas-burning turbines that can be used to power AI data centers. he company’s first completed supersonic turbine core, known as the Sprint core, which will be shipped this week for testing at the company's test-stand facility at Colorado Air and Space Port. (10/24)

Space Force Moves Missile-Warning and Cislunar Missions from Vulcan to Falcon Heavy Amid Delays (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Space Force has reassigned a next-generation missile-warning satellite and a payload stack for an experimental cislunar surveillance mission from United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan to SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy. The moves are part of a broader reshuffling of military launches prompted by Vulcan delays. (10/24)

October 24, 2026

SpaceX Gears Up for Weekly Starship Launches, Soon From Florida (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Florida won’t get the next SpaceX Starship launch, but with the first of three launch towers on the Space Coast near completion, Elon Musk expects the company to build up the launch rate quickly. “We expect Starship to fly weekly at some point in the first half of next year, and then second half of next year twice weekly or maybe even more frequently than that by the end of next year,” he said during SpaceX’s quarterly earnings call on Tuesday.

SpaceX has its first Florida site at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39 near completion with a potential first operational launch before the end of the year. It also continues to work on the first of two more towers at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 37, the former site of United Launch Alliance’s Delta IV Heavy launches. The company has stated that the first Canaveral tower would be up and running by mid-2027. (10/22)

Vandenberg Supports 71st Launch of 2026 (Source: USSF)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 27 Starlink satellites launched from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Oct. 23, 2026. Guardians and Airmen assigned to Space Launch Delta 30 supported the launch by providing range capabilities that help provide assured access to space from the West Coast’s premiere spaceport and test range. The mission marked the 71st launch supported from Vandenberg in 2026 and highlighted how every launch approved by the installation's range is designated by the federal government to advance economic growth, strengthen national security, and achieve critical national space objectives—reinforcing the Central Coast’s role as a global gateway to space. (10/23)

Colorado Springs Enters Race to Host U.S. Space Academy (Source: Axios)
Colorado Springs is making a play for the proposed U.S. Space Academy — even as the city loses U.S. Space Command to Alabama. Why it matters: Landing the NASA-led school could give the Springs' aerospace industry a major boost, bringing new opportunities for universities, businesses and the region's workforce. Driving the news: Gov. Jared Polis and other state leaders announced Friday that Colorado Springs as their pick to host the academy. (10/23)

A 1,000-Mile Martian Cloud May Reveal Never-Before-Observed Ice-Forming Physics (Source: Ars Technica)
A new model suggests that a cloud stretching roughly 1,000 miles across Mars could expose ice-forming processes not directly observed before. The finding points to a potential new way to study how clouds develop in the planet’s atmosphere, though the proposed physics remains a model-based interpretation. (10/24)

Recommendations for America’s Ground Station Infrastructure (Source: Space News)
Investments in new ground stations will not necessarily solve data transmission bottlenecks until some core inefficiencies with how ground station capacity is managed and sold, according to AnySignal co-founder Ricky Medina. Ultimately, challenges such as interoperability among providers remain. But solving them will allow satellite communications to become as seamless and hassle-free as mobile roaming, Medina argued.

"The next phase of the ground segment should be measured not by how many antennas the industry installs, but by how reliably operators can maintain command and control, reach their spacecraft and receive mission data without relying on individual sites, providers, or frequencies," Medina wrote. (10/24)

NASA Adopting Apollo’s Urgency to Build a Moon Base and Land Astronauts Within Two Years (Source: Independent)
NASA is moving fast on its plans to build a moon base and return astronauts to the lunar surface in as little as two years. Administrator Jared Isaacman said Friday that the space agency is still on track to launch Artemis III next summer on a docking exercise with Elon Musk's and Jeff Bezos' lunar landers. The two-week mission featuring four astronauts will be confined to orbit around Earth — no moon trip this time.

The all-important Artemis IV — NASA's first moon landing by astronauts since Apollo — remains scheduled for 2028, Isaacman said. His update came six months after the successful Artemis II flight around the moon by four astronauts, humanity's first lunar trip in more than half a century. NASA will keep its options open as long as possible before choosing between SpaceX and Blue Origin for the Artemis IV lunar lander, according to officials.

Isaacman said the “new space race” to land astronauts on the moon — racing against China now versus the Soviet Union during the Apollo era — will be “much closer than it ever needed to be” because of slow going in past years. Adopting Apollo's urgent and intense approach from 1968 through 1972, a period which saw 24 astronauts fly to the moon and 12 land on it, is not “tech industry pixie dust or some new management philosophy,” Isaacman said. “It's about our own history. It's a playbook this agency knows really well, the same playbook that went from Apollo 7 splashdown to Apollo 11 in just nine months,” he said. (10/23)

Artemis III Plans Revised (Source: Payload)
For Artemis III, NASA is planning to fly a 14- to 17-day mission in LEO, testing three launch vehicles, one lunar lander, and the Orion crew capsule. The mission will begin with an uncrewed launch of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket, carrying the company’s Blue Moon test lander. NASA’s SLS rocket will launch the Artemis III crew and the Orion spacecraft to orbit “as soon as we can thereafter,” according to NASA Artemis Program Manager Jeremy Parsons.

On Day 3, or once both spacecraft are in orbit, Orion and the Blue Moon test lander will attempt to rendezvous and dock. On Days 4 and 5, the crew will enter Blue Moon to validate the lander’s subsystems—including tests of environmental controls, life-support systems, and emergency scenarios. On Day 6, SpaceX’s Starship will launch to orbit.

On Day 8, Starship will attempt to rendezvous and dock with the crewed Orion vehicle. The Artemis III crew won’t transfer from Orion to Starship during this two-hour test, but officials didn’t share why. Following the Starship docking demo, the Artemis III crew will use the remaining days of the mission to complete additional tests on Orion, including tests of the new survival suit. (10/23)

Artemis IV Plans Revised (Source: Payload)
For Artemis IV, NASA officials laid out two different mission plans—one using SpaceX’s Starship launcher and human landing system (HLS), and the other using Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket and Mark 2 lander. While officials didn’t confirm which company would be selected for the historic lunar landing attempt, they said that both companies are making progress, and either or both could be ready in time for NASA’s end-of-2028 goal.

There’s still a long road ahead for both companies, as Blue Origin has yet to return New Glenn to flight following its on-the-pad explosion in May, and SpaceX just notched its first uncrewed orbital flight with Starship in September. Officials remained confident that both companies will have more than enough launches under their belt before the Artemis IV planning team gets antsy.

“You will have multiple launches of Starship before we go conduct Artemis III, and you will have multiple launches of the Blue Origin New Glenn vehicle from the rebuilt pad before we go launch Artemis III." Officials also confirmed that SpaceX will attempt to demonstrate its ability to transfer propulsion in orbit in early 2027, a key capability in the company’s plans to get its HLS to the lunar surface. (10/23)

Thaicom Asks ITU to Extend Thaicom-9 Deadline, Citing Astranis Manufacturing Incident (Source: Space Intel Report)
Thaicom has returned to the International Telecommunication Union with additional evidence that the delay to its Thaicom-9 geostationary satellite followed a March incident at manufacturer Astranis. The operator says the cause was beyond its control as it seeks more time to meet the satellite’s regulatory deadline. (10/23)

Ariane 6 Engine Issues Resolved as ESA Weighs Launch-Rate Increases and Hardware Changes (Source: Space News)
ESA says it has resolved engine issues that delayed Ariane 6 launches and is studying ways to raise the vehicle’s flight rate. Airbus Netherlands has delivered a Vulcain aft bay 400 kilograms lighter and 55 millimeters shorter, while Ariane 6 and Vega-C launch regularity remains central to Europe’s access to orbit. (10/23)

The Coming Boom in Sonic Booms (Source: Douglas Messier)
At random times during the day in Mojave, you’ll hear BOOM! BOOM! that rattle the walls, shake the windows and briefly overload your nervous system. The only overland supersonic corridor in the United States lies overhead, and Edwards Air Force Base is just down the road. And those Air Force pilots feel the need…the need for speed. As SpaceX ramps up to 1,000 launches or more, residents in Florida, Texas and Louisiana will now experience the joys of BOOM! BOOM! multiple times per day as Starship and Super Heavy stages descend to be caught back at their launch sites.

In Mojave, you never quite get used to it because you never know if when BOOM! BOOM! will happen. It will be easier for people watching the boosters descend. They’ll expect them. They’ll say, hey that’s cool! For those not following the launch, BOOM! BOOM! will rattle more than their walls and windows. Let’s just say there was a reason the Concorde was prohibited from flying over the United States.

Editor's Note: There's another supersonic flight test corridor proposed in the Southwest, where fast jets would be able to test their sonic boom mitigations, and potentially boost payloads to orbit (and back). Meanwhile residents on the Space Coast (at least those nearest the spaceport) are worried about cracked foundations and windows, scared pets, and sleep disruptions. (10/23)

SpaceX Investor: Starlink is ‘Not Reliable for National Security for Anybody But Trump’ (Source: The Hill)
SpaceX investor Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki, said he is “disgusted” by the recent events surrounding the slowdown of Starlink services in Ukraine, which impacted the country’s military capabilities. “As a SpaceX shareholder I am disgusted,” Gerber said on CNN. “I think that these decisions were strategically horrendous and from a humanity perspective, just horrible.” Gerber also told CNN on Wednesday that he is “disgusted with Elon Musk.” “Now they have given everybody a reason not to use Starlink,” the investor continued. (10/22)