July 31, 2026

NASA Funds Research Project on Sampling Saturn's Rings (Source: Douglas Messier)
NASA has provided grants for two early-stage research projects focused on sampling the rings of Saturn for the first time and using thousands of ultra-miniature spacecraft to conduct an in-depth study of the giant gaseous planet. Marco Quadrelli of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California has received funding for the Planetary Rings Autonomous EXploration with In-situ Sampling (PRAXIS) project under the NASA Innovative Advanced Projects (NIAC) program. (7/31)

Astro Digital Selects Everspin for Raven Bus Geosynchronous Satellite Program (Source: SatNews)
Semiconductor manufacturer Everspin Technologies, Inc. announced on July 29, 2026, that satellite manufacturer Astro Digital has selected its PERSYST 64Mb Spin-Transfer Torque Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory (STT-MRAM) for an upcoming Raven bus geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) satellite mission. Astro Digital will integrate Everspin’s device into its proprietary Raven spacecraft bus architecture as the primary fail-safe memory for the system boot process. In satellite avionics systems, boot memory stores the core instruction code required to initialize electronic subsystems, manage system recovery procedures, and record critical telemetry log data. (7/29)

HawkEye 360 Uses Space-Based RF to Locate NOAA Transmitter (Source: Military Aerospace)
HawkEye 360 used orbiting satellites to geolocate a hidden environmental transmitter broadcasting for only 1.9 seconds on a narrow channel. The successful identification allowed NOAA to verify, remove, and reassign the uplink position, restoring essential environmental data collection capabilities. The operation uncovered additional dormant transmitters, enabling their refurbishment for future environmental monitoring efforts. (7/31)

India Issues New Guidelines for Private Space Firms, Sets 1-in-10,000 Casualty Rate (Source: The Print)
The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) in its new guidelines has stated that private space companies must limit the casualty risk of any planned space object re-entry to less than 1 in 10,000. IN-SPACe, the single-window agency for all space-sector activities undertaken by private entities, has also mandated that any Indian entity planning the re-entry of a space object, whether within or outside Indian territory, needs its authorization. The new guidelines, ‘Norms, Guidelines and Procedures for Implementation of Indian Space Policy-2023 in respect of Authorization for Undertaking Planned Re-entry of Space Objects’, were issued on July 23 and made public on Wednesday. (7/30)

Free ISRO From Bureaucratic Control. The Public-Private Space Model Needs It (Source: The Print)
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi said earlier this month, the successful orbital launch of Vikram-1, India’s first privately developed launch vehicle, is “a historic new frontier for India’s space journey”. This milestone signals a new chapter in India’s space program, based on the foundation laid by ISRO but with fewer bureaucratic constraints and more room for private enterprise. Before looking at how India can build on this momentum, it is worth revisiting the country’s space journey over the past several decades. (7/31)

Triumph to Tragedy: Columbia’s Silent Warning (Source: Flying)
The proximate cause was brutal in its simplicity. At 81.9 seconds into ascent, a 1.2-pound piece of foam separated from the external tank’s bipod ramp.  Though light, it traveled at nearly 500 mph and struck Columbia’s reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) wing leading edge. The impact created a breach invisible to the naked eye but large enough for disaster. Sixteen days later, during reentry, superheated plasma at 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit exploited the weakness. The wing’s internal aluminum structure melted, sensors failed in sequence, and Columbia tore apart at Mach 18

Sociologists call this phenomenon the “normalization of deviance”—when small anomalies, tolerated repeatedly, become the “new normal.” In NASA’s case, foam loss went from red flag to background noise. Success after success reinforced the illusion of safety, until disaster broke the spell. The CAIB concluded that Columbia was not just lost because of foam. It was lost because of organizational blindness, bureaucratic inertia, and cultural complacency. GA is not immune. Owner-pilots often defer maintenance because “it flew fine last time.” Flying clubs may pass along squawks casually rather than with urgency. Instructors sometimes downplay student errors to keep lessons moving. Just as at NASA, cultures of corner cutting or silence can prove lethal. (7/31)

Space Force Seeks $71B to Bolster Space Warfare Capabilities (Source: Christian Science Monitor)
The US Space Force is preparing for the next frontier of warfare with a proposed budget of $71 billion for 2027, more than double its current funding. The increase comes as the Space Force has been actively involved in real-world operations, such as last year's potential conflict with Iran and ongoing electromagnetic warfare. The budget boost reflects the growing importance of space in national defense, especially as China and Russia advance their space capabilities. (7/30)

The Nimble U.S. Space Force Presses Its Advantage (Source: Wall Street Journal)
With Washington and the world consumed by wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as tumult in Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon, it is nice to see some good news from the Defense Department, as I did this week on a trip to three Space Force facilities in Colorado.

The Space Force was created in 2019 to give greater emphasis to humanity’s “last frontier” than seemed possible within the traditional military services. It is still finding its footing. The Space Force is far smaller than the Marine Corps or Coast Guard, with only about 10,000 uniformed personnel. For that reason, I was skeptical initially, believing it likely would be too small to compete with the big hitters at the Defense Department or to run itself efficiently. I am quickly reassessing. (7/30)

Payload Field Guide: European Launchers (Source: Payload)
Europe is firing on all fronts to stand up new launch capabilities, but the continent isn’t moving as fast as it might hope. Across the region, a slew of relatively young launch startups are making headway developing their new launch vehicles, with many projecting debut launches in the coming year. Even outside of Europe, rocket progress is rarely linear. You have to crawl before you can walk, and despite progress, “crawl” best describes the current pace. Here’s where Europe’s launch capabilities stand. (7/31) https://payloadspace.com/payload-field-guide-european-launchers/

Spain Commits Up to $2.3 Billion for National Military Communications for IRIS (Source: Space News)
The Spanish government announced it will allocate between 1.6 billion and 2 billion euros ($1.8 to $2.3 billion) to develop a national military satellite communications constellation that could be integrated into the planned IRIS² multi-orbit satellite internet constellation. (7/31)

Texas' Exos Offers Wet Leases for Reusable Suborbital Rockets (Source: Exos)
A traditional launch service gets a payload to a destination. A wet lease rocket model is broader. It supports the customer’s ability to develop, operate, and grow launch capability as part of a larger program. A national space program may begin with suborbital research, payload testing, workforce development, and a practical path toward orbital readiness. A defense or government customer may use the model for flight testing, technology validation, and allied access to launch capability. A commercial team may use it to test hardware, develop operations experience, and reduce risk before a larger mission. (7/9)

FAA Offers Video Tutorials for Launch Licensing (Source: FAA)
As new commercial space operators continue to enter the industry, the FAA is launching Space Place, its how-to video series guide to help companies obtain a launch, reentry, or spaceport license. The first video explains the role of the FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation and the overall process for vehicle and site licensing. Future video installments and information fact sheets will cover applicant expectations and key elements of the regulations such as policy, payload, safety, financial responsibility, and environmental impacts. The goal is for submitted license applications to be complete and clearly spell out how the company will achieve regulatory compliance to help avoid undue delay.

The FAA also recently issued two draft commercial space license advisory circulars. The first, AC 413.5-1: Pre-Application Consultation and Lifecycle Overview for Licenses and Permits, provides a high-level overview of the licensing process lifecycle, including pre-application consultation; application submission, evaluation, and determination; and compliance monitoring and license modification. Click here. (7/31)

K2 Space Raises $500 Million for Satellite Development (Source: Space News)
Satellite manufacturer K2 Space has raised $500 million to expand production for commercial and government customers. The Series D round, led by Kleiner Perkins and ICONIQ, values the company at $6.8 billion, the company announced Thursday. K2's valuation has more than doubled since it raised a $250 million Series C at a $3 billion valuation last December. The new financing gives K2 the resources to expand production as it works toward the capacity to build as many as 100 large satellites a year. The company is working on defense programs including those linked to Golden Dome, while its largest disclosed commercial project is tied to a planned SES communications network in medium Earth orbit. (7/31)

Rules Needed for Data Center Constellations (Source: Space News)
Now is the time to start developing rules of the road for giant constellations of orbital data center satellites. At a panel discussion this week, government and industry officials said proposals for constellations of up to 1 million satellites require thinking about adapting best practices from existing satellite constellations such as Starlink. One issue is that most proposed orbital data center constellations plan to use a special orbit, a dawn-dusk sun-synchronous orbit, to maximize solar power. That can mitigate concerns about high numbers of conjunctions among those satellites, provided operators agree to fly their satellites in the same direction in those orbits to avoid risks of head-on collisions. (7/31)

Roman Telescope Fueled for Aug. 30 Launch From Florida on Falcon Heavy (Source: Space News)
NASA's Roman Space Telescope is on track for launch in a month. At a briefing Wednesday, NASA officials said preparations were going as planned for Roman, set to launch Aug. 30 on a Falcon Heavy from the Kennedy Space Center. Once launched, Roman will take about 100 days to reach the Earth-Sun L-2 Lagrange point, and during that time engineers will work to calibrate the telescope and its instruments. Roman is on track to launch nine months early, which project officials previously credited to careful planning as well as adherence to a cost cap. (7/31)

NASA Considering, But Not Yet Scheduling, a Cargo-Only Starliner Flight to ISS (Source: Space News)
NASA is not ready yet to set a date for the next Boeing CST-100 Starliner flight. At a briefing Thursday about upcoming ISS spacewalks, the agency said they are working with Boeing to correct problems with Starliner and making "good progress." However, the next Starliner flight, a cargo-only mission called Starliner-1, was not included in a list of missions planned through the end of the year to the station. NASA said only it will schedule Starliner-1 "when it's ready to go and when we have a spot for it on ISS." On Tuesday, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg suggested the main issue for Starliner was working with NASA to schedule a date for Starliner-1. (7/31)

Thales Alenia to Develop EO Satellite for Italy (Source: Thales Alenia)
Thales Alenia Space won a contract to build an Earth observation satellite for the Italian space agency ASI. Thales Alenia announced this week that it was selected by prime contractor OHB Italia to provide the spacecraft for the PRISMA Second Generation mission, which will carry a hyperspectral instrument. The spacecraft will use Thales Alenia's PRIMA-S bus designed for Earth observation missions. It is scheduled for launch in 2031. (7/31)

Interlune and Vermeer Partner on Lunar Helium-3 Extraction (Source: Geekwire)
Interlune is expanding its partnership with an industrial equipment manufacturer to explore ways to support NASA's lunar base plans. Interlune announced last year it was working with Vermeer Corp. on developing equipment that could extract helium-3 from lunar regolith. On Thursday, the companies said they are now examining how to use similar systems for work that will likely be needed for a lunar base, including building roads and digging trenches. The companies said they will work on a tool that could be sent to the moon by the end of the decade to test site preparation work. (7/31)

SpaceX-Tesla Merger Reports Denied by Musk (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Elon Musk is denying reports Tesla is preparing to spin off its operations with China to prepare for a merger with SpaceX. Sources said Tesla executives have been told to prepare to spin off or sell its China business, a move intended to enable a merger between Tesla and SpaceX. Musk said in a Tesla earnings call last week that he could not discuss combining the two companies. He responded to the report about the potential Tesla China spinoff as "fake news" and that the company has never discussed getting rid of its China business. SpaceX is scheduled to hold its first earnings call as a public company on Tuesday. (7/31)

Three-Headed Asteroid (Source: Space.com)
Planetary scientists have discovered the first "three-headed" asteroid. Observations of the main-belt asteroid 44 Nysa taken with telescopes in Arizona and Chile indicate the asteroid likely is a "trinary", or three lobes connected together. While many two-lobed asteroids have been found, Nysa would be the first three-lobed asteroid. The images also revealed Nysa has a small moon, about a kilometer across, orbiting it at a distance of 170 kilometers. (7/31)

FAA Rule Changes on Aerospace Development Could Impact Louisiana Coast (Source: Nola.com)
The FAA is proposing sweeping rule changes that would allow aerospace companies seeking to launch rockets and build launch sites to bypass more than a dozen environmental protection laws — a change with potentially extraordinary consequences for south Louisiana. The proposed changes would waive 13 laws governing commercial rocket launch and reentry licenses, effectively doing away with protections under the National Environmental Protection Act, Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act and the National Historic Preservation Act, as well as coastal and marine mammal protections.

An  Vermilion Parish known as Pecan Island is in play as a launch site for Elon Musk’s SpaceX and its Starship rockets, according to multiple sources. The unincorporated 18-mile stretch of coastal Vermilion Parish community, known as Pecan Island, is believed to be a potential location for the construction of a massive SpaceX spaceport. The community has a population of about 100 people along Louisiana Highway 82. (7/31)

Environmentalists Condemn ‘Obscene’ FAA Space Licensing Proposal (Source: Flying)
Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), told FLYING in a statement that the White House “wants to gut even the most basic environmental safeguards to enrich some of the world’s wealthiest people.” SpaceX is owned by Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, and has engaged in public spats with the FAA regarding its licensing process. "We’ve seen real environmental damage from the exploding rocket toys of the super-rich,” Hartl said. “You can be damn sure we’ll fight this obscene giveaway to special interests.”

The concerns with rising commercial space activity are more than environmental. The FAA in 2025 warned pilots to be vigilant to “catastrophic” spaceflight mishaps that could produce falling debris as activity increases. SpaceX has reportedly failed to alert the agency to mishaps—including Starship explosions that forced disruptions—in a timely fashion. The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) has criticized the reporting mechanism as ineffective.

The DOT is required under 51 U.S.C. 50905(b)(2)(C) to consult with the head of the appropriate agency before waiving environmental requirements, which the FAA plans to do, per the NPRM. The Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and other laws proposed to be waived fall under Environmental Protection Agency oversight. However, NEPA is implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality within the Executive Office of the President, which has less independence from the White House. (7/30)

Spacecraft Will Swarm Asteroid Apophis During Fateful 2029 Earth Flyby (Source: Scientific American)
Apophis’s close approach in 2029 will still offer “a once-per-millennium natural experiment,” said MIT planetary scientist Richard Binzel. After years of uncertainty about how a near miss with a near-Earth asteroid actually plays out, major space agencies are now ready to watch, listen and learn with multiple missions to monitor the event. Three major missions are now set to get up close and personal with Apophis—one from NASA, another from ESA and a third from the Japan's JAXA. Coordinated with and complementing one another, the trio of missions will be an international relay at the asteroid—and they could be joined by a smaller, student-led Chinese CubeSat mission bound for Apophis as well. (7/30)

Hop Aero Wants to Deliver Cargo via Rocket (Source: Payload)
Shipping freight fast is a frustrating problem. Hop Aero wants to solve it using Rook–an autonomous suborbital rocket meant to launch and land cargo hundreds of kilometers away in minutes. The company launched on Y Combinator this week with a rendered video of a small launcher capable of flying a 15-minute delivery route between Okinawa and Taiwan. Rook is designed to launch from a standard 12-m shipping container, fly a suborbital arc, fly in at low hypersonic speeds, and land on unprepared surfaces, including in contested environments. Since Hop’s founding in 2024, the company has hot-fire-tested its engine and ignition system, and flown one piece of hardware: a tether test of a ~3 m prototype at Infinity One Oklahoma Spaceport, roughly two hours west of Oklahoma City. (7/30)

Europe Wants to Be a Strong Partner of the US in the Moon Race, ESA Astronaut Says (Source: Euro News)
Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano will pilot the Artemis III mission, NASA's next step towards its first Moon landing in decades. He tells Euronews how he is preparing, his thoughts on the space race and what European aspects he’ll bring into orbit. “We as Europeans, we as Italians, we want to be strong partners of the United States in this race,” astronaut Luca Parmitano told Euronews, talking about the current frontier in space exploration: returning to the Moon. (7/30)

K2 Space Raises $500 Million for Commercial, Defense Satellite Expansion (Source: Space News)
K2 Space has raised $500 million in new funding, more than doubling its valuation in seven months as the satellite manufacturer prepares to move from orbital demonstrations to large commercial and military orders. The investment has valued the company at $6.8 billion, as the company prepares to ‌increase production of large, high-power satellites. (7/30)

China Builds 500+ Spy Satellites as US Space Lead Shrinks (Source: WION)
China’s ambitions in space are increasingly becoming a military concern for the United States. The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission says China's space capabilities have improved its ability to coordinate military operations while maintaining persistent surveillance of US forces. A CSIS-led report ranked Chinese commercial remote-sensing systems among the top ones. (7/30)

SpaceX Begins Recovery Of First Flown Starship V3 (Source: Aviation Week)
SpaceX is recovering the Starship Version 3 (V3) spacecraft that completed a 65-min. suborbital flight test on July 24, giving the company its first opportunity to analyze a flown Starship. “The ship’s landing was precise, meaning it would have been caught by the tower arms,” SpaceX's CEO said. The spacecraft splashed down in the Indian Ocean and has remained afloat instead of sinking, as previous Starships had done. (7/30)

Space Force Eyes ‘Usable’ Airborne Target Tracking by ’28, More Capability to Follow (Source: Air and Space Forces)
The Space Force expects its nascent airborne moving target indicator program will have a “usable capability” in the next few years—but the official in charge of the program says there’s more work to be done beyond that to refine the sensing, data processing, and orchestration needed to deliver a global targeting capability from space.

The Space Force in April announced it had established an initial pool of vendors to compete for Space-Based AMTI contracts, and then in late May awarded SpaceX a $4.2 billion contract to begin building out the constellation, which will track aerial targets. The service plans to start launching those satellites over the next 18 months and have an initial capability on orbit by 2028. (7/30)

NASA Awards 2026 Innovative Technology Concepts (Source: NASA)
The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program has created 18 new awards to support visionary ideas to improve aerospace technologies in areas ranging from the exploration of the solar system to understanding the universe. The 18 NIAC Phase I awards total $3.2 million. Each award provides up to $175,000 for a nine-month initial investigation. The NIAC projects are about early-stage concept development and are not considered official NASA missions. Included among the 18 is one from the University of Central Florida, for "PS21: Transforming Submillimeter Space Interferometry with Photonic Technologies." Click here. (7/29)

Florida Universities Aim to Develop Florida-Owned Space Station Research Module (Source: SPACErePORT)
Florida Space Research Consortium and Florida Space Institute Director Alain Berinstain, during a presentation in Melbourne on Thursday, revealed plans for Florida universities to have dedicated access to an orbiting laboratory module as part of a future space station. He envisions Florida-developed payloads and Florida university researchers as frequent users of the orbital lab. (7/30)

SpaceX Looks to Compete with the Carriers (Source: Semafor)
Elon Musk is coming for your cell phone network. SpaceX, which is trying to fill a hole in its airwaves crucial for a full-service wireless network, has been hunting for spectrum that works well in cities and dense areas, according to people familiar with the matter. The company is considering buying competitors to acquire the spectrum or competing at a government auction set for next year, the people said.

It is the most recent sign that Musk’s Starlink plans to compete directly with AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. Musk’s SpaceX has taken other steps into the conventional telecommunications business. President Gwynne Shotwell demonstrated a prototype mobile handset to some investors earlier this year. (7/29)

Vandenberg Leaders Outline Vision for 'Spaceport of the Future' (Source: KSBY)
As demand for commercial and national security launches continues to increase, leaders at Vandenberg Space Force Base say the installation must modernize its infrastructure to keep pace with the future of space operations. On Wednesday, Space Launch Delta 30 hosted its inaugural “Spaceport of the Future” Industry Day, bringing together government officials, contractors and private industry representatives to discuss a large-scale effort to transform Vandenberg into a higher-capacity spaceport. (7/29)

India's Gaganyaan Races to Meet Launch Target (Source: India Today)
India's ambitious Gaganyaan program, which aims to send Indian astronauts into space aboard an indigenous spacecraft, has entered its final phase, with most critical technologies now tested and validated for maiden uncrewed launch, the Centre informed during the Monsoon Session of the Parliament on July 29. Responding to a question in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State for Space Dr Jitendra Singh replied that the development and ground testing of the human-rated launch vehicle have been completed. (7/30)

NASA Sees South Korea as Key Partner in Building Moon Base (Source: UPI)
NASA is considering cooperation with South Korea in satellite communications, robotics and mobility as the U.S. space agency works to establish a permanently occupied base on the moon in the 2030s. Carlos García-Galán, manager of NASA's Moon Base program, said Wednesday that international cooperation would be essential to accomplishing the nearly impossible task of establishing a sustainable human presence on the lunar surface. (7/29)

Seattle Tech Week Highlights How Unorthodox Routes Can Lead to Careers on the Space Frontier (Source: Geekwire)
The road to space isn’t always a straight line. Sometimes, the itinerary for a career in the space industry begins with years of experience in other tech fields. And sometimes, it starts at an espresso stand. “I actually started as a barista at SpaceX, and I somehow got recruited to go build Starlink satellites,” Kayla VanderPutten, a technical recruiter at Anduril Industries, said Monday at a downtown Seattle Tech Week session. “I don’t know why they let me do that, but I was there for the first 500 satellites before I transitioned into recruiting.”

Over the course of 25 years, Joydeep Hazra’s career path took him through a series of jobs in telecommunications and network engineering, including management positions at Nokia, Mavenir and TRIDENTX. Now he’s the manager of a federally funded program focusing on electric vehicles at South Seattle College — and he’s getting involved in aerospace as well. Last week, South Seattle College and the nonprofit Mars Society announced a partnership to build a space research station on campus, complete with a habitat that can be used for simulating missions on the moon or Mars.

The electric vehicle program could help students prepare for careers building Mars rovers, like the Chinese-built prototype rover that Hazra displayed during the Seattle Tech Week session. “When you’re building a lunar habitat, there are a lot more things to do than just going up and down in the rocket, and that’s where all of us count,” Hazra said. “Interoperability, frequencies, microgrids, plumbing, psychology, cooking — everything is going to be super-important, because without that, the lunar habitat would only have robots from China, and not our astronauts.” (7/29)

How Sentinel-1 Measured Movement of Venezuela Quakes (Source: ESA)
More than one month on from the catastrophic twin earthquakes in northern Venezuela on 24 June 2026, satellite data show the ground displacement was greater than first estimated. As a satellite passes overhead, it sends out radar pulses (radio waves travelling at the speed of light). These are directed towards the ground at a diagonal angle (rather than vertically), hitting the ground to the side of the satellite’s orbital path over Earth. The radar wave is reflected off the ground and the satellite measures the length of the returning wave.

This gives very accurate information on ground level, to within a millimetre, although ground covered by vegetation will give less accurate readings. The measurements taken on 24 and 25 June, compared with measurements on 18 June, show an upwards displacement of 65 cm around Caracas, La Guaira and Caraballeda, with some downwards displacement north of the Boconó fault line. (7/28)

July 30, 2026

Drawn by Helium-3, Lunar Mining Companies Prepare for Initial Missions (Source: Aerospace America)
On Earth, helium-3 is worth $30,000 per gram because of its scarcity. But on the moon, there are abundant deposits of this gas in rocks and dust on the lunar surface, thanks to billions of years of solar wind exposure. This has created a modern gold rush, birthing a handful of prospective mining companies now taking steps toward beginning operations on the lunar surface in the coming years.

Their initial missions will be aimed at determining where these helium-3 deposits are located, how concentrated those deposits are and the best methods for extracting them from the lunar regolith — all of which they need to be sure of before beginning large-scale mining because of the extreme expense of operating on the moon. Then there is the matter of proving they can operate in the moon’s harsh environment, including surviving the two-week lunar nights.

Aside from its current price, the appeal of helium-3 lies in the projected demand — coolant for quantum computing and fuel for future fusion reactors, for example. Interlune, a Seattle-based space resources company with plans to mine helium-3, has signed contracts worth $500 million to sell the gas to the U.S. Department of Energy, Bluefors of Helsinki and Maybell Quantum in Denver, all for quantum computer cooling. Another prospective miner, Black Moon Energy of Houston, has $500 million in helium-3 contracts to supply DOE and fusion reactor companies, the CEO says. (7/29)

All Points Wins $250 Million for Vandenberg Payload Processing Facility (Source: Space News)
All Points Logistics won a $250 million contract to expand satellite processing facilities at Vandenberg. The award, announced Wednesday, covers design and construction of a commercially owned and operated spacecraft processing center at Vandenberg's Mission Development Zone. All Points is the third company to receive a contract under a Commercial Solutions Opening, or CSO, initiative to expand satellite processing capacity, after Astrotech and Blue Origin. Payload processing has drawn greater attention as launch activity increases on both U.S. coasts, creating bottlenecks in launch manifests. (7/30)

Mexico Backs Down From SpaceX Lawsuit Plan (Source: San Antonio Express-News)
The Mexican government is backing down from plans to sue SpaceX over claims about Starship launch debris. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said last year that the government was considering suing SpaceX after debris from an explosion during a Starship test landed across the Rio Grande in Mexican territory. Mexican officials had also complained that debris from Starship launches had washed up on Mexican beaches. Sheinbaum said this week that the government was no longer planning a lawsuit after discussions with both SpaceX and the U.S. government.

Editor's Note: I've asked this before but never got a clear answer: can Mexico shut down Starbase launches if the blast danger zone encroaches Mexican territory, including territorial waters? (7/29)

L3Harris Delays Missile Business Spin-Out (Source: Space News)
L3Harris is delaying plans to spin out its missile business despite strong demand. The company said earlier this year it would turn its Missile Solutions business into a separate, publicly traded company in the second half of 2026 after taking a $1 billion investment from the Defense Department. L3Harris CEO Christopher Kubasik told analysts on the company's second-quarter earnings call that demand for the business continues to strengthen, but recent IPO activity has made public markets less attractive. L3Harris now expects to revisit an IPO in mid-2027. (7/30)

FAA Rule Would Exempt Commercial Launches From Environmental Regulations (Source: Space News)
A proposed FAA rule would exempt commercial launches from many environmental regulations. The proposal, published Thursday in the Federal Register, would waive requirements from 13 environmental laws and associated regulations for commercial launch, reentry and spaceport licensing. The FAA developed the rule in response to provisions of a commercial space executive order released nearly a year ago that called on the Department of Transportation to reduce environmental and other barriers to launch licensing. The space industry has argued that complying with environmental regulations, including developing environmental assessments, is time-consuming and expensive. Environmental groups oppose the proposal. The publication of the proposed rule starts a 30-day comment period. (7/30)

Sophia Space and Caltech Patent Orbital Data Center Modular Architecture (Source: Space News)
A company and university have received a patent for orbital data centers. The patent by Sophia Space and Caltech covers the architecture for a modular, scalable, passively cooled, computing and data storage unit designed for assembly into large computing data centers powered by solar energy. It is designed to address one of the key challenges of orbital data centers, how such structures can both take in and radiate away large amounts of power. It builds on earlier work done at Caltech on space-based solar power. (7/30)

SpaceX Launches NRO Mission From Florida on Thursday (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
SpaceX launched a National Reconnaissance Office mission overnight. A Falcon 9 lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport in Florida on the NROL-95 mission. The first stage for the launch landed back at Cape Canaveral's Landing Zone 2. Neither SpaceX nor the NRO disclosed any details about the launch's payload, although it is suspected to be a signals intelligence spacecraft. (7/30)

China Launches Long March 7A and Long March 6 Missions (Source: Xinhua)
China performed two launches Wednesday. A Long March 7A rocket lifted off from the Wenchang spaceport, placing into orbit Tianlan 3-01, a GEO data relay satellite used to support China's space station and other missions. A Long March 6 rocket lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. It placed into orbit what Chinese media called communication technology test satellites, designated TJS-27A and -27B, but with no further details about their orbit or mission. (7/30)

Rocket Lab Wins Another Japanese Multi-Launch Contract (Source: Space News)
Rocket Lab won another contract from Japanese radar-imaging company iQPS. Rocket Lab announced Thursday it signed a contract to launch three iQPS satellites on Electron rockets starting late this year. This is the third multi-launch contract iQPS has awarded Rocket Lab in the last year, bringing the total number of Electrons ordered to 18. Seven of those launches have taken place, but an eighth launch was scrubbed a month ago after an abort at engine startup. That launch has not yet been rescheduled. (7/30)

SpaceX Wins $1.6B to Launch Space Force ‘Sensing and Targeting’ Sats on 18 Launches (Source: CNA)
SpaceX won $1.6 billion in orders from the U.S. Space Force on Wednesday to launch 18 Falcon 9 missions through 2027 carrying Pentagon satellites for detecting and targeting airborne objects, the service said. The 18 missions were assigned to SpaceX across two task orders under the U.S. Space Force's flagship launch procurement program, in which SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, Blue Origin and other U.S. launch firms inducted into the program jockey for lucrative mission assignments. (7/29)

Cyber Firm Resecurity Joins Space ISAC (Source: Via Satellite)
Resecurity is the latest cybersecurity company to join Space ISAC as a member. As a provider of cyber threat intelligence and digital risk protection, Resecurity aims to deliver advanced capabilities, including external attack surface monitoring; digital risk management; brand protection; first-, second-, third-, and fourth-party risk management; fraud prevention; executive protection; threat intelligence; dark web intelligence; digital investigations; and adversary infrastructure tracking. Space ISAC announced Resecurity joined the organization, July 28. (7/29)

SpaceX Customers Are Bracing for the Falcon Rocket Phaseout (Source: Bloomberg)
Satellite operators are preparing for changes as SpaceX moves to phase out Falcon rocket configurations used for commercial payload rides. The shift raises near-term questions for manifesting, launch availability, and how operators continue relying on SpaceX’s “workhorse” vehicle for routine access to orbit. (7/29)

Outlier Space Raises $7.3M to Build New Zealand’s First Reentry Vehicle (Source: Payload)
Outlier Space, a New Zealand-based reentry startup, announced a $7.35M pre-seed round yesterday to fund the development of the company’s microgravity research and return vehicle, which is scheduled to fly its debut mission in 2028. Global from Day One led the round, which included additional participation from Nova Threshold, Brian Cartmell, Airtree, Icehouse Ventures, Investible, and Side Stage Ventures.

Founded in 2024 by Jamie France, Rocket Lab’s former global director of the Electron launch vehicle, Outlier is developing a reusable Earth-return capsule to offer better mission economics compared with the growing pool of reentry vehicles on the market. While France declined to discuss many of the technical specifics about the vehicle Outlier is building, he shared the company’s plan to lower the cost of reentry through comparatively larger reusable capsules—by focusing as much as possible on increasing the ratio between payload mass and total vehicle mass. (7/29)

MaiaSpace Ditches Suborbital Test Flight Plans (Source: European Spaceflight)
MaiaSpace has scrapped plans to conduct a suborbital test flight of its Maia rocket, opting instead to proceed straight to a full orbital launch attempt for the vehicle’s inaugural flight in the second half of 2027. Under its initial development roadmap, the ArianeGroup subsidiary would have flown a full two-stage Maia vehicle with a reduced propellant load to a target altitude of at least 100 kilometers. The company has, however, now concluded that its ground and combined testing has reduced the value of conducting a suborbital test flight. (7/29)

ESA Commissions Optical Ground Station in Luxembourg to Advance Quantum-Enabled Ultra-Secure Satellite Communications (Source: Spacewatch Global)
The European Space Agency has commissioned a new optical ground station in Windhof, Luxembourg, to help test an ultra-secure, international communications network. This follows the ground breaking ceremony in Noordwijk, The Netherlands, for a dedicated OGS to communicate with the EAGLE-1 satellite for quantum technology-based ultra-secure communication earlier this month. (7/29)

ESA Taps Aalyria to Build Deep-Space Network Hub (Source: Payload)
ESA has tapped Aalyria to build a piece of the internet’s off-world extension: a network-operations center that allows spacecraft, lunar missions, and ground stations to share data reliably across the solar system. The center will run delay-/disruption-tolerant networking (DTN), which is a store-and-forward protocol built for space when a constant, instant connection is often impossible. (7/29)

Thales Alenia Space Secures Platform Development Contract for Italy’s PRISMA Second Generation Hyperspectral Mission (Source: SatNews)
In an expansion of Italy’s space-based Earth observation infrastructure, Thales Alenia Space announced on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, that it signed a contract with prime contractor OHB Italia to develop the satellite and supply the PRIMA-S platform for the Italian Space Agency’s PRISMA Second Generation mission. Scheduled for launch in 2031, the spacecraft will host an upgraded hyperspectral optical payload built by Leonardo to provide enhanced imaging of Earth’s land surfaces, vegetation, inland waters, and coastal environments. (7/29)

Rocket Explosions Used To Be Tragic. Now They’re Punchlines (Source: New York Times)
In the first-season finale of the HBO series “Succession,” Roman Roy, the youngest son of a right-wing media mogul, ducks into a bathroom to watch a satellite launch on his phone. His father has put him in charge of the launch, not because he has any particular expertise but in order to subtly manipulate interpersonal family dynamics. Roman has ignored technical concerns and insisted that the rocket go up on the day of his sister’s wedding.

The stream buffers for a minute, and then the rocket appears. A cloud of smoke gathers as the thrusters engage. Then, just like that, the screen shows only flames. Roman gulps and puts his phone back in his suit jacket. He washes his hands and goes back into the wedding reception, ready to pretend that nothing happened.

On May 28, a New Glenn rocket — a creation of Jeff Bezos’ company Blue Origin, meant to eventually carry a moon lander on future NASA Artemis missions — exploded during a test. The visuals were almost identical to Roman Roy’s impotent effort: the smoke, the series of miniature fireballs appearing before the big one spreads outward and consumes everything. “This is one of the greatest explosions I’ve ever seen,” one user wrote. “Michael Bay is somewhere saying, ‘Damn, not bad.’” Many people posted photos or gifs of Roman’s face. But one poster summed the prevailing feeling succinctly: “how have we gotten worse at this lmao.” (7/28)

Supersonic Flight’s New Golden Age Getting Closer (Source: Flying)
In early 2025, its XB-1 “Baby Boom” demonstrator made 13 test flights over Mojave, California, where U.S. Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier in a Bell X-1 nearly eight decades before. Two of those flights surpassed Mach 1—and, according to Boom, produced sonic booms that were inaudible on the ground below. With the XB-1 now retired to Boom’s headquarters in Centennial, Colorado, the firm is setting its sights on Overture—the flagship, civil supersonic jet it aims to introduce by 2030. Both United Airlines and American Airlines have purchase agreements.

But whereas customers routinely shelled out more than $10,000 for one-way Concorde tickets, Scholl claims an equivalent trip on Overture would cost less than half that. He added that the company aims to drive costs down “until it’s for everybody.” Scholl said Boom aims to fly “tens of millions of passengers everywhere on hundreds of routes”—and not just internationally. That’s because Overture will be capable of what he dubbed “boomless cruise.” (7/29)

State Space Summits Planned (Source: SPACErePORT)
The Texas Space Summit, previously planned for Sep. 21-23 in San Antonio, will be rescheduled to sometime in 2027. The summit is organized around the state's growing space industry, supported by the Texas Space Commission. Meanwhile in Florida, multiple space-focused summits, symposia, and conferences are planned before the end of 2026, including a Florida Space Summit on Oct. 20-21, a Space Settlement Summit on Oct. 25-30, a Space Economy Summit on Oct. 28-29, an "UP.Summit" investor summit on Nov. 4-6, and a Space Coast Symposium on Aug. 21, a Space Visions Symposium on Sep. 11, a Small Satellite Education Conference on Nov. 7-8, and the SpacePower Conference on Dec. 8-10. Scroll to the bottom of my weekly SPACErePORT for links to these Florida events.

In other states, the Arizona Aerospace Summit was on Jul. 15. New Mexico's Space Valley Discovery event is planned on Sep. 28. An Ohio Space Forum is on Sep. 17. The Boston Human Spaceflight Symposium is on Sep. 24-25. Massachusetts Space Days is on Oct. 4-10. The Keystone Space Collaborative Conference is on Oct. 27. The Northeast Space Trade and Research Show is on Nov 28-29. And the Maine Space Conference is on Nov. 5-6. (7/29)

Space Stocks Plunge Over 60% in Just Two Months (Source: Payload Pro)
Space stocks did nothing but go vertical in the first half of the year (many were up well over 100%) with momentum driven by SpaceX's IPO and valuation, increased geopolitical conflict with the war in Iran, orbital data-center hype, and a broader market pivot from software into hardware businesses. Then, starting just before the SpaceX IPO, it started to collapse. Since the end of May market highs, space stocks have broadly plunged over 60%. (7/29)

July 29, 2026

Space Coast and Central Florida Towns Dominate "Best Cities for Engineers" Ranking for Southeast (Source: Livability)
Finding a place to live that supports both your personal and professional aspirations is more important than ever. For engineering professionals, choosing where to call home is all about work-life balance – you want a place to live that offers an exceptional quality of life and where you can build a thriving career. Labor market data experts at Chmura Economics & Analytics analyzed relevant nationwide data, broken our guide down by region. For the Southeast, four Central Florida towns dominate the ranking, with Space Coast towns Palm Bay and Melbourne in the top three, plus Alafaya and Apopka (both in the Orlando metro area) in the top four. Click here. (7/13)

Satellite Imagery Points to Data Center Missile Strike in Bahrain (Source: Sensus PR)
With satellite imagery now appearing to corroborate the recent strikes on Amazon's Bahrain data centers, the question of how commercial data centers actually defend themselves has become live. Laurynas Šatas, CEO of Aktyvus Photonics, thinks data centers should defend themselves against drones, and partner with the state for missile defense.

"A very similar attack on AWS data centers happened in March. But it's worth separating the two events, because they involved different weapons. The confirmed March strikes used one-way attack drones. The July strikes on the Bahrain facilities appear to have involved missiles, and while Amazon hasn't confirmed the extent of the damage, independent satellite imagery now appears to corroborate that it was significant. (7/29)

Swift Reboost Mission Glitches (Source: Space News)
A spacecraft launched earlier this month to reboost the orbit of a NASA astrophysics mission has run into problems. Katalyst Space Technologies said Tuesday its Link spacecraft entered a multi-axis spin several days ago because of problems with its attitude control system. The company is working on regaining control of the spacecraft despite failures of two reaction wheels and only partial functionality of reaction control system thrusters. Link launched July 3 on a mission to attach to NASA's Swift gamma-ray observatory and raise its orbit before it reenters late this year or early next year. Katalyst said it is developing an alternative plan for the mission that will still allow it to carry out the reboost. (7/29)

ESA Studying Gateway Element Repurposing (Source: Space News)
ESA is studying how it could repurpose an element it had been developing for the lunar Gateway. ESA issued an invitation to tender on Monday for studies examining the feasibility of the proposed Lunar Link repurposing mission. Lunar Link was to be a communications system for Gateway, but NASA announced earlier this year it was pausing work on the Gateway indefinitely to focus on a lunar base. The studies will examine the feasibility of turning Lunar Link into a standalone satellite to provide communications at the moon, complementing the agency's existing Moonlight program. (7/29)

China's Stars Harmony Secures $14 Million for Orbital Tracking Constellation (Source: Space News)
A Chinese startup has secured around $14 million to build a satellite constellation for tracking orbital objects, adding to China's growing SSA sector. Xingchen Daohe, also known as Stars Harmony, was reported to have secured nearly 100 million yuan ($14.8 million) last week. The funds will be used for the development, deployment and team-building for the Guanlan constellation, intended to provide continuous space-based monitoring and tracking of orbital objects to support collision avoidance, orbit optimization and space traffic management for both military and civil satellite operators. The finding is another sign of the growing Chinese SSA sector as multiple companies secure funding and advance work on SSA systems. (7/29)

Fortastra and Hadrian Team on In-Space Manufacturing (Source: Space News)
Fortastra, a Los Angeles startup focused on defending on-orbit infrastructure, is partnering with manufacturing specialist Hadrian. The companies announced Wednesday they will work together to see how Hadrian's expertise in manufacturing could be used to reduce spacecraft mass and accelerate production. The agreement calls for Fortastra and Hadrian to jointly evaluate ways to apply additive, subtractive, hybrid and emerging manufacturing approaches to Fortastra programs such as satellite buses. (7/29)

Boeing and NASA Talking About Next CST-100 Mission Amid Vulcan Challenges (Source: Space News)
Boeing says it is still talking with NASA about scheduling the next CST-100 Starliner mission. In an earnings call Tuesday, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said work to correct problems with Starliner is going "quite well" but that NASA was "replanning their launch sequence" for the program. Starliner has not flown since a crewed test flight two years ago that suffered propulsion system problems, and the next mission will be a cargo-only flight. NASA safety advisers said in June it could be up to a year before Starliner flies again. Boeing separately disclosed in an SEC filing Tuesday that it provided a loan guarantee to United Launch Alliance along with Lockheed Martin, which had disclosed its loan guarantee last week. Boeing and Lockheed have each guaranteed $500 million in loans to ULA, which is suffering financial challenges from the grounding of its Vulcan rocket. (7/29)

Japan's ispace to Get H3 Ride to Moon (Source: Space News)
Japanese lunar lander company ispace will launch its next mission on the H3 rocket. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and ispace announced Tuesday a launch agreement for ispace's Mission 3 lander mission, scheduled for 2028. The first two ispace landers launched on Falcon 9, but the companies said the new arrangement creates Japan's first private lunar transportation system. The companies did not disclose financial terms of the launch contract, although ispace noted the weak Japanese yen has made foreign launch vehicles more expensive. The announcement came days after ispace's European subsidiary won a $74 million ESA contract to complete development of a small robotic rover called MAGPIE that will fly on ispace's Mission 4 lander in 2029. MAGPIE will study regolith conditions and prospect for water ice at the south polar region of the moon. (7/29)

RFA to Destack at SaxaVord, Debut Orbital Launch Delayed (Source: STV)
Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) is pausing preparations for its first launch. The company said Tuesday that an undisclosed issue found during testing of its RFA ONE rocket at SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands led it to decide to destack the rocket. The small launch vehicle was going through a series of tests that was to include a static-fire test before a launch attempt as soon as Aug. 10. RFA did not disclose how the issue might delay that launch attempt. (7/29)

Germany Considers Sovereign Spaceport (Source: European Spaceflight)
The German military is considering a dedicated launch facility. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said during a visit last week to launch company Isar Aerospace that he was considering whether the German military needed a site that would provide it with guaranteed launch access. Companies like Isar and RFA are launching outside the country at spaceports that, in some cases, are shared with other users. Pistorius did not state where that launch site should be located but said it could be outside of German territory. (7/29)

NASA Expected to Formalize International Lunar Base Partnerships (Source: Seoul Economic Daily)
NASA expects to decide in the next three months roles for international partners in its lunar base initiative. During a visit to South Korea Wednesday, Carlos García-Galán, NASA's Moon Base program manager, said the agency was evaluating the capabilities and interests of Artemis Accords signatories for participating in the base's development. He said that within three months, "we want to determine the direction and a detailed timeline for which partner nations will take on which roles in each key area." García-Galán and other NASA officials were in the country to talk with South Korea's space agency about roles in the lunar base program. (7/29)

US Builds $50M Hypersonic Payload Hub Ahead of Schedule to Speed Mach 5+ Flight Testing (Source: Interesting Engineering)
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has completed construction of a new hypersonic payload integration facility in southern Indiana ahead of schedule, expanding U.S. infrastructure for next-generation flight testing as demand grows for advanced missile technologies. The $50 million Indiana Payload Integration Facility (IPIF), located near the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division in Crane, Indiana, gives Kratos additional capacity to support U.S. hypersonic weapons development. The company said the site will help increase the pace of Mach 5+ flight testing while strengthening the nation’s defense industrial base as the Pentagon accelerates advanced weapons programs. (7/29)

U.S. Air Force Reveals Plans For VTOL Bomber Prototype (Source: Aviation Week)
The U.S. Air Force has released plans to experiment with a prototype reusable, rocket-powered aircraft for high-speed, long-range strike missions. Although limited to a prototype program, the interest from Air Force Global Strike Command points toward a future bomber alternative that differs markedly from the stealthy, subsonic Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider, which is now in the early stages of production.

The prototype described in solicitation documents released in mid-July calls for a liquid-fueled, rocket-powered, vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) aircraft. After launching vertically, or potentially on a steep diagonal trajectory, the aircraft would transition to horizontal flight and accelerate to high—likely supersonic or hypersonic—speed, perform a strike mission and then return to its launch base for a vertical landing. (7/29)

NNSA Delivers New Nuclear Detonation Sensors To Space Force (Source: Defense Daily)
The National Nuclear Security Administration has delivered its fifth next-generation Global Burst Detector sensor payload to the Space Force to monitor nuclear detonations above-ground globally. The payload will be integrated onto a satellite before launch, where it will join an existing constellation of sensors that continuously monitor the globe for above-ground nuclear explosions. (7/29)

EchoStar Faces Mounting Financial Pressure on Hughes Satellite Unit Amid Corporate Reorganization (Source: SatNews)
Financial reports published on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, indicate that EchoStar Corporation’s satellite communications division, Hughes Network Systems, is facing severe liquidity constraints, fueling industry speculation regarding a potential Chapter 11 filing or targeted debt restructuring for the subsidiary. (7/29)

SpaceX Launches Saturday Starlink Mission From California (Source: Space.com)
SpaceX launched 24 more satellites for its Starlink network on Saturday (July 25), a day after demonstrating it could do the same on its next-gen rocket. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying Starlink group 17-51 lifted off on Saturday from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. About an hour later, the 24 broadband internet satellites were deployed into low Earth orbit (LEO), as planned. (7/28)

Philippines Plans Spaceport, 2027 Suborbital Launch (Source: Inquirer)
In the next few years, the Philippines may have its own booming spaceport, similar to Cape Canaveral in the United States, where more than a hundred rockets are sent into space each year. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced that the country will launch a rocket into space next year, marking the first liquid-fueled suborbital rocket launch from Philippine soil. The test rocket launch, set at Cagayan North International Airport in early 2027, will help advance the Philippines’ launch capabilities, develop Filipino expertise in rocket technologies, and prepare for future space launch activities, according to the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA). (7/28)

Germany's Exploration Company, with SpaceX Ambitions, Aims for $2 Billion Valuation (Source: Financial Times)
An ambitious European space start-up is in talks to raise hundreds of millions of dollars of funding for its plan to develop reusable space capsules in a bid to challenge Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The Exploration Company (TEC) is discussing raising at least $300mn in new money that could value the company at more than $2bn once the fresh investment is taken into account, according to people familiar with the matter. Brussels’ new flagship Scaleup Europe Fund, an investment vehicle backed by the European Commission and managed by Swedish investment group EQT, was discussing making one of its first investments in TEC as part of the deal, the people added. The people cautioned that talks remained ongoing and that figures could yet shift, with no final decisions taken yet. (7/28)

SpaceX Performed Secret Starship Test on Flight 13 (Source: Teslarati)
SpaceX performed a secret test on a specific portion of Starship with its recent 13th test flight last week, CEO Elon Musk revealed. Musk described an internal test of the ship’s heat shield tiles, as the space exploration company wanted to push them to the limits after previous issues. Many noticed that Starship’s initial launch seemed to be more accelerated than normal, and that was not a mistake. Musk revealed that SpaceX decided to give Flight 13 an intentionally aggressive acceleration rate in an effort to test how well the tiles would remain attached to the ship. (7/28)

Friends in High Places: Trump Exempts SpaceX Starlink From FCC Ban on Foreign Routers (Source: Ars Technica)
The Trump administration today exempted SpaceX’s Starlink routers from the Federal Communications Commission ban on foreign-made routers. A public notice issued by the FCC said Starlink routers received approval from the Department of War (also known as the Department of Defense). SpaceX’s exemption is good until February 1, 2028.

The FCC kicked off an industry-wide scramble when it updated the Covered List to include all consumer-grade routers made at least partly outside the US, except those that are granted exemptions. SpaceX has a factory in Texas, and some of its routers have the words “Made in the USA” printed on them, leading some to believe that it might be the only major router maker to escape the FCC’s wide-ranging ban. But other Starlink routers are made in Vietnam. (7/27)

SpaceX Stock-Purchasing by Congress Members Fuels Conflict Concerns (Source: CNBC)
Reps. William Timmons, R-SC, John McGuire, R-VA, Dan Meuser, R-PA, Gil Cisneros, D-CA, Jared Moskowitz, D-FL, and John James, R-MI — or members of their immediate families — bought between roughly $83,000 and $245,000 in SpaceX shares combined, all within six days of its IPO. Five of the lawmakers serve on committees whose work intersects with SpaceX’s defense, satellite, AI, federal contracting or securities businesses. The transactions were legal, and there is no evidence of insider trading, but an ethics expert said the holdings create potential conflicts between lawmakers’ duties and financial interests. (7/28)

MDA Space Issues $600 Million in Senior Notes to Finance U.S. Expansion (Source: SpaceQ)
MDA Space has priced a $600-million private placement of senior unsecured notes to fund its acquisition of U.S. satellite manufacturer Blue Canyon Technologies (BCT), capping off a month of intensive capital raises for the company. The notes, which carry a 6.50% interest rate and mature in 2033, were issued at par. The offering is expected to close on Aug. 5. (7/27)

‘Our Country is the Mission’: More Than 100 Ex-NASA Astronauts Launch New Voting Campaign (Source: The Guardian)
Cady Coleman and dozens of other retired NASA colleagues have formed Astronauts for America, a non-partisan advocacy group of fellow space explorers. Launched, pun intended, to coincide with the 2026 semiquincentennial of the US, the out-of-this-world alliance wants to restore faith in, and support of, the country’s constitutional democracy. It seeks to encourage politicians and the public to commit to the principles of the constitution itself, something its members believe has fallen into a sort of a black hole in recent months and years. (7/27)

Former NASA Associate Administrator Named Chairman of ABOVE Space, Provider of Hybrid Gravity Tech (Source: ABOVE)
ABOVE Space Development Corp. announced the appointment of James L. “Jim” Reuter as Chairman of the Board, strengthening the company’s leadership as it advances next-generation commercial space infrastructure. Reuter, a 40-year NASA veteran and former Associate Administrator of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, brings decades of experience leading complex human spaceflight, exploration, and advanced technology programs.

The announcement comes as ABOVE reaches a major intellectual-property milestone with the issuance of U.S. Patent No. 12,576,995 B1, “Systems and methods for providing a hybrid gravity environment.” The patent covers an orbital platform architecture designed to support both artificial gravity and microgravity within a single integrated space vehicle structure. In practical terms, the technology is intended to allow future customers to access different gravity environments on one platform, supporting a broader range of research, manufacturing, habitation, training, and mission needs. (7/26)

Impulse Space Details its First Electric Propulsion System (Source: Via Satellite)
Impulse Space detailed the company’s first electric propulsion system called Electra, built to support long-duration operations in space. This comes after a year ago, Impulse said it was exploring developing electric propulsion, in addition to the company’s lineup of chemical propulsion. Within six months, the company had fired the propulsion system and is now qualifying Electra flight engines for integration with the Mira spacecraft. Impulse said Tuesday the system is nearly fully vertically integrated and built in-house, including the thruster and supporting avionics. (7/28)

Florida’s Space Play Offers a Roadmap for Beating China (Source: Florida Today)
China has a secret weapon in the modern day space race that the United States isn’t taking enough advantage of: state and local investment. Chinese provinces and municipalities such as Shanghai are spending billions and leading the effort to build space infrastructure and satellite systems. For example, Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST) was initially founded with capital from Shanghai’s municipal state asset management commission and Shanghai Alliance Investment, a state-owned venture capital firm.

The U.S. system cannot and should not seek to copy China’s system, but it would be foolish not to learn from what’s working for our biggest competitor. The federal government just gave states a new tool. Space Infrastructure bonds are tax-exempt private activity bonds that can be used to finance spaceports and nearby related facilities like spacecraft factories. Space Florida is on track to be the first to use them as part of the state’s "Project Jaguar" focused on making its space industry even more competitive domestically and internationally through improvements at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport.

There are 20 US spaceports in 10 states ― from California to Florida and beyond ― that now have the opportunity to use this new financing mechanism to supercharge economic development around spaceport sites. This is particularly significant as bond rates rise, making other financing options for these projects more expensive. Municipal investment in space is part of the Space Coast's DNA but this new policy allows for even more investment. (7/27)

Preserving the Legacy of the ISS (Source: Space Review)
The International Space Station is scheduled to be retired as soon as the end of the decade. Jeff Foust reports this is providing new urgency to efforts to preserve some aspects of the station before it is deorbited. Click here. (7/28)
 
Orbiting Solar Observatories: Nancy Grace Roman and Solar Science From Spinning Spacecraft (Source: Space Review)
NASA’s next major space telescope, launching in a month, is named after astronomer Nancy Grace Roman. Trevor Williams discusses how she spearheaded the development of a line of spacecraft missions to study the Sun. Click here. (7/28)
 
Starship May Become Useful Before it Becomes Reusable (Source: Space Review)
SpaceX’s Starship performed its latest suborbital test flight last week, inching closer to orbital missions. Paul Almond says that Starship could still be useful to SpaceX even before the company demonstrates the vehicle’s full reusability. Click here. (7/28)
 
Affordability for Artemis (Source: Space Review)
One question about NASA’s revised plans for Artemis is how much it will cost to get astronauts back to the Moon. Robert Oler argues that Congress should investigate just how affordable those plans are. Click here. (7/28)
 
To Win the Moon, Divide the Labor (Source: Space Review)
NASA is relying heavily on commercial partnerships in its plans to return to the Moon and establish a base there. Alexander Salter discusses why those plans will require a balance of commercial capabilities and government-led efforts. Click here. (7/28)

FAA Moves to Simplify Commercial Space Licensing (Source: FAA)
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy announced that the FAA is launching a new initiative to streamline commercial space licensing, making it faster and easier for innovators to secure approvals to launch rockets, reenter spacecraft, and operate launch and reentry sites. The move builds on an executive order and advances a decades-old Congressional mandate to simplify and expedite commercial space licensing.

The FAA's proposed rule would allow the agency to waive unnecessary environmental laws and regulations that are slowing American innovation. Requirements that are needed to protect public health and safety, property, national security, or U.S. foreign policy interests would not be impacted. (7/28)

July 28, 2026

ORBES Unveils Exo-ORB Maintenance Spacecraft (Source: Payload)
ORBES, a California startup building robotic spacecraft for in-orbit servicing missions, unveiled its first inspection satellite today—called Exo-ORB. The robotic spacecraft is one of two models ORBES is building: ORB and Exo-ORB.

ORB is a free-flying robot designed to fly inside pressurized space stations, replacing or flying alongside astronauts to perform tasks like inventory management. Exo-ORB is the external alternative, designed to fly 10 m to 20 m away from its host spacecraft to perform up-close inspection on-orbit with a high-res camera. Later iterations of Exo-ORB will come equipped with robotic arms to perform in-space maintenance tasks, such as repairs and component replacements. (7/27)

Astrolight Advances End-to-End Lasercom Network to Address Orbital Bandwidth and Spectrum Bottlenecks (Source: SatNews)
As orbital computing initiatives—such as Google’s Project Suncatcher demonstration and mega-constellation deployments—accelerate data generation in orbit, traditional radio-frequency (RF) communication infrastructure faces severe spectrum congestion and physical throughput limits. o bypass finite RF bandwidth, European space and defense technology firm Astrolight is scaling its integrated optical communications portfolio, deploying flight-ready laser terminals and automated optical ground stations (OGSs) to create an end-to-end optical network for high-capacity space-to-Earth data transfer. (7/27)

Building the Connectivity Backbone for the Next Era of Lunar Exploration (Source: Via Satellite)
Over the last half century, space-based assets have helped to provide terrestrial users with ubiquitous services like broadband communications and position, navigation and timing (PNT). But although we think of these services as space-based, they don’t actually work in space — especially not in the area between Earth orbit and the Moon known as cislunar space, that is the new frontier for Artemis and other missions.

NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) are each pledging billions to kickstart a commercial ecosystem of lunar missions over the coming decade, but the critical foundation for that effort is replicating those taken-for-granted terrestrial services across the vast distances of cislunar space.

Multiple efforts are already underway on both sides of the Atlantic to build lunar satellite constellations, providing PNT and broadband communications for Artemis and other missions, and building out the infrastructure that could service future commercial activity on the Moon, like mining or low gravity manufacturing. (7/27)

Lunar Outpost Europe to Contributes to Moonraker Mission (Source: Lunar Outpost)
Lunar Outpost Europe is contributing to Moonraker, the lunar LiDAR mapping mission being led by NUVIEW GmbH. Selected by ESA for a Phase A study under the Small Missions initiative, Moonraker would generate high-resolution, three-dimensional elevation data of the lunar South Pole to support landing site assessment, hazard identification, and mission planning. The three-dimensional models produced by this mission would provide the most accurate Digital Elevation Maps of the lunar surface to date.

High-fidelity surface maps directly increase the likelihood of successful landing attempts and assist mobility platforms like Lunar Outpost’s MAPP rover and Lunar Terrain Vehicle in efficient traversal planning. Surface data will also provide valuable information to enhance infrastructure like LUX-Thermal, an advanced piece of lunar surface infrastructure designed by Lunar Outpost to protect technologies from the harsh lunar night. (7/27)

Experts Warn Current Starship Heat Shield Tech is a “Dead End” for Rapid Reuse (Source: Ars Technica)
Despite the marked progress with the 13th test flight of Starship, one key issue—probably the key issue when it comes to Starship’s future—remains unresolved. This concerns Starship’s heat shield, the roughly 18,000 ceramic tiles that protect the vehicle’s underbelly during its fiery return through Earth’s atmosphere. And some experts say SpaceX’s current approach may not get Starship to its ultimate goal of flying frequently, at low cost.

“Starship’s current thermal protection system is a dead-end for all missions that require full and rapid reusability,” Dan Rasky, a former NASA engineer. In SpaceX’s drone footage of the landed Starship in the Indian Ocean, there were notable white streaks across the heat shield. All of these appeared to originate at boundaries between tiles, suggesting hot gas may have penetrated these boundaries. There were also indications of cracked tiles and broken edges.

SpaceX is not oblivious to the magnitude of this heat shield challenge, nor blithely whistling past the graveyard. On various podcasts and X social media postings, SpaceX founder Elon Musk has repeatedly stated that solving the reusable heat shield problem is one of the toughest problems the company faces. Back in February Musk expounded on this, saying a reusable heat shield is “the biggest problem that remains” for Starship. “If you want to be able to land it, refill propellant, and fly again, you can’t do this laborious inspection of 40,000 tiles type of thing,” he said. (7/27)

Aliens Might Be Sending Messages We're Not Listening For (Source: Connect Sci)
Astronomers searching for signs of intelligent extraterrestrial life may have been missing alien signals in a part of the radio spectrum which has gone relatively unexplored recently, according to a new study. Radio waves are a great way to send messages across the vastness of interstellar space. They are easy to produce, efficient, long-lasting and can pierce through thick cosmic dust and gas.

Looking for tiny signals in a sea of cosmic noise, however, is like looking for an alien needle in a cosmic haystack. So, astronomers used some clever logic to try and narrow the search to a specific range within the radio spectrum. Known as the “water hole”, astronomers target a specific frequency band between 1.42 and 1.66 GHz. This band sits between the natural emission frequencies of hydrogen and hydroxyl – the components of water. (7/26)

Indra Group: Space Division is on Track to Reach $455M in Revenue This Year (Source: Space Intel Report)
Indra Group says its space business—now encompassing satellite fleet operator Hispasat and military satcom provider Hisdesat since January—remains on track to reach €400 million ($455 million) in revenue this year. In the three months ended, revenue declined 6% but the division’s outlook is unchanged. (7/27)

It’s Becoming Clear Why Black Holes Never Run Out of Fuel (Source: WIRED)
A newly published study has brought researchers closer to confirming this idea. An international team led by Julie Hlavacek-Larrondo, a professor at the University of Montreal, observed the central galaxy NGC 4696 in the Centaurus Cluster and demonstrated a connection between such filaments and its central black hole.

NGC 4696 is located about 145 million light-years from Earth. It has been the subject of extensive observation in the past, including the discovery of an S-shaped spiral structure around its central black hole. For this study, the team observed the galaxy's central region for approximately eight hours using the James Webb Space Telescope's (JWST) Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec). The observations achieved a resolution fine enough to distinguish structures only about 30 light-years across.

The observed motion of the gas revealed that the S-shaped spiral is actually a rotating disk of gas orbiting the black hole. The disk is about 800 light-years in diameter, with gas pulled by the black hole's immense gravity rotating at several hundred kilometers per second. A velocity difference of roughly 600 kilometers per second was measured between opposite edges of the disk. The observations also showed that filaments—formed from condensed gas—flow directly into the edge of the disk. The gas travels along these filaments, accumulates in the disk, and is ultimately supplied to the black hole as "fuel." For the first time, this entire pathway has been directly visualized. (7/27)

How Fast Can You Build a Satellite? Inside the Smallsat Manufacturing Market (Source: Via Satellite)
Today, smallsat manufacturing is experiencing an industrial revolution. Manufacturers across the globe are investing billions in state-of-the-art facilities and advanced production techniques to accelerate speed to orbit. Yet, the more they adopt mass-production principles, the more delicate the balance between speed and multi-mission capabilities. It’s “not speed for its own sake,” Millennium Space Systems CEO Tony Gingiss said.

“The challenge is to maximize repeatability while still meeting specific customer requirements. The broader industry is learning the same lesson: the more you can standardize the underlying architecture and production approach, the better positioned you are to move quickly without sacrificing quality."

Accelerating the speed of smallsat delivery is not about adjusting a single variable or a single part of the production line, says Raycho Raychev, CEO of EnduroSat, one of Europe’s fastest-growing space infrastructure companies. “Most people really still believe there is one ‘aha moment’ innovation that will be game changing,” he tells Via Satellite. “We believe in incrementally solving multiple different problems in the engineering, in the operations, in the supply chain. And by tackling all of them, the net effect on the customer is just staggering.” (7/27)

Voyager and Reditus Space Renew Partnership for Commercial Microgravity Access on the 'ENOS' Reentry Vehicle (Source: Spacewatch Global)
Voyager has renewed its partnership with Reditus Space to deliver end-to-end microgravity mission services aboard Reditus’ ENOS reentry vehicle. The renewed deal expands reliable commercial access to microgravity experimentation using a dedicated reentry-vehicle platform for customer missions. (7/27)

Startup Readies for Cubesat Plasma Thruster Tests (Source: Aerospace America)
In the coming months, a cubesat is slated to arrive at the International Space Station equipped with a novel kind of thruster: Unlike today’s liquid- or gas-propelled designs that require fuel tanks, it will rely on plasma. This thruster is the work of JivaJet, a Washington, D.C., startup. For the ISS demo, the thruster will be tested at an altitude of 415 kilometers, but the company’s long-term goal is for its plasma propulsion to enable satellites to operate for extended periods at altitudes below 200 km — dubbed very low-Earth orbit, or VLEO. (7/1)

Private Companies Could Ruin the Night Sky, and International Law Can't Stop Them (Source: Space.com)
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) can single-handedly green-light massive spaceflight projects that could completely change the view of the night sky for the entire world. Despite the outcry these projects have caused, space law experts say there is very little other nations and the international community can do to thwart them if the FCC were to grant them licenses.

On top of Reflect Orbital's plans, companies including SpaceX, Blue Origin and Starcloud are awaiting the FCC's decisions on respective applications to deploy their own massive fleets of orbiting data centers and internet-beaming satellites. If all those projects come to fruition, the view of the night sky could change beyond recognition all over the world. (7/27)

Orbital Construction Pioneers and ExoScientific Launch Interplanetary Regen Network (IRN) (Source: OCP)
Orbital Construction Pioneers, Inc. (OCP) and ExoScientific LLC (ExoSci) announced the formation of the Interplanetary Regen Network (IRN), a multi-party consortium focused on the collaborative development of bioregenerative systems, advanced in-space construction techniques, and in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) technologies to sustain human presence beyond Earth.

Sustainable long-duration human presence on the Moon, Mars, and in cislunar space requires the integration of closed-loop life support, regenerative habitats, advanced construction methods, and the ability to use local resources. No single organization holds all the necessary expertise. IRN brings complementary capabilities together under a focused, commercially oriented framework designed to accelerate technology maturation, enable joint proposals to government and commercial customers, and create practical, scalable pathways for lunar and Mars settlement that strengthen the New Space economy.

By combining ExoSci’s expertise in marine-derived bioware and closed-loop ecological systems with OCP’s patent-pending orbital fabrication processes and advanced materials, IRN advances integrated life support systems, regenerative habitats, novel composites and structural materials, and technologies optimized for cislunar, lunar, and Mars environments. (7/28)

PA Chamber, Keystone Space Collaborative Form Tri-State Space Council (Source: CPBJ)
The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry and Keystone Space Collaborative have formed an alliance to advance aerospace and space economy in Pennsylvania. The alliance includes the formation of a first-of-its-kind Tri-State Space Council in partnership with the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and West Virginia Chamber of Commerce. The affiliation strengthens Pennsylvania’s ability to compete in the growing space economy and advances the commonwealth’s leadership in aerospace, defense, advanced manufacturing, research, technology innovation, and commercial space development. (7/16)

Starfighters Space Advances "Wind Tunnel in the Sky" Mach 2+ Flight-Testing Platform (Source: Starfighters Space)
Starfighters Space announced the next phase in development of “Wind Tunnel in the Sky,” a reusable airborne platform designed to help commercial, government, defense, and research customers evaluate advanced technologies during sustained Mach 2+ flight in real-world atmospheric conditions. The underwing platform is modular, reusable, and able to host a variety of sensors, test articles, and other payloads for long-duration exposure to both high-speed and low-gravity conditions.

This underwing platform is expected to support aerodynamic test articles, avionics, sensors, communications systems, electronic equipment, advanced materials, and other technologies for hypersonic programs and microgravity research. A typical 45-minute mission can include up to a 10-minute Mach 2+ test window, providing significantly longer exposure than traditional wind tunnel test runs—which typically can last only seconds at a time—and compressing what could otherwise take days of facility scheduling into a single flight. (7/28)

Sphinx Defense Wins $287 Million From Space Force for SatCom Software (Source: Space News)
Sphinx Defense won a $287 million Space Force contract to develop ground software for the next generation of military satellite communications. The award, announced Monday, covers the mission planning application for the Evolved Strategic Satellite Communications (ESS) program, a software component that will plan, allocate and manage communications across the future satellite constellation being built by Boeing to replace the current Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) strategic communications system. Sphinx Defense develops software for satellite ground systems, including mission planning, communications scheduling and network optimization. (7/28)

FCC C-Band Move Could Mean Billions for Space Users (Source: Space News)
Satellite operators stand to gain more than $6 billion from the FCC's decision to clear some C-band spectrum for terrestrial applications. SES is in line for about $5.6 billion if it can meet clearing deadlines in 2030 and 2031 so companies can use the band for wireless services. Eutelsat would receive $504 million and Telesat would receive $189 million. The operators would need to move services to the remaining 40 megahertz of upper C-band, or other spectrum such as Ku-band. SES said it expects to spend $2.62 billion to build and launch new satellites as part of the C-band clearing process, while Eutelsat and Telesat said they are assessing if they will need new satellites. (7/28)

Advanced Space Approved for CAPSTONE 02 Cislunar Mission (Source: Space News)
NASA has selected Advanced Space to fly a successor to its CAPSTONE lunar smallsat mission. The CAPSTONE 02 mission, scheduled for launch in 2027, would fly twin 400-kilogram satellites built by Terran Orbital to test rendezvous and proximity operations in cislunar space. The spacecraft would also perform navigation and communications experiments and measure the radiation environment around the moon. NASA said CAPSTONE 02 will be a risk-reduction activity for future Artemis missions where Orion will dock with landers in lunar orbit. NASA last month concluded its use of CAPSTONE, an Advanced Space cubesat launched in 2022 to test the use of the near-rectilinear halo orbit around the moon. (7/28)

Exploration Company Seeks $2 Billion Valuation (Source: Financial Times)
The Exploration Company is seeking a $2 billion valuation in its next funding round. The European spacecraft developer, currently working on the Nyx cargo spacecraft, is reportedly working to raise $300 million in a round that could include investment from a new European Commission fund, Scaleup Europe. In addition to Nyx, The Exploration Company is working on a large rocket engine, called Storm, that could be used on a future launch vehicle the company has hinted it will develop. (7/28)

Antares Raises $470 Million for Nuclear Microreactors (Source: Antares)
Antares, a company developing nuclear reactors for military and space applications, raised $470 million. The company announced Monday a Series C round co-led by Paradigm and Caffeinated Capital. Antares is working on small "microreactors" and recently achieved criticality on its first design. The firm is primarily developing reactors for the military but also has proposed using them for in-space applications. (7/28)

Starlab Space Picks SES for Space Station Comms (Source: SES)
Commercial space station developer Starlab Space will use SES satellites for communications services. SES Space and Defense announced Monday it signed an agreement with Starlab Space to provide connectivity for the Starlab space station. SES will provide data relay services through its O3b mPower satellite network in medium Earth orbit. The agreement comes after what the companies called "a comprehensive engineering collaboration" to study performance requirements and model performance using those satellites. Another commercial space station developer, Vast, previously announced it would use SpaceX's Starlink constellation for broadband communications. (7/28)

UKRI to End Funding for Jodrell Bank Observatory (Source: BBC)
Budget cuts could force the closure of a major British radio telescope. The agency that funds the Jodrell Bank Observatory, U.K. Research and Innovation (UKRI), said Monday it would no longer fund the observatory when its current agreement ends in March 2028.  The observatory is home to the 76-meter Lovell Telescope, one of the largest steerable radio telescopes in the world, and UKRI spends about £2.8 million ($3.7 million) on the telescope annually. UKRI said escalating costs of running research facilities required it to make cuts, which also include reductions to other observatories and physics labs. (7/28)

UCF Researchers are Tackling Moon Dust for NASA Lunar Missions (Source: Florida Today)
Shielded by white protective suits and powered air-purifying respirators, four college students dug into dusty, sharp-edged simulated moon soil amid the otherworldly environment of the University of Central Florida's Regolith Bin. This airlock-equipped 10-by-10-meter enclosure at UCF's Exolith Lab serves as a rare space-hardware test bed where researchers can help refine NASA's vision of building humanity's first lunar base near the moon's south pole from ground level. Exolith Lab is helping advance the future of lunar exploration by recreating the Moon's abrasive regolith to test technologies that will support future missions. (7/26)

VLEO Satellites: Global Investment to Near $10 Billion by 2031; Driven by Falling Launch Costs (Source: Juniper Research)
A new study by  Juniper Research found that global investment in Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) satellites will reach nearly $10 billion by 2031; rising from $5.2 billion in 2026. This growth of almost 100% will be driven by: 1) Expanding commercial interest in launching next-generation VLEO satellite constellations; 2) Increasing demand for low-latency connectivity and high-resolution Earth observation; and 3) Advances in propulsion, onboard computing, and materials that improve the commercial viability of VLEO missions. (7/28)

July 27, 2026

Musk Touts ‘Successful’ Starship Test, Says Rocket Was 'Intentionally' Launched Faster To Test Heat (Source: Benzinga)
“This flight intentionally had much higher acceleration,” Musk said, “to test how well the heat shield tiles would remain attached at high dynamic pressure,” the billionaire added. “Test was successful,” Musk said. (7/27)

Rocket Lab Rallies as SpaceX Slides. Wall Street Is Rewarding Execution Again (Source: Benzinga)
Rocket Lab shares climbed Monday after the company secured its largest missile defense launch contract to date, while SpaceX stock continued its post-IPO slide, underscoring what investors appear to be rewarding in the space sector: tangible execution over future promise. Rocket Lab stock rose more than 2% after announcing a $266 million U.S. Space Force contract for up to 18 HASTE suborbital launches supporting missile defense testing. At the same time, SpaceX stock fell nearly 4% to around $110.61, leaving the stock about 18% below its $135 IPO price and roughly 51% below its post-IPO high. (7/27)

General Dynamics Receives $400M SDA Contract for PWSA (Source: GovConWire)
General Dynamics Mission Systems has secured a $400.4 million sole-source letter contract from the US Space Development Agency for ground segment development under Tranche 3 of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. The contract includes software development, testing, integration and maintenance, leveraging applications previously delivered by General Dynamics. The project will run through September 2030. (7/27)
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Space Force Staffing Shortfall Could Delay Key Missions (Source: SatNews)
A report from the Government Accountability Office says the US Space Force faces a 25% staffing shortfall as it prepares to double its workforce. This deficit affects operational readiness, particularly in satellite operations and engineering units, and raises concerns about the service's ability to support space domain awareness. (7/26)

Amazon Plans 5000+ Satellite Constellation for D2D (Source: Space News)
Amazon has filed plans for a constellation of more than 5,100 satellites for direct-to-device (D2D) services. The company filed an application with the FCC late Friday for the 5,105-satellite system, which would primarily use 1.6 and 2.4 gigahertz spectrum currently assigned to Globalstar. Amazon announced in April it would acquire Globalstar for about $11 billion. The satellites, operating in orbits at altitudes of 510 to 580 kilometers, would provide D2D data and messaging services and work in conjunction with Globalstar's existing satellites and the Amazon Leo broadband satellite constellation. (7/27)

Ground Stations in Spain Escape Major Damage from Wildfires (Source: Space News)
NASA and ESA ground stations in Spain escaped major damage from wildfires there. NASA said Friday it evacuated its Deep Space Network (DSN) facility west of Madrid because of fires in the area. NASA said Saturday that initial inspections of the facility after the fires passed showed no sign of significant damage to the equipment there. The site is one of three DSN facilities, with a 70-meter and several 34-meter antennas for communicating with spacecraft. ESA also closed a ground station with a 35-meter antenna west of Madrid because of fires, but said the facility was undamaged and would resume operations on Monday. (7/27)

FAA Aerospace Medical Chief Joins UCF Center for Aerospace/Extreme Environments Medicine (Source: SPACErePORT)
Last year UCF's College of Medicine established a new UCF center that will lead research and technology development for improving health in extreme environments such as space. The new center will leverage UCF’s location near Kennedy Space Center and the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, and it has already attracted internationally known aerospace medicine experts from NASA. Now the university adds another renowned aerospace medical expert, the former director of the FAA's Civil Aerospace Medical Institute. Dr. Melchor Antunano will serve as the UCF center's Chief Technologist & Medical Innovation Officer. (7/26)

Intel Debuts New Chip for Space Computing (Source: Space News)
Intel Corp., one of the world’s largest semiconductor companies, has spent the past several years quietly developing a processor for satellites as the company looks to tap growing demand for onboard artificial intelligence and data processing in a market long served by specialized aerospace chip makers. The new processor, named Starfire, is undergoing testing. (7/27)

Aerospace Fights for Young Recruits as AI Drains Talent Pool (Source: Reuters)
The UK aerospace and defense sector is ⁠facing a shortage of around 10,000 specialized engineers a year — with AI and other newer technologies sucking up talent. More than 50% of licensed aerospace engineers are older than 50 in Britain; fewer than 10% are under 30, a March report by the Royal Aeronautical Society showed. The UK sector has grown 31% in the last decade, but the talent pipeline has not kept pace, trade group ADS said. (7/24)

Two Galileo Satellites Enter Service for Europe (Source: Via Satellite)
Two new Galileo satellites, SAT 33 and SAT 34, have entered service, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced on Friday. These satellites are now adding capability, resilience, and autonomy to Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation constellation. Arianespace launched the two satellites in December of 2025 on an Ariane 6 rocket with two boosters, providing what ESA called the “most precise orbital injection ever achieved for Galileo.”

Since that launch, the satellites have been in commissioning phase including in-orbit testing with satellite operations led by Galileo Control Centre in Germany (GCC-D). ESA designed the test cases and payload configurations executed throughout the test campaign. (7/24)

Io Gets a Checkup (Source: Space.com)
Scientists have measured temperatures beneath the surface of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io, offering the first-ever glimpse of the hidden heat driving the most volcanically active world in the solar system.

During close flybys of Io in late 2023 and early 2024, NASA's Juno spacecraft turned its Microwave Radiometer (MWR) instrument toward the moon, probing roughly six to 20 feet (two to six meters) beneath its surface. Originally designed to peer through Jupiter's thick clouds, the instrument instead revealed a powerful new way to study how heat moves through planetary crusts, according to a statement from the space agency. (7/24)

Protecting Future Astronauts: Embry‑Riddle Researchers Study Radiation Effects on Micro Human Organs (Source: ERAU)
Researchers at Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University have designed and built a micro-scale brain, liver and gut system and exposed it to radiation to investigate the effects of one of the most dangerous health risks associated with space travel. “Our research can use human cells, modifying them to develop various organ tissues, and model the organs’ response to radiation,” said Dr. Cassandra Juran.

Space radiation can put astronauts at risk for radiation sickness associated with cell damage, especially affecting the gastrointestinal system, as well as increased incidence of cancer, central nervous system damage and degenerative disease. The experiments will also support testing countermeasures to space radiation, such as pharmaceutical treatments, to maintain the health and well-being of future astronauts. (7/7)