October 22, 2026

Space Force Awards First Operational Satellite-Surveillance Backup Contracts to Six Companies (Source: Inside Defense)
The U.S. Space Force has awarded its first operational contracts under a program that will enlist commercial satellite operators to provide surveillance support during military crises. The awards mark a move from program design to contracted capability. Four U.S.-based companies -- InTrack Radar, Anduril (formerly ExoAnalytic), Slingshot Aerospace and LeoLabs -- as well as companies from Australia and Canada -- EOS Space Systems and NorthStar, respectively -- received the awards through the Golden Dome Marketplace. (10/22)

Strait of Hormuz: Unseenlabs Detects Vessels Missing From AIS Data Amid the Conflict (Source: Unseenlabs)
During the conflict in the Strait of Hormuz, declining reported maritime traffic did not reflect all activity at sea. In a new case study, Unseenlabs presents findings from its satellite observations, conducted through three to four radio frequency (RF) collections per day across the area. Between March 7 and 8, 2026, the proportion of RF detections without matching AIS positions rose from approximately 1.8% to 12%.

On March 7, Unseenlabs recorded 555 correlations between RF detections and vessel AIS positions. By the following morning, that number had fallen to 228, while the number of RF emitters without matching AIS positions had roughly tripled. These observations show that maritime activity detectable from space did not necessarily follow the same pattern as reported vessel traffic. On May 12 and 13, Unseenlabs observed a sanctions-listed tanker linked to Russia's shadow fleet.

Its journey was interrupted by three AIS gaps lasting 4 hours and 35 minutes, more than 13 hours, and another eight hours. During the final gap, near an anchorage off the United Arab Emirates coast, Unseenlabs detected an RF emission associated with the tanker, helping confirm its location despite the absence of AIS positions. (10/20)

SpaceX Defense Obligations Hit $5.9B So Far In FY2026, Up From $1.8B In FY2025 (Source: Mach 33)
On October 19, a Bloomberg Government analysis found that SpaceX's reported defense obligations reached $5.9 billion in the first three quarters of fiscal 2026, up from $1.8 billion in all of fiscal 2025, driven by space-based missile defense work tied to the Golden Dome initiative. (10/19)

Musk Says SpaceX And Tesla Have Formed Special Committees To Discuss A Merger (Source: Mach 33)
On SpaceX's Q3 earnings call on October 20, Musk said SpaceX and Tesla have each formed special committees of independent directors to discuss a merger, Ars Technica reported. He said no terms are agreed and there's no guarantee, that as a conflicted party he can't join the talks, and that he thinks combining the companies would be a good idea. (10/20)

California Senator Angered at "Ridiculous" Trump-Driven Investigation Into Caltech (Source: Sen. Sasha Renee Perez)
The California Institute of Technology, which manages NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is one of nine research universities targeted in a new federal investigation of alleged J-1 visa abuse. Vice President JD Vance and Department of Labor Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito announced the investigation on 8 October, and D’Esposito said the universities have been served subpoenas. The others named are Harvard, Yale, Brown, MIT, UC Davis, Arizona State and the University of Pittsburgh, along with Stanford.

According to Vance, 61% of researchers working on federally funded programs at the nine institutions were J-1 visa holders, compared to a national average of 38%, and he accused the schools of using the visas to undercut wages for American graduate students and researchers. Officials also raised concerns about Chinese scholars and the Chinese government.

California State Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, whose statement was circulated on LinkedIn by NASA Watch’s Keith Cowing, defended Caltech’s global recruitment of top scholars as key to its standing, noting it boasts the nation’s highest per-capita number of Nobel laureates, and called the probe “ridiculous” and politically motivated. (10/13)

DND Signs $20M Spaceport Agreement With NordSpace (Source: Canadian Defense Review)
The Honourable David J. McGuinty, Minister of National Defence, announced a 10-year, $20-million spaceport agreement has been signed with NordSpace to access the Atlantic Spaceport Complex in Newfoundland and Labrador, alongside other major new space-related capabilities and initiatives, bringing the total value of space-related contracts, grants and contributions announced this year to more than $3 billion.

Sovereign access to space is increasingly essential to national security, economic competitiveness and the reliable delivery of critical space-based services. The agreement with NordSpace, in addition to the 10-year agreement with Maritime Launch Services announced in March 2026, will provide the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and its partners access to conduct launches and research and development activities. (10/21)

For Students with Their Sights Set on Space Medicine, a New Community Takes Flight (Source: MIT)
Since its launch two years ago, MIT’s Doctors Without Gravity club has already amassed more than 100 student members. The club was co-founded by graduate students Anna Wadhwa and Nicole McGaa, who now serve as president and vice president, respectively. Bringing together students from MIT and Harvard University who are interested in the intersection of medicine, health, and space exploration, Doctors Without Gravity is the student chapter of the Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA) and the Aerospace Medical Student and Resident Organization (AMSRO). The club is open to both undergraduate and graduate students from both institutions. (10/21)

Space Capsule Lands at UCF College of Medicine (Source: UCF)
Sierra Space, a Colorado-based private aerospace and space technologies company, turned to UCF’s College of Medicine for its expertise in aerospace medicine with the donation of its cargo module, once housed at Kennedy Space Center. The rare piece of technology will become a major asset for UCF’s emerging aerospace medicine program, which is exploring how space flight impacts the human body and how that knowledge can drive innovation into diagnostics, treatment and disease prevention for patients on Earth.

UCF will use the module to give students and faculty precise training to address medical events in the confines of a spacecraft and will also enable researchers to create technologies for improving payloads and establishing protocols to send materials into the tight spaces of intergalactic travel. (10/21)

What are the Odds We're Not Alone in the Universe? (Source: NPR)
There are hundreds of billions of stars in the galaxy we live in. Many of them have their own exoplanets. So why haven't we found proof of alien life yet? And what's the probability of us contacting or being contacted anyway? That's exactly what a famous math formula called the Drake Equation tries to answer. It takes into account a whole variety of factors, including the rate at which stars like the Sun are born, how many of those stars have planets, how many of those planets are hospitable to life and the likelihood of intelligent life on that habitable planet communicating with us. Click here. (10/20)

Space Florida is Financing a $350 Million Rocket Project for Relativity Space (Source: Florida Trend)
Launch vehicle and rocket engine manufacturer Relativity Space plans to expand its presence at Cape Canaveral, including the addition of thousands of high-paying jobs by the mid-2030s and the development of a production facility for the 284-foot Terran R rocket. Space Florida, a state agency, will provide financing for the $350-million project. Click here. (10/19)

Space Force Scrambles as Musk’s SpaceX Retires its Major Rocket (Source: Politico)
SpaceX’s plans to retire its most popular rocket could jeopardize the United States’ ability to launch military satellites — a plight compounded by the Pentagon’s dependence on Elon Musk’s company. SpaceX is by far the dominant player in the rocket business and indispensable to the military, dwarfing competitors and accounting for 85% of U.S. launches in 2025. The company is phasing out its Falcon 9 rocket to make way for Starship, a massive new vehicle that SpaceX says will be more efficient and profitable, but which many military satellites aren’t designed to fit.

The Space Force recently tried to book rides for three future satellite missions, but SpaceX declined to offer its services, according to two people familiar with the missions. No other rocket companies offered to take them either, the people said. A top official at the Space Force downplayed the problem about finding rockets to launch military satellites. “I wouldn’t say there [are] missions I’m worried about being able to fly; I would say we’re working through the right way to support those customers,” said Brig. Gen. Eric Zarybnisky, the Space Force’s acting portfolio acquisition executive for space access.

Editor's Note: Why am I not seeing any reporting on the potential for SpaceX to sell its Falcon 9 to another operator. Or, if the capability is of such strategic importance, why the US Government isn't looking at nationalizing the vehicle and its attendant infrastructure. (10/22)

SpaceX’s AI Surprise Is More Fragile Than It Looks (Source: Bloomberg)
Elon Musk has had a long, torrid relationship with artificial intelligence, dating back at least a decade to his ill-fated co-founding of OpenAI with Sam Altman. That’s rightfully made some SpaceX investors nervous about what he’s building with all the resources xAI has at its disposal since being folded into Musk’s space company in February.

The AI unit gobbled up 84% of the $20 billion that SpaceX spent during the third quarter, and the spree is set to escalate drastically with capital expenditures expected to grow to as much as $40 billion this quarter. Tuesday’s earnings update brought investors some relief: xAI’s sales almost tripled in just the last three months, and it posted $431 million of operating profit when analysts had forecast a loss. SpaceX shares had climbed more than 10% at the time of writing. (10/21)

SpaceX Investor Backs $2.45 Billion Startup Taking The Starlink Model To GPS (Source: Forbes)
California-based satellite startup Xona has raised a $250 million Series D round at a $2.45 billion valuation, just seven months after its $170 million Series C. The new round was led by Future Ventures, a venture capital outfit cofounded by SpaceX’s early backer and longtime board member Steve Jurvetson. His firm first backed Xona in 2024 and put up $78.5 million in the latest round.

Jurvetson was an early investor and former board member in Tesla and has a stake in Elon Musk’s Boring Company. Xona is his third space investment, with satellites apparently becoming something of a specialty. (10/22)

What a Russian Satellite Stalking a Commercial Spacecraft Means for the Space Force (Source: Air & Space Forces)
Over a two-week period beginning in late September and culminating in mid-October, a Russian satellite maneuvered dangerously close to a commercial Finnish satellite currently providing intelligence to the Ukrainian military. The apparent provocation has experts wondering why Russia made the move—testing new capabilities, collecting intelligence, or trying to intimidate the Finnish company—and what, if anything, the U.S. Space Force could or should do about these types of events in the future.

While the incident did not involve a U.S. asset, the Russian action highlights the growing importance of commercial space assets to military operations and how those relatively defenseless assets could be vulnerable in or before a conflict. The Russian satellite spent months adjusting its orbit, then rapidly closed the distance with the ICEYE satellite, continuously maneuvering around it before COSMOS abruptly ended its movements and distanced itself Oct. 18-19.

The LeoLabs report characterizes the event as a “red” on “blue” engagement in orbit and calls it a planned, highly coordinated rendezvous and proximity operation, which required precise navigation and onboard sensing. The Center for Strategic and International Studies held an online event Oct. 21 to discuss the incident and its implications for the U.S. Neither of the two experts at the CSIS event claimed to understand Russia’s goals with the stunt, but Greg Gillinger, senior vice president of strategy and development at Integrity ISR, called it unusual and said it indicated Russia’s intent to send a message to the Finnish company. (10/21)

Trump Denies Ordering Starlink Slowdown in Ukraine, Says He Doesn’t Know Who Did (Source: CNBC)
President Donald Trump on Wednesday insisted he had nothing to do with a slowdown of SpaceX’s Starlink in Ukraine and said he does not know if Elon Musk was responsible for speed-capping the critical satellite service. Trump’s latest denial came one day after The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter, reported Musk ordered the slowdown and discussed it with Trump. (10/21)

When Starshield Cut Out, Ukrainian Drones Fell From the Skies (Source: New York Times)
A senior Ukrainian commander said he had dozens of armed drones soaring toward Russian military targets last week when, all at once, the video feeds streaming their flight paths went fuzzy. The drones had lost their connection to pilots on the ground through Starshield, a Pentagon-funded satellite internet service, said the commander, Oleh. Many of the drones simply fell from the sky, he said: The effect cost his units more than $1 million worth of weaponry. (10/21)

Rubio, Hegseth Point Finger at Musk in Starlink Slowdown (Source: The Hill)
Top Trump administration officials are starting to point fingers squarely at SpaceX founder Elon Musk for the decision to slow down his company’s Starlink satellite internet services and its military counterpart Starshield for Ukraine, which has been muddled in uncertainty over the culprit. Looking to deflect the controversial move — which was swiftly admonished by powerful congressional Republicans and Democrats — Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday said Ukraine’s access to Starlink was up to Musk and not the White House. (10/22)

Musk Tries to Lock In His Tesla-SpaceX Dream Before Trump’s Exit (Sources: Bloomberg, LA Times)
Elon Musk says SpaceX and Tesla are considering a tie-up that could become the largest corporate merger ever, bringing rockets, electric vehicles and artificial intelligence under one roof. But time is running out to pull off the $3.7 trillion merger before political and financial environments take a turn. The goal would be to combine SpaceX’s computing, as well as Starlink and AI capabilities with Tesla’s robotaxis, autonomous-driving plans and robots. But the companies’ boards and shareholders must weigh it, while regulatory concerns in the U.S., Europe and China could complicate approval. (10/22)

The Next Step for Cislunar Navigation (Source: Aerospace America)
The twin spacecraft slated to be launched next year for NASA’s CAPSTONE 02 mission will attempt a few firsts for space navigation, including the first rendezvous in a highly elliptical lunar orbit. The agency expects the upcoming Artemis lunar missions to use different orbits and rendezvous techniques than were used during Apollo, and views missions like CAPSTONE 02 as a chance to study those operations.

The mission, led by Advanced Space of Colorado, will attempt to rendezvous two spacecraft in a near-rectilinear halo orbit, or NRHO, in cislunar space where lunar and Earth gravity are balanced. Such an orbit encounters what is known in physics as the three-body problem — the bodies in this case being the spacecraft and the gravity of Earth and moon. NASA said in an emailed statement that CAPSTONE 02 will “provide first-hand knowledge on the complexities associated with three-body orbits and will inform future crewed and robotic missions that require rendezvous and proximity operations.” (10/1)

NASA to Change How it Selects Science Missions (Source: Space News)
NASA is rolling out changes to how it selects science missions in an effort to speed up and simplify the process. Nicky Fox, NASA associate administrator for science, discussed the planned changes at an Oct. 21 meeting of the National Academies’ Space Studies Board ahead of a formal community announcement scheduled for release Oct. 22. (10/22)

Forget the Moon’s South Pole: 4 Other Lunar Sites Could Help Humans Build a Base and Prepare for Mars, New Report Suggests (Source: Economic Times)
The southernmost region of the Moon has emerged as a crucial focus for contemporary lunar exploration, particularly in the quest for water ice. Other notable sites, such as Bhabha Crater and Orientale Basin, are also under consideration for study. These areas promise to offer vital information about the Moon's past and feasible locations for human settlement. (10/22)

Firefly’s Elytra Lunar Orbiter Completes PDR for MoonFall Mission (Source: Aviation Week)
Firefly Aerospace’s Elytra lunar orbiter has completed its preliminary design review (PDR) under a $75 million NASA subcontract to deliver four drones to the Moon’s south pole to map safe landing regions and resources in support of future human missions under NASA’s Artemis program. (10/21)

FlightGlobal Parent ProMedia Group Acquires French Aerospace Publisher Aerospatium (Source: Flight Global)
The acquisition adds Aerospatium to ProMedia Group’s portfolio, extending its presence in France after its earlier deal for Aerobuzz. The article provides no financial terms or details on how the publisher will be integrated, leaving the strategic scope of the latest purchase unclear. (10/21)

SpaceX Launches Second Starfall Reentry Vehicle (Source: European Spaceflight)
SpaceX launched a rideshare mission Oct. 20 whose payload included the company’s second Starfall reentry vehicle. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 7:04 a.m. Eastern on the Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission. The launch was postponed a day because of unfavorable weather at the droneship where the booster would land. (10/20)

French MPs Propose Symbolic €1 Budget Line for VORTEX Spaceplane (Source: European Spaceflight)
French lawmakers have proposed allocating a symbolic €1 for Dassault Aviation’s VORTEX spaceplane program in an effort to compel the government to clarify its financial commitments to the project. In a 16 October amendment to France’s proposed 2027 budget, 71 MPs from the La France Insoumise party proposed creating a dedicated budget line for VORTEX under the country’s defense spending plans. The amendment would transfer a symbolic €1 from an existing defense support program to the new budget line, as French parliamentary budget rules allow MPs to reallocate funding between programs but not increase overall spending. (10/20)

OHB Wins ESA Study Deal for Lunar Infrastructure (Source: Via Satellite)
OHB has won a new lunar infrastructure deal from the European Space Agency (ESA). Its subsidiary, OHB System AG, has won a feasibility and preliminary design studies deal for OASIS — the Outpost for Advanced Scientific Investigation Station — a shared infrastructure planned support scientific experiments and technology demonstrations on the lunar surface over the long term. OHB announced the deal, Oct. 19.

As prime contractor for the ESA studies, OHB is responsible for the overall system concept and is working together with partners on system requirements and the preliminary design phase. OASIS is envisioned to be a modular and scalable concept to support a variety of scientific instruments, technology demonstrators and robotic systems in the future. (10/19)

Starshield vs. Starlink: How Ukraine Uses Them (Source: CBS News)
Starshield has become essential for Ukrainian military operations. Jericka Duncan explains what it is and how it's related to Starlink. Click here. (10/20)

India's OXG Space Raises ₹17 Crore for Orbital Connectivity Network (Source: ISN)
Bengaluru-based spacetech startup OXG Space has raised Rs 17 crore in a funding round led by Aum Ventures through its India Innovation Fund II, as the startup develops an orbital network designed to process and transmit Earth-observation satellite data in near-real time. Founded by former Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) engineers, OXG Space is developing what it describes as edge cell towers in space. The proposed network would combine satellite connectivity with in-orbit computing to reduce delays in delivering Earth-observation data to users on the ground. (10/17)

Atombeam Secures $18.3 Million for Satellite and Defense Networking (Source: Via Satellite)
AI networking technology startup Atombeam has raised $18.3 million to accelerate adoption of its software targeted for satellite, defense, and commercial links. Atombeam announced the round on Tuesday, increasing the company’s total funding to $55 million. The company has developed Neurpac, a software that compacts data packets to make them easier to transfer. Neurpac reports this multiplies effective bandwidth by 4x and says it has validated its tech with a major satellite operator’s own traffic. (10/21)

Researchers Find Water Adopts an Asymmetric, Nonmolecular Structure Under Extreme Pressure (Source: Universe Today)
Researchers at the University of Nevada report that water behaves in unexpected ways under the extreme conditions found beyond Earth. Under high pressure, ice can take on an asymmetric structure in which its atoms are forced out of their familiar arrangement, offering insight into water on hostile worlds. (10/21)

Airbus Ships First Lightweight Vulcain Aft Bay for Ariane 6 Block 2 (Source: European Spaceflight)
Airbus Netherlands has shipped the first lightweight Vulcain Aft Bay for Ariane 6, part of the rocket’s final Block 2 upgrades. The aft bay is a structural component, and its reduced weight supports the upgraded launcher’s performance goals. (10/21)

HPE’s Spaceborne Computer-4 to Ride Astrolab’s FLIP Rover to the Moon (Source: Payload)
Hewlett Packard Enterprise plans to send its Spaceborne Computer-4 AI-compute module to the Moon aboard Astrolab’s FLIP rover. The mission is scheduled to launch this year, putting onboard computing technology on a lunar surface mission. (10/21)

Craft Prospect Explores Momentum for Space-Based Quantum Communications (Source: Space News)
Craft Prospect says it has spent recent months in discussions across the UK, Europe, Japan and the United States on the future of secure communications as quantum technologies advance. The company’s account highlights growing international engagement around space-based quantum key distribution (QKD), but provides no specific project commitments or timelines. (10/21)

John Malone Says a Deal Between Skydance and SpaceX Could be Coming (Source: Bloomberg)
Media mogul John Malone said he thinks there could be a deal coming between Skydance Corp. and Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Speaking at the Paley International Council Summit in New York on Wednesday, Malone said SpaceX could potentially invest $8 billion to $10 billion in Skydance, according to the Hollywood Reporter. (10/21)

Moon’s Slow Cooling and Shrinkage May Pose Landslide Hazards for Lunar Missions (Source: Universe Today)
A study of lunar scarp faults calculates how much the Moon is shrinking as it cools, finding the rate is extremely small. Even so, the resulting geological activity could trigger landslides, creating a potential hazard for missions operating on the lunar surface. (10/21)

NASA Reveals Lunar Lander Timelines (Source: Space.com)
Steve Creech, acting manager of NASA's Human Landing System (HLS) Program, laid out development timelines for both spacecraft, with key demonstrations planned through early 2028 that include orbital refueling and uncrewed lunar landing tests to qualify the vehicles to fly astronauts to the surface of the moon.

A more pressing deadline, however, is NASA's Artemis III mission, which is targeted for the third quarter (Q3) of 2027. Artemis III will launch four astronauts aboard NASA's Orion spacecraft to low Earth orbit (LEO), where they will rendezvous and dock with test versions of both companies' landers for interoperability checkouts. Those demonstrations will help inform NASA's determination about which lander the agency will choose to carry astronauts to the moon's surface on Artemis IV, targeted for early 2028. Click here. (10/21)

China Prepares First Booster Reflight and Another Rocket-Stage Recovery Attempt (Source: NSF)
China is moving closer to reusable launch operations as it prepares to fly a previously used booster for the first time. The Chang Zheng 12A will also make a second attempt to recover its first stage, which would make it the third Chinese rocket to achieve a recovery. The cluster also reports preparations for the country’s first commercial resupply craft. (10/21)

Charter Space and Project Omega to Study Whether Nuclear Power Makes Spacecraft More Insurable (Source: Beyond LEO)
A space insurance brokerage and a nuclear technology company plan to study whether long-lived nuclear power sources could cut the number of spacecraft lost in orbit, and what that would mean for the cost of insuring them. Charter Space Technologies (Charter) and Project Omega announced the partnership on 20 October 2026 from El Segundo, California. It is a research arrangement. The companies say they will evaluate, examine and assess the idea, and explore the feasibility of new hardware. No Project Omega power source has flown, and no insurance product has come out of the work. (10/21)

AST SpaceMobile Aims for Intermittent Satellite-to-Phone Service in Five Countries This Year (Source: Beyond LEO)
AST SpaceMobile says it is targeting a first, limited form of cellular broadband from space before the end of 2026 in the United States, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia. The service would reach ordinary smartphones directly, without special handsets, but the company describes it as initial and intermittent, and says it remains subject to regulatory authorizations. The Midland, Texas, company announced the target on 20 October 2026. It is a plan, not a launch.
(10/21)

How Countries Build a National Space Program from the Ground Up (Source: Zolana Joao)
How does a country build a national space program from the ground up? The process should begin with national needs—not with choosing a satellite or launch capability. Angola’s experience shows the importance of identifying problems that space capabilities can help solve, building institutions around clear priorities, developing local expertise, and ensuring international partnerships leave lasting knowledge and operational capacity behind.

Angola has applied this approach through initiatives including ANGOSAT-2, ANGEO-1, GEDAE, ADDSS, and Conecta Angola, connecting space capabilities to communications, drought response, geospatial intelligence, public administration, infrastructure, and economic development. Success, therefore, should not be measured by launches alone. A sustainable national space program builds trained professionals, capable institutions, productive partnerships, useful services, and a domestic ecosystem that can continue creating value as technology and national priorities evolve. Click here. (10/21)

L3Harris Gets $33.1M USSF Contract Modification (Source: Pulse 2.0)
L3Harris Technologies has secured a $33.1 million contract modification from the US Space Force for its Unified Messaging System, increasing the total contract value to about $1.53 billion. The system is part of L3Harris's broader capabilities in secure communications, command and control, and real-time information distribution, which are critical to military operations across multiple domains. (10/20)

JPL Testing Moon Lander for Flight This Year (Source: Douglas Messier)
A commercial lander that will be at the forefront of NASA’s efforts to establish a Moon Base, humanity’s first lunar outpost, has passed a series of critical tests at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. The tests simulated the extreme temperatures and vacuum of space, as well as the intense shaking and ear-splitting roar of launch. Results show that Voyager Technologies’ Griffin Mission One (Griffin-1) spacecraft is ready to survive the rigors of space exploration.

As part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative within the Moon Base Program, Griffin-1 is expected to launch later this year aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. It will deliver more than 1,100 pounds (455 kilograms) of cargo to Nobile Crater near the lunar South Pole, which categorizes it as an infrastructure-class lander. Griffin-1 will carry 10 science and technology demonstrations from six countries, including the largest commercial payload ever delivered to the Moon, Astrolab’s FLIP (FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform) rover. (10/21)

ESA Studies a Moon Service Station as Europe Works Out its Lunar Role (Source: Sky Nightly)
The European  Space Agency wants to give experiments on the Moon something they rarely have: a way to survive the night. It has published details of OASIS, the Outpost for Advanced Scientific Investigation Station, a concept for a European service station that would supply power, communications, data handling and storage to instruments on the lunar surface so they can keep working for years.

OASIS is a design study, not a mission. ESA's article gives no launch date and places the concept at the feasibility and preliminary definition stage, and every performance figure it quotes is a design goal. But the station is a useful window on a bigger question. Europe is assembling a lunar program of its own, a lander, a communications network and now surface infrastructure, while its plans for sending astronauts to the Moon are being renegotiated after NASA stepped back from the Gateway lunar orbital station. (10/21)

October 21, 2026

Space Force Plans Dispersed Systems for Satellite Jamming (Source: Space News)
The Space Force is planning a global deployment of systems to jam satellite communications. The Space Systems Command issued a sources-sought notice last week for companies capable of supporting its Counter Communications System Meadowlands fleet for roughly six years. The document says the future fleet will include at least 32 systems, while contractors should be prepared to sustain as many as 56 systems dispersed around the world. Meadowlands, built by L3Harris Technologies, uses ground-based radio-frequency equipment to temporarily interfere with an adversary's satellite communications. It became operational this year after extensive testing. The Space Force said in the notice that Meadowlands systems will be deployed in the U.S. Central Command and Indo-Pacific Command regions and contractors must also be able to support systems in the European, Southern and Northern Command areas. (10/19)

GAO Sees Weather Satellite Gap (Source: Space News)
A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report says there is a risk of a gap in geostationary weather satellites in the early 2030s. The report said that the first of a new generation of GEO weather satellites, called GeoXO, is scheduled to enter service in 2033, several months after the last spare satellite from the current generation reaches the end of life. That creates a risk of a data gap if one of the two operational satellites malfunctions during that time. The warning comes as NOAA scales back the GeoXO program, reducing the number of satellites and canceling instruments, to reduce its lifecycle cost from nearly $20 billion to $12 billion. That cost has since increased to $13 billion with "risk and uncertainty" about the program's schedule, the GAO report noted. (10/19)

Iran's Space Launch Sites Damaged in US War (Source: IISS)
Two Iranian launch sites suffered significant damage during the ongoing conflict with the United States. Analysis of commercial satellite imagery shows that the Imam Khomeini Space Centre, operated by Iran's space agency, and the Shahroud Space Centre, run by Iran's Revolutionary Guard, both were hit by air strikes in the early weeks of the conflict, damaging launch pads and other facilities. Iran has not attempted a space launch since the start of the conflict, although some of its smaller vehicles use mobile launch systems that could allow them to operate even if spaceport infrastructure is damaged. (10/19)

European Mobile Operators Team to Bid on D2D Spectrum (Source: Bloomberg)
Several European mobile phone operators say they will join forces to bid on spectrum for direct-to-device satellite services. Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Vodafone and Telefonica said they are exploring a joint bid for spectrum the European Union wants to reserve for a European operator of D2D services. That EU effort has been criticized by companies like SpaceX, who are seeking access to that spectrum for their own services. In an interview, Andrew Puzder, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, appeared to threaten retaliation should the EU go forward with those plans, saying it would be "very devastating for those companies." (10/19)

Space Force Planning Spaceport Overhaul to Allow Concurrent Operations (Source: Space News)
The Space Force is planning an overhaul of its launch sites to be able to support up to eight operations a day. The plan, released Tuesday, sets targets extending into the 2030s for the Eastern Range at Cape Canaveral, Florida, and the Western Range at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The Space Force wants to move away from a model in which major range activities are largely conducted sequentially. Each spaceport would eventually be able to support as many as three major operations simultaneously, including launches, tests and vehicle recoveries. That number could grow to five to eight operations per day. The Space Force is also considering changes to how its spaceports are financed and how launch providers pay for their use. (10/21)

SpaceX Plans to Recover Both Starship Stages on Flight 15 (Source: Space News)
SpaceX says it plans to attempt to recover both Starship stages on the vehicle's next launch. The company said in an earnings call Tuesday that, pending approval from the FAA, it will attempt to bring the Starship upper stage, or ship, on the Flight 15 mission back to Starbase to be caught by the launch tower there. That would be a major milestone in the company's efforts to recover and reuse both Starship stages. Flight 15 is scheduled for November. During the earnings call, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that special board committees at both SpaceX and Tesla are exploring a possible merger of the two firms. Musk said that such a merger would be "a good idea" but noted he is excluded from the committees' discussions because of his roles at both companies. (10/21)

ClearSpace and Eutelsat Work to Extend Life of GEO Satellite (Source: Space News)
ClearSpace signed an agreement with Eutelsat to extend the life of a GEO satellite. The companies agreed Tuesday to jointly define the mission for Phoenix, a European Space Agency-backed program projected to cost $114 million and targeting a demonstration in 2030. The companies are discussing what Eutelsat satellite would be used for the mission, extending that spacecraft's life by up to 10 years. Eutelsat has a separate life-extension agreement with Infinite Orbits, a French in-orbit servicing startup. (10/21)

Xona Launches Six Satellites for LEO Navigation on Bandwagon Mission (Source: Space News)
Xona Space Systems launched a set of satellites that will enable it to demonstrate its low Earth orbit navigation services. Six Xona satellites were deployed on the SpaceX Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission Tuesday. Four of the spacecraft, built by Aerospacelab, are intended to operate as Xona's first service cluster, giving the company its first opportunity to demonstrate an independent navigation solution using its Pulsar system. The other two are the first satellites designed and manufactured in-house by Xona. The company is developing Pulsar, a commercial PNT service that would eventually use 258 satellites in low Earth orbit to complement or back up GPS. (10/21)

SES and Planet Test Orbital Data Relay (Source: Space News)
SES Space & Defense and Planet will test data relay services using another satellite launched on Bandwagon-5. For the demonstration, Planet developed and integrated a communications terminal aboard its Pelican-12 Earth observation satellite, including a software-defined radio and a tracking antenna designed to communicate with SES's satellite network. The terminal will allow Pelican-12, launched into low Earth orbit on Bandwagon-5, to transmit imagery to SES's O3b mPOWER satellites in medium Earth orbit. The test is part of a NASA-funded program to develop commercial alternatives to its aging Tracking and Data Relay Satellite system. SES is also positioning the technology as a commercial service for satellite operators seeking faster access to data collected in orbit. (10/21)

China's Sinxbot Raises Funds for Robotic Arms for Servicing Spacecraft (Source: Space News)
Chinese startup Sinxbot has raised tens of millions of dollars to develop robotic arms for servicing satellites. The company announced last week it raised funding in several rounds between May and September from investors that included Alibaba and China Mobile. Sinxbot develops cable-driven flexible robotic arms where motors sit at the base of the arm and drive it through cables. This makes the end of the arm lighter and more compliant, and the company says that improves safety when working close to client spacecraft. Sinxbot is targeting three services: refueling spacecraft, assisting the deorbiting of defunct or retired spacecraft and on-orbit inspection and maintenance. It plans an orbital demonstration mission in 2027. (10/21)

Chinas Space Robot Raises $14.9 Million for Servicing Spacecraft Constellation (Source: Space News)
Space Robot, another Chinese satellite servicing company, has raised funds for a constellation of servicing spacecraft. The company announced Monday that it had closed a nearly 100 million yuan ($14.9 million) Series A round. The company said the funds will be used for building a "space robot cluster" and commercial expansion. It plans a constellation of 16 servicing spacecraft, and launched a technology demonstration satellite last year to test maneuvering and space situational awareness work. (10/21)

China Launches Ceres-1 Ricket with Remote Sensing Satellite (Source: Space News)
A Chinese rocket launched the first satellite of a remote-sensing constellation. A Ceres-1 lifted off at 11:39 p.m. Eastern Tuesday from a ship off the coast of Shandong province. The rocket carried the Xiguang-4 (01) satellite, also called Guangda-1, into a 541-kilometer orbit inclined by 39 degrees. The 300-kilogram satellite is the first of three pathfinders for the planned Wuyang constellation for low-latitude remote sensing coverage, and carries high-resolution, multispectral and infrared cameras. The full constellation, targeting observations between 35 degrees north and south latitudes, will include the three pathfinders and 25 operational satellites. (10/21)

Spain's PLD Space Pushes First Miura 5 Launch to 2027 (Source: Space News)
PLD Space has pushed back the first flight of its Miura 5 rocket to 2027. The company said in an update this week it has produced three vehicles, two of which will be used for qualification testing along with the first flight model of the small launcher. The company said earlier this year it was planning a first launch before the end of the year but now says that launch will take place in the first half of 2027. PLD Space did not disclose what issues with the rocket or its launch site under construction in French Guiana caused the schedule slip. (10/21)

Solstar Space Demos Space Wifi (Source: Space News)
Solstar Space demonstrated wifi communications in space between two spacecraft. The company's Deke Space Communicator enabled high-speed communications between NASA's R5-S10 cubesat and the Vigoride-7 orbital transfer vehicle from Momentus during recent tests in orbit. The data transferred between the spacecraft were then sent to the ground using an Iridium link. (10/21)

Samara Aerospace to Demo Attitude Control Tech for NASA (Source: Space News)
Samara Aerospace received a NASA contract to demonstrate hardware and software for the company's attitude-control technology in a laboratory setting. The $1.3 million award, through NASA's SBIR program, will enable lab testing of small piezoelectric actuators in the hinges of deployable solar panels to stabilize spacecraft for precision pointing. The NASA program has a 24-month period of performance. But Samara plans to move rapidly to complete the work ahead of the 2027 launch of Hummingbird-1, the company's small satellite based on that technology. (10/21)

Canada's Telesat Looking to Refinance Debt by December Deadline (Source: Globe and Mail)
Lenders are offering to refinance debt held by Canadian satellite operator Telesat ahead of a December deadline. The lenders put forward a second proposal to refinance $1.7 billion in debt that comes due on Dec. 6 after making an initial proposal in August. The new proposal would refinance the debt with an equity offering and new loan. Telesat has acknowledged that it does not have sufficient cash flow to meet all its debt obligations. Canadian law may keep Telesat from filing for bankruptcy reorganization, but some observers note the company could instead file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States if it is unable to refinance its debt. (10/21)

Starfighters Space to be Featured at Next Month's MAX POWER Exposition at KSC (Source: Starfighters Space)
Starfighters Space will be showcased at the inaugural NASA sponsored MAX POWER aerospace expo and airshow on Nov. 7-8 at Kennedy Space Center. Starfighters' F-104 supersonic jets will be featured in both flight demonstrations and static aircraft displays at the event. “The F-104 is the original 'right stuff' supersonic jet, used by NASA and the Air Force to train Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts, including Neil Armstrong. Beyond Apollo, it was later used by NASA to test heat shield tiles for the Space Shuttle, and it performed an array of aeronautical missions, including testing reaction-control thrusters at altitudes above 100,000 feet,” said Tim Franta, CEO of Starfighters Space.

“Today, we are continuing the F-104’s legacy at Kennedy Space Center by using the aircraft as a real-world platform to test and advance next-generation aerospace technologies,” said Franta. Throughout its history, the F-104 has set numerous world records, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s. These included records for speed (1,404.9 mph), altitude (103,395 feet), and time-to-climb (ground to 25,000 meters in 266.03 seconds). More than 2,500 F-104s were built beginning in 1954 for U.S. agencies and more than a dozen allied air forces worldwide. (10/21)

Europe's Mobile Operators Need Satellite Partner (Source: Space News)
The European mobile phone operators seeking to join forces for direct-to-device services need to find a satellite partner. Germany's Deutsche Telekom, France's Orange, Spain's Telefónica and Vodafone of the United Kingdom plan to contribute ground infrastructure and other resources the European D2D network would require, without directly investing in a satellite constellation. The operators said that their proposed D2D joint venture would not replace existing satellite partnerships; several of them are using or plan to use Starlink. The consortium also paints a complicated picture for U.S.-based D2D challenger AST SpaceMobile, which announced a joint venture with Vodafone last year to bid for European S-band spectrum. (10/20)

EraDrive to Develop Satellite Autonomy Systems for Space Force (Source: Space News)
EraDrive won a Space Force contract to develop hardware for satellite autonomy applications. The $13 million award was made through the Pentagon's Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies (APFIT) program, an initiative to speed up adoption of technologies with military utility. EraDrive, a spinoff of the Stanford University Space Rendezvous Laboratory, is developing hardware to enable spacecraft to navigate on their own. The contract covers work on Era-Node, a hosted payload that helps satellites determine position, navigation and timing without relying on global navigation satellite systems and also handles autonomous maneuver planning. (10/20)

Uzbekistan Joins Artemis Accords (Source: Space News)
Uzbekistan is the latest country to sign the Artemis Accords. The Central Asian country's foreign minister signed the accords Monday during a visit to the country by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Uzbekistan, the 77th country to sign the accords, said it did so to create new opportunities to cooperate with NASA and gain access to space expertise and technology. NASA has offered Artemis Accords signatories the opportunity to contribute to the agency's planned lunar base. (10/20)

SpaceX Launches Tuesday Rideshare Mission From Florida (Source: Space News)
SpaceX launched a rideshare mission this morning that included the company's second Starfall reentry vehicle. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 7:04 a.m. Eastern on the Bandwagon-5 mission. The mid-inclination rideshare mission included 32 payloads, many from companies that have flown satellites on previous rideshare missions.  The launch also carried Starfall, SpaceX's own reentry vehicle. The company first flew Starfall in June and is offering it to customers interested in microgravity research and manufacturing. (10/20)

Spain's UARX Lost Contact with OSSIE-D OTV After October Launch (Source: Space News)
An orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) launched on another SpaceX rideshare mission is recovering from problems. Spanish company UARX Space launched its first OTV, called OSSIE-D, on the Transporter-18 rideshare mission early this month. UARX said it lost communications with OSSIE-D immediately after launch, making it unclear if some payloads had been deployed. The company blamed the communications outage on a ground station issue that has since been corrected, restoring contact with the OTV. Telemetry shows the OTV did receive commands to deploy some payloads, and customers said they have made contact with their satellites. Other spacecraft were planned to be released later but UARX did not provide details on those payloads. (10/20)

Poland's Creotech Plans Factory Expansion for Satellite Production (Source: Reuters)
Polish satellite manufacturer Creotech Instruments wants to increase production by a factor of 10. The company plans to open a new factory by 2029 that will be able to produce up to 100 satellites a year versus the 10 per year it can currently manufacture. While Creotech sees strong demand for its satellites, it warned that it and other European manufacturers remain dependent on American companies for launching those satellites. (10/20)

Abbot: No Plans to Sell State Park to SpaceX (Source: Texas Tribune)
The governor of Texas says there are no current plans to sell a state park adjacent to SpaceX's Starbase facility to the company. Reports last week noted that a potential sale of Boca Chica State Park to SpaceX was being considered by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, with a meeting to discuss the proposed sale planned for early November. Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday that any sale of the park to SpaceX is "not coming up for a vote anytime soon."  He said he knew little about the potential sale or what SpaceX would do with the land if the deal went through. (10/20)

Israel Plans Military Space Unit (Source: Ynet)
The Israeli military plans to add a dedicated space unit. The Israel Defense Forces will establish a Space Brigade responsible for space systems including spacecraft and related technologies, and also prepare for any future space conflict. The new unit will consolidate space-related work in the Israeli military, although officials disclosed few details about plans for the brigade or funding. (10/20)

Chinese Rocket Part Falls on Minnesota Farm (Source: Ars Technica)
Part of a Chinese rocket fell on a Minnesota farm. A farmer in west-central Minnesota discovered a circular metallic object 3.35 meters across in a corn field. Local law enforcement officials said the item was "presumably a space object" and that they were working with state and federal officials to remove it. The object appears to be part of an upper stage of a Chinese Zhuque-2E rocket that launched in mid-September and reentered over the upper Midwest. The rocket's upper stage has a diameter that matches that of the object found in Minnesota. (10/20)

Pakistani Astronaut to Visit TSS in November (Source: Geo News)
Pakistan's first astronaut will go to China's space station next month. A Pakistani government minister said Sunday that the astronaut will launch Nov. 25, spending a week on the Tiangong space station before returning. Two Pakistani pilots, Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud, have been training for the mission, but neither Chinese nor Pakistani officials said which of the two will fly or even when the selection will be announced. (10/19)

The Commercial Space Station Competition Finally Begins (Source: Space Review)
After some contracting twists and turns, NASA released the final request for proposals earlier this month for commercial space stations. Jeff Foust reports on the leading contenders and the challenges they face. Click here. (10/20)
 
RAMs and Blackjacks and Shuttles: the Soviet Ramenskoye Flight Test Center (Source: Space Review)
An airbase outside Moscow was the Soviet equivalent of Edwards Air Force Base, hosting experimental aircraft and even spacecraft. Dwayne Day and Harry Stranger explore how US satellite imagery kept track of the activities at Ramenskoye. Click here. (10/20)
 
The Ghost Beneath the Shuttle Columbia: Kosmos 398, STS-73, and the Last Echo of the US/Soviet Moon Race (Source: Space Review)
More than 30 years ago, a shuttle orbiter had a fleeting encounter with a relic of the original Moon race. Robert Kelso describes the experience as witnessed from Mission Control. Click here. (10/20)
 
A Riddle, Wrapped in a Mystery, Inside a Payload Container: the Curious Case of Defense Support Program Satellite F-11 (Source: Space Review)
The last of the Defense Support Program satellites were recently retired by the Space Force, but the program still has many unanswered questions. Dwayne Day examines some of those mysteries created by newly discovered photos of one DSP satellite. Click here. (10/20)
 
The Surprising Case for Space Mining (Source: Space Review)
There is renewed interest in mining asteroids or the Moon for resources ranging from water ice to precious metals. Alex Wood-Osterwald offers nine reasons why resource extraction is becoming more feasible. Click here. (10/20)

SNC Invests $100M in Dayton Facility (Source: Dayton Daily News)
War Secretary Pete Hegseth is visiting Sierra Nevada's Aviation Innovation and Technology Center in Dayton, Ohio, as part of his "Arsenal of Freedom" tour. SNC has invested $100 million in the Dayton campus, building four hangars after winning a $13 billion US Air Force contract to renew E-4B Nightwatch planes. (10/20)
 
Space Forces Central Expects 5X Growth (Source: Air & Space Forces)
Brig. Gen. Todd Benson, commander of Space Forces Central, expects the unit to quintuple in size within three years to meet the growing demand for capabilities. Space Forces Central, currently staffed by about 30 personnel, has had a significant impact in operations against Iran, but needs more personnel, Benson said. (10/19)

US Army Support for Golden Dome Missile Shield Takes Shape (Source: Military Times)
As the U.S. Army’s support to the joint force space mission takes shape with its newly populated Space Operations Branch, the service is also poised to support what’s expected to be a critical year for testing and development of the Golden Dome for America (GDA) missile shield project. Lt. Gen. John L. Rafferty confirmed that an Army air defense unit had been “earmarked” for GDA support. (10/20)

ESA Loses Full-Scale Space Rider Test Model After Parafoil Deployment Anomaly During Drop Test (Source: European Spaceflight)
The European Space Agency said a full-scale test model of its Space Rider reusable space vehicle was lost earlier this month after an anomaly during parafoil deployment in a drop test. The loss underscores a setback in testing the recovery system, though the available report provides no further detail on the anomaly or program schedule. (10/20)

Iridium Q3 Revenue Rises 8%, with Aireon Acquisition Contributing to Results (Source: Space Intel Report)
Iridium Communications reported an 8% increase in total revenue and a 13% rise in service revenue for the three months ended Sep. 30. The acquisition of Aireon, which provides aircraft tracking and flight data services, figured heavily in the results. (10/20)

Space Robot, Reaction Dynamics and Reliable Robotics Disclose Funding and Expansion Plans (Source: Space News)
Chinese on-orbit servicing startup Space Robot raised nearly $15 million after launching a technology demonstrator in 2025, while Canada’s Reaction Dynamics plans to raise C$350 million and hire nearly 300 people as it targets a 2031 debut for its Borealis medium-lift rocket. Reliable Robotics also extended its Series D with $115 million in equity and $25 million in debt. (10/20)

October 20, 2026

Uzbekistan Signs Artemis Accords to Boost Cooperation with NASA (Source: Trend AZ)
Uzbekistan has signed the Artemis Accords to expand cooperation with the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and other international space agencies, becoming the 77th country to join the framework for peaceful space exploration at a meeting in Samarkand on October 19. This was reflected in the statement by Uzbekistan's Foreign Minister, Bakhtiyor Saidov, on his Telegram channel. The meeting was held between Uzbek Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. (10/19)

China’s Long March Rockets Carry Forward Historic Grit for New Space Exploration (Source: Global Times)
Behind China's orbital achievements lies the enduring Long March spirit. Borrowing its name from the Red Army's epic expedition, China's Long March rocket series embodies that pioneering grit, carrying space hardware into orbit while pushing forward reusable rocket innovation. These scenes reflect how far China's space capabilities have developed, from crewed flight to a space station in orbit and efforts to master reusable rockets.

The name has become one of the most recognizable in Chinese aerospace sector, supporting crewed missions, launching BeiDou navigation satellite constellations, lunar and Mars exploration, and space station construction, Wang Yanan, editor-in-chief of Beijing-based Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told the Global Times on Sunday. Decades of development and successive breakthroughs have made the rocket program itself a technological Long March spanning generations, he said.

The year 2026 marks the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Long March, the epic military trek from 1934 to 1936 that broke through the encirclement of Kuomintang forces. Some participants marched as far as 12,500 kilometers, helping lay the foundation for the eventual victory of the Chinese revolution. The rockets bearing its name reached another milestone on October 10, when a Long March-12 placed the 27th batch of low-Earth orbit internet satellites into their planned orbit. (10/18)

NASA Needs a New Plan for Low Earth Orbit (Source: The Hill)
SpaceX is saying the Dragon spacecraft will no longer fly. The matter has achieved some urgency since NASA has officially issued a request for private companies to propose their own space stations. These companies likely include Axiom Space, Voyager Space and Vast Space. Blue Origin is working on its own space station but it is unclear whether it will answer the request. SpaceX is considered not likely to bid, at least for now.

NASA would be well advised to give its official seal of approval to the Blue Origin Space Vehicle, as well as some cash. The original Commercial Crew policy of funding two spacecraft turned out to be a wise decision when the Boeing Starliner fell short, but the SpaceX Crew Dragon came through, time after time. (10/18)

ISU Announces Strasbourg as European Hub of Global Campus Network (Source: Douglas Messier)
The International Space University (ISU) announced that Strasbourg, France, will become the exclusive European hub of ISU’s global campus network. The announcement also confirmed that Strasbourg will be the host city for ISU’s 2029 Space Studies Program (SSP29), celebrating the 40th anniversary of ISU’s 1989 SSP hosted by the University of Strasbourg (Unistra). The announcements were made during the 2026 International Astronautical Congress, taking place this week in Antalya, Türkiye. (10/19)

Raytheon to Digitize Space Force Missile Tracking Radar (Source: Defense Post)
Raytheon has been contracted by the US Space Force to digitize early warning radars under the Ground-Based Radar Digitization program. The initiative aims to improve radar reliability and missile detection by modernizing digital systems and establishing a common architecture. The program will start with prototypes and expand to other locations, complementing efforts such as the Upgraded Early Warning Radar program and the Long Range Discrimination Radar. (10/18)

ITU Faces Backlog of More Than 4,000 Satellite Network Filings Awaiting Review (Source: Space Intel Report)
The International Telecommunication Union, the UN body responsible for coordinating international telecommunications, has more than 4,000 satellite network filings awaiting review. The backlog highlights the challenge of keeping regulatory processes aligned with rapidly changing satellite technologies. (10/16)

Washington Threatens “Devastating” Consequences as Europe Moves to Curb Starlink (Source: United 24)
The United States has warned that European companies could face “devastating” retaliation if the European Union moves forward with plans to restrict access to satellite communication frequencies for American companies, including Elon Musk’s SpaceX, as Brussels seeks to reduce its dependence on foreign technology. US Ambassador to the EU Andrew Puzder warned that Washington could take retaliatory measures against European businesses if the bloc introduces regulations favoring domestic satellite operators over American competitors. (10/19)

Space Force Weighs Fivefold Expansion of its Middle East Command (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Space Force’s Middle East command could grow fivefold over the next several years as the service expands its role in military operations. The potential expansion signals a larger regional presence for the Space Force, though no details on timing or implementation are provided. (10/19)

Musk Pledges One SpaceX Share to Every U.S. Child, a Gift Valued at Nearly $11 Billion (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Elon Musk says he will give a share of SpaceX to every child in the United States. The pledge follows Anthropic’s announcement that it will allocate part of its shares to a public benefit fund, amid other tech-industry efforts to direct wealth toward the public. (10/19)

US Political and Budget Uncertainty Complicates Long-Term Artemis Commitments (Source: European Spaceflight)
Poland’s ability to make long-term commitments to NASA’s Artemis program is complicated by uncertainty over US politics and budgets, a Polish minister said. The warning underscores how shifting US policy and funding conditions can affect international partners’ planning for the lunar program. (10/19)

Japanese MMX Mission Launches to Study Martian Moons (Source: NSF)
The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is flying a planetary probe to Mars’s moon Phobos, taking advantage of this year’s window to reach the Red Planet on an ideal trajectory, one that lasted until Nov. 9. The Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission successfully launched on Monday, Oct. 19 at the Tanegashima Space Center atop an H3-24L rocket. The 63 m-tall H3-24L, the most powerful variant of the Japanese H3 rocket family, used the long fairing configuration to protect MMX from aerodynamic forces in the lower atmosphere. (10/19)

PLD Space Starts MIURA 5 System Testing After Building First Three Vehicles, Targeting 2027 Demonstration Flight (Source: SatNews)
The Spanish launch provider has begun system-level testing and final subsystem validation of its orbital MIURA 5 rocket after completing manufacturing of its first three vehicles. The campaign advances preparations for a first demonstration flight in 2027, alongside expanded industrial facilities and capabilities. (10/19)

Lithuania Investigates Suspected Sabotage Attempt Against Starlink Site in Vilnius (Source: AeroTime)
Lithuanian authorities are investigating an attempt to set fire to Starlink infrastructure in Vilnius, with Russian sabotage suspected. The incident follows reported attacks on similar sites in Poland and Bulgaria, raising scrutiny of the security of satellite-service infrastructure across the region. (10/19)

SSC Space and ElevationSpace sign MoU to Explore Launch, Microgravity Research and Spacecraft Recovery (Source: Spacewatch Global)
Sweden’s SSC Space and Japan’s ElevationSpace will assess potential cooperation spanning launch services, microgravity research and spacecraft recovery in Europe and Japan. The memorandum of understanding sets out areas to explore rather than a confirmed service or mission, extending SSC Space’s presence in the Japanese market. (10/19)

October 19, 2026

ESA Picks Planet Subsidiary Sinergise to Build Slovenia Space Resilience Node (Source: Sky Nightly)
The European Space Agency (ESA) has selected Sinergise Solutions, a subsidiary of Planet Labs, to build the Slovenia Space Resilience Node (SRN), a prototype that turns automated satellite alerts into high-resolution imaging requests for emergency responders. The 12-month pilot runs under Element 2 of ESA's European Resilience from Space  Earth Observation program. The system is being built for Slovenia's Administration for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief. Its aim is to automate the step between spotting change across a wide area and pointing a high-resolution satellite at it, a workflow known as "tip-and-cue."

The SRN will analyze open Copernicus data and imagery from Planet's PlanetScope satellites without human input. When it detects an anomaly or a pre-set threshold is crossed, it will raise an alert and send a high-resolution tasking request, including to Planet's Pelican satellites. The processed images will then appear in the emergency responders' own map view within hours, giving them a picture of an unfolding crisis. (10/14)

Satellite Services Lift Planet to a Record Quarter, With a Softer One Forecast Next (Source: Sky Nightly)
Planet Labs has posted record quarterly revenue on the back of a new kind of sale. Instead of only licensing pictures of the  Earth, the San Francisco company is increasingly building satellites for governments, operating them, and handing them over. Revenue for the three months to July 31, 2026 reached a record $116.1 million, up 58% from $73.4 million a year earlier. Chief executive Will Marshall cited the handover of its first Pelican satellite to the Swedish Armed Forces. (10/19)

ispace-EUROPE and ALTEC Sign MoU to Explore Lunar Rover Testing in Turin (Source: Sky Nightly)
ispace-EUROPE, the Luxembourg-based European arm of Japanese lunar company ispace, inc., will look at using facilities run by ALTEC in Turin, Italy, to test its lunar rovers and train the team that operates them, under a Memorandum of Understanding the two companies announced on October 12, 2026. (10/18)

PlanetiQ Weather Sounding Satellite GNOMES-10 Reaches Orbit, With GNOMES-11 Planned This Month (Source: Beyond LEO)
PlanetiQ has put another weather sounding satellite into orbit. GNOMES-10 launched on October 1. The satellite is not yet delivering data. According to PlanetiQ, its partner ground stations made first contact with GNOMES-10 soon after launch, and spacecraft commissioning began immediately. Until commissioning is complete, the launch adds capacity on paper rather than observations in hand. The company describes GNOMES-10 as another major step in expanding its global GNSS radio occultation (GNSS-RO) constellation. (10/18)

Embedl and Space Cargo Unlimited Show Onboard AI To Monitor Crystal Growth Experiments (Source: Beyond LEO)
Embedl and Space Cargo Unlimited have built a prototype AI system that they say could let an uncrewed payload judge its own protein crystal experiments without waiting for scientists on the ground. The companies announced the prototype on October 15, 2026, in Luxembourg. According to them, it runs on a single NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX 16GB module, analyzes experiment imagery, flags anomalies and recommends actions without needing continuous ground connectivity. (10/17)

Hermeus Buys Former Virgin Galactic at Mojave (Source: Douglas Messier)
Hypersonic aircraft developer Hermeus has purchased a Virgin Galactic hangar originally built to produce suborbital SpaceShipTwo rocket planes. Hermeus has acquired Virgin Galactic’s Final Assembly, Integration and Test Hangar (FAITH) at the Mojave Air and Space Port (MASP) at Rutan Field in California. Virgin Galactic sold FAITH to Hermeus after MASP’s Board of Directors voted unanimously last month to not exercise its right of first refusal to purchase the hangar, according to meeting minutes.

On Oct. 6, the spaceport’s board approved the assignment of the ground lease to Hermeus at its meeting. Virgin Galactic signed a 55-year lease in October 2010. Virgin Galactic’s spent $8 million constructing FAITH. The 68,000-square-foot facility was designed to produce suborbital SpaceShipTwo vehicles and the WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft that air launch them. The company rolled out the VSS Unity rocket plane in February 2016.

Virgin Galactic subsequently moved SpaceShipTwo production to Mesa, Arizona. The company operates commercial flights out of Spaceport America in New Mexico. Virgin Galactic’s corporate headquarters is located in Tustin, California. (10/18)

Four Ways to Accommodate Massive Growth in Space Launches (Source: ASRC Federal)
Congested launch dates are testing the government’s resources in terms of the limited facilities, personnel and funding available to support these missions. While Congress and the White House explore policy and program changes, agencies like NASA and the Space Force have made progress in developing new approaches to addressing those challenges. However, there are specific opportunities to sustain successful space operations while ramping up the country’s ability to accommodate the growing demand for space launches.

1) Expand the number of launch sites. 2) Determine U.S. space launch prioritization guidelines. The government could consider creating a U.S. launch priority framework. 3) Build up existing infrastructure at Canaveral, with help from the private sector. 4) Use the Federal Aviation Administration’s National Airspace System program as a model. Spaceports could operate under similar cost sharing models as airports, where airlines lease space and are billed for commodities such as oil, fuel and water. (10/15)

NASA Is About to Investigate What Lies Beneath a Giant Hole on the Moon (Source: SciTech Daily)
NASA is backing a search for a hidden lunar cave that could reveal how ancient volcanic activity shaped the Moon. Scientists have gathered compelling evidence from lunar orbit for caves and lava tubes beneath the Moon’s surface, places that could one day shelter astronauts from radiation and extreme temperature swings. NASA has selected a Planetary Science Institute (PSI)-led project to investigate whether a potentially large cave extends beyond the opening of the Marius Hill Pit (MHP).

A lander and rover will carry the instruments for the Geophysical Instruments for Marius Lunar pit Investigation, or GIMLI. Ground-penetrating radar will probe buried structures with radio waves, while seismic sensors will record how deliberately generated vibrations travel through the ground. The team will combine those readings with gravity measurements from a gravimeter and camera images of the surface and pit walls to investigate the surrounding material and estimate the size of any void it finds. (10/17)

Rigorous Analysis Confirms NASA’s Artemis II Heat Shield Performance (Source: NASA)
NASA’s Artemis II mission sent four astronauts around the Moon and brought them safely back to Earth, laying a foundation for crewed flights to the Moon’s surface. Additional engineering data analysis of the Orion spacecraft’s heat shield confirmed initial data showing the heat shield performed as expected. In particular, NASA measured whether the thermal protection system effectively safeguarded the crew and Orion systems as the spacecraft reentered Earth’s atmosphere. This test flight was the first time astronauts flew aboard Orion. (10/15)

SpaceX is Coming to Louisiana. Here’s How it Turned Texas’s Poorest Town Into a ‘Space City (Source: NOLA.com)
Elon Musk hadn’t yet flown a single person to space when he approached local leaders here with a plan 15 years ago: He wanted to save humanity by colonizing Mars, and to get there he proposed building a giant rocket facility in this impoverished town. Gilberto Salinas, a local economic development official, said he laughed it off initially: “This is just crazy, right?”

Salinas flew to Hawthorne, California, to see SpaceX’s early rocket factory and to “kick the tires” on the company, as he put it, because it was then still essentially a startup. “They were, in fact, building rockets,” Salinas said. “But they were a bunch of kids that were in their late 20s, early 30s. To me they looked like skateboarders.” Click here. (10/18)

Veteran NASA Engineer Named Marshall Space Flight Center Director (Source: AL.com)
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has named Stephen Cash director of the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. Cash, a veteran NASA engineer and aerospace executive, returns to lead the center where he began his career more than four decades ago. (10/16)

October 18, 2026

Blue Origin's Big Push on the Space Coast (Source: Florida Today)
Blue Origin is racing to return to flight in Florida. But its 5,000-plus Sunshine State employees and whopping $3 billion-plus infrastructure push are engineering a more-ambitious goal: Support multiple New Glenn rocket launches per week by the end of the decade. Bezos said Blue Origin will develop four launch pads. In tandem, the company is developing a super-heavy New Glenn 9x4 version capable of carrying 70 metric tons to low-Earth orbit.

The Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority approved a contract on Thursday, Oct. 15, for Blue Origin to lease 509,585 square feet of hangar, apron and grassy space at Space Coast Regional Airport — and Director of Airports Kevin Daugherty told board members "they'll start mobilizing tomorrow." To the east, key activity is centered at the 1.37-million-square-foot Rocket Park manufacturing campus on north Merritt Island, where a $330 million expansion is scheduled for completion in summer 2027.

This expansion will enable annual production of up to 150 upper stages of New Glenn 9x4 rockets. These huge rockets will lift off from an upcoming Launch Complex 36B, while the rebuilt pad for today's New Glenn will debut as 36A. Crews are building the metal skeleton of a vertical integration facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for the 9x4 rockets. This booster-processing facility's personnel will receive recovered first stages, then perform inspections and prepare them for refurbishment and future missions. (10/16)

New Research Reveals How Long Stays in Space Affects the Human Genome (Source: Universe Today)
Our data show that the genome, its organization, and dynamics are incredibly robust and seem unaffected by gravity, or lack thereof, after 24 hours. Similarly, these results suggest that the physical organization of the human genome may change little in outer space over comparable timeframes. However, such changes could occur during longer exposures and due to DNA damage occurring in space. (10/17)

Mars May Pose a Serious Risk to the Human Heart: What a New Space Radiation Study Reveals (Source: Breezy Scroll)
Researchers associated with the Medical College of Wisconsin investigated how space-like conditions affect the heart and blood cells over time. Their findings suggest that exposure to high-energy radiation can trigger scarring around the blood vessels supplying the heart, while the combination of radiation and simulated microgravity may compromise important immune defenses. (10/14)

Russian Satellite Approaches U.S. Spacecraft Serving Ukraine’s Military (Source: Axios)
A Russian satellite has moved close to a U.S. satellite in a constellation that supports Ukraine’s military, raising concerns about Moscow’s intent. The report provides no further details on the spacecraft, the proximity or any operational effect, leaving the encounter’s immediate consequences unclear. (10/17)

Saudi Space Agency, JAXA Sign Cooperation Memorandum in Space Sector (Source: Spa.gov)
The Saudi Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have signed a memorandum of cooperation on space activities and the use of outer space for peaceful purposes. It aims to strengthen cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Japan in several areas, including space applications, the use of the space environment, space science and exploration, space transportation, research and development, the advancement of space industries, education and awareness, human capital development, and training. (10/17)

Russia Turns to Turkish Mafia for Starlink Sabotage Attack in Poland (Source: United 24)
Russian intelligence services may have recruited a Turkish organized crime group to carry out an arson attack on a Starlink ground station in Poland, potentially signaling a shift in Moscow’s sabotage operations across Europe. According to German magazine Der Spiegel on October 17, intelligence agencies from several countries are investigating possible links between the September 23 attack and the Daltons, a Turkish criminal organization operating across Europe. (10/18)

Russia’s Starlink Substitute Poses a Security Threat Far Beyond Ukraine (Source: Atlantic Council)
The Rassvet project is being managed by Bureau 1440, an aerospace company owned by Yadro CEO Alexy Shelobkov. It is intended as a major upgrade for Russian military communications in Ukraine after Starlink disabled unauthorized terminals used by Kremlin forces at the start of 2026. Moscow has positioned Rassvet as “sovereign” satellite technology, but to accelerate deployment, Russia has contracted Chinese satellite manufacturing through Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST). Rassvet is part of a broader axis of technological interdependence together with China, Iran, and North Korea.

For the Kremlin, genuine technological sovereignty is not essential. The main aim is to produce a network that is independent from Western control for use during military operations in Ukraine. China and SSST will oblige, within the framework of established bilateral agreements. A Chinese satellite network controlling Iranian-designed drones is perfectly acceptable to the Russian authorities, as long as it can be used to target Ukrainians. (10/15)

Northrop Grumman Touts Space-Surveillance Experience as Space Force Opens In-Orbit Monitoring to New Competitors (Source: Space News)
Northrop Grumman is emphasizing its longstanding role in military space surveillance as the U.S. Space Force opens the in-orbit surveillance market to newer companies. The shift introduces competition in a mission area where established defense contractors bring experience, while new entrants seek a share of emerging government demand. (10/16)

NASA Develops Batteries to Power Humanity’s Return to Moon (Source: Douglas Messier)
NASA researchers are working to develop a battery that could function in the brutal cold of the Moon’s South Pole, where nighttime temperatures plunge to minus 328 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 200 Celsius). For future lunar operations, a battery will need to work immediately when warmed up and be able to power everything from an astronaut’s emergency kit to a rover capable of exploring the Moon’s darkest craters — all without posing a fire hazard. The project is called Solid Power for Extreme Environment Adaptability and Resilience in Space (SPEARS). (10/17)

Rescuing Astronomy From its Satellite Megaconstellation Crisis (Source: Space News)
As megaconstellations continue to proliferate into the hundreds of thousands of satellites in coming years, astronomers may find themselves backed into a corner as there are fewer and fewer "dark sky" sites to seek out. So, something else needs to be done, according Alan Stern, a planetary scientist, astronaut and former member of the U.S. National Science Board.

He advocates for a new wave of off-world astronomy, and specifically called for funding it by imposing taxes on megaconstellation operators in an attempt to offset the damage their light pollution would cause. "Let us, as both astronomers and members of the public, not try to stop the inevitable proliferation of satellite constellations," he wrote. "Instead, let’s work to find a new astronomical prosperity in that proliferation, by once again moving astronomy’s major ground-based research facilities to dark sky locales in space, paid for with a tiny fraction of the revenues the new satellite constellations will earn." (10/16)

Astronomer Leads Global Team on NASA Mission to Create Unprecedented View of the Early Universe (Source: Phys.org)
A University of Missouri astronomer is leading a team of 130 researchers from 62 institutions on an ambitious mission to capture an unprecedented view of the early universe. Haojing Yan heads the international team behind the Roman eXtreme Deep Field (RXDF), a project that will use NASA's newest flagship space observatory, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, to create one of the deepest and widest views of the early universe ever made.

And NASA is giving Yan and the team 386 hours of observation time to do it. Their goal is to help answer one of astronomy's most fundamental questions: How did the universe evolve from its earliest moments into the vast collection of stars, galaxies and planets we see today? By looking billions of years into the past, the team expects to study thousands of early galaxies, exploding stars, giant black holes and other cosmic mysteries. (10/16)

Musk Approached Trump to Slow Down Starlink in Ukraine, Trump Denies (Sources: Telegraph, BBC)
Elon Musk approached Donald Trump with the idea of slowing down Starlink in Ukraine, The Telegraph can reveal. He approached the US president with the proposal to introduce speed limits on the system, which hampered Ukraine’s drone defenses, according to four sources familiar with the discussions. One of the sources said Mr Trump “agreed” with Mr Musk’s suggestion, paving the way for the Pentagon to execute the slowdown on Starshield, the military-grade version of the satellite communications system.

Mr. Musk had previously blamed Mr. Trump for the chaos, claiming any changes would have been decided by the US military and ultimately the president. Trump denied limiting Ukraine's access to Starlink's sister internet network Starshield after it restricted drone speed, hampering Kyiv's ability to protect itself from Russian attacks. "It wasn't me and I don't think it was [Starlink owner] Elon [Musk]," Trump said. (10/16)

After Pumping Hundreds of Millions into Texas Politics, State Considers Selling a Beloved State Park to Elon Musk’s SpaceX (Source: Texas Monthly)
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission has been discussing the sale of Boca Chica State Park, Texas Monthly has learned. The deliberations were far along enough that the commission planned to take up the sale of “1,300 acres” in Cameron County during a closed-door executive session at a meeting on November 5, two days after the election, according to a draft agenda of the commission meeting. Two sources familiar with internal discussions of the potential sale said SpaceX is the prospective buyer and confirmed that the 1,300-acre property in question is the beachfront state park, which is adjacent to Musk’s burgeoning Starbase facility.

Sources said the item could be taken up by the nine commissioners—all appointees of Governor Greg Abbott—after November 5. The move comes as Abbott, Ken Paxton, and other Texas Republicans face unusually close races, with polls showing Abbott’s opponent, Democrat Gina Hinojosa, within striking distance. Musk, the world’s richest man, has pumped a reported $158 million into a super PAC backing Paxton’s flailing campaign. Musk’s own super PAC is also instructing canvassers to tar Hinojosa over her record on transgender issues. (10/16)

Japan’s MMX Mission Aims to Swipe Soil Samples From Mars’ Moon Phobos (Source: The Conversation)
A Japanese space mission is about to launch towards Mars. But it will not land on the planet itself. Instead, the Martian Moons Exploration (MMX) mission will focus on Phobos, the bigger of Mars’s two small moons. The mission will lift off on Monday on an H3 rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center, in the south of Japan. MMX is led by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa), in collaboration with the US, France, Germany and the European Space Agency (Esa). The overall science objective is to unravel the origins of the two Martian moons, the smaller of which is called Deimos. Mission scientists also want to examine the wider evolution of Mars and its local environment in space. (10/16)

JAXA, Innovative Space Carrier Collaborate On Reusable Rocket Studies (Source: International Business Times)
Japan's space agency JAXA and Tokyo-based rocket developer ISC said they had begun joint work on reusable-rocket technology, combining test data and computer modeling to support the development of commercial space transportation services. The collaboration started in September under the JAXA Space Innovation through Partnership and Co-creation program, known as J-SPARC, which supports the creation of space-related businesses. Launched in May 2018, the program has undertaken about 60 projects and activities. The partners aim to enable more frequent, lower-cost transportation and broaden access beyond research organizations to users including universities and startups. (10/16)

October 17, 2026

Blue Origin Targets Multiple New Glenn Launches Weekly by End of Decade (Source: Reuters)
Blue Origin ​is targeting multiple flights per week of its New Glenn rocket by the end of the ‌decade, a company executive said on Friday, as it spends billions of dollars on infrastructure needed to match rival SpaceX's launch dominance. Jeff Bezos' space firm also plans to add more launch and landing pads in Florida for New Glenn, its flagship heavy-lift ​orbital rocket that has been grounded for the year since exploding on the company's only launchpad in ​May.

Blue Origin has invested over $3 billion to date in its sprawling Florida production and ⁠rocket integration facilities that span roughly 31 acres with some 5,000 employees, said Ian Richardson. A $330 million expansion to those facilities will support production of a heavier-lift version ​of the rocket, New Glenn 9x4, and is targeted for completion in the summer of 2027, Richardson said, adding it will allow annual production of up to 150 upper stages of the rocket.

"These investments are centered on one goal: building the capacity to support more missions, more reliably, and more efficiently," Richardson said. "As we look ahead, this infrastructure is designed to support multiple flights per week by the end of the decade." (10/16)

Could Russia Be Poised to Use an On-Orbit Weapon Against a Commercial Satellite? (Source: CSIS)
As of October 15, 2026, based on commercial space situational awareness data, a Russian satellite called Cosmos 2612 is on a trajectory that will bring it into very close proximity to a U.S.-registered commercial synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite. The satellite, which supports Ukraine, is operated by ICEYE, a company founded in Finland. Given Russia’s history of testing on-orbit weapons, policymakers should assume Cosmos 2612 could take an action that threatens the commercial satellite.

But the risk extends beyond just one satellite. A Russian counterspace activity in the vicinity of Western satellites should be assessed within the context of aggressive Russian gray zone activities targeting U.S. and European interests. To date, neither the United States nor Europe has been able to deter Russia from expanding the scope and frequency of these gray zone actions. As Russia appears poised to increase hostile actions in outer space to test Western resolve, the United States and Europe should decide how they would respond to a hostile act in space and make that response clear. (10/15)

Small Lunar Missions, Big Ambitions (Source: ESA)
ESA's small missions initiative, renamed Moon Explore, began with an open call for affordable lunar mission concepts with scientific or exploration value, attracting over 60 ideas from across Europe. By accepting a higher level of risk in exchange for lower cost and faster development, the initiative aims to deliver valuable results within just a few years while helping European teams develop new capabilities for future exploration.

The first small mission is already taking shape. Planned for launch in 2029, MAGPIE is set to become the first European rover to explore the Moon. The rover is developed by ispace-Europe in Luxembourg and will operate near the lunar south pole to search for water and other volatile resources for around 10 days using a drill, neutron detector, volatile analyzer and ground-penetrating radar. (10/16)

NASA Langley Transforms Boeing 777 into a Flying Science Lab (Source: WAVY)
NASA Langley Research Center is preparing to take Earth science research to new heights with a Boeing 777 transformed from a commercial airliner into a flying laboratory designed to help scientists better understand the planet. The aircraft will give researchers more room for scientific instruments, longer flight times and the ability to collect different types of measurements during the same mission. NASA plans to use it to study atmospheric conditions, improve satellite observations and develop technology that could help scientists better understand everything from severe winter weather to air pollution. (10/15)

Maritime Launch Services Closer to Listing on Toronto Stock Exchange (Source: Maritime Launch Services)
Maritime Launch Services, developer of Spaceport Nova Scotia, announced that the Toronto Stock Exchange has conditionally approved the listing of the company's common shares, subject to the Company satisfying the customary listing requirements of the TSX and receiving final approval. The Common Shares are expected to commence trading on the TSX under the symbol "MAXQ" and will continue to trade on Cboe Canada until trading commences on the TSX. (10/15)

Governor Newsom Visits Space Beach (Source: Gov. Gavin Newsom)
Governor Gavin Newsom visited Long Beach — also known as “Space Beach” — a dynamic hub for modern commercial and aerospace manufacturing with a deep legacy in the field. From Space Beach to Silicon Valley, California’s commercial space ecosystem is powering America’s next generation of exploration. At “Space Beach,” Governor Newsom toured Rocket Lab, a leading California aerospace company that manufactures designs and manufactures orbital rockets, spacecraft, satellites, and other components.

California’s Space Economy spans launch, testing, R&D, tracking and communications, and defense infrastructure across every region of the state. The Golden State is home to one-third of the nation’s space technology companies and has more aerospace engineers and defense personnel than any other state. California ranks #1 in corporate aerospace R&D spending and #1 in space-technology venture capital. Together, these reflect the nation’s highest concentration of aerospace talent, with California alone accounting for roughly 40% of all U.S. space-technology patents. 

California Community Colleges (CCC), California State University (CSU), and the University of California (UC) form the nation’s most productive public pipeline for aerospace talent. Alongside private institutions such as Stanford, USC, and Caltech, this engine helps California produce more aerospace engineers than anywhere in the U.S. California has over 96,000 aerospace manufacturing jobs, more than any other state. (10/15)

Brain Tissue Sent to ISS for Research (Source: Independent)
Lab-grown human brain tissue arrived at the ISS as part of an unusual experiment. The three-dimensional miniature human brain models called miBrains contain lab-grown neural tissue. Scientists will look for cellular and genetic changes induced by microgravity and radiation, which could impact human aging and neurological disease. (10/15)

NASA's SkyFall Helicopters Will 'Show Us Parts of Mars We've Never Seen Before' (Source: Space.com)
NASA is accelerating the development of three helicopters that will be deployed into the sky above Mars after a voyage aboard NASA's Space Reactor‑1 Freedom spacecraft. Slated for launch in 2028, SR-1 Freedom is the first fission nuclear-powered interplanetary spacecraft and is assigned the duty of dropping off the SkyFall entry capsule loaded with the trio of aerial vehicles at the Red Planet. SR-1's trajectory will deliver the SkyFall helicopters in Mars' northern hemisphere during the planet's spring season to avoid dust storms.

Each low-flying helicopter is outfitted with a ground penetrating radar (GPR) instrument, one that can detect layering in the near surface, at depths unobservable by orbital radar. Those layers could be assembled from rocky material, buried ice, or combinations of the two. Detection of near-surface ice is of interest both scientifically as well as in support of future human expeditions to Mars. (10/15)

Seraphim Space Investment Trust Doubled its Value in 2026 (Source: Payload)
Seraphim Space Investment Trust published its FY26 financials yesterday, revealing a valuation of £605.5M (€716.3M)—more than double its value in June 2025. Seraphim’s major holdings—ICEYE, ALL.SPACE, D-Orbit, HawkEye 360, and Xona Space Systems, which together represent more than 75% of the firm’s portfolio—all had a great year, and that success has trickled upwards. However, Seraphim has also benefitted heavily from a favorable macroeconomic environment, as government spending on space continues to increase and VC interest in the sector grows. (10/16)

Scientists Discover 'Chemical Starter Kit' for Life in Planetary Birthplaces (Source: Space.com)
Methanol, coming as part of the 'chemical starter kit' around young stars, has produced some unexpected surprises that could ultimately reveal some of the conditions in which planets and potentially life form around protostars. The methanol discoveries were made by astronomers using ALMA (the Atacama Large millimeter/submillimeter Array) in the Atacama Desert in Chile, as part of a project called COMPASS (the Complex Organic Molecules in Protostars with ALMA Spectral Surveys). (10/15)

SDA Transport Satellite Constellation Grows Larger As Integration Lags (Source: Aviation Week)
With more than 80 satellites in orbit, the U.S. Space Development Agency’s nascent orbital mesh network is still proving elusive to establish. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carried the Space Development Agency’s (SDA) fourth plane of Tranche 1 Transport Layer satellites—the first such batch from Northrop Grumman—to low Earth orbit on Oct. 10.

That mission was originally slated to launch Oct. 5, but the Falcon 9’s automated systems halted the initial countdown just before liftoff. The launch was then pushed off two more times as SpaceX conducted extra safety checks on the vehicle and worked with the U.S. Space Force to deconflict with other mission deployments. (10/16)

Martian Soil Map Defines 2000 Classes and Names One Most Promising for Crops (Source: Sky Nightly)
Mars has a best soil for growing crops, at least on paper, and it covers 0.14 percent of the planet. A University of Sydney team calls it Nohibareth, and in a proof-of-concept test it scored 0.93 on a zero-to-one scale for plant production. The modelled average profile behind that score is a pH of 6.8, 72 percent clay, little sand or gravel, and an estimated 202 millimeters of water held per meter of soil. Nohibareth is one of 2000 classes in the Provisional Polythetic Areth Classification System, or PPACS, which Daniel Irving, a PhD student, built from orbital observations and models.

The name comes from Irving's proposed term for Martian soil classes, areths, after Ares, the Greek name for Mars. The system sorts almost 800 million locations into 10 realms, 100 assemblages and 2000 forms by properties including texture, mineralogy, pH and profile thickness, and a companion map covers 92 percent of the surface. The university calls it the first comprehensive classification system and map of Martian soils.

The next step is on Earth. The team proposes mixing Mars-like substrates to match the mapped classes and growing crops in them under controlled conditions, with added nutrients and managed water, to compare growth, water use and the treatment each mixture needs to be made safe. Plants have grown in simulant before: in 2014 Wieger Wamelink of Wageningen raised 14 species in NASA-supplied Mars and Moon regolith simulant over 50 days. The map gives such mixtures something specific to match. After that the check moves back to Mars, where rover measurements and samples would show whether Nohibareth really lies where the models put it, on that 0.14 percent of the planet. (10/16)

China Plans Tiangong Test Flights for Mengzhou Ahead of its 2030 Moon Landing Goal (Source: Beyond LEO)
China's spacecraft for its planned crewed Moon landing has yet to reach orbit. The Mengzhou prototype flew on February 11 atop a prototype Long March-10, but the mission was a low-altitude test designed to demonstrate the spacecraft's ability to escape an ascending rocket under maximum aerodynamic stress. The capsule separated successfully and splashed down in the sea, marking an important milestone without testing orbital operations.

The Long March-10 heavy rocket, Mengzhou in orbit and the Lanyue lunar lander must still demonstrate their capabilities, while the complete mission will require two launches and multiple rendezvous and docking operations around the Moon. The next major step is closer to home. The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) plans to send Mengzhou to the Tiangong space station in 2026, followed by repeated station flights intended to test the spacecraft and improve its reliability before it carries astronauts towards the Moon. The landing target remains 2030. The challenge is completing the flight-test program needed to make that date achievable. (10/16)