July 30, 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

July 29, 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

July 28, 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

July 27, 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

July 26, 2026

Germany's Defense Minister Visits Isar, Talks Sovereign Space Access, Spaceports (Source: Isar Aerospace)
German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius today visited the production facility of Isar Aerospace in Ottobrunn, underscoring the strategic priority Germany places on sovereign access to space as a prerequisite for defense and deterrence. During the visit, the Minister toured the development and manufacturing operations of Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum launch vehicle – designed, produced, and tested almost entirely in-house.

Daniel Metzler, CEO and Co-Founder of Isar Aerospace, said: “Today’s visit by Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius sends an important message: the defense of our free world begins in space. We stand alongside the German Federal Government as a reliable partner in ensuring sovereign access to space, so that satellites for military reconnaissance and communications can be launched into orbit. This will be achieved using the necessary rockets from our series production and a strategic network of spaceports.” (7/23)

NASA Boss Praises Rise of Women in Science (Source: BBC)
The head of science at NASA has praised the "fantastic" rise of women in science. Dr Nicola Fox, who grew up in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, said she had been struck by the number of women now graduating in physics and engineering when she returned to the University of Surrey. The 57-year-old graduated from university with a masters in telematics and satellite engineering in 1991 and was one of only four women on the course of more than 200 students.

She said: "I was at the physics graduation and the engineering graduation... It was amazing to see the number of girls that were graduating." The scientist explained she had grown up unaware a passion for science was "unusual" for girls. Her advice to young women today is to follow their curiosity and ignore claims that science is not for them: "If somebody says girls don't do that, then that's just not true." (7/26)

Space Force Needs to Measure Workforce Needs, as it Prepares to Double in Size (Source: The Gazette)
The Space Force needs more people. It’s just not precisely sure how many more. A Government Accountability Office report released earlier this month found that the youngest and smallest military branch does not have a process to consistently or accurately determine how many people it needs. The Space Force agreed and said it would work on a process to measure its manpower needs, but it did not provide a timeline.

The leader of Combat Forces Command, Gen. Greg Gagnon, addressed the staffing needs broadly during an online appearance last week hosted by The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. Gagnon, who works at Peterson Space Force Base, ensures guardians across all the operational fields are ready when combatant commanders like those in the Middle East need them. Much of his work is focused on training events for guardians and accepting new systems, he said.

Editor's Note:  GAO's criticism isn't just about workforce numbers. It's that the Space Force lacks the data infrastructure to build a relationship between skills, competencies, and headcounts. The DoD's Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative, where I used to work in Orlando, is developing tools and technologies for this, with an enterprise-level competency/credentials registry, a learner record repository, an interoperable course catalog, and an over-arching enterprise-level workforce data system. It's a DoD-sponsored existing answer to the Space Force's workforce data problem. (7/25)

NASA Astronaut, 2 Cosmonauts Return to Earth From ISS (Source: Space.com)
A U.S.-Russian crew returned to Earth from the International Space Station early Sunday morning. A Soyuz spacecraft carried NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan about 3.5 hours after undocking. (7/26)

Does SpaceX’s Plan for a Data Center in Space Add Up? (Source: The Economist)
With every passing day, it seems like a slightly less crazy idea to put data centers into space. Progress in artificial intelligence (AI) is increasing demand for these facilities, but opposition to building them on Earth is growing. “There’s not some magic that’s necessary, that doesn’t exist, for AI satellites,” said Elon Musk.

SpaceX’s AI1 satellite will have two wing-like solar arrays on either side of the core, each of them 30 meters by 10 meters in size, delivering a peak power of 150 kilowatts (kW). This is a bit larger than the solar arrays on the forthcoming Starlink v3 satellite, which are 19 meters long. The solar cells will deliver 250 watts per square meter, a plausible figure, and will be manufactured by SpaceX at its facility in Bastrop, Texas. SpaceX plans to put its AI1 satellites into special orbits that keep them in daylight 98% of the time.

Then there are the chips. The AI1 reference design, with a peak power of 150kW, can accommodate 72 of the most advanced AI chips made by Nvidia (equivalent to a single server rack in a terrestrial data center). But other chips could also be used, and SpaceX plans to start manufacturing its own at a giant factory called Terafab. To test some of the new technologies needed for AI1, SpaceX intends to launch modified versions of its Starlink v2 satellites, which the company calls “canary sats”, in the coming months. (7/22)

China is Gaining Troubling Military Know-How From Russia (Source: The Economist)
The help China gives Russia in the war in Ukraine has long caused dismay in Western countries. Exports of ostensibly civilian components such as engines and electronics end up in drones and other weapons that kill Ukrainian soldiers and civilians, abetting Russia’s war of attrition. Yet recently it is the other end of this trade that has stirred alarm in Western capitals. China appears to be receiving training, intelligence and advanced military technology from Russia. That could give China an edge in a future war over Taiwan, tilting the balance of power at the opposite extreme of Eurasia. (7/23)

SpaceX Eyes Tower Catch for Next Starship (Source: Ars Technica)
Encouraged by the picture-perfect end to Friday’s flight, SpaceX is likely to take the next leap with Starship on the next launch, according to Elon Musk. That would entail hurling Starship on a longer-range trajectory, perhaps into low-Earth orbit, to bring the vehicle back to the launch site. Mechanical arms on the launch tower will attempt to capture the ship as it slows to a hover. SpaceX has already done this with the rocket’s massive Super Heavy booster, which is larger and heavier than Starship itself, but comes back at a fraction of the speed. (7/25)

NASA is Preparing Astronauts for Mars’ Dusty Hazards (Source: WRAL)
Dust is expected to be among the biggest hazards for astronauts, prompting NASA to establish its first recommended exposure limits for airborne Martian dust as the agency prepares for future human missions to the red planet. The new recommendation sets continuous exposure limits four times lower than lunar dust. The conservative threshold reflects not just the dangers already known but also what researchers still don’t know about how prolonged exposure to Martian dust could affect the human body.

One approach to limiting astronaut exposure to lunar or Martian dust is to leave it outside their living spaces. NASA has spent years developing “suitports,” which keep spacesuits attached to the outside of a habitat or rover. Instead of bringing a dusty suit indoors, astronauts climb into it through a hatch in the back, complete their day’s exploration, then dock the suit back onto the vehicle before reentering the habitat, helping keep dust out of the crew’s living space.

When you think of Martian dust, don’t think beach sand, think finer than baby powder, with particles about the size of those that make wildfire smoke hazardous to breathe. That allows the dust to remain suspended in the atmosphere and penetrate deep into the lungs. Unlike lunar regolith, Martian dust also contains perchlorates, reactive salts that researchers are studying for their potential health effects during the months or years astronauts could spend on the red planet. (7/25)

NASA Announces New Spacecraft Technology Demonstration Mission at Moon (Source: NASA)
NASA is working with industry to advance the next phase of cislunar infrastructure for the agency’s Artemis program and Moon Base, including orbital assets and demonstrations. Under a contract awarded to Advanced Space, the agency’s CAPSTONE 02 mission will demonstrate rendezvous and proximity operations, autonomous navigation, and cislunar communication capabilities while continuing to characterize the radiation environment at the Moon. The CAPSTONE 02 mission, targeted for launch in 2027, will use two small spacecraft in lunar orbit to facilitate these demonstrations to support future NASA lunar and deep space missions. (7/26)

Arianespace to Launch Weather Satellite MTG-I2 on Aug. 27 GEO Mission (Source: Arianespace)
On August 27, 2026, Arianespace will place into orbit the 2nd Meteosat Third Generation Imager satellite, MTG-I2, with a dedicated Ariane 62, the two-booster configuration of Ariane 6. Building on a long-standing partnership between ESA and EUMETSAT, MTG-I2 is part of Europe's next-generation geostationary meteorological satellite system, providing enhanced imagery for the early detection of fast-developing severe storms, weather forecasting and climate monitoring. This mission, designated VA270, will mark Ariane 6's fourth mission of the year and the first flight to geostationary transfer orbit. (7/20)

Voyager Wins Contract with Sandia National Laboratories (Source: Voyager)
Voyager Technologies was awarded a new mission management contract with Sandia National Laboratories to fly their Big Boy demonstration aboard the ISS in 2027. The contract underscores the continued and growing demand for access to low-Earth orbit for national security research, with additional contracts expected to follow. Voyager will provide end-to-end mission management, including experiment design, payload integration, safety review, manifest and mission planning, and on-orbit operations. The payload will integrate with the company’s NEL, an external payload platform mountable on Voyager’s Bishop Airlock, the first and only permanent commercially owned module on the ISS. (7/28)

Sidus Space Shifts Gears Toward Commercialization (Source: Sidus Space)
In a July 21 letter to shareholders, Sidus Space detailed the company's transition from technology development to commercialization. "Today, our focus is shifting from proving our technology to scaling its commercial application and that distinction is important," said Carol Craig, Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Sidus Space. "Success is no longer measured simply by launching satellites or demonstrating technical capability. It will increasingly be measured by customer adoption, recurring revenue, operating leverage, and long-term shareholder value." (7/21)

IHI Advances Domestic Satellite Assembly and Testing Capability in Japan (Source: IHI)
IHI Corp is taking a further step toward building Japan-based industrial capability for sovereign Earth-observation, as its engineers and technicians start training with ICEYE ahead of the planned assembly and testing of two synthetic aperture radar (“SAR”) satellites in Japan.

International collaboration sits at the heart of IHI’s planned multi-sensor Earth-observation constellation, which aims to bring Japan and its allies closer together through shared data and industrial partnership. By working with trusted partners, IHI aims to strengthen Japan’s sovereign access to space-based intelligence while supporting closer security and industrial cooperation with like-minded countries. (7/22)

North Texas' Exos Aerospace Helps Fuel Texas' Private Space Industry (Source: NBCDFW)
Texas continues to grow as a major hub for space travel, with the launch of the Texas Space Commission and a growing private space industry helping companies expand their reach. On the outskirts of Greenville, Exos Aerospace is preparing for a spring launch of its Block 3 rocket. The mission will carry a payload 62 miles above Earth from Spaceport America in New Mexico, giving research customers several minutes of microgravity before returning to the ground.

Operations Manager Phil Eaton said the rocket uses an ethanol-based propulsion system. "It’s an ethanol 190 proof system. And it’s all denatured, but it’s very similar to Everclear," Eaton said. Eaton said the company is assembling the rocket with Scorpius Aerospace propulsion tanks to provide researchers with four to five minutes of microgravity on the edge of space. (7/24)

Want to be an Astronaut Without Leaving Houston? This Yearlong Mission Might Be for You (Source: ABC13)
If you've ever wanted to be an astronaut but don't want to go to deep space, this mission might be for you. Right now, you can apply to live inside a deep space simulator. If selected, your meals and sleeping quarters are covered. You even get paid. Once inside, it's only you and three others for a year. NASA is looking for its next group to live inside a moon and Mars simulator at Johnson Space Center in Houston.

It's not new. NASA has had two missions where crew members lived inside the simulator, including one right now. However, this time it's different because they've added a 650-square-foot vehicle simulator. "We have gotten a ton of applicants," NASA deputy element scientist Sarah Whiting said. (7/24)

Major NASA Site in Spain Hit by Wildfire (Source: Straits Times)
Massive wildfires in Europe on July 24 forced NASA to evacuate one of its three global deep space communications facilities in Spain, impacting the agency’s ability to communicate with space probes. The Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex (MDSCC) is located in Robledo, about 65km west of central Madrid, a NASA spokesperson told AFP in a statement. “The wildfire has passed through the MDSCC. Any potential damage will be assessed when it is safe to do so,” the US space agency said, adding all personnel were “safely evacuated”. (7/25)

SpaceX at $100 Would Imply Zero AI Value, Morgan Stanley Says (Source; Bloomberg)
The selloff in SpaceX shares has driven the stock near a level that would imply investors are assigning no value to its artificial intelligence business, according to analysts at Morgan Stanley. The rocket, space and artificial intelligence company has had a rocky trading debut after its record $86 billion offering in mid-June. Shares initially surged nearly 50% in first three sessions, but have tumbled since. They touched a low of $110.85, or 18% below the IPO price, earlier this week. (7/24)

Ukraine Plans $1.1 Billion Satellite Constellation to Reduce Starlink Reliance (Source: Kyiv Post)
Ukrainian satellite communications company Stetman is advancing a $1.1 billion plan to deploy a nationally controlled 360-satellite constellation beginning in 2027, a project aimed at reducing the country’s dependence on foreign-operated services like SpaceX’s Starlink. The proposed network is designed to place satellite communications directly under the control of Ukraine’s government and armed forces.

The system is being developed to withstand electronic warfare and ensure secure connectivity independent of external providers. Stetman aims to launch the first 120 satellites with SpaceX in 2027, with full deployment of the 360 satellites expected by 2030. No formal arrangements have been announced for the launch of the remaining 240 satellites. (7/25)

July 25, 2026

SpaceX Starship Megarocket Hits Key Milestones in ‘Lucky 13’ Test Flight as Big Hurdles Loom (Source: CNN)
SpaceX completed a test flight of its Starship megarocket, following an aborted launch attempt last week in which several engines failed to ignite at liftoff. The test flight, called Flight 13, hit several key milestones before concluding with a controlled splashdown of the upper Starship spacecraft in the Indian Ocean. The Super Heavy rocket booster, which detached from Starship two minutes into the flight, made a controlled splashdown in the Gulf.

Flight 13 marked the second, and a more successful, test for this version of Starship, called V3. During the first flight of a Starship V3 rocket in May, a series of engine outages caused the rocket to underperform. SpaceX is facing intense pressure to get Starship ready for a crucial NASA test flight next year that could pave the way for the next moon landing. (7/24)

FAA Rule Could Unlock U.S. High-Speed Flight Testing (Source: Aviation Week)
Support for the FAA’s proposal to lift the ban on overland supersonic flight and replace it with a sonic boom noise limit is not just coming from the nascent U.S. commercial high-speed aircraft market. Starfighters Space operates a fleet of seven ex-military Lockheed F-104 supersonic fighters. The company operates from two locations. At NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida, it can fly supersonically 12-18 mi. offshore and comply with the existing ban. But the second base at Midland International Air and Space Port in Texas requires overland flights.

“This [proposed rule] really helps us at Midland, and that’s important because there are eight locations around Midland where we can do business, including Spaceport America and White Sands Missile Range [New Mexico], and the Utah Test and Training Range and Nellis AFB [Nevada],” says CEO Tim Franta. Starfighters is working with Texas to gain certification for a high-speed corridor, a triangle linking Midland to White Sands and Spaceport America, continuing across the top of the state and back to Midland.

“One of the problems with U.S. testing for hypersonics is oftentimes we are getting single points of data,” he says. “[With the new rule] we can fly two, four flights in the same day and get more data points. That’s better for the customer. It’s better for us.” Starfighters Space’s F-104s can fly for another 12 years, Franta says, but the company is in the process of acquiring a second supersonic type, which it dubs Platform 2. (7/24)

Air Force Assumes Control of GPS Receiver Program (Source: Space News)
The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center has taken over the Military GPS User Equipment program to address delays and technical issues in fielding jam-resistant GPS receivers. The program, previously managed by the Space Force, has faced years of setbacks in developing and integrating M-code receivers, which provide secure positioning, navigation and timing. The Air Force's management aims to streamline development and integration across military platforms. (7/24)

NASA to Support New Glenn Hot Fire Testing at Stennis Space Center (Source: Via Satellite)
NASA and Blue Origin have agreed to conduct second stage hot fire testing for the New Glenn rocket at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi to advance work on the Artemis program. NASA announced Friday the agreement is an annex to a reimbursable Space Act Agreement signed earlier this month. Blue Origin will conduct hot fire testing at the B-2 test stand, targeted to begin this fall. The stand has a long history of supporting Moon missions and was built to test the Saturn V rocket stages used during the Apollo Program. (7/24)

ULA Deals with Financial Challenges Caused by Vulcan Grounding (Source: Space News)
United Launch Alliance’s corporate parents have provided a guaranteed loan to help the company address “financial challenges” tied to the ongoing Vulcan grounding. The support is intended to bridge the period of constrained launch activity and associated cost pressures. Last year those parent companies, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, were seeking a buyer for ULA, which has been struggling to win launch contracts in competition with SpaceX. (7/24)

European Union Grants US Request to Restrict Satellite Images of Iran War Region (Source: Ars Technica)
The European Union has granted a U.S. request to restrict access to satellite images covering the Iran war region. The move comes amid reports of delays to Copernicus satellite pictures as tensions escalate and Washington steps up its posture involving Iran. (7/24)

Lockheed Martin Interested in Venus Aerospace's RDRE Engine Tech (Source: Ars Technica)
Venus Aerospace and Lockheed Martin have entered a collaboration agreement for the evaluation of Houston-based Venus’s rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) technology. The companies hope to achieve “precision fire” capabilities with efficiencies that translate into longer flight ranges and higher speeds. Lockheed Martin is the Pentagon’s largest contractor, responsible for supplying the military with thousands of tactical and strategic missiles.

Venus Aerospace’s RDRE tech works by generating thrust as a wave of detonation travels around a circular channel, sustained by the injection of fuel and oxidizer to produce a supersonic shockwave. The company completed a low-altitude flight test of the RDRE last year. The RDRE architecture has the potential to improve propulsion efficiency while reducing complexity. There’s a lot of work to do to scale Venus’s engine from an experimental prototype to a combat-ready missile platform. (7/24)

Lightning Strikes Chinese Rocket After Launch (Source: Ars Technica)
China launched one of its most successful rockets Thursday, sending a Long March 3B launcher to orbit with a Tianlian data relay support to link Mission Control with the country’s Tiangong space station. The Long March 3B is a dependable rocket, with nearly 120 flights since entering service in 1996. But the rocket was tested on Thursday when a bolt of lightning struck the vehicle shortly after liftoff from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern China. The rocket continued the climb into space without incident. (7/24)

Lunar Outpost Plans to Send NVIDIA Chips to the Moon (Source: Payload)
The chip race and the race back to the Moon race have just crossed paths. Lunar Outpost, the Colorado-based lunar rover startup, announced plans to fly NVIDIA chips on its upcoming lunar missions. Lunar Outpost will carry an NVIDIA Jetson AI chip on its MAPP rover for the company’s Lunar Voyage 2 mission, which is planning to launch this year. Lunar Outpost is relying on NVIDIA chips to give more autonomy to its rovers, and greater onboard processing power to compress and send large data files. (7/24)

ESA Awards ispace €65M Contract to Build and Deliver MAGPIE Rover to the Moon (Source: European Spaceflight)
ESA has awarded a contract to Luxembourg-based ispace-Europe to complete the development of the MAGPIE lunar rover and deliver it to the surface of the Moon in 2029. The Mission for Advanced Geophysics and Polar Ice Exploration (MAGPIE) is being developed under ESA’s Small Missions for Exploration initiative. The rover will explore the Moon’s south pole, characterizing volatile deposits and searching for water ice that could be used to support a sustained human presence on the Moon. (7/24)

Firefly Aerospace Selects Blue Origin’s Honeybee Robotics to Provide Rover for Lunar Mission (Source: Blue Origin)
Firefly Aerospace and Honeybee Robotics, a Blue Origin company, today announced Honeybee was contracted by Firefly to provide the lunar rover for the company’s recently awarded NASA task order to explore the Gruithuisen Domes on the Moon’s near side in 2028. Once deployed on the Moon by Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander, Honeybee’s rover will carry NASA instruments to investigate the unique composition of the Gruithuisen Domes – a part of the Moon that has never been explored. (7/24)

Office of Space Commerce to Move Ahead on Mission Authorization (Source: Space News)
The Commerce Department is moving ahead with plans to implement a voluntary mission authorization system for novel space activities that are not regulated by other agencies. Multiple Congresses and administrations have failed to agree on a “mission authorization” regime for space activities not already regulated by existing law. This new Space Commerce Certification could make it easier for industry to navigate the complex government environment, but does not appear to be a complete solution. The process is built on a “presumption of approval” to “keep regulations out of the way and make it easy and fast” for companies to get through government requirements. (7/24)

Sacknoff Prize Offered for Space History (Source: Space 3.0)
The Sacknoff Prize is an annual award that encourages original research by university students in the field of space history. The winner receives an $850 cash prize, publication in the peer-reviewed journal Quest, a one-year Quest subscription, and an invitation to present at the Society for the History of Technology's Aerospace Special Interest Group (Albatross) annual meeting. Full details and the application/flyer are here. (7/24)

SpaceX Progress on Florida Starship Launches (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
When enough Starship test missions have flown that the spacecraft is at an acceptable working level, it will then shift to Florida with the first missions flying from Launch Complex 39-A. The launch tower has been nearing completion adjacent to the complex’s existing launch pad, now reserved solely for Falcon Heavy missions. SpaceX had been using the launch site for Falcon 9 rockets until this year, shifting all of their flights over to Launch Complex 40 to allow more focus on completing the initial Starship launch infrastructure at KSC.

SpaceX ultimately is aiming for as many as 120 flights a year from across the three launch pads in Florida, a number that has raised criticism for its impact on commercial airspace. Also of concern has been its sonic boom potential during both booster landings and upper stage Starship return-to-launch-site flights that would bring it across Central Florida similar to how the space shuttle used to land back at KSC.

Meanwhile, work continues on the massive Gigabay manufacturing plant that will pump out Starship upper stages and Super Heavy boosters right on KSC property, adjacent to the Hangar X where it preps Falcon 9 rockets for launch. The first rocket hardware will be shipped over from Texas, but be processed at Gigabay before it gets into the manufacturing side of things. (7/23)

Lockheed Martin Posts Revenue/Earnings Growth with Missile Production Strength (Source: Defense Daily)
Higher sales of air defense interceptors and a surface-to-surface missile, coupled with the absence of losses on several contracts that hit the company a year ago, helped drive revenue and earnings growth at Lockheed Martin [LMT] in the second quarter, the company reported on Thursday. The company’s Missiles and Fire Control (MFC) segment posted strong double-digit top and bottom-line increases. (7/23)

Retired Astronauts Promote Voting and Democracy (Source: Space.com)
This past year, a group of retired NASA astronauts teamed up for a single cause: to defend the U.S. constitution. They banded together as part of a non-profit, non-partisan activist organization called Astronauts for America. So far, they have been speaking out, using their astronaut expertise, platforms, cultural relevance and role model status to speak out in support of "science, evidence-based decision-making, public service and the rule of law," their website reads. Now, as the group announced at an event at the California Science Center's new air and space center — home to the shuttle Endeavour — they're hitting the road on a campaign tour of colleges called "Vote for Freedom." (7/23)

Whipsmart to Fund Space Ventures (Source: Space News)
Space startup veteran Mark Matossian has joined forces with a software engineer and a best-selling author to establish Whipsmart Ventures, a venture capital fund focused on space and deep tech. Whipsmart will identify “pivotal technologies that can close a business plan” and help companies make the leap from laboratories to scaling up, said Matossian, who led Iceye U.S., program management, satellite production and launch for Terra Bella, and co-founded Lonestar Data Holdings. (7/23)