Kilowatts on the Moon (Source:
Autonocion)
In a memo signed on July 31, 2025, then-acting NASA administrator Sean
Duffy, who is also the Secretary of Transportation, ordered the agency
to design, build, and launch a reactor putting out at least 100
kilowatts of electric power and ready to fly by the end of 2029. The
deadline did not come from NASA’s engineers. It came from the top. The
100 kilowatt requirement was a big jump. The program had been targeting
a 40-kilowatt class reactor, enough to run roughly 30 households. A
100-kilowatt reactor is closer to powering 80 homes.
Then the politics caught up. On December 18, 2025, President Trump
signed an executive order titled “Ensuring American Space Superiority”
that put deploying reactors on the Moon and in orbit on the official
priority list, including a lunar surface reactor ready for launch by
2030, alongside a goal of returning Americans to the Moon by 2028.
The January memorandum between NASA and the DOE is the paperwork that
turns all of that into a joint program with money and responsibilities
attached. The DOE handles the nuclear side, including supplying roughly
400 kilograms of high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel for ground tests
and the flight reactor, according to SpaceNews. NASA runs and funds the
program. (6/19)
What the Satellite Servicing Economy
Can Borrow From Carbon Credits (Source: Space News)
Larger megaconstellations mean more hardware that's destined to
inevitably reenter the Earth's atmosphere. To protect the environment
and especially the ozone layer from the toll of mass-injection events,
researcher Savanna McNamara proposes an orbital chemistry credit
system, borrowing from the overall logic of the carbon credit system
that's meant to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
McNamara argues that using a credit system to limit the number of
reentries and compensating companies that extend the lifetime of their
spacecraft would create a new economy centered around keeping space
sustainable and mitigating the impact space activity has on Earth.
"This is not a tax, nor a prohibition; it’s an invitation by design,"
McNamara wrote. Operators who design around mass reentry will
"participate as credit buyers or fund contributors rather than
penalized actors. They’ll capitalize the very infrastructure that will
eventually make their satellites serviceable cheaper, faster and with
more competitive technology. Every participant in the system is
contributing to a U.S. orbital servicing industry that did not
previously exist." (6/19)
The Mars Delusion (Source:
Noema)
For decades, space evangelists have promoted Martian settlement as an
insurance policy, a “lifeboat” should human folly or a planet-killing
asteroid bring about Earth’s 6th great extinction event. Some have
viewed the ambition in more hazy terms, as a logical next step in our
species’ evolutionary impulse to expand into uncharted territories.
Others have seemed content to echo the less philosophical sentiments of
Jeff Bezos, who said, in 2016: “We should, because it’s cool.”
Egged on by SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s conspicuous if zany advocacy,
these advances have renewed optimism that humans will land on the Red
Planet and potentially establish a permanent colony in the foreseeable
future. In 2024, Musk, who has said he hopes to die on Mars, set out a
timeline that seemed suspiciously aligned with his own probable
lifespan: “Less than 5 years for uncrewed, less than 10 to land people,
maybe a city in 20 years, but for sure in 30, civilization secured.”
Detractors might scoff at Musk’s ambition to die on Mars, but at least
the dying part would be easy. The Martian air is 95% carbon dioxide.
Breathing this air would suffocate the average human in a few seconds.
The surface air pressure is six millibars, roughly equivalent to the
pressure 22 miles above Earth. Were Musk to very inadvisably step out
onto the Martian surface in his “Occupy Mars” T-shirt and sandals, all
the water in his body would vaporize in an instant, making it difficult
to predict what would kill him faster: asphyxiation or a kind of total
bodily implosion. (6/18)
Friends in High Places: Texas Supreme
Court Rejects Attempt to Block Beach Closures for SpaceX Launches
(Source: Texas Tribune)
Siding with SpaceX and the General Land Office, the Texas Supreme Court
on Friday ruled that environmental groups did not have a right to sue
to preserve public access to a beach that has been closed during rocket
launches. The unanimous ruling said a trial judge properly dismissed
the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning the groups could not refile it with
changes. The dispute began in 2021 when then environmental group
SaveRGV sued the Texas General Land Office, Commissioner Dawn
Buckingham and Cameron County, arguing Boca Chica Beach and State
Highway 4 — the only access road — had been improperly closed for
SpaceX launches. (6/19)
Where Might We Find Life in Our Solar
System? (Source: National Geographic)
Humans have pondered the question of life beyond our planet for
millennia. Only in the past few decades, however, has musing given way
to observation. Mars was the obvious target for humanity’s first
efforts in “boots on the ground” astrobiological exploration, but it is
not our solar system’s only body of interest. Venus is something of an
anti-Mars, its mean surface temperature a scorching 464°C (867°F),
maintained by a runaway greenhouse atmosphere. Some, however, propose
that earlier in its history, Venus was more temperate, perhaps a
potential abode for life. Click here.
(6/19)
Saltzman Sports New Space Force Mess
Dress Uniform (Source: Air and Space Forces)
When Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman addressed the
graduating class of the Air Force Weapons School on June 13, he quietly
put on display the new Space Force mess dress uniform. The new
black-tie formal garb will begin wear tests this fall, a Department of
the Air Force spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine.
Volunteers for the wear tests recently completed fittings. (6/19)
The Exploration Company Unveils Storm
High Thrust Engine (Source: The Exploration Company)
Storm is The Exploration Company’s (TEC) high thrust rocket engine
program, designed to advance Europe’s capabilities in modern propulsion
through disciplined, hardware driven development. Built around a
full-flow staged combustion cycle and fueled by liquid oxygen and
bio-methane, Storm will deliver up to 180t of sea-level thrust. It is
designed for reusable launcher concepts and forms a practical
foundation for future heavy European launch systems. (6/19)
ESA Names Belgian Jean-Luc Trullemans
as New Strategy Director (Source: Belga)
Belgian Jean-Luc Trullemans is set to become the new Director of
Strategy, Legal and External Affairs at ESA. The appointment was
announced by Vanessa Matz, the minister responsible for Belgium's space
portfolio. According to Matz, Trullemans' appointment to the agency's
top management reflects the important role Belgium plays within ESA.
Last year, Belgium committed 1.109 billion euros in funding for ESA
over the coming years, making it the agency's sixth-largest
contributor. (6/18)
Space Force Official Visits Maui to
Assess Infrastructure for Space Surveillance (Source: USSF)
The Space Base Delta 1 commander, U.S. Space Force Col. Kenneth Klock
conducted a site visit to Maui June 8-9 to meet with leadership from
the 15th Space Surveillance Squadron, assess infrastructure
requirements, and observe mission operations at the Maui Space
Surveillance Complex. Headquartered at Peterson Space Force Base,
Colorado, SBD 1 provides installation support and real property
management for Space Force operations on Maui, including facilities
supporting the operations of 15th SPSS and research for the Air Force
Research Laboratory. (6/18)
NASA Chief Bought Millions in
SpaceX-Linked Stock Before IPO, While Pushing SpaceX's Agenda
(Source: Sludge)
In 2021, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman brokered a deal making his
Shift4 company the official payment processor for SpaceX's Starlink
satellite internet service. In May he bought up to $50 million in stock
in Shift4 Payment—just weeks before SpaceX went public in the largest
IPO in history. Isaacman oversees SpaceX’s NASA contracts and has been
leading a federal push to develop the nuclear technology that SpaceX
says it needs to colonize Mars.
Isaacman made two separate purchases of Shift4 Class A common stock on
May 11 and May 12, each worth between $5 million and $25 million,
according to a periodic transaction report filed with the Office of
Government Ethics (OGE) this week. He also purchased up to $71 million
worth of the stock across multiple transactions in February and March,
disclosed in a filing submitted to the OGE in April. (6/18)
The Average SpaceX Buyer Post-IPO is
Almost Under Water After Two-Day Slide (Source: CNBC)
The average investor who bought SpaceX shares in the open market after
its debut has seen nearly all of their gains disappear as a sharp
pullback erased a large chunk of the stock’s post-IPO surge. Shares of
SpaceX fell 3.6% Thursday to just under $184.98 a share. The stock’s
five-day volume-weighted average price, or VWAP, is $181.71 a share.
The move suggests the average post-IPO buyer is now approximately
breaking even. (6/18)
SpaceX Bankers Prepare for Bond Sale
of at Least $20 Billion (Source: Bloomberg)
Bankers for Elon Musk’s SpaceX are preparing to hold calls with
investors as soon as next week to discuss a potential bond offering on
the heels of the company’s record IPO, according to people with
knowledge of the matter. The bond is expected to be at least $20
billion, and the calls may kick off on Monday, said the people, who
asked not to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak
publicly. Plans and timing may change, they said. (6/18)
Obama Presidential Center Opens with
Astronaut Jacket on Display (Source: CollectSpace)
Among the artifacts now on display in the newly-opened Barack Obama
Presidential Center is a jacket that was only worn for a few minutes.
Found in the "Science and Innovation" exhibit on the fifth level of the
South Side of Chicago museum, the iconic "NASA blue" flight garment is
of the type that astronauts wear when training on jets and while making
public appearances. This coat, though, has a name tag that reads
"President of the United States."
Gifted to Obama in the Oval Office in November 2011, the jacket is
adorned by mission patches that represent astronauts that he worked
with and key spaceflights that occurred during the first of his two
terms as the country's leader. (6/19)
Germany's Rheinmetall, and US's Vantor
Plan Joint ISR Venture for Bundeswehr (Source: Breaking Defense)
German defense behemoth Rheinmetall and US imagery provider Vantor
announced today that they have inked an agreement on a joint venture to
provide “spatial intelligence” to the German military. The new entity
will support Germany’s “sovereign defence requirements” from offices
within the country, “as well as existing and emerging European
intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) programs,” the
press release said. (6/18)
Sirius Space Selected to Fill Launch
Facility Vacancy Left by MaiaSpace at Kourou (Source: European
Spaceflight)
The French space agency CNES has selected Sirius Space Services to fill
a vacancy at the Guiana Space Centre’s new multi-user commercial launch
facility. The space became available after MaiaSpace shifted its
planned launch operations to the spaceport’s former Soyuz launch
facility. In 2021, CNES opened a call for interest in a new commercial
launch facility that it would build on the grounds of the old Diamant
launch site at the Guiana Space Center.
On 25 July 2025, the agency announced seven companies that had been
shortlisted: HyImpulse, Isar Aerospace, PLD Space, Rocket Factory
Augsburg, Latitude, MaiaSpace, and Avio. Since that announcement, Avio
and HyImpulse have been removed from the list, with CNES offering no
explanation. MaiaSpace voluntarily gave up its space after CNES, in
September 2024, selected the company to assume control of the former
Soyuz launch facility, now renamed ELM2. (6/18)
Anomaly Delays Full-Scale Space Rider
Drop Test Until October (Source: European Spaceflight)
A full-scale drop test of ESA’s Space Rider spaceplane in early May was
aborted after an anomaly during the captive ascent phase, the agency
said. In August 2024 and June 2025, ESA completed Space Rider drop test
campaigns using a 3,000-kilogram mass simulator. In early 2026, the
agency planned to move forward with a final set of drop tests using the
Descent and Landing Test Model, a full-scale mock-up of the Space
Rider’s Re-entry Module that simulates its size, mass, aerodynamic
shape, and landing gear.
In November 2025, Space Rider program manager Dante Galli told European
Spaceflight that the agency was targeting February or March 2026 to
conduct this final drop test campaign. However, during a June 17 press
briefing following the 347th ESA Council meeting, weeks after the
aborted attempt occurred, ESA’s head of strategy and institutional
launches for space transportation, Lucía Linares, explained that the
agency could not provide a concrete date for the final drop test,
stating only that it would take place after the summer and before the
end of the year. (6/19)
Germany Breaks Ground on One of Two
GOVSATCOM Hub Locations (Source: European Spaceflight)
Germany has broken ground on a GOVSATCOM Hub facility in Cologne, with
the state of North Rhine-Westphalia committing to investing up to €50
million in the project. The European Union’s GOVSATCOM system
officially became operational in January 2026 and is designed to
provide sovereign, reliable, secure, and cost-effective satellite
communications services for European government and military users.
(6/18)
Mars Mission: A Stress Test for the
Search for Life (Source: MPS)
Starting in 2030, ESA’s rover Rosalind Franklin will search for traces
of life on Mars. The MPS is contributing a scientific instrument to the
mission. The instrument determines, among other things, a crucial
property of organic molecules: their chirality. This reveals whether
the molecules were ever part of a living organism. In preparation,
researchers have successfully used this principle for the first time to
analyze two particularly relevant chemical compounds in meteorite
samples. The measurements also reveal evidence that meteorites
“collect” remnants of fossil fuels as they plunge through the Earth’s
atmosphere. (6/18)
ElevationSpace Secures $40 Million,
Bringing Total Raised to $63.5 Million (Source: Space News)
ElevationSpace, a company developing Space-to-Earth transportation as
well as a Space Environment Utilization and Recovery Platform, has
raised a total of $40 million in the largest funding round in the
company’s history. The close of the funding round brings the total
amount raised since its founding to $63.5 million, demonstrating the
growing attention and confidence in the space transportation and
low-Earth orbit (LEO) utilization markets. (6/19)
Ambani’s Jio Weighs India Satellite
Network to Rival Starlink (Source: Bloomberg)
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-controlled Jio Platforms Ltd. is weighing
plans to build its own satellite constellation, as it seeks to cement
control over the nation’s communications infrastructure while Elon
Musk’s Starlink faces hurdles. The company is evaluating the deployment
of a low-orbit satellite network for India. It is also partnering to
lease capacity from global providers so that “we can accelerate service
availability while building our own long-term sovereign capability.”
(6/19)
Satellite Reveals Immense Scale of GPS
Signal Tampering (Source: Space.com)
An experimental satellite has mapped the scale of GPS jamming across
Europe and the Middle East from space for the first time. The data
surprised the team behind the project and indicated that satellites
orbiting far from Earth aren't the only ones that experience
degradation of their positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) signals,
which could affect their performance and the safety of their
operations. The new measurements were made by Pulsar-0, the first
satellite of the novel Pulsar navigation constellation developed by
California-based Xona Space Systems. (6/18)
Congo Set to Acquire ‘RDC-SAT’ Earth
Observation Satellite from SPACEBEL (Source: Spacewatch Global)
SPACEBEL has signed an agreement with the Democratic Republic of Congo
to supply RDC-SAT, an Earth observation satellite for independent
monitoring of its territory, borders, and environment. (6/18)
June 19, 2026
Artemis III Backup Astronaut in Prime
Spot to be Chosen for Moon Landing Mission (Source: Orlando
Sentinel)
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were backup crew for Apollo 8. Their next flight made them the first two men to step foot on the moon. The role of backup has traditionally set up astronauts to be named prime crew for successive NASA’s missions, something that bodes well for Air Force Col. Bob “Farmer” Hines, who was designated the sole backup for all four astronauts assigned to fly on next year’s Artemis III mission.
One of those four is Andre Douglas, himself most recently NASA’s backup astronaut for this year’s Artemis II lunar flyby mission. While Artemis III will be a low-Earth orbit flight to test out the Orion spacecraft’s ability to dock with lunar landers, Artemis IV looks to return humans to the moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972. That could mean Hines may be among the front runners to fly on Artemis IV, and may be among those chosen to venture down to lunar surface, although that crew won’t be named until after the completion of Artemis III. (6/19)
Scientists Spent 13 Years Bouncing Radar Off Europa. Here’s What They Found (Source: Gizmodo)
The findings suggest that the way Europa’s surface scatters radio waves is distinctly different from those seen on rocky worlds. Overall, the data is consistent with the major radar study of Europa, which took place between the 1980s and the 1990s. However, the latest observations are “more numerous and cover a much broader rotational phase of Europa,” explained Tunhui Xie.
The new study looked at 13 years worth of data collected between 2011 and 2024. One fascinating observation concerned Europa’s radar albedo, which is a measure of how bright the moon appears to radar. Specifically, Europa’s radar albedo was much higher than that of planets and rocky worlds. The way Europa scattered the radar signal highly resembled a “hallmark of multiple scattering inside clean, porous ice,” explained the NRAO. (6/18)
Redwire vs. Rocket Lab: Which Space Stock Is a Better Buy in 2026? (Source: Motley Fool)
While both companies operate within the same broader sector, they offer different entry points into the space economy. Redwire focuses on the hardware and infrastructure that keep satellites running, while Rocket Lab provides the vehicles to get them there, along with its own satellite platforms. Comparing these two requires a deep dive into their growth rates, financial stability, and market positions in the 2026 landscape. Click here. (6/18)
Space Startups Seek Insurance for Orbital AI Data Centers (Source: Reuters)
Blue Origin and a host of space startups, including Orbital, Starcloud, Lonestar Data Holdings and Cowboy Space, have also signaled their intention to launch space-based data centers. Reuters spoke to four brokers and underwriters and three space firms who said talks had taken place about orbital data center coverage, although they remain preliminary.
Insurance broker Marsh said several companies have approached insurers to understand what future coverage for orbital data centers might entail, without naming the firms. "We're already starting to see companies that are focused on data centers and companies that are focused on digital infrastructure looking to the insurance community for support," said Patton Kline, U.S. aviation and space practice leader at Marsh. (6/18)
MDA Space to Acquire Blue Canyon (Source: MDA Space)
MDA Space is buying smallsat manufacturer Blue Canyon Technologies. MDA Space announced Friday morning it reached an agreement to acquire Blue Canyon for $620 million from Raytheon. The transaction is expected to close by the end of year, subject to regulatory approvals. Blue Canyon produces small satellites and components and was a standalone company before being acquired by Raytheon in 2020. MDA Space, based in Canada, said the acquisition will give it more access to U.S. market opportunities. (6/19)
Hammett Departs Space RCO as Office Considered for Elimination (Source: Space News)
The director of the Space Force's rapid acquisition office has moved to another post. Kelly Hammett, the former head of the Space Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO), was named Thursday executive director of the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center. Space RCO appears close to being shuttered as a standalone organization under the Space Force's acquisition overhaul, and House and Senate defense authorization bills would eliminate the office's separate statutory status.
Space RCO was established in 2018 amid concern that traditional Pentagon acquisition programs were struggling to keep pace with technological advances and emerging threats from China and Russia. The office was created as an independent organization and was allowed to operate outside the processes that govern larger acquisition programs. (6/19)
NASA Asks Northrop Grumman to Stop Working on Lunar HALO Module (Source: Ars Technica)
Three months ago, NASA announced that it was shifting the focus of its lunar plans from an orbital space station to a Moon base on the surface. As part of this, officials said work would be paused on the Lunar Gateway planned to orbit the Moon. Of the two elements that were furthest along, NASA also revealed that one of them—the Power and Propulsion Element—would be repurposed to serve as a core module for a nuclear-electric propulsion demonstration in deep space. (6/19)
NASA Picks DAPHNE Mission to Study Space Weather (Source: Space News)
NASA has selected a space science mission for development. NASA announced Thursday the Dynamic Atmosphere-Ionosphere Explorer, or DAPHNE, mission will proceed into the next phase of development, with a launch planned for no earlier than 2029. DAPHNE will fly two identical satellites with instruments to study conditions in the thermosphere, allowing scientists to examine the interaction of space weather with Earth's atmosphere. The mission, led by the University of Colorado, has a cost cap of $250 million. NASA's heliophysics division recently announced a change in strategy, shifting toward more applied science applications. (6/19)
Chinese University Plans 2029 Astreroid Mission (Source: Space News)
A Chinese university is planning a mission to the asteroid Apophis as it makes a close approach to Earth in 2029. The Student-led Threatening Asteroid Reconnaissance of Tsinghua, or START, mission is a low-cost smallsat led by a team of more than 20 undergraduate students at Tsinghua University in Beijing. The spacecraft will maneuver to a high Earth orbit to allow it to make a high-speed flyby of Apophis when the asteroid flies very close to the Earth in April 2029. The payload suite includes narrow and wide-field cameras plus dual visible-to-near-infrared hyperspectral imagers, aimed at achieving a peak resolution of 8 centimeters per pixel. (6/19)
China's Spark Space Raises $14.8 Million for Launch Vehicle Development (Source: Space News)
Chinese startup Spark Space has raised funding for the world's largest rocket using engines with electric pumps. The company is developing the Jinhua-1, or Evolution-1, rocket, powered by its Lieyan-2 electric-pump-fed engine. The startup announced a Pre-A round of nearly 100 million yuan ($14.8 million) at the beginning of June and later said it raised tens of millions of yuan in additional funding. Spark Space said it successfully tested in March the Lieyan-2 engine, which produces 10 tons of thrust, about four times that of Rocket Lab's Rutherford engine that also uses electric pumps. (6/19)
SpaceX Launches NRO Mission From California on Friday (Source: Spaceflight Now)
SpaceX launched a National Reconnaissance Office mission early today. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 4:50 a.m. Eastern on the NROL-179 mission. The NRO later said this was the 14th launch of its "multi-phenomenology proliferated architecture" of hundreds of satellites, and third this year. (6/19)
Austria's Gate Space Wins European Investment of $7.2 Million for Propulsion Tech (Source: Space News)
Austrian satellite propulsion startup Gate Space has raised funding from an accelerator program backed by the European Commission. The company said Friday it won 6.3 million euros ($7.2 million) in funding from the European Innovation Council Accelerator program. It was the only space company out of 38 selected in the latest round of that program. Gate Space said the funding will accelerate the industrialization of chemical propulsion technology it is developing. That system will be tested in space next year on BeaconSat, Austria's first military satellite. (6/19)
Space Coast-Based Mu-g Plans Business-Jet Microgravity Operations (Source: Space News)
A startup is working to provide parabolic flight services. Mu-g Technologies recently took delivery of a Dassault Falcon 50 business jet it plans to use to fly research and technology demonstration payloads, providing brief periods of microgravity as the aircraft flies parabolic arcs. The company is looking to fill a gap in such services after Zero-G Corporation's Boeing 727 stopped flying last year. Mu-g said its flights should complement, rather than compete, with NASA's planned use of a larger 737 jet.
Mu-g is collaborating with supersonic test operator Starfighters Space at Midland International Air & Space Port in Texas. Future plans include the potential acquisition of an Airbus A321 to further expand capacity. Editor's Note: Based on NASA and Air Force work in the 1950s and 1960s, the Starfighter F-104 was determined to be capable of flying parabolas that provide more than 60 seconds of microgravity. NASA's and Zero-G aircraft typically are limited to 30 seconds of microgravity. (6/19)
NASA Awards Modification Contract for Reduced Gravity Test Aircraft (Source: NASA)
NASA selected Denmar Technical Services of Nevada to provide aircraft modifications, maintenance, and testing services to the Human Spaceflight Mission Directorate at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, and Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The award is a firm-fixed-price contract and will be time and material for any over and above and unforeseen work. This contract has a maximum potential value of $8.4 million, which runs through Feb. 1, 2027. The contractor will modify a Boeing 737-700 aircraft to perform lunar-gravity parabolic flights to test NASA space equipment. (6/1)
NASA Picks 14 Companies for Satellite Data Contracts (Source: NASA)
NASA awarded commercial satellite data contracts to 14 companies Thursday. The awards are part of NASA's Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition program, where NASA buys Earth science imagery and other data from companies for use by NASA-supported researchers. The 14 companies include six who had previous contracts in the program and eight new providers. (6/19)
SpaceX Opposes European Spectrum Plan (Source: Bloomberg)
SpaceX offered formal criticism of proposed European satellite spectrum plans. Those plans, announced last month by the European Commission, would reserve two-thirds of the two-gigahertz spectrum band to providers within the EU, with the remaining third available to companies based outside the EU. SpaceX complained the proposal would split the spectrum into "virtually unusable sub-divided parts" and warned that it could interfere with Starlink services provided in Ukraine. (6/19)
James Webb Space Telescope Finds a Salty Surprise on Famous 'Pink Planet' (Source: Space.com)
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered that the well-known "Pink Planet" harbors a salty surprise and an exotic atmospheric chemistry. The discovery marks an advancement in the study of cold objects beyond the solar system. Initially discovered in 2013, GJ504b orbits a sun-like star located around 57 light-years from Earth. With a mass around 25 times that of Jupiter, this Pink Planet may not be a planet at all despite its moniker. It may instead be a brown dwarf, a failed star that formed like a star but was unable to gather enough mass to achieve the nuclear fusion of hydrogen to helium in its core. (6/19)
Sweden's EQT to Acquire Germany's Exolaunch (Source: EQT)
EQT will acquire Exolaunch for an undisclosed sum. Headquartered in Germany, Exolaunch enables access to space for global satellite operators. The company has successfully deployed over 790 satellites across 47 missions for over 200 commercial and government customers from North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
EQT said it will support Exolaunch in scaling its global operations and investing into the development of new satellite launch and deployment technologies. EQT will also help drive the expansion into additional services across the satellite mission lifecycle and resources to expand the dedicated and rideshare launch offerings, both with existing partners and newly emerging launch providers. (6/18)
Canadian Strategic Missions Corporation Awarded $1 Million by the Canadian Space Agency for Studies to Inform Future Canadian Lunar Investments (Source: CSMC)
Canadian Strategic Missions Corporation (CSMC) has been awarded $1 million by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) for studies that will help inform future Canadian lunar investments. Of the total amount, the company's subsidiary CSMC Nuclear has been awarded $500,000 to conduct a study on lunar power generation and distribution, while subsidiary CSMC Labs has been awarded $500,000 to conduct a parallel study on lunar mining and resource utilization on the moon.
The two studies are part of the CSA's Lunar Surface Exploration Initiative (LSEI), a strategic program designed to define Canada's highest-value contributions to the NASA-led Artemis campaign, the international effort to establish a permanent human presence on the moon. Each study will map the technical and functional requirements for its respective capability area, identify the key gaps that Canada must address and assess the full socioeconomic benefits of Canadian leadership in lunar infrastructure. (6/9)
Head of Nation Congratulates Asgardians on Unity Day (Source: Asgardia)
Today, our Space Nation of Asgardia, uniting over a million people from nearly 200 countries on planet Earth, celebrates one of its national holidays—Unity Day. This day reminds us that Asgardia has originated not from a common birthplace, language, or family background, which are beyond our control, but from the free choice of people who went for uniting around a common idea—a peaceful future for humanity in space.
Over the years of Asgardia's existence, technologies have changed, our community has grown, and state institutions have evolved, but the essentials have stayed the same - the inspiration to build a society that has no earthly borders, artificial divisions, acts of war or religious conflicts. On 12 October 2026, Asgardia will celebrate the tenth anniversary, remaining the youngest nation on planet Earth. Ahead of this nationwide celebration, I announce the beginning of the development of a unified digital ecosystem — the Asgardia Nation Super App and the Asgardia Space Bank (ASB – Asgardia Space Bank) — as the basis of our digital cosmocratic sovereignty. (6/18)
Ranked: SpaceX vs. The Largest Public Space Companies (Source: Visual Capitalist)
SpaceX’s $2.46 trillion market cap is larger than the combined value of the next 20 biggest public space companies, which together are worth about $235 billion. Rocket Lab ranks a distant second at $68.6 billion, while no other pure-play space company is worth more than $35 billion. SpaceX’s post-IPO surge has turned a once-private industry leader into one of the world’s most valuable companies. (6/17)
Scores Fall Ill at Air Force Base After Hegseth Makes Flu Vaccine Optional (Source: New York Times)
A major flu outbreak has sickened nearly 160 troops at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas less than two months after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that U.S. troops would no longer be required to be vaccinated for the flu, defense officials said. The outbreak at the base in San Antonio raced through an Air Force Basic Military Training wing, where new recruits sleep on bunk beds in open bays and share meals at large communal tables.
A trainee in his sixth week of basic training died after falling ill on Friday and being taken to Brooke Army Medical Center, the Air Force said in a news release. It was not immediately clear whether the death of the trainee, Keon McDaniel, was related to the flu outbreak. A comprehensive medical review into his death is underway to determine the cause, according to the Air Force.
In the weeks since Mr. Hegseth’s vaccine policy took effect on April 21, only about 40 percent of Air Force trainees have opted to take the vaccine, which had previously been mandatory, an Air Force official said. In the aftermath of the outbreak, the Air Force issued an exception to the voluntary vaccine policy, requiring that all recruits at Lackland get flu shots — part of a broader effort to stem the virus’s spread. (6/18)
Boeing Advances Space-Based Quantum Networking with Q4S Demonstration (Source: Space News)
Boeing has successfully demonstrated high-fidelity entanglement swapping using a compact quantum networking payload, marking a key step toward deploying its Q4S satellite for an on-orbit demonstration planned in 2027. The test shows that advanced quantum networking capabilities can function on space-ready hardware, advancing efforts to build a global quantum internet. (6/18)
True Anomaly's Jackal Completes Mission X-3, Advancing Space Defense Capabilities (Source: Payload)
True Anomaly's autonomous orbital vehicle Jackal has successfully completed its most complex test campaign, Mission X-3, demonstrating key capabilities for space-domain awareness and orbital operations. The milestone clears the way for upcoming U.S. Space Force contracts and positions the company to scale delivery of space superiority systems. (6/18)
Crypto-Agile Infrastructure Enables Decision Superiority for Golden Dome (Source: Modern Integrated Warfare)
Today, cryptography exists primarily as an overlay, in the form of firewalls and other security add-ons. These can be difficult to scale and often require manual updates and maintenance. They also introduce opportunities for attack that can compromise the efficacy and security of an entire system simply by taking one device offline.
Upgrading to network-embedded protection can mean bringing operations to a halt while new infrastructure is established. As a new ecosystem, Golden Dome presents an opportunity to establish crypto-agile network infrastructure that can scale and evolve without impacting decision velocity. “Building directly into the network infrastructure turns cryptography from a deployment constraint to a maneuver advantage, enabling forces to adapt and keep operating even when networks are contested or degraded,” says Tom Broadwell. (6/17)
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were backup crew for Apollo 8. Their next flight made them the first two men to step foot on the moon. The role of backup has traditionally set up astronauts to be named prime crew for successive NASA’s missions, something that bodes well for Air Force Col. Bob “Farmer” Hines, who was designated the sole backup for all four astronauts assigned to fly on next year’s Artemis III mission.
One of those four is Andre Douglas, himself most recently NASA’s backup astronaut for this year’s Artemis II lunar flyby mission. While Artemis III will be a low-Earth orbit flight to test out the Orion spacecraft’s ability to dock with lunar landers, Artemis IV looks to return humans to the moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972. That could mean Hines may be among the front runners to fly on Artemis IV, and may be among those chosen to venture down to lunar surface, although that crew won’t be named until after the completion of Artemis III. (6/19)
Scientists Spent 13 Years Bouncing Radar Off Europa. Here’s What They Found (Source: Gizmodo)
The findings suggest that the way Europa’s surface scatters radio waves is distinctly different from those seen on rocky worlds. Overall, the data is consistent with the major radar study of Europa, which took place between the 1980s and the 1990s. However, the latest observations are “more numerous and cover a much broader rotational phase of Europa,” explained Tunhui Xie.
The new study looked at 13 years worth of data collected between 2011 and 2024. One fascinating observation concerned Europa’s radar albedo, which is a measure of how bright the moon appears to radar. Specifically, Europa’s radar albedo was much higher than that of planets and rocky worlds. The way Europa scattered the radar signal highly resembled a “hallmark of multiple scattering inside clean, porous ice,” explained the NRAO. (6/18)
Redwire vs. Rocket Lab: Which Space Stock Is a Better Buy in 2026? (Source: Motley Fool)
While both companies operate within the same broader sector, they offer different entry points into the space economy. Redwire focuses on the hardware and infrastructure that keep satellites running, while Rocket Lab provides the vehicles to get them there, along with its own satellite platforms. Comparing these two requires a deep dive into their growth rates, financial stability, and market positions in the 2026 landscape. Click here. (6/18)
Space Startups Seek Insurance for Orbital AI Data Centers (Source: Reuters)
Blue Origin and a host of space startups, including Orbital, Starcloud, Lonestar Data Holdings and Cowboy Space, have also signaled their intention to launch space-based data centers. Reuters spoke to four brokers and underwriters and three space firms who said talks had taken place about orbital data center coverage, although they remain preliminary.
Insurance broker Marsh said several companies have approached insurers to understand what future coverage for orbital data centers might entail, without naming the firms. "We're already starting to see companies that are focused on data centers and companies that are focused on digital infrastructure looking to the insurance community for support," said Patton Kline, U.S. aviation and space practice leader at Marsh. (6/18)
MDA Space to Acquire Blue Canyon (Source: MDA Space)
MDA Space is buying smallsat manufacturer Blue Canyon Technologies. MDA Space announced Friday morning it reached an agreement to acquire Blue Canyon for $620 million from Raytheon. The transaction is expected to close by the end of year, subject to regulatory approvals. Blue Canyon produces small satellites and components and was a standalone company before being acquired by Raytheon in 2020. MDA Space, based in Canada, said the acquisition will give it more access to U.S. market opportunities. (6/19)
Hammett Departs Space RCO as Office Considered for Elimination (Source: Space News)
The director of the Space Force's rapid acquisition office has moved to another post. Kelly Hammett, the former head of the Space Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO), was named Thursday executive director of the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center. Space RCO appears close to being shuttered as a standalone organization under the Space Force's acquisition overhaul, and House and Senate defense authorization bills would eliminate the office's separate statutory status.
Space RCO was established in 2018 amid concern that traditional Pentagon acquisition programs were struggling to keep pace with technological advances and emerging threats from China and Russia. The office was created as an independent organization and was allowed to operate outside the processes that govern larger acquisition programs. (6/19)
NASA Asks Northrop Grumman to Stop Working on Lunar HALO Module (Source: Ars Technica)
Three months ago, NASA announced that it was shifting the focus of its lunar plans from an orbital space station to a Moon base on the surface. As part of this, officials said work would be paused on the Lunar Gateway planned to orbit the Moon. Of the two elements that were furthest along, NASA also revealed that one of them—the Power and Propulsion Element—would be repurposed to serve as a core module for a nuclear-electric propulsion demonstration in deep space. (6/19)
NASA Picks DAPHNE Mission to Study Space Weather (Source: Space News)
NASA has selected a space science mission for development. NASA announced Thursday the Dynamic Atmosphere-Ionosphere Explorer, or DAPHNE, mission will proceed into the next phase of development, with a launch planned for no earlier than 2029. DAPHNE will fly two identical satellites with instruments to study conditions in the thermosphere, allowing scientists to examine the interaction of space weather with Earth's atmosphere. The mission, led by the University of Colorado, has a cost cap of $250 million. NASA's heliophysics division recently announced a change in strategy, shifting toward more applied science applications. (6/19)
Chinese University Plans 2029 Astreroid Mission (Source: Space News)
A Chinese university is planning a mission to the asteroid Apophis as it makes a close approach to Earth in 2029. The Student-led Threatening Asteroid Reconnaissance of Tsinghua, or START, mission is a low-cost smallsat led by a team of more than 20 undergraduate students at Tsinghua University in Beijing. The spacecraft will maneuver to a high Earth orbit to allow it to make a high-speed flyby of Apophis when the asteroid flies very close to the Earth in April 2029. The payload suite includes narrow and wide-field cameras plus dual visible-to-near-infrared hyperspectral imagers, aimed at achieving a peak resolution of 8 centimeters per pixel. (6/19)
China's Spark Space Raises $14.8 Million for Launch Vehicle Development (Source: Space News)
Chinese startup Spark Space has raised funding for the world's largest rocket using engines with electric pumps. The company is developing the Jinhua-1, or Evolution-1, rocket, powered by its Lieyan-2 electric-pump-fed engine. The startup announced a Pre-A round of nearly 100 million yuan ($14.8 million) at the beginning of June and later said it raised tens of millions of yuan in additional funding. Spark Space said it successfully tested in March the Lieyan-2 engine, which produces 10 tons of thrust, about four times that of Rocket Lab's Rutherford engine that also uses electric pumps. (6/19)
SpaceX Launches NRO Mission From California on Friday (Source: Spaceflight Now)
SpaceX launched a National Reconnaissance Office mission early today. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 4:50 a.m. Eastern on the NROL-179 mission. The NRO later said this was the 14th launch of its "multi-phenomenology proliferated architecture" of hundreds of satellites, and third this year. (6/19)
Austria's Gate Space Wins European Investment of $7.2 Million for Propulsion Tech (Source: Space News)
Austrian satellite propulsion startup Gate Space has raised funding from an accelerator program backed by the European Commission. The company said Friday it won 6.3 million euros ($7.2 million) in funding from the European Innovation Council Accelerator program. It was the only space company out of 38 selected in the latest round of that program. Gate Space said the funding will accelerate the industrialization of chemical propulsion technology it is developing. That system will be tested in space next year on BeaconSat, Austria's first military satellite. (6/19)
Space Coast-Based Mu-g Plans Business-Jet Microgravity Operations (Source: Space News)
A startup is working to provide parabolic flight services. Mu-g Technologies recently took delivery of a Dassault Falcon 50 business jet it plans to use to fly research and technology demonstration payloads, providing brief periods of microgravity as the aircraft flies parabolic arcs. The company is looking to fill a gap in such services after Zero-G Corporation's Boeing 727 stopped flying last year. Mu-g said its flights should complement, rather than compete, with NASA's planned use of a larger 737 jet.
Mu-g is collaborating with supersonic test operator Starfighters Space at Midland International Air & Space Port in Texas. Future plans include the potential acquisition of an Airbus A321 to further expand capacity. Editor's Note: Based on NASA and Air Force work in the 1950s and 1960s, the Starfighter F-104 was determined to be capable of flying parabolas that provide more than 60 seconds of microgravity. NASA's and Zero-G aircraft typically are limited to 30 seconds of microgravity. (6/19)
NASA Awards Modification Contract for Reduced Gravity Test Aircraft (Source: NASA)
NASA selected Denmar Technical Services of Nevada to provide aircraft modifications, maintenance, and testing services to the Human Spaceflight Mission Directorate at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, and Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The award is a firm-fixed-price contract and will be time and material for any over and above and unforeseen work. This contract has a maximum potential value of $8.4 million, which runs through Feb. 1, 2027. The contractor will modify a Boeing 737-700 aircraft to perform lunar-gravity parabolic flights to test NASA space equipment. (6/1)
NASA Picks 14 Companies for Satellite Data Contracts (Source: NASA)
NASA awarded commercial satellite data contracts to 14 companies Thursday. The awards are part of NASA's Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition program, where NASA buys Earth science imagery and other data from companies for use by NASA-supported researchers. The 14 companies include six who had previous contracts in the program and eight new providers. (6/19)
SpaceX Opposes European Spectrum Plan (Source: Bloomberg)
SpaceX offered formal criticism of proposed European satellite spectrum plans. Those plans, announced last month by the European Commission, would reserve two-thirds of the two-gigahertz spectrum band to providers within the EU, with the remaining third available to companies based outside the EU. SpaceX complained the proposal would split the spectrum into "virtually unusable sub-divided parts" and warned that it could interfere with Starlink services provided in Ukraine. (6/19)
James Webb Space Telescope Finds a Salty Surprise on Famous 'Pink Planet' (Source: Space.com)
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered that the well-known "Pink Planet" harbors a salty surprise and an exotic atmospheric chemistry. The discovery marks an advancement in the study of cold objects beyond the solar system. Initially discovered in 2013, GJ504b orbits a sun-like star located around 57 light-years from Earth. With a mass around 25 times that of Jupiter, this Pink Planet may not be a planet at all despite its moniker. It may instead be a brown dwarf, a failed star that formed like a star but was unable to gather enough mass to achieve the nuclear fusion of hydrogen to helium in its core. (6/19)
Sweden's EQT to Acquire Germany's Exolaunch (Source: EQT)
EQT will acquire Exolaunch for an undisclosed sum. Headquartered in Germany, Exolaunch enables access to space for global satellite operators. The company has successfully deployed over 790 satellites across 47 missions for over 200 commercial and government customers from North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
EQT said it will support Exolaunch in scaling its global operations and investing into the development of new satellite launch and deployment technologies. EQT will also help drive the expansion into additional services across the satellite mission lifecycle and resources to expand the dedicated and rideshare launch offerings, both with existing partners and newly emerging launch providers. (6/18)
Canadian Strategic Missions Corporation Awarded $1 Million by the Canadian Space Agency for Studies to Inform Future Canadian Lunar Investments (Source: CSMC)
Canadian Strategic Missions Corporation (CSMC) has been awarded $1 million by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) for studies that will help inform future Canadian lunar investments. Of the total amount, the company's subsidiary CSMC Nuclear has been awarded $500,000 to conduct a study on lunar power generation and distribution, while subsidiary CSMC Labs has been awarded $500,000 to conduct a parallel study on lunar mining and resource utilization on the moon.
The two studies are part of the CSA's Lunar Surface Exploration Initiative (LSEI), a strategic program designed to define Canada's highest-value contributions to the NASA-led Artemis campaign, the international effort to establish a permanent human presence on the moon. Each study will map the technical and functional requirements for its respective capability area, identify the key gaps that Canada must address and assess the full socioeconomic benefits of Canadian leadership in lunar infrastructure. (6/9)
Head of Nation Congratulates Asgardians on Unity Day (Source: Asgardia)
Today, our Space Nation of Asgardia, uniting over a million people from nearly 200 countries on planet Earth, celebrates one of its national holidays—Unity Day. This day reminds us that Asgardia has originated not from a common birthplace, language, or family background, which are beyond our control, but from the free choice of people who went for uniting around a common idea—a peaceful future for humanity in space.
Over the years of Asgardia's existence, technologies have changed, our community has grown, and state institutions have evolved, but the essentials have stayed the same - the inspiration to build a society that has no earthly borders, artificial divisions, acts of war or religious conflicts. On 12 October 2026, Asgardia will celebrate the tenth anniversary, remaining the youngest nation on planet Earth. Ahead of this nationwide celebration, I announce the beginning of the development of a unified digital ecosystem — the Asgardia Nation Super App and the Asgardia Space Bank (ASB – Asgardia Space Bank) — as the basis of our digital cosmocratic sovereignty. (6/18)
Ranked: SpaceX vs. The Largest Public Space Companies (Source: Visual Capitalist)
SpaceX’s $2.46 trillion market cap is larger than the combined value of the next 20 biggest public space companies, which together are worth about $235 billion. Rocket Lab ranks a distant second at $68.6 billion, while no other pure-play space company is worth more than $35 billion. SpaceX’s post-IPO surge has turned a once-private industry leader into one of the world’s most valuable companies. (6/17)
Scores Fall Ill at Air Force Base After Hegseth Makes Flu Vaccine Optional (Source: New York Times)
A major flu outbreak has sickened nearly 160 troops at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas less than two months after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that U.S. troops would no longer be required to be vaccinated for the flu, defense officials said. The outbreak at the base in San Antonio raced through an Air Force Basic Military Training wing, where new recruits sleep on bunk beds in open bays and share meals at large communal tables.
A trainee in his sixth week of basic training died after falling ill on Friday and being taken to Brooke Army Medical Center, the Air Force said in a news release. It was not immediately clear whether the death of the trainee, Keon McDaniel, was related to the flu outbreak. A comprehensive medical review into his death is underway to determine the cause, according to the Air Force.
In the weeks since Mr. Hegseth’s vaccine policy took effect on April 21, only about 40 percent of Air Force trainees have opted to take the vaccine, which had previously been mandatory, an Air Force official said. In the aftermath of the outbreak, the Air Force issued an exception to the voluntary vaccine policy, requiring that all recruits at Lackland get flu shots — part of a broader effort to stem the virus’s spread. (6/18)
Boeing Advances Space-Based Quantum Networking with Q4S Demonstration (Source: Space News)
Boeing has successfully demonstrated high-fidelity entanglement swapping using a compact quantum networking payload, marking a key step toward deploying its Q4S satellite for an on-orbit demonstration planned in 2027. The test shows that advanced quantum networking capabilities can function on space-ready hardware, advancing efforts to build a global quantum internet. (6/18)
True Anomaly's Jackal Completes Mission X-3, Advancing Space Defense Capabilities (Source: Payload)
True Anomaly's autonomous orbital vehicle Jackal has successfully completed its most complex test campaign, Mission X-3, demonstrating key capabilities for space-domain awareness and orbital operations. The milestone clears the way for upcoming U.S. Space Force contracts and positions the company to scale delivery of space superiority systems. (6/18)
Crypto-Agile Infrastructure Enables Decision Superiority for Golden Dome (Source: Modern Integrated Warfare)
Today, cryptography exists primarily as an overlay, in the form of firewalls and other security add-ons. These can be difficult to scale and often require manual updates and maintenance. They also introduce opportunities for attack that can compromise the efficacy and security of an entire system simply by taking one device offline.
Upgrading to network-embedded protection can mean bringing operations to a halt while new infrastructure is established. As a new ecosystem, Golden Dome presents an opportunity to establish crypto-agile network infrastructure that can scale and evolve without impacting decision velocity. “Building directly into the network infrastructure turns cryptography from a deployment constraint to a maneuver advantage, enabling forces to adapt and keep operating even when networks are contested or degraded,” says Tom Broadwell. (6/17)
June 18, 2026
Can Hong Kong Make a Giant Leap to
Commercial Space Insurance? (Source: SCMP)
In many ways, space insurance mirrors maritime insurance. In the early days of commercial space launch, the US turned to Lloyd’s of London – the undisputed king of global maritime insurance. In 1965, Lloyd’s wrote the world’s first space policy: a pre-launch insurance policy for the world’s first commercial communication satellite, Intelsat I, also known as Early Bird. The explosive growth of China’s commercial space business, combined with geopolitical realities, gives Hong Kong a captive market. (6/17)
Gateway Cancel Leads to Tucson Job Cuts (Source: Phoenix Business Journal)
Paragon Space Development Corp. is laying off dozens of employees at its Tucson headquarters in the wake of a Northrop Grumman contract termination for NASA’s Lunar Gateway program. Paragon Space on June 12 filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act with Arizona’s Department of Economic Security stating it will cut 77 jobs at its Tucson facility. (5/17)
NASA Picks Relativity to Develop Mars Mission (Sources: Tech Crunch, Space News)
Relativity Space plans to launch a Mars orbiter mission in 2028 with a NASA instrument suite. The company's Interplanetary Sciences Program is an effort to enable low-cost space science missions, beginning with a Mars orbiter with a radar instrument for studying subsurface ice and geology as well as Aeolus, a set of instruments provided by NASA's Ames Research Center for monitoring the planet's atmosphere. The spacecraft will launch on the company's Terran R rocket that is still in development.
Aeolus, as the mission is dubbed, will contain four instruments to measure and image Mars from orbit, providing what NASA expects to be the first daily, global view of dust, winds, and temperature in its atmosphere. The agency said that data will make it safer for landers and, someday, astronauts, to visit the surface of the Red Planet.
The mission is set to launch in 2028—a rapid pace that will require Relativity to design and build the spacecraft to carry the Aeolus instruments, and finish building the rocket that will carry it to space, all on a tight timeline. NASA did not disclose how much it is paying Relativity for the mission. If Relativity’s Aeolus launches on schedule, it could be the first private mission to reach the Red Planet. (6/18)
Texas Venture Capitalist Dies in Plane Crash (Source: Texas Monthly)
Joshua Baer, the irrepressible and monumentally influential cofounder and CEO of Austin-based start-up incubator/venture capital firm/coworking office Capital Factory, died Tuesday night when a small Austin-bound plane owned by the company NetJets crashed on a highway in Laredo. He was among the major investors in Firefly Aerospace and other aerospace startups. (6/17)
Is SpaceX’s Mars Mission Based On An Unproven—And Dangerous—Premise? (Source: Aviation Week)
The mission of SpaceX and founder Elon Musk is to make humanity multiplanetary by settling a “fully self-sustaining civilization on Mars.” Musk envisions a flotilla of several thousand Starships launching at roughly two-year intervals to transport Martian colonizers to settle the new world. Yet very little public thought or research has addressed the biological, technical and ethical problems of creating a “self-sustaining civilization”—a goal that necessitates reproducing and raising children on a planet that is hostile to all forms of life.
Indeed, SpaceX’s plans to settle more than a million humans on Mars may be based on a faulty premise: that the short-term survival of highly trained astronauts in space proves that humans can live and reproduce on Mars. This load-bearing assumption, if it collapsed, would likely change the calculus for SpaceX investors and for early space settlers motivated by founding a new civilization—some of whom Musk says “will probably die in the beginning.” (6/18)
Paso Robles is One Step Closer to Getting a Spaceport. What’s Next? (Source: The Tribune)
The city of Paso Robles took the next step to making its spaceport a reality Tuesday. According to a city news release, Paso Robles is now looking for proposals to progress its FAA Commercial Spaceport License application to create a horizontal space launch facility at the Paso Robles Municipal Airport. The last time the city discussed the Spaceport and Technology Corridor project was in March after the City Council unanimously directed staff to prepare a request for proposals to receive its licensing. (6/17)
Eutelsat Secures First Order Under French Defense Agreement (Source: Via Satellite)
Eutelsat has won a slew of new deals including an order under an agreement with the French Ministry of the Armed Forces and Veterans, and an agreement for Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) services in Angola. Eutelsat signed a capacity contract through the French Directorate General of Armaments (DGA), as part of the Centaure contract, marking the first call-off contract under the 1 billion euros ($1.16 billion) NEXUS framework agreement, signed a year ago. (6/16)
U.S. astronaut Christina Koch wins Princess of Asturias Award for Concord (Source: El Pais)
Christina Koch, the first woman to travel to the Moon, has been awarded the 2026 Princess of Asturias Award for Concord. The jury of the prestigious Spanish prize announced its decision on Wednesday, citing the U.S. astronaut’s scientific career and work in space exploration. Koch, one of the four crew members of Artemis 2, the first crewed mission to the Moon in over half a century. Koch holds the longest continuous female record for time spent in space. (6/17)
Space Weather Forecasting: Momentus Secures Commercial Payload Contract for Vigoride-9 OSV (Source: SatNews)
Commercial space transportation provider Momentus Inc. has secured a new contract with the University of Colorado Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP). Under the agreement, Momentus will integrate and operate LASP’s upcoming Occultation Wave Limb Sounder (OWLS) mission aboard the company’s next-generation Vigoride-9 Orbital Service Vehicle (OSV). The scientific research mission is scheduled to launch into low-Earth orbit (LEO) in 2027. (6/17)
Bezos Earth Fund Invests in FireSat Constellation Build-Out (Source: Via Satellite)
Jeff Bezos’ philanthropic organization the Bezos Earth Fund is joining the investment coalition for the wildfire-monitoring FireSat constellation. Bezos Earth Fund announced a $26 million investment in the non-profit Earth Fire Alliance and its FireSat program on Wednesday. The Earth Fire Alliance is a nonprofit coalition supported by Google’s philanthropic arm Google.org, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and others. This is the largest contribution to Earth Fire Alliance to date, and said to be the largest single philanthropic grant to wildfire detection. (6/17)
Scientists Hail MAVEN's Legacy as NASA Retires Red Planet Orbiter (Source: Space.com)
Following months of unsuccessful recovery efforts, NASA has officially begun decommissioning the MAVEN orbiter, bringing to a close an 11-year mission that transformed scientists' understanding of Mars and became one of the agency's most valuable assets at the Red Planet. For more than a decade, MAVEN circled Mars in a highly elliptical orbit, measuring particles escaping into space and observing how the atmosphere responded to solar activity. Among its most significant findings was evidence that solar storms can dramatically accelerate the loss of atmospheric gases, helping explain how Mars evolved from a potentially habitable world into the cold, barren planet seen today. (6/17)
Quantum Space Picked for DoD Satellite Propellant Transfer Project (Source: Space News)
Quantum Space won a Pentagon contract to develop a spacecraft capable of transferring propellant to satellites in geostationary orbit. The company said Thursday the contract, whose value was not disclosed, covers production of an orbital refueling vehicle using its Ranger platform, a maneuverable spacecraft designed for missions including satellite servicing, space logistics and other operations. The contract is funded by the Department of Defense's Operational Energy Capability Improvement Fund, or OECIF. The spacecraft will be ready for launch in 2028. (6/18)
Blue Origin Begins Launch Complex Re-Build (Source: Space News)
Blue Origin has started to rebuild the New Glenn pad damaged in an explosion last month. Speaking at the VivaTech conference in Paris on Wednesday, CEO Dave Limp said workers have finished cleaning up debris at Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 36 from a May 28 explosion of a New Glenn rocket during a static-fire test. Reconstruction of the pad started Tuesday, he said, with plans to be ready to resume New Glenn launches there by the end of the year. Neither he nor company founder Jeff Bezos provided details at the conference about what caused the explosion. (6/18)
Ariane 6 Launches 36 Amazon Leo Satellites (Source: Space News)
An upgraded version of the Ariane 6 rocket launched three dozen Amazon Leo satellites Wednesday. The Ariane 64 lifted off at 8:21 a.m. Eastern from Kourou, French Guiana, and successfully deployed 36 Amazon Leo satellites. This was the first launch of the Ariane 64 to use upgraded P160C solid rocket boosters, which increase the vehicle's payload capacity to low Earth orbit by more than two metric tons. That allowed this launch to carry 36 Amazon Leo satellites, versus the 32 on previous launches.
This was the third Ariane 6 launch this year, with Arianespace planning seven to eight missions this year. European Space Agency officials said Wednesday they were studying options to increase the vehicle's launch rate, reviewing scenarios of between 12 to 20 launches a year. That would require significant infrastructure improvements, and ESA expects to decide by the end of this year what increase it would be willing to support. (6/18)
China's Kuaizhou-11 Launch Was a Success (Source: Xinhua)
China says a Kuaizhou-11 launch whose outcome was in doubt was successful. The rocket lifted off Tuesday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, but a lack of updates led to speculation the launch had failed. Chinese media reported more than 24 hours after the launch that the rocket successfully deployed a payload of CentiSpace navigation satellites into low Earth orbit, but provided no other details about the launch. (6/18)
France to Use OneWeb for Secure Comms (Source: European Spaceflight)
The French government will use the OneWeb constellation for secure communications. The French defense procurement agency DGA announced a contract this week with Eutelsat worth 138 million euros ($158 million) over four years to use OneWeb for secure communications for the French armed forces. The contract could grow to 350 million euros over eight years. The contract is intended to be a gapfiller until the IRIS² constellation is ready around 2030. (6/18)
Russian Cosmonaut Smokutyaev Passes at 56 (Source: Collect Space)
A Russian cosmonaut who flew on two International Space Station missions has died. Aleksandr Samokutyaev died Wednesday at the age of 56, Roscosmos announced, but did not disclose the cause of his death. Samokutyaev flew on two ISS missions, the first in 2011 and the second in 2014-25, spending a combined 331 days in space. He is the first member of an ISS expedition to pass away. (6/18)
DHS Promotes Latest Space Cybersecurity Research in SPARTA (Source: Via Satellite)
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has revealed details of the latest space cybersecurity research to help protect critical infrastructure. Through the Aerospace SPARTA framework, S&T has published key resources, including Indicators of Behavior, published in April 2025, and Prioritized Countermeasures, published in March 2026. These resources are meant to enable onboard threat detection and provide actionable information for implementing space cybersecurity. (6/17)
ESA Seeks to Increase Ariane and Vega Launch Cadence (Source: Space Intel Report)
The European Space Agency (ESA) is examining ways to increase the launch rates of its Ariane 6 heavy-lift and Vega-C medium-lift rockets to capture what’s almost certain to be a surge in demand starting now and continuing through the end of the decade. Ariane 6, which conducted its eighth straight successful flight on June 17, carrying 36 Amazon Leo satellites into low Earth orbit, launched four times in 2025. Launch service provider Arianespace is targeting 7-8 launches this year as it ramps capacity. (6/17)
The Private Space Race is Spurring a Luxury Hotel Land Grab for Florida Oceanfront Property (Source: CNBC)
The rise of the private space industry, with companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin, has spurred demand for commercial real estate on Florida’s space coast. A new $420 million Westin Cocoa Beach Resort & Spa is set to open next year complete with a conference center. Once the Westin opens, Miami-based Driftwood Capital will control about 62% of the beachfront hotel inventory in the region, according to executive chairman Carlos Rodriguez Sr.
Rodriguez says the area is attracting senior corporate leaders and scientists who travel to watch launches and support new facilities. He points to companies such as Amazon establishing operations at the Kennedy Space Center, alongside broader momentum from the U.S. Space Force and increasing commercial interest in space-related ventures. (6/17)
UK's Instinct Space Unveils Plans for Low-Cost Lunar Landers (Source: Payload)
Instinct Space announced a significant pivot today from helping lunar surface missions find their way to getting in on the surface action itself. The London-based startup joined Y Combinator in 2025 with the aim of developing a lunar-orbiting GPS constellation. Now, the company has shifted its vision, unveiling plans to build low-cost lunar landers, which will be capable of reaching the lunar surface from LEO.
Instinct is scheduled to fly its first lunar mission in late 2028, where its dishwasher-sized lunar lander will carry 20 kg of payload to the Moon for about $550,000 per kg. The vehicle will weigh ~650 kg when fully fueled. It will rely on an electric pump-fed engine and four small attitude thrusters, running on a mix of hydrogen peroxide and kerosene, which can provide 6 km/s of Delta-v—enough to bring 20 kg of payload from LEO to the Moon. The same prop system will perform the landing burn on the lunar surface. (6/17)
Tackling the Launch Capability Bottleneck (Source: Space News)
One theme that’s already emerging for the second half of the year? Launch capability. That term doesn’t simply mean finding rockets to take satellites to orbit but also for the United States to have the infrastructure needed to get tens of thousands of new satellites to orbit. There are growing concerns about launch demand straining capacity at both Vandenberg and Cape Canaveral.
Policymakers could be forced to consider “non-traditional” launch sites, including inland and sea-based spaceports, to relieve pressure on the Cape Canaveral Spaceport and Vandenberg Space Force Base. Long viewed as a technically difficult niche with a history of commercial failure, companies and defense officials are giving offshore launch a second look as they search for ways to expand United States launch capacity.
The Commercial Space Federation and Rational Futures report, "SCRUBBED: America’s Launch Capacity Challenge," identifies a critical infrastructure bottleneck as satellite launches are projected to exceed 7,000 annually by the mid-2030s. Current U.S. launch infrastructure and regulatory pipelines are operating at capacity, requiring modernized facilities and streamlined FAA processes to maintain competitive dominance. (6/17)
NASA Seeks Alternative Launcher for Blue Moon Landers (Source: Mach 33)
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman stated publicly on June 5, 2026 that the agency is evaluating alternative launch vehicles for Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 1 cargo lander after the May 28 explosion of a New Glenn rocket. Speaking at the CNBC CEO Council Summit, Isaacman said that in terms of heavy-lift options, the agency is likely looking at "Falcon Heavy land," per Gizmodo reporting. The Blue Moon Mark 1 uncrewed cargo lander had been contracted to fly on New Glenn as early as fall 2026 to deliver NASA payloads to the lunar surface. (6/11)
Third Time’s the Charm for a Row of Faint Galaxies Without Dark Matter (Source: Yale)
Astronomers have followed a faint, cosmic trail of gas to a third galaxy that has no dark matter. Yale astronomers found a dwarf galaxy located 67 million light-years from Earth — called NGC 1052-DF9 — that appears to have formed in a straight line with nine other galaxies. Two of those other galaxies, DF2 and DF4, were previously shown to lack dark matter — an invisible, theorized material that gives shape to the universe and is thought by most astronomers to be essential to galaxy formation. Now, DF9 has joined the no-dark-matter club. (6/16)
Could Earth Have Sent Life to Jupiter's Moon Europa? (Source: Phys.org)
Zaza Osmanov calculates the chance that dust particles containing living bacteria were ejected from Earth's gravitational well and traveled to Jupiter's icy moon Europa, where they could have landed undestroyed and made their way through cracks in Europa's ice. Osmanov calls this the "reverse panspermia problem" and calculated that "in 5 billion years dust grains can travel in the interstellar medium at distances of the order of hundreds of parsecs."
Also, given the distribution of stars in the Milky Way, "particles emitted by every single planet will reach as many as 105 stellar systems." Moreover, Osmanov found that from a single planet, life can be transported to about a thousand star systems. (6/16)
No More Woke Science Wanted At NASA (Source: NASA Watch)
NASA put out Amendment 59: Several Updates to the ROSES-25 Summary of Solicitation. BOTH of the official documents cited in this notice issued by NASA contain blatantly political rhetoric such as: “This lack of transparency, accountability, and proper oversight became increasingly clear between 2021 and 2024. Federal awards were often used during those years to promote a “woke” policy agenda that did not reflect the values of the vast majority of the American public.” (6/16)
Five Uncrewed Starship Rockets are Projected to Launch Toward Mars During the Brief Window in Late 2026 (Source: Space Daily)
Every 26 months, the orbits of Earth and Mars align in a particular geometric configuration that allows spacecraft to travel between them with the lowest possible fuel expenditure. The window lasts approximately one month. Miss it, and the next opportunity is more than two years away. The next such window opens in November 2026 and closes in December. SpaceX has been preparing for this specific window for years.
Elon Musk has publicly committed to launching up to five uncrewed Starship V3 vehicles toward Mars during the 2026 window, carrying cargo, scientific experiments contracted by the Italian Space Agency, and a small fleet of Optimus humanoid robots built by Tesla. The robots are intended to demonstrate operational capability on the Martian surface — the first robotic ambassadors of a private company on another planet, if the mission succeeds. (6/17)
At Least Two Trillion Galaxies Fill the Observable Universe (Source: Space Daily)
The paper states it plainly. There are “at least 2 × 10¹² (two trillion) galaxies in the currently visible universe, the vast majority of which cannot be observed with present day technology as they are too faint.” In other words, the count is less a tally of dots in our images than an estimate of how many dots the images are missing. The team did not add up galaxies one by one. Instead they used galaxy stellar mass functions, which describe how many galaxies of each mass exist in a given slice of space. They measured these at many points in cosmic history, reaching back to within roughly 650 million years of the Big Bang. (6/16)
SpaceX vs. Blue Origin, Rocket Lab: What The Numbers Show (Source: Trefis)
At least five companies, SpaceX, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, and two Chinese state-backed programs, now have reusable hardware flying or about to fly. What’s driving all of them is the same underlying demand: satellite megaconstellations that need thousands of repeat launches over their lifetime, not a single mission. That kind of recurring demand is what turns a one-time technology lead into a market large enough to support several winners at once.
The numbers that matter to an investor are reuse, payload, and cadence, because together they determine how cheaply and how often a company can put mass into orbit. On reuse, SpaceX still leads by a wide margin: it had roughly 400 orbital booster recoveries by April 2026, dwarfing China’s combined total of a few dozen and Blue Origin’s single-digit count. Each successful recovery is effectively a rehearsal that lowers the odds of failure on the next one. That makes this gap also a reliability gap and not just a volume one. It also shows up directly in price.
On payload, which is simply how much mass a rocket can lift to orbit in one flight, Blue Origin’s New Glenn actually beats Falcon 9, though it hasn’t flown nearly often enough to prove that capacity translates into reliable, repeatable service. Rocket Lab’s Neutron sits in a smaller payload class entirely, built for satellites that don’t need a heavy-lift vehicle, and is targeting a launch price of around $50 million once it debuts, a figure roughly in line with what Falcon 9 charges commercial customers today. The gap that matters most right now is cadence. (6/16)
Italy Leads UN COPUOS (Source: Space Economy Institute)
Italy will lead the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) for the 2026–2027 term. An important achievement for the Italian space sector: Teodoro Valente, President of the Italian Space Agency, has been elected to lead one of the world’s key international bodies for space governance.
At a time when space is becoming increasingly strategic for economic growth, scientific progress and international cooperation, COPUOS will play a central role in addressing major challenges such as sustainable space activities, satellite traffic management, orbital debris mitigation and equitable access to space. (6/16)
July 29 GSA Webinar: Building Spaceports for Performance and Growth (Source: GSA)
Join the Global Spaceport Alliance for an engaging discussion led by BRPH’s aerospace and infrastructure experts on the planning, design, and development strategies shaping the next generation of spaceports. As spaceports evolve into hubs for transportation, manufacturing, innovation, and economic growth, successful development requires more than launch infrastructure alone. This webinar will explore how spaceports can be designed to support operational performance, attract aerospace tenants, and scale for future transportation systems. Click here. (6/16)
In many ways, space insurance mirrors maritime insurance. In the early days of commercial space launch, the US turned to Lloyd’s of London – the undisputed king of global maritime insurance. In 1965, Lloyd’s wrote the world’s first space policy: a pre-launch insurance policy for the world’s first commercial communication satellite, Intelsat I, also known as Early Bird. The explosive growth of China’s commercial space business, combined with geopolitical realities, gives Hong Kong a captive market. (6/17)
Gateway Cancel Leads to Tucson Job Cuts (Source: Phoenix Business Journal)
Paragon Space Development Corp. is laying off dozens of employees at its Tucson headquarters in the wake of a Northrop Grumman contract termination for NASA’s Lunar Gateway program. Paragon Space on June 12 filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act with Arizona’s Department of Economic Security stating it will cut 77 jobs at its Tucson facility. (5/17)
NASA Picks Relativity to Develop Mars Mission (Sources: Tech Crunch, Space News)
Relativity Space plans to launch a Mars orbiter mission in 2028 with a NASA instrument suite. The company's Interplanetary Sciences Program is an effort to enable low-cost space science missions, beginning with a Mars orbiter with a radar instrument for studying subsurface ice and geology as well as Aeolus, a set of instruments provided by NASA's Ames Research Center for monitoring the planet's atmosphere. The spacecraft will launch on the company's Terran R rocket that is still in development.
Aeolus, as the mission is dubbed, will contain four instruments to measure and image Mars from orbit, providing what NASA expects to be the first daily, global view of dust, winds, and temperature in its atmosphere. The agency said that data will make it safer for landers and, someday, astronauts, to visit the surface of the Red Planet.
The mission is set to launch in 2028—a rapid pace that will require Relativity to design and build the spacecraft to carry the Aeolus instruments, and finish building the rocket that will carry it to space, all on a tight timeline. NASA did not disclose how much it is paying Relativity for the mission. If Relativity’s Aeolus launches on schedule, it could be the first private mission to reach the Red Planet. (6/18)
Texas Venture Capitalist Dies in Plane Crash (Source: Texas Monthly)
Joshua Baer, the irrepressible and monumentally influential cofounder and CEO of Austin-based start-up incubator/venture capital firm/coworking office Capital Factory, died Tuesday night when a small Austin-bound plane owned by the company NetJets crashed on a highway in Laredo. He was among the major investors in Firefly Aerospace and other aerospace startups. (6/17)
Is SpaceX’s Mars Mission Based On An Unproven—And Dangerous—Premise? (Source: Aviation Week)
The mission of SpaceX and founder Elon Musk is to make humanity multiplanetary by settling a “fully self-sustaining civilization on Mars.” Musk envisions a flotilla of several thousand Starships launching at roughly two-year intervals to transport Martian colonizers to settle the new world. Yet very little public thought or research has addressed the biological, technical and ethical problems of creating a “self-sustaining civilization”—a goal that necessitates reproducing and raising children on a planet that is hostile to all forms of life.
Indeed, SpaceX’s plans to settle more than a million humans on Mars may be based on a faulty premise: that the short-term survival of highly trained astronauts in space proves that humans can live and reproduce on Mars. This load-bearing assumption, if it collapsed, would likely change the calculus for SpaceX investors and for early space settlers motivated by founding a new civilization—some of whom Musk says “will probably die in the beginning.” (6/18)
Paso Robles is One Step Closer to Getting a Spaceport. What’s Next? (Source: The Tribune)
The city of Paso Robles took the next step to making its spaceport a reality Tuesday. According to a city news release, Paso Robles is now looking for proposals to progress its FAA Commercial Spaceport License application to create a horizontal space launch facility at the Paso Robles Municipal Airport. The last time the city discussed the Spaceport and Technology Corridor project was in March after the City Council unanimously directed staff to prepare a request for proposals to receive its licensing. (6/17)
Eutelsat Secures First Order Under French Defense Agreement (Source: Via Satellite)
Eutelsat has won a slew of new deals including an order under an agreement with the French Ministry of the Armed Forces and Veterans, and an agreement for Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) services in Angola. Eutelsat signed a capacity contract through the French Directorate General of Armaments (DGA), as part of the Centaure contract, marking the first call-off contract under the 1 billion euros ($1.16 billion) NEXUS framework agreement, signed a year ago. (6/16)
U.S. astronaut Christina Koch wins Princess of Asturias Award for Concord (Source: El Pais)
Christina Koch, the first woman to travel to the Moon, has been awarded the 2026 Princess of Asturias Award for Concord. The jury of the prestigious Spanish prize announced its decision on Wednesday, citing the U.S. astronaut’s scientific career and work in space exploration. Koch, one of the four crew members of Artemis 2, the first crewed mission to the Moon in over half a century. Koch holds the longest continuous female record for time spent in space. (6/17)
Space Weather Forecasting: Momentus Secures Commercial Payload Contract for Vigoride-9 OSV (Source: SatNews)
Commercial space transportation provider Momentus Inc. has secured a new contract with the University of Colorado Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP). Under the agreement, Momentus will integrate and operate LASP’s upcoming Occultation Wave Limb Sounder (OWLS) mission aboard the company’s next-generation Vigoride-9 Orbital Service Vehicle (OSV). The scientific research mission is scheduled to launch into low-Earth orbit (LEO) in 2027. (6/17)
Bezos Earth Fund Invests in FireSat Constellation Build-Out (Source: Via Satellite)
Jeff Bezos’ philanthropic organization the Bezos Earth Fund is joining the investment coalition for the wildfire-monitoring FireSat constellation. Bezos Earth Fund announced a $26 million investment in the non-profit Earth Fire Alliance and its FireSat program on Wednesday. The Earth Fire Alliance is a nonprofit coalition supported by Google’s philanthropic arm Google.org, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and others. This is the largest contribution to Earth Fire Alliance to date, and said to be the largest single philanthropic grant to wildfire detection. (6/17)
Scientists Hail MAVEN's Legacy as NASA Retires Red Planet Orbiter (Source: Space.com)
Following months of unsuccessful recovery efforts, NASA has officially begun decommissioning the MAVEN orbiter, bringing to a close an 11-year mission that transformed scientists' understanding of Mars and became one of the agency's most valuable assets at the Red Planet. For more than a decade, MAVEN circled Mars in a highly elliptical orbit, measuring particles escaping into space and observing how the atmosphere responded to solar activity. Among its most significant findings was evidence that solar storms can dramatically accelerate the loss of atmospheric gases, helping explain how Mars evolved from a potentially habitable world into the cold, barren planet seen today. (6/17)
Quantum Space Picked for DoD Satellite Propellant Transfer Project (Source: Space News)
Quantum Space won a Pentagon contract to develop a spacecraft capable of transferring propellant to satellites in geostationary orbit. The company said Thursday the contract, whose value was not disclosed, covers production of an orbital refueling vehicle using its Ranger platform, a maneuverable spacecraft designed for missions including satellite servicing, space logistics and other operations. The contract is funded by the Department of Defense's Operational Energy Capability Improvement Fund, or OECIF. The spacecraft will be ready for launch in 2028. (6/18)
Blue Origin Begins Launch Complex Re-Build (Source: Space News)
Blue Origin has started to rebuild the New Glenn pad damaged in an explosion last month. Speaking at the VivaTech conference in Paris on Wednesday, CEO Dave Limp said workers have finished cleaning up debris at Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 36 from a May 28 explosion of a New Glenn rocket during a static-fire test. Reconstruction of the pad started Tuesday, he said, with plans to be ready to resume New Glenn launches there by the end of the year. Neither he nor company founder Jeff Bezos provided details at the conference about what caused the explosion. (6/18)
Ariane 6 Launches 36 Amazon Leo Satellites (Source: Space News)
An upgraded version of the Ariane 6 rocket launched three dozen Amazon Leo satellites Wednesday. The Ariane 64 lifted off at 8:21 a.m. Eastern from Kourou, French Guiana, and successfully deployed 36 Amazon Leo satellites. This was the first launch of the Ariane 64 to use upgraded P160C solid rocket boosters, which increase the vehicle's payload capacity to low Earth orbit by more than two metric tons. That allowed this launch to carry 36 Amazon Leo satellites, versus the 32 on previous launches.
This was the third Ariane 6 launch this year, with Arianespace planning seven to eight missions this year. European Space Agency officials said Wednesday they were studying options to increase the vehicle's launch rate, reviewing scenarios of between 12 to 20 launches a year. That would require significant infrastructure improvements, and ESA expects to decide by the end of this year what increase it would be willing to support. (6/18)
China's Kuaizhou-11 Launch Was a Success (Source: Xinhua)
China says a Kuaizhou-11 launch whose outcome was in doubt was successful. The rocket lifted off Tuesday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, but a lack of updates led to speculation the launch had failed. Chinese media reported more than 24 hours after the launch that the rocket successfully deployed a payload of CentiSpace navigation satellites into low Earth orbit, but provided no other details about the launch. (6/18)
France to Use OneWeb for Secure Comms (Source: European Spaceflight)
The French government will use the OneWeb constellation for secure communications. The French defense procurement agency DGA announced a contract this week with Eutelsat worth 138 million euros ($158 million) over four years to use OneWeb for secure communications for the French armed forces. The contract could grow to 350 million euros over eight years. The contract is intended to be a gapfiller until the IRIS² constellation is ready around 2030. (6/18)
Russian Cosmonaut Smokutyaev Passes at 56 (Source: Collect Space)
A Russian cosmonaut who flew on two International Space Station missions has died. Aleksandr Samokutyaev died Wednesday at the age of 56, Roscosmos announced, but did not disclose the cause of his death. Samokutyaev flew on two ISS missions, the first in 2011 and the second in 2014-25, spending a combined 331 days in space. He is the first member of an ISS expedition to pass away. (6/18)
DHS Promotes Latest Space Cybersecurity Research in SPARTA (Source: Via Satellite)
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has revealed details of the latest space cybersecurity research to help protect critical infrastructure. Through the Aerospace SPARTA framework, S&T has published key resources, including Indicators of Behavior, published in April 2025, and Prioritized Countermeasures, published in March 2026. These resources are meant to enable onboard threat detection and provide actionable information for implementing space cybersecurity. (6/17)
ESA Seeks to Increase Ariane and Vega Launch Cadence (Source: Space Intel Report)
The European Space Agency (ESA) is examining ways to increase the launch rates of its Ariane 6 heavy-lift and Vega-C medium-lift rockets to capture what’s almost certain to be a surge in demand starting now and continuing through the end of the decade. Ariane 6, which conducted its eighth straight successful flight on June 17, carrying 36 Amazon Leo satellites into low Earth orbit, launched four times in 2025. Launch service provider Arianespace is targeting 7-8 launches this year as it ramps capacity. (6/17)
The Private Space Race is Spurring a Luxury Hotel Land Grab for Florida Oceanfront Property (Source: CNBC)
The rise of the private space industry, with companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin, has spurred demand for commercial real estate on Florida’s space coast. A new $420 million Westin Cocoa Beach Resort & Spa is set to open next year complete with a conference center. Once the Westin opens, Miami-based Driftwood Capital will control about 62% of the beachfront hotel inventory in the region, according to executive chairman Carlos Rodriguez Sr.
Rodriguez says the area is attracting senior corporate leaders and scientists who travel to watch launches and support new facilities. He points to companies such as Amazon establishing operations at the Kennedy Space Center, alongside broader momentum from the U.S. Space Force and increasing commercial interest in space-related ventures. (6/17)
UK's Instinct Space Unveils Plans for Low-Cost Lunar Landers (Source: Payload)
Instinct Space announced a significant pivot today from helping lunar surface missions find their way to getting in on the surface action itself. The London-based startup joined Y Combinator in 2025 with the aim of developing a lunar-orbiting GPS constellation. Now, the company has shifted its vision, unveiling plans to build low-cost lunar landers, which will be capable of reaching the lunar surface from LEO.
Instinct is scheduled to fly its first lunar mission in late 2028, where its dishwasher-sized lunar lander will carry 20 kg of payload to the Moon for about $550,000 per kg. The vehicle will weigh ~650 kg when fully fueled. It will rely on an electric pump-fed engine and four small attitude thrusters, running on a mix of hydrogen peroxide and kerosene, which can provide 6 km/s of Delta-v—enough to bring 20 kg of payload from LEO to the Moon. The same prop system will perform the landing burn on the lunar surface. (6/17)
Tackling the Launch Capability Bottleneck (Source: Space News)
One theme that’s already emerging for the second half of the year? Launch capability. That term doesn’t simply mean finding rockets to take satellites to orbit but also for the United States to have the infrastructure needed to get tens of thousands of new satellites to orbit. There are growing concerns about launch demand straining capacity at both Vandenberg and Cape Canaveral.
Policymakers could be forced to consider “non-traditional” launch sites, including inland and sea-based spaceports, to relieve pressure on the Cape Canaveral Spaceport and Vandenberg Space Force Base. Long viewed as a technically difficult niche with a history of commercial failure, companies and defense officials are giving offshore launch a second look as they search for ways to expand United States launch capacity.
The Commercial Space Federation and Rational Futures report, "SCRUBBED: America’s Launch Capacity Challenge," identifies a critical infrastructure bottleneck as satellite launches are projected to exceed 7,000 annually by the mid-2030s. Current U.S. launch infrastructure and regulatory pipelines are operating at capacity, requiring modernized facilities and streamlined FAA processes to maintain competitive dominance. (6/17)
NASA Seeks Alternative Launcher for Blue Moon Landers (Source: Mach 33)
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman stated publicly on June 5, 2026 that the agency is evaluating alternative launch vehicles for Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 1 cargo lander after the May 28 explosion of a New Glenn rocket. Speaking at the CNBC CEO Council Summit, Isaacman said that in terms of heavy-lift options, the agency is likely looking at "Falcon Heavy land," per Gizmodo reporting. The Blue Moon Mark 1 uncrewed cargo lander had been contracted to fly on New Glenn as early as fall 2026 to deliver NASA payloads to the lunar surface. (6/11)
Third Time’s the Charm for a Row of Faint Galaxies Without Dark Matter (Source: Yale)
Astronomers have followed a faint, cosmic trail of gas to a third galaxy that has no dark matter. Yale astronomers found a dwarf galaxy located 67 million light-years from Earth — called NGC 1052-DF9 — that appears to have formed in a straight line with nine other galaxies. Two of those other galaxies, DF2 and DF4, were previously shown to lack dark matter — an invisible, theorized material that gives shape to the universe and is thought by most astronomers to be essential to galaxy formation. Now, DF9 has joined the no-dark-matter club. (6/16)
Could Earth Have Sent Life to Jupiter's Moon Europa? (Source: Phys.org)
Zaza Osmanov calculates the chance that dust particles containing living bacteria were ejected from Earth's gravitational well and traveled to Jupiter's icy moon Europa, where they could have landed undestroyed and made their way through cracks in Europa's ice. Osmanov calls this the "reverse panspermia problem" and calculated that "in 5 billion years dust grains can travel in the interstellar medium at distances of the order of hundreds of parsecs."
Also, given the distribution of stars in the Milky Way, "particles emitted by every single planet will reach as many as 105 stellar systems." Moreover, Osmanov found that from a single planet, life can be transported to about a thousand star systems. (6/16)
No More Woke Science Wanted At NASA (Source: NASA Watch)
NASA put out Amendment 59: Several Updates to the ROSES-25 Summary of Solicitation. BOTH of the official documents cited in this notice issued by NASA contain blatantly political rhetoric such as: “This lack of transparency, accountability, and proper oversight became increasingly clear between 2021 and 2024. Federal awards were often used during those years to promote a “woke” policy agenda that did not reflect the values of the vast majority of the American public.” (6/16)
Five Uncrewed Starship Rockets are Projected to Launch Toward Mars During the Brief Window in Late 2026 (Source: Space Daily)
Every 26 months, the orbits of Earth and Mars align in a particular geometric configuration that allows spacecraft to travel between them with the lowest possible fuel expenditure. The window lasts approximately one month. Miss it, and the next opportunity is more than two years away. The next such window opens in November 2026 and closes in December. SpaceX has been preparing for this specific window for years.
Elon Musk has publicly committed to launching up to five uncrewed Starship V3 vehicles toward Mars during the 2026 window, carrying cargo, scientific experiments contracted by the Italian Space Agency, and a small fleet of Optimus humanoid robots built by Tesla. The robots are intended to demonstrate operational capability on the Martian surface — the first robotic ambassadors of a private company on another planet, if the mission succeeds. (6/17)
At Least Two Trillion Galaxies Fill the Observable Universe (Source: Space Daily)
The paper states it plainly. There are “at least 2 × 10¹² (two trillion) galaxies in the currently visible universe, the vast majority of which cannot be observed with present day technology as they are too faint.” In other words, the count is less a tally of dots in our images than an estimate of how many dots the images are missing. The team did not add up galaxies one by one. Instead they used galaxy stellar mass functions, which describe how many galaxies of each mass exist in a given slice of space. They measured these at many points in cosmic history, reaching back to within roughly 650 million years of the Big Bang. (6/16)
SpaceX vs. Blue Origin, Rocket Lab: What The Numbers Show (Source: Trefis)
At least five companies, SpaceX, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, and two Chinese state-backed programs, now have reusable hardware flying or about to fly. What’s driving all of them is the same underlying demand: satellite megaconstellations that need thousands of repeat launches over their lifetime, not a single mission. That kind of recurring demand is what turns a one-time technology lead into a market large enough to support several winners at once.
The numbers that matter to an investor are reuse, payload, and cadence, because together they determine how cheaply and how often a company can put mass into orbit. On reuse, SpaceX still leads by a wide margin: it had roughly 400 orbital booster recoveries by April 2026, dwarfing China’s combined total of a few dozen and Blue Origin’s single-digit count. Each successful recovery is effectively a rehearsal that lowers the odds of failure on the next one. That makes this gap also a reliability gap and not just a volume one. It also shows up directly in price.
On payload, which is simply how much mass a rocket can lift to orbit in one flight, Blue Origin’s New Glenn actually beats Falcon 9, though it hasn’t flown nearly often enough to prove that capacity translates into reliable, repeatable service. Rocket Lab’s Neutron sits in a smaller payload class entirely, built for satellites that don’t need a heavy-lift vehicle, and is targeting a launch price of around $50 million once it debuts, a figure roughly in line with what Falcon 9 charges commercial customers today. The gap that matters most right now is cadence. (6/16)
Italy Leads UN COPUOS (Source: Space Economy Institute)
Italy will lead the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) for the 2026–2027 term. An important achievement for the Italian space sector: Teodoro Valente, President of the Italian Space Agency, has been elected to lead one of the world’s key international bodies for space governance.
At a time when space is becoming increasingly strategic for economic growth, scientific progress and international cooperation, COPUOS will play a central role in addressing major challenges such as sustainable space activities, satellite traffic management, orbital debris mitigation and equitable access to space. (6/16)
July 29 GSA Webinar: Building Spaceports for Performance and Growth (Source: GSA)
Join the Global Spaceport Alliance for an engaging discussion led by BRPH’s aerospace and infrastructure experts on the planning, design, and development strategies shaping the next generation of spaceports. As spaceports evolve into hubs for transportation, manufacturing, innovation, and economic growth, successful development requires more than launch infrastructure alone. This webinar will explore how spaceports can be designed to support operational performance, attract aerospace tenants, and scale for future transportation systems. Click here. (6/16)
July 17, 2026
Katalyst Raises $12 Million for
Satellite Servicing (Source: Space News)
Satellite servicing startup Katalyst Space Technologies has raised $12 million. The company said Tuesday it closed a funding round led by Geodesic Capital with participation from Fortitude Ventures and other investors. The funds will support work on a satellite servicing demonstration mission called Nexus-1 set to launch next year to geostationary orbit. The company is also preparing to launch Link, a mission that will attempt to raise the orbit of NASA's Swift astrophysics satellite in low Earth orbit. (6/17)
France's Skynopy and Look Up Developing LEO Collision Avoidance Service (Source: Space News)
Two French companies are joining forces on a LEO collision avoidance service. Space surveillance venture Look Up plans to use Skynopy's ground station network to help automate that service. Skynopy will demonstrate integration of ground sites with ATLAS², a service Europe is co-funding to enable satellites to respond in near real time after Look Up's terrestrial radars detect a collision threat. The partnership focuses on the command-and-control link needed to move satellites after Look Up detects a threat with its SORASYS radars. (6/17)
Switzerland Bows Out of Copernicus (Source: Space News)
Switzerland's decision not to contribute to Europe's Copernicus Earth observation system raises questions about that system's free imagery model. The Swiss Federal Council said earlier this month it would not provide funding for Copernicus in the European Union's 2028–2034 funding cycle, citing financial strains as a factor in the decision. Most Copernicus data is freely available to users worldwide, although some services are limited to EU members and other participating countries. Some argue that, for countries outside the EU, the free data is sufficient, giving them little reason to provide funding, especially when there are limited opportunities for outside countries to win contracts to develop satellites for the system. (6/17)
PiLogic Developing AI for Satellite Fault Prediction (Source: Space News)
PiLogic, a startup developing artificial intelligence software to identify faults and predict failures in satellites, will work with the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) on its technology. PiLogic said it signed a two-year Cooperative Research and Development Agreement, or CRADA, focused on spacecraft electrical and power systems. Engineers will use an AFRL cubesat experiment launched in 2022 through the Defense Department's Space Test Program as a platform to evaluate PiLogic's software. The company's software is designed to analyze onboard sensor data, detect anomalies, predict potential failure modes and recommend corrective actions as an alternative to traditional monitoring systems. (6/17)
China Launches Three Rockets From Three Spaceports on Tuesday (Source: Space News)
China conducted three launches on Tuesday, but one may have been unsuccessful. A Long March 3B rocket lifted off at 5:45 a.m. Eastern from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, placing into orbit the Shijian-31 satellite. Chinese media said the satellite will be used for "space environment detection" but the Shijian series of satellites have been used for technology demonstrations and military applications. In addition, a Long March 12 rocket lifted off from the Wenchang spaceport at 10:44 p.m. Eastern, putting into orbit nine satellites for the Guowang constellation. Finally, a Kuaizhou-11 lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 11:40 p.m. Eastern, but there have been no updates on the mission since the launch. That has prompted concerns that the launch of the small solid-fueled rocket may have failed. (6/17)
SpaceX Launches AST BlueBird From Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Space.com)
SpaceX launched three satellites for AST SpaceMobile early Wednesday. A Falcon 9 lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport in Florida. The rocket deployed into low Earth orbit AST's BlueBird 8, 9 and 10 satellites, which provide broadband direct-to-device (D2D) services. AST is relying on SpaceX, a competitor in D2D services, to launch its satellites because Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket is out of service until at least the end of this year. (6/17)
Dragon Capsule Returns to Earth From ISS (Source: NASA)
A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft returned to Earth from the International Space Station. The CRS-34 Dragon spacecraft undocked from the station at 12:24 p.m. Eastern Tuesday after a short delay linked to a navigation sensor issue. The spacecraft reentered and splashed down off the California coast at about 8:10 a.m. Eastern this morning. The spacecraft, which spent about a month at the ISS, returned with scientific equipment and station hardware. (6/17)
Canada's NordSpace Opens Ontario Rocket Factory (Source: SpaceQ)
Canadian launch Startup NordSpace opened a new factory. The 60,000-square-foot facility in the Toronto suburb of Markham, Ontario, will be devoted to production of the company's planned small launch vehicles and space systems. The company says the factory will be able to produce two of its planned Tundra rockets at once, or one larger Tundra+ rocket. NordSpace has yet to attempt an orbital launch but is planning to launch its Taiga sounding rocket later this year. (6/17)
Historic Vandenberg Launch Complex Readied for SpaceX (Source: USSF)
Tuesday marked the end of an era for a historic Vandenberg launch site. The Space Force performed a controlled demolition of several large structures at Space Launch Complex 6, including its Mobile Service Tower and Fixed Umbilical Tower. Some of the facilities dated back to the 1960s and the Manned Orbiting Laboratory program that was canceled, as well as plans in the 1980s to launch the Space Shuttle from the site. United Launch Alliance later used the site for the Delta 4. The demolition will allow SpaceX to convert the site for use by Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. (6/17)
Air Force, Space Force Justify Historic Budget Request (Source: GovCon Wire)
The Department of the Air Force is seeking a historic budget increase for fiscal year 2027, with a $338.8 billion request, including $267.7 billion for the Air Force and $71.1 billion for the Space Force. Leaders cite decades of underinvestment and growing threats as reasons for the boost. Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman highlights the necessity for a larger Space Force to counter expanding threats. However, Congress has indicated potential challenges, particularly regarding reconciliation funding and the Golden Dome missile defense initiative. (6/17)
Trump Administration's Proposed NDA Requirement Could Have Negative Impacts (Source: FNN)
The Trump administration’s proposed non-disclosure agreement for federal employees is drawing criticism, as some warn of a potential “chilling effect” across the federal workforce. The Office of Personnel Management’s draft NDA released last month could pressure federal employees into staying silent instead of reporting important disclosures.
Editor's Note: NASA and DoD have previously worked hard to foster a "see something say something" culture, including for whistleblowers, to prevent dangerous and costly failures, waste, fraud, and abuse. (6/16)
UK's All.Space Moves HQ to Alabama Amid York Space Acquisition Process (Source: Via Satellite)
Satellite terminal developer All.Space has relocated from the U.K. to Alabama, emphasizing its commitment to U.S. defense priorities amid an acquisition by York Space Systems. All.Space was founded in the U.K. and has been headquartered in Reading, Berkshire. The company announced Tuesday it has formally redomiciled to the U.S., selecting Florence-Muscle Shoals, Alabama, for a new technical and manufacturing hub. All.Space already had an office in Baltimore, Maryland, and existing production capability in the U.S.
The company is currently in the process of being acquired by Colorado-based York Space Systems under a $355 million deal announced in late April. AE Industrial Partners, which holds a majority stake in York Space Systems, is developing an aerospace and defense center in that area of Alabama, with Hadrian as an anchor tenant. (6/16)
Space Force Looking Into Architecture For Epoch 3 And Epoch 4 (Source: Defense Daily)
U.S. Space Force's Space Systems Command (SSC) wants companies to provide insights on the future Epoch 3 and Epoch 4 constellations of the service's coming Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) resilient missile warning and tracking system. "SSC requests industry feedback on a resilient missile warning and tracking (MWT) Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) layer Epochs 3 & 4 (E3&4) production feasibility that will support MWT Full Warfighting Capabilities." (6/16)
China Points to SpaceX Role in Satellite Arms Race (Source: SCMP)
China’s official military newspaper has warned of an arms race over low-Earth satellites, citing developments such as SpaceX’s latest contract with the US Space Force. Low-Earth orbit (LEO) constellations typically operate at 300km to 1,500km (185-930 miles) above the Earth and are becoming increasingly important in areas such as communications and satellite navigation.
PLA Daily warned: “The era of the militarized application of low-orbit constellations arriving at an accelerated pace. It said the “strategic value of space” was becoming “unprecedentedly prominent”, covering areas such as satellite networks, orbital competition and spectrum seizure. (6/15)
Russia Deploys $1.5 Million Mobile Jammer Targeting Starlink Satellites (Source: United 24)
Russia has deployed a specialized electronic warfare system designed to jam Starlink satellite communications on the battlefield, according to Ukrainian military expert and advisor to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov on June 16. The Russian military first attempted to suppress Starlink in 2024 during operations in the Kharkiv direction, but Ukrainian forces quickly neutralized the equipment, Serhii “Flash” noted.
Mass deployment of this technology was not observed again until 2026, following successful Ukrainian mid-range strikes on Russian logistics networks. In response to the renewed electronic warfare threat, Ukraine’s 422nd Separate UAV Battalion recently located and destroyed one of these specialized jamming complexes, the expert stated. The system, designated as Volna Kupol Garant, is manufactured by the Simferopol-based company Russian Kupol.
Mechanically, the system targets the 14 to 14.5 gigahertz reception band, dividing the interference across eight distinct channels to blind the satellite. One complete complex is capable of disrupting communications across an area of approximately 20 square kilometers, according to the advisor. (6/16)
Aerospace Corp. Accelerates Tactically Responsive Missions (Source: Aerospace Corp.)
Space solutions need to move fast. As threats evolve and commercial capabilities expand at unprecedented rates, the ability to rapidly integrate and deliver space capabilities on tactically responsive timelines is essential. Aerospace’s support to the U.S. Space Force’s Space Safari team demonstrates the kind of work Aerospace is uniquely positioned to do by drawing on 65-plus years of corporate memory and technical depth across every aspect of space systems.
That institutional knowledge, combined with world-class laboratory facilities and embedded relationships with both government customers and commercial partners, creates what Aerospace calls "The Convergence Effect"—attributes that cannot be replicated elsewhere and are essential to accelerating capability development in ways that benefit the entire space industrial base. (6/15)
One Texas Town Hopes for Crumbs From the SpaceX Feast (Source: New York Times)
Elon Musk built a huge complex outside the city of Bastrop, population 14,000. Its residents now wonder what the historic SpaceX initial public offering might mean for them. The town’s population has boomed since Elon Musk built a complex of his companies nearby.
Many of the tech bros who swing by Found Fine Art in Bastrop, Texas, are smitten with “Schoolgirl Witchblade,” a bronze statuette of a manga-style character with pigtails (price: $3,200). The preference seems on brand. These bros work for SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, who created a sexy, pigtailed, manga-style digital girlfriend for premium users of his Grok chatbot. (6/16)
SpaceX Surges 20% in Second Day to Add $412 Billion in Value (Source: LA Times)
SpaceX shares jumped in their second day of trading, adding to gains following a blockbuster debut that instantly vaulted it into the ranks of the world’s most valuable public companies. The stock climbed 20%, extending Friday’s 19% rally, to add $412 billion in market value. Shares closed at $192.46 on Monday, more than 42% above their $135 IPO price. The move boosts the company’s market value to more than $2.5 trillion, putting it among the top six largest companies in the world. (6/15)
Pathogens Survive Conditions on Extraterrestrial Locations (Source: Radboud University)
Micro organisms from our planet could survive on celestial bodies where water is present, such as Mars. That is the conclusion of PhD candidate Tommaso Zaccaria after experiments with simulated space conditions. Our immune system reacts less effectively to pathogens that have undergone such a simulated space journey. According to his supervisors, his dissertation provides extraterrestrial insights that are also useful on Earth. (6/15)
Before the Aliens, the Amino Acids (Source: Weizmann Institute)
Before any wrinkled, wide-eyed creature from a distant civilization asks to be taken home, the first success in the search for life beyond Earth might be more prosaic. A clue could emerge from a handful of molecules in a Martian rock, a grain of ice from a moon of Jupiter or Saturn or a plume rising from an ocean sealed beneath a frozen shell. An Israeli-US team led by researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science has now defined a new kind of life’s signature. It could offer a relatively simple way to address the age-old question: Are we alone?
Amino acids and other compounds can form through entirely nonbiological chemistry. “The key value of our approach is that it offers an easy way to identify organic material that is biological, as opposed to just organic gunk that formed in the early solar system,” says Prof. Itay Halevy. The new approach sidesteps these limitations by relying less on complicated chemistry and more on statistical patterns. It draws on a method that was originally developed by ecologists to characterize the diversity of animal species within habitats. (6/10)
Cleveland Clinic is Tackling Space Travel Health with New Center: Mission Possible (Source: WKYC)
New developments in commercial human spaceflight have inspired Dr. Kenneth Mayuga to launch the Cleveland Clinic Space Health Center. "Why not tap into that depth and breadth of our clinical knowledge and experience, and use that to tackle the challenges of space travel?” Dr. Mayuga said. As missions grow longer, researchers expect more health complications linked to microgravity. The center's initial focus: cardiovascular health.
The center is already contributing to research that could shape future missions. One area of focus: blood clots. NASA researchers have found astronauts can experience stagnant and even reversed blood flow in space. Advances made in space medicine could also improve care on Earth. Dr. Mayuga says that's one of the center's primary goals. The Space Health Center is part of Cleveland Clinic's Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Institute. Though still new, the program is already expanding into lung health, digestive health, emergency medicine and other specialties. (6/15)
Russia Appears Set to Finally Address Long-Term, Serious Space Station Cracks (Source: Ars Technica)
The problem has been ongoing since 2019, and Russian astronauts have been attempting various fixes, often using a sealant called Germetall-1. These efforts finally appeared to bear fruit early this year, when Roscosmos reported that the leaks had stabilized. They resumed in May, though, and then increased in early June. That prompted Roscosmos to begin work toward a more extensive inspection and structural repair effort on the morning of Friday, June 5.
A bland statement from Roscosmos offered no additional information. But the solution Russian officials proposed on June 5 spooked NASA officials, prompting them to take the extreme step of securing their astronauts inside Dragon in case of a depressurization event on the space station. Later, Russia backed off, citing the need to conduct additional measurements and inspections of areas where leaks were occurring.
In the days since, there has been some additional back-and-forth, but Russia has now told NASA it will decommission the PrK module. Effectively, this means cosmonauts will no longer enter the PrK module or attempt to pressurize it. Progress vehicles will still be able to use the docking port to transfer fluids or perform other functions, but Russia will need to use other ports to move supplies on board the space station. (6/15)
Good News—We Have Extra Time Before the Sun Ends Life on Earth (Source: Ars Technica)
We understand the Sun will brighten as it eventually matures into a red giant that swallows the Earth in a solar furnace. So, where along that 5 billion-year path will life on Earth, in fact, be cooked? This far-future puzzle has been the focus of many model simulations over the past few decades. With a steadily brightening Sun, when does the Earth either get too hot or too CO2-starved for the base of the food chain to survive?
With weak weathering, the world is around 21° C (38° F) warmer 1.5 billion years from now, and it jumps an additional 40° C (72° F) between then and 2 billion years. Even with CO2 remaining at 400 parts per million, those temperatures would wipe out land plants on Earth. Specifically, the physiological limits of most land plants are crossed by 1.68 billion years, and the rest are toast at 1.87 billion. (Boiling off the oceans and losing our water to space wouldn’t be far behind.) (6/15)
New Zealand's Dawn Aerospace Raises Another $25 Million (Source: Payload)
Dawn Aerospace has closed a $25M Series B at a $195M post-money valuation, the company announced Tuesday. The New Zealand-Dutch space transportation company will use the new funds to accelerate development of its Aurora spaceplane, and to conduct an in-space refueling demo. With the new funding, Dawn will attempt to make Aurora the first vehicle to fly above the Kármán line twice in one day. The goal is to begin operations with this Mach 3.7 capability in 2027, as part of Dawn’s $17M partnership with Oklahoma. (6/16)
Alarm Grows Over Vought Plan to Put Cronies in Control of Federal Grant Funding (Source: Common Dreams)
A Trump White House plan to give political appointees more power over federal grant money has sparked alarm among scientists, public health organizations, environmental groups, and others who fear that the proposal amounts to an attempt to subordinate critical funds to the whims of the president and his far-right allies.
More than 300 organizations signed a joint letter on Friday calling on White House budget director Russell Vought, the proposed rule’s architect, to extend the public comment period that’s set to end on July 13, warning that the “scope and impact of [the Office of Management and Budget’s] rule is vast.”
“The test will be a simple one: Are you sufficiently loyal to the president? If the answer is no, it will result in the denial of lifesaving disaster relief, funding for research into cures, the closure of Head Start offices, and more.” (6/13)
Monetizing the Airwaves: EchoStar’s Massive Spectrum Offloads to SpaceX and AT&T Fuel Satellite Sector Rally (Source: SatNews)
The global satellite and telecommunications sectors experienced a major wave of market momentum as EchoStar Corporation finalized a massive structural shift. Long constrained by heavy capital expenditures and impending debt walls, the company has pivoted from building out its own physical wireless infrastructure to aggressively monetizing its prized radiofrequency airwaves.
Driven by an approved $19.6 billion spectrum transaction with SpaceX and a pending $23 billion asset sale to AT&T, EchoStar has set up more than $42 billion in total spectrum monetization. The sheer scale of these deals has ignited a broad risk-on rally across speculative, high-beta space and satellite equities. (6/16)
Among the Large New Rockets Amazon Was Counting On, Only Europe Has Delivered (Source: Ars Technica)
Amazon now has hundreds of flight-ready satellites standing idle in Florida, waiting to join the company’s low-Earth orbit Internet constellation, an Amazon official said Tuesday. “They’re built, and sitting in a payload processing facility waiting for trips to orbit,” said Steve Metayer, vice president of Amazon Leo Production Operations, during a teleconference with reporters. “And we’re currently manufacturing several satellites a day.”
France-based Arianespace has emerged as a critical partner for Amazon, which, to date, has had the majority of its 331 satellites launched on Atlas V rockets. However, Amazon has just one more mission booked on this rocket, which is operated by United Launch Alliance, as the vehicle is slated for retirement.
To launch the majority of its Leo constellation, Amazon booked rides on three large, new rockets four years ago: 18 launches on the Ariane 6 rocket, 12 launches on Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket, with options for 15 additional launches; and 38 launches of the United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket. (6/16)
Workforce Strike at Kourou Spaceport Won't Affect Ariane 6 Launch (Source: European Spaceflight)
A strike that saw entrances to the Guiana Space Center barricaded has ended, with Arianespace CEO David Cavaillolès saying the labor dispute has not affected tomorrow’s planned Ariane 6 launch from the site. Workers blocked the entrances to the Guiana Space Center, with banners reading, “No to the lack of respect and condescension shown by the prime contractors towards workers and their representatives.”
Following the subsequent meeting, the strike action ended at approximately 09:00 local time on 16 June. According to local media reporting, the union secured a 1.6% increase in social minimums, as well as fuel allowances ranging from €100 to €300. (6/16)
French Government, Industry Uneasy About Germany’s Decision to Throttle Up Space Investment (Sources: Space Intel Report, Payload)
The steep and sudden increase in German space spending, especially military space, was always going to be complicated for France. After so many years leading the European pack and urging that its neighbors do more, the fact that Germany is now Europe’s biggest space spender sits uneasily among French officials, even if they know the new German policy is good for all of Europe.
Germany has committed a staggering €35 billion to space security by 2030. In contrast, France has earmarked €10.2 billion for space defense over the same period, putting the German spending scale nearly three times higher than the French budget.Industrial Competition: The sheer size of the German expenditure is altering the traditional Franco-German defense-industrial relationship.
While Germany is heavily investing, French space budgets at agencies like CNES have faced cuts due to strict domestic fiscal austerity and mounting budget deficits. France must rethink how they interact with Germany in orbit, weighing how to achieve interoperability without seeing French autonomy and influence permanently diminished. (6/16)
JetZero Begins Construction of Huge North Carolina Aerospace Plant (Source: Aviation Week)
One year after announcing its aircraft production site selection, blended wing body developer JetZero has broken ground on its new Z4 manufacturing and assembly facility at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina. The 8 million-ft.2 factory is being built on a 600-acre site that was selected after an exhaustive nationwide competition among 24 locations in 13 states.
The site, announced by JetZero in 2025, forms part of a North Carolina-backed $4.7 billion investment plan designed to create 14,500 aerospace jobs over the next 10 years. North Carolina is supporting the project with a potential $1.57 billion incentive package, making it the largest state-level incentive deal for a startup in U.S. history. (6/16)
Did Rocket Lab Accidentally Launch a Rocket to Orbit? (Source: Gizmodo)
Rocket Lab’s latest mission, named Curveball, has earned its title. The company launched a mysterious payload on its suborbital rocket, and it somehow ended up in orbit. Was this an accident or a flex? On June 11, Rocket Lab’s HASTE vehicle lifted off from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on a government mission. A few days after its latest launch, however, the U.S. Space Force spotted the rocket in orbit. It’s not clear how HASTE ended up there, or what happened to its payload.
HASTE, short for Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron, is a modified version of the company’s Electron rocket that’s designed to fly at hypersonic speeds up to five times the speed of sound. Another important distinction is that HASTE is a suborbital launch vehicle that has flown seven times without reaching low-Earth orbit. For Curveball, Rocket Lab did not disclose the payload on the mission. Gizmodo reached out to Rocket Lab for clarification but did not receive a response before publication. (6/16)
Artemis 3 Takes Shape (Source: Space Review)
NASA announced last week the astronauts who will fly the Artemis 3 mission next year. Jeff Foust reports the event also provided more details about that mission to test lunar landers in Earth orbit. Click here. (6/16)
Hello, Madison! A Top-Secret Cold War Mission Over Wisconsin’s Capitol (Source: Space Review)
During the Cold War, the NRO tested new imaging capabilities for its spy satellites in novel ways. Dwayne Day and Harry Stranger describe how that included stereo imaging of locations in the United States. Click here. (6/16)
The Budapest Maneuver: Why Small Nations Need Their Own “Little NASA” (Source: Space Review)
More countries are establishing space agencies, even though they will never be more than a small fraction of the size of major agencies like NASA. Mihail Istvanovics Várdai explains how such agencies can help countries move from a consumer of space services to a partner. Click here. (6/16)
Sovereign Capability and Assured Access: a Tension in Europe’s Space Strategy (Source: Space Review)
Europe is working to increase its autonomy in space, including developing additional launch capability. Nicholas Borroz discusses why this means the EU will need to learn to work better with countries outside the union but closely allied with it. Click here. (6/16)
Space Race or Space Divide: Orbital AI and the Global South’s Exclusion Crisis (Source: Space Review)
American and Chinese companies are planning large constellations of orbital data center satellites. Maheen Butt argues that such proposals risk denying access to critical low Earth orbits to emerging nations. Click here. (6/16)
Emboldened by SpaceX, Investors Are Piling Into All Things Space (Source: Wall Street Journal)
It isn’t just SpaceX. Encouraged by the Elon Musk-led company’s successes—and steadily climbing valuation—venture capitalists and private-market investors are stepping up bets on space startups, hoping to find the next breakout stars. (6/14)
Pittsburgh’s Second Moonshot Faces One More Test Before Launch (Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Pittsburgh is in the space race. Astrobotic’s Griffin Mission One lander is almost ready for its shot at the moon — and if Pittsburgh can land on the moon, Pittsburgh can do anything. Those were Astrobotic CEO John Thornton’s declarations Monday as the space community gathered to send off Griffin for final testing before it hurtles toward the lunar surface later this year. (6/15)
The Extraordinary Physiological Challenges Facing Amputee John McFall in Space (Source: Phys.org)
McFall, who lost his right leg above the knee in a motorcycle accident at 19 and uses a prosthesis, is a former Paralympic sprinter, a practicing NHS surgeon and a qualified European Space Agency (ESA) reserve astronaut. ESA selected him in 2022, and in 2025 he became the first person with such a disability to be medically certified for a long-duration mission. The media have largely framed this as a story about inclusion, but there is more to the story than that. For a physiologist, it raises a different question: what happens to a body that already moves, balances and functions differently under gravity if you remove gravity altogether?
For the first time, we can test a prediction about the effects of weightlessness on a different kind of body. The question of how a differently adapted body copes with the demands of space is one I, as a physiotherapist and physiologist working in spaceflight, would very much like to see resolved. And there is only one way to resolve it: someone like McFall must fly into space.
On the ground, our legs anchor us so our hands are free to work. In orbit, however, the lower limbs do far less and are useful mainly for exercise. Meanwhile, the fluid that gravity normally draws into the legs shifts upward in microgravity, which is thought to contribute to a condition called Sans (spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome), in which fluid pressure builds behind the eyes and can affect vision. McFall has less lower-limb tissue for that fluid to occupy, so it is possible his fluid shift—and any associated effect on his vision—will differ from that of his crewmates. (6/14)
Geospatial Industry Launches Maritime Initiative (Source: Space News)
The race to monitor the world’s oceans from space is driving a wave of investment in maritime surveillance technologies and prompting new industry coordination efforts. A new working group focused on maritime intelligence is seeking participation from satellite operators, analytics firms, government agencies and academic institutions.
The U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) and maritime intelligence firm SynMax are spearheading a working group to coordinate efforts across satellite operators, analytics firms, government agencies, and academia. This collaborative initiative addresses the rapid growth of space-based technologies used to track commercial shipping, naval activity, illegal fishing, and sanctions evasion. (6/16)
Comtech Announces Definitive Agreement to Sell Most of Its Satellite and Space Communications Business to Gilat (Source: Comtech)
Comtech Telecommunications Corp. has entered into a definitive agreement to sell most of its Satellite and Space Communications segment to Gilat Satellite Networks, and become a focused public safety technology company. The transaction was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both Comtech and Gilat. Gilat will acquire most of the S&S segment for $157.5 million. (6/15)
Rocket Lab To Join The Nasdaq-100 Index on the Back of More than 80 Successful Rocket Launches (Source: Spacewatch Global)
Rocket Lab has announced its inclusion in the Nasdaq-100 Index, placing the company among the 100 largest non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Rocket Lab’s addition to the index will become effective prior to market open on Monday, 22 June, 2026. (6/16)
Maryland Gets Intuitive Machines Expansion with $1M Incentive (Source: WBAL)
Maryland’s growing role in the space industry is getting another boost. Gov. Wes Moore announced a major expansion by a company helping lead America’s return to the moon. A space technology company that’s already played a key role in lunar missions is expanding in Anne Arundel County.
If it moves on the moon, it may soon be coming from Linthicum. Intuitive Machines is expanding into a new 69,000-square-foot facility at BWI Tech Park, growing its Maryland operations and planning to nearly double its workforce to about 100 employees. The company built robotics used on its recent moon missions and is now developing technology for future lunar exploration and communications networks. The state has awarded the company a $1 million grant to help with the expansion. (6/15)
NASA’s Quantum Lab Aboard Space Station Gets Chilly Upgrade (Source: NASA)
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have switched on NASA’s newly upgraded Cold Atom Lab, a one-of-a-kind facility designed to improve how scientists explore the fundamental workings of matter and develop new quantum technologies. By leveraging the unique environment of microgravity in space, the lab can accomplish cutting-edge science impossible to do anywhere else. (6/16)
Friends in High Places: SpaceX Gets DOJ Assist to Toss Air Pollution Lawsuit (Source: CNBC)
Elon Musk’s company is getting an assist from the Department of Justice, which asked a federal court in Mississippi to toss a case against the company brought by the NAACP. The suit was filed in April and claimed that xAI, SpaceX’s artificial intelligence lab, violated the federal Clean Air Act by using dozens of methane gas-burning turbines to power its AI data centers without proper permits or pollution controls. The turbines emit smog-forming pollutants and particulate matter that can lead to increased health risks and an unpleasant odor.
The NAACP more recently asked the court to issue an injunction stopping xAI from using the turbines until a judge can make a decision. SpaceX’s Colossus 1 and 2 data centers in and around Memphis, Tennessee, along with the power plants linked to those facilities, have faced protests for more than a year over issues including air pollution, electricity and water consumption and noise around the facilities.
In a motion filed by the DOJ on June 15, attorneys for the department accused the NAACP of threatening “American national, economic, and energy security by seeking to shut off the power supply for artificial-intelligence innovation that supports the Department of War’s military operations.” (6/16)
New Cape Canaveral Townhomes to Offer Rocket Launch Views (Source: Florida Today)
A Miami-based homebuilder announced plans to build a 94-unit townhome community in Cape Canaveral due to Brevard County's booming aerospace and technology economy. EverHome Living announced plans for a three-story townhouse development off Astronaut Boulevard on the Banana River in Cape Canaveral. Each home will feature a private rooftop terrace with views of rocket launches from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport.
Housing market analysts have reported that aerospace, manufacturing, biotechnology, and healthcare sectors are all combining to drive home sales in the area, according to Homes.com analytics. The county remains relatively affordable compared to other Florida coastal markets. The median home price in Brevard was $350,000 in March, and townhouses dropped 8.7% year-over-year to $301,000. (6/16)
Union Leader at Spaceport Dies in Airboat Crash (Source: USA Today)
The well-known leader of a union which includes a number of workers at the Kennedy Space Center was killed in an airboat crash in Brevard County on Saturday, June 13, family members confirmed. The man was identified by his wife, Angela Knost, as 63-year-old Bobby Knost, business manager of Union Ironworkers Local 808. The deadly single-vessel incident happened at about 5 p.m. June 13, prompting a response from Brevard County Fire Rescue and Florida Fish and Wildlife crews. (6/15)
Rogue Planet Caught Devouring Dust (Source: Space Daily)
Somewhere in the Chamaeleon constellation, six hundred and twenty years ago, a small dark planet about the size of Jupiter began to do something planets are not supposed to be able to do. It started eating. The material — gas and dust from a disc surrounding it, the same kind of debris field that ordinarily surrounds young stars rather than young planets — began falling onto the planet’s surface at increasingly extreme rates. By the time light from the event reached the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile in mid-2025, the planet was consuming approximately six billion tonnes of gas and dust per second. (6/16)
Satellite servicing startup Katalyst Space Technologies has raised $12 million. The company said Tuesday it closed a funding round led by Geodesic Capital with participation from Fortitude Ventures and other investors. The funds will support work on a satellite servicing demonstration mission called Nexus-1 set to launch next year to geostationary orbit. The company is also preparing to launch Link, a mission that will attempt to raise the orbit of NASA's Swift astrophysics satellite in low Earth orbit. (6/17)
France's Skynopy and Look Up Developing LEO Collision Avoidance Service (Source: Space News)
Two French companies are joining forces on a LEO collision avoidance service. Space surveillance venture Look Up plans to use Skynopy's ground station network to help automate that service. Skynopy will demonstrate integration of ground sites with ATLAS², a service Europe is co-funding to enable satellites to respond in near real time after Look Up's terrestrial radars detect a collision threat. The partnership focuses on the command-and-control link needed to move satellites after Look Up detects a threat with its SORASYS radars. (6/17)
Switzerland Bows Out of Copernicus (Source: Space News)
Switzerland's decision not to contribute to Europe's Copernicus Earth observation system raises questions about that system's free imagery model. The Swiss Federal Council said earlier this month it would not provide funding for Copernicus in the European Union's 2028–2034 funding cycle, citing financial strains as a factor in the decision. Most Copernicus data is freely available to users worldwide, although some services are limited to EU members and other participating countries. Some argue that, for countries outside the EU, the free data is sufficient, giving them little reason to provide funding, especially when there are limited opportunities for outside countries to win contracts to develop satellites for the system. (6/17)
PiLogic Developing AI for Satellite Fault Prediction (Source: Space News)
PiLogic, a startup developing artificial intelligence software to identify faults and predict failures in satellites, will work with the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) on its technology. PiLogic said it signed a two-year Cooperative Research and Development Agreement, or CRADA, focused on spacecraft electrical and power systems. Engineers will use an AFRL cubesat experiment launched in 2022 through the Defense Department's Space Test Program as a platform to evaluate PiLogic's software. The company's software is designed to analyze onboard sensor data, detect anomalies, predict potential failure modes and recommend corrective actions as an alternative to traditional monitoring systems. (6/17)
China Launches Three Rockets From Three Spaceports on Tuesday (Source: Space News)
China conducted three launches on Tuesday, but one may have been unsuccessful. A Long March 3B rocket lifted off at 5:45 a.m. Eastern from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, placing into orbit the Shijian-31 satellite. Chinese media said the satellite will be used for "space environment detection" but the Shijian series of satellites have been used for technology demonstrations and military applications. In addition, a Long March 12 rocket lifted off from the Wenchang spaceport at 10:44 p.m. Eastern, putting into orbit nine satellites for the Guowang constellation. Finally, a Kuaizhou-11 lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 11:40 p.m. Eastern, but there have been no updates on the mission since the launch. That has prompted concerns that the launch of the small solid-fueled rocket may have failed. (6/17)
SpaceX Launches AST BlueBird From Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Space.com)
SpaceX launched three satellites for AST SpaceMobile early Wednesday. A Falcon 9 lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport in Florida. The rocket deployed into low Earth orbit AST's BlueBird 8, 9 and 10 satellites, which provide broadband direct-to-device (D2D) services. AST is relying on SpaceX, a competitor in D2D services, to launch its satellites because Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket is out of service until at least the end of this year. (6/17)
Dragon Capsule Returns to Earth From ISS (Source: NASA)
A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft returned to Earth from the International Space Station. The CRS-34 Dragon spacecraft undocked from the station at 12:24 p.m. Eastern Tuesday after a short delay linked to a navigation sensor issue. The spacecraft reentered and splashed down off the California coast at about 8:10 a.m. Eastern this morning. The spacecraft, which spent about a month at the ISS, returned with scientific equipment and station hardware. (6/17)
Canada's NordSpace Opens Ontario Rocket Factory (Source: SpaceQ)
Canadian launch Startup NordSpace opened a new factory. The 60,000-square-foot facility in the Toronto suburb of Markham, Ontario, will be devoted to production of the company's planned small launch vehicles and space systems. The company says the factory will be able to produce two of its planned Tundra rockets at once, or one larger Tundra+ rocket. NordSpace has yet to attempt an orbital launch but is planning to launch its Taiga sounding rocket later this year. (6/17)
Historic Vandenberg Launch Complex Readied for SpaceX (Source: USSF)
Tuesday marked the end of an era for a historic Vandenberg launch site. The Space Force performed a controlled demolition of several large structures at Space Launch Complex 6, including its Mobile Service Tower and Fixed Umbilical Tower. Some of the facilities dated back to the 1960s and the Manned Orbiting Laboratory program that was canceled, as well as plans in the 1980s to launch the Space Shuttle from the site. United Launch Alliance later used the site for the Delta 4. The demolition will allow SpaceX to convert the site for use by Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. (6/17)
Air Force, Space Force Justify Historic Budget Request (Source: GovCon Wire)
The Department of the Air Force is seeking a historic budget increase for fiscal year 2027, with a $338.8 billion request, including $267.7 billion for the Air Force and $71.1 billion for the Space Force. Leaders cite decades of underinvestment and growing threats as reasons for the boost. Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman highlights the necessity for a larger Space Force to counter expanding threats. However, Congress has indicated potential challenges, particularly regarding reconciliation funding and the Golden Dome missile defense initiative. (6/17)
Trump Administration's Proposed NDA Requirement Could Have Negative Impacts (Source: FNN)
The Trump administration’s proposed non-disclosure agreement for federal employees is drawing criticism, as some warn of a potential “chilling effect” across the federal workforce. The Office of Personnel Management’s draft NDA released last month could pressure federal employees into staying silent instead of reporting important disclosures.
Editor's Note: NASA and DoD have previously worked hard to foster a "see something say something" culture, including for whistleblowers, to prevent dangerous and costly failures, waste, fraud, and abuse. (6/16)
UK's All.Space Moves HQ to Alabama Amid York Space Acquisition Process (Source: Via Satellite)
Satellite terminal developer All.Space has relocated from the U.K. to Alabama, emphasizing its commitment to U.S. defense priorities amid an acquisition by York Space Systems. All.Space was founded in the U.K. and has been headquartered in Reading, Berkshire. The company announced Tuesday it has formally redomiciled to the U.S., selecting Florence-Muscle Shoals, Alabama, for a new technical and manufacturing hub. All.Space already had an office in Baltimore, Maryland, and existing production capability in the U.S.
The company is currently in the process of being acquired by Colorado-based York Space Systems under a $355 million deal announced in late April. AE Industrial Partners, which holds a majority stake in York Space Systems, is developing an aerospace and defense center in that area of Alabama, with Hadrian as an anchor tenant. (6/16)
Space Force Looking Into Architecture For Epoch 3 And Epoch 4 (Source: Defense Daily)
U.S. Space Force's Space Systems Command (SSC) wants companies to provide insights on the future Epoch 3 and Epoch 4 constellations of the service's coming Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) resilient missile warning and tracking system. "SSC requests industry feedback on a resilient missile warning and tracking (MWT) Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) layer Epochs 3 & 4 (E3&4) production feasibility that will support MWT Full Warfighting Capabilities." (6/16)
China Points to SpaceX Role in Satellite Arms Race (Source: SCMP)
China’s official military newspaper has warned of an arms race over low-Earth satellites, citing developments such as SpaceX’s latest contract with the US Space Force. Low-Earth orbit (LEO) constellations typically operate at 300km to 1,500km (185-930 miles) above the Earth and are becoming increasingly important in areas such as communications and satellite navigation.
PLA Daily warned: “The era of the militarized application of low-orbit constellations arriving at an accelerated pace. It said the “strategic value of space” was becoming “unprecedentedly prominent”, covering areas such as satellite networks, orbital competition and spectrum seizure. (6/15)
Russia Deploys $1.5 Million Mobile Jammer Targeting Starlink Satellites (Source: United 24)
Russia has deployed a specialized electronic warfare system designed to jam Starlink satellite communications on the battlefield, according to Ukrainian military expert and advisor to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov on June 16. The Russian military first attempted to suppress Starlink in 2024 during operations in the Kharkiv direction, but Ukrainian forces quickly neutralized the equipment, Serhii “Flash” noted.
Mass deployment of this technology was not observed again until 2026, following successful Ukrainian mid-range strikes on Russian logistics networks. In response to the renewed electronic warfare threat, Ukraine’s 422nd Separate UAV Battalion recently located and destroyed one of these specialized jamming complexes, the expert stated. The system, designated as Volna Kupol Garant, is manufactured by the Simferopol-based company Russian Kupol.
Mechanically, the system targets the 14 to 14.5 gigahertz reception band, dividing the interference across eight distinct channels to blind the satellite. One complete complex is capable of disrupting communications across an area of approximately 20 square kilometers, according to the advisor. (6/16)
Aerospace Corp. Accelerates Tactically Responsive Missions (Source: Aerospace Corp.)
Space solutions need to move fast. As threats evolve and commercial capabilities expand at unprecedented rates, the ability to rapidly integrate and deliver space capabilities on tactically responsive timelines is essential. Aerospace’s support to the U.S. Space Force’s Space Safari team demonstrates the kind of work Aerospace is uniquely positioned to do by drawing on 65-plus years of corporate memory and technical depth across every aspect of space systems.
That institutional knowledge, combined with world-class laboratory facilities and embedded relationships with both government customers and commercial partners, creates what Aerospace calls "The Convergence Effect"—attributes that cannot be replicated elsewhere and are essential to accelerating capability development in ways that benefit the entire space industrial base. (6/15)
One Texas Town Hopes for Crumbs From the SpaceX Feast (Source: New York Times)
Elon Musk built a huge complex outside the city of Bastrop, population 14,000. Its residents now wonder what the historic SpaceX initial public offering might mean for them. The town’s population has boomed since Elon Musk built a complex of his companies nearby.
Many of the tech bros who swing by Found Fine Art in Bastrop, Texas, are smitten with “Schoolgirl Witchblade,” a bronze statuette of a manga-style character with pigtails (price: $3,200). The preference seems on brand. These bros work for SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, who created a sexy, pigtailed, manga-style digital girlfriend for premium users of his Grok chatbot. (6/16)
SpaceX Surges 20% in Second Day to Add $412 Billion in Value (Source: LA Times)
SpaceX shares jumped in their second day of trading, adding to gains following a blockbuster debut that instantly vaulted it into the ranks of the world’s most valuable public companies. The stock climbed 20%, extending Friday’s 19% rally, to add $412 billion in market value. Shares closed at $192.46 on Monday, more than 42% above their $135 IPO price. The move boosts the company’s market value to more than $2.5 trillion, putting it among the top six largest companies in the world. (6/15)
Pathogens Survive Conditions on Extraterrestrial Locations (Source: Radboud University)
Micro organisms from our planet could survive on celestial bodies where water is present, such as Mars. That is the conclusion of PhD candidate Tommaso Zaccaria after experiments with simulated space conditions. Our immune system reacts less effectively to pathogens that have undergone such a simulated space journey. According to his supervisors, his dissertation provides extraterrestrial insights that are also useful on Earth. (6/15)
Before the Aliens, the Amino Acids (Source: Weizmann Institute)
Before any wrinkled, wide-eyed creature from a distant civilization asks to be taken home, the first success in the search for life beyond Earth might be more prosaic. A clue could emerge from a handful of molecules in a Martian rock, a grain of ice from a moon of Jupiter or Saturn or a plume rising from an ocean sealed beneath a frozen shell. An Israeli-US team led by researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science has now defined a new kind of life’s signature. It could offer a relatively simple way to address the age-old question: Are we alone?
Amino acids and other compounds can form through entirely nonbiological chemistry. “The key value of our approach is that it offers an easy way to identify organic material that is biological, as opposed to just organic gunk that formed in the early solar system,” says Prof. Itay Halevy. The new approach sidesteps these limitations by relying less on complicated chemistry and more on statistical patterns. It draws on a method that was originally developed by ecologists to characterize the diversity of animal species within habitats. (6/10)
Cleveland Clinic is Tackling Space Travel Health with New Center: Mission Possible (Source: WKYC)
New developments in commercial human spaceflight have inspired Dr. Kenneth Mayuga to launch the Cleveland Clinic Space Health Center. "Why not tap into that depth and breadth of our clinical knowledge and experience, and use that to tackle the challenges of space travel?” Dr. Mayuga said. As missions grow longer, researchers expect more health complications linked to microgravity. The center's initial focus: cardiovascular health.
The center is already contributing to research that could shape future missions. One area of focus: blood clots. NASA researchers have found astronauts can experience stagnant and even reversed blood flow in space. Advances made in space medicine could also improve care on Earth. Dr. Mayuga says that's one of the center's primary goals. The Space Health Center is part of Cleveland Clinic's Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Institute. Though still new, the program is already expanding into lung health, digestive health, emergency medicine and other specialties. (6/15)
Russia Appears Set to Finally Address Long-Term, Serious Space Station Cracks (Source: Ars Technica)
The problem has been ongoing since 2019, and Russian astronauts have been attempting various fixes, often using a sealant called Germetall-1. These efforts finally appeared to bear fruit early this year, when Roscosmos reported that the leaks had stabilized. They resumed in May, though, and then increased in early June. That prompted Roscosmos to begin work toward a more extensive inspection and structural repair effort on the morning of Friday, June 5.
A bland statement from Roscosmos offered no additional information. But the solution Russian officials proposed on June 5 spooked NASA officials, prompting them to take the extreme step of securing their astronauts inside Dragon in case of a depressurization event on the space station. Later, Russia backed off, citing the need to conduct additional measurements and inspections of areas where leaks were occurring.
In the days since, there has been some additional back-and-forth, but Russia has now told NASA it will decommission the PrK module. Effectively, this means cosmonauts will no longer enter the PrK module or attempt to pressurize it. Progress vehicles will still be able to use the docking port to transfer fluids or perform other functions, but Russia will need to use other ports to move supplies on board the space station. (6/15)
Good News—We Have Extra Time Before the Sun Ends Life on Earth (Source: Ars Technica)
We understand the Sun will brighten as it eventually matures into a red giant that swallows the Earth in a solar furnace. So, where along that 5 billion-year path will life on Earth, in fact, be cooked? This far-future puzzle has been the focus of many model simulations over the past few decades. With a steadily brightening Sun, when does the Earth either get too hot or too CO2-starved for the base of the food chain to survive?
With weak weathering, the world is around 21° C (38° F) warmer 1.5 billion years from now, and it jumps an additional 40° C (72° F) between then and 2 billion years. Even with CO2 remaining at 400 parts per million, those temperatures would wipe out land plants on Earth. Specifically, the physiological limits of most land plants are crossed by 1.68 billion years, and the rest are toast at 1.87 billion. (Boiling off the oceans and losing our water to space wouldn’t be far behind.) (6/15)
New Zealand's Dawn Aerospace Raises Another $25 Million (Source: Payload)
Dawn Aerospace has closed a $25M Series B at a $195M post-money valuation, the company announced Tuesday. The New Zealand-Dutch space transportation company will use the new funds to accelerate development of its Aurora spaceplane, and to conduct an in-space refueling demo. With the new funding, Dawn will attempt to make Aurora the first vehicle to fly above the Kármán line twice in one day. The goal is to begin operations with this Mach 3.7 capability in 2027, as part of Dawn’s $17M partnership with Oklahoma. (6/16)
Alarm Grows Over Vought Plan to Put Cronies in Control of Federal Grant Funding (Source: Common Dreams)
A Trump White House plan to give political appointees more power over federal grant money has sparked alarm among scientists, public health organizations, environmental groups, and others who fear that the proposal amounts to an attempt to subordinate critical funds to the whims of the president and his far-right allies.
More than 300 organizations signed a joint letter on Friday calling on White House budget director Russell Vought, the proposed rule’s architect, to extend the public comment period that’s set to end on July 13, warning that the “scope and impact of [the Office of Management and Budget’s] rule is vast.”
“The test will be a simple one: Are you sufficiently loyal to the president? If the answer is no, it will result in the denial of lifesaving disaster relief, funding for research into cures, the closure of Head Start offices, and more.” (6/13)
Monetizing the Airwaves: EchoStar’s Massive Spectrum Offloads to SpaceX and AT&T Fuel Satellite Sector Rally (Source: SatNews)
The global satellite and telecommunications sectors experienced a major wave of market momentum as EchoStar Corporation finalized a massive structural shift. Long constrained by heavy capital expenditures and impending debt walls, the company has pivoted from building out its own physical wireless infrastructure to aggressively monetizing its prized radiofrequency airwaves.
Driven by an approved $19.6 billion spectrum transaction with SpaceX and a pending $23 billion asset sale to AT&T, EchoStar has set up more than $42 billion in total spectrum monetization. The sheer scale of these deals has ignited a broad risk-on rally across speculative, high-beta space and satellite equities. (6/16)
Among the Large New Rockets Amazon Was Counting On, Only Europe Has Delivered (Source: Ars Technica)
Amazon now has hundreds of flight-ready satellites standing idle in Florida, waiting to join the company’s low-Earth orbit Internet constellation, an Amazon official said Tuesday. “They’re built, and sitting in a payload processing facility waiting for trips to orbit,” said Steve Metayer, vice president of Amazon Leo Production Operations, during a teleconference with reporters. “And we’re currently manufacturing several satellites a day.”
France-based Arianespace has emerged as a critical partner for Amazon, which, to date, has had the majority of its 331 satellites launched on Atlas V rockets. However, Amazon has just one more mission booked on this rocket, which is operated by United Launch Alliance, as the vehicle is slated for retirement.
To launch the majority of its Leo constellation, Amazon booked rides on three large, new rockets four years ago: 18 launches on the Ariane 6 rocket, 12 launches on Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket, with options for 15 additional launches; and 38 launches of the United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket. (6/16)
Workforce Strike at Kourou Spaceport Won't Affect Ariane 6 Launch (Source: European Spaceflight)
A strike that saw entrances to the Guiana Space Center barricaded has ended, with Arianespace CEO David Cavaillolès saying the labor dispute has not affected tomorrow’s planned Ariane 6 launch from the site. Workers blocked the entrances to the Guiana Space Center, with banners reading, “No to the lack of respect and condescension shown by the prime contractors towards workers and their representatives.”
Following the subsequent meeting, the strike action ended at approximately 09:00 local time on 16 June. According to local media reporting, the union secured a 1.6% increase in social minimums, as well as fuel allowances ranging from €100 to €300. (6/16)
French Government, Industry Uneasy About Germany’s Decision to Throttle Up Space Investment (Sources: Space Intel Report, Payload)
The steep and sudden increase in German space spending, especially military space, was always going to be complicated for France. After so many years leading the European pack and urging that its neighbors do more, the fact that Germany is now Europe’s biggest space spender sits uneasily among French officials, even if they know the new German policy is good for all of Europe.
Germany has committed a staggering €35 billion to space security by 2030. In contrast, France has earmarked €10.2 billion for space defense over the same period, putting the German spending scale nearly three times higher than the French budget.Industrial Competition: The sheer size of the German expenditure is altering the traditional Franco-German defense-industrial relationship.
While Germany is heavily investing, French space budgets at agencies like CNES have faced cuts due to strict domestic fiscal austerity and mounting budget deficits. France must rethink how they interact with Germany in orbit, weighing how to achieve interoperability without seeing French autonomy and influence permanently diminished. (6/16)
JetZero Begins Construction of Huge North Carolina Aerospace Plant (Source: Aviation Week)
One year after announcing its aircraft production site selection, blended wing body developer JetZero has broken ground on its new Z4 manufacturing and assembly facility at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina. The 8 million-ft.2 factory is being built on a 600-acre site that was selected after an exhaustive nationwide competition among 24 locations in 13 states.
The site, announced by JetZero in 2025, forms part of a North Carolina-backed $4.7 billion investment plan designed to create 14,500 aerospace jobs over the next 10 years. North Carolina is supporting the project with a potential $1.57 billion incentive package, making it the largest state-level incentive deal for a startup in U.S. history. (6/16)
Did Rocket Lab Accidentally Launch a Rocket to Orbit? (Source: Gizmodo)
Rocket Lab’s latest mission, named Curveball, has earned its title. The company launched a mysterious payload on its suborbital rocket, and it somehow ended up in orbit. Was this an accident or a flex? On June 11, Rocket Lab’s HASTE vehicle lifted off from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on a government mission. A few days after its latest launch, however, the U.S. Space Force spotted the rocket in orbit. It’s not clear how HASTE ended up there, or what happened to its payload.
HASTE, short for Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron, is a modified version of the company’s Electron rocket that’s designed to fly at hypersonic speeds up to five times the speed of sound. Another important distinction is that HASTE is a suborbital launch vehicle that has flown seven times without reaching low-Earth orbit. For Curveball, Rocket Lab did not disclose the payload on the mission. Gizmodo reached out to Rocket Lab for clarification but did not receive a response before publication. (6/16)
Artemis 3 Takes Shape (Source: Space Review)
NASA announced last week the astronauts who will fly the Artemis 3 mission next year. Jeff Foust reports the event also provided more details about that mission to test lunar landers in Earth orbit. Click here. (6/16)
Hello, Madison! A Top-Secret Cold War Mission Over Wisconsin’s Capitol (Source: Space Review)
During the Cold War, the NRO tested new imaging capabilities for its spy satellites in novel ways. Dwayne Day and Harry Stranger describe how that included stereo imaging of locations in the United States. Click here. (6/16)
The Budapest Maneuver: Why Small Nations Need Their Own “Little NASA” (Source: Space Review)
More countries are establishing space agencies, even though they will never be more than a small fraction of the size of major agencies like NASA. Mihail Istvanovics Várdai explains how such agencies can help countries move from a consumer of space services to a partner. Click here. (6/16)
Sovereign Capability and Assured Access: a Tension in Europe’s Space Strategy (Source: Space Review)
Europe is working to increase its autonomy in space, including developing additional launch capability. Nicholas Borroz discusses why this means the EU will need to learn to work better with countries outside the union but closely allied with it. Click here. (6/16)
Space Race or Space Divide: Orbital AI and the Global South’s Exclusion Crisis (Source: Space Review)
American and Chinese companies are planning large constellations of orbital data center satellites. Maheen Butt argues that such proposals risk denying access to critical low Earth orbits to emerging nations. Click here. (6/16)
Emboldened by SpaceX, Investors Are Piling Into All Things Space (Source: Wall Street Journal)
It isn’t just SpaceX. Encouraged by the Elon Musk-led company’s successes—and steadily climbing valuation—venture capitalists and private-market investors are stepping up bets on space startups, hoping to find the next breakout stars. (6/14)
Pittsburgh’s Second Moonshot Faces One More Test Before Launch (Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Pittsburgh is in the space race. Astrobotic’s Griffin Mission One lander is almost ready for its shot at the moon — and if Pittsburgh can land on the moon, Pittsburgh can do anything. Those were Astrobotic CEO John Thornton’s declarations Monday as the space community gathered to send off Griffin for final testing before it hurtles toward the lunar surface later this year. (6/15)
The Extraordinary Physiological Challenges Facing Amputee John McFall in Space (Source: Phys.org)
McFall, who lost his right leg above the knee in a motorcycle accident at 19 and uses a prosthesis, is a former Paralympic sprinter, a practicing NHS surgeon and a qualified European Space Agency (ESA) reserve astronaut. ESA selected him in 2022, and in 2025 he became the first person with such a disability to be medically certified for a long-duration mission. The media have largely framed this as a story about inclusion, but there is more to the story than that. For a physiologist, it raises a different question: what happens to a body that already moves, balances and functions differently under gravity if you remove gravity altogether?
For the first time, we can test a prediction about the effects of weightlessness on a different kind of body. The question of how a differently adapted body copes with the demands of space is one I, as a physiotherapist and physiologist working in spaceflight, would very much like to see resolved. And there is only one way to resolve it: someone like McFall must fly into space.
On the ground, our legs anchor us so our hands are free to work. In orbit, however, the lower limbs do far less and are useful mainly for exercise. Meanwhile, the fluid that gravity normally draws into the legs shifts upward in microgravity, which is thought to contribute to a condition called Sans (spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome), in which fluid pressure builds behind the eyes and can affect vision. McFall has less lower-limb tissue for that fluid to occupy, so it is possible his fluid shift—and any associated effect on his vision—will differ from that of his crewmates. (6/14)
Geospatial Industry Launches Maritime Initiative (Source: Space News)
The race to monitor the world’s oceans from space is driving a wave of investment in maritime surveillance technologies and prompting new industry coordination efforts. A new working group focused on maritime intelligence is seeking participation from satellite operators, analytics firms, government agencies and academic institutions.
The U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) and maritime intelligence firm SynMax are spearheading a working group to coordinate efforts across satellite operators, analytics firms, government agencies, and academia. This collaborative initiative addresses the rapid growth of space-based technologies used to track commercial shipping, naval activity, illegal fishing, and sanctions evasion. (6/16)
Comtech Announces Definitive Agreement to Sell Most of Its Satellite and Space Communications Business to Gilat (Source: Comtech)
Comtech Telecommunications Corp. has entered into a definitive agreement to sell most of its Satellite and Space Communications segment to Gilat Satellite Networks, and become a focused public safety technology company. The transaction was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both Comtech and Gilat. Gilat will acquire most of the S&S segment for $157.5 million. (6/15)
Rocket Lab To Join The Nasdaq-100 Index on the Back of More than 80 Successful Rocket Launches (Source: Spacewatch Global)
Rocket Lab has announced its inclusion in the Nasdaq-100 Index, placing the company among the 100 largest non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Rocket Lab’s addition to the index will become effective prior to market open on Monday, 22 June, 2026. (6/16)
Maryland Gets Intuitive Machines Expansion with $1M Incentive (Source: WBAL)
Maryland’s growing role in the space industry is getting another boost. Gov. Wes Moore announced a major expansion by a company helping lead America’s return to the moon. A space technology company that’s already played a key role in lunar missions is expanding in Anne Arundel County.
If it moves on the moon, it may soon be coming from Linthicum. Intuitive Machines is expanding into a new 69,000-square-foot facility at BWI Tech Park, growing its Maryland operations and planning to nearly double its workforce to about 100 employees. The company built robotics used on its recent moon missions and is now developing technology for future lunar exploration and communications networks. The state has awarded the company a $1 million grant to help with the expansion. (6/15)
NASA’s Quantum Lab Aboard Space Station Gets Chilly Upgrade (Source: NASA)
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have switched on NASA’s newly upgraded Cold Atom Lab, a one-of-a-kind facility designed to improve how scientists explore the fundamental workings of matter and develop new quantum technologies. By leveraging the unique environment of microgravity in space, the lab can accomplish cutting-edge science impossible to do anywhere else. (6/16)
Friends in High Places: SpaceX Gets DOJ Assist to Toss Air Pollution Lawsuit (Source: CNBC)
Elon Musk’s company is getting an assist from the Department of Justice, which asked a federal court in Mississippi to toss a case against the company brought by the NAACP. The suit was filed in April and claimed that xAI, SpaceX’s artificial intelligence lab, violated the federal Clean Air Act by using dozens of methane gas-burning turbines to power its AI data centers without proper permits or pollution controls. The turbines emit smog-forming pollutants and particulate matter that can lead to increased health risks and an unpleasant odor.
The NAACP more recently asked the court to issue an injunction stopping xAI from using the turbines until a judge can make a decision. SpaceX’s Colossus 1 and 2 data centers in and around Memphis, Tennessee, along with the power plants linked to those facilities, have faced protests for more than a year over issues including air pollution, electricity and water consumption and noise around the facilities.
In a motion filed by the DOJ on June 15, attorneys for the department accused the NAACP of threatening “American national, economic, and energy security by seeking to shut off the power supply for artificial-intelligence innovation that supports the Department of War’s military operations.” (6/16)
New Cape Canaveral Townhomes to Offer Rocket Launch Views (Source: Florida Today)
A Miami-based homebuilder announced plans to build a 94-unit townhome community in Cape Canaveral due to Brevard County's booming aerospace and technology economy. EverHome Living announced plans for a three-story townhouse development off Astronaut Boulevard on the Banana River in Cape Canaveral. Each home will feature a private rooftop terrace with views of rocket launches from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport.
Housing market analysts have reported that aerospace, manufacturing, biotechnology, and healthcare sectors are all combining to drive home sales in the area, according to Homes.com analytics. The county remains relatively affordable compared to other Florida coastal markets. The median home price in Brevard was $350,000 in March, and townhouses dropped 8.7% year-over-year to $301,000. (6/16)
Union Leader at Spaceport Dies in Airboat Crash (Source: USA Today)
The well-known leader of a union which includes a number of workers at the Kennedy Space Center was killed in an airboat crash in Brevard County on Saturday, June 13, family members confirmed. The man was identified by his wife, Angela Knost, as 63-year-old Bobby Knost, business manager of Union Ironworkers Local 808. The deadly single-vessel incident happened at about 5 p.m. June 13, prompting a response from Brevard County Fire Rescue and Florida Fish and Wildlife crews. (6/15)
Rogue Planet Caught Devouring Dust (Source: Space Daily)
Somewhere in the Chamaeleon constellation, six hundred and twenty years ago, a small dark planet about the size of Jupiter began to do something planets are not supposed to be able to do. It started eating. The material — gas and dust from a disc surrounding it, the same kind of debris field that ordinarily surrounds young stars rather than young planets — began falling onto the planet’s surface at increasingly extreme rates. By the time light from the event reached the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile in mid-2025, the planet was consuming approximately six billion tonnes of gas and dust per second. (6/16)
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