July 24, 2025

Megaconstellation Service Approvals are a Political Choice (Source: Space News)
Brazil’s government signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China's SpaceSail (Qianfan constellation) as early as November 2024, covering satellite communications, 5G, digital infrastructure and broadband access. Brazil’s partnership with SpaceSail offers potentially  cost-competitive broadband infrastructure, especially in remote and underserved regions.

At the same time, SpaceX’s Starlink already operates in Brazil. Starlink’s existing network and aggressive deployment cadence offer immediate and proven connectivity solutions. The choice between the two is one that governments and militaries around the world may soon face as Qianfan satellite deployments get underway.

What’s emerging, analysts say, is a battleground where governments, militaries and critical industries face a choice between a handful of megaconstellations such as Starlink and Qianfan, or a smaller cohort of less dominant players. And while performance metrics like speed, latency and cost still matter, the more decisive factor may be political alignment and the values that come bundled with it. (7/23)

Collins Aerospace Plans $57M Texas Expansion (Source: Manufacturing Net)
Collins Aerospace has announced plans to expand its manufacturing and research operations in Richardson, Texas, with a $57 million investment that is expected to create approximately 600 jobs. The company has received a $3.7 million Texas Enterprise Fund grant for the project. (7/23)

Aerospace Growth Supports Jobs, Innovation in Fort Worth (Source: Fort Worth Inc.)
US aerospace and defense industry generated nearly $1 trillion in 2024 and supports 2.2 million jobs, according to the Aerospace Industries Association, underscoring its critical role in the national economy. Reflecting this momentum, companies like Evans Composites in Fort Worth, Texas, are scaling operations, cutting delivery times, and expanding workforces to meet rising demand across aircraft repair and manufacturing sectors. (7/23)

Boeing Projects Need for 2.4M Aviation Workers by 2044 (Source: Simple Flying)
Boeing's 2025 Pilot and Technician Outlook projects a need for 2.37 million new aviation professionals by 2044, including 660,000 pilots, 710,000 technicians, and 1 million cabin crew. This demand is driven by the expected delivery of 43,600 new aircraft, primarily single-aisle planes. Eurasia, North America, and China will lead in personnel demand, with South Asia and Southeast Asia seeing the fastest growth. The Boeing fleet could reach nearly 50,000 aircraft by 2044, with significant replacements and fleet expansion. (7/22)

House Appropriators Want NASA Study of SLS Upper Stage Alternatives (Source: Space News)
House appropriators want NASA to study alternatives for a new SLS upper stage. In a report accompanying the commerce, justice and science spending bill that funds NASA, the House Appropriations Committee directed NASA to evaluate alternatives for the Exploration Upper Stage, which NASA is developing for the Block 1B version of SLS that will first launch on the Artemis 4 mission. Appropriators said they are interested in options that reduce cost and schedule while maintaining performance. Other provisions in the report include $300 million for Mars Sample Return, a mission that the administration sought to cancel, and increased funding for development of commercial space stations. (7/24)

iRocket Plans SPAC Merger (Source: Space News)
Launcher startup Innovative Rocket Technologies, or iRocket, says it plans to go public through a SPAC merger. The company said Wednesday it agreed to merge with BPGC Acquisition Corp., a special-purpose acquisition company backed by Wilbur Ross, the former secretary of commerce. The companies said the deal would value iRocket at $400 million but did not disclose how much money iRocket would raise. BPGC Acquisition Corp. originally raised $345 million but has given back most of that money through shareholder redemptions. The company, founded in 2018, says it plans to develop reusable launch vehicles, but has announced little progress beyond engine tests. (7/24)

China Aims to Improve Commercial Space Quality (Source: Space News)
The Chinese government wants to improve quality control in commercial space businesses. The China National Space Administration issued new rules this week with the aim of establishing a robust quality management and supervision framework for commercial space projects in China. The move will likely provide clarity in terms of regulatory frameworks and processes, such as pathways to launch site access and launch licenses, and lead to greater rigor at all stages of operations. However, it could also increase administrative burdens for commercial space companies and bring new barriers to entry to the commercial space sector. (7/24)

China's Space Pioneer Completes Launch Pad for Tianlong-3 Rocket (Source: Space News)
Chinese startup Space Pioneer has completed a launch pad for its Tianlong-3 rocket. The company said Wednesday that its launch pad for Tianlong-3 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center had recently passed final construction acceptance. That acceptance included tests using a full-scale mockup of Tianlong-3, a two-stage medium-class rocket. The company has not provided a recent update on the schedule for the vehicle’s first launch. (7/24)

SpaceX Launches Smallsat Mission From Vandenberg (Source: Space News)
A Falcon 9 launched a NASA space science mission and several other smallsats Wednesday. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, placing several payloads into sun-synchronous orbits. The primary payload was NASA’s Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites, or TRACERS, mission, a pair of smallsats to study how the solar wind couples with the Earth’s magnetic field. Several other smallsats on the launch included one to test a novel smallsat design and new Earth science sensor, as well as one that will test a terminal that can communicate with both NASA’s TDRS and commercial communications satellites. (7/24)

Japan Tests New H3 Rocket Variant (Source: Yomiuri Shimbun)
A new variant of Japan’s H3 rocket completed a static-fire test Tuesday. In the test, the H3 first stage fired its main engines for 25 seconds, with the Japanese space agency JAXA announcing the test went as planned. The test involved a “Type 30” version of the H3 with three LE-9 engines in the first stage, rather than two, but with no solid rocket boosters. The Type 30 H3 will first fly later this year carrying test payloads. (7/24)

Weeks After Mexico Threatens to Sue, SpaceX Pulls Rocket Wreckage from Gulf (Source: San Antonio Express-News)
The Mexican government has criticized a SpaceX effort to salvage Starship rocket parts off the Gulf coast. SpaceX chartered a vessel that operated off the Mexican coast recently, retrieving the aft section of a Super Heavy booster that landed in the water in November. That debris was returned to port in Brownsville, Texas, earlier this week.

Mexican officials said that while the ship had permission to operate in Mexican waters, the ship didn’t meet unspecified “international standards” for that work. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has argued that Starship launches have damaged the environment in Mexico and has considered suing SpaceX. She said Wednesday the government was preparing a report on those environmental impacts. (7/24)

Doubts Raised About Exoplanet's Biosignature (Source: New York Times)
A new study has raised more doubts about a potential biosignature discovered in an exoplanet’s atmosphere. Astronomers announced in April that they had detected in the atmosphere of the exoplanet K2-18b the gas dimethyl sulfide, which on Earth is only produced by life. Other researchers, though, raised doubts about the detection. The latest study, using additional data, failed to make a definitive detection of dimethyl sulfide. The research also found there are ways to produce the molecule without life, meaning that even if it is found in the planet’s atmosphere, it may not be a reliable biosignature. (7/24)

Sidus Space Unveils LunarLizzie (Source: Sidus Space)
Sidus Space announced LunarLizzie, its newest and most advanced satellite platform engineered for lunar and cislunar missions. This powerful spacecraft is expected to support payloads up to 800kg, integrate LiDAR, hyperspectral imaging, AI powered autonomous navigation, encryption, and multi-sensor data fusion to provide near real-time lunar terrain intelligence and environmental awareness. (7/24)

Moon Erosion by Solar Wind Far Weaker Than Previously Believed (Source: Space Daily)
The surface of the Moon is constantly exposed to the solar wind-a stream of charged particles from the Sun that can dislodge atoms from the lunar surface and contribute to its thin exosphere. However, a new study by Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) and international collaborators reveals that earlier models greatly overestimated this sputtering effect. The researchers attribute the discrepancy to simplified assumptions about the Moon's surface. Past calculations assumed a smooth, dense surface, ignoring the rough, porous texture of actual lunar regolith. By combining precision experiments with advanced simulations, the team has now established more accurate sputtering rates. (7/23)

ESA Launches Vigil to Track Solar Threats From Deep Space Vantage (Source: Space Daily)
Vigil, the European Space Agency's upcoming space weather mission, will be the first satellite to maintain a continuous presence at the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 5 (L5), providing an unprecedented side view of solar activity. From this strategic location, Vigil will monitor the Sun's surface several days before the same regions rotate into Earth's direct line of sight. The mission is designed to operate 24/7, delivering real-time data crucial for forecasting hazardous solar phenomena such as coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Positioned to view the Sun-Earth line from the side, Vigil will provide earlier and more accurate warnings of space weather that could threaten satellites, communication networks, power grids, and aviation systems. (7/22)

Astronomers Find the Baby Planet That's Carving Spirals in a Disc Around a Distant Star (Source: BBC)
Astronomers may have caught a baby planet in the act of being born around a star, sculpting beautiful spiral arms into the dusty disc that surrounds it. Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), researchers believe they’ve found a planet forming in real time, deep within a swirl of gas and dust 440 lightyears away. This newborn exoplanet is twice the size of Jupiter and, as it orbits its star, is leaving giant spiral patterns in its wake. (7/22)

US Defense Fuels Expanding $613 Billion Global Space Economy (Source: Bloomberg)
The Pentagon’s spending on space grew faster than space-related military outlays by other nations in 2024, with the American total likely to soar as President Donald Trump’s administration moves ahead with his proposed Golden Dome missile shield. The US defense space expenditure increased 7.7% from a year earlier to $49.5 billion, more than the 2.3% growth by all other nations, which spent a combined $11.3 billion for defense space programs, according to a report from the Space Foundation. (7/22)

NASA Chief of Staff Action Items (Source: NASA Watch)
NASA Chief of Staff Brian Hughes speaking at the same town hall, agreed, saying it would “probably be considered irresponsible” to wait for the congressional budget process. The letter added that Hughes recently ordered NASA science programs targeted for cancellation in Trump’s budget request to stop issuing press releases celebrating new scientific results and achievements.

In addition, senior staff at recent meetings at NASA with Hughes have been told not to expect any help from Congress in pushing back against the plan embodied in the President’s FY 2026 Budget Request i.e. multiple mission cancellations and large personnel layoffs. This is in direct contrast to an offer made last week to senior NASA staff by Acting Interim Administrator Duffy to listen to – and then consider – pushing for budget increases (restoration) for items planned for deletion – if a solid case can be made. (7/22)

Space Force, Congress Look to Address Growing Crunch on Launch Facilities (Source: Air & Space Forces)
Lawmakers and Space Force officials alike are preparing for long-term changes to how the Pentagon manages space launches amid surging demand and aging infrastructure, recent legislation and strategy documents show. Both the Senate and House armed services committees included provisions in their respective versions of the 2026 defense policy bill directing studies on the Space Force’s two main ranges at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Vandenberg Space Force Base, as well as on the possibility of adopting new launch sites.

Given the surge in launches, leaders have noted the need to upgrade the infrastructure at Vandenberg and Cape Canaveral, where decades of rocket launches and severe weather have taken their toll. Congress recently provided the Space Force with $1.3 billion through 2028 for its “spaceport of the future” program, plus another $80 million for satellite data-processing services at Vandenberg. Work has already started on that initiative.

Lawmakers have not forgotten about the effort—the House Armed Services Committee included language in its 2026 draft policy bill requiring the Department of the Air Force to report back on the program each year through 2031, including a full list of projects and an estimate of any additional funds needed. Such improvements could include processing facilities, storage facilities, and improved utilities to support more launches per year. The Space Force, for its part, indicated in its annex document that it will look to companies to bear some of the cost of maintaining an in-demand launch enterprise. (7/21)

America's Largest Crater Has Surprise Link to Grand Canyon (Source: Science Alert)
Two of Arizona's most famous landmarks may be linked by cosmic violence: the asteroid that gouged out Meteor Crater may have also caused the formation of an ancient lake in the Grand Canyon. This surprising connection between Arizona's world-renowned geological features stretches back 56,000 years, to when a 300,000 ton nickel-iron asteroid slammed into the Colorado Plateau with the force of over 150 atomic bombs, creating the largest meteor crater in the United States.

The resultant impact-generated earthquake may have caused a rockslide in the Grand Canyon, damming the Colorado River and temporarily creating a body of water 80 kilometers (50 miles) long and more than 100 meters (around 370 feet) deep in what is today Nankoweap canyon. (7/23)