September 25, 2025

DoD Strategy Targets In-Space Maneuverability and Refueling (Source: Space News)
The military is increasingly adopting satellite strategies where spacecraft are not just refueled but able to maneuver continuously. U.S. companies in the emerging in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing (ISAM) sector are working to better understand military needs, officials said. Topics like “dynamic space operations” and “sustained space maneuver” are now part of regular conversations among companies. Military officials stress that these capabilities go beyond simply extending satellite operational life by adding fuel, but would also enable satellites to survive threats and create challenges for adversaries. The Space Force says the upcoming RG-XX program for surveillance satellites in GEO will “absolutely” have a refueling requirement. (9/25)

Second New Glenn to Launch ESCAPADE  in October or November (Source: Space News)
The second New Glenn launch is now expected late next month or early in November. An official with NASA’s Launch Services Program said after Wednesday’s Falcon 9 launch of three space weather missions that the New Glenn launch of NASA’s ESCAPADE Mars smallsat mission was planned for “very late” October or the first week of November. The twin ESCAPADE spacecraft are back in Florida for launch preparations, NASA and spacecraft manufacturer Rocket Lab said earlier this week. This will be the first New Glenn launch since the vehicle’s inaugural flight in January. (9/25)

France's Orano o Provide Nuclear Fuel for Zeno Power (Source: Space News)
Zeno Power has signed a deal with a French company to secure a supply of nuclear fuel for its radioisotope power systems. The company said Wednesday that Orano, a French nuclear recycler, will provide a steady supply of americium-241 that Zeno plans to use for the power systems it seeks to offer to NASA and others. Zeno is also developing strontium-fueled batteries under a Department of Defense contract for shorter, maritime-focused missions. (9/25)

UK's Space Forge to Work with United Semiconductors Toward In-Space Production (Source: Space News)
British startup Space Forge will work with an American company to examine space-based manufacturing of semiconductors. Space Forge said this week it signed an agreement with United Semiconductors to examine how semiconductors for electromagnetic sensors and quantum computing could be produced in space. Space Forge will design and develop processes and equipment for advanced-materials deposition compatible with its ForgeStar manufacturing satellite, while United Semiconductors will design equipment for in-space manufacturing, identify suitable materials and perform wafer processing and testing. (9/25)

Arianespace to Launch German Military Satellites (Source: Arianespace)
Arianespace won a contract Wednesday to launch a pair of German military communications satellites. The contract, awarded by satellite manufacturer Airbus Defence and Space, covers the launch of the two SATCOMBw Stufe 3 satellites for the German military. Each will launch on an Ariane 6, although the company did not disclose launch dates for either spacecraft. (9/25)

Germany's Isar to Launch R-Space Satellites (Source: Isar Aerospace)
Germany’s Isar Aerospace signed a contract for launching a pair of satellites for startup R-Space. The contract, announced Wednesday, is for the launch of the two satellites on Isar’s Spectrum rocket in 2026 from Norway’s Andøya Spaceport. R-Space will use the satellites to perform in-orbit validation of technologies for its customers. (9/25)

Planet to Manufacture Satellites in Germany (Source: Reuters)
Planet will build a new satellite manufacturing complex in Germany. Planet announced Thursday it will invest an “eight-figure sum” into a Berlin factory that will double the production rate of its Pelican high-resolution imaging satellites, currently built in San Francisco. The facility will add 70 jobs to the 150 the company already has in Berlin, its European headquarters. Planet won a contract worth 240 million euros ($282 million) from the German government in July for satellite imagery services. (9/25)

U.S., France Planning Second Bilateral On-Orbit Demo (Source: Aviation Week)
U.S. Space Command is planning a second on-orbit demonstration with partner nation France, less than one year after Washington and Paris teamed up to test out a rendezvous and proximity operation (RPO). (9/24)

Space Force’s Next-Gen Space Domain Awareness Satellites Will Require On-Orbit Refueling Capability (Source: Defense Scoop)
The RG-XX program aims to develop a network of space domain awareness platforms stationed in geosynchronous orbit (GEO) by leveraging commercially available technologies from multiple vendors. The constellation will eventually replace the service’s current Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) sats, which keep watch over objects of interest on orbit.

While RG-XX represents a key pivot in the Space Force’s acquisition strategy for big-ticket programs — namely the service’s decision to use commercial space vehicles and payloads — the constellation will also be the organization’s first next-gen constellation that includes a requirement for on-orbit refueling capabilities. (9/24)

White House Tells Agencies to Draft Mass Firing Plans Ahead of Potential Shutdown (Source: AP)
The White House is telling agencies to prepare large-scale firings of federal workers if the government shuts down next week. In a memo released Wednesday night, the Office of Management and Budget said agencies should consider a reduction in force for federal programs whose funding would lapse next week, is not otherwise funded and is "not consistent with the President's priorities." That would be a much more aggressive step than in previous shutdowns, when federal workers not deemed essential were furloughed but returned to their jobs once Congress approved government spending. (9/25)

AeroVironment to Deliver BADGER Antennas to Space Force (Source: Defense Post)
The US Space Force has contracted AeroVironment to deliver BADGER phased array antenna systems for the Satellite Communication Augmentation Resource program, with the first unit expected to be delivered in coming months. The contract, facilitated through an Other Transaction Agreement, allows for accelerated procurement. AeroVironment is scaling production to meet the Space Force's operational demands, with more BADGER units expected by early 2026. (9/23)

Senate Panel Seeks Test Office Review of Golden Dome (Source: Bloomberg)
The Senate Appropriations Committee has included a directive in its version of the annual defense spending bill that would require the Pentagon's testing office perform an assessment of the Trump administration's "Golden Dome for America" missile shield. The House version of the bill does not include similar language. Trump's DoD has sought to remove Golden Dome from some traditional technology review processes. (9/24)

At Global Climate Summit This Week, U.S. Isolation Was on Full Display (Source: New York Times)
At a climate summit at the United Nations on Wednesday, the vast majority of the world’s nations gathered to make their newest pledges to reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade. Geopolitical heavyweights including China, Russia, Japan and Germany were there. Dozens of small island states were there. The world’s poorest countries, including Chad and the Central African Republic, were there. Venezuela, Syria, Iran — there, too. The United States was not. (9/24)

Judge Finds Trump Unlawfully Fired 17 Agency IGs, But Won’t Reinstate Them (Source: FNN)
A federal judge found President Donald Trump unlawfully fired 17 agency watchdogs early in his second term, but won’t reinstate them to their government oversight jobs. Trump violated the 1978 Inspector General Act when he fired them just days after taking office, and without notifying Congress.

The Watergate-era legislation installed independent watchdogs at executive branch agencies. Most IGS are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Congress amended the legislation in 2022, requiring the president to provide “substantive rationale” for firing an agency IG. A former NASA IG was among those fired, but he was with USAID at the time. (9/24)

Western Researchers Support International Collaboration for Planetary Defense (Source: Space Daily)
A large international collaboration of researchers has completed the first-ever comprehensive study of an asteroid tracked from space through to its impact on Earth. The analysis of asteroid 2023 CX1 represents a unique opportunity for both science and planetary defense. The asteroid, quite ordinary by space rock standards, exploded so quickly and with so much force that its actions underscore the potential threat of similar - and larger - astronomical objects. More than 100 scientists, including meteor physicists from Western Space, and citizen observers across Europe, America, Africa and Australia joined forces to investigate every aspect of this exceptional fall. (9/25)

ULA and SpaceX Launch Constellation Sats Hours Apart at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: SPACErePORT)
SpaceX launched a batch of 28 Starlink satellites from the Space Coast on Thursday morning. Less than four hours later, a ULA Atlas rocket launched a batch of 27 Kuiper satellites. These were the  82nd and 83rd orbital launches thus far during 2025 from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. (9/25)

Pentagon Still in ‘Active Debate’ Over the Future of Space Data Transport (Source: Air and Space Forces)
Defense Department officials are engaged in “active debate” over the future of the Space Force’s data transport architecture and hope to have a decision on the way ahead in time for the fiscal 2027 budget’s release next year.

The service is weighing at least two options for proliferated satellite communications capabilities—the “Transport Layer’ of the Space Development Agency’s satellite architecture in low-Earth orbit and a lesser-known constellation called MILNET, developed by the National Reconnaissance Office in partnership with the Space Force. SpaceX is reported to be the sole MILNET contractor, but defense officials have said the plan is for multiple companies to provide satellites and ground terminals. (9/24)

The Space Economy Cannot Succeed Without Private Ownership (Source: Real Clear Markets)
Plans to establish a base on the moon – and later on Mars – or mine asteroids are becoming increasingly achievable thanks to the massive drop in launch costs. Today, there are more legal than technical obstacles to such visionary plans becoming reality. This is because governments will not be able to finance such ambitious undertakings, or will at least not be able to finance them alone. What it will take are strong economic incentives – and a secure legal framework. 

Without private ownership, there will be no successful space economy. Most successful countries permit the private ownership of land. Where this does not exist, it is at least possible to buy usage rights from the state for 50 to 70 years, which can also be resold – as in Vietnam and China, for example. North Korea is the only country where even that is not possible. But a space economy based on legal conditions such as those in North Korea will never work. (9/25)

Redwire Awarded Contract to Provide Roll-Out Solar Arrays for Axiom Space’s First Space Station Module (Source: Redwire)
Jacksonville's Redwire Corp. announced it has been awarded a contract from Axiom Space, a leader in commercial space infrastructure, to develop and deliver roll-out solar array (ROSA) wings for Axiom Station’s Payload Power Thermal Module (AxPPTM)—the first module for the company’s commercial space station. (9/25)

India's Cosmoserve Space Raises $3.17 Million (Source: Entrackr)
Cosmoserve Space, a Hyderabad-based space technology startup focused on sustainable space exploration, has raised $3.17 million in an oversubscribed pre-seed round led by Alan Rutledge with participation from AUM Ventures and Shakti VC. A major highlight of this round is the participation of Ram Shriram, Google’s early investor and long-time board member. The proceeds will be used to accelerate R&D, expand the engineering team, and initiate prototypes for its debris mitigation technology. (9/25)

Rocket Lab Delivers Mars Probes to Blue Origin for New Glenn Launch (Source: Space.com)
A pair of spacecraft have arrived in Florida ahead of their launch on a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket and a voyage to the Red Planet. Rocket Lab delivered the twin ESCAPADE ("Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers") spacecraft to the Cape Canaveral Spaceport on Sep. 22. Their launch is scheduled to occur no earlier than this fall. (9/24)

Huntsville Rep. Supports Spaceport Funding Bill, for Dream Chaser Landing Operations in Huntsville (Source: Axios)
Rep. Dale Strong (R-AL) has reintroduced a bill to provide federal support to spaceport infrastructure efforts. Huntsville International Airport seeks to expand its spaceport capabilities as the commercial space economy grows. In 2022, the airport was the first commercial airport in the country to be licensed by the FAA to land a commercial space vehicle: the Sierra Space Dream Chaser. (9/24)

New Nuclear Propulsion Design Could Make Solar System More Accessible (Source: Space.com)
The exciting potential of the new technology, which is called a centrifugal nuclear thermal rocket (CNTR), can be neatly summed up by its specific impulse, which describes how efficient a rocket is at generating thrust. In principle, a CNTR rocket can double the specific impulse provided by previous nuclear thermal rocket designs dating back to the 1950s (and still being worked on by NASA and DARPA today) as well as quadruple that which can be achieved by chemical rockets.

Although no nuclear-powered rocket has ever flown, space agencies around the world are increasingly looking at nuclear propulsion as a means of speeding up interplanetary voyages. (9/24)