September 26, 2025

SpaceX Launches Friday Starlink Mission From California (Source: Spaceflight Now)
SpaceX launched a set of Starlink satellites from California overnight. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base and placed 24 Starlink satellites into orbit a little more than an hour later. The launch was the third by SpaceX in about 41 hours, after a NASA launch Wednesday morning and another Starlink launch early Thursday. (9/26)

Marshall Chief Stepping Down (Source: Huntsville Times)
The head of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center is stepping down. In a memo Thursday, Joseph Pelfrey announced he would no longer serve as director of the Alabama center, but would remain with the agency in some capacity to be determined. Pelfrey had been director of Marshall since early last year. Rae Ann Meyer, deputy director of Marshall, will serve as acting director while NASA conducts an open search for a permanent successor. Pelfrey is the third NASA center director to step down in recent months, after the leaders of JPL and Goddard. (9/26)

NASA Releases SAR Images From Joint NASA/ISRO Satellite (Source: NASA)
NASA released Thursday the first images from a radar satellite jointly developed with ISRO. The L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images taken by the NISAR spacecraft last month of Maine and North Dakota show the instrument is working as expected. NISAR was jointly developed with the Indian space agency ISRO and included an L-band SAR from NASA and an S-band SAR from ISRO. It is the first spacecraft with dual-band radar imaging systems. Commissioning of the spacecraft, launched at the end of July, continues ahead of the start of science operations in November. (9/26)

NordSpace Launch Attempt Scrubbed From Canada (Source: SpaceQ)
Fuel problems have delayed a suborbital launch by a Canadian company. NordSpace said Thursday it called off a launch attempt planned for this week from a launch pad in Newfoundland after a “minor pad fire” during a launch attempt. The fire did not damage the vehicle, but the company said it would not attempt a launch for the coming weeks. NordSpace said it linked the fire to differences in propellant quality between its Ontario test site and the Newfoundland launch site. (9/26)

Sierra Space Pivots Away From ISS for Dream Chaser (Source: Space News)
Sierra Space no longer plans to send its Dream Chaser vehicle to the International Space station on a test flight as it pivots to defense applications. NASA and Sierra Space said Thursday they modified the Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS-2) contract NASA awarded the company in 2016. That pact had included seven Dream Chaser cargo missions to the ISS. Instead, Dream Chaser will fly a single test flight that does not go to the ISS in late 2026, although NASA will have the option of ordering cargo missions. Sierra Space said it is now focused on potential national security missions for the uncrewed spaceplane. Sierra Space did not disclose any particular technical issues that have delayed Dream Chaser, previously set to fly to the station last year. (9/26)

L3Harris Demos Satellite Radio for DoD (Source: Space News)
L3Harris said it has successfully demonstrated a satellite-based radio system that allows military aircraft to use commercial satellite broadband services. The system, known as Rapidly Adaptable Standards-compliant Open Radio (RASOR), integrates multiple commercial satellite internet providers and military-owned networks into a single modular terminal. RASOR was tested earlier this year on a military aircraft and was able to communicate with the Starlink constellation. L3Harris is also working with Amazon’s Project Kuiper on the system. (9/26)

NASA Picks Katalyst Space for Astronomy Satellite Reboost (Source: Space News)
NASA selected stratup Katalyst Space to attempt a mission to reboost an astronomy satellite. NASA awarded a $30 million SBIR Phase 3 contract to Katalyst to carry out a mission to dock with the Swift spacecraft and raise its orbit. Swift’s orbit is decaying from atmospheric drag and the spacecraft may reenter by the end of next year. Katalyst says the contract will fully fund the mission, scheduled to launch next June. The company received one of two study contracts from NASA last month to examine the feasibility of such a reboost mission. (9/26)

Germany Plans Major Space Investments (Source: Breaking Defense)
The German government plans to make a major investment in military space systems. In a speech Thursday, Germany’s defense minister, Boris Pistorius, said the government would spend 35 billion euros ($41 billion) on military space through 2030. The funding would support communications, space situational awareness and launch, among other capabilities. He cited growing threats to German and other Western space assets from China and Russia as the key reason for the investment. (9/26)

Russia is Shadowing Our Satellites, German Defense Minister Says (Source: CNN)
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius warned on Thursday about the growing threat posed by Russian space activities, citing concerns over two Russian satellites shadowing Intelsat satellites used by German forces and others. (9/25)

The Librarian Who Became Palomar’s First Female Telescope Operator, and Who Discovered Her Own Comets (Source: LA Times)
Jean Mueller became Palomar Observatory’s first female telescope operator in 1985, breaking decades-old gender barriers in astronomical research. The former USC librarian was operating the world’s most powerful telescope when Comet Halley appeared in December 1985, fulfilling a childhood dream. Through her 29-year career, she discovered 15 comets, 13 asteroids and 107 supernovae. (9/25)

Uncertainty Over Satellite Constellation Means Alt-GPS Capability Up in the Air (Source: Breaking Defense)
The Space Development Agency’s (SDA) plans to provide US military operators with positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) signals in situations where GPS is unavailable now are up in the air — as the Space Force reconsiders pushing forward with the agency’s next set of Transport Layer data relay satellites. But there’s a question as to whether SDA will be able to transmit those alternate PNT signals to warfighters on the ground if the Tranche 3 Transport Layer is cancelled. (9/23)

Iran Likely Carried Out an Undeclared Missile Test, Satellite Photos Show (Source: NBC)
Iran has likely carried out an undeclared missile test at its Imam Khomeini Spaceport, satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press showed Thursday, underlining Tehran’s effort to maintain its weapons program despite the 12-day war with Israel in June. Iran has not formally acknowledged the test last week, carried out at a circular pad that has hosted other major launches by the country’s civilian space program. (9/25)

Information Could Be a Fundamental Part of the Universe, and May Explain Dark Energy and Dark Matter (Source: Phys.org)
For more than a century, physics has been built on two great theories. Einstein's general relativity explains gravity as the bending of space and time. Quantum mechanics governs the world of particles and fields. Both work brilliantly in their own domains. But put them together and contradictions appear—especially when it comes to black holes, dark matter, dark energy and the origins of the cosmos.

My colleagues and I have been exploring a new way to bridge that divide. The idea is to treat information—not matter, not energy, not even spacetime itself—as the most fundamental ingredient of reality. We call this framework the quantum memory matrix (QMM). (9/24)

Dwarf Planet Makemake Sports the Most Remote Gas in the Solar System (Source:  Science News)
More than 2 billion kilometers farther from the sun than Pluto, a frigid world named Makemake sports the most distant gas ever seen in our solar system, new observations reveal. “By surprise, we found evidence of gas” on Makemake, even though it currently resides 53 times as far from the sun as Earth does, says Silvia Protopapa. (9/24)

Powerful Particle Detection Could Mean We've Already Found an Exploding Black Hole (Source: Science Alert)
A tiny particle that smashed into Earth with a record-shattering energy of 220 petaelectronvolts could be the last scream of an evaporating black hole. According to a new theoretical paper, the 2023 neutrino event named KM3-230213A can be explained by a burst of Hawking radiation emitted as a primordial black hole puffed into nothing. (9/24)

Rocket Lab Stock Falls More Steeply Than Broader Market (Source: Zacks)
Rocket Lab Corporation (RKLB) ended the recent trading session at $48.69, demonstrating a -7.98% change from the preceding day's closing price. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.29%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.37%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.34%. (9/24)

SpaceX Talks About What it Wants to Do With its New 2 GHz Spectrum (Source: (Source: Fierce Network)
SpaceX hasn't taken possession of EchoStar's spectrum yet, but it's seeking FCC authority to launch up to 15,000 next-gen satellites to provide direct-to-cell (D2C) services. SpaceX told the FCC it will use learning from its existing D2C service to deploy an even more robust service with the spectrum it’s acquiring from EchoStar.

The spectrum will enable SpaceX to provide voice, text and high-speed broadband to mobile users in areas where terrestrial systems don't reach. (9/24)

Titusville, Cape Canaveral Officials Voice Concerns About SpaceX Starship Coming to Florida (Source: Florida Today)
Add Titusville and Cape Canaveral city officials to the list of entities and residents concerned about possible negative impacts from future SpaceX Starship-Super Heavy mega-scale launches and landings on Florida's Space Coast.

"We believe there must be a better balance between innovation and environmental/public interests," Titusville Mayor Andrew Connors said. "The scale and frequency of Starship related closures go beyond previous norms and raise serious questions about long-term public access and the preservation of this protected area," Connors said.

Now, the FAA has extended its Starship-Super Heavy public-comment period one additional week, until Monday, Sept. 29. Cape Canaveral City Manager Keith Touchberry submitted a letter on Sept. 22 on behalf on his barrier-island city, asking that the agency strengthen its environmental impact statement in several key areas. (9/24)

Elon Musk Is Out to Rule Space. Can Anyone Stop Him? (Source: WIRED)
It’s hard to quantify the geopolitical power that Musk now commands by way of his two space businesses. You might be a little numb at this point to the degree of control that billionaires have over our lives. But you’ve watched Elon Musk stomp and smash and rage his way through politics and policy, even as his companies continue to pull off engineering feats that were once the stuff of sci-fi. So you get what’s at stake if he’s given an outsize role in the weaponization of space. Click here. (9/22)

Boeing Chooses Palantir to Boost AI Adoption in Defense, Space Unit (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Boeing said it was joining forces with Palantir to integrate artificial intelligence into its defense, space and security business. The aerospace company said Tuesday that its BDS unit would use Palantir’s Foundry platform to standardize data analytics and insights across its geographically dispersed defense factories. (9/25)

NASA Astronaut Candidate's Helicopter Skills Could Come in Handy on the Moon (Source: Space.com)
New NASA astronaut candidate Ben Bailey thinks that his 2,000 flight hours here on Earth might come in handy during a moon landing. The 38-year-old U.S. Army helicopter pilot can't remember what first got him interested in flying, but what got him interested in NASA is clear: As a kid, Bailey saw the 1995 moon-mission movie "Apollo 13," which famously uses U.S. Navy helicopters to recreate the real-life splashdown that brought that dramatic, near-catastrophic mission to a safe close. (9/24)

NASA Will Say Goodbye to the ISS in 2030 − and Welcome the Age of Commercial Space Stations (Source: The Conversation)
When viewed in the history of spaceflight, the International Space Station is perhaps one of humanity’s most amazing accomplishments, a shining example of cooperation in space among the United States, Europe, Canada, Japan and Russia. But all good things must come to an end. In 2030, the International Space Station will be deorbited: driven into a remote area of the Pacific Ocean.

In the wake of the station’s retirement, NASA and its international partners are not abandoning their outpost. Instead, they are looking for alternatives to continue to take advantage of low Earth orbit’s promise as a unique research laboratory and to extend the continuous, 25-year human presence some 250 miles above the Earth’s surface. In December 2021, NASA announced three awards to help develop privately owned, commercially operated space stations in low-Earth orbit.

In September 2025, NASA issued a draft announcement for Phase 2 partnership proposals for commercial space stations. Companies that are selected will receive funding to support critical design reviews and demonstrate stations with four people in orbit for at least 30 days. NASA will then move forward with formal design acceptance and certification to ensure that these stations meet NASA’s stringent safety requirements. The outcome will allow NASA to purchase missions and other services aboard these stations on a commercial basis. (9/24)

Two Galaxies Found to be Linked by an 'Astonishingly' Massive Gas Bridge, the Longest Such Structure Ever Seen (Source: Earth.com)
Two small, misshapen galaxies are wandering together on the outskirts of the Virgo Cluster, a huge city of galaxies. Astronomers have been watching this galaxy pair, NGC 4532 and DDO 137, for years because their gas looks messy and stretched. Fresh radio maps now show why. Using a survey that traces invisible, cold hydrogen gas, researchers mapped a massive bridge between the two galaxies and a far longer tail streaming away into space. (9/24)

Interstellar Object 3I/Atlas Measured To Be Over 33 Billion Tons (Source: IFL Science)
The team's paper found that the non-gravitational acceleration was pretty small, at below 15 meters per day squared. That's pretty tiny, considering that we have already seen significant outgassing by the comet, including using the JWST, with a mass loss rate of around 150 kilograms (330 pounds) per second. To this team crunching the numbers, that suggests that the object's nucleus is massive, resisting change to acceleration as the Sun-facing side outgasses.

The team estimates that the object weighs over 33 billion tons – or 33 trillion kilograms – with a nucleus diameter of 5 kilometers. "3I/ATLAS is more massive than the other two interstellar objects, 1I/`Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov by 3–5 orders of magnitude, constituting a major anomaly." (9/25)