October 15, 2025

India Plans 2027 Crewed Spaceflight (Source: PTI)
The Indian space agency ISRO has reaffirmed a 2027 date for its first crewed flight. The chairman of ISRO, V Narayanan, said in an interview that the Gaganyaan program remains on schedule to fly its first astronauts as soon as the first quarter of 2027 after three uncrewed test flights, the first of which is scheduled for December. Narayanan said ISRO is also working on a roadmap for lunar exploration after being instructed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to set a goal of a human lunar landing by 2040. (10/15)

Balloon Experiment Had Planned Landing in Texas (Source: Space.com)
No, a NASA balloon payload didn’t crash land in Texas after going off course. The payload, an astrophysics technology experiment, was found on a Texas farm earlier this month, leading to reports that the balloon had been blown off course and crash landed. However, the principal investigator for the payload at the University of Massachusetts Lowell said the balloon flight actually went according to plan, with landings on farms or ranches quite common. The balloon took off from a New Mexico facility and was guided to that landing after spending the night in the stratosphere to test technologies for imaging exoplanets. (10/15)

K2 Plans Trinity Mission to Deploy Satellites in Multiple Orbits (Source: Space News)
Satellite manufacturer K2 Space plans to show that its satellites can operate in any orbit by launching three of them at once to separate orbits. The company announced plans Tuesday for its Trinity mission, which will launch three spacecraft on a dedicated Falcon 9 in 2027. Two spacecraft will be deployed in low Earth orbit, with one immediately moving to medium Earth orbit, while a third will be placed in geostationary transfer orbit.

The mission is intended to demonstrate the capabilities of the company’s “multi-orbit” satellite platform. The Trinity mission is the next step in a series of tests that previously involved studying components such as reaction wheels and avionics. Founded in 2022, K2 Space has raised $180 million in venture funding and has reported $50 million in government and commercial contracts. (10/15)

Viasat and Space42 Partner on D2D (Source: Space News)
A joint venture of Viasat and Emirati operator Space42 has announced the first partner for its direct-to-device (D2D) services. Viasat and Space42 announced the formation of Equatys in September, combining more than 100 megahertz of mobile satellite spectrum available in more than 160 countries, using a business model analogous to shared cellular tower infrastructure. Equatys is positioning itself as a “sovereignty-friendly” D2D alternative to SpaceX where national governments will have more control over compliance and licensing. (10/15)

Poland's Scanway to Provide Lunar Multispectral Telescope for Intuitive Machines (Source: Space News)
Polish optical systems manufacturer Scanway Space won its first order from an American company for a lunar instrument. The company said that Intuitive Machines ordered a multispectral telescope instrument to map the moon’s surface for a 2026 mission. The order comes after the company won contracts from ESA for a multispectral data processing system as well as for Earth observation instruments from Asian customers. The company reported $3.2 million in revenue in the first half of 2025, a 119% increase from a year ago. (10/15)

Rocket Lab Launches Japanese Satellite From New Zealand (Source: Space News)
Rocket Lab launched a radar imaging satellite for a Japanese company Tuesday. An Electron rocket lifted off from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand and placed into orbit the seventh satellite for Synspective, a Japanese company developing a constellation of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites. Synspective said this was the first spacecraft in the third generation of its spacecraft, which features improved performance and reliability. Synspective has ordered 20 more Electron launches of its satellites, including a 10-launch contract announced last month. Last week, Rocket Lab signed a contract with another Japanese SAR company, iQPS, for three additional launches. (10/15)

Duffy Seeks NASA Administrator, Isaacman Interviewed (Source: Bloomberg)
NASA’s acting administrator, Sean Duffy, is interviewing potential successors. Duffy met last week with Jared Isaacman, whose nomination to be NASA administrator was abruptly withdrawn at the end of May but whom the White House is reportedly reconsidering. Sources described the interview as a “tense examination” of Isaacman’s plans for NASA and his lack of prior government experience. Duffy is said to be interviewing others for the position. Acting administrators are typically not involved in the selection process for an administrator nominee, but Duffy is the first acting administrator who also serves on the Cabinet as secretary of transportation. Duffy, who has been acting administrator for three months, reportedly said he plans to stay in the NASA job through the end of the year. (10/15)

Snapdragon Mission Tactical Radio Gains Iridium Data for Gobal L Band Connectivity (Source: Space Daily)
Iridium Communications and Qualcomm Technologies have integrated Iridium data services into the Snapdragon Mission Tactical Radio, aiming to deliver resilient, secure L band satellite links for U.S. government and approved allied users. The effort targets handheld and mounted radios, autonomous systems, and other platforms that operate where terrestrial networks are congested, compromised, or absent.

The Snapdragon platform aggregates multiple Iridium services on a single chipset to match mission needs. Short Burst Data supports low-latency messaging and telemetry, while Iridium Burst enables simultaneous broadcasts to unlimited enabled devices. Pairing the Iridium waveform with Qualcomm's cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GNSS capabilities supports global connectivity under tight SWaP-C constraints. (10/15)

PLD Space Fast-Tracks MIURA 5 and Sharpens Europe Leadership in Space Access (Source: Space Daily)
PLD Space says it has advanced its reusable MIURA 5 orbital launcher from concept to near-validation in just two years, crediting vertical integration, MIURA 1 heritage, and in-house manufacturing. The company targets completing 2025 with its first fully integrated MIURA 5 ready for final qualification. MIURA 5 is progressing through subsystem qualification across engines, structures, avionics, GNC, separation, and fairing after closing the launch system Critical Design Review.

PLD Space also cleared the first phase of Flight Safety Validation with CNES for operations from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou. Production has moved to semi-serial builds. The team has manufactured eight complete tanks spanning both stages. In propulsion, first full units of the 190 kN TEPREL-C main engine and the TEPREL-Vac upper-stage engine are complete, with capacity planned to reach one engine every 14 days by late 2025. (10/15)

K2 Space Corp, SpaceX Ink Falcon 9 Rocket Deal for 2027 Mission (Source: Space Daily)
Aerospace startup company K2 Space will team up with SpaceX to deploy a small number of K2 satellites into multiple levels of Earth's orbit. On Tuesday, California-based K2 Space announced its new contract with Elon Musk's SpaceX to launch three K2 satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket for a 2027 mission dubbed "Trinity," which will lift three satellites into low, medium and geostationary transfer orbit. (10/14)

SpaceX Offers New Look at V3 Starlink Satellite for Gigabit Speeds (Source: PC Mag)
SpaceX is offering the clearest look yet at the next major upgrade to Starlink, confirming the upcoming “V3” satellite is significantly longer and larger. The V3 adopts a pair of longer solar arrays. The central satellite bus is also bigger, likely to contain improved “phased array antennas,” enabling it to deliver gigabit internet speeds for the first time. (10/14)

Starship Flight 11 Achieves New Milestones in Return, Re-entry and Landing Performance (Source: Space & Defense)
The Super Heavy booster executed a successful boostback and soft splashdown in the Gulf of America, while Starship continued to orbit, completing a targeted re-entry that tested its heat shield and aerodynamic control surfaces. Starship then performed a precision landing burn and touched down intact in the Indian Ocean — a first for the program. SpaceX confirmed the vehicle demonstrated improved stability, refined Raptor engine performance, and enhanced thermal protection system durability during the high-energy re-entry phase. (10/15)

Western Executives Shaken After Visiting China (Source: Futurism)
Western executives who visit China are returning humbled — and even terrified. The executives are warning that the country’s heavily automated manufacturing industry could quickly leave Western nations behind, especially when it comes to electric vehicles. “There are no people — everything is robotic,” said Andrew Forrest. Other executives recalled touring “dark factories” that don’t even need to keep the lights on, as most work is being done around the clock by robots.

“So in a pre-emptive fashion, they want to automate it as much as possible, not because they expect they’ll be able to get higher margins — that is usually the idea in the West — but to compensate for [their] population decline and to get a competitive advantage.” The country’s space program has also made massive strides, stoking fears of China beating the US back to the Moon. (10/14)

NASA Takes Major Step Toward Artemis II Launch with Latest Rocket Addition at Kennedy Space Center (Source: Space Coast Daily)
NASA integrated the Artemis II Orion stage adapter with the rest of the SLS rocket on Wednesday in KSC's Vehicle Assembly Building. Built by NASA at Marshall Space Flight Center, the adapter connects the rocket’s interim cryogenic propulsion stage to the Orion spacecraft. Four CubeSats containing science and technology experiments will be deployed from the adapter into high Earth orbit after Orion is a safe distance away. (10/14)

Scientists Make a Major Breakthrough in the Mystery Surrounding Our Galaxy’s Black Hole (Source: Gizmodo)
Every large galaxy harbors a supermassive black hole at its center, each one emitting powerful winds of hot gas from its event horizon. Our galaxy should be no exception. Yet for the last 50 or so years, astronomers have been searching for winds coming from the black hole at the Milky Way’s center, and in all that time, they found nothing. Not even a gentle breeze. Until now. A team of scientists found the strongest evidence found yet of winds flowing from the Milky Way’s black hole, Sagittarius A*. The breakthrough findings describe a large, cone-shaped region around the black hole where cold gas appears to have been blown away. (10/11)

Humans May Be Among The First Intelligent Beings in The Universe (Source: Science Alert)
In the recent study, Professor David Kipping addresses two key facts that could mean humanity is an outlier. Based on the age of the Universe and the relatively rare nature of our Sun, he concludes that astrobiologists examining red dwarf planets may be looking in the wrong place. (10/14)

UK Boosts Satellite Defenses Against Laser Attacks (Source: New Atlas)
Star Wars becomes more than a film franchise title as the British government moves to protect the country's satellites from laser attacks. The £500,000 ($670,000) investment for new sensor systems is part of a broader strategic realignment. These are lasers designed to blind satellites or destroy delicate optical equipment.

The new initiative will be to develop sensors to be installed on satellites that will allow them to detect and assess laser attacks so proper countermeasures can be employed. Since these are not high-energy lasers, these defenses may require no more than switching off instruments or turning them away from the threat. Meanwhile, the sensors will be able to gather data on the threat and relay it back to Earth. (10/13)

Petaflop AI Supercomputer Lands at SpaceX (Source: NVIDIA)
The next AI revolution starts where rockets launch. NVIDIA DGX Spark’s first stop: Starbase, Texas. NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang arrived at the SpaceX facility — amid towering engines and gleaming steel — to hand-deliver the company’s just-launched DGX Spark to Elon Musk. DGX Spark packs 128GB of unified memory and delivers a petaflop of AI performance, enough to run models with 200 billion parameters locally. (10/13)

Psyche Asteroid Psyche May Be the Product of Metal Volcanoes (Source: Live Science)
The asteroid Psyche may have once had vents that spewed molten metal — but only if it is chemically similar to rare, metal-rich meteorites, a new study suggests. The study, which was published online July 31 in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, could explain why the space rock has an unusual metallic cloak.

Potato-shaped asteroid Psyche, a member of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, is unique in being super-shiny. Radar measurements indicate that, on average, its surface reflects nearly a third of the sunlight shining on it, making it at least twice as reflective as most asteroids. Because of its reflectivity, scientists have posited that Psyche isn’t just mostly metal but may actually be the exposed iron-rich heart of a planetary building block. (10/13)

Impulse Space Sets Sights on the Moon with New Lunar Lander (Source: NSF)
Impulse Space, the innovative startup founded by SpaceX veteran Tom Mueller, has unveiled plans for a new lunar lander designed to deliver up to three tonnes of payload to the Moon’s surface. The announcement highlights the company’s ambition to fill a “critical gap” in lunar cargo capabilities, positioning it as a key player in the growing commercial space race. (10/14)

Vast Anomaly in Earth's Magnetic Field Keeps Growing (Source: Science Alert)
A giant dent in Earth's magnetic field is continuing to expand, according to the latest data from a trio of satellites monitoring our world. It's called the South Atlantic Anomaly, stretching across the gulf that separates Africa from South America, and the latest data suggests that it has expanded by roughly half the size of continental Europe since 2014, while its magnetic intensity weakens. (10/14)