October 20, 2025

Something From Space May Have Struck a United Airlines Flight Over Utah (Source: Ars Technica)
The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed Sunday that it is investigating an airliner that was struck by an object in its windscreen, mid-flight, over Utah. “NTSB gathering radar, weather, flight recorder data,” the federal agency said on the social media site X. “Windscreen being sent to NTSB laboratories for examination.” The strike occurred Thursday, during a United Airlines flight from Denver to Los Angeles. Images shared on social media showed that one of the two large windows at the front of a 737 MAX aircraft was significantly cracked. (10/19)

SpaceX Launches 10,000th Starlink Internet Satellite (Source: The Verge)
On Sunday, SpaceX launched 56 additional Starlink satellites on separate Falcon 9 rockets, surpassing 10,000 total satellites launched into low Earth orbit to date. The milestone was reached on board the 132nd Falcon 9 launch of 2025, tying the previous annual launch record with more than two full months to go in the year. (10/20)

SpaceX Breaks Reuse Recocrd with 31st Booster Flight (Source: Spaceflight Now)
SpaceX broke another reuse record on Sunday when it launched a Falcon 9 booster for a 31st time. The company’s most flown rocket was used to launch the Starlink 10-17 mission from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. (10/20)

Project Gives South Texas Students a Chance to Get a Taste of the Space Race (Source: Express News)
High school students here are being offered the opportunity to design, build and launch a rocket of their own. The South Texas Astronomical Society, known as STARSociety for short, is accepting applications for Project Vortex, an initiative that will give high school students first-hand experience in building a rocket and launching it in the spring. (10/20)

Pakistan Launches First Hyperspectral Satellite (Source: Profit)
In a landmark step toward self-reliance in advanced space technology, the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) has successfully launched the country’s first-ever Hyperspectral Satellite (HS-1) from China. The HS-1 satellite is designed to capture high-resolution hyperspectral imagery across hundreds of narrow spectral bands, offering detailed insights into land, vegetation, water, and urban environments. (10/19)

Europe's New Roadmap for Defense Space (Source: Space News)
The European Commission has delivered a roadmap for developing new defense capabilities, including space systems, by 2030. The “Preserving Peace – Defence Readiness Roadmap 2030” plan outlines four flagship programs, including the European Space Shield. That program will integrate with existing and planned systems, such as Galileo and IRIS², to provide space domain awareness, anti-jamming/spoofing and in-space operations/services such as refueling. The Commission did not release a budget for the European Space Shield but said it will start it in the second quarter of 2026. (10/20)

Japan's Space Quarters Secures $5 Million for Robotic Space Construction (Source: Space Daily)
Space Quarters Inc., a deep-tech startup spun out from Tohoku University, has raised $5.0 million in seed funding to accelerate the development of robotic and electron beam welding systems for constructing large-scale infrastructure in orbit and on the Moon. The funding round was led by Frontier Innovations Inc., with additional investment from Keio Innovation Initiative, Global Brain's Tokyu Construction - GB Innovation Fund, XTech Ventures, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, and SMBC Venture Capital.

The company aims to enable autonomous assembly of large structures beyond Earth through its proprietary robotic welding platform. By manufacturing and joining modular materials in orbit, Space Quarters' technology eliminates the constraints of launching preassembled structures from Earth, reducing cost and risk while allowing for much larger and more durable designs. (10/17)

Phoebus Project Advances Composite Hydrogen Tank Testing for Ariane 6 (Source: Space Daily)
The European Space Agency (ESA), in collaboration with ArianeGroup and MT Aerospace, is progressing with the Phoebus project to explore replacing metallic cryogenic tanks on the Ariane 6 upper stage with carbon-fiber reinforced-plastic (CFRP) tanks. The initiative could reduce launch mass by several tonnes, but introduces complex challenges in maintaining integrity at extreme cryogenic conditions. (10/17)

Sateliot and ESA Collaborate on System to Remove GPS Reliance in Satellite IoT (Source: Space Daily)
Sateliot has launched its first joint research and development project with the European Space Agency (ESA) to test a satellite communication system capable of operating independently from global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) such as GPS. The initiative, called the FreeGNSSNetwork project, represents a major step toward Europe's goal of strategic autonomy in Defense and Security communications, particularly in "GNSS-denied" environments where traditional navigation signals may be jammed or unavailable. (10/17)

Are There Living Microbes on Mars? Check the Ice (Source: Space Daily)
Frozen in time, ancient microbes or their remains could be found in Martian ice deposits during future missions to the Red Planet. By recreating Mars-like conditions in the lab, a team of researchers demonstrated that fragments of the molecules that make up proteins in E. coli bacteria, if present in Mars' permafrost and ice caps, could remain intact for over 50 million years, despite harsh and continuous exposure to cosmic radiation. In the study, published in Astrobiology, the researchers encouraged future missions searching for life on Mars to target locations with pure ice or ice-dominated permafrost for exploration, as opposed to studying rocks, clay or soil. (10/17)

A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy of Space Immunology (Source: Space Daily)
With the advent of commercial spaceflight, an increasing number of people may be heading into space in the coming years. Some will even get a chance to fly to the Moon or live on Mars. One of the major health risks associated with spaceflight involves the immune system, which normally fights off viruses and cancer. It's already established that spaceflight weakens immunity; current and past astronauts report clinical issues such as respiratory illnesses and skin rashes.

To better understand the full scope of immunology during spaceflight, researchers have put together a comprehensive guide describing a full array of science linking spaceflight and the immune system. Given the large, rapidly expanding knowledge base on the topic, the team used the name "astroimmunology" to define a subdiscipline of immunology dedicated to the study of the effects of spaceflight and its associated stressors on the immune system. (10/17)

Space Ocean and Enduralock to Unify Orbital Docking Standards for In-Space Fluid and Power Transfer (Source: Space Daily)
Space Ocean Corp has agreed with Enduralock to integrate the company's OneLink system as a standardized docking interface for in-orbit fluid, power, and data transfer. The collaboration aims to establish a common connection framework across Space Ocean's future logistics and servicing platforms.

Under the agreement, Space Ocean plans to adopt Enduralock's passive male receive port, now available for Assembly, Integration and Test (AI&T), as a baseline component across its orbital infrastructure. The OneLink system enables secure transfer of energy and materials while supporting high axial loads, making it suitable for operations such as refueling, cargo exchange, and modular construction in orbit. (10/16)

South Korea's Innospace Gets License for First Orbital Launch Attempt (Source: Space News)
South Korean startup Innospace has received government approval from the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) for its first orbital launch, with a window set between October 28 and November 28. This marks a significant milestone for the company as it prepares for its SPACEWARD mission, which aims to establish it as a player in the commercial launch industry. (10/19)

Space Debris Found on Fire Near Australian Mining Town Suspected From Chinese Rocket (Source: Guardian)
Burning space debris that crashed to Earth in outback Australia is likely part of a Chinese rocket that launched in September. Authorities are investigating the hunk of metal and carbon fibre after miners spotted it near Newman, Western Australia on Saturday afternoon. “It seems to be the fourth stage of a Jielong rocket,” said a Flinders University associate professor. (10/19)