November 26, 2025

SpaceX Maintains Unbelievable Starship Target Despite Booster 18 Incident (Source: Teslarati)
SpaceX recently shared an incredibly ambitious and bold update about Starship V3’s 12th test flight. Despite the anomaly that damaged Booster 18, SpaceX maintained that it was still following its plans for the upgraded spacecraft and booster for the coming months. SpaceX then announced that Starship V3’s maiden flight is still expected to happen early next year. “Starship’s twelfth flight test remains targeted for the first quarter of 2026,” the company wrote in its post on X. (11/25)

ESA Member States Debate Budget (Source: Space News)
European Space Agency member states have started two days of deliberations on the agency’s budget for the next three years. The ministerial conference in Bremen, Germany, is bringing together ESA’s 23 member states to discuss funding a proposed 22.2 billion euro ($25.7 billion) budget for the agency. ESA leaders said they were optimistic going into the ministerial that they will get most, if not all, of the proposal funded by members. This meeting carried added weight as Europe works to increase space spending given shifting geopolitics and concerns Europe is falling behind other nations in space. ESA contributions may include more funding from defense ministries for certain priorities, such as the new European Resilience from Space initiative. (11/26)

Space Force Picks Companies for Space-Based Interceptor Prototypes (Source: Space News)
The Space Force has selected several companies to work on space-based interceptor prototypes for Golden Dome. Space Systems Command said Tuesday it had issued multiple awards for prototype work, but did not disclose the companies, citing “enhanced security measures.” The command is using Other Transaction Agreements for the awards, which provide more flexibility on requirements, cost, data rights and schedules. The work is separate from a planned procurement of kinetic midcourse interceptor concepts, a solicitation for which will be released by Dec. 7, the command said last week. (11/26)

Northrop Grumman Picked to Launch ISS Cargo Through 2029 (Source: Space News)
Northrop Grumman will provide cargo missions for the final phase in the life of the International Space Station. NASA issued a procurement notice last week awarding Northrop two Cygnus missions to the ISS in 2028 and 2029 under a sole-source arrangement. NASA justified the award since docking ports on the ISS used by SpaceX’s Dragon will be unavailable once the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle arrives at the ISS, taking one of the ports and leaving the other for commercial crew vehicles. Cygnus is also a leading contender for a separate ESA award for a cargo mission to the ISS to fulfill its requirements for cargo transportation in exchange for ESA astronaut missions there. (11/26)

Russian Angara Rocket Launches Three Satellites (Source: Russian Space Web)
An Angara rocket launched a Russian military satellite Tuesday. The Angara 1.2 rocket lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia at 8:42 a.m. Eastern, placing three satellite into an orbit at 1,500 kilometers and an inclination of 82.5 degrees. The satellites are most likely part of the Rodnik military communications satellite system. (11/26)

NASA TROPICS Mission Ends (Source: NASA)
A NASA cubesat mission to study tropical storms has ended. NASA said Tuesday the last two of the four Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) cubesats were shut down earlier this month ahead of reentry. The four satellites were launched in 2023 to study tropical cyclone development. TROPICS was scheduled to last one year but extended through the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season even as their orbits decayed. (11/26)

NASA OSIRIS-APEX Mission Working Well En Route to Apophis (Source: UofA)
A NASA asteroid mission is working well in its extended phase. NASA released images Tuesday taken by the OSIRIS-APEX as it flew past Earth two months ago. The spacecraft is an extension of the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission that will now visit the asteroid Apophis after it makes a very close approach to Earth in 2029. The September flyby was one of three gravity-assist maneuvers planned to put the spacecraft on course for Apophis. OSIRIS-APEX is continuing even though NASA proposed canceling the mission in its fiscal year 2026 budget proposal. (11/26)

Astronomers Detect Dark Matter (Source: The Guardian)
Astronomers said they may have directly detected dark matter for the first time. A new study says that gamma rays observed near the center of the Milky Way by NASA’s Fermi spacecraft are likely created by the collision of hypothesized dark matter particles known as WIMPs. The gamma-ray pattern seen by Fermi matches the distribution of dark matter indirectly detected at the heart of the Milky Way, the study claims. Other astronomers, though, cautioned that similar detections have not been made around other galaxies. (11/26)

Jeff Bezos Sets Sights on 2026 Moon Landing (Source: Interesting Engineering)
Jeff Bezos, the company’s founder and owner, shared a first look image of MK1 in an X post on Friday. Impressively, the lander is scheduled to fly to the Moon in early 2026. Once there, the uncrewed lander will touch down near the Shackleton crater at the Moon’s south pole. Blue Origin’s progress puts pressure on SpaceX, as the design of its own modified Starship lunar lander causes delays to NASA’s Artemis program. (11/25)

AMF Offers Engraved Bricks at KSC for Holiday Gifts (Source: AMF)
The Astronauts Memorial Foundation (AMF) has unveiled a new opportunity to give the space enthusiast in your family the ultimate gift this holiday season.  Order a Commemorative Brick with a personalized dedication engraved upon it by 12/15/25 and AMF will (1) place it permanently at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex and (2) take a photo of your personalized brick with an astronaut and email the photo to you by 12/22/25 so you can print, frame, and gift to your loved one. Visit https://amfcse.org/holiday to order a brick by 12/15/25. (11/26)

ESA to Repurpose European Service Module and Earth Return Orbiter (Source: European Spaceflight)
ESA is exploring options to repurpose both the European Service Module and the Earth Return Orbiter, as support in the US for the NASA programs they were originally designed to serve now appears uncertain. The two systems are ESA’s contributions to NASA’s Artemis program, specifically the Orion crew capsule, and to the Mars Sample Return mission.

ESA has outlined potentially repurposing the ESM as an “autonomous modular cargo tug.” The Earth Return Orbiter could become a “dedicated European exploration mission, with scientific and communication relay dimensions.” The proposed mission, known as ZefERO, would launch in 2032 and aim to study Martian winds and conduct geological investigations, in addition to serving as a communications relay. (11/26)

Sustaining Life on the Moon is Harder Than it Looks (Source: Payload)
The United States has already landed astronauts on the surface of the Moon multiple times, so sending humans back under the Artemis program should be easy, right? Wrong. Unlike the short-duration, crewed lunar mission profile in the 1960s and 70s, the Artemis campaign aims to set up a sustainable human presence on and around the Moon. As such, Artemis requires scientists and researchers to find long-term solutions to the problems space creates for human health, replacing the short-term fixes that once sufficed. Click here. (11/26)

South Korea's Nuri Rocket Undergoing Final Checks (Source: Korea Times)
Final preparations for the fourth launch of Korea's homegrown space rocket Nuri were under way Wednesday, according to the country's space agency, as the country seeks to place 13 satellites into orbit through the mission set to take place shortly after midnight. The 200-ton Nuri is set to blast off from Naro Space Center in the country's southern coastal village of Goheung on Thursday, according to the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). (11/26)

China's Space Agency Unveils Plan to Boost Commercial Growth, International Cooperation (Source: Xinhua)
China's space agency released an action plan to back commercial space firms and encourage them to pursue international cooperation over the next two years. The document released by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Tuesday has invited the country's commercial space enterprises to "go global" and help developing countries build satellite-application industries. The CNSA pledged to fold commercial-space projects into China's international cooperation agenda.

The agency vowed to expand commercial access to its national network of civilian tracking, telemetry and control (TT&C) stations, data-receiving sites, calibration ranges and validation fields, as well as to large test assets such as rocket-engine test stands and space-environment simulation facilities. Commercial players will be selected through open competition to take part in cutting-edge, key space programs, ranging from advanced propulsion and next-generation satellite platforms and payloads to integrated communications, navigation and remote-sensing applications. (11/26)

ST Engineering to Build SAR Satellite for UAE Program (Source: Via Satellite)
Emirati defense and tech company Edge Group has selected ST Engineering to build a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite for the UAE’s national SAR constellation program, Sirb. Edge Group subsidiary FADA, which is focused on space, selected ST Engineering to build a SAR satellite with sub-meter resolution and a high-speed downlink. ST Engineering will also design and deliver the infrastructure required for its operation. Edge Group is the prime contractor on the program. (11/25)

Rocket Lab Hits 18 Electron Launches in 2025 (Source: Via Satellite)
Rocket Lab has set a new record for Electron launches in a year, reaching 18 launches after back-to-back launches from New Zealand and Virginia. This year’s total of 18 successful Electron launches beats last year’s record of 16. Rocket Lab still expects more launches before the end of this year. (11/20)