November 27, 2025

China’s Commercial Space Sector is Grabbing Attention (Source: SCMP)
The prospect of China mastering reusable rockets – a technology pioneered by US-based SpaceX – has attracted significant attention from aerospace experts. Eyes are now turning to the maiden launch of the Zhuque-3 rocket, which is scheduled for Saturday. The LandSpace launch vehicle – one of several Chinese reusable rockets under development – could reduce the cost of lifting equipment into space, helping China to accelerate the deployment of large-scale low-orbit satellite constellations.

Meanwhile, the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense has published a recruitment notice for an “aerospace regulatory post” in the newly created commercial space department – indicating a new department has been set up for the industry.

“The establishment of the commercial space department will effectively consolidate related functions that were previously scattered across multiple agencies, allowing satellite industry work to be coordinated at a higher level,” a Citic Securities report said. “The efficiency of key processes, such as commercial space launch approvals and the issuance of satellite operating licenses, is also expected to improve further,” the report added. (11/26)

Space Force Won’t Say Who Got Money to Start Developing Orbital Interceptors (Source: Defense One)
Space Force officials declined to name winners of the first space-based missile defense prototypes for Golden Dome, further adding to the secrecy that has plagued the project. Multiple contracts were awarded to several companies under a competitive “other transaction agreement,” a Space Force spokesperson confirmed Tuesday. Contracts under $9 million and those classified as “other transaction agreements” are not subject to federal acquisition disclosure requirements. (11/26)

Plans for Blue Origin Wastewater Treatment Plant Concern Area Residents (Source: WFTV)
A new Change.org petition is raising concerns about a proposed half-million-gallon wastewater treatment system tied to future operations at Blue Origin's Orbital Launch Site Manufacturing Complex. “The people trying to put this in place don’t live here,” Jill Steinhauser said. “They don’t put their children in that water… they don’t boat here… they don’t let their dogs swim in it. "

According to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), its draft permit would allow Blue Origin to discharge up to 15,000 gallons of unprocessed industrial wastewater daily into a pond that flows to the Indian River. That’s in addition to hundreds of thousands of gallons of processed wastewater. Dr. Ken Kremer says a steady supply of purified water is essential for rocket manufacturing, but stresses that public transparency is critical.

The public notice states that the discharge permit will be approved unless sufficient public comments warrant additional review. “This is a renewal of an existing agreement that has been in place for more than five years. We are committed to maintaining responsible and compliant operations,” Blue Origin said in a statement. (11/26)

ULA Aimed to Launch Up to 10 Vulcan Rockets This Year—It Will fly Just Once (Source: Ars Technica)
Around this time last year, officials at United Launch Alliance projected 2025 would be their busiest year ever. Tory Bruno, ULA’s chief executive, told reporters the company would launch as many as 20 missions this year, with roughly an even split between the legacy Atlas V launcher and its replacement—the Vulcan rocket.

Now, it’s likely that ULA will close out 2025 with six flights—five with the Atlas V and just one with the Vulcan rocket the company is so eager accelerate into service. Six flights would make 2025 the busiest launch year for ULA since 2022, but it falls well short of the company’s forecast. (11/26)

Chinese Space Station Achieves First-Ever Oxygen and Rocket Fuel Production Using Artificial Photosynthesis (Source: ZME)
In a recent demonstration, Chinese astronauts successfully operated a system that produces oxygen and rocket fuel in orbit, mimicking the natural process of photosynthesis. The Shenzhou-19 crew ran the experiments using artificial photosynthesis—technology that engineers the way plants convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and glucose. It’s a remarkably robust technology. (11/26)

Half of Americans Believe Aliens Have Visited Earth (Source: YouGov)
New YouGov polling finds that most Americans believe aliens exist, and many think that aliens have paid a visit to Earth in recent years. Americans are more likely to believe alien encounters would have a negative effect on human civilization than to think it would have a positive effect, and many believe that aliens would bring new diseases and unintentional harm or outright hostility to people if we were to encounter them.

56% of Americans believe aliens definitely or probably exist, more than the shares of Americans who believe Bigfoot (28%), the Yeti (23%), the Loch Ness monster (22%), or Chupacabra (16%) definitely or probably exist. Democrats (61%) and Independents (59%) are more likely than Republicans (46%) to say aliens definitely or probably exist. (11/25)

Hong Kong's Mission to Watch the Moon Get Bombarded (Source: Universe Today)
Hong Kong's Yueshan (meaning "moon flashes" in Chinese) is a dedicated lunar orbiter that will provide the first continuous, long term monitoring of these impact events. China plans to establish a lunar research station as part of its expanding space program, with missions like Chang'e-7 and Chang'e-8 laying the groundwork. Future astronauts will need to know how often and where meteoroids strike, and how large the impactors typically are. (11/26)

Russia’s Soyuz 5 Will Soon Come Alive. But Will Anyone Want to Use It? (Source: Ars Technica)
After nearly a decade of development, Russia’s newest launch vehicle is close to its debut flight. The medium-lift Soyuz 5 rocket is expected to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome before the end of the year. Roscosmos has released images of final processing of the Soyuz 5 rocket at the Progress Rocket and Space Center in Samara, Russia, earlier this month before the booster was shipped to the launch site in Kazakhstan. It arrived there on November 12.

Although the Soyuz 5 is a new vehicle, it does not represent a major leap forward in technology. Rather it is, in many ways, a conventional reaction to commercial boosters developed in the West as well as the country’s prolonged war against Ukraine. Whether this strategy will be successful remains to be seen. The Soyuz 5 was conceived of as a more efficient version of the Zenit-2 rocket, which flew into the 2010s. This rocket was an artifact from the Soviet era and had been designed by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau in Dnipro, Ukraine. Its first and second stages were manufactured there. (11/26)

AST SpaceMobile Adding Manufacturing Sites in Texas and Florida (Source: Via Satellite)
AST SpaceMobile is expanding its manufacturing capabilities with the addition of two new sites, one in Texas and one in Florida. The company announced this week it is adding a facility in Midland, Texas, where it is headquartered, and adding a site in Homestead, Florida, near Miami. These moves expand the company’s manufacturing footprint to 500,000 square feet over seven sites in the United States. The company says it is 95% vertically integrated. (11/26)

South Korea Launches Earth-Observation Satellite on Homegrown Nuri Rocket (Source: Space.com)
South Korea's Nuri rocket has flown for the fourth time. The homegrown Nuri lifted off from Naro Space Center on Wednesday. The 155-foot-tall rocket carried an Earth-observation satellite called CAS500-3 and a dozen ride-along cubesats to orbit. (11/26)

Washington 101 for the Next Generation of Aerospace Innovators (Source: Aerospace America)
As commercial spaceflight expands and small satellites reshape the space economy, one reality remains unchanged: policy discussed in Washington, DC, matters. That was my core message recently at the SmallSat Education Conference at NASA Kennedy Space Center, where I joined over 700 students and educators passionate about space. I offered a crash course on the U.S. legislative process in which I discussed how policy is made, who shapes it, and why it matters to the future of aerospace. Click here. (10/29)

Europe Sets Up New Space Investment Fund (Source: EIB)
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is setting up Space TechEU, its first dedicated financing program for the European space sector, as part of its TechEU initiative. The new lending program is expected to include €500 million EIB financing to support companies across the space value chain and mobilize an estimated €1.4 billion of new investment in cooperation with commercial banks. It will be focused in particular on supporting SMEs and mid-caps in the sector, who often struggle the most to obtain bank financing. (11/26)

Outage Prevention from Orbit: Utilities Are Turning to Satellites and Geospatial Analytics (Source: Space Daily)
Utilities and local energy distribution companies (LDCs) face ongoing challenges in managing their infrastructure. Keeping track of power lines, pipelines, energy plant emissions, and other assets is essential to prevent power outages, wildfires, broken power lines, and methane leaks. Rather than waiting for the next disaster, LDCs are using satellites to deliver high-resolution imagery for AI-powered spatial analytics, offering a bird's-eye view to detect issues before they become disasters. (11/25)

Argonaut Lunar Landers to Deliver Cargo on Ariane 6 Missions (Source: Space Daily)
ESA has broadened its Argonaut lunar lander initiative with the formal addition of several European industrial partners. New agreements are between Thales Alenia Space Italy, serving as prime contractor, Thales Alenia Space France, OHB Germany, Thales Alenia Space UK, and Nammo UK. Argonaut landers are designed to enable Europe's autonomous, reliable access to the Moon. Missions will begin in 2030 with launches on Ariane 6 rockets, and each lander will carry up to 1.5 tonnes of cargo. (11/21)

Lunar Dust Model Highlights Risks for Spacecraft and Future Moon Base Projects (Source: Space Daily)
A group of researchers in China has developed a new theoretical model to study how low-velocity lunar dust interacts with spacecraft surfaces. The model is designed to improve predictions about dust adhesion and removal, supporting long-term lunar missions and base construction.

The study explains that the lunar surface is covered in fine dust which has a strong tendency to stick to spacecraft and spacesuits. These particles have an adhesion strength ranging from 0.1 to 1.0 kN/m2 and pose a significant obstacle to sustained lunar operations. Unlike hypervelocity impacts that cause direct damage, the gradual adhesion of slow-moving dust can quietly degrade equipment over time. (11/21)

Orbital Compute Energy Will Be Cheaper Than Earth by 2030 (Source: Mach 33)
To compare orbital and terrestrial power fairly, we calculate the capex required to deliver one average watt of usable power in HEO. This depends on four things: 1. How many watts per kilogram the power subsystem produces (W/kg); and 2. How much of the mass is overhead (the PV-to-structure ratio). Plugging several assumptions into the cost model, we obtain capex per average watt ($/W) in orbit for each architecture.

At plausible Starship‑era launch costs, orbital power & cooling for compute will be cheaper than terrestrial datacenter power & cooling. Once you factor in HEO’s near-constant sunlight and the higher W/kg achievable, orbital power naturally moves below terrestrial cost territory. The real competition then becomes which orbital architecture delivers power most efficiently, not whether orbital power is viable at all.

Even as orbital power approaches parity with terrestrial power, cost competitiveness is only part of the story. The strategic advantage comes from access to effectively unlimited solar energy and unconstrained physical volume in orbit, both of which become increasingly scarce bottlenecks on Earth. Even if ground-based and orbital power were equally priced, the scalability of space-based power and real estate makes orbit the natural long-term home for high-density compute. (11/26)