March 10, 2026

Starfighters Teams With Mu-GTECH to Provide Microgravity Flight Services (Source: Starfighters)
Starfighters Space announced a strategic partnership with Mu-G Technologies to pursue microgravity flight missions for NASA, academic institutions and commercial research customers across the United States and Canada. The collaboration combines Starfighters’ high-performance flight operations and aircraft capabilities with Mu-GTech’s expertise in parabolic flight execution, monitoring systems, and payload integration. Together, the companies intend to expand access to reduced-gravity testing environments amid increasing demand from government and commercial space programs. (3/10)

BAE Missile-Tracking Satellites Clear Initial Review (Source: Space News)
BAE Systems has passed a key milestone in the development of a missile-tracking satellite constellation. The Space Force's Space Systems Command said Monday that the 10-satellite program passed a preliminary design review, clearing it to proceed toward final design. BAE Systems won a $1.2 billion contract last May to develop the satellites, which will operate in medium Earth orbit and are designed to detect and track missile launches, including advanced threats such as hypersonic weapons. The satellites are part of the Space Force's proliferated resilient missile warning and tracking program, a new constellation intended to complement existing missile-warning satellites while improving the military's ability to follow maneuvering threats throughout flight. (3/9)

Shenzhou-21 Crew Conducts Advanced Medical Tests, Brain Science Experiments in Space (Source: Xinhua)
The Shenzhou-21 crew members aboard China's Tiangong space station have made significant strides in terms of space medical experiments and physical science research over the past week, while also maintaining the station's habitable environment, according to the China Manned Space Agency. In the field of space medicine, the crew focused on understanding the psychological and physiological effects of long-duration spaceflight. They used laptops to complete tests on "trust and coordination mechanisms" and "human-machine trust," which are crucial for designing future spacecraft interfaces and ensuring efficient teamwork between astronauts and automated systems. (3/9)

Pentagon Equity Investment Strategy Questioned by Lawmakers (Source: FNN)
Lawmakers are seeking more transparency from the Pentagon regarding its growing use of equity investments to strengthen the defense industrial base. During a House Armed Services Committee hearing, lawmakers expressed support for new financing tools but requested clarity on when such investments are appropriate. The Pentagon has recently taken significant equity stakes in companies such as Intel and L3Harris, aiming to build resilience and attract private capital. (3/9)

Lux Aeterna Gets $10 Million for Reusable Satellite Development (Source: Space News)
Denver-based Lux Aeterna has secured $10 million in seed funding to develop a reusable satellite. Early-stage investor Konvoy led the round, announced Tuesday, bringing the funding raised by the startup to date to $14 million. The company is working on spacecraft designed to fly payloads in space and then return to Earth to be reused. Its first spacecraft, Delphi-1, is fully booked with customer payloads for a launch in early 2027 on a SpaceX rideshare mission. The company argues its technology could open new opportunities in a growing market for short-duration space missions and returning hardware from orbit. (3/10)

Surrey (SSTL) to Develop Spacecraft to Carry Lazuli Space Telescope (Source: Space News)
Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) will build the spacecraft platform for a private space telescope. The British company said Monday it had been selected by Schmidt Sciences to provide the spacecraft platform for Lazuli, a space telescope with a primary mirror larger than that of the Hubble Space Telescope. SSTL, a company best known as an early innovator in small satellites, argued that its approach for building smallsats, including rapid development and use of flight-proven hardware, was suited for building the Lazuli spacecraft. That mission is scheduled for launch as soon as 2028. (3/10)

China's Landspace Tests New Engine for Heavy Lift Rocket (Source: Space News)
Landspace has completed testing of a new engine for future launch vehicles. The Chinese company said it performed a long-duration full-system hot-fire test of its new 220-ton-class methane rocket engine. The engine, called BF, is intended as a core propulsion element for Landspace's next-generation heavy-lift launch vehicles. The company already operates the Zhuque-2 and Zhuque-3 rockets, and successful development of the BF engine would further cement Landspace's position in a crowded Chinese commercial launch ecosystem. (3/10)

SpaceX Launches EchoStar Satellite From Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Spaceflight Now)
A Falcon 9 launched a direct-to-home TV broadcasting satellite for EchoStar overnight. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 12:19 a.m. Eastern, placing the EchoStar 25 satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit. The spacecraft, built by Lanteris Space systems, will be used by EchoStar's Dish Network to provide TV broadcasting services for its customers at 110 degrees west in GEO. (3/10)

Sensor Reading Scrubs Firefly Alpha Launch at Vandenberg (Source: NSF)
Firefly Aerospace again delayed the return-to-flight launch of its Alpha rocket. The company called off the "Stairway to Seven" launch a few hours before the scheduled 8:50 p.m. Eastern liftoff time because of a sensor reading that was outside of its allowable range. The company has not disclosed a new launch date, which could be as soon as Tuesday evening. This will be the first launch for Alpha since a failure in April 2025. (3/10)

NASA Armstrong Director Retiring (Source: NASA)
The director of NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center is retiring. NASA said Monday that Brad Flick would retire from the agency this Thursday. Flick has been at NASA since 1986 and served as director of Armstrong since 2022. Troy Asher, director of flight operations at the California center, will take over as acting director. (3/10)

Army Space Brigade Member Dies in Iran War (Source: US Army)
A member of the U.S. Army's First Space Brigade was killed in the conflict in the Middle East. The Army said Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington died Sunday of injuries sustained a week earlier when Iranian missiles struck Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. Pennington had been a member of the First Space Brigade, part of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, since 2025. (3/10)

The R&D Decisions that Will Shape the Success of Golden Dome (Source: AIA)
Golden Dome for America represents one of the most intricate homeland defense initiatives the Pentagon has contemplated since the conclusion of the Cold War. Public discussions have understandably centered on the effectiveness of space-based sensors, space-based interceptors (SBIs), or layered terrestrial systems in defending against evolving missile threats. However, a possibly more pressing concern at this juncture is the necessity to articulate the applied research and development (R&D) strategy and approach. (3/10)

Hughes Network Systems Tapped for AFRL Space Data Networking Experimentation (Source: Via Satellite)
The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has awarded Hughes Network Services a contract focused on resilient, hybrid satellite networks. The award announced Monday is through the AFRL’s Rapid Architecture Prototyping and Integration Development (RAPID) program. Hughes will support the Space Technology Advanced Research – Fast-tracking Innovative Software and Hardware (STAR-FISH) procurement for space data networking experimentation. (3/10)

A Big Night Light in the Sky? Start-Up Wants to Launch a Space Mirror (Source: New York Times)
A start-up company wants to light up the night with 50,000 big mirrors orbiting Earth, bouncing sunlight to the night side of the planet to power solar farms after sunset, provide lighting for rescue workers and illuminate city streets, among other things. Scientists have questions about that. (3/10)

GMV NSL Explores Big-Data Approaches for GNSS Integrity Monitoring (Source: Inside GNSS)
With support from the ESA, UK-based GMV NSL Ltd. has completed the RIGOUR (‘Real-time integrity for GNSS using opportunistic receivers) project, demonstrating how large volumes of measurements from everyday GNSS devices could support future integrity monitoring concepts. RIGOUR used opportunistic measurements collected from large numbers of GNSS receivers found in standard smartphones or vehicle navigation systems. (3/10)

ESA Calls on European Startups to Design Spaceplane (Source: European Spaceflight)
The ESA has published a call for the design of a fully reusable, responsive launch system that employs spaceplanes. The call is restricted to non-prime contractors, limiting eligibility to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). ESA published the call on 27 February, noting that while current reusable launch systems are primarily based on classic launcher architectures that make use of liquid rocket engines, lift-generating spaceplanes could offer a more efficient, reliable, and responsive solution to reusability. (3/10)

Lockheed Martin Commits £100M to UK Space Hub; New Manufacturing Plant to Create 2,000 Jobs (Source: SatNews)
On Monday, March 9, 2026, Lockheed Martin announced a strategic investment of more than £100 million in the United Kingdom’s space sector, centered on a massive expansion in the North East region. The investment is headlined by the proposed construction of an £85 million satellite manufacturing facility at the NETPark science park in County Durham and the official launch phase of a world-class technology center in Newcastle. (3/10)

McDonnell’s Military Test Space Station (MTSS) (Source: Space Review)
In the early 1960s several companies studied concepts of military space stations. Hans Dolfing explores what’s now known about one of those concepts from recently declassified documents. Click here. (3/10)
 
Reforging Vulcan (Source: Space Review)
This was supposed to be the year that United Launch Alliance finally ramped up launches of its Vulcan rocket to serve government and commercial customers. Jeff Foust reports on how those plans are now in doubt after an incident on Vulcan’s latest launch, just as the company is going through a change in leadership. Click here. (3/10)
 
Big Wing Bird: NASA’s WB-57 Gets Grounded (Source: Space Review)
A NASA WB-57 aircraft was damaged in a gear-up landing at a Houston airport in January. Dwayne Day examines the long and unusual history of that aircraft, used by NASA for a variety of missions. Click here. (3/10)
 
Robert Goddard and the Dawn of the Rocket Age (Source: Space Review)
This month marks the centennial of the first flight of a liquid-fueled rocket by Robert Goddard. Bruce McCandless III and Emily Carney recall that milestone and its significance. Click here. (3/10)

Woytek to Leave NASA After 48 Years (Source: FNN)
Joanne Woytek, the program director of the NASA SEWP program, is leaving after more than 48 years of federal service. Woytek will step down on Oct. 17. Woytek, who joined NASA in 1977 as a software developer and technical lead, said she is not formally retiring, but looking for some non-NASA opportunities that she would find interesting and be useful in. (3/10)