June 30, 2026

Study Argues Bigger Launch Vehicles May Not Always Be Better (Sources: Space News, Aerospace Corp.)
The Aerospace Corporation report "Super Heavy Lift Launch: Unlocking the Future of Space" analyzes the commercial viability of SHL vehicles and notes that, similar to the Airbus A380, excessive scaling can lead to diminishing returns, high operational complexities, and potential market unsuitability. While mega-constellations drive demand, the study suggests that over-sizing vehicles can reduce cost-effectiveness and market flexibility. Click here. (6/29)

Blue Origin Shares Update on Path Forward at LC-36 (Source: Blue Origin)
We know that we lost the lightning tower, the transporter-erector, and the hydraulic cylinders, but we caught a lot of breaks, too, and intend to make the most of them. The tank farm, Integration Facility (IF), vehicle access tower, and water tower are in good shape. As part of our pad cleanup and rebuild efforts, we've relocated Never Tell Me the Odds and three GS2 vehicles from the IF. Hardware recovery and debris removal operations are complete, and reconstruction of the pad has started.

To return to flight this year, we're not rebuilding the same pad. We're going straight to a horizontal/vertical hybrid CONOPS we had already been developing for our 9x4 New Glenn launch vehicle, using existing infrastructure, skipping a new transporter-erector, and creating a common CONOPS across two pads. Click here for a CONOPS video. (6/30)

Ukraine Hits Moscow’s Space Communications Node for Second Time (Source: Kyiv Post)
Ukraine on Tuesday said it has struck a major Russian space communications facility near Moscow for the second time, targeting what Zelensky described as a satellite system used for military reconnaissance and coordination. Kyiv said the facility is part of a broader campaign against Russian long-range military infrastructure. USF commander Brovdi confirmed involvement, while Russia has not independently detailed the damage. (6/30)

TMC Technologies Awarded 1-Year Contract Supporting NASA IV&V Program (Source: TMC)
TMC Technologies announced the award of a 1-year contract to provide specialized systems and software engineering support to The Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) Facility, the home of NASA’s IV&V Program in Fairmont, West Virginia. TMC will contribute technical expertise that enhances the reliability, safety, and performance of complex aerospace systems through rigorous verification and validation processes. (6/23)

NextSTEP-3 A: Lunar Enabling Technology (Source: NASA)
NASA issued a draft Broad Agency Announcement under NextSTEP‑3, Appendix A, on June 29, 2026, to advance concepts that accelerate the technological readiness of critical systems for lunar surface and cislunar architecture. This solicitation seeks to close key technology gaps and mature capabilities in vertical solar arrays, ISRU oxygen production systems, Stirling radioisotope generators, in‑space manufacturing, and advanced nanomaterials production. (6/29)

Honeywell Aerospace Begins Trading as Standalone Company (Source: Breaking Defense)
Honeywell Aerospace has officially spun off as an independent, publicly-traded company focused on defense and commercial aviation. Honeywell previously announced in February 2025 its strategy to split its businesses into three parts: an automation business known as Honeywell Technologies, an advanced materials unit spun off in 2025 and now known as Solstice, and the aerospace segment. (6/29)

Firefly Advances Plans for Launching From Sweden (Source: Payload)
Firefly Aerospace aims to launch its Alpha rocket from SSC Space’s Esrange Space Center in Sweden as early as 2028. In 2024, SSC Space and Firefly signed an agreement to launch Alpha from Esrange, then targeting a first flight in 2026. In June 2025, the US and Sweden signed a Technology Safeguards Agreement, providing the legal framework for US commercial launches to fly from Swedish spaceports.

In April, the Swedish National Space Agency signed an agreement with the FAA to streamline the launch licensing process, clearing the way for Alpha to fly from Sweden. Firefly and SSC Space have begun work on the launch infrastructure and completed multiple milestones at Esrange, including a launch control center, payload processing facility, vehicle integration facility, and tracking and control systems. What's left now is the launch pad. (6/30)

Restructuring at Germany's Mynaric After Rocket Lab Acquisition (Source: Aerospace Insiders)
According to information shared by a current Mynaric employee who requested anonymity, the company is undergoing significant restructuring, with its R&D activities potentially being reduced to a fraction of their previous scale. The official narrative is the usual one: become cash flow positive as fast as possible. The reality could be much bigger than a simple cost cutting exercise.

The concern inside Germany is obvious. When foreign acquisitions of critical technology companies are approved, they often come with commitments regarding domestic capabilities, research activities and national interests. If R&D is gradually hollowed out and transferred elsewhere, the spirit of those agreements becomes meaningless even if the legal paperwork remains intact. European governments keep talking about technological sovereignty while allowing the engineering base to disappear one acquisition at a time. (6/30)

Rocket Lab’s $8 Billion Deal Shows Growth Means Owning The Whole Ecosystem (Source: Business Index)
Launch providers compete on price and reliability for a service that, frankly, anyone can shop around for. Owning the satellites and the communications layer on top is a different game entirely — it's recurring revenue, customer lock-in, and a story you can tell investors that doesn't depend on how many rockets you can physically build this quarter.

Owning the ecosystem around your core service, even partially, is how you turn a single offering into something stickier and harder to replace. And for larger, more established players watching this unfold: consolidation in capital-intensive industries tends to reward whoever moves first and decisively. $8 billion isn't a toe in the water. It's a statement that Rocket Lab intends to be a platform, not a contractor — and platforms get to set the terms that contractors just have to accept. (6/30)

Capella Prepares to Validate Mynaric Optical Terminal on Latest SAR Satellite (Source: Satellite Today)
Capella Space is preparing for tests to validate a Mynaric optical communications terminal on its newest satellite — the first time Capella has deployed an optical terminal. Capella Space released the first synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images from its Acadia-10 satellite on Wednesday, after the satellite launched in March. Capella is currently completing operational check out on the Acadia-10 satellite and planning to conduct operational tests with the terminal at 2.5 gigabits per second. (6/25)

A Swift Effort to Boost the Prospects for Satellite Servicing (Source: Space Review)
A Pegasus XL is set this week to launch a mission to reboost NASA’s Swift space telescope. Jeff Foust reports on the rapid development of the unique mission and the prospects of using that technology for other applications, including boosting Hubble. Click here. (6/29)
 
Security and Sustainability in Space: a Proposed Cap-and-Trade Model for Orbital Debris Mitigation (Source: Space Review)
Orbital debris poses a growing risk to satellite operations with no clear solution for addressing it. Isha Gupta proposes an approach based on regulating pollutants as a way to control the debris population. Click here. (6/29)
 
The Last Days of the Persian Cats (Source: Space Review)
The conflict in the Middle East may have destroyed the last of Iran’s F-14 Tomcats that it bought from the US a half-century ago. Dwayne Day and Harry Stranger describe how spysats tracked the status of those planes for decades. Click here. (6/29)
 
A New Age for Astronomy Enabled by Space-Based Solar Power (Source: Space Review)
One of the criticisms of space-based solar power (SPSB) systems is that the platforms would interfere with astronomy. Benjamin Calloway describes how SBSP could also create technologies to enable space-based astronomy. Click here. (6/29)

NASA Faced More than $5.3B in Overruns on Canceled Artemis Elements (Source: Douglas Messier)
NASA was facing projected cost overruns of more than $5.3 billion and delays of up to 9 years on four elements of the Artemis Moon program before it issued stop-work orders on earlier this year, according to an interim memorandum from the space agency’s Office of Inspector General (OIG). OIG estimated the final cost of the Habitat and Outpost Module (HALO), Exploration Upper Stage (EUS), Mobile Launcher 2 (ML-2), and Universal Stage Adapter (USA) would have been at least $8.1 billion. (6/29)

ML2 Launch Tower at KSC Would Have Cost $2 Billion (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The ML2, which took shape adjacent the Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC over the last two years, was near completion by prime contractor Bechtel National Inc., which had said it was targeting delivery by May this year. The company had added the last modular block to the tower last summer, bringing it to a height of 377 feet.

NASA halted work in February, though, and announced parts of the ML2 would be harvested to support the agency’s mobile launcher 1. ML1 had been used on both the Artemis I and II missions that used the SLS rocket, and is parked inside the VAB awaiting stacking of the SLS rocket for next year’s planned Artemis III flight.

ML2’s purpose was based on NASA using the EUS, which would have made the SLS rocket a little taller, and have required different propellant line connections than could be handled by ML1. The original $383 million contract issued in 2019 called for the ML2 to be delivered by March 2023. NASA’s OIG had signaled problems with its timeline and costs over the years because of management issues on both the contractor and NASA sides that were exacerbated by the COVID outbreak and supply chain challenges. (6/29)

Space Tango To Expand Kentucky Headquarters With $7.4 Million Investment, Create 25 New High-Wage Jobs (Source: Team Kentucky)
Gov. Andy Beshear announced exciting momentum within the state’s aerospace and technology sectors as Space Tango, a nationally recognized leader in commercial space infrastructure and mission operations, will expand its Lexington operation with a $7.4 million investment, creating 25 quality, good-paying jobs.

To support future company growth, Space Tango will expand its Kentucky presence, leasing and developing a substantially larger facility at the Greyline Station campus in Lexington. The new facility will include dedicated mission operations space, build laboratories, biological laboratories, electrical laboratories, machine shops, testing laboratories, engineering offices, collaboration areas and supporting employee amenities. The project will be implemented in phases beginning in 2026, with additional expansion capacity available for future growth. (6/25)

The Day Rocket Lab Became SpaceX's Only Real Peer (Source: Meidad Pariente)
When Peter Beck founded Rocket Lab, the pitch was small rockets for small satellites. Today, he's built a company that designs, manufactures, and launches satellites on its own rockets, and now operates a global communications constellation with exclusive spectrum rights and 2.55 million paying subscribers. That is not a launch company. That is a space utility.

This deal wouldn't make strategic sense if Rocket Lab were just a launch company. It isn't. Over the past five years, Rocket Lab has quietly assembled one of the most complete vertically integrated space hardware stacks outside of SpaceX. The strategic logic is clear: when Iridium's current NEXT constellation reaches end of life, Rocket Lab can design the replacement satellites in-house, manufacture them in its own facilities, and launch them on Neutron. No third-party launch costs. Margin captured at every step of the value chain. (6/29)

Rocket Lab Gains Valuable Spectrum, and Aireon, with Iridium Acquisition (Source: Meidad Pariente)
Iridium exclusively controls 7.775 MHz of globally licensed L-band spectrum (1616 to 1626.5 MHz), with an additional 0.95 MHz shared allocation. The L-band spectrum is among the most valuable and scarce radio-frequency assets in the world. It penetrates buildings, works in adverse weather, propagates well at low power, and is globally harmonized. The same frequencies work in every country on Earth without having to renegotiate local licenses.

To put the value in perspective: in terrestrial mobile, the L-band spectrum has traded for billions of dollars, despite far smaller allocations. Iridium's L-band rights are global, exclusive, and already operationally deployed with regulatory approvals in over 160 countries. You cannot buy this on the open market. There is no second source. Peter Beck just acquired what may be the single most strategically irreplaceable asset in commercial space.

Most analysts are not paying enough attention to this: Every single one of Iridium's 66 NEXT satellites carries an "Aireon" hosted payload, a space-based ADS-B receiver that tracks every ADS-B-equipped aircraft on Earth in real time. Before Aireon, over 70% of the planet's airspace (including oceans, poles, and remote regions) had no air traffic surveillance. Pilots flew procedural separation over the Atlantic because no one could see them. Aireon changed that overnight. (6/29)