July 20, 2026

GSA Plans AI-Supported Point-to-Point Spaceflight Simulations (Source: GSA)
A spaceport-to-spaceport working group of the Global Spaceport Alliance now plans to develop high-fidelity digital simulations of point-to-point spaceflight missions across international airspace, to allow a comprehensive evaluation of requirements for regulatory coordination, airspace integration, contingency management, infrastructure readiness, and operational performance. Initial reference corridors will include flights between the US and the UK, Australia, and Japan. They will allow the development of technical and policy roadmaps to achieve routine high-speed flight operations. (7/20)

How Hard is it to Build Orbital Data Centers, Actually? (Source: Ars Technica)
The physics of orbital data centers are, to put it mildly, challenging. This subject has sparked a broad debate about the near-term viability of this technology, both in terms of feasibility and whether it’s all hype now that SpaceX is a publicly traded company. Iridium Communications chief executive Matt Desch, a long-time, level-headed satellite industry executive, was asked during an earnings call earlier this year what he thought about the concept.

“It’s a hot, hot area right now of discussion, mainly because of Starlink’s announcement and some others,” Desch said. “It looks like a problem that can be solved in space… (But) there’s massive technical challenges to overcome. ... It’s a really, really long-term opportunity at best, and I wonder if all the discussion isn’t for other reasons than maybe just solving an immediate problem.”

The satellites’ on-board computing power will generate significant heat, requiring a large radiator. To get all of this mass into orbit, you need a super heavy lift rocket. SpaceX likely plans for each satellite to last five to seven years before being moved into a heliocentric disposal orbit or burning up in Earth’s atmosphere. Assuming a five-year lifetime, putting the 1-million satellite constellation into orbit and then replenishing it over time would require thousands of launches per year. (7/15)

China's LegendSpace Plans AI-Supported Rocket Engine Development (Source: Space News)
A six-month-old Chinese startup aiming to use artificial intelligence to compress rocket engine development cycles has raised $29.5 million. LegendSpace announced last week it raised 200 million yuan in angel funding from several investors. The funding will be used by the company to put multiple liquid rocket engines with various levels of thrust through testing, upgrade its research platform for AI simulation and metal additive manufacturing capabilities, and make plans for large-scale production. The round comes amid a surge of momentum in China's commercial space industry, with new reusable rockets reaching the pad, a wave of launch and satellite firms pressing towards IPOs and clear support in the country's 15th Five Year Plan, approved in March. (7/20)

Mauritius Signs Artemis Accords (Source: Space News)
The Artemis Accords reached 70 countries on Friday with the island nation of Mauritius. An official with the country's Ministry of Tertiary Education, Science and Research signed the Accords in an event there attended by State Department officials. Mauritius is the 11th country so far this year to sign the Accords, which outline best practices in space exploration. NASA also plans to use the Artemis Accords to coordinate international collaboration on its lunar base and related efforts. (7/20)

India's ISRO Remains Months Away From Next PSLV Launch (Source: PTI)
As an Indian company reaches space, India's space agency is still up to two months away from returning to flight. At a press conference after the Vikram-1 launch Saturday, ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan said his agency had seven launches planned this financial year, which runs through next March. The first of those will be within the next two months, he said. ISRO has not conducted a launch since the failed flight of a PSLV rocket in January, the second consecutive failure of that vehicle. (7/20)

Next Ariane 6 Goes GEO (Source: Arianespace)
The next Ariane 6 launch will be its first mission to geostationary orbit. Arianespace said Monday it is targeting Aug. 27 for an Ariane 62 launch carrying the MTG-I2 weather satellite for Eumetsat. This will be the ninth launch of the Ariane 6 overall but the first to send a payload to GEO after previous launches carried satellites to low and medium Earth orbits. This will also be the fourth Ariane 6 launch of the year, with Arianespace previously projecting seven to eight launches of the vehicle this year. (7/20)

SpaceX Offers Terrestrial Data Center Services to Pentagon (Source: Wall Street Journal)
SpaceX is in talks with the Pentagon to provide the military access to terrestrial data centers. The discussions would cover Defense Department use of SpaceX computing capacity in its existing data centers and would be worth up to several billion dollars. There was no indication the talks involved access to SpaceX's future orbital data centers. (7/20)

Intuitive Machines and Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station Announce Successful Migration of the Nation’s Largest Lunar Dataset (Source: Intuitive Machines)
Intuitive Machines and the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (“TEES”) today announced the successful migration of the nation’s largest lunar dataset to Texas A&M’s high-performance data infrastructure. The operational deployment secures long-term access to more than 1.8 petabytes of critical lunar surface imagery and topographic data, preserving the foundational digital infrastructure required for future cislunar operations.

Intuitive Machines is the prime contractor for the operation of NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (“LROC”) and NASA’s Shadowcam instruments. Together, the data sets represent approximately 67% of NASA’s total planetary data holdings. By protecting and scaling access to this vital dataset, the partnership provides the lunar intelligence required for civil, academic, and commercial partners to map, navigate, and land on the Moon. (7/17)

Voyager and Penn State to Advance Pennsylvania’s Space Economy (Source: Voyager)
Voyager Technologies signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Pennsylvania State University, expanding the Voyager Institute for Space, Technology and Advancement (VISTA) ecosystem. The collaboration will develop joint research programs and applications across in-space research and manufacturing and national security, fusing commercial innovation with defense mission expertise.

Under the MOU, Voyager and Penn State will pursue shared programs and seek external funding to support further technological development. The agreement provides reserved research resources, tenant opportunities and collaboration within the VISTA ecosystem. (7/15)

Pennsylvania Chamber and Keystone Space Collaborative Announce Strategic Affiliation to Advance Space Economy (Source: PA Chamber)
he Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry (PA Chamber) and Keystone Space Collaborative (Keystone Space) today announced they are forming a strategic affiliation to advance Pennsylvania’s leadership in the growing space economy, including the formation of a first-of-its-kind Tri-State Space Council in partnership with the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and West Virginia Chamber of Commerce. The announcement was made at the 2026 Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit hosted by U.S. Senator Dave McCormick at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle.

The strategic affiliation strengthens Pennsylvania’s ability to compete in the rapidly growing space economy by pairing Keystone Space’s industry expertise with the PA Chamber’s leading statewide advocacy and business leadership network. Keystone Space will retain independent governance over its strategic priorities, programs, branding, and identity. (7/17)

Connect Everyone Coalition Calls on Lawmakers to Support Regulatory Certainty for Space Innovators (Source: Connect Everyone Coalition)
A broad alliance including business voices, consumer advocates, education experts and rural advocates called on lawmakers to support the satellite licensing modernizations included in the Satellite and Telecommunications (SAT) Streamlining Act.

The Connect Everyone Coalition (CEC) and a number of its member organizations wrote to leadership and members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce, discussing how establishing clear deadlines or “shotclocks” for satellite licensing procedures is an essential step to “reduce delays, create more predictable review timelines and enable faster rollout of next-generation satellite networks.​” (7/16)

FCC Chair Proposes to Expand Direct-to-Device Satellite Broadband Connectivity to Unlicensed Wireless Devices (Source: FCC)
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr proposed a new proceeding to explore new avenues to allow innovative unlicensed wireless devices to communicate directly with satellites.  With the transformative wave of investment and innovation in recent years around direct-to-device (“D2D”) services, this proceeding will look at the more than 225 megahertz of unlicensed spectrum to potentially support the capacity requirements and complement other bands for D2D services.  The proposal would also clarify that using equipment authorized under the FCC’s part 15 rules for unlicensed wireless devices is permitted within FCC-authorized spacecraft. (7/15)

Satellite Industry Association Statement Commending FCC on its Plans to Expand Direct-to-Device Satellite Connectivity (Source: SIA)
The Satellite Industry Association releases the following statement regarding the release by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) titled, “Chairman Carr Proposes to Expand Direct-to-Device (D2D) Satellite Broadband Connectivity to Unlicensed Wireless Devices”. (7/17)

Venus Aerospace Strengthens Leadership Team to Mature RDRE Propulsion System, Scale Operations (Source: Venus Aerospace)
Venus Aerospace announced eight leadership additions, new hires and internal promotions spanning government, product and operations. The moves follow the company's $91 million Series B, announced last week. Venus flew the world's first high-thrust RDRE in May 2025. Venus' RDRE architecture is designed for the range, efficiency and manufacturability that defense and space customers need as legacy systems struggle to keep pace with production timelines and supply chain constraints.

The leadership additions announced today are built to carry that architecture toward deployment: product leadership to mature engineering into a full propulsion system, government relationships to navigate policy, procurement and to engage the end users who will fly and operate this technology, and operational depth to build the organization Venus needs as it moves toward that goal. (7/16)