August 10, 2026

From Vandenberg to Paso Robles, Central Coast is at the Center of a New Space Boom (Source: San Luis Obispo Tribune)
Bradley Wilkinson has been chasing rocket launches out of Vandenberg Space Force Base for 12 years. The administrator of Facebook group Vandenberg Rocket Launches livestreams on YouTube for people from California, Texas and Utah, amassing over 181,700 members over the course of 10 years. It seems these days everyone on the Central Coast is wanting a part in the latest “space boom” — from Vandenberg seeking to grow its launch capabilities in the coming years to Paso Robles’ quest to add a spaceport and local groups pushing initiatives aimed at bolstering the growing aerospace workforce.

Jennifer Green-Lanchoney, chief of Space Launch Delta 30 Public Affairs at Vandenberg, credits the obsession with space and launches from Vandenberg with the “absolute human condition of exploration.” And here on the Central Coast, officials are ready to spend millions to capitalize on that urge to reach for the stars. Sally Buffalo Taylor is the vice president of communications and external affairs at REACH, a regional economic action coalition that launched its initiative Space Vandenberg in August 2025 with a $9.5 million state grant that will propel Vandenberg to grow and create high-quality jobs and encourage “innovation and bring new investment to the region.” (8/9)

As Spectrum Gets Noisier, New Tech Works to Silence Satellite Interference (Source: Defense Post)
Israeli firm Gilat Satellite Networks is aiming to help satellite communication links withstand interference that can degrade data transmission, a growing concern as military operations increasingly depend on resilient communications. During a demonstration, the company showed how its new AI-based technology handled a range of unpredictable conditions, including signals that changed over time and originated from uncooperative sources. Initial results indicated that the platform could improve noise detection and suppression by up to 10 times compared with conventional methods. (8/10)

Exploring ‘Very Low Earth Orbit’: The World’s 1st Air-Breathing Satellite Thruster Could Soon Get a Test Run (Source: Space.com)
The Spanish company Kreios Space plans to launch into orbit the world's first satellite that uses scooped-up air to push it forward, the company announced on Tuesday (Aug. 4). The technology Kreios Space has been developing is called air-breathing electric propulsion (ABEP). It relies on air sourced from Earth's atmosphere, which is then heated up, ionized and expelled to generate thrust. This method will allow satellites in very low Earth orbit (VLEO) — the region from roughly 60 miles to 250 miles (100 to 400 kilometers) above our planet — to counteract atmospheric drag without the aid of liquid fuel. (8/9)

Florida Diverts EV Charger Funds to Flying Taxi Project (Source: CarBuzz)
Florida is reallocating $200 million in federal funds from electric vehicle charging stations to develop infrastructure for flying taxis, or electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles. The Florida Department of Transportation plans to build 32 taxi pads at airports, luxury apartments, golf courses and military bases, in collaboration with companies such as Archer, BETA Technologies, Joby Aviation and Electra. (8/9)

US Seeks Major Ramp Up in Weapons Production (Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
The Pentagon has called on defense industry leaders to accelerate weapons production to replenish depleted munitions stockpiles, particularly after recent conflicts with Iran have significantly reduced inventories of Patriot and THAAD interceptors. Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg has given major defense companies 21 days to submit plans for faster delivery schedules, emphasizing the need for rapid modernization. (8/10)

The Space Boom has Created a Giant Mess. Now Startups Want to Clean it Up (Source: CNBC)
Thousands of satellites are circling the Earth, and when they die, they don’t just disappear. Neither do the rockets that put them there. Defunct satellites, spent rocket parts and other debris can remain in orbit for years, adding to an increasingly congested environment and an elevated risk of collisions. Now, a growing group of companies is betting that cleaning up this orbital junk, and servicing satellites before they become it, could become a business in its own right.

Astroscale develops spacecraft for debris removal and other in-orbit services. “That means that we’re building spacecraft that are designed to be very agile, designed to safely operate in and around other spacecraft in orbit,” Faiola said. It is one of the few commercial companies that has demonstrated the ability to dock with another spacecraft in orbit through a magnetic capture system. That’s a difficult task given objects in lower Earth orbit move at the speed of 7 or 8 kilometers per second – faster than the speed of a bullet – and can tumble uncontrollably.

This is still a nascent, deep-tech market, so initial contracts are coming largely from space agencies and governments, which will demonstrate to the private sector that this is a viable business, Faiola said. “In the future, we would expect that this would be paid for by operators of constellations of spacecraft.” (8/8)

NASA Funds Research on Mapping Exoplanet Continents (Source: Douglas Messier)
Paul Stankus of Brookhaven Science Associates is working on changing that. He is reaching a method to resolve continents and other surface features on an Earth-like planet around a nearby star in visible light. “The innovation is in two stages. First, the design of a new kind of nulling interferometer — ‘dynamic hierarchical nulling’ — combining inputs from multiple apertures and capable of separating star light from planet light with contrast of 10^10 or better in the visible,” the proposal summary said. (8/9)

Europe's Free Satellite Service Just Made it Easier to Track Wildfires (Source: Ars Technica)
The wildfires afflicting communities across the world can now be tracked more easily by anyone using Europe’s free and open satellite imagery service—all thanks to a wildfire visualization script originating from nearly a decade ago. The Copernicus Browser provides free access to the latest satellite imagery taken by the European Space Agency’s Sentinel satellites for the European Union’s Earth observation program. (8/10)

India Joins Lox-Methane Rocket Engine Club (Source: The Hindu)
India's Astrobase Space Technologies unveiled India’s first privately built 800 kN Full-Flow Staged Combustion (FFSC) LOX-Methane rocket engine named EVEREST. This makes India the fourth nation to have FFSC engine technology after Russia, USA and China. (8/10)

China Loses Long March 7A in Post-Launch Explosion (Source: SCMP)
China has suffered a rare failure of one of its newer-generation Long March rockets, losing a communications satellite after the launcher exploded shortly after take-off on Monday night. Around 8pm Beijing time, the unmanned 60-metre (197-foot) Long March 7A blasted off from the Wenchang Space Launch Site on the southern island of Hainan, piercing the night sky as it carried the ChinaSat-4B satellite towards high Earth orbit. But less than 90 seconds into the flight, the rocket erupted into a fireball engulfed in thick black smoke, according to videos posted on social media by spectators near the launch site. (8/10)

BE-4 Issue Carries Wider Launch Stakes (Source: Benzinga)
The valve issue that may have caused the New Glenn explosion matters beyond Blue Origin. New Glenn uses seven methane-fueled BE-4 engines on its first stage, while United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan uses two. ULA said it is collaborating with Blue Origin, making the investigation important to a constrained U.S. launch market. New Glenn remains central to Blue Origin’s competition with SpaceX. NASA expects the rocket to launch Blue Moon lunar missions under Artemis, while Amazon has booked New Glenn and Vulcan flights for its Leo broadband constellation, a Starlink rival. Blue Origin’s schedule will determine how quickly those missions can proceed. (8/6)

Musk Refuses Starlink for Ukrainian Strikes in Russia (Source: Kyiv Post)
Elon Musk is refusing to allow Ukraine to use the SpaceX-operated Starlink satellite network for strikes inside Russian territory. President Volodymyr Zelensky asked US President Trump to intervene and pressure Musk to lift the geographical restrictions so Kyiv can target Russian missile batteries. Trump reportedly did not provide a clear answer. Former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has also attempted to lobby Musk through informal backchannels without success.

Musk has repeatedly cited the risk of Russian escalation and told Ukrainian officials that “it is time to make a deal.” The refusal coincides with broader US hesitancy to transfer advanced military technology, with NATO Ambassador Matthew Whitaker recently confirming that Washington will not allow Ukraine to domestically produce Patriot interceptor missiles, walking back earlier promises made by the Trump administration. (8/8)

Intel's Proposed Orbital Data Centers Would Manage Thousands of Simple LEO Satellites (Source: Tom's Hardware)
An Intel patent application published on August 6 describes an orbital data center architecture that moves some of the computing used to operate massive satellite constellations off the ground and into space. The architecture proposes a two-tier satellite network in which a small number of more powerful satellites in higher orbits manage large constellations of relatively simple satellites in low-Earth orbit, handling much of the computing and constellation coordination normally performed by data centers and network operations centers on the ground. (8/8)

Titan Has Rivers, Rainfall, Lakes and a Slow Hydrological Cycle Remarkably Like Earth’s (Source: Science Blog)
Nine hundred million miles from Earth, in the outer solar system, Saturn’s largest moon runs a full weather cycle. Methane evaporates from surface lakes. It condenses into clouds. It falls as rain — slowly, in droplets larger than any raindrop on Earth. It gathers into rivers that flow across ice-covered valleys, cuts channels into the frozen surface, pools into shallow lakes and small seas. Then it evaporates back up into the atmosphere and begins the cycle again. (8/9)

Katalyst Making Progress on Swift Rescue Spacecraft Control (Source: Space News)
Katalyst Space Technologies is making progress on restoring control of the spacecraft it launched to reboost a NASA observatory. The company said last week that it had slowed the spin rate of its Link spacecraft from 9 to 1.47 degrees per second using one of its electric thrusters. The company is working on a flight software update to restore full control of the spacecraft and allow it to continue its mission. Link launched in early July to grapple NASA's Swift gamma-ray observatory and raise its orbit, but Link suffered problems in late July that put the spacecraft into a multi-axis spin. Katalyst now expects Link to rendezvous with Swift late this month. (8/10)

Lithuania's Astrolight Teams with Atmos Space Cargo for Tech Demo (Source: Space News)
Lithuanian space laser communications company Astrolight has signed an agreement with Atmos Space Cargo to test its technologies in space. The companies announced a memorandum of understanding to demonstrate in-flight optical communications link between an Atmos reentry spacecraft and an orbiting satellite in 2027. Astrolight's ATLAS-X laser communication terminals would fly onboard Atmos's Phoenix reentry vehicle and an unidentified spacecraft, testing data links at speeds of up to 2.5 gigabits per second. (8/10)

Vandenberg Surge: SpaceX Launches Saturday Starlink Mission From California (Source: Spaceflight Now)
SpaceX launched more Starlink satellites Saturday. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 12:35 p.m. Eastern, putting 24 Starlink satellites into orbit. The launch was the 50th this year by SpaceX from Vandenberg as the company emphasizes launches there over its Florida launch pads. (8/9)

RFA Still Plans 2026 Debut From SaxaVord Spaceport (Source: Space News)
The majority owner of German small launch vehicle company Rocket Factory Augsburg still expects a first launch this year despite a testing setback. RFA was planning to launch its RFA ONE rocket from SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands as soon as this week, but the company said in late July it needed to destack the rocket on the pad because of an issue with the rocket. During an earnings call last week, OHB, the German aerospace company that owns 65% of RFA, said the issue was with tanks on the rocket but did not disclose additional details.

OHB said it expects the problem to be resolved soon, allowing for a launch attempt later this year. OHB also used the earnings call to endorse efforts to increase the Ariane 6 launch rate, noting that it is both a supplier for the rocket as well as a customer. [SpaceNews]

NASA Delays ISS Spacewalk for Spacesuit Problem (Source: NASA)
NASA is delaying an International Space Station spacewalk to study a problem with a spacesuit. NASA said Friday that a carbon dioxide sensor in the suit worn on Thursday's spacewalk by Anil Menon provided an "unexpected data reading" near the end of the spacewalk. The agency is reviewing the data to see if the suit needs to be replaced. To accommodate that work, NASA has delayed the second in a series of three spacewalks from Aug. 13 to Aug. 18. The third and final spacewalk in the sequence remains scheduled for Aug. 25. (8/10)

China’s Lunar Station Could be Guarded by Robot Watchdogs (Source: SCMP)
Robot dogs could one day lead the way across the moon, patrolling research stations, scouting hazards and helping astronauts search for scientifically valuable rocks, according to a blueprint by researchers working on China’s lunar base. The concept envisions three astronauts working alongside intelligent machines. As the crew explores the moon’s surface, one astronaut would direct two robot dogs across the landscape, while another collects rock samples and carries out detailed scientific work.

A third would remain inside a van-sized pressurized rover, coordinating the mission and controlling other robots when needed, according to the scientists from the China Academy of Space Technology, the nation’s leading spacecraft developer. (8/8)

SpaceX to Build Natural Gas Power Plants for Texas Chip Factory (Source: Bloomberg)
SpaceX plans to build its own power plants to support the massive semiconductor manufacturing facility it’s developing in Texas with Tesla Inc. “We’re bringing our own power,” Riley Trettel, who oversees energy and data center development for SpaceX, said Wednesday during a public meeting in Grimes County, Texas. “We’re going to be building natural gas fired power plants, and we’re going to be building very large battery arrays in order to store energy.” (8/6)

From Idaho to Mars: NASA Chief Celebrates INL's Role in the New Space Race (Source: KSL)
The administrator for NASA visited Idaho National Laboratory on Friday to celebrate the nuclear age in space. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and a team of executives traveled to INL's Materials and Fuel's Complex, where they met with the very minds who are making nuclear power in space possible. NASA executives also got to be face-to-face with groundbreaking science happening in eastern Idaho, including Deployable Energy's Unity Nuclear Battery demonstration and the Fuel Cycle Facility, where INL is reprocessing used nuclear fuel. (8/8)