August 22, 2026

SPACECOM Eyes Cislunar Operations (Source: Breaking Defense)
A new SPACECOM futures report highlights ground segment vulnerabilities as a key issue, something hardly mentioned by the Space Force in their similar report. In addition, SPACECOM puts a spotlight on cislunar space as a domain of emerging military space competition, whereas the Space Force hasn’t voiced a strong interest beyond citing a need to monitor adversary activity in the vast volume of space between the Earth and the moon. (8/22)

US Space Forces Japan Chief Sees Expanded Collaboration (Source: Asahi Shimbun)
The commander of U.S. Space Forces Japan said space is no longer a “sanctuary” and instead has become a warfighting domain, and has outlined plans for a major expansion of the command’s headquarters staff. Col. John Patrick indicated that the United States and Japan intend to deepen their close cooperation in the space domain, including coordination in command and control. U.S. Space Forces Japan was established in December 2024, and Patrick assumed command as its second commander in June this year.

He said U.S. Space Forces Japan’s purpose is to help defend the U.S. homeland and to strengthen cooperation with Japan. He said efforts are underway to expand the headquarters from about 20 personnel at the time he took command to a force of 80 members, adding that the expansion is expected to enhance the headquarters’ capabilities in command and control, operations and planning. Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force is also set to be reorganized into the Japan Air and Space Self-Defense Force during the current fiscal year. (8/22)

SpaceX’s Starlink Blackout Punishes Myanmar Civilians, Not Just Cybercriminals (Source: SCMP)
SpaceX discontinued its Global Roam service for existing Myanmar customers as of Monday. The US company offered no specific reason beyond regulatory compliance, but few would question the move, given the need to clamp down on the increasing number of cybercrime networks that tap into its Starlink services globally. (8/22)

Isaacman Says Artemis III Could Launch in June 2027 (Source: Florida Today)
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said Friday that the agency’s Artemis III mission could launch from Kennedy Space Center as early as June 2027 — a fast-approaching target. He was a keynote speaker at the Space Coast Symposium in Cape Canaveral. (8/22)

Eight Emerging Startups Selected for ISS National Lab’s Orbital Edge Accelerator Program (Source: CASIS)
The International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory announced the eight early-stage startups selected for the two tracks of the 2026 Orbital Edge Accelerator program. Now in its second year, this one-of-a-kind accelerator will provide the selected startups with access to low Earth orbit for research and technology development and $500,000 to $750,000 in private capital funding per startup. Click  here. (8/12)

Space Command to Relocate 200 Personnel to Alabama This Year (Source: Air and Space Forces)
U.S. Space Command officials say they’re on track to relocate 200 personnel from Colorado Springs, Colo., to Huntsville by the end of this year as part of a multiyear transition of the command’s headquarters. In the year since President Donald Trump announced U.S. Space Command would stand up its permanent headquarters in Huntsville—reversing a decision by former President Joe Biden to keep the command in Colorado—SPACECOM has made fast progress on its goal to relocate its 1,800 personnel there by 2031. (8/21)

Trump’s Space Transportation Policy Calls for New Spaceport on Federal Land (Source: Ars Technica)
A new national space transportation policy calls for the development of more spaceports. The government will identify potential locations for additional launch facilities in the United States. The directive appears to endorse the results of a recent Pentagon study that identified the need for the government to have a third heavy-lift launch site. It also supports more efficient range scheduling criteria at federally owned spaceports, balancing the needs of commercial users and US government missions. It also directs the military and NASA to “regularly publish range schedules to ensure transparent allocation of resources and optimize launch capacity.”

The Department of the Interior is also directed to identify federal lands to serve as a designated reentry site. The policy seeks to improve integration of space launch and reentry operations into airspace and air traffic control modernization efforts, and designate “priority airspace for critical space launch corridors." Editor's Note: This airspace-oriented direction might also encourage the FAA to seek the designation of a supersonic/hypersonic flight test corridor, to support hypersonic R&D and facilitate the re-introduction of supersonic passenger flights in US airspace. (8/21)

Canada Awards Four FAST Grants, Total Hits $6.8 Million (Source: SpaceQ)
The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has selected four more projects under its 2025 FAST program, backing advanced manufacturing for space structures, astronaut training, navigation in low Earth orbit and CubeSats with about $1.45 million combined. As of August 17, 2026, the CSA has awarded 19 grants under the FAST 2025 AO representing $6.8 million to Canadian post-secondary institutions to advance space science and technology, while training the next generation of space experts. (8/21)

UF Astraeus Space Institute Launches New Hub for Space Exploration and Innovation (Source: UF)
The University of Florida’s Astraeus Space Institute marked a major milestone Thursday, Aug. 20, with a ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the opening of its new Mission Operations Center at the Computer Science Engineering Building, located on main campus in Gainesville. The new facility provides Astraeus with a dedicated space to advance interdisciplinary research, collaboration and innovation in space exploration.

Faculty, university leaders, researchers, students and community partners gathered for the event to officially recognize the growth of Astraeus and its continued mission to bring together experts from across UF to address challenges and opportunities in the space sector. David Norton, Ph.D., vice president for research at UF and chair of the Florida Space Research Consortium board, said the new headquarters will provide a central hub for collaboration and innovation. (8/21)

Mu-G Technologies Readies Pilots for Microgravity Flight Services (Source: Mu-G)
Members of the flight test team at Mu-g Technologies have completed the FAA’s Flight Test Crew Resource Management for Flight Test Pilots/Engineers course in Oklahoma City. This curriculum combines hands-on case studies with intensive CRM-focused scenarios in the FAA’s Level D full-motion A330-200 and B737-800 simulators. From performance and stability testing at altitude to managing complex crew dynamics, the experience was invaluable. This specialized training prepares Mu-g pilots and test engineers for the company's upcoming flight test campaign using their Dassault Falcon 50 parabolic aircraft. (8/21)

Are Launched Payloads Exported? Some Regulators Say No, Some Say Yes (Source: SPACErePORT)
Satellites launched from (and returned to) the Cape Canaveral Spaceport have since 1989 benefitted from Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) 136, encompassing multiple spaceport-adjacent facilities where international payloads and parts are imported, assembled, processed, and launched (exported) without exposure to US import tariffs. The Airbus OneWeb satellite manufacturing site is an excellent example.

Whether US-developed space hardware requires pre-launch export licensure and ITAR/EAR approvals is an open question that is causing some confusion for payloads that will be used or controlled by foreign entities...especially as the number of US-launched payloads expands substantially at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport and elsewhere. Because export violations can reach $10,000 per occurrence, additional clarity is needed.

The Space Coast World Trade Council will host an Oct. 23 event at the Melbourne International Airport for satellite manufacturers, payload processing companies, spaceports, compliance managers, trade attorneys, logistics professionals, launch companies, and other stakeholders to discuss the provisions of ITAR, EAR, and Foreign Trade Regulations and how they apply to space launch and reentry operations. For information contact Bill Cantillon at bcantillon@bellsouth.net. (8/22)

SpaceX Scales Back Plans for Next Starship Launch, Dropping Planned Upper-Stage Catch (Source: Space News)
SpaceX’s next Starship flight is now unlikely to attempt a launch-site catch of the vehicle’s upper stage, signaling a narrower test objective for the upcoming mission. The change reduces the scope of the next demonstration as SpaceX continues developing Starship’s recovery architecture. The decision narrows the next Starship flight’s test objectives and provides less near-term opportunity to validate recovery of the upper stage at the launch site. (8/21)

Taiwan’s First Domestic Rocket Test Terminates Shortly After Liftoff (Source: Spacewatch Global)
Taiwan’s first flight test of a domestically developed satellite launch vehicle ended shortly after liftoff, marking an early setback in the island’s effort to establish independent access to space. The test reflects Taiwan’s push to develop indigenous launch capabilities for its growing satellite ambitions. (8/21)

Boeing Starliner Thruster Failures Turned First Crewed Docking Into a Near-Disaster (Source: Air Current)
Thruster failures during Boeing Starliner’s first crewed flight in June 2024 made its docking with the orbiting laboratory a high-risk event for astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams, exposing serious concerns about propulsion reliability in a pivotal human-spaceflight test. (8/20)

Trump to Present Congressional Space Medal of Honor to Artemis II Crew (Source: Space Policy Online)
President Donald Trump will present the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to Artemis II astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen at a ceremony on Aug. 28 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The crew are the first astronauts to fly around the moon in more than 50 years. (8/21)

Starcloud Adds $250M to Series A at a $2.3B Valuation (Source: Space News)
Orbital data center startup Starcloud has expanded its Series A by $250 million, just five months after its initial raise. Manhattan West led the financing, which more than doubled the company’s valuation to $2.3 billion, underscoring investor momentum behind space-based data infrastructure. (8/21)

SpaceX is Hiring a Natural-Gas Trader to Support Growing Fuel and Power Needs (Source: Bloomberg)
SpaceX is seeking a trader to build and lead a natural-gas trading team, linking the launch company’s expanding spaceflight operations to energy-market procurement. The role indicates that fuel and power requirements have become significant enough to warrant dedicated trading expertise within the company. (8/21)

Vast Cuts 4% of Employees, Saying They Did Not Meet Expectations in Review Cycle (Source: Business Insider)
Space station startup Vast has cut 4% of its workforce as the new space race heats up. The startup, which is developing a commercial replacement for the International Space Station (ISS), fired 46 employees on Wednesday, Business Insider has learned. The cuts come months after Vast raised $500 million in a funding round aimed at launching the world's first commercial space station in 2027. (8/21)

Racing to Build a Radio Telescope on the Moon (Source: Phys.org)
For a long time, scientists and engineers have proposed putting a radio telescope on one of the last spots in the solar system that is safe from our ever-growing sphere of radio influence—the far side of the moon. A new paper lays out a plan to do just that—and stresses that we need to do it before even that last safe haven is gone for good.

By 2030, a growing fleet of orbiters and landers will introduce permanent radio-frequency interference (RFI) to the far side of the moon. Mission planners know this, but ignoring an entire hemisphere of our nearest neighbor—especially one as scientifically interesting as the lunar far side—isn't in the nature of science. So, to put it simply, we have a limited amount of time to put a lunar telescope there if we don't want it to run into the same interference problem as other telescopes on Earth and in space.

Enter the Lunar Farside Transients and Technology Telescope (LFT3). This proposed mission would deploy a sophisticated radio antenna to the far side of the moon by the end of the decade—and plans to do it for only $150 million by using NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. (8/19)

AFRL Awards Trusted Space $14.8 Million Contract for Autonomous Satellite Research (Source: Military Aerospace)
The $14.83 million ceiling, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract covers research, development, software maturation, testing and on-orbit demonstration of autonomy software prototypes intended to build trust, safety and resilience into multi-agent autonomous space systems, according to the Department of Defense. (8/21)

Artificial Intelligence Integrations Drive Satellite Data Analytics Toward 14.2 Percent Annual Growth (Source: SatNews)
On August 20, 2026, market intelligence disclosures highlighted that the satellite data analytics sector is expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.2 percent. The growth curve reflects a fundamental shift in how commercial enterprises and government agencies consume geospatial intelligence, transitioning from manual imagery interpretation to automated cloud analytics. The expansion of the analytics market is tied to the rapid deployment of artificial intelligence and computer vision models trained directly on orbital sensor streams. (8/20)

Golden Dome Secrecy Poses Challenge for Estimating Costs (Source: Air and Space Forces)
While Pentagon officials have revealed some details about the architecture behind the Golden Dome missile defense project, crafting an independent cost estimate for a largely classified program remains a challenge, experts said. President Trump issued an executive order in January 2025 directing the Pentagon to build Golden Dome. Defense Department officials have said the system will consist of command-and-control nodes, satellite sensors, and ground-and- space-based interceptors, but the finer details of that architecture—including numbers of satellites and interceptors—remain shrouded in secrecy.

The Pentagon has said it expects the program to cost $185 billion to build over the next 10 years, but think tank experts and government analysis have argued the bill for what Trump’s executive order articulated will likely be much higher. Editor's Note: At an Aug. 21 panel discussion in Florida, an industry official warned that contractors seeking to support Golden Dome may find that current spending levels are unsustainable, given the $40+ trillion national debt. (8/19)

Ursa Major Expands in Colorado (Source: Interesting Engineering)
US aerospace and defense company Ursa Major opened a facility in Longmont on August 20 to take over production of spacecraft avionics and in-space propulsion systems. The facility can accommodate more than 125 employees. Moving this work from the company’s Berthoud headquarters will also create more manufacturing room there for liquid rocket engines, hypersonic systems, and solid rocket motors. The Longmont site includes dedicated welding and manufacturing laboratories, an environmental testing lab, an ISO 7 hard-walled clean room, and an adjoining ISO 8 gowning room. (8/21)

He Delivered 100 Georgia Babies. Soon, He’ll Return to Space on Artemis III (Source: AJC.com)
As an astronaut, Frank Rubio has seen the lights of Atlanta from space. As an Army doctor in labor and delivery at the Fort Benning hospital in Columbus, he has also seen the faces of parents aglow when he welcomed their babies into the world. Rubio, a multiskilled mission specialist for NASA — he has flown military helicopters and spent a year aboard the International Space Station where he famously grew tomatoes — will return to orbit next year aboard the Orion spacecraft. (8/21)

Star Catcher Gets $60 Million SpaceWERX Contract for Power Beaming (Source: Star Catcher)
Star Catcher has secured a $60 million STRATFI award from SpaceWERX on August 20, 2026, combining $30 million in government funds and $30 million in private capital. This follows an oversubscribed $65 million Series A round and supports their ongoing development of an in-space optical power beaming network. Star Catcher's optical power beaming is designed to supply on-demand electricity to commercial and defense satellites in orbit. (8/21)

The US is About to Wake Up to the Threat From China's Space Program (Source: Ars Technica)
As soon as this Sunday, a Long March 5 rocket will launch from a coastal seaport in China, carrying the Chang’e 7 lunar exploration mission. This is the latest and most sophisticated mission in China’s successful lunar exploration program, which dates back nearly two decades. The mission will pack a punch: It contains a lunar orbiter with high-resolution cameras and other sophisticated tools, a lunar lander, a lunar rover, and a mini-hopper of a probe. Although the lander’s mass has not been disclosed publicly, it is several times larger than the NASA-backed probes that have recently landed on the Moon, such as Firefly’s Blue Ghost.

China’s lunar ambitions are becoming a major test of American leadership in space. China’s push to land humans on the Moon could give Beijing a powerful geopolitical achievement, especially if it occurs before the United States returns astronauts to the lunar surface. A successful mission would demonstrate technological maturity, national ambition, and the ability to execute complex long-term programs. The competition is about more than symbolic prestige. Lunar missions can advance communications, robotics, navigation, resource exploration, scientific research, and the operational experience needed for a sustained presence beyond Earth.

Editor's Note: NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, during a discussion on Aug. 21 in Florida, warned that China may soon stake a claim to some key lunar South Pole real estate, which might otherwise be needed for NASA's Artemis lunar base plans. He said a high cadence of US lunar missions, and a "Nuclear NASA" focus, are needed to secure a strategic US presence on the Moon. (8/20)

SpaceX Launches Friday Starlink Mission From Florida (Source: Space.com)
SpaceX launched yet another Starlink mission today (Aug. 21), sending 29 more of the broadband satellites to orbit from Florida's Space Coast. The spacecraft flew aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, which lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. That was a day later than planned; SpaceX scrubbed a liftoff attempt on Thursday (Aug. 20) for reasons that were not immediately clear. (8/21)

Japan Unveils Mars Moon Sample-Return Spacecraft Ahead of Oct. 19 Launch (Source: Space.com)
The world just got its first good looks at some hardware that will make spaceflight history. Last Thursday (Aug. 13), Japan unveiled the spacecraft that make up its Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission, which aims to snag samples of the Mars moon Phobos and haul them to Earth — something that has never been done. The big reveal came at Tanegashima Space Center, the site from which MMX will launch toward the Red Planet atop an H3 rocket. (8/21)

Sentinel-1 Captures Major Ice Loss From Greenland Glacier (Source: European Space Agency)
Europe’s Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission has captured a dramatic change at Petermann Glacier in northwest Greenland, where a 76 sq km section of the glacier’s floating ice tongue broke away on 4 August 2026. The event marks the glacier’s largest loss of floating ice since 2012 and the most significant calving event in the Arctic since 2020 – revealing once again how rapidly Earth’s polar landscapes can change. (8/21)

Space Transportation Policy Aims for 1000 Launches/Reentries Per Year (Source: Space News)
The White House released a new space transportation policy Thursday with a goal of sharply increasing launch rates. The policy, updated for the first time since 2013, sets a goal of being able to support at least 1,000 launches and reentries a year from U.S. facilities by 2030, a roughly fivefold increase from current rates. A major focus of the policy is on spaceports and related infrastructure, including new launch sites and a new federal reentry site. Other elements of the policy include development of a space transportation industrial base strategy and coordination of government purchases of commercial launch services. (8/21)

White House Space Policy Directs Agencies to Send Humans to Mars (Source: Washington Post)
The new policy directs NASA to explore commercial avenues for robots to access the surface of Mars and architecture capable of getting humans to Mars and returning them to Earth. Implementation will depend on private sector buy-in and Congress’ willingness to fund the objectives, which the memorandum acknowledges. The policy replaces guidance issued by the Obama administration in 2013. (8/21)

Space Force Picks Companies for Technology Development Projects (Source: Space News)
The innovation arm of the Space Force selected 11 companies for a new round of public-private financing. SpaceWERX announced Thursday agreements with the companies with a combined value of $562.5 million from government organizations and private investors, including $245 million from the government. SpaceWERX did not provide details of the individual projects funded in the agreements, which are intended to move space technologies from prototypes to operational systems. The winning companies are Agile Space Industries, Antares Nuclear, EO Solutions, Hydrosat, Kall Morris, Method Security, Muon Space, Scout Space, Sedaro, Star Catcher Industries and ThinkOrbital. (8/21)

China's Landspace Plans to Refly Land-Landed Zhuque-3 Booster Soon (Source: Space News)
Chinese launch company Landspace plans to refly a booster it landed earlier this week in the next several months. A company representative told Chinese financial outlet STAR Market Daily that Landspace plans to conduct a reflight test of the recovered Zhuque-3 stage within six months. The company said it made several technical changes to the booster after a failed landing on the rocket's first flight last December. Those changes included a reduced number of engines used in the landing burn and improved thermal protection to handle the extreme reentry heating and structural loads. The company's goal is to fly each booster at least 20 times. (8/21)

Elve Qualfies Wave Tube Amplifier for Spaceflight (Source: Space News)
Elve has qualified its 100-watt millimeter-wave Traveling Wave Tube Amplifier platform for spaceflight. The company used a Space Force SBIR award to qualify a family of products for spaceflight and expects to fly the amplifiers on a satellite within a year. The amplifiers promise higher data rates for spacecraft. (8/21)

Next ISS Spacewalk Revised (Source: NASA)
NASA is revising plans for its next ISS spacewalk. NASA said Thursday that the spacewalk, scheduled for next Tuesday, will involve astronauts Anil Menon and Sophie Adenot installing a new antenna outside the station. That antenna was supposed to be installed on a spacewalk Tuesday by the two astronauts, but it took longer than expected to remove an old antenna at the location where the new one will be installed. The agency said that, if time allows, the astronauts will also replace a retroreflector on a docking port of the station, one of the tasks originally planned for the upcoming spacewalk. The agency is considering adding another spacewalk on Sept. 1 to carry out additional maintenance. (8/21)

Tax Incentives Trigger Blue Origin Manufacturing Project in Texas (Source: Austin American-Statesman)
Blue Origin is now publicly linked to a major manufacturing project in central Texas. Williamson County commissioners approved on Thursday an economic development agreement for a factory spanning 1.3 million square feet in Hutto, Texas, north of Austin. The vote was the first time that Blue Origin was publicly named as the company planning the project, which previously has been discussed using code names, although the company had been rumored to be associated with it.

Neither the company nor the commissioners disclosed what would be produced there, but officials said it would create 2,000 jobs over 10 years. Williamson County’s 10-year plan includes a 100% tax abatement on real property and a 50% abatement on personal property for the first five years and a 50% abatement on real property for the second five years. The agreement also includes requirements for Blue Origin to work with the Hutto school district on a career and technical education program and provide high school internships. (8/20)

Young Uruguayan Woman Selected to Build a Satellite Alongside Students From 108 Countries (Source: El Pais)
Two years ago, Valentina Bidegaray stumbled across a news story about wormholes , a concept derived from Albert Einstein 's theory of general relativity and often used in science fiction films to explain time travel. What followed was an adventure driven by curiosity: Bidegaray knew she wouldn't be taking astronomy as a subject in high school, since it had been announced in 2023 that it would no longer be offered, and she dedicated herself to researching everything she could about the topic on her own. She even visited the Kennedy Space Center, which ultimately confirmed her interest in the subject. (8/20)

From Uruguay to NASA: the Story of Noelia González and Her Role in the Artemis II Lunar Mission (Source: El Pais)
Noelia González was born in San Carlos, but grew up in Punta del Este. She has a degree in Communication from the University of Montevideo (UM) and has lived in the United States for 12 years, a country she went to in order to study for a master's degree and which she eventually made her home. Along with her husband and two children – aged 7 and 2 – she resides in Maryland, a few kilometers from Washington DC, where she arrived after receiving a dream job offer: to be part of the Spanish communication team of NASA. (8/4)