September 14, 2026

US Space Command Should Always Be Led by a Guardian (Source: Air and Space Forces)
General Stephen Whiting took command of U.S. Space Command in January 2024, and if customary three-year tenures hold, his tour would end in January 2027. The question now before the President and Senate is who should follow him? Whoever they choose, it has to be a Guardian—and so should every successor thereafter. The reason is operational, not parochial: Guardians are the military professionals best prepared to integrate spacepower into global, multi-domain operations, and the Space Force exists to generate the nation’s combat-ready space forces. (9/12)

Greek Astrophysicist Calls for European Space Autonomy (Source: Greek City Times)
Europe must achieve greater autonomy in the space sector to respond to geopolitical instability, wars and growing international tensions, Greek astrophysicist Athena Coustenis said. Coustenis, a research director at France’s National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and a member of the board of the Hellenic Space Center, took part in the International Space Summit in Paris, where she also represented Greece’s national space agency. (9/13)

Moon World Resorts Welcomes Rider Levett Bucknall (Source: Moon World Resorts)
Moon World Resorts has appointed Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB), a leading global organization specializing in program management, cost management, quantity surveying, advisory services, sustainability services and built asset consultancy, as Program Managers + Cost Consultants across all worldwide MOON Smart City developments.

MOON will rise in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Oceania, and Africa. MOON will entirely redefine what hospitality and entertainment can achieve at the intersection of innovation and the human experience. As planet Earth’s most anticipated, integrated, iconic hospitality development, MOON is perfectly positioned in a unique "Category of One".

Each MOON development is conceived as a Building of Global Significance, anchored by the world's largest true Sphere and a 556-acre masterplan integrating hospitality, entertainment, longevity + wellbeing, education, technology, attractions, luxury residences and AAA commercial real estate. The delivery mandate requires disciplined cost and risk management at a scale and complexity matched by few organizations worldwide; a mandate where RLB's two-century legacy and global reach is uniquely aligned. (9/10)

Open Cosmos Raises $350 Million, Gaining $1 Billion+ Valuation (Source: Space News)
Open Cosmos is now a unicorn after raising nearly $350 million. The company announced Monday it closed a Series C round, raising 300 million euros ($348 million). The round was led by European investors Lightrock and ETF Partners, with Claret Capital Partners providing a relatively small debt element. A source said the round valued the company at more than $1 billion. Open Cosmos designs, builds and operates satellites for government and commercial customers, while also providing Earth observation and data services as it seeks to grow a newly launched connectivity business. A key part of its growth plans is ConnectedCosmos, a proposed sovereign Ka-band broadband constellation for Europe using spectrum filings originally assigned to Rivada Space Networks. Open Cosmos is also continuing to build out OpenConstellation, its shared Earth observation network. (9/14)

Sophia Space Arranges $300 Million for 10-Satellite Computing Constellation (Source: Space News)
Sophia Space has reached a financing agreement for a 10-satellite edge-computing system. Under the $300 million agreement announced Monday, aerospace leasing specialist SLI will purchase satellites from Sophia and lease them to end users who make monthly or quarterly payments. The system will have the performance of 240 "state-of-the-art edge servers." SLI, the aerospace subsidiary of Libra Group, is playing a growing role in the space sector with satellites purchased from ReOrbit and AscendArc. (9/14)

Apex Seeks to Expand US Presence for Satellite Production (Source: Space News)
Apex is helping establish a dedicated factory to build direct-to-device satellites for direct-to-device Elveo Mobile. The companies announced plans to set up vertically integrated production for Elveo in the US. The company aims to later replicate the model to deploy manufacturing facilities in Europe and Asia. Elveo declined to disclose the location but said the facility will be separate from Apex’s Factory One in Los Angeles. The goal is for satellite production to begin rolling off the line around mid-2027. Elveo recently started operations after the merger of Lynk Global and Omnispace. Editor's Note: I hear the Airbus satellite factory at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport might be for sale. (9/14)

SpaceX Launches SES Satellites Sunday From Florida (Source: Spaceflight Now)
SpaceX launched the final three SES O3b mPower satellites Sunday. A Falcon 9 lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport and deployed three Boeing-built satellites into orbit. The three will join 10 others previously launched into medium Earth orbits to provide broadband services. The launch was the 700th for the Falcon family of launch vehicles, which includes the original Falcon 1 and Falcon Heavy. [Spaceflight Now]

Exolaunch Secures Rideshare Launches (Source: Space News)
Exolaunch has secured two additional rideshare launches. The company said Monday it reached one deal to manifest satellites as secondary payloads on the Falcon 9 launch of GRACE-C, a pair of NASA-German Earth observation satellites launching in late 2028 into a near-polar orbit. It also announced a separate deal to launch satellites for several constellation customers on a Japanese H3 rocket launching in 2027 to a mid-inclination orbit. The deals are in addition to two dedicated Falcon 9 launches Exolaunch acquired in May as it and others in the industry scramble to prepare for the expected end of SpaceX's own dedicated rideshare missions in the next couple of years. (9/14)

BlackSky Was Rocket Lab's Mystery Customer for Recent Launch (Source: Space News)
BlackSky was the customer for a secretive Electron launch last week. The company announced Monday it commissioned its latest Gen-3 satellite and returned its first image less than 20 hours after launch. The satellite launched on an Electron Friday for what Rocket Lab described as only a confidential customer, but BlackSky later confirmed it was that customer. By decreasing the timeline from launch to initial operations, BlackSky seeks to expand access to Gen-3’s 35-centimeter imagery. (9/14)

NOAA to Expand Commercial Satellite Data Use (Source: Space News)
NOAA announced a significant expansion of its commercial satellite data program last week. The agency said it awarded its five-year Space-Based Environmental Monitoring contract, with a five-year option, to 14 companies to provide various types of commercial weather data. The indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract is worth up to $8 billion. NOAA will use the data to improve its weather forecasting models. (9/14)

NASA Hopes to Break Ground on Space Academy in 2028 (Source: Space News)
NASA has provided more details about a proposed U.S. Space Academy. The agency released an RFI last week for the academy, inviting states to propose how they would support the institution through access to land, educational institutions and other resources. President Trump signed an executive order last month creating a commission to study the academy over the next 120 days, and that commission met last week for the first time. NASA stated in the RFI is it looking to break ground on the academy as soon as next year with an initial 300-student class starting in 2028 on an interim campus, with the final campus ready by 2031. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman took to social media to defend the academy from criticism that it blurs the lines between civil and military space as well as its costs. (9/14)

DoD Wants AI Space Threat Intelligence Synthesis (Source: Space News)
The Pentagon is seeking an AI system capable of turning a flood of space, missile and intelligence data into operational threat assessments within seconds. The Defense Innovation Unit opened a competition for what it calls a “Space Threat Intelligence Synthesis Engine,” software designed to fuse fragmented sensor and intelligence feeds fast enough to support human operators and automated command-and-control systems. The Pentagon wants proposals by Sept. 24 for commercially developed software that can continuously ingest and correlate live video, satellite imagery, radar and other sensor feeds, geospatial information and classified intelligence. The system would use artificial intelligence and machine learning to detect, characterize and attribute threats and maintain an updated picture of the operating environment. (9/14)

Poland's Orbital Matter and Germany's Dcubed Conducting 3D Printing Flights for Cubesats (Source: Space News)
Two European companies are conducting on-orbit demonstrations of 3D printing in cubesats that could be used for in-space production of solar arrays. Polish company Orbital Matter 3D-printed a layer of photopolymer resin in August with one of four 3D printers in Replicator 2, an eight-unit cubesat launched in July on a SpaceX Transporter rideshare. Separately, German startup Dcubed is seeking confirmation that its Araqys-D1/Dcubed-1 satellite, launched in January, printed a 60-centimeter structural boom. It has been unable to establish communications with the cubesat after its deployment. (9/14)

Catalyx Developing Deployable Heat Shield for Reentry Vehicle (Source: Space News)
Catalyx Space is preparing to test a newly developed deployable heat shield for its planned ReX reentry vehicle. The startup said a 10-kilogram test vehicle carrying the hardware is slated to launch in mid-October aboard an Indian RH-300 sounding rocket to an altitude of around 110 kilometers, before splashing down in the Arabian Sea. The heat shield is designed to expand from 25 centimeters across when stowed to one meter. The flight also aims to validate a point-to-point delivery capability for defense applications. (9/14)

Chinese Tourist Arrested in Merritt Island NWR For Flying a Drone (Source: Talk of Titusville)
A Chinese tourist who flew a consumer drone from a Playalinda Beach parking lot in July is now facing federal charges after the aircraft climbed above the mangroves and recorded video of Kennedy Space Center. A criminal complaint was filed in Orlando in a case that began with a routine drone alert on a Saturday evening and ended with a family of four being escorted off federal property.

The charges, filed August 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida under case number 6:26-mj-1933, charges He with violation of National Defense Airspace under 49 U.S.C. 46307 and operating an aircraft without an airman’s certificate under 49 U.S.C. 46306(b)(7). Both are misdemeanors. The complaint was sworn before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie Hoffman Price. (9/12)

Sierra Space Secures Contracts For First Dream Chaser Mission (Source: Talk of Titusville)
Sierra Space said Tuesday it has signed national security and commercial customers to fly payloads on the inaugural flight of its Dream Chaser spaceplane, the long-delayed winged vehicle scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station aboard a ULA Vulcan Centaur. Sierra Space named no customers and disclosed no contract values, but this week’s announcement sharpens the Sierra’s pivot toward national security work for Dream Chaser ahead of a debut still targeted for late this year. (9/3)