September, 18, 2026

USSF Establishes Squadron for Space-Based MTI Satellites (Source: Aviation Week)
The US Space Force has established the 77th Space Surveillance Squadron to focus on space-based moving target indication as it prepares to launch air and ground moving target indicator satellites. Northrop Grumman is developing the Resilient Radar System/Ground constellation with the Space Force and the National Reconnaissance Office. (9/16)

Russian Satellite Imagery Assists Iranian Targeting of U.S. Military Facilities (Source: SatNews)
On Sep. 17, defense intelligence assessments revealed that Russian Earth observation and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite constellations are actively providing high-resolution imagery to Iranian military forces to assist in targeting U.S. and allied installations across the Middle East. (9/18)

Space Leaders Say AI is Moving from Tool to Autonomous Decision-Maker (Source: Via Satellite)
New AI tools are opening the opportunity for more people to get involved when it comes to AI and space. Over the past year, AI has moved from a specialized analytical tool in the hands of the few to an embedded tool in the hands of many, Eutelsat Chief Data and Information Officer Mariam Kaynia said in a discussion Wednesday. (9/18)

ESA Awards €20M in Contracts to Study Future IRIS2 Services (Source: European Spaceflight)
The European Space Agency has awarded 18 contracts worth a combined €20 million to study potential future evolutions of the European Union’s IRIS2 secure communications service. Signed on 17 September, the contracts bring together nearly 80 European companies to study new satellite-based secure connectivity services and associated mission concepts. According to ESA, the solutions will have applications in secure government broadband, maritime operations and aviation, data relaying and satellite tasking.

The studies will focus on the Low-LEO layer of the IRIS2 constellation. This layer will operate below approximately 750 kilometers, compared with the main IRIS2 LEO-High component at around 1,200 kilometers, which will account for the bulk of the constellation’s LEO satellites. (9/18)

South Korea's Satrec Offers 10-Centimeter Imagery (Source: Space News)
South Korean company Satrec Initiative is working with parent company Hanwha Systems to provide 10-centimeter satellite imagery. Satrec currently acquires 25-centimeter optical imagery with SpaceEye-T, launched in 2025. To complement Hanwha's planned 64-satellite radar constellation, designed to provide 30-minute revisit by 2031, Satrec plans to manufacture and launch four satellites to gather 10-centimeter-class optical imagery. The combination of high-resolution optical and radar imagery will open up new opportunities for defense and intelligence customers. In addition, customers will have access to artificial intelligence-based satellite imagery analysis from Satrec Initiative subsidiary SI Analytics. (9/18)

Icarus Robotics Flies Parabolas in Canada, Citing Lack of US Capability (Source: Space News)
Space robotics startup Icarus Robotics went to Canada to perform parabolic flight tests ahead of a mission to the International Space Station. A lack of U.S. facilities for parabolic aircraft flights, which provide brief periods of microgravity, led the company to fly on a Canadian aircraft to test its Joy robotics system. The testing demonstrated the performance of Joy's flight controller, sensor suite and manipulation capabilities.

Editor's Note: Canadian and Swiss providers are offering parabolic rides on small jets, meeting the need for microgravity science after Zero-G Corp. ended flights last year. Florida-based Mu-g Technologies is developing a similar capability now, and Starfighters Space offers a similar, but highly specialized capability with their F-104 jets. NASA is considering plans to activate a larger aircraft for some Artemis-linked requirements. (9/18)

Astra Targets Early 2027 for Virginia Launch (Source: Space News)
Astra is targeting early next year for the first flight of its Rocket 4.0 vehicle. Astra CEO Chris Kemp said at World Space Business Week that the launch is planned for January or February from Wallops Island, Virginia. It will be the first launch for Astra since a failed flight of the smaller Rocket 3.3 in mid-2022. Rocket 4.0 is designed to place up to one ton into low Earth orbit for $5 million, and Astra plans quarterly launches of the vehicle next year and then increasing cadence thereafter. Astra sees opportunities for the vehicle in a market where demand for satellite launch is outstripping capacity, a problem exacerbated by the expected end of SpaceX rideshare missions in a couple years. Editor's Note: This may signal that Astra no longer plans to operate from LC-46 at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. (9/18)

SpaceX Rideshare Planned for NASA Astronomy Smallsat (Source: NASA)
NASA will use a SpaceX rideshare mission to launch an astronomy smallsat. NASA announced Thursday it selected SpaceX to launch the StarBurst spacecraft, flying it on a Bandwagon mid-inclination mission in 2028. StarBurst, part of the Astrophysics Pioneers line of smallsat and balloon missions, will investigate neutron star mergers and the origins of short gamma-ray bursts. NASA used its Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare contract to acquire the launch and did not disclose the value of the deal. (9/18)

SpaceX Delay's Starship Launch to Sep. 28 (Source: Space.com)
SpaceX has further delayed the next Starship launch. The company said Thursday the flight 14 launch, which had been scheduled for Sep. 22, had been pushed back to Sep. 28. The company did not give a reason for the delay. Flight 14 is slated to be the first orbital flight of the vehicle, placing a set of Starlink satellites into orbit. (9/18)

DoD Must Prepare for Lunar Conflict (Source: Defense News)
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says the military needs to be prepared not just for conflict in orbit but also at the moon. Speaking at the Air, Space & Cyber Conference this week, Gen. Dan Caine said the military needs to be prepared to fight "from the seabed to cislunar space." He did elaborate on what fighting might take in cislunar space. A Space Force general said at the conference that the 18th and 19th Space Defense Squadrons are sharing responsibility for monitoring activity in cislunar space and that the Outer Space Treaty did not limit military activities there. (9/18)

Texas A&M Wants to Run NASA JPL (Source: Texas A&M Battalion)
Texas A&M University will bid to take over management of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The university's board of regents formally agreed earlier this month to submit a bid to NASA to manage JPL. The lab has been run by Caltech since before NASA was established in 1958, but the agency said earlier this year it would compete bids for the next contract to manage JPL when the current contract expires in 2028. Texas A&M is currently building the Texas Space Institute, a facility adjacent to the Johnson Space Center funded by the Texas Space Commission. Several universities and organizations are likely to bid on the JPL contract. (9/18)

Launch Vehicle Availability Poses Challenge for Government and Industry (Source: Aerospace America)
The shortage of available launch vehicles is a growing challenge for government and commercial customers seeking to launch spacecraft, panel members said Wednesday during the Glenn Space Technology Symposium. The problem, panelists said, is not necessarily a shortage of rockets, but the increasing difficulty of getting a ride on one. SpaceX is pivoting away from its Falcon 9 workhorse amid its effort to begin commercial flights with the Starship-Super Heavy design. Meanwhile, Blue Origin halted New Glenn launches after one of the rockets exploded on the pad in May, and ULA’s Vulcan Centaur was grounded in February after a solid rocket booster anomaly.

Companies planning lunar lander missions for NASA’s Moon Base initiative have also faced booking challenges, said Trent Martin, an executive at Intuitive Machines, which is slated to launch its third lander early next year. “I’m telling people, ‘I have money to buy rockets right now. Can you sell me a rocket?’ And sometimes I’m running into trouble with that, and so that has been a big challenge,” Martin said. At some point, NASA may want to address the problem more directly, said Ray Allensworth, vice president of spacecraft at Firefly Aerospace, whose second lunar lander mission is scheduled for 2027. (9/17)

Blue Origin Expands Partnership with Air Force Research Laboratory to Access Advanced Rocket Engine Technology (Source: Blue Origin)
Blue Origin and the Rocket and Space Propulsion Division of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Edwards Air Force Base announced an expanded private-public partnership (PPP) to develop new rocket propulsion technologies. Together, they have signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to transfer advanced rocket propulsion hardware and engineering artifacts from AFRL's historic Hydrocarbon Boost (HCB) and Integrated Powerhead Demonstrator (IPD) programs.

Decades ago, the HCB and IPD programs pioneered oxygen-rich and full-flow staged combustion technologies to advance liquid rocket propulsion capabilities in the U.S. Blue Origin will study this hardware and data to inform its commercial engine development. (9/14)

Air Force Readiness At Risk Without Full Budget, Leaders Say (Source: Washington Examiner)
US Air Force leaders have warned that force readiness could be compromised if Congress fails to approve the proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget for fiscal year 2027. The budget includes a $350 billion reconciliation boost for priorities such as the Golden Dome missile shield, munitions and the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group. "If we don't get a full $1.5 trillion budget for all of DOW, whether it's in the base or the reconciliation, the American people should expect an Air Force that's not as ready as it needs to be, should expect an Air Force that's not as modern as it should be, and again, it's not modernizing at a pace as it should be," Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ken Wilsbach says. (9/15)

SDA Director: Decision-Making Authority Key Amid Uncertainty (Source: Defense Scoop)
Space Development Agency Director Gurpartap Sandhoo has expressed concerns about the agency's future, amid legislative proposals that could dissolve it and transfer its authorities to the US Space Force. Sandhoo emphasized the importance of retaining the agency's unique decision-making authorities to maintain its rapid decision-making capabilities. "If we keep those, then that doesn't change anything. Then, it's just a name change," Sandhoo says. "But if you lose some of those, then there'll be some challenges we'll have to navigate." (9/15)

Unseenlabs and Airbus to Develop France’s Future Military Signal Intelligence Satellites (Source: Unseenlabs)
On the sidelines of the International Space Summit, Catherine Vautrin, France’s Minister for the Armed Forces and Veterans’ Affairs, announced that the Directorate-General for Armament (DGA) had awarded the CASSIOPÉE contract to Airbus Defence and Space as the lead contractor and its co-contractor Unseenlabs, thereby initiating the renewal of France’s space-based signal intelligence (SIGINT) capability.

Unseenlabs will bring its expertise in mission planning, ground and on-board processing, will deliver the ground segment, and supply an innovative payload. Airbus will act as the system integrator and provide the ground segment and control centre as well as a satellite solution based on its latest-generation S250 platform, which has been used most recently for the CO3D constellation. (9/17)

Airbus to Build SpainSat NG-III as Spain Replaces Lost Secure Communications Satellite (Source: Spacewatch Global)
Hisdesat has contracted Airbus to build SpainSat NG-III, replacing SpainSat NG-II and completing Spain’s secure communications architecture. The award underscores continued European investment in sovereign satellite communications infrastructure and follows broader regional activity around secure connectivity networks. (9/17)

Europe’s Space Sector Needs Durable Markets, Not More Projects (Source: Spacewatch Global)
Europe has demonstrated that it can fund ambitious space initiatives, but globally competitive companies require more than project financing. Standards, public procurement and sustained strategic continuity are needed to turn fragmented programs into a durable commercial market capable of supporting international-scale businesses. (9/17)

Galileo Demonstrates Authenticated Positioning as Spoofing Concerns Rise (Source: Flight Global)
Galileo has demonstrated authenticated civil positioning and ranging for the first time in civil tests, with five satellites transmitting encrypted signal components. The capability is intended to help users verify that navigation data is genuine as spoofing threats increasingly challenge confidence in satellite-based positioning. (9/17)

NASA Plans More Boeing Starliner Missions and Support for Certification of Vulcan or New Glenn (Source: Ars Technica)
NASA intends to order additional Boeing Starliner missions and help certify a new rocket, signaling continued agency support for the crew capsule despite its troubled development. The approach would preserve Starliner as part of NASA’s human-spaceflight and transportation architecture while requiring further certification work. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the space agency shared some of the blame for Starliner's problems.

The space agency will provide some funding—it’s not clear how much—to Boeing to resolve the propulsion system issues experienced by the spacecraft in its last two flights. Critically, NASA will also help pay to certify an additional launch vehicle for Starliner. The Atlas V is near retirement. There will likely be a competition for a new launch vehicle, which will almost certainly come down to United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan and Blue Origin’s New Glenn vehicles.

The potential to fly Starliner on Blue Origin’s New Glenn is real—and potentially valuable to the company beyond launch contracts. Were Boeing to decide to fly Starliner on New Glenn, it would essentially give Blue Origin a “free” certification of its rocket for human missions, which can be a costly and time-consuming process. Boeing and NASA would also need to build a crew launch arm and other facilities for human missions, which Blue Origin could also use for its Space Vehicle in the future. (9/17)

SpaceX Signals Ending for Dragon Program (Source: Ars Technica)
After long signaling it privately, SpaceX has begun to publicly confirm its intentions to wind down the Dragon program, a remarkable move given that the vehicle began flying humans just six years ago. However, the company is seeking to pivot toward its much larger Starship rocket, with the intent of launching its more lucrative Starlink satellites and a new megaconstellation focused on orbital data centers.

This week, on the All-In Podcast, SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell was asked if the company would respond to demand for Crew Dragon and keep flying the vehicle “for some time.”

Shotwell would not commit to that. “We’re not retiring it today, for sure,” she replied. Then Shotwell suggested that Boeing should really step up and deliver. “There is another provider,” she said. “Boeing has been paid, I think, probably more than we have been paid to develop their human capsule. So we’re just gonna let them have some business. They should fly their capsule. The government paid a lot of money for that.” (9/17)

Rep. George Whitesides Launches YouTube Show Where Politicians Answer Questions Over Hot Wings (Source: LA Daily News)
It’s not unusual for members of Congress to find themselves in the hot seat. But now, Rep. George Whitesides, D-Agua Dulce, is taking that experience to a new level. The Los Angeles County lawmaker just launched “Capitol Heat,” a show on YouTube where he asks fellow members of Congress wide-ranging questions as both guest and host chow down on — you guessed it — spicy foods. Whitesides was formerly with Virgin Galactic and served as NASA chief of staff. (9/15)

ULA Ramps Up Vulcan Centaur Production in Alabama (Source: Washington Times)
United Launch Alliance has ramped up production of its Vulcan Centaur rocket at a 2.4 million-square-foot facility in Decatur, Ala. ULA aims to build up to 25 rockets annually for the US Space Force and commercial clients such as Amazon. ULA's Dan Caughran and Gary Wentz detail the manufacturing process and the economic impact on the region, highlighting a $300 million investment and the creation of nearly 1,000 jobs. (9/15)

Blue Origin Rapidly Rebuilds Florida Launch Complex (Source: The Sentinel)
Blue Origin's CEO Dave Limp has highlighted "incredible progress" in the reconstruction of the company's launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station after a rocket explosion in May caused significant damage. Cleanup was completed in nine days, and Blue Origin has since revised its launch method, eliminating the need for a transporter erector. The company aims to resume launches before the end of the year, crucial for NASA's Artemis program. (9/16)

UCF, SpaceWERX Sign Agreement to Establish East Coast Innovation Gateway (Source: Team Orlando News)
The University of Central Florida (UCF) and SpaceWERX formally partnered Sept. 9 to establish the SpaceWERX East Coast Innovation Gateway, creating a new connection between the U.S. Space Force’s innovation enterprise and Central Florida’s researchers and technology ecosystem. The partnership was celebrated during a signing ceremony at UCF’s Morgridge International Reading Center, where UCF President Alexander N. Cartwright, Ph.D., and Arthur Grijalva, director of SpaceWERX, signed the partnership agreement in the presence of Team Orlando leaders.

SpaceWERX serves as the innovation arm of the Department of the Air Force, working with startups, small businesses, nontraditional companies, academia, investors and defense stakeholders to accelerate the development and transition of new technologies. The East Coast Innovation Gateway expands SpaceWERX’s national innovation network into Central Florida and strengthens connections among government, academia, industry and entrepreneurs. (9/16)

FAA Invites Public Comment for Planned Marine Reentries in US Waters (Source: FAA)
The FAA is announcing the availability of the Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment for Reentry Vehicle Operations in the Marine Environment. FAA is the lead agency of the Draft PEA, to evaluate the potential environmental impacts associated with vehicle operator licenses or experimental permits for up to 70 reentries in the Pacific Ocean per year, 22 reentries in the Gulf of America per year, and 10 reentries in the Atlantic Ocean per year. These will include corresponding airspace closures to ensure reentry operations are conducted safely. Click here.

Editor's Note: Space Coast companies like Operator Solutions had previously supported reentry operations in the Gulf and Atlantic, and Space Florida had been planning for 'spaceport territories' in South Florida and on the Gulf Coast to support reentry splashdowns and post-reentry processing. But then in 2024, debris concerns caused SpaceX to move all Dragon reentry splashdowns off the coast of southern California. (SpaceX's move didn't appear to be in response to an FAA directive.) Multiple companies, including SpaceX, are developing new reentry pods or capsules for space-produced goods. (9/17)