September 19, 2026

Ghana Must Set Clear Goal for Space Exploration (Source: Ghana Web)
Veteran Japanese astronaut and Axiom CTO Koichi Wakata has urged Ghana to set a clear goal for its space exploration program and work with other countries to expand its presence in space exploration. He said Ghana has significant potential in space technology and could benefit from stronger international cooperation in developing a human space program. (9/18)

Black Astronauts Tout Space Exploration (Source: Maryland Matters)
There have been fewer than 20 Black astronauts in NASA history, but two of them were on a Washington stage Friday for a discussion as part of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual legislative conference.

Jeanette Epps and Victor Glover were on hand for “Ad Astra: African Americans in Space Exploration,” hosted by Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-4th), honorary co-chair of the 55th annual conference this year. Ivey, whose district includes the Goddard Space Flight Center, said the panel was to not only tout space exploration, but to encourage younger Blacks to enter what Ivey called a multitrillion-dollar industry “that’s just going to keep growing.” (9/18)

Will SpaceX's Orbiting Data Centers Rain Debris Over Earth? (Source: PC Mag)
SpaceX already retires aging Starlink satellites by burning them up in the Earth’s atmosphere. But what happens when you try to disintegrate an even larger, orbiting data center? The company has told the FCC that some debris from a disposed orbiting data center could survive and land on the Earth, but expects the fragments to be harmless.

On Thursday, SpaceX discussed the issue in a 12-page letter to the FCC after the Commission asked for more details about the “Starmind” satellites, and if they could survive atmospheric re-entry following disposal. “Based on this analysis, no portion of the spacecraft will impact the surface of the Earth with a kinetic energy above 15 joules: the Commission’s limit under which a re-entering object presents no risk to humans.” Each Starmind satellite will have a mass up to 4,000kg (4 metric tons). (9/18)

Is Space Force Pivoting Too Soon? (Source: Real Clear Defense)
In 2009, after spending roughly $18 billion, the Army cancelled Future Combat Systems before its replacement concepts had matured, leaving modernization gaps that still affect the force today. In the early 2010s, NASA made a similar mistake when the Space Shuttle retired before commercial crew became operational. The United States spent nearly a decade relying on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft to reach the ISS. Both examples illustrate the danger of assuming tomorrow's architecture will arrive on schedule and perform exactly as planned.

The U.S. Space Force should avoid making a similar mistake as it modernizes America's missile warning enterprise. To its credit, the Space Force is pursuing exactly the right long-term vision: a resilient, multi-layered architecture combining geosynchronous (GEO), medium-Earth orbit (MEO), and proliferated low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites tied together through the Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution (FORGE) command-and-control network. The question is not whether this architecture is correct. It is whether the Space Force is allowing enthusiasm for the future architecture to diminish the importance of completing the GEO layer first. (9/18)

Northrop Grumman to Deliver New Space Domain Awareness Prototype Satellite (Source: Northrop Grumman)
Northrop Grumman has been selected to deliver a commercially derived prototype for the Department of War Innovation Unit’s (DIU) Geosynchronous High-Resolution Optical Space-Based Tactical Reconnaissance (GHOST-R) mission. This award expands the company’s role in commercial, low-cost, proliferated space systems and builds on the success of the Northrop Grumman-built Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP). (9/18)

Europe’s Space Tracking Program Sees Growing Support, Interest (Source: Breaking Defense)
With the future of the US Commerce Department’s Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS) in limbo, US and European industry officials said the European Union is now poised to take the lead in setting policy, standards and licensing requirements for safety measures that satellite operators around the world. While TraCSS could still work out long term, the officials said there is a growing interest in the EU’s dual-use space traffic management program, known as the EU Space Surveillance and Tracking Partnership (EU SST). (9/18)

SpaceX Scores Another $950 Million from NASA for 3 More Crewed Flights to ISS (Source: CNBC)
SpaceX has expanded its contract with NASA and will conduct an additional three crewed Dragon flights to the ISS through 2030, netting the company up to $946 million upon completion. The award for flight support brings SpaceX’s total missions under the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contract to 17 operational flights. (9/18)

Tired of Winning: SpaceX Signals Wind-Down of Falcon and Dragon (Source: SPACErePORT)
SpaceX has been sending strong signals that the end is near for its Falcon rockets and Dragon capsules, sending shockwaves through the payload community and giving hope to beleaguered competitors. Based on comments from SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, the company seems inclined to loosen its grip on markets it has dominated for the past decade, encouraging competitors to step up and take advantage of the opportunity. (9/19)

Minimizing Aerospace Tariff Exposure (Source: SCWTC)
To avoid the Trump administration's stiff import tariffs, a foreign payload can enter the US through Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) 136, a non-contiguous, moveable zone encompassing multiple pre-launch processing sites on and around the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. "Exporting" the payload via launch into space then fully exempts the payload from its US import tariffs. But is launching into space truly an export? Orbit is not a country of ultimate destination; there's no foreign port to receive the payload; and control of the payload in orbit is a commercial arrangement not a shipment delivery.

FTR § 30.2 requires an Electronic Export Information filing for goods shipped from the US to a foreign country. A typical launch does not meet that condition. But does payload delivery to a foreign space station module qualify? Or to foreign GEO orbital slot? Should the payload owner declare a consumption-entry to the US Customs Territory and launch it into orbit as per the Export Administration Regulations, or file an export declaration per other regulations?

Using 'privileged foreign status' potentially conferred by an FTZ entry, the owner can freeze the classification and tariff rates of imported components according to the date of import, allowing those rates to be applied instead of the rate for the finished payload. This can result in complete avoidance of Section 301 duties, up to 10% of the payload's value. Confused? The Space Coast World Trade Council plans an Oct. 23 working session to clarify how aerospace companies can minimize their tariff exposure. Contact Bill Cantillon at bcantillon@bellsourth.net. (9/19)

Pentagon Releases Sixth Batch of UFO Files, Details Secret Military Program (Source: CBS News)
Yesterday's drop comprises 71 files dating from 1952 to 2025. Several documents examine a secretive military initiative that ran from 2008 to 2012 to anticipate future aerospace threats. The memos explore the possibility of warp drives, wormholes, antigravity, negative mass propulsion, and invisibility cloaking. Another document details unintended injury to humans by anomalous advanced aerospace systems, including hair loss and signs of cancerous cell growth. (9/18)

Rocket Lab Launches 96th Electron Mission (Source: Rocket Lab)
Rocket Lab Corporation (Nasdaq: RKLB), a global leader in launch services and space systems, today successfully launched the latest Earth-observation satellite to space for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) company, Synspective. The ‘Owl By The Dozen’ mission launched from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand on September 19, 2026 and delivered the 12th StriX satellite directly into an exact 572km low Earth orbit for Synspective’s Earth-monitoring constellation. (9/19)

AST SpaceMobile Faces Lawsuit Over Its Competitiveness With Starlink Mobile (Source: PC Mag)
The satellite-to-phone provider AST SpaceMobile is facing a class action lawsuit from an investor, who claims the company overstated its ability to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink Mobile. The lawsuit comes from a company shareholder named Edward Hunter, who is accusing AST SpaceMobile of violating federal securities laws by making “materially false and misleading” claims about the company’s business operations.

Courthouse News Service first reported on the lawsuit, which was filed in a US district court this week. In the 39-page complaint, Hunter’s lawyers specifically allege the company “overstated the durability of AST’s competitive position in the satellite D2C (direct to cell) market,” which involves using orbiting satellites to deliver communications services to phones on the ground. (9/18)

DLR’s MAPHEUS-17 Suborbital Mission Targets Launch From Sweden as Early as Oct. 1 (Source: European Spaceflight)
Germany’s DLR is preparing to launch the MAPHEUS-17 suborbital research mission from Esrange Space Center in Sweden as early as Oct. 1. The flight will support DLR’s ongoing use of suborbital missions for scientific and technology research, although no further payload or schedule details were provided. (9/19)

European Spacesuit Prototype Tested on ISS, but ESA Astronaut Says Design Still Needs Refinement (Source: Space.com)
A European-designed spacesuit prototype has undergone testing aboard the International Space Station, with ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot saying the system remains at the beginning of its development journey. The evaluation is identifying design issues that must be resolved before the suit can advance toward operational use. (9/18)

China Seeks SpaceX’s Raptor 3 Engine (Source: Ars Technica)
China is reportedly interested in SpaceX’s Raptor 3 engine, underscoring the strategic importance of the company’s propulsion technology as SpaceX prepares for a significant Starship test. The developments highlight both the widening competitive interest in advanced launch systems and SpaceX’s growing influence in the global space sector.

The Chinese launch startup Space Pioneer, which has raised nearly $1 billion, showcased a new design for its Tianhuo-21 methane-liquid oxygen engine this week, which was subsequently shared on social media. From outward appearances, the engine looks strikingly similar to SpaceX’s Raptor 3 engine. Its thrust, 2,450 kN at sea level, is also virtually identical to that of the Raptor 3.

Would it be difficult to replicate? … In response to Space Pioneer’s engine design, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said copying Raptor 3 would not be easy. “I would recommend against a new company trying to make Raptor 3,” he said on X. “While it appears simple on the outside (necessary to survive extreme heat without a heat shield), the inside has very complex geometry that can only be manufactured using highly modified 3D metal printing.” (9/18)

French Company Test-Fires New Rocket Engine (Source: European Spaceflight)
French launch startup Sirius Space Services has successfully test-fired a complete prototype of its STAR-1 rocket engine for the first time, European Spaceflight reports. The company announced the milestone on Sunday, stating that it had conducted the first hot-fire tests of the complete STAR-1 engine at Airborne Engineering’s propulsion test facility in southern England. (9/18)

Avio Seeks to Cash In on Falcon 9 Retreat (Source: Ars Technica)
Italian launch services provider Avio has seen an influx of customers who were unable to secure launch opportunities with SpaceX, European Spaceflight reports. “I can tell you SpaceX has already gone captive because we have a whole bunch of customers coming to us and saying, ‘Oh my God, can you fly us?’” Avio CEO Giulio Ranzo said during the company’s September 10 earnings call. In recent months, SpaceX told multiple prospective customers that it was no longer accepting new orders for commercial Falcon 9 launches. (9/18)