September 24, 2026

KSC Issues RFI to Bolster Research Portfolio (Source: NASA)
Under longstanding NASA policy, Kennedy Space Center through the 1990s and early 2000s was officially relegated to launch operations, with a few minor exceptions for launch and Space Station-oriented topics. Much to the chagrin of state officials seeking to diversify its role beyond launch operations, the Center had to be very careful about straying from its launch-only mandate, with other NASA centers objecting when they thought their research turf was being encroached. Basically, KSC was an "operational" center while most of the others were "R&D" centers.

It was controversial when KSC and Florida Space Research Institute conspired to build the Space Life Sciences Lab (where I now sit) at the spaceport (during the GW Bush administration), and a big victory when KSC was allowed to establish its "Swamp Works" innovation lab in 2013, under President Obama. The Center was evolving to acquire broader flavors of research funding within the agency's budget. That trend continues today, as KSC has released an RFI for "KSC Research and Collaboration".

"The KSC Research and Technology (R&T) vision is to establish KSC as a leading hub for space technology innovation to align with the NASA Human Space Mission Directorate (HSMD) Artemis Mission. Central to this vision is the expansion of partnerships with academia, private industry, and other government agencies, particularly with institutions whose technical expertise complements KSC’s existing capabilities." Click here. (9/23)

Corps of Engineers Seeks Collaborations for Future Infrastructure at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Corps of Engineers)
The US Army Corps of Engineers  is seeking industry partners to support the Space Port of the Future Infrastructure (SPOTFi) Campus at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The opportunity is designed to advance infrastructure supporting the nation’s growing space enterprise and invites qualified businesses to submit innovative solutions. Click here. (9/23)

Unprecedented: SpaceX Given Unique Access to Classified DoD Space Tracking Data to Support Company's Stargaze Project (Source: Breaking Defense)
In an unprecedented move, the Defense Department has agreed to give SpaceX exclusive access to the government’s most classified space tracking data, according to a dozen government and industry sources. One of the sources, a Space Force official, said a “contractual agreement” has been signed between SpaceX and the Space Force’s Joint Commercial Operations Cell (JCO), trading company access to US Space Command’s (SPACECOM) most detailed version of its High Accuracy Catalog (HAC) of on-orbit objects in exchange for SpaceX giving the JCO data from its Stargaze star-tracking cameras. (9/23)

Space Force Relaunches Commercial Accelerator, Prepares to Welcome New Cohort (Source: Aerospace America)
The U.S. Space Force’s commercial software laboratory is preparing to host its first participants since undergoing an extensive overhaul. The changes — which include a new name, longer program timelines and rotating focus areas — are intended to create a more effective pipeline for bringing participants’ software into operational use. Under the old model, the SDA TAP Lab — short for Space Domain Awareness Tools, Applications and Processing Lab — ran three-month programs, during which companies developed products, ideas and research to address specific Space Force software challenges. The last cohort concluded its work in March.

Under the new model, first announced in July, the BMC3I TAP Lab has a broader focus on finding innovative software for battle management, command, control, communications and space intelligence capabilities. It sits within the Space Force’s Kronos program, which focuses on these same topics and is also led by Lt. Col. Collin Greiser. (9/23)

Astronomers Detect Radio Signals Coming From an Exoplanet (Source: Phys.org)
Exoplanets are exotic worlds orbiting distant stars far beyond our solar system. Ever since the first ones were discovered in the 1990s, astronomers have turned their attention to these distant worlds to understand more about them. Now, for the first time, scientists have detected radio signals coming directly from one of these planets, a massive gas giant named β Pictoris b.

Previous radio detections from exoplanetary systems couldn't be traced directly to the planet itself because astronomers couldn't tell whether the signal came from the star or the planet. And no, this isn't evidence of alien life communicating with each other. The radio waves come from auroras linked to the planet's powerful magnetic field. (9/22)

Can Startups Turn India Into a Global Space Power? (Source: DW News)
India’s space program was once almost entirely led by the government. Now, a new generation of private companies is building rockets, satellites and other space technology. Click here. (9/23)

Boeing, GoGo Test Satellite-Linked Military Drone in Challenge to Starlink (Source: Reuters)
Boeing's ​drone subsidiary Insitu and aviation Wi-Fi provider Gogo have successfully ‌tested a military drone using satellite communications, the companies said on Tuesday, underscoring growing efforts by governments and defense firms to reduce reliance on Elon Musk's Starlink.
Gogo Special Missions, ​the military and government arm of Gogo and Insitu integrated a ​modified version of Gogo's Galileo HDX antenna onto Insitu's Integrator ⁠drone, a mid-sized uncrewed aircraft used by military customers for surveillance and ​reconnaissance missions. (9/22)

UK Military Jamming Other Nations' Satellites to Defend Itself (Source: BBC)
The British military has been jamming or blocking satellites from other countries in order to defend itself from hostile threats, the BBC has been told. The RAF has been using a ground-based system for the past year, which a defense source said had already been used "to deter our adversaries". It is understood the system could be used to prevent a hostile nation's satellites from tracking the movement of the UK's nuclear armed submarines or other sensitive military operations, such as those involving special forces. (9/23)

Firefly Just Quadrupled Its Ability to Build Moon Landers (Source: CBS Austin)
It was a giant leap for the new commercial space race in Texas. Firefly Aerospace just opened a new cleanroom at its Cedar Park campus to build lunar landers and orbiters — four times bigger than its existing one. "This is a really exciting day for Cedar Park," said Mayor Jim Penniman-Morin. Combined with its original cleanroom, Firefly can now build and test 12 spacecraft at the same time. (9/23)

NASA Selects Far-Infrared Telescope as First in New Mission Class (Source: NASA)
NASA announced Wednesday a mission to explore the history and evolution of the universe, PRIMA (PRobe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics), is advancing to the next phase of development. This space telescope is the first in a new class of NASA astrophysics missions, called Probe Explorers, within the agency’s longstanding Explorers Program. (9/23)

Unmanned Systems: Without PNT, They’re Not Going Anywhere (Source: Inside GNSS)
Before unmanned systems can realize their full potential, we must know what PNT systems will be available across the nation and how reliable they’ll be. A small pilotless craft races through the surf and delivers flotation to a swimmer in trouble. Drones inspect and spray cleaning fluid on high tension electrical lines more quickly and safely than a conventional helicopter. Driverless trucks travel farther and safer than when a human is behind the wheel.

Unmanned systems have nearly limitless potential to benefit society. But they must know where and when they are. It’s clear unmanned systems have created a new paradigm. While they support existing, sometimes ancient, modes of transportation and functions, remotely controlled and autonomous systems demand new approaches to ensure safe, secure and efficient operations. One of the most significant is their need for robust and resilient positioning, navigation and timing (PNT). (9/22)

ClearSpace Signs ESA Contract to Advance Phoenix GEO Life Extension Mission (Source: Space News)
Luxembourg-based in-orbit servicing venture ClearSpace signed a contract Sept. 23 with the European Space Agency to help mature technologies for Phoenix, a mission aiming to extend the life of a geostationary satellite due to retire between 2028 and 2030. (9/23)

China's Space Epoch Raises $343 Million for Reusable Launcher (Source: Space News)
Chinese launch startup Space Epoch has raised $343 million as it prepares for the first launch of a reusable rocket. The company recently announced it had completed a B++ funding round, bringing the total raised across its B series to more than $343 million (2.3 billion yuan) over the past half year.  Space Epoch said the financing will be primarily used for mission support for the first flight of the Yuanxingzhe-1 rocket, verification of recovery and reuse, and development of commercial delivery capabilities. The company says the rocket will be ready for its first flight by the end of the year. The reusable Yuanxingzhe-1 is a 4.2-meter-diameter, stainless steel methane-liquid oxygen rocket and is designed to place up to 13,800 kilograms into low Earth orbit. (9/23)

Vast Establishes Lunar Division (Source: Space News)
Commercial space station developer Vast has plans for the moon. The company announced Wednesday it has created a lunar program division that will offer infrastructure to support NASA's lunar base plans. Vast plans leverage capabilities for its Haven series of commercial space stations for a lunar power system, airlock and lunar habitation modules. Vast announced in May plans to develop high-power satellites and the company now says it wants to use those satellites to provide communications and navigation services at the moon. Several other companies working on commercial space stations, including Axiom Space, Blue Origin and Voyager Technologies, are also developing lunar systems. (9/23)

Impulse Space to Fly Domain Awareness Satellite for Space Force (Source: Space News)
Impulse Space won a contract from the U.S. Space Force for a mission using its Mira spacecraft. The $31.2 million contract is for a 2029 space domain awareness mission using an optical sensor in low Earth orbit to monitor objects as far away as geosynchronous orbit. Mira will carry a government-furnished optical payload built by MIT Lincoln Laboratory. The award is the latest expansion of an existing Space Systems Command contract that began with two tactically responsive space demonstrations and has grown to cover five Mira spacecraft for several military missions. Mira is a small spacecraft powered by chemical thrusters and designed to host or deploy payloads while making relatively rapid changes to its orbit. (9/23)

Chamber Supports Space Force Acquisition Reform (Source: Space News)
A business group is advocating for Space Force acquisition reform. A report released Wednesday by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce calls for multiyear funding for major space programs, a strategic reserve of critical satellite components, more launch providers and infrastructure, and procurement rules that make the Pentagon justify building capabilities that are already available commercially. The Chamber report, though, questions whether bringing organizations such as the Space Development Agency into a more centralized Space Force acquisition structure will spread their faster buying practices across the service, or instead smother what made them different in the first place. (9/23)

NASA Moves Crew Mission to Oct. 1 (Source: NASA)
NASA has rescheduled the next crewed mission to the International Space Station to next week. The agency said Tuesday it is targeting no earlier than 11:10 a.m. Eastern on Oct. 1 for the launch of the Crew-13 mission. That Crew Dragon mission was scheduled to fly in mid-September but postponed because of oxidizer leak in the spacecraft. The mission will deliver a crew from NASA, Roscosmos and the Canadian Space Agency to the station for a six-month mission. (9/23)

European Regulator Pledges Fairness for Proposed Megamerger (Source: Bloomberg)
A European antitrust regulator says the proposed joint venture of three European space companies will not get special treatment. Teresa Ribera, an executive vice president of the European Commission who oversees antitrust regulations, said the proposed Project Bromo will still be subject to reviews even after the commission's president, Ursula von der Leyen, endorsed the joint venture in a speech earlier this month. Von der Leyen's comments prompted criticism from other European politicians who feared the commission would be "rubber-stamping" the merger. Bromo would combine the space divisions of Airbus, Leonardo and Thales Alenia Space. (9/23)

ESA's JUICE Flies By Earth En Route to Jupiter (Source: ESA)
ESA's JUICE mission will swing by Earth next week on its way to Jupiter. JUICE, or the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, will pass 8,640 kilometers from the Earth's surface during the Sept. 28 flyby, part of a series of gravity-assist maneuvers to send the spacecraft to Jupiter. One more Earth flyby will take place in early 2029 before JUICE makes it to Jupiter, entering orbit in 2031. (9/23)

TMT Decides Against Canary Island Location (Source: Science)
A proposed large observatory has rejected an offer to build the telescope in the Canary Islands. The Spanish government offered 1 billion euros ($1.15 billion) in incentives for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) if the consortium planning the observatory built it atop La Palma in the Canary Islands. However, the Astrophysics Institute of the Canaries said the consortium, which includes several universities and national agencies, could not reach the consensus needed to accept the proposal. TMT was planned for Mauna Kea in Hawaii but has faced opposition there from native Hawaiians, and the project has also struggled to raise the money needed to build the massive telescope. (9/23)

China Continues Rapid Launch Cadence with Long March 2D, Kinetica-1 Launches (Source: Space News)
China launched 13 satellites across two missions over the weekend, including commercial radar satellites and a nine-satellite rideshare featuring on-orbit computing and communications testbeds. (9/23)

Starcloud Wants to Mine Bitcoin in Space, if it Can Figure Out How to Cool the Hardware (Source: TechSpot)
Bitcoin miners have spent years chasing cheap electricity around the planet, but will leaving our atmosphere reap better results? Nvidia-backed Starcloud wants to take cryptomining into orbit, putting dedicated mining hardware aboard its second spacecraft. The startup believes abundant solar power could make space an attractive home for an industry notorious for its energy consumption. CEO Philip Johnston says Starcloud will be the first company to mine Bitcoin in space, with ASICs riding aboard Starcloud-2 when it's expected to launch in early 2027. (9/22)

Artemis 2 Set Out to Prove Orion Could Handle Deep Space. Here’s How It Delivered (Source: Gizmodo)
On April 1, NASA’s Space Launch System rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, propelling the Orion spacecraft to orbit. The capsule carried the most precious cargo any spacecraft can harbor: human lives—the first astronauts charged with returning to the Moon in over 50 years. This mission, Artemis 2, was Orion’s first crewed test flight. The stakes couldn’t have been higher.

Orion had never flown with full life support and human-rated systems, and the capsule needed to keep its crew alive for 10 days as it journeyed around the Moon and back again. Over the course of the flight, Orion successfully performed all of its deep-space operations, life support checks, and its manual proximity operations demonstration, but there would be one last test before its mission came to an end. (9/23)

Air, Space Forces Pick Up Research Pace for Orbital Cargo Delivery, Shifting Focus From Rockets to Reentry Vehicles (Source: Breaking Defense)
The Air and Space Forces over the past year have been picking up the pace of their multi-tiered research initiative aimed at developing an unusual idea seemingly straight from science fiction: the capability to rapidly deliver cargo into global hot zones by launching it through space. But while the Pentagon was originally looking primarily at using large, reusable rockets for the delivery of goods, the military is now shifting its attention towards smaller reentry capsules.

The bi-service effort to leverage commercial capabilities for point-to-point delivery via space is somewhat confusing because it encompasses different programs with money in different budget pots — some funded jointly and some through service-specific spending. The mother of them all, however, was the Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) high-priority Vanguard program called Rocket Cargo, which began in June 2021 and focused on launching rockets filled with 30 tons of logistical supplies from the United States, into space, and down on far-flung bases and battlefields.

While that program is being phased down — the Air Force zeroed out funds in its fiscal 2026 budget and the Space Force gave it only a few million dollars in FY26 and FY27 — the children of Rocket Cargo live on and prosper today. An AFRL spokesperson revealed that reason for the shift in focus towards reentry capsules is because of several promising advantages. (9/23)

NASA Chief: I’m Only Interested in “Good Deals” from International Partners (Source: Ars Technica)
NASA must be more selective in the way it forges international partnerships as the race to the Moon transforms from a battle for national prestige between the United States and China into a high-stakes competition for extraterrestrial real estate and resources, the agency’s administrator said.

Jared Isaacman, now in his 10th month at the helm of the world’s largest civilian space agency, told a gathering of military leaders and defense contractors last week near Washington, DC, that the 21st-century race to the Moon is more than a battle of ideologies. The sweet spot for a Moon base, Isaacman said, is a relatively small region near the lunar south pole, and there are tangible implications for who gets there first. (9/22)

Italy to Spend Over $5 Billion to Send Two Astronauts to the Moon (Source: European Spaceflight)
According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, Italy has committed more than $5 billion to the development of a lunar habitat for the agency’s Moon Base program. In return, the country has secured spots for two Italian astronauts on future missions to the surface of the Moon. Isaacman cited Italy’s contribution to NASA’s lunar exploration program as an example of what he described as a “good deal” with an international partner.

The centerpiece of that contribution is the Multi-Purpose Habitat (MPH), a pressurized lunar habitat module being developed by Thales Alenia Space under an Italian Space Agency (ASI) contract for future long-duration missions to the Moon. The MPH module is expected to measure three meters in width and six meters in length, with a mass of roughly 15 tonnes. It was designed to accommodate two astronauts for missions lasting between seven and 30 days. It will be equipped with wheels for precise positioning on the lunar surface. (9/23)