September 5, 2026

Defense Industrial Complex Sees Record Revenue Amid Global Tensions (Source: Defense News)
Global defense companies saw record revenue in 2025, driven by increased military spending in the US and Europe, with RTX, General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman leading the Defense News Top 100. The US Reconciliation Act of 2025 allocated $156 billion for acquisition, boosting companies' financials, while European firms benefited from higher national budgets and EU joint procurement. (9/3)

GE Secures Pentagon Contract for Hypersonic Test Vehicle (Source: AeroTime)
GE Aerospace has secured a contract from the US Defense Innovation Unit to develop Derecho, a hypersonic test vehicle capable of reaching Mach 5. Scheduled for its first flight in 2028, Derecho will serve as a test platform for the Pentagon's Hypersonic and High-Cadence Airborne Testing Capabilities program. (9/3)

Space Academy Could Blur Lines Between NASA and Military (Source: The Conversation)
But the biggest implication of this space academy proposal is that it would almost certainly lead to a reconsideration of the relationship between military and civilian space. The distinction between these two areas has been a cornerstone of U.S. space policy for over 65 years. While the lines have been blurred at times, a U.S. Space Academy that serves as both a military and civilian institution confuses them even further.

It will also be important to define the precise purpose of the space academy and who exactly it will serve. What advantage does a space academy offer over civilian schools and universities that offer similar programs? Will commercial space companies have an opportunity to be involved? And what would that look like? (9/2)

New Mexico Land Commissioner Shoots Down Canadian Data Center Company’s Pitch at Spaceport America (Source: Source NM)
New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands Stephanie Garcia Richard on Thursday shot down a Canadian company’s pitch to build a solar-powered data center at Spaceport America. Green Data CEO Jason Bak has been in talks with Spaceport officials for years about building a data center on the property, which is on leased state trust land. Bak has engaged in those talks on behalf of another one of his companies, Aetherion. (9/3)

China's International Deep Space Exploration Conference Fosters Cooperation (Source: CGTN)
The 2026 International Deep Space Exploration Conference opened on Thursday in Hefei, Anhui Province. At the opening ceremony, the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, together with international institutions, unveiled the Moon Village Center - China and four joint laboratories. Bringing together Chinese and international researchers, these laboratories will tackle key challenges in deep‑space exploration. The conference, with participants coming from over 40 countries, come as China keeps advancing international collaboration for space exploration. (9/4)

Canadian Space Agency Opens Latest SmartEarth Funding Opportunity with up to $3M (Source: SpaceQ)
The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) is accepting applications for its latest round of smartEarth funding, offering Canadian universities up to $3 million to develop new applications that put satellite data to work on climate, safety and resource questions. SmartEarth is the agency’s funding initiative for satellite Earth observation. This is the Enabler stream of its three funding tracks, the one built to grow capacity and expertise at Canadian institutions. The other two, Accelerator and Integrator, fund industry and federal government projects that deliver solutions more directly. (9/3)

Canadian Space Agency Wants Industry Input for Future Lunar Resource Operations (Source: SpaceQ)
The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) is looking to map domestic capabilities in resource extraction and regolith management to guide any future “major” infrastructure contributions on the Moon’s surface. The agency issued a Notice to Industry on Aug. 28, calling on organizations across both the space and terrestrial sectors, including Canada’s long-established mining industry.

The notice falls under the Lunar Surface Exploration Initiative. As missions extend farther from Earth, reliance on resupply chains becomes increasingly difficult and costly. By identifying domestic expertise early, the CSA hopes ensure Canadian technologies remain competitive including for the Artemis program. (9/3)

Foundational Challenges to SpaceX's Louisiana Starbase Plan (Source: Douglas Messier)
Dr. Robert Campbell, a physicist and engineer, has raised serious questions about the viability of SpaceX’s $100 billion Starbase Louisiana spaceport. “Starbase Louisiana is a disaster on so many fronts. It runs straight into immovable limits in geology, soil mechanics, structural engineering, and operations,” he wrote. Campbell warns that the 125,000 acre site that SpaceX selected is a fragile wetlands ecosystem that has: a) soft saturated soil; b) high subsidence, which happens when soil or land is dropping significantly; c) soils that can liquefy, which is when wet and loose ground loses its solid strength and acts like a thick liquid in response to vibrations or an earthquake; and d) bedrock that is more than 6,000 ft (1.83 km) deep.

In short, there is a lack of “load‑bearing stratum” to support SpaceX’s plans to launch the world’s most powerful rocket, Starship, thousands of times per year. “‘Rapid refurbishment’ becomes ‘major civil reconstruction every time you launch,’” he wrote. Asked if engineers faced similar challenges at SpaceX’s Starbase spaceport in Texas and the Cape Canaveral Spaceport in Florida, he said: “You are absolutely right to bring up Starbase Texas and Cape Canaveral, because both DID add stabilizing rock and soil. The difference here is that this Louisiana site bears no resemblance to either of these cases.” (9/4)

UCF to Host International Space University Space Studies Program in 2027 (Source: UCF)
The University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando will be a premier destination for the global space sector with the hosting of the 38th International Space University (ISU) Space Studies Program (SSP 2027). Hosted at UCF’s Mediterranean-style Rosen College of Hospitality Management campus, this intensive 7-week graduate level immersion brings together global space educators, researchers, and rising leaders in direct proximity to Florida’s Space Coast. (9/4)

China to Select Tianwen-3 Mars Sample-Return Landing Site by Year-End (Source: Space News)
China is narrowing candidate landing sites for Tianwen-3, its Mars sample-return mission, and plans to select a final location before the end of 2026. Hardware development is advancing as the mission targets samples that could help determine whether Mars once hosted—or still preserves—evidence of life. (9/4)

Planet’s Sovereign Contracts Drive Nearly 60% Q2 Revenue Growth (Source: Via Satellite)
Planet’s revenue increased nearly 60% year over year in the second quarter of 2026, while the satellite-imagery company narrowed its net loss. The results point to growing momentum in sovereign agreements with governments worldwide and continued demand for commercial Earth-observation services. (9/4)

Chinese Reconnaissance Satellite Yaogan-50 (02) Breaks Up in Rare Retrograde Orbit, Generating Debris Field (Source: Space News)
Chinese reconnaissance satellite Yaogan-50 (02), launched into an unusual retrograde orbit earlier this year, has apparently fragmented, creating a field of orbital debris. The event adds a new object and debris-generation incident to an increasingly complex space environment, although the cause and full extent of the breakup remain unclear. (9/4)

China’s Commercial Rocket Startups Race to Orbit as Shanghai Listing Rules Raise the Stakes (Source: Payload)
A Shanghai listing rule has made orbital flight a prerequisite for commercial space companies seeking public-market access, prompting China’s rocket startups to accelerate launches. The policy is linking capital-market eligibility directly to demonstrated launch capability and reshaping competition across the country’s emerging commercial space sector. (9/4)

Isar Aerospace Scrubs Planned Sept. 4 Spectrum Launch Attempt (Source: European Spaceflight)
Isar Aerospace appears to have called off a planned Sept. 4 launch attempt for its Spectrum rocket, shortly after launch-related road closures took effect. The development marks another change to the timing of the company’s commercial launch effort, though no reason for the apparent scrub was provided. (9/3)

Franco-German NewSpace Urges Brussels to Buy Launch Services Instead of Adding Rules (Source: Ars Technica)
In a joint declaration ahead of the Paris summit, German and French NewSpace companies are urging the European Commission to become a customer for commercial launch services rather than impose additional regulation. The appeal reflects industry efforts to secure demand and strengthen Europe’s emerging private space sector. (9/4)

Europe’s Space Leaders are Unhappy with the Status Quo (Source: Payload)
Europeans aren’t known for airing their dirty laundry in public, but let them speak anonymously and the clotheslines will fill up quickly. ASD Eurospace, the trade association for Europe’s space industry, released a report this week built on anonymized interviews with 15 space industry CEOs—leaders of both A&D primes and newer scaleups. The results showed many industry leaders are disgruntled with the current setup of the region’s space sector. 

First and foremost, CEOs told ASD Eurospace that the region’s space sector is too fragmented to remain competitive on a global scale. ESA and its 23 member states each have their own national priorities. Procurement decisions are often made to protect local industrial capacity, instead of promoting market efficiencies. In the report—titled GALAXY—the CEOs highlighted structural issues limiting the growth of Europe’s space industry, stifling its competitiveness on a global scale. But these leaders were also aligned in proposing changes that could right the ship.

“We need strong and determined European institutional customers to anchor a strong European market, with stable and predictable institutional demand. We need demanding and creative space agencies to challenge industry to innovate, to be efficient, and to deliver real value for European missions,” ASD Eurospace President Marco Fuchs said in the report. “We also need strong European member states backing the European efforts, rather than focusing only on growing national competences in a market that cannot sustain them.” (9/4)

German Space Situation Awareness Startup Project-S Emerges from Stealth (Source: European Spaceflight)
Munich-based space situational awareness startup Project-S has emerged from stealth with what it describes as “multi-million-euro backing.” The company is currently preparing for the first in-orbit demonstration of its active radar. The company’s approach will be to use compact space-based active radar to detect and track objects in orbit.

The company also disclosed that it had already closed a multi-million-euro funding round led by Greek venture capital fund Uni.Fund II. It added that the funding is being supplemented by non-dilutive support from the German government and “ESA-linked public innovation programs.” The exact size of the funding round was not shared. (9/4)

Embry‑Riddle Researcher Measures Waves Generated by Extreme Solar Storm that Wreaked Havoc on Earth (Source: ERAU)
As exceptionally powerful ejections of magnetically charged plasma from the sun called coronal mass ejections (CMEs) blasted toward Earth in May 2024, two NASA spacecraft formations detected never-before-witnessed solar storm activity. Now, in newly published research, Dr. Katariina Nykyri of Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University has used the data to analyze and describe explosive releases of magnetic energy and high-energy particle bursts occurring along the boundaries of incoming CMEs very close to Earth. (8/18)

Axelspace to Supply Airbus With GRUS Microsatellite Earth-Observation Imagery (Source: Spacewatch Global)
Axelspace has signed an agreement with Airbus Defence and Space to provide medium-resolution optical imagery from its GRUS Earth-observation microsatellite constellation. The partnership expands Airbus’ access to commercial imagery for Earth-observation and space-safety services, while giving Axelspace an additional channel to commercialize its data. (9/4)