October 2, 2026

SpaceX Launches ISS Crew on Thursday Express Flight From Florida (Source: Space News)
A new crew is on the ISS after an express flight there Thursday. A Falcon 9 lifted off Thursday from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, placing a Crew Dragon spacecraft into orbit on the Crew-13 mission for NASA. The Dragon docked with the ISS less than eight hours later, at 7:05 p.m. Eastern. That is the shortest transit time to the ISS for an American spacecraft. The mission was scheduled to launch in mid-September but was delayed by an oxidizer leak on the Crew Dragon that required surgical-like repairs to replace a valve. Crew-13 delivered to the ISS two NASA astronauts, one Roscosmos cosmonaut, and a Canadian Space Agency astronaut, the first from that agency to go there since 2019. (10/2)

Five Falcon Boosters Launched in Triple-Header Thursday (Sources: Space News, Spaceflight Now)
SpaceX's second launch of the day Thursday was a Falcon 9 rideshare mission. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 2:32 p.m. Eastern on the Transporter-18 mission. There were 130 payloads on the flight, SpaceX said, a total that includes hosted payloads and satellites that will be deployed later from orbital transfer vehicles. Demand for rideshare missions like the Transporter series remains high even as SpaceX moves to end such flights, as well as commercial Falcon 9 missions in general, in the next few years.

SpaceX completed its launch tripleheader Thursday with a classified Falcon Heavy launch. The Falcon Heavy lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 11:54 p.m. Eastern. The rocket was flying its first mission for the National Reconnaissance Office, designated NROL-97, but the NRO did not disclose details about the payload. The launch used the same side boosters as the previous Falcon Heavy launch, of NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, a little more than a month ago. (10/3)

Iceye and Nokia Team on Broadband Constellations (Source: Space News)
Iceye and Nokia are teaming up to develop sovereign broadband constellations. The two Finnish companies said Thursday they would work together to offer government customers a complete low Earth orbit system that would also include the ruggedized user terminals needed to support missions such as defense, border security, emergency services and disaster response. Iceye brings satellite expertise from its work on radar-imaging spacecraft while Nokia aims to leverage the terrestrial tactical networking technologies it has doubled down on after exiting the consumer handset market. The companies plan to launch the first broadband satellites in 2028 but did not comment on potential customers and spectrum arrangements. (10/2)

Space Force Retires DSP Satellites (Source: Space News)
The Space Force has retired a Cold War-era missile-warning satellite program after a final exercise. The service said Thursday that the final two Defense Support Program (DSP) satellites took part in U.S. Space Command's Apollo Maneuvers exercise in September, where crews repositioned the aging spacecraft before sending them to supersynchronous disposal orbits. During the exercise, crews from the 2nd Space Warning Squadron demonstrated what the service described as "dynamic on-orbit maneuvers" with two DSP satellites before their retirement.  The timing offered Space Command a chance to use satellites that were already headed for disposal. The Pentagon launched 23 DSP satellites between 1970 and 2007, with the final two spacecraft launched in 2004 and 2007. (10/2)

Europe Plans $27 Billion Investment in Military Satellite Program (Source: Space News)
European governments are preparing to invest up to 24 billion euros ($27 billion) on a joint military satellite project called SPACE. The Council of the European Union formally approved the SPACE project Monday as one of the first five European Defense Projects of Common Interest under the European Defense Industry Program. SPACE will involve participation from 20 countries, including 18 EU member states, Norway and Ukraine. The project covers space-based early warning; satellite communications; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; positioning, navigation and timing; navigation warfare and responsive space systems. Separately, 15 EU nations agreed this week on an initiative to jointly access and share data used to track and characterize objects in orbit. (10/2)

L3Harris to Provide Satellite-to-Aircraft Comms Under $462 Million Space Force Contract (Source: Space News)
The Space Force has finalized a contract with L3Harris to provide commercial satellite communications aboard executive aircraft used by senior U.S. government and military leaders. The $461.9 million contract, announced Wednesday, is substantially larger than a preliminary $77.1 million agreement awarded to L3Harris in March. It covers satellite connectivity for the executive airlift fleet through October 2028. L3Harris will manage connectivity across commercial satellite networks operating in different orbits and frequency bands, giving the aircraft access to multiple sources of satellite communications. (10/2)

Satisfaction After Starship Orbital Test (Source: Space News)
Both SpaceX and outside analysts appear largely satisfied with the latest Starship test flight. The Flight 14 mission on Monday was the first Starship to reach orbit, although the vehicle suffered some engine failures and returned to Earth after about three hours, rather than the 10-hour mission originally planned. SpaceX executives said this week the flight went "extremely well" but did not provide specifics about the schedule and plans for the next flight, which could include the first attempt to recover the Starship upper stage back at Starbase. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said earlier this week that he expects Starship to be flying once or twice a week next year, although in an earnings call in August he promised daily Starship missions. (10/2)

China Needs 31 More Launches to Meet 100-Launch 2026 Goal (Source: Space News)
China has plans for a busy fourth quarter of launches. With a goal of more than 100 launches in 2026, China would need to conduct at least 31 in the final three months of the year to achieve that milestone. Among the major missions planned in the fourth quarter is the next crewed mission to the Tiangong station, Shenzhou-24, in November. Possible debut launches include Orienspace's Gravity-2, iSpace's Hyperbola-3 with a first stage recovery attempt, and Zhihang-1 from Zenk Space, which earlier aimed for a launch in June. Numerous launches for the Guowang and Qianfan constellations are expected as well. (10/2)

Overview Energy and Virtus Solis Advance Space-Based Solar Power (Source: Space News)
Two recent contracts signal a resurgence of interest in space-based solar power. Overview Energy, a company that plans to collect solar energy and beam it to Earth using near-infrared lasers, said it won a contract from the Pentagon's Operational Energy Capability Improvement Fund to develop a beacon for ground stations to guide those laser transmissions. Another startup, Virtus Solis, said it signed an agreement with a data-center startup to sell it 100 megawatts of power from its future space solar power systems. Officials from both the space and energy industries said the growing demand for power from data centers, along with technological advances in space solar power, makes the concept more feasible. (10/2)

UK's Foundational Gains $11 Million for Satellite Laser Ranging (Source: Space News)
A British startup has plans to commercialize a decades-old technology for tracking satellites. Foundational emerged from stealth Thursday with $11 million in funding to develop satellite laser ranging (SLR) technologies for commercial applications. SLR, which uses lasers from the ground to precisely measure satellite positions in orbit, has been used since the 1960s but has largely been limited to government programs given its high cost.  Foundational is planning a network of autonomous, low-cost SLR stations to make the service commercially viable. (10/2)

Thruster Fails on Japan's Hayabusa2 (Source: Jiji Press)
An electric thruster on Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft has malfunctioned. The thruster, the only one of four on the spacecraft that was still working, broke down in August, and attempts to restore it have failed. The Japanese space agency JAXA plans to use subsystems from the other three thrusters, which were used earlier in the mission and have since degraded, for the thruster that has malfunctioned in the hopes of restoring it. Hayabusa2 is in an extended mission since returning asteroid samples to Earth in 2020, and needs to get the thruster restored so it can continue to maneuver towards another asteroid, 1998 KY26, in 2031. (10/2)

Portugal's Omnidea Acquires Orbex’s UK Manufacturing Assets and IP (Source: Omnidea)
European space technology group Omnidea has acquired the UK-based manufacturing assets and intellectual property of Orbex. Omnidea will establish its UK operations at Orbex’s former manufacturing facility in Forres, Scotland. An initial team of ex-Orbex employees will join the business, with Omnidea planning to recruit further as the operation develops.

Omnidea was already working alongside Orbex as a partner in the European Space Agency’s European Launcher Challenge (ELC) and has been developing its own suborbital launcher program with ESA for the past four years. The Scottish operation will become Omnidea’s center for structures development and fabrication and a hub for flight and ground-system electronics, complementing the Group’s existing expertise in propulsion, fluid systems and other critical space technologies. (10/1)

FAA Order on Airspace Safety Management and Space Operations (Source: FAA)
The FAA issued an order that establishes the safety management policy and requirements for the entire agency to create a unified Safety Management System and improve its ability to proactively identify hazards and manage risk in the National Airspace System (NAS).  This includes space transport launch and reentry operations that may affect aircraft, air traffic operations, aviation users, aviation infrastructure, or FAA-provided NAS services.

The order applies to FAA-licensed commercial space operations and to those authorized by NASA, DoD, and other federal agencies. The order also requires the FAA to continue its development and implementation of new procedures and technologies to facilitate integration of increasing numbers of space operations into the NAS. The improvements will increase safety and efficiency and will be completed within the required one-year transition period. (10/1)

FAA Advances Licensing of Relativity Ops at Cape Canaveral Spaceport with Maximum Cadence of 24 Launches Per Year (Source: FAA)
The FAA is issuing this Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and Record of Decision (ROD) to support the issuance of a vehicle operator license to Relativity Space, to conduct Terran R launch operations at Launch Complex 16 at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. The Space Force was the lead agency in the preparation of the 2024 Final Supplemental Environmental Assessment (SEA) for the Terran R Space Launch Program at the spaceport.

The Proposed Action modifies launch and testing capabilities within Relativity’s existing property boundary following the retirement of the Terran 1 Program. The SEA supports FAA’s issuance of a vehicle operator license allowing Relativity to conduct Terran R operations at CCSFS SLC-16 and associated airspace closures. If Relativity submits a license application to the FAA proposing operational changes that fall outside of the scope of the SEA, additional environmental review would be required prior to FAA issuing a license or modification for those activities. (9/30)