Space – Page 5

Rocket Report: SpaceX surpasses shuttle launch total; Skyroot has big ambitions

rocket report, Space / 9u50fv / October 31, 2025

All the news that’s fit to lift

“I do think we’re rapidly approaching the point where it will be a significant impact.”

Expedition 1’s Soyuz-U launch vehicle is transported to its launch pad in October 2000. Credit: NASA

Welcome to Edition 8.17 of the Rocket Report! Tomorrow marks the 25th anniversary of the first crewed launch to the International Space Station on a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur. Since this time, humans have lived in space continuously, even through spacecraft accidents and wars on Earth. This is a remarkable milestone that all of humanity can celebrate.

As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don’t want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

Skyroot nearing first launch with big ambitions. Three years after India opened up its space sector to private companies, Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace is targeting its first full-scale commercial satellite launch mission in January 2026, Mint reports. After this debut flight, Skyroot is targeting a launch every three months next year, and one every month from 2027. Each satellite launch mission is expected to generate the company nearly $5 million, according to Skyroot chief executive Pawan Chandana.

A promising start … Skyroot became India’s first space startup to demonstrate a rocket launch when it sent up a smaller version of its satellite vehicle from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh in November 2022. There are several other Indian launch startups, but Skyroot appears to be the most promising. Even so, a launch cadence of every three months next year seems highly ambitious. A single, successful launch in 2026 would be a great step forward.

Canadian spaceport gets infusion of cash. Maritime Launch Services will receive a senior credit facility for up to 10 million Canadian dollars ($7.1 million) from Canada’s government-owned export credit agency for defense, telecommunications, and weather-monitoring needs, Payload reports. Spaceport Nova Scotia, which is the Atlantic launching facility for MLS, will use the money to build out infrastructure and a launch pad for orbital missions. Half of the money will be advanced immediately, with more available as construction costs arise.

Going up from up there … Canada used to have a Manitoba spaceport when the United States was in a “space race” for military supremacy in the 1950s and 1960s. After hosting decades of Black Brant sounding rocket flights, officials closed the spaceport in 1985. Canada now mainly uses foreign launchers, in part because the government deemed building sovereign capability too costly. But Canadian companies (inspired by SpaceX) are moving to build their own facilities and rockets. (submitted by EllPeaTea)

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ArcaSpace is dead, replaced by … a fashion company. Somehow I missed this news when it came out a year ago, but I’m including it now for completeness. For a quarter of a century, a Romania-based rocket organization, ArcaSpace, had been promising to revolutionize spaceflight. But that meme dream ended in late 2024 when the group rebranded itself as ArcaFashion. “The ArcaFashion products are designed and manufactured on the shoulders of innovation and cutting-edge technological achievements, using the vast aerospace capabilities of ArcaSpace,” the group said. Their early products look, well, you decide.

But wait, there’s more … Before it went away, ArcaSpace released a video of its “accomplishments” to date, meant to be a sizzle reel of sorts. This popped into my feed this week because the madlads at Arca apparently aren’t done in aerospace. They put out a new video showing some bonkers-looking vehicle they’re calling “ArcaBoard2,” which purports to be a vertical takeoff personal electric vehicle. Maybe don’t be one of the early customers for this.

HTV-launch launches, docks with space station. Japan’s H3 rocket launched a new spacecraft, the HTV-X, last weekend from a launch pad on Tanegashima Island. This cargo ship pulled alongside the International Space Station on Wednesday, maneuvering close enough for the lab’s robotic arm to reach out and grab it, Ars reports. The HTV-X spacecraft is an upgraded cargo freighter replacing Japan’s H-II Transfer Vehicle, which successfully resupplied the space station nine times between 2009 and 2020.

An improved design … At the conclusion of the first HTV program, Japan’s space agency preferred to focus its resources on designing a new cargo ship with more capability at a lower cost. That’s what HTV-X is supposed to be, and Wednesday’s high-flying rendezvous marked the new ship’s first delivery to the ISS. At 26 feet (8 meters) long, the HTV-X is somewhat shorter than the vehicle it replaces. But an improved design gives the HTV-X more capacity, with the ability to accommodate more than 9,000 pounds (4.1 metric tons) inside its pressurized cargo module, about 25 percent more than the HTV. (submitted by tsunam)

India seeks dramatic increase in launch cadence. The chairman of the Indian space agency, V. Narayanan, has told The Times of India that the country seeks to dramatically scale up its annual launch cadence to 50 missions a year. He said the goal is to grow the country’s ecosystem of government-sponsored and private launches, and that the country’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has set a goal of 50 launches a year by the end of this decade.

A big step up … “We are working on it,” Narayanan said of his government’s request. He said the country currently has just two active launch sites, which is a constraint on activity, but that new facilities will soon come online. By the end of 2027, he said that 30 launches a year will be possible. Given that India has recently averaged about five launches annually, this would represent a significant step up in overall activity.

SpaceX breaks Vandenberg turnaround record, twice. SpaceX continued its rapid pace of launches Monday with the flight of a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The Starlink 11-21 flight broke the record for the fastest pad turnaround for SpaceX’s West Coast launch pad, flying two days, 10 hours, 22 minutes, and 59 seconds since the Starlink 11-12 mission on Saturday, Spaceflight Now reports.

Going fast, and then faster … And oh, by the way, the previous record beaten by Monday’s flight was two days, 18 hours, 52 minutes, and 20 seconds, which was set during the past week. This milestone comes after the company set another turnaround record over at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station earlier this month. SpaceX clearly is continuing to seek to optimize Falcon 9 operations and is having some success.

Ariane 6 upper stage engine production moves to Germany. ArianeGroup will transfer responsibility for the assembly of Ariane 6 Vinci upper-stage engines from Vernon, France, to Lampoldshausen, Germany, European Spaceflight reports. The agreement will also see the transfer of responsibility for the development of the Ariane 6 oxygen turbopump from Avio’s headquarters in Colleferro to Vernon.

A whole seven launches per year … Each Vinci engine for Ariane 6 will now be assembled, integrated, and tested at Lampoldshausen. To support this process, a new production facility will be built. The engines will then be transferred to Bremen for integration with the rocket’s upper stage. According to ArianeGroup, the transfer will “optimize the competitiveness of Ariane 6,” helping to secure the “financial viability of Ariane 6 with a rate of 7 launches per year.”

SpaceX surpasses 2024 launch total. On Saturday morning, SpaceX launched a batch of Starlink satellites that marked the company’s 135th Falcon 9 launch of the year, Spaceflight Now reports. This broke the company’s record number of orbital launches achieved in all of 2024. The mission came nearly a week after SpaceX launched its 10,000th Starlink satellite to date.

A big number in another way … The number 135 is symbolic in another way. That’s equal to the number of NASA’s space shuttles over the 30-year lifetime of the program. That is to say, SpaceX will launch more Falcon 9 rockets this year than shuttles launched by NASA in three decades. The contours of spaceflight have certainly changed.

Amid shutdown, NASA trying to keep Artemis II on schedule. It has been nearly one month since many parts of the federal government shut down after lawmakers missed a budget deadline at the end of September, but so far, NASA’s most critical operations have been unaffected by the political impasse in Washington, DC. That may change soon, Ars reports. Federal civil servants and NASA contractors are not getting paid during the shutdown, even if agency leaders have deemed their tasks essential and directed them to continue working.

A significant impact soon … Many employees at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida remain at work, where their job is to keep the Artemis II mission on schedule for launch as soon as next February. Even while work continues, the government shutdown is creating inefficiencies that, if left unchecked, will inevitably impact the Artemis II schedule. And some officials are starting to sound the alarm. Kirk Shireman, vice president and program manager for Orion at Lockheed Martin, said this week, “I do think we’re rapidly approaching the point where it will be a significant impact.”

Variant of China’s Moon rocket to take flight. China aims to conduct the first launch of its Long March 10 rocket and a lunar-capable crew spacecraft next year, Space News reports. “The Long March 10 carrier rocket, the Mengzhou crew spacecraft, the Lanyue lunar lander, the Wangyu lunar suit, and the Exploration crew lunar rover have completed the main work of the prototype stage,” Zhang Jingbo, spokesperson for China’s human spaceflight program, said Thursday at a pre-launch press conference for the Shenzhou-21 mission at Jiuquan spaceport.

China appears on track for pre-2030 landing … Though not explicitly stated, Mengzhou will likely fly on a two-stage, single-stick variant of the Long March 10, which is used for low Earth orbit (LEO) missions. The full, three-stage, 92.5-meter-tall Long March 10 for lunar flights will use three 5-meter-diameter first stages bundled together, each powered by seven YF-100K variable thrust kerosene-liquid oxygen engines. Zhang did not state if the first flight would be crewed or uncrewed, nor if the mission would head to the Tiangong space station. (submitted by EllPeaTea)

Next three launches

October 31: Long March 2 | Shenzhou 21 crewed flight | Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China| 15: 44 UTC

October 31: Falcon 9 | Starlink 11-23 | Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif. | 20: 06 UTC

Nov. 2: Falcon 9 | Bandwagon-4 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla. | 05: 09 UTC

Eric Berger is the senior space editor at Ars Technica, covering everything from astronomy to private space to NASA policy, and author of two books: Liftoff, about the rise of SpaceX; and Reentry, on the development of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon. A certified meteorologist, Eric lives in Houston.

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An in-space construction firm says it can help build massive data centers in orbit

datacenters, rendezvous robotics, Space, starcloud / Mike M. / October 30, 2025

There has been much discussion in the space community recently about building large data centers in orbit to avoid the environmental consequences of sprawling computing facilities on Earth. These space-based data centers could take advantage of the always-on, free fusion reactor at the center of the Solar System.

Proponents say this represents a natural step in the evolution of moving heavy industry off the planet’s surface and a solution for the ravenous energy needs of artificial intelligence. Critics say building data centers in space is technically very challenging and cite major hurdles, such as radiating away large amounts of heat and the cost of accessing space.

It is unclear who is right, but one thing is certain: Such facilities would need to be massive to support artificial intelligence.

That’s… a big solar array

Nvidia recently made headlines by announcing that one of the companies it is partnering with, Starcloud, plans to build a 5-gigawatt orbital data center with “super-large solar and cooling panels approximately 4 kilometers in width and length.”

To put that into perspective, the eight main solar arrays on the International Space Station—the largest ever assembled in space, requiring many space shuttle launches and spacewalks—span about 100 meters and produce a maximum of about 240 kW. That’s about 0.005 percent of the power Starcloud intends to generate.

Needless to say, with a traditional approach, that’s a big ask in terms of launch and assembly costs.

However, it sounds a little more feasible if such an array could be assembled autonomously. And on Thursday morning, Starcloud, along with a new in-space assembly company, Rendezvous Robotics, announced an agreement to explore the use of modular, autonomous assembly to build Starcloud’s data centers.

“Our mission is to build things that are going to be useful in space,” Phil Frank, chief executive of Rendezvous Robotics, told Ars. “It could be large, flat surfaces like a Solar array. Ostensibly, the size is not the limit anymore, because we can additively assemble things and then reconfigure them in orbit. And that’s the core thesis of our company that led to us talking to the Starcloud team.”

An in-space construction firm says it can help build massive data centers in orbit Read More »

NASA races to keep Artemis II on schedule, even when workers aren’t being paid

artemis, artemis II, human spaceflight, Lockheed Martin, NASA, nasa budget, Science, Space / Kelly Newman / October 29, 2025

“The Office of Procurement has sent letters to contractors doing excepted work (including all the Artemis II contractors) indicating that work is authorized during the lapse in funding,” the official said. “Most workers have indicated a willingness to continue the work in the event of contract funding running out prior to the government reopening.”

Working on borrowed time

Several months of work remain ahead for the Artemis II team to finish testing the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft, complete training of the astronauts and flight control teams, and then transfer the entire 322-foot-tall (98-meter) launch vehicle out to Launch Complex 39B for a fueling demonstration and launch countdown.

Thousands of workers across the country, primarily in Florida, Texas, and Alabama, are still reporting for duty to keep Artemis II’s launch date early next year. In many cases, they’re not getting their paychecks.

Even while work continues, the government shutdown is creating inefficiencies that, if left unchecked, will inevitably impact the Artemis II schedule. Just look at what’s happening with air traffic controllers across the United States as many of them are forced to take second jobs due to missed paychecks. The funding stalemate has contributed to widespread air traffic controller shortages and flight delays.

NASA astronaut and Artemis II pilot Victor Glover speaks to the press during an Artemis media event in the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on December 16, 2024. Credit: Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo / AFP via Getty Images

Kirk Shireman, vice president and program manager for Orion at Lockheed Martin, said Tuesday that the shutdown initially created a “nuisance” for teams working on the Artemis II mission. But it won’t be just a nuisance forever.

“I do think we’re rapidly approaching the point where it will be a significant impact, and it’s more to do with overall infrastructure,” Shireman said in response to a question from Ars at the von Braun Space Exploration Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama.

“Some of you flew here,” he said. “I suspect if you weren’t delayed coming here, you’re probably going to be delayed going home, even in the airport going through TSA. Everything that affects people’s lives is affected by the government, and when it’s shut down, it’s going to have its toll, and it’s probably going to be these secondary impacts that ultimately do it.”

NASA races to keep Artemis II on schedule, even when workers aren’t being paid Read More »

Satellite shows what’s really happening at the East Wing of the White House

Donald Trump, earth observation, planet labs, remote sensing, Space, White House / DJ Henderson / October 24, 2025

“Now it looks like the White House is physically being destroyed.”

The facade of the East Wing of the White House is demolished by work crews on October 22, 2025. Credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

You need to go up—way up—to fully appreciate the changes underway at the White House this week.

Demolition crews starting tearing down the East Wing of the presidential mansion Tuesday to clear room for the construction of a new $300 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom, a recent priority of President Donald Trump. The teardown drew criticism and surprise from Democratic lawmakers, former White House staffers, and members of the public.

It was, after all, just three months ago that President Donald Trump defended his ballroom plan by saying it wouldn’t affect the existing structure at the White House. “It won’t interfere with the current building,” he said in July. “It’ll be near it but not touching it—and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of.”

So it shocked a lot of people when workers took a wrecking ball to the East Wing. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told reporters Thursday that the “optics are bad” as the Trump administration demolishes part of the White House, especially during a government shutdown.

“People are saying, ‘Oh, the government’s being destroyed,’” she said. “Well, now it looks like the White House is physically being destroyed.”

The US Secret Service on Thursday closed access to the Ellipse, a public park overlooking the South Lawn of the White House. Journalists were capturing “live images” of the East Wing destruction from the Ellipse before the Secret Service ushered them out of the park, according to CNN’s Jim Sciutto. Employees at the Treasury Building, just across the street from the East Wing, were instructed not to share photos of the demolition work, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Some Trump supporters used their social media accounts to push back against the outcry, claiming only a small section of the East Wing’s facade would be torn down. An image taken from space revealed the reality Thursday.

Eyes always above

Without press access to see the demolition firsthand, it fell to a camera hundreds of miles above the White House to see what was really happening at the East Wing. Planet Labs released an image taken Thursday morning from one of its SkySat satellites showing the 123-year-old annex leveled.

What became known as the East Wing was first constructed in 1902 and was then rebuilt in 1942 during the Franklin Roosevelt administration to create more office space and provide cover for a bunker during World War II. In modern presidencies, the East Wing was typically home to the first lady’s staff.

Planet Labs, based in San Francisco, operates a fleet of hundreds of small Earth-imaging satellites mapping the planet every day. The company sells its imagery to commercial customers and the US government, including intelligence agencies, which use the imagery to augment the surveillance capabilities of more exquisite government-owned spy satellites.

Users often turn to satellite imagery from companies like Planet Labs to find out what’s going on in war zones, countries ruled by authoritarian regimes, or in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Satellite constellations like Planet Labs scan for changes across the globe every day, making it virtually impossible to hide a large construction project.

The SkySat satellite used for Thursday’s examination of the White House flies at an altitude of approximately 295 miles (475 kilometers). It can capture imagery with a resolution of about 20 inches (50 centimeters) per pixel. Planet Labs owns 15 SkySats, each with three overlapping 5.5-megapixel imaging sensors fitted under a downward-facing 14-inch-diameter (35-centimeter) telescope, according to the company.

Who’s paying?

It turns out some of Planet Labs’ cohorts among the government’s cadre of defense and aerospace contractors are actually funding the construction of the new White House ballroom. Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon’s largest defense contractor, is on the list of donors released by the White House. At least two other companies with business relating to defense and aerospace were also on the list: Booz Allen Hamilton and Palantir Technologies.

Palantir has invested in BlackSky, one of Planet’s competitors in the commercial remote sensing market.

People watch along a fence line Thursday as crews demolish the East Wing of the White House. Credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

The Trump administration has said no public money will go toward the new ballroom, but officials haven’t said how much each donor is contributing. Many donors have business dealings with the federal government, raising ethical concerns that those paying for the ballroom might win favor in future contract decisions.

Trump said he will also contribute an undisclosed sum for the ballroom.

Regardless of whether the donors are buying influence, they are funding the most significant overhaul of the White House grounds since former President Harry Truman renovated the mansion’s interior and added a balcony to the South Portico. The Truman-era changes were approved by Congress, which established a commission to oversee the work. There’s been no such oversight from Congress this time.

The new ballroom will be nearly twice the size of the most iconic element of the White House grounds: the two-century-old executive residence.

“It’s going to turn the executive mansion into an annex to the party space,” said Edward Lengel, who served as chief historian of the White House Historical Association during Trump’s first term. “I think all the founders would have been disgusted by this,” he told CNN.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, shared a different point of view in an interview with Fox News earlier this week.

“I believe there’s a lot of fake outrage right now because nearly every single president who has lived in this beautiful White House behind me has made modernizations and renovations of their own,” Leavitt said.

An official White House fact sheet published Tuesday used similar sensationalized language, accusing “unhinged leftists and their Fake News allies” of “clutching their pearls over President Donald J. Trump’s visionary addition of a grand, privately-funded ballroom to the White House.”

President Donald Trump displays a rendering of the White House ballroom as he meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (left) in the Oval Office of the White House on Wednesday. Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images

It’s true that every president has put their own mark on the White House, but all of the updates cost at least an order of magnitude less than Trump’s ballroom. Most amounted to little more than redecorating, and none were as destructive as this week’s teardown. Former President Barack Obama repainted the lines of the White House tennis court and installed hoops to turn it into a basketball court. During the George W. Bush administration, the White House press briefing room got a significant makeover. Taxpayers and media companies shared the bill. It’s hard to imagine that happening today.

Former President Gerald Ford had an outdoor swimming pool built near the West Wing. Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy famously spearheaded the redesign of the White House Rose Garden and East Garden, which was later renamed in her honor. The grass in the Rose Garden was paved over with stone tiles earlier this year, and the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden was razed this week, the result of which was also visible from space.

In July, Leavitt said the East Wing would be “modernized.” Like Trump, she did not mention plans for demolition, only saying: “The necessary construction will take place.”

Thanks to satellites and commercial space, we now know what necessary construction really meant.

Stephen Clark is a space reporter at Ars Technica, covering private space companies and the world’s space agencies. Stephen writes about the nexus of technology, science, policy, and business on and off the planet.

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Rocket Report: China tests Falcon 9 lookalike; NASA’s Moon rocket fully stacked

artemis II, blue origin, china, falcon 9, LandSpace, launch, NASA, new glenn, rocket report, Science, Space, space launch system, spacex / 9u50fv / October 24, 2025

A South Korean rocket startup will soon make its first attempt to reach low-Earth orbit.

The Orion spacecraft for the Artemis II mission is lowered on top of the Space Launch System rocket at Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

Welcome to Edition 8.16 of the Rocket Report! The 10th anniversary of SpaceX’s first Falcon 9 rocket landing is coming up at the end of this year. We’re still waiting for a second company to bring back an orbital-class booster from space for a propulsive landing. Two companies, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and China’s LandSpace, could join SpaceX’s exclusive club as soon as next month. (Bezos might claim he’s already part of the club, but there’s a distinction to be made.) Each company is in the final stages of launch preparations—Blue Origin for its second New Glenn rocket, and LandSpace for the debut flight of its Zhuque-3 rocket. Blue Origin and LandSpace will both attempt to land their first stage boosters downrange from their launch sites. They’re not exactly in a race with one another, but it will be fascinating to see how New Glenn and Zhuque-3 perform during the uphill and downhill phases of flight, and whether one or both of the new rockets stick the landing.

As always, we welcome reader submissions. If you don’t want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets, as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

The race for space-based interceptors. The Trump administration’s announcement of the Golden Dome missile defense shield has set off a race among US companies to develop and test space weapons, some of them on their own dime, Ars reports. One of these companies is a 3-year-old startup named Apex, which announced plans to test a space-based interceptor as soon as next year. Apex’s concept will utilize one of the company’s low-cost satellite platforms outfitted with an “Orbital Magazine” containing multiple interceptors, which will be supplied by an undisclosed third-party partner. The demonstration in low-Earth orbit could launch as soon as June 2026 and will test-fire two interceptors from Apex’s Project Shadow spacecraft. The prototype interceptors could pave the way for operational space-based interceptors to shoot down ballistic missiles. (submitted by biokleen)

Usual suspects … Traditional defense contractors are also getting in the game. Northrop Grumman’s CEO, Kathy Warden, said earlier this year that her company is already testing space-based interceptor components on the ground. This week, Lockheed Martin announced it is on a path to test a space-based interceptor in orbit by 2028. Neither company has discussed as much detail of their plans as Apex revealed this week.

Sign Me Up!

Lockheed Martin’s latest “New Space” investment. As interest grows in rotating detonation engines for hypersonic flight, a startup specialist in the technology says it will receive backing from Lockheed Martin’s corporate venture capital arm, Aviation Week & Space Technology reports. The strategic investment by Lockheed Martin Ventures “reflects the potential of Venus’s dual-use technology” in an era of growing defense and space spending, Venus Aerospace said in a statement. Venus said its partnership with Lockheed Martin combines the former’s startup mindset with the latter’s resources and industry expertise. The companies did not announce the value of Lockheed’s investment, but Venus said it has raised $106 million since its founding in 2020. Lockheed Martin Ventures has made similar investments in other rocket startups, including Rocket Lab in 2015.

What’s this actually for? … Houston-based Venus Aerospace completed a high-thrust test flight of its Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE) in May from Spaceport America, New Mexico. Rotating detonation engine technology is interesting because it has the potential to significantly increase fuel efficiency in various applications, from Navy carriers to rocket engines, Ars reported earlier this year. The engine works by producing a shockwave with a flow of detonation traveling through a circular channel. The engine harnesses these supersonic detonation waves to generate thrust. “Venus has proven in flight the most efficient rocket engine technology in history,” said Sassie Duggleby, co-founder and CEO of Venus Aerospace. “With support from Lockheed Martin Ventures, we will advance our capabilities to deliver at scale and deploy the engine that will power the next 50 years of defense, space, and commercial high-speed aviation.”

South Korean startup receives permission to fly. Innospace announced on October 20 that it has received South Korea’s first private commercial launch permit from the Korea AeroSpace Administration,” the Chosun Daily reports. Accordingly, Innospace will launch its independently developed “HANBIT-Nano” launch vehicle from a Brazilian launch site as early as late this month. Innospace stated that the launch window for this mission has been set for October 28 through November 28. The launch site is the Alcântara Space Center, operated by the Brazilian Air Force.

Aiming for LEO … This will be the first flight of Innospace’s HANBIT-Nano launch vehicle, standing roughly 72 feet (22 meters) tall with a diameter of 4.6 feet (1.4 meters). The two-stage rocket is powered by hybrid propulsion, consuming a mixture of paraffin and liquid oxygen. For its debut flight, the rocket will target an orbit about 300 kilometers (186 miles) high with a batch of small satellites from customers in South Korea, Brazil, and India. According to Innospace, HANBIT-Nano can lift about 200 pounds (90 kilograms) of payload into orbit.

A new record for rocket reuse. SpaceX’s launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida on October 19 set a new record for reusable rockets, Ars reports. It marked the 31st launch of the company’s most-flown Falcon 9 booster. The rocket landed on SpaceX’s recovery ship in the Atlantic Ocean to be returned to Florida for a 32nd flight. Several more rockets in SpaceX’s inventory are nearing their 30th launch. In all, SpaceX has more than 20 Falcon 9 boosters in its fleet on both the East and West Coasts. SpaceX engineers are now certifying the Falcon 9 boosters for up to 40 flights apiece.

10,000 and counting … SpaceX’s two launches last weekend weren’t just noteworthy for Falcon 9 lore. Hours after setting the new booster reuse record, SpaceX deployed a batch of 28 Starlink satellites from a different rocket after lifting off from California. This mission propelled SpaceX’s Starlink program past a notable milestone. With the satellites added to the constellation on Sunday, the company has delivered more than 10,000 mass-produced Starlink spacecraft to low-Earth orbit. The exact figure stands at 10,006 satellites, according to a tabulation by Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist who expertly tracks comings and goings between Earth and space. About 8,700 of these Starlink satellites are still in orbit, with SpaceX adding more every week.

China is on the cusp of something big. Launch startup LandSpace is in the final stages of preparations for the first flight of its Zhuque-3 rocket and a potentially landmark mission for China, Space News reports. LandSpace said it completed the first phase of the Zhuque-3 rocket’s inaugural launch campaign this week. The Zhuque-3 is the largest commercial rocket developed to date in China, nearly matching the size and performance of SpaceX’s Falcon 9, with nine first stage engines and a single upper stage engine. One key difference is that the Zhuque-3 burns methane fuel, while Falcon 9’s engines consume kerosene. Most notably, LandSpace will attempt to land the rocket’s first stage booster at a location downrange from the launch site, similar to the way SpaceX lands Falcon 9 boosters on drone ships at sea. Zhuque-3’s first stage will aim for a land-based site in an experiment that could pave the way for LandSpace to reuse rockets in the future.

Testing status … The recent testing at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China included a propellant loading demonstration and a static fire test of the rocket’s first stage engines. Earlier this week, LandSpace integrated the payload fairing on the rocket. The company said it will return the rocket to a nearby facility “for inspection and maintenance in preparation for its upcoming orbital launch and first stage recovery.” The launch is expected to happen as soon as next month.

Uprated Ariane 6 won’t launch until next year. Arianespace has confirmed that the first flight of the more powerful, four-booster variant of the Ariane 6 rocket will not be launched until 2026, European Spaceflight reports. The first Ariane 64 rocket had been expected to launch in late 2025, carrying the first batch of Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites. On October 16, Arianespace announced the fourth and final Ariane 6 flight of the year would carry a pair of Galileo satellites for Europe’s global satellite navigation system in December. This will follow an already-scheduled Ariane 6 launch scheduled for November 4. Both of the upcoming flights will employ the same Ariane 6 configuration used on all of the rocket’s flights to date. This version, known as Ariane 62, has two strap-on solid rocket boosters.

Kuiper soon … The Ariane 64 variant will expose the rocket to stronger forces coming from four solid rocket boosters, each producing about a million pounds (4,500 kilonewtons) of thrust. ArianeGroup, the rocket’s manufacturer, said a year ago that it completed qualification of the Ariane 6 upper stage to withstand the stronger launch loads. Arianespace didn’t offer any explanation of the Ariane 64’s delay from this year to next, but it did confirm the uprated rocket will be the company’s first flight of 2026. The mission will be the first of 18 Arianespace flights dedicated to launching Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband satellites, adding Ariane 6 to the mix of rockets deploying the Internet network in low-Earth orbit.

Duffy losing confidence in Starship. NASA acting Administrator Sean Duffy made two television appearances on Monday morning in which he shook up the space agency’s plans to return humans to the Moon, Ars reports. Speaking on Fox News, where the secretary of transportation frequently appears in his acting role as NASA chief, Duffy said SpaceX has fallen behind in developing the Starship vehicle as a lunar lander. Duffy also indirectly acknowledged that NASA’s projected target of a 2027 crewed lunar landing is no longer achievable. Accordingly, he said he intended to expand the competition to develop a lander capable of carrying humans down to the Moon from lunar orbit and back.

The rest of the story … “They’re behind schedule, and so the President wants to make sure we beat the Chinese,” Duffy said of SpaceX. “He wants to get there in his term. So I’m in the process of opening that contract up. I think we’ll see companies like Blue [Origin] get involved, and maybe others. We’re going to have a space race in regard to American companies competing to see who can actually lead us back to the Moon first.” The timing of Duffy’s public appearances on Monday seems tailored to influence a fierce, behind-the-scenes battle to hold onto the NASA leadership position. Jared Isaacman, who Trump nominated and then withdrew for the NASA posting, is again under consideration at the White House to become the agency’s next full-time administrator. (submitted by zapman987)

Rocket fully stacked for Artemis II. “The last major hardware component before Artemis II launches early next year has been installed,” NASA’s acting Administrator Sean Duffy posted on X Monday. Over the weekend, ground teams at Kennedy Space Center in Florida hoisted the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis II mission atop its Space Launch System rocket inside the Vehicle Assembly Building. This followed the transfer of the Orion spacecraft to the VAB from a nearby processing facility last week. With Orion installed, the rocket is fully assembled to its complete height of 322 feet (98 meters) tall.

Four months away? … NASA is still officially targeting no earlier than February 5, 2026, for the launch of the Artemis II mission. This will be the first flight of astronauts to the vicinity of the Moon since 1972, and the first glimpse of human spaceflight beyond low-Earth orbit for several generations. Upcoming milestones in the Artemis II launch campaign include a countdown demonstration inside the VAB, where the mission’s four-person crew will take their seats in the Orion spacecraft to simulate what they’ll go through on launch day.

New Glenn staged for rollout. Dave Limp, Blue Origin’s CEO, posted a video this week of the company’s second New Glenn rocket undergoing launch preparations inside a hangar at Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The rocket’s first and second stages are now mated together and installed on the transporter erector that will carry them from the hangar to the launch pad. “We will spend the next days on final checkouts and connecting the umbilicals. Stay tuned for rollout and hotfire!” Limp wrote.

“Big step toward launch” … The connection of New Glenn’s stages and integration on the transporter erector marks a “big step toward launch,” Limp wrote. A launch sometime in November is still possible if engineers can get through a smooth test-firing of the rocket’s seven main engines on the launch pad. The rocket will send two NASA spacecraft on a journey to Mars.

China launches clandestine satellite. China launched a Long March 5 rocket Thursday with a classified military satellite heading toward geosynchronous orbit, Space News reports. The satellite is named TJS-20, and the circumstances of the launch—using China’s most powerful operational rocket—suggest TJS-20 could be the next in a line of signals intelligence-gathering missions. The previous satellite of this line, TJS-11, launched in February 2024, also on a Long March 5.

Doing a lot … This launch continued China’s increasing use of the Long March 5 and its sister variant, the Long March 5B. The Long March 5 is expendable, and although we don’t know how much it costs, it can’t be cheap. It is a complex rocket powered by 10 engines on its core stage and four boosters, some burning liquid hydrogen fuel and others burning kerosene. The second stage also has two cryogenically fueled engines. The Long March 5 has now flown 16 times in nine years and seven times within the last two years. The uptick in launches is largely due to China’s use of the Long March 5 to launch satellites for the Guowang megaconstellation.

Next three launches

Oct. 25: Falcon 9 | Starlink 11-12 | Vandenberg Space Force Base, California | 14: 00 UTC

Oct. 26: H3 | HTV-X 1 | Tanegashima Space Center, Japan | 00: 00 UTC

Oct. 26: Long March 3B/E | Unknown Payload | Xichang Satellite Launch Center | 03: 50 UTC

Rocket Report: China tests Falcon 9 lookalike; NASA’s Moon rocket fully stacked Read More »

Texas lawmakers double down on Discovery, call for DOJ investigation into Smithsonian

Bring the Space Shutle Home, Chantilly, discovery, DoJ, John Cornyn, letter, mark kelly, mark warner, National Air and Space Museum, One Big Beautiful Bill, Randy Weber, Senate, Smithsonian, Space, space center houston, Space exploration, space history, Space shuttle, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, ted cruz, texas, U.S. Department of Justice, Virginia / Mike M. / October 23, 2025

It is unknown what, if any, actions Roberts took in response to the letter. The Smithsonian issued a statement asserting it “does not engage in direct or grassroots lobbying” and that its staff has “acted in accordance with all governing rules and regulations.”

The Smithsonian has also stated that it is not a part of the federal government and holds clear title to Discovery, as transferred by NASA in 2012. As such, any attempt to remove Discovery from its collection would be unprecedented. The Congressional Research Service raised similar concerns about ownership in a briefing paper it prepared for lawmakers.

The crux of the concerns seems to be a letter the Smithsonian sent to the congressional authorizing and appropriating committees, as first shared by KeepTheShuttle, a grassroots organization founded to support Discovery staying at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. In that letter, the Smithsonian cited a cost of $35 million to $65 million more than the $85 million authorized by the Big Beautiful Bill Act (and that excluded the construction of a display facility, which was included in the legislation’s budget).

To chop or not to chop

The Smithsonian, together with NASA, also expressed concern that “Discovery will have to undergo significant disassembly to be moved.”

That possibility, along with the logistics and costs of making the move, resulted in Sens. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) sending their own letter to the Senate Committee on Appropriations to block funding for the move. Kelly, a former NASA astronaut who flew on Discovery twice, and Warner also released a video on social media contrasting chopping vegetables to chopping up the space shuttle.

“To get it down there [to Houston], you would have to rip off the wings. The head shield, all of those tiles on the bottom, would be stripped off. The white thermal blankets? Gone,” Kelly said in the video released on Tuesday. “If Ted Cruz and Cornyn think they are putting this thing back together, I want to see them get out there. They’ll be out there for the next 10 years trying to figure this out.

“This is the dumbest plan I’ve ever heard in nearly five years in the United States Senate,” said Kelly.

Texas lawmakers double down on Discovery, call for DOJ investigation into Smithsonian Read More »

California startup to demonstrate space weapon on its own dime

apex, golden dome, Lockheed Martin, military space, missile defense, Northrop Grumman, Science, Space, space policy, US Space Force / Beth Washington / October 23, 2025

“All of the pieces that are required to make it viable exist.”

This illustration released by Apex depicts a space-based interceptor fired from a satellite in low-Earth orbit. Credit: Apex

Defense contractors are in full sales mode to win a piece of a potentially trillion-dollar pie for development of the Trump administration’s proposed Golden Dome missile shield.

CEOs are touting their companies’ ability to rapidly spool up satellite, sensor, and rocket production. Publicly, they all agree with the assertion of Pentagon officials that US industry already possesses the technologies required to make a homeland missile defense system work.

The challenge, they say, is tying all of it together under the umbrella of a sophisticated command and control network. Sensors must be able to detect and track missile threats, and that information must rapidly get to weapons that can shoot them down. Gen. Chance Saltzman, the Space Force’s top commander, likes to call Golden Dome a “systems of systems.”

One of these systems stands apart. It’s the element that was most controversial when former President Ronald Reagan announced the Strategic Defense Initiative or “Star Wars” program, a concept similar to Golden Dome that fizzled after the end of the Cold War.

Like the Star Wars concept 40 years ago, Golden Dome’s pièce de résistance will be a fleet of space-based interceptors loitering in orbit a few hundred miles overhead, ready to shoot down missiles shortly after they are launched. Pentagon officials haven’t disclosed the exact number of interceptors required to fulfill Golden Dome’s mission of defending the United States against a volley of incoming missiles. It will probably be in the thousands.

Skin in the game

Last month, the Defense Department released a request for prototype proposals for space-based interceptors (SBIs). The Space Force said it plans to sign agreements with multiple companies to develop and demonstrate SBIs and compete for prizes. This is an unusual procurement strategy for the Pentagon, requiring contractors to spend their own money on building and launching the SBIs into space, with the hope of eventually winning a lucrative production contract.

Apex is one of the companies posturing for an SBI contract. Based in Los Angeles, Apex is one of several US startups looking to manufacture satellites faster and cheaper than traditional aerospace contractors. The company’s vision is to rapidly churn out satellite buses, essentially the spacecraft’s chassis, to be integrated with a customer’s payloads. So far, Apex has raised more than $500 million from investors and launched its first satellite in 2024, just two years after the company’s founding. Apex won a $46 million contract from the Space Force in February to supply the military with an unspecified number of satellites through 2032.

Apex says its satellites can perform a range of missions: remote sensing and Earth observation, communications, AI-powered edge processing, and technology demos. The largest platform in Apex’s portfolio can accommodate payloads of up to 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds), with enough power to support direct-to-cell connectivity and government surveillance missions.

A look inside Apex’s satellite factory in Los Angeles. Credit: Apex

Now, Apex wants to show its satellite design can serve as an orbiting weapons platform.

“Apex is built to move fast, and that is exactly what America and our allies need to ensure we win the New Space Race,” Ian Cinnamon, the company’s co-founder and CEO, said in a statement Wednesday. “In under a year, we are launching the host platform for space-based interceptors, called an Orbital Magazine, which will deploy multiple prototype missile interceptors in orbit.”

The demonstration mission is called Project Shadow. It’s intended to “prove that an operational SBI constellation can be deployed in the timeframe our country needs,” Cinnamon said. “Apex isn’t waiting for handouts or contracts; we are developing this Orbital Magazine technology on our own dime and moving incredibly fast.”

Star Wars redux

Just one week into his second term in the White House, President Donald Trump signed an executive order for what would soon be named Golden Dome, citing an imperative to defend the United States against ballistic missiles and emerging weapons systems like hypersonic glide vehicles and drones.

The Trump administration said in May that the defense shield would cost $175 billion over the next three years. Most analysts peg the long-term cost much higher, but no one really knows. The Pentagon hasn’t released a detailed architecture for what Golden Dome will actually entail, and the uncertainty has driven independent cost estimates ranging from $500 billion to more than $3 trillion.

Golden Dome’s unknown costs, lack of definition, and its unpredictable effect on strategic stability have garnered criticism from Democratic lawmakers.

But unlike the reaction to the Reagan-era Star Wars program, there’s not much pushback on Golden Dome’s technical viability.

“All of the pieces that are required to make it viable exist. They’re out there,” Cinnamon told Ars. “We have satellites, we have boosters, we have seekers, we have fire control, we have IFTUs (in-flight target updates), we have inter-satellite links. The key is, all those pieces need to talk to each other and actually come together, and that integration is really, really difficult. The second key is, in order for it to be viable, you need enough of them in space to actually have the impact that you need.”

This frame from an Apex animation shows a space-based interceptor deploying from an Orbital Magazine.

Apex says its Project Shadow demo is scheduled to launch in June 2026. Once in orbit, the Project Shadow spacecraft will deploy two interceptors, each firing a high-thrust solid rocket motor from a third-party supplier. “The Orbital Magazine will prove its ability to environmentally control the interceptors, issue a fire control command, and close an in-space cross-link to send real-time updates post-deployment,” Apex said in a statement.

The Orbital Magazine on Apex’s drawing board could eventually carry more than 11,000 pounds (5,000 kilograms) of interceptor payload, the company said. “Orbital Magazines host one or many interceptors, allowing thousands of SBIs to be staged in orbit.”‍

Apex is spending about $15 million of its own money on Project Shadow. Cinnamon said Apex is working with other companies on “key parts of the interceptor and mission analysis” for Project Shadow, but he wasn’t ready to identify them yet. One possible propulsion supplier is Anduril Industries, the weapons company started by Oculus founder Palmer Luckey in 2017. Apex and Anduril have worked together before.

“What we’re very good at is high-rate manufacturing and piecing it together,” Cinnamon said. “We have suppliers for everything else.”

Apex is the first company to publicly disclose any details for an SBI demonstration, but it won’t be the last. Cinnamon said Apex will provide further updates on Project Shadow as it nears launch.

“We’re talking about it publicly because I believe it’s really important to inspire both the US and our allies, and show the pace of innovation and show what’s possible in today’s world,” Cinnamon said. “We are very fortunate to have an amazing team, a very large war chest of capital, and the ability to go do a project like this, truly for the good of the US and the good of our allies.”

A solid rocket motor designed for the ascent vehicle for NASA’s Mars Sample Return mission was test-fired by Northrop Grumman in 2023. A similar rocket motor could be used for space-based interceptors. Credit: NASA

The usual suspects

Apex will have a lot of competition vying for a slice of Golden Dome. America’s largest defense contractors have all signaled their interest in tapping into Golden Dome cash flows.

Lockheed Martin has submitted proposals to the Pentagon for space-based interceptors, the company’s CEO, James Taiclet, said Tuesday in a quarterly earnings call.

“We’re actually planning for a real on-orbit, space-based interceptor demonstration by 2028,” Taiclet said, without providing further details. Taiclet said Lockheed Martin is also working on command and control solutions for Golden Dome.

“At the same time, we’re rapidly increasing production capacity across the missiles, sensors, battle management systems, and satellite integration opportunities that will be directly relevant to achieve the overarching objective of Golden Dome,” Taiclet said.

“SBI, the space-based interceptor, is one of those,” he said. “We are building prototypes—full operational prototypes, not things in labs, not stuff on test stands, things that will go into space, or in the air, or fly across a missile range. These are real devices that will work and that can be produced at scale. So the space-based interceptor is one we’ve been pursuing already, and that’s all I can say about that.”

Northrop Grumman officials have made similar statements. Kathy Warden, Northrop’s CEO, has said her company is currently conducting “ground-based tests” of SBI-related technology. She didn’t describe the tests, although Northrop Grumman is the nation’s top supplier of solid rocket motors, a key piece of space-based interceptors, and regularly fires them on test stands.

“The architecture and spend plan for Golden Dome are not published, so I won’t comment on those specifically,” Warden said Tuesday. “We are providing some high-fidelity operational analysis that can help the customer understand those requirements, as well as ourselves.”

California startup to demonstrate space weapon on its own dime Read More »

Elon Musk just declared war on NASA’s acting administrator, apparently

china, isaacman, NASA, Sean Duffy, Space / DJ Henderson / October 22, 2025

“Sean said that NASA might benefit from being part of the Cabinet.”

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, left, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen watch as Jared Isaacman testifies before a Senate Committee in 2025. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

The clock just ticked past noon here in Houston, so it’s acceptable to have a drink, right?

Because after another turbulent morning of closely following the rough-and-tumble contest to become the next NASA administrator, I sure could use one.

What has happened now? Why, it was only SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who is NASA’s most important contractor, referring to the interim head of the space agency, Sean Duffy, as “Sean Dummy” and suggesting Duffy was trying to kill NASA. Musk later added, “The person responsible for America’s space program can’t have a 2 digit IQ.”

This is all pretty bonkers, so I want to try to contextualize what I believe is going on behind the scenes. This should help us make sense of what is happening in public.

It all boils down to this

The most important through line for all of this is as follows: the contest to become the next NASA administrator. This has, as the British like to say, hotted up of late. And people are starting to take sides.

In one corner stands the private astronaut and billionaire, Jared Isaacman. He was nominated by Donald Trump to become NASA administrator last year, and after a lengthy process, he was on the cusp of confirmation when the president pulled his nomination for political reasons in late May. In the other corner is Sean Duffy, a former congressman with minimal space experience, whom Trump appointed as interim administrator after yanking Isaacman. Duffy was already secretary of transportation.

Since then, a lot has happened, but it boils down to this. Duffy was, nominally, supposed to be running the space agency while searching for a permanent replacement. The biggest move he has made is naming Amit Kshatriya, a long-time employee, as NASA’s associate administrator. Kshatriya now has a lot of power within the agency and comes with the mindset of a former flight director. He is not enamored with using SpaceX’s Starship as a lunar lander.

After Isaacman’s dismissal, key figures within Trump’s orbit continued to vouch for the former astronaut. They liked his flight experience, his financial background, and his vigor to modernize NASA and lean into the country’s dynamic commercial space industry in the effort to remain ahead of China in spaceflight. Trump listened. He met with Isaacman multiple times since, all positive experiences. A re-nomination seemed possible, even likely.

Duffy likes running NASA

However, Duffy was finding that he liked running NASA. There were lots of opportunities to go on television and burnish his credentials. Spaceflight often receives more positive coverage than air traffic controller strikes. His chief of staff at the Department of Transportation, Pete Meachum, has also enjoyed exercising power at NASA. Neither appears ready to relinquish their influence.

To be clear, Duffy is not saying this publicly. Asked whether Duffy wishes to remain NASA administrator, a spokesperson for the agency gave Ars the following statement on Tuesday morning:

Sean is grateful that the President gave him the chance to lead NASA. At the President’s direction, Sean has focused the agency on one clear goal — making sure America gets back to the Moon before China. Sean said that NASA might benefit from being part of the Cabinet, maybe even within the Department of Transportation, but he’s never said he wants to keep the job himself. The President asked him to talk with potential candidates for Administrator, and he’s been happy to help by vetting people and giving his honest feedback. The bottom line is that Secretary Duffy is here to serve the President, and he will support whomever the President nominates.

But based on discussions with numerous sources, it seems clear that Duffy wants to keep the job. He has not taken significant steps toward identifying a replacement.

His appearances on Fox News and CNBC on Monday morning buttress this fact. It is not typical for a NASA administrator to go on television and criticize one of the space agency’s most important contractors. In this case, Duffy said he was reworking the agency’s lunar lander contracts because SpaceX had fallen behind.

It is true that SpaceX is behind in developing a lunar lander version of Starship. Nevertheless, this was a pretty remarkable thing for Duffy to do, at least in the context of the US space community. NASA projects run late all the time, every time. There was no mention of spacesuits needed for the lunar landing, which also almost certainly will not be ready by 2027.

There seem to be two clear reasons why Duffy did this. One, he wanted to show President Trump he was committed to reaching the Moon again before China gets there. And secondly, with his public remarks, Duffy sought to demonstrate to the rest of the space community that he was willing to stand up to SpaceX.

How do we know this? Because Duffy and Meachum had just spent the weekend calling around to SpaceX’s competitors in the industry, asking for their support in his quest to remain at NASA. For example, he called Blue Origin’s leadership and expressed support for their plans to accelerate a lunar landing program. Then he went on TV to demonstrate in public what he was saying in private.

Musk unloads

By Tuesday morning, Musk appears to have had enough.

The acting administrator had gone on TV and publicly shamed Musk’s company, which has self-invested billions of dollars into Starship. (By contrast, Lockheed has invested little or nothing in the Orion spacecraft, and Boeing also has little skin in the game with the Space Launch System rocket. Similarly, a ‘government option’ lunar lander would likely need to be cost-plus in order to attract Lockheed as a bidder.) Then Duffy praised Blue Origin, which, for all of its promise, has yet to make meaningful achievements in orbit. All the while, it is only thanks to SpaceX and its Dragon spacecraft that NASA does not have to go hat-in-hand to Russia for astronaut transportation.

So Musk channeled his inner Trump and called out “Sean Dummy.” It’s crass language, but will it be effective?

We really don’t know the extent to which Musk and Trump are on speaking terms at this point, but certainly Musk is a huge Republican donor, and there will be plenty of people in Congress who do not want to see another food fight between the world’s most powerful person and its richest person.

The widespread assumption is that Musk is advocating for Isaacman to become his administrator, since he originally put the astronaut forward for the position. However, the reality is that they don’t speak regularly, and although Isaacman is deeply appreciative of what SpaceX has achieved, he seems to genuinely want Blue Origin and other private space companies to succeed as well. Most likely, then, Musk was lashing out in frustration on Tuesday morning, feeling spurned by a space agency he has done a lot for.

Isaacman, for his part, has been keeping a relatively low profile. Trump, who will ultimately make a decision on NASA’s leadership, has also largely been silent about all of this.

Not a super augury

The war of words may be entertaining and a spectacle, but this is pretty dreadful for NASA. The space agency is already down 20 percent of its workforce due to cuts and voluntary retirements. Morale remains low, and the uncertainty over long-term leadership is unhelpful. The first year of the Trump presidency, to many in space, feels like a lost year.

There is also the possibility of a significant restructuring. NASA is an independent federal agency, but my sources (The Wall Street Journal also reported this last night) have indicated that Duffy has sought to move NASA within the Department of Transportation. In his new statement today, Duffy confirmed this. Folding NASA into the Department of Transportation would allow him to maintain oversight of the agency, and Duffy could recommend a leader who is loyal to him.

So this is where we are. A fierce, behind-the-scenes battle rages on among camps supporting Duffy and Isaacman to decide the leadership of NASA. The longer this process drags on, the messier it seems to get. In the meantime, NASA is twisting in the wind, trying to run in molasses while wearing lead shoes as China marches onward and upward.

Elon Musk just declared war on NASA’s acting administrator, apparently Read More »

Satellite operators will soon join airlines in using Starlink in-flight Wi-Fi

Commercial space, muon space, Space, spacex, starlink / Kelly Newman / October 22, 2025

So long, data limits

Lasers have other benefits over ground stations. Optical links offer significantly more throughput than traditional radio communication systems, and they’re not constrained by regulations on radio spectrum usage.

“What it does for our customers and for the company is we are able to get more than 10x, maybe even 50x, the amount of data that they’re able to bring down, and we’re able to offer them that on a latency of nearly instant,” Stang said in an interview with Ars.

SpaceX’s mini-lasers are designed to achieve link speeds of 25Gbps at distances up to 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers). These speeds will “open new business models” for satellite operators who can now rely on the same “Internet speed and responsiveness as cloud providers and telecom networks on the ground,” Muon said in a statement.

Muon’s platform, called Halo, comes in different sizes, with satellites ranging up to a half-ton. “With persistent optical broadband, Muon Halo satellites will move from being isolated vehicles to becoming active, real‑time nodes on Starlink’s global network,” Stang said in a press release. “That shift transforms how missions are designed and how fast insights flow to decision‑makers on Earth.”

Muon said the first laser-equipped satellite will launch in early 2027 for an undisclosed customer.

“We like to believe part of why SpaceX trusts us to be the ones to be able to lead on this is because our system is designed to really deal with very different levels of requirements,” Smirin said. “As far as we’re aware, this is the first integration into a satellite. We have a ton of interest from commercial customers for our capabilities in general, and we expect this should just boost that quite significantly.”

FireSat is one of the missions where Starlink connectivity would have an impact by rapidly informing first responders of a wildfire, Smirin said. According to Muon, using satellite laser links would cut FireSat data latency from an average of 20 minutes to near real-time.

“It’s not just for the initial detection,” Smirin said. “It’s also once a fire is ongoing, [cutting] the time and the latency for seeing the intensity and direction of the fire, and being able to update that in near real-time. It has incredible value to incident commanders on the ground, because they’re trying to figure out a way to position their equipment and their people.”

Thinking big

Ubiquitous connectivity in space could eventually lead to new types of missions. “Now, you’ve got a data center in space,” Smirin said. “You can do AI there. You can connect with data centers on the ground.”

While this first agreement between Muon and SpaceX covers commercial data relay, it’s easy to imagine other applications, such as continuous live drone-like high-resolution streaming video from space for surveillance or weather monitoring. Live video from space has historically been limited to human spaceflight missions or rocket-mounted cameras that operate for a short time.

One example of that is the dazzling live video beamed back to Earth, through Starlink, from SpaceX’s Starship rockets. The laser terminals on Starship operate through the extreme heat of reentry, returning streaming video as plasma envelops the vehicle. This environment routinely causes radio blackouts for other spacecraft as they reenter the atmosphere. With optical links, that’s no longer a problem.

“This starts to enable a whole new category of capabilities, much the same way as when terrestrial computers went from dial-up to broadband,” Smirin said. “You knew what it could do, but we blew through bulletin boards very quickly to many different applications.”

Satellite operators will soon join airlines in using Starlink in-flight Wi-Fi Read More »

It wasn’t space debris that struck a United Airlines plane—it was a weather balloon

flight 1093, Space, United Airlines, WindBorne / Shannon Garcia / October 21, 2025

Speculation built over the weekend after one of the aircraft’s pilots described the object that impacted the aircraft as “space debris.” On Sunday the National Transportation Safety Board confirmed that it is investigating the collision, which did not cause any fatalities. However, one of the pilot’s arms appeared to be cut up by small shards of glass from the windshield.

Balloons said to not “pose a threat”

WindBorne has a fleet of global sounding balloons that fly various vertical profiles around the world, gathering atmospheric data. Each balloon is fairly small, with a mass of 2.6 pounds (1.2 kg), and provides temperature, wind, pressure, and other data about the atmosphere. Such data is useful for establishing initial conditions upon which weather models base their outputs.

Notably, the company has an FAQ on its website (which clearly was written months or years ago, before this incident) that addresses several questions, including: Why don’t WindBorne balloons pose a risk to airplanes?

“The quick answer is our constellation of Global Sounding Balloons (GSBs), which we call WindBorne Atlas, doesn’t pose a threat to airplanes or other objects in the sky. It’s not only highly improbable that a WindBorne balloon could even collide with an aircraft in the first place; but our balloons are so lightweight that they would not cause significant damage.

WindBorne also said that its balloons are compliant with all applicable airspace regulations.

“For example, we maintain active lines of communication with the FAA to ensure our operations satisfy all relevant regulatory requirements,” the company states. “We also provide government partners with direct access to our comprehensive, real-time balloon tracking system via our proprietary software, WindBorne Live.”

It wasn’t space debris that struck a United Airlines plane—it was a weather balloon Read More »

Why did NASA’s chief just shake up the agency’s plans to land on the Moon?

administrator, duffy, NASA, Space / 9u50fv / October 21, 2025

NASA would not easily be able to rip up its existing HLS contracts with SpaceX and Blue Origin, as, especially with the former, much of the funding has already been awarded for milestone payments. Rather, Duffy would likely have to find new funding from Congress. And it would not be cheap. This NASA analysis from 2017 estimates that a cost-plus, sole-source lunar lander would cost $20 billion to $30 billion, or nearly 10 times what NASA awarded to SpaceX in 2021.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk, responding to Duffy’s comments, seemed to relish the challenge posed by industry competitors.

“SpaceX is moving like lightning compared to the rest of the space industry,” Musk said on the social media site he owns, X. “Moreover, Starship will end up doing the whole Moon mission. Mark my words.”

The timing

Duffy’s remarks on television on Monday morning, although significant for the broader space community, also seemed intended for an audience of one—President Trump.

The president appointed Duffy, already leading the Department of Transportation, to lead NASA on an interim basis in July. This came six weeks after the president rescinded his nomination of billionaire and private astronaut Jared Isaacman, for political reasons, to lead the space agency.

Trump was under the impression that Duffy would use this time to shore up NASA’s leadership while also looking for a permanent chief of the space agency. However, Duffy appears to have not paid more than lip service to finding a successor.

Since late summer there has been a groundswell of support for Isaacman in the White House, and among some members of Congress. The billionaire has met with Trump several times, both at the White House and Mar-a-Lago, and sources report that the two have a good rapport. There has been some momentum toward the president re-nominating Isaacman, with Trump potentially making a decision soon. Duffy’s TV appearances on Monday morning appear to be part of an effort to forestall this momentum by showing Trump he is actively working toward a lunar landing during his second term, which ends in January 2029.

Why did NASA’s chief just shake up the agency’s plans to land on the Moon? Read More »

Something from “space” may have just struck a United Airlines flight over Utah

737 max, aviation, in-flight strike, Space, space debris, windshield / DJ Henderson / October 20, 2025

The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed Sunday that it is investigating an airliner that was struck by an object in its windscreen, mid-flight, over Utah.

“NTSB gathering radar, weather, flight recorder data,” the federal agency said on the social media site X. “Windscreen being sent to NTSB laboratories for examination.”

The strike occurred Thursday, during a United Airlines flight from Denver to Los Angeles. Images shared on social media showed that one of the two large windows at the front of a 737 MAX aircraft was significantly cracked. Related images also reveal a pilot’s arm that has been cut multiple times by what appear to be small shards of glass.

Object’s origin not confirmed

The captain of the flight reportedly described the object that hit the plane as “space debris.” This has not been confirmed, however.

pic.twitter.com/qpoRaWA6Ab

— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) October 18, 2025

After the impact, the aircraft safely landed at Salt Lake City International Airport after being diverted.

Images of the strike showed that an object made a forceful impact near the upper-right part of the window, showing damage to the metal frame. Because aircraft windows are multiple layers thick, with laminate in between, the window pane did not shatter completely. The aircraft was flying above 30,000 feet—likely around 36,000 feet—and the cockpit apparently maintained its cabin pressure.

Something from “space” may have just struck a United Airlines flight over Utah Read More »