Outer Space Today (Page 9)

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Four U.S. Space Firms Withdraw From Paris Summit After White House Warning

Four U.S. Space Firms Withdraw From Paris Summit After White House Warning

Four American space companies, including SpaceX and Blue Origin, have pulled out of an international space summit in Paris after the White House warned that attendance could be seen as endorsing European Union space policies. France's government confirmed the withdrawals on September 3, 2026, days before the event

Schiess Assumes Command as Space Force's Third Chief of Space Operations

Schiess Assumes Command as Space Force's Third Chief of Space Operations

Gen. Douglas Schiess took over as the U.S. Space Force's third chief of space operations on Sept. 3, succeeding Gen. Chance Saltzman. The transfer took place at a ceremony at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. The leadership change marks a milestone for the youngest branch of the U.

Planet Posts Record $116 Million Quarter as Sovereign Satellite Services Drive Growth

Planet Posts Record $116 Million Quarter as Sovereign Satellite Services Drive Growth

Planet Labs reported record quarterly revenue of $116.1 million for the second quarter of fiscal year 2027, a 58% increase year over year. The company, which ended the period on July 31, 2026, delivered adjusted EBITDA profit of $13.9 million and marked its fourth consecutive quarter of meeting

4iG and SpaceX Sign Europe's First Starlink Direct-to-Cell and Sovereign Defense Pact

4iG and SpaceX Sign Europe's First Starlink Direct-to-Cell and Sovereign Defense Pact

Hungarian telecommunications and defense conglomerate 4iG Group signed two agreements with SpaceX on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, establishing what the companies describe as Europe's first partnership to deploy Starlink Mobile direct-to-cell services alongside a dedicated framework for encrypted defense communications. The agreements, executed at SpaceX facilities

NASA Opts for Simpler "Sortie Suit" to Speed Lunar Return

NASA Opts for Simpler "Sortie Suit" to Speed Lunar Return

NASA has decided to field a stripped-down spacesuit for its first crewed missions to the lunar surface, moving to accelerate a program aimed at landing astronauts at the Moon's south pole as early as 2028. The agency announced the decision during an internal meeting this week, directing

ISRO to Launch EOS-05, India's First Earth Observation Satellite Bound for Geosynchronous Orbit

ISRO to Launch EOS-05, India's First Earth Observation Satellite Bound for Geosynchronous Orbit

The Indian Space Research Organisation will launch EOS-05, India's first Earth observation satellite designed for Geosynchronous Orbit, from the Second Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. Liftoff is scheduled for September 4, 2026, at 2:55 a.m. IST. If injected successfully, the satellite

Army Awards First U.S. Production Contract for a High-Energy Laser Weapon

Army Awards First U.S. Production Contract for a High-Energy Laser Weapon

The U.S. Army has awarded AeroVironment a contract worth $464.8 million for the Enduring High-Energy Laser program of record, marking what the service calls its first-ever production contract for a high-energy laser weapon. The award will bring AeroVironment's LOCUST X3 counter-drone laser

ESA Signs Phase 2 Deal for MAGPIE, Europe's First Lunar Rover

ESA Signs Phase 2 Deal for MAGPIE, Europe's First Lunar Rover

The European Space Agency and ispace-Europe signed an agreement on September 1, 2026 to implement MAGPIE, set to be the first European rover to operate on the Moon. The rover will target the lunar south pole to prospect for water and other volatiles, providing knowledge ESA describes as critical

Isar Aerospace to Launch Astroscale's ADRAS-J2 Debris Removal Mission

Isar Aerospace to Launch Astroscale's ADRAS-J2 Debris Removal Mission

European launch startup Isar Aerospace has signed a launch agreement to carry Astroscale Japan's ADRAS-J2 debris removal mission into orbit. The deal pairs one of the few companies with real debris proximity operations experience with a launch provider that has not yet completed its first orbital flight.

Russia's Rassvet Constellation Stalls Below Its Target Orbit

Russia's Rassvet Constellation Stalls Below Its Target Orbit

Russia's Rassvet satellite network, billed as a domestic answer to SpaceX's Starlink, is struggling to reach operational altitude after its first two launch batches. None of the 32 satellites deployed so far have reached the 500 mile orbit they were designed to operate in, and at

SpaceX Files FCC Paperwork Pointing Starship Flight 14 to Orbit

SpaceX Files FCC Paperwork Pointing Starship Flight 14 to Orbit

SpaceX has asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to fly Starlink terminals during Starship's fourteenth flight test, and the filing describes a mission built around an actual orbital insertion. It would be the first time the program has attempted to reach orbit, a threshold no Starship flight

NASA Taps Blue Origin to Build Mars Telecommunications Network in $700 Million Deal

NASA Taps Blue Origin to Build Mars Telecommunications Network in $700 Million Deal

NASA awarded Blue Origin a contract Tuesday to develop the agency's Mars Telecommunications Network, a next-generation system designed to provide reliable, high-bandwidth communications and navigation services for current and future Mars missions. The firm-fixed-price contract carries a maximum potential value of approximately $700 million

Intuitive Machines Wins Order for Two IM 300 Satellites from Undisclosed Customer

Intuitive Machines Wins Order for Two IM 300 Satellites from Undisclosed Customer

Intuitive Machines has secured a contract to build two IM 300 series platforms for a new, undisclosed customer, the company announced September 1. The award opens a new market segment for the modular spacecraft line and reflects demand for mission-configurable satellites built on compressed timelines. The contract adds a

Nonprofit Targets $15 Million Mission to Alpha Centauri by 2029

Nonprofit Targets $15 Million Mission to Alpha Centauri by 2029

A new nonprofit called Fermi Explorer announced plans on September 1, 2026, to launch humanity's first mission to Alpha Centauri by the end of 2029, on a budget of less than $15 million. The mission, founded by the co-founders of Starcloud, aims to succeed where Breakthrough Starshot

Gravitics Wins Lockheed Martin Deal to Build Three Orbital Carriers for Golden Dome

Gravitics Wins Lockheed Martin Deal to Build Three Orbital Carriers for Golden Dome

Gravitics has been selected by Lockheed Martin to build three spacecraft for demonstrations of space-based missile defense technologies under the Pentagon's Golden Dome program. The selection, disclosed in regulatory filings, marks one of the first known industrial contracts tied directly to the Golden Dome architecture. The spacecraft,

Lockheed Martin Ventures Backs Quantum Camera Startup Diffraqtion in Expanded Pre-Seed

Lockheed Martin Ventures Backs Quantum Camera Startup Diffraqtion in Expanded Pre-Seed

Diffraqtion, a Massachusetts startup building quantum imaging cameras for space, announced more than $5 million in additional funding on Monday, more than doubling the pre-seed round it first closed in January. The new investment brings the company's total funding to over $10 million and adds Lockheed Martin

Brownsville Approves 444-Acre Disannexation, $220 Million SpaceX Water Deal

Brownsville Approves 444-Acre Disannexation, $220 Million SpaceX Water Deal

The Brownsville City Commission voted to disannex 444.45 acres from city limits and sign a memorandum of understanding with SpaceX committing $220 million to expand regional water infrastructure. The decisions came after a six-hour special meeting held Saturday afternoon, with both agenda items approved simultaneously at SpaceX'

SES and OHB Seal $1.16 Billion Deal for 18 Iris2 MEO Satellites

SES and OHB Seal $1.16 Billion Deal for 18 Iris2 MEO Satellites

SES has signed a contract worth nearly 1 billion euros, approximately $1.16 billion, with German manufacturer OHB SE to build 18 medium-Earth-orbit satellites for Europe's Iris2 secure communications constellation. The deal, announced August 31, marks the first major industrial order placed since the Iris2 framework

Gravity Data Reveals Mars Is Hundreds of Degrees Hotter in the South

Gravity Data Reveals Mars Is Hundreds of Degrees Hotter in the South

Researchers have found a major temperature imbalance deep inside Mars, with the planet's southern interior appearing significantly hotter than its northern half and possibly partially molten. The discovery, drawn from decades of gravity measurements, offers a new window into the Red Planet's geologic history, including periods

NASA's Roman Space Telescope Lifts Off on Falcon Heavy for Survey of Two Billion Galaxies

NASA's Roman Space Telescope Lifts Off on Falcon Heavy for Survey of Two Billion Galaxies

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched Sunday, August 30, from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The $4.3 billion observatory is bound for a point 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, where it will begin a five to ten year

UAE Grants Starlink 10-Year Satellite Broadband Licence

UAE Grants Starlink 10-Year Satellite Broadband Licence

The UAE's Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority has granted Elon Musk's Starlink Satellite Communications LLC a 10-year General Space Services License to provide broadband satellite internet services across the country. The licence, announced alongside Starlink's commercial entry into the UAE market, authorises

NASA, SpaceX Push Back Crew-13 Launch After Oxidizer Leak Found on Dragon

NASA, SpaceX Push Back Crew-13 Launch After Oxidizer Leak Found on Dragon

NASA and SpaceX are adjusting the launch date for the agency's Crew-13 mission to the International Space Station after detecting an oxidizer leak on the Dragon spacecraft's propulsion system. No new target date has been announced as of August 30. The leak was found during

Pentagon Seeks Software-Only Encryption to Bridge Post-Quantum Transition

Pentagon Seeks Software-Only Encryption to Bridge Post-Quantum Transition

The Defense Department is asking industry for interim, software-only cryptographic solutions that require no hardware changes to protect military systems during its shift to post-quantum cryptography. A request for information released Thursday sets operational baselines for vendors and signals the Pentagon is executing on its campaign to prepare

SpaceX to Cast Gas Turbine Components In-House, Targeting 18-Month Acceleration

SpaceX to Cast Gas Turbine Components In-House, Targeting 18-Month Acceleration

SpaceX is moving to manufacture natural gas turbine blades and vanes internally, a step Elon Musk says could accelerate new turbine capacity by up to 18 months. Musk disclosed the plan today, framing in-house casting as a way to break the single biggest bottleneck in bringing gas turbines online

Long March 6C Upper Stage Breaks Apart Days After Rideshare Launch

Long March 6C Upper Stage Breaks Apart Days After Rideshare Launch

A Chinese Long March 6C rocket upper stage has fragmented in low Earth orbit, generating what tracking firm LeoLabs estimates as tens to hundreds of pieces of debris. The breakup occurred less than two days after the same stage delivered a seven-satellite rideshare mission, adding a new debris cloud