Know What's Happening in SpaceTech
Know What's Happening in SpaceTech
SpaceTech Pulse
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Every morning
Weekly
Tuesday recap
NASA’s C‑PICA heat‑shield material, developed at Ames Research Center, was licensed to Varda Space Industries and manufactured in‑house for the company’s W‑5 capsule. On Jan. 29, 2026 the capsule re‑entered Earth’s atmosphere and landed safely in South Australia, marking the first all‑Varda C‑PICA protected return. The successful flight demonstrates the commercial viability of NASA‑origin thermal protection systems and opens the door for more frequent, lower‑cost return of high‑value payloads. The milestone also reinforces the growing partnership between the agency and private space firms.
Rocket Lab completed its 81st Electron flight, deploying the NEONSAT‑1A Earth‑observation satellite for South Korea’s KAIST. The "Bridging The Swarm" mission lifted off from New Zealand on Jan 30, placing the payload into a 540 km low‑Earth orbit. This launch marks the company’s...
The European Space Agency released a new Sentinel‑2 image of Rudong County’s coastline on China’s eastern seaboard. The high‑resolution optical data showcases the region’s shoreline, wetlands and nearby maritime traffic. ESA highlighted the image as part of its open‑access Copernicus...
The European Commission has awarded three parallel studies to examine a mobile responsive launch system capable of rapid satellite deployment from non‑permanent ground sites. Consortia led by PwC, GMV and Sirius Space Services will conduct the research over a ten‑month...
KAIST researchers have replaced traditional electronic timing signals in Very Long Baseline Interferometry with optical frequency‑comb lasers, delivering atomic‑clock precision across radio telescopes. The laser comb feeds directly into each dish’s receiver, establishing phase alignment at the fundamental stability of...
Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket lifted off from New Zealand, delivering South Korea’s first test smallsat for a planned observation constellation over the Korean peninsula. Later, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launched 29 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral, with the booster completing its fifth...
The European Space Agency closed 2025 with record funding commitments, yet its overall budget still lags far behind the United States and China. At the European Space Conference in Brussels, Director General Josef Aschbacher warned that past achievements are insufficient...
NASA is reportedly delaying the wet dress rehearsal tanking test for the SLS rocket by at least 48 hours. Teams were expected to be called to stations shortly after 8 pm ET (0100 UTC). @NASA has made no comments and...
The future of in-space robotics relies on testing operations in space.
A new study using ESA’s Solar Orbiter data shows solar flares are powered by “magnetic avalanches” rather than the traditional current‑sheet reconnection model. The high‑resolution EUI imager captured 2‑second cadence magnetic strands forming, winding, and repeatedly reconnecting thirty minutes before...
How is enterprise-grade AI combined with X's API powerful for analyzing things? Here's how, I asked @blevlabs's to analyze the rumors that @elonmusk is thinking of joining his companies together into a monster new IPO. Here's the analysis. ++++++++++ xAI +...
A timelapse of SpaceX's Falcon 9 going upright at pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station around 10 p.m. tonight. Liftoff of the Starlink 6-101 mission is scheduled for 2:22 a.m. EST (0722 UTC). Read more: https://t.co/4qeVAXF2ky 📹: @ABernNYC https://t.co/dKrtCSnAv1
NASA is at a crossroads over how to provide cargo services for the lunar Gateway, reassessing the original SpaceX Dragon XL contract and weighing a potential shift to SpaceX’s Starship. The agency authorized the first logistics mission for 2023 but...
So…apparently no NASA WDR, and no Senate vote on the minibus. Time to call it a day.
During the countdown of the mission ‘Bridging The Swarm’, @RocketLab had to pause the count at T-00:08:59 and recycled the clock. Teams are now aiming for the end of the window at 2:21 pm NZDT (8:21 pm EST / 0121...
Japan’s Warpspace Inc. has been selected for JAXA’s Space Strategy Fund to develop open‑laser communication technologies that enable seamless inter‑satellite links across different vendors. The company will create the HOCSAI multi‑protocol optical modem to provide interoperability, and a Digital Twin...
The shadow from a lightning tower and NASA's SLS moon rocket create a giant sundial at launch complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center. https://t.co/DehX6uR5mZ
USSPACECOM Commander Gen. Stephen Whiting has named Maj. Gen. Terry Grisham to lead the transition team to move USSPACECOM's HQ from Colorado Springs, CO to Hunstville, AL as directed by President Trump. https://t.co/7iABjLrtf8
The Chinese Micius satellite, launched in 2016 for the QUESS quantum‑experiments program, was designed for a two‑year mission but remains operational in 2025. It continues to host quantum key distribution and entanglement experiments, proving the durability of space‑based quantum hardware....
NASA has awarded a bit more than $5 million to 29 institutions for STEM education. https://t.co/oWyhCJKQQr
Lockheed Martin reported a 4% year‑over‑year increase in its Space segment, delivering $13 billion in revenue for 2025. Growth was driven by $380 million from strategic and missile‑defense programs such as Next Generation Interceptor and Fleet Ballistic Missile, and $255 million from the...
NASA’s Goddard team leveraged the Pleiades supercomputer to run over 100 high‑resolution simulations of two 1.4‑solar‑mass neutron stars merging. The models reveal how tangled magnetospheres reconnect and generate rapidly varying electromagnetic emission in the final 7.7 ms before coalescence. Emission intensity...
A UBC Okanagan‑led team released the first broadband Faraday‑rotation map of the northern sky, called DRAGONS, using the DRAO 15‑meter telescope. The survey reveals that more than half of the sky exhibits intricate magnetic structures, overturning the notion of a largely...
In a 50‑minute Better Satellite World Awards roundtable, SSPI’s Tamara Bond‑Williams convenes leaders from Astroscale, INTEGRASYS, and River Advisers to discuss how satellite systems impact daily life on Earth. The panel delves into orbital sustainability, interference protection, spectrum access, and...
SpaceX and Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI are reportedly in merger talks ahead of a planned SpaceX IPO later this year, according to Reuters. Two Nevada entities, K2 Merger Sub Inc. and K2 Merger Sub 2 LLC, were filed in January, signaling...
NASA’s Juno spacecraft captured the most energetic volcanic eruption ever observed on Io, covering 40,400 sq mi and releasing 140‑260 terawatts of power. The event, recorded on Dec. 27, 2024 during a close fly‑by, involved multiple volcanoes igniting simultaneously, hinting at a hidden network of...
Eutelsat announced that its planned €550 million sale of passive ground infrastructure to EQT Partners has been cancelled after regulatory and security approvals were not secured. The deal would have created SatPort Infrastructure, the world’s largest neutral ground‑station‑as‑a‑service platform. The cancellation...
Job opportunity at Secure World Foundation for what sounds like a successor to Chris Johnson.
The Royal Astronomical Society warns that proposed cuts from the Science and Technology Facilities Council could slash the combined budget for astronomy, particle physics and nuclear physics by roughly 30%, with some projects facing up to 60% reductions. The society...
SpaceX once again is flying what appear to be Starship thermal protection system tiles on the Falcon 9 payload fairing. Liftoff of the Starlink 17-19 mission from Vandenberg SFB at 9:53:20 a.m. PST (12:53:20 p.m. EST / 1753:20 UTC). Watch live:...
Oxford Space Systems and SSTL announced the successful in‑orbit deployment of the Wrapped Rib Antenna on the CarbSAR demonstration mission launched by SpaceX on 11 January 2026. The antenna, a large deployable X‑band SAR reflector, unfolded in two stages, confirming its dual‑deployment...
A new study using triple oxygen isotopes in Apollo lunar‑regolith samples shows that only about 1 percent of the Moon’s soil is derived from carbon‑rich meteorites, implying a similarly modest contribution to Earth’s water. Even assuming Earth captured roughly twenty times...
The World Economic Forum came out with a report, produced in partnership with the @spacefutures_sa, the @saudispace, @LeoLabs_Space, and @Novaspace_ , titled “Clear Orbit, Secure Future: A Call to Action on Space Debris.” https://t.co/wA8ze2X66x
NASA’s Planetary Science Division announced it will cease formal support for all Analysis and Assessment Groups, including ExMAG, effective May 2026. Despite losing PSD funding, the Extraterrestrial Materials Analysis Group pledges to keep serving as the conduit between the sample‑science...
The Space Ideation Challenge, launched by U.S. academic and defense leaders, offers a $125,000 prize pool to surface fresh concepts for America’s space program. It arrives as China’s capabilities close the gap with the United States and commercial firms like...
A new study in New Phytologist reveals that tree species record radiocarbon spikes from extreme solar storms—known as Miyake events—differently due to variations in carbon uptake, storage, and allocation. These biological nuances can shift the timing and intensity of the...
Tomorrow.io unveiled DeepSky, an AI‑native satellite constellation designed to deliver high‑frequency, customized weather and ocean data for enterprise and government users. The company received operational‑grade validation from NOAA, which praised the microwave sounders’ radiometric accuracy and cross‑satellite consistency. DeepSky builds...
Creotech Instruments announced that the HyperSat platform on Poland’s PIAST constellation is fully operational after successful commissioning of the PIAST‑S1 and PIAST‑S2 satellites. The three‑satellite fleet, launched on SpaceX’s Transporter‑15 mission on 28 November 2025, has received NORAD identifiers and has already...
SpaceX adjusted the T-0 liftoff time for the Starlink 17-19 mission. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base is now scheduled for 9:53:20 a.m. PST (12:53:20 p.m. EST / 1753:20 UTC). Read more: https://t.co/Gr4Hp5pOSh
NASA is gearing up for Artemis II, its first crewed lunar flyby in over half a century. The four‑person crew—three Americans and a Canadian—will spend about ten days orbiting the Moon aboard the Orion capsule. Astronauts are undergoing intensive training that...
Scientists have identified a massive dark‑matter clump roughly ten million times the Sun’s mass located about a kiloparsec (3,260 light‑years) from Earth. The discovery emerged from precise timing measurements of a pair of nearby pulsars, whose pulse‑rate shifts indicated an...
The U.S. Army announced a new Military Occupational Specialty, Tactical Space Operations Specialist, opening applications for enlisted personnel from specialist to sergeant major. The initial cohort will consist of 1,000 soldiers, with plans to grow to 1,500 by 2032, and...
Northwestern University researchers have demonstrated a novel laboratory search for ultralight dark‑matter particles using two Fabry‑Perot optical cavities of different lengths. By exploiting the pendulum‑like response of rigid cavities in the 34‑64 kHz band, the experiment can detect minute length oscillations...
Astronomers used ESA’s Gaia Data Release 3 to conduct a detailed analysis of three Milky Way open clusters—Berkeley 17, 18 and 39—identifying 600, 1,042 and 907 probable members respectively. The study reports ages ranging from 3.4 billion to 9.1 billion years, stellar masses from 536 M☉ to...
The World Economic Forum’s "Clear Orbit, Secure Future" report warns that space‑debris congestion could cost the satellite industry between $25.8 billion and $42.3 billion over the next decade, even without a single catastrophic collision. It breaks the projected losses into $14.2‑$30.7 billion from...
Turkey’s space ecosystem has matured, demonstrated by the indigenous Türksat 6A satellite, a growing Earth‑observation fleet, and an ambitious lunar‑mission program targeting a 2027 orbit and a 2030s surface landing. Private firms are advancing hybrid‑rocket propulsion and analog‑habitat research, while a...
BAE Systems introduced its RH12 Storefront, a radiation‑hardened 12‑nanometer circuit platform aimed at space‑grade integrated circuits. The offering bundles a full library of IP blocks, design tools, and licensing options, enabling customers to create custom system‑on‑chip solutions for harsh off‑Earth...
Space Grove Ventures debuted at SpaceCom | Space Congress, unveiling a for‑profit platform that turns underutilized real‑estate into high‑performance innovation districts for space, defense, and advanced‑technology firms. The company will redevelop facilities, manage tenant operations, and coordinate public‑private programs to accelerate commercialization...
JWST observations have confirmed supermassive black holes existing less than 500 million years after the Big Bang, supporting the direct‑collapse seed model. The model, proposed by Yale astrophysicist Priyamvada Natarajan, suggests pristine gas clouds collapsed directly into massive black holes, bypassing...
An early insight into China's plans for space in its 15th Five-year plan, & it's certainly ambitious & long-term. Areas include: - Space resource development (Inc. feasibility studies for "Tiangong Kaiwu" (below)) - Space tourism - Space-based digital infrastructure - STM
