SpaceX Eyes 2026 IPO as Analysts Probe Starship Launch Costs
SpaceX is positioning itself for a 2026 initial public offering, prompting valuation chatter on Wall Street. At the same time, independent analysts have published a detailed cost model for Starship launches, though the company has not confirmed any figures. The twin developments are reshaping investor expectations for the commercial space sector.
Soyuz Launches Progress MS‑33 Cargo to the ISS
A Soyuz rocket lifts off from Baikonur launch site in Kazakhstan, carrying the Progress MS-33 cargo ship to the International Space Station. Mission details, updates: https://t.co/U0Mzlpkmer https://t.co/VKOSMpjPHC
Soyuz‑Progress Launch Set From Restored Site 31
A Soyuz rocket with a Progress cargo ship is ready to lift off from the newly restored launch pad at Site 31 in one hour: https://t.co/U0Mzlpkmer https://t.co/rFVE71MWiO
From Goddard’s Cabbage Patch to Artemis II.
In this episode, host Maria Varmazas chats with Jeff Carr, a veteran of NASA media and son of Apollo-era astronaut Capcom Jerry Carr, about the parallels between the Apollo 8 era of 1968 and today’s Artemis 2 mission. Jeff reflects on...
NASA's Zero‑Gravity Arms Master Delicate and Heavy Gripping
NASA’s Zero-Gravity #Robotic Arms Master Delicate, Heavy, and Irregular Grips by @tweetciiiim #Tech #TechForGood #EmergingTech https://t.co/MkbKbo4c5d
Two Unreported MDA Suborbital Launches Occurred in March
There were apparently two MDA suborbital target missile launches from Wallops on Mar 17 and 19 that weren't reported at the time: https://t.co/wDoCCKpEF4
Some European Launcher Challenge Funding Remains in Limbo
The European Space Agency (ESA) earmarked over €900 million for the European Launcher Challenge, but roughly €140 million remains unallocated, largely from the United Kingdom. A portion of the funding was tied to Orbex, which entered administration, removing €34.9 million from the pool....
Assessing Lunar Resource Availability for Mass Driver Construction
In relation to the mass driver idea on the moon, for anyone that has a deep understanding of materials needed for such a satellite, can most of it be sourced from the lunar surface? Interesting to know what percentage can...
Elon Musk Dreams of Epic Lunar Mass Driver
“I just want to live long enough to see the mass driver on the moon. Because that’s going to be incredibly epic.” — @ElonMusk tonight https://t.co/gnYf3oEXdP
Hubble Captures Comet C/2025 K1 Splitting Into Four Fragments
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope recorded comet C/2025 K1 breaking apart into at least four fragments over three consecutive days, providing the clearest view yet of a comet’s breakup moments after perihelion. The observation, made possible by a last‑minute target change,...
Trillion‑Watt Compute Demands Push Tesla, Space
SpaceXAI + Tesla TERAFAB Project Goal is a trillion watts of compute/year Most must necessarily go to space, as US electricity is only 0.5TW
Satellite Operators Can't Match Launch Providers' Internal Pricing Advantage
This is the wrong framing. The correct framing is "it's only reasonable to ask whether any satellite operators can compete with launch providers that build their own constellations and charge *prices* to third parties that are much higher than their...
Canada Cancels Small Lunar Rover that Was to Fly on Firefly’s Blue Ghost Lander in ’29
The Canadian Space Agency announced the cancellation of its planned lunar rover, which was to hitch a ride on Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander in 2029. The rover, built by Canadensys, would have been Canada’s first surface vehicle on the...
Private Mission to Apophis Gets Another Customer, Two Student-Built Landers
Exlabs' ApophisExL mission, the first commercial deep‑space rideshare, has secured a second payload customer: Japan's Chiba Institute of Technology. The university team will launch two student‑built landers to touch down on asteroid Apophis during its April 13, 2029 close fly‑by....
Pentagon Report: Space Force ATLAS Program Falls Short of Decommissioning Targets
The Pentagon’s Director of Operational Test & Evaluation reported on March 16, 2026 that the Space Force’s Advanced Tracking and Launch Analysis System (ATLAS) is not yet mature enough to retire the 1979‑era Space Defense Operations Center (SPADOC). Although ATLAS achieved operational...
Sweden’s Esrange Spaceport Signs Launch Deal with Swedish Military
Sweden’s Esrange spaceport signed a roughly $22 million launch agreement with the Swedish Armed Forces, earmarking the facility for military and allied satellite missions. The contract is part of a broader $100 million government investment to expand Sweden’s space capabilities through 2032,...
JWST Probes Emerging Young Star Clusters in Nearby Spiral Galaxy NGC 628
An international team led by Helena Faustino Vieira used JWST’s NIRSpec to study emerging young star clusters (eYSCs) in the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 628. The FEAST program targeted 14 eYSCs, detecting helium and hydrogen recombination lines, molecular hydrogen transitions, and strong...
Newly Discovered Photos Show Astronaut Neil Armstrong After the Gemini 8 Emergency
Never‑before‑seen photographs of Neil Armstrong and David Scott after the Gemini 8 emergency have been donated to the Armstrong Air and Space Museum. The images, captured by Army veteran Ron McQueeney, show the astronauts on a U.S. Navy recovery ship, waving to...
COTS Electronics Survive
Operators can use commercial off the shelf [COTS] electronics in satellites, with a mission life of 3-7 years. A radiation-hardened part can last 15 years. Many modern satellites use radiation tolerant parts. SpaceX, Planet Labs and Kuiper/LEO all...
Artemis 2 Returns to the Pad for April Launch Attempt
NASA’s Artemis 2 mission rolled back to Launch Complex 39B on March 20 and is now positioned for a launch window opening April 1. The rollout followed a February‑March fix of a helium‑line seal that caused upper‑stage blockage and hydrogen leaks during earlier wet‑dress...
Diary of the 12th Man on the Moon
Former Apollo 17 lunar module pilot Harrison Schmitt has published a new chapter in his online “Diary of the 12th Man,” focusing on the origin of life. The section ties the geology of Taurus‑Littrow’s regolith to Earth’s water‑rich beginnings and references NASA’s...
Key Space Force C2 Upgrade Still Faces Issues: Pentagon Report
The Pentagon’s Director of Operational Test & Evaluation reported that the Advanced Tracking and Launch Analysis System (ATLAS) still cannot meet the minimum viable capability required to retire the legacy Space Defense Operations Center (SPADOC). Although the Space Force approved...
March 20, 2026 Zimmerman/Batchelor Podcast
Robert Zimmerman’s new title *Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8* chronicles the historic 1968 mission that first took humans around the Moon. The book is now released in three formats—print, ebook, and audiobook—each with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a...
The $190 Million Military Contract That Makes Rocket Lab America’s Hypersonic Test Pilot
Rocket Lab secured a $190 million contract with the U.S. Department of Defense, the company’s largest launch deal to date. The agreement funds 20 HASTE (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron) flights over four years, making the suborbital Electron variant the primary...
ITU Lacks Power; National Regulators Face Crowded LEO Orbit
The ITU is a UN treaty organization which has zero power to create or enforce rules. Regulators from specific countries (eg FCC) are tasked with enforcement. The treaties never contemplated tens of thousands of satellites in a small number of...
SpaceX and Tesla Launch TERAFAB: Terawatt‑scale Compute
Formal announcement of the TERAFAB project, which will be done jointly by @SpaceX and @Tesla, tonight around 8pm CT. Livestream on 𝕏. The goal is to produce over a TERAWATT of compute per year (logic, memory & packaging) with ~80% for...
NASA Moves Artemis II Rocket Back to Pad After Wind Delay, Targeting April 1 Launch
NASA rolled the 322‑foot Artemis II Space Launch System and Orion capsule from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B after a four‑hour wind delay, setting the stage for a launch window that opens on April 1. The move follows weeks of...
First Cargo Launch From Repaired Site 31 Tomorrow
A cargo mission to lift off from the repaired pad at Site 31 tomorrow for the first time (details, updates): https://t.co/U0Mzlpkmer
Redundancy Wins: Embrace Failures in Space Systems
Almost everything in space involves tradeoffs because: physics. “Failures happen no matter what you do. That means the software and systems you use has to cope. That means replicate everything. Two pieces of crap are better than one.” Rob...
The Best Space Warfare Books Available on Amazon
Space warfare has moved from speculative fiction to a mature strategic discipline, a shift highlighted by a curated list of serious titles available on Amazon. The article identifies foundational works such as Bleddyn Bowen’s "War in Space" and John J....
Iran's Solid‑propellant SLVs Could Launch Sizable Payloads
While I can't rule out a low-payload stunt, Iran has several SLVs (including solid propellants) that could deliver a significant payload to these distances.
Optimus+PV: First Self‑Replicating Von Neumann Space Probe
Optimus+PV will be the first Von Neumann probe, a machine fully capable of replicating itself using raw materials found in space
The Jilin-1 Constellation: China’s Commercial Eye in the Sky
China’s Chang Guang Satellite Technology has expanded the Jilin‑1 constellation from four test satellites in 2015 to more than 117 operational units by early 2026. The fleet delivers sub‑meter optical imagery, hyperspectral, video and a synthetic‑aperture radar, offering 20‑plus daily revisits...
Safety Margins, Not Altitude, Limit Low‑Earth Satellite Density
The barrier to how many satellites can be in a particular low Earth orbit is effectively the distance required to provide a "margin of safety" to avoid collisions. Filing with the ITU before others allows the system to claim a...
SpaceX Snags GPS III, ULA Must Accelerate Vulcan
SpaceX looks to have picked up this GPS III launch off ULA . It is absolutely critical ULA drastically up the pace of Vulcan otherwise it is hard to see them being able to stay a thing. Add New Glenn...
The Pentagon’s SmallSats Have An Amnesia Problem
The Pentagon’s SmallSat programs rely on commercial volatile memory, which loses data during power interruptions caused by radiation or EMP events. Such “amnesia” forces satellites to reboot, delaying hypersonic tracking and breaking the kill chain. Engineers mitigate the risk with...
Officina Stellare Wins $2 Million Contract for Lasercom Ground Station in Spain
Officina Stellare, an Italian opto‑mechanical specialist, secured a €1.84 million contract with Barcelona’s Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) to build an optical ground station for laser and quantum‑encrypted space‑to‑Earth links. The system will include a telescope, dome, testing platforms and integrated...
The FCC’s Agenda at Its Next Meeting Includes an Item for “Weird Space Stuff”
The FCC’s March 26, 2026 open meeting agenda features an item titled “Spectrum Abundance for Weird Space Stuff,” aimed at addressing a looming shortage of radio spectrum for telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C) functions in emerging private space operations. The...
Rocket Lab Launches Eighth Synspective Radar Imaging Satellite
Rocket Lab’s Electron lifted off from New Zealand on March 20, delivering Synspective’s eighth synthetic‑aperture radar (SAR) satellite into a 573‑km, 50.2° orbit. The launch brings Synspective closer to its goal of a 30‑satellite constellation by 2028, supported by a new contract...
Noted Test Pilot of SpaceShipOne, Michael Melvill, Passed on March 19
Mike Melvill, the first commercial astronaut and test pilot of SpaceShipOne, died on March 19. He piloted the historic September 29, 2004 flight and the follow‑up October 4 mission that secured the Ansari X Prize for Burt Rutan’s team. Those flights...
South Korean Rocket Failed 33 Seconds In — Now Engineers Know Why
South Korean startup INNOSPACE’s HANBIT‑Nano rocket broke apart 33 seconds after liftoff from Brazil’s Alcântara Space Center on 22 December 2025. A joint investigation with Brazil’s aerospace accident agency CENIPA identified a mis‑compressed sealing component in the forward chamber plug as the...
Artemis 2 Moon Rocket Reaches Launch Pad as April 1 Launch Window Approaches
NASA’s Artemis 2 mission progressed as the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft were rolled out to Launch Pad 39B on March 20, marking the start of final pre‑launch activities. The crew—Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and...
From Patent Lawyer to Space CEO: Sleeping on Factory Floors
Before Elon Musk famously slept on the Tesla factory floor, Star Catcher CEO @theandrewrush was doing it at his previous company, Made In Space, as they worked to build the first space-ready 3D printer. "I hope that Elon has had better...
Starlink 2025 Revenue Forecast Vastly Overstated
This is way too high, but that's unsurprising since the starting point used for Starlink in 2025 ($14B+) is completely out of line with the known revenue for the year (<$12B)
Teledyne to Demonstrate Integrated Satcom Capabilities at SATShow Week 2026
Teledyne Technologies will showcase its end‑to‑end satellite communications portfolio at SATShow Week 2026 in Washington, DC, booth 2729. The exhibit features live demos of the EV10AS940 ADC employing non‑uniform sampling and a 16‑core radiation‑tolerant Arm Cortex‑A72 processor running real‑time AI...
SpaceX Still at Odds on Sharing Rules with SES, Viasat
SpaceX is intensifying its fight with incumbent satellite operators over proposed FCC rule changes that would raise power limits for low‑Earth‑orbit (LEO) broadband constellations in the 10.7‑12.7 GHz, 17.3‑18.6 GHz and 19.7‑20.2 GHz bands. The company contends that existing equivalent power flux density...
New Satellite Constellations Could Ruin the Night Sky, Astronomers Warn
Astronomy groups are alarmed after SpaceX and Reflect Orbital filed FCC applications for massive satellite constellations—up to one million AI‑data satellites and 50,000 reflective mirrors. The proposals would dramatically increase visible objects in low‑Earth orbit, potentially brightening the night sky...
NASA Selects University Finalists for Technology Concepts Competition
NASA announced 14 university teams as finalists in the 2026 Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) competition. The challenge asks students to devise rigorous concepts for lunar and Martian operations across four mission themes, from communications to power...
NASA Asks For Shuttle Relocation Ideas
NASA has issued a Draft Request for Proposal (DRFP) to create a Multimodal Transportation Multiple Award IDIQ contract for moving flown space vehicles, ranging from full‑size Shuttle orbiters to small capsules like Orion. The solicitation seeks industry input on engineering...
White House Omits Gateway in Trump-Japan Lunar Cooperation Brief
WH fact sheet on Trump’s mtg with Japanese prime minister mentions lunar cooperation on pressurized rover and “the NASA-led Moon base,” but nothing about Gateway.