Air and Space Forces Magazine – Space Systems Command is tripling the size of one of its main launch procurement contracts from $5.6 billion to $17 billion to accommodate growing demand from government customers.
NASA Says Artemis III Mission on Schedule as Blue Origin Repairs Launchpad
Reuters – NASA remains on track for next year’s Artemis III mission, a key test of orbital docking and lunar landers needed for future crewed moon landings, despite an explosion involving an unmanned Blue Origin rocket during a launchpad test in May.
NASA, DOD and Others Join Energy Department-Led Genesis Mission
FedScoop – The Genesis Mission, an effort to combine AI, quantum, and high-performance computing, is expanding beyond the DOE to include 20 federal agencies, which are bringing a combined commitment of more than $5 billion.
U.S. Space Force adds Relativity, Impulse Space to national security launch program
SpaceNews – The U.S. Space Force is widening the field of companies eligible to compete for national security launch contracts, adding launch startup Relativity Space and orbital transportation company Impulse Space to a roster of commercial providers
U.S. Space Force completes procurement reorganization, creating nine acquisition portfolios
SpaceNews – The reorganization gives a small group of executives broad authority over how the service buys and integrates space capabilities, reflecting a Pentagon-wide effort to speed procurement and make it easier to adopt commercial technology.
China Dumping More Rocket Bodies in Space, Endangering Low Earth Orbit Satellites: Report
Breaking Defense – According to a new report from space monitoring firm LeoLabs, China has been abandoning used launcher rocket stages in low Earth orbit (LEO) at an ever-increasing pace.
Rescue Mission Launches to Save NASA Telescope That’s Falling Back to Earth
AP News – Launched in 2004, Swift is sinking faster than ever because of recent solar storms. Northrop Grumman launched Katalyst Space Technologies’ Link spacecraft from the Marshall Islands in the Pacific to rescue the telescope.
Aerospace and Google collaborate on AI for satellite operations
Military + Aerospace Electronics – The Aerospace Corporation and Google Public Sector are collaborating on an AI-based system designed to help satellite operators detect and investigate spacecraft anomalies.
Satellite Operators Launch Trade Association
Payload – Amazon, Globalstar, Iridium, and Canada’s Telesat joined together to establish the SpaceConnect Association, for non-geostationary satellite (NGSO) operators.
In a Bold Move, Rocket Lab Acquires Iridium Communications
Ars Technica – Rocket Lab announced that it is acquiring the satellite communications company Iridium. The deal, made for cash and shares of Rocket Lab stock, values Iridium at about $8 billion. The deal pairs the launch company, founded and led by Peter Beck, with a decades-old profitable satellite company whose network of 80 satellites in low-Earth orbit provides telecommunications services.