Aviation Week — Congress injected $110-120 million for NASA to further nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) research and development and $50 million for nuclear electric propulsion (NEP) efforts under the recently passed appropriations bill. New NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has embraced nuclear propulsion and fission surface power as core to the agency’s mission.

Air and Space Forces Magazine — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth exhorted the U.S. space industry to step up its efforts in a forceful Feb. 2 speech at Blue Origin in which he called for a new era of American “space dominance.” Hegseth’s remarks were part of his “Arsenal of Freedom” tour of American defense firms across the country, in which he has touted acquisition reforms made last fall

The National Law Review — Orbotic Systems plans to use Aerospace’s DiskSat form factor as a host spacecraft for a Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) sensor pathfinder, including integration studies for its WIND (Wind Ion Neutral Density) sensor. The effort is intended to support technical assessment and future mission planning related to VLEO operations.

SpaceNews — NASA says it is continuing to prepare for a possible Artemis 2 launch as soon as February, but with remarkably little publicity by the agency for the first crewed flight to the moon in more than 50 years.

GovCon Wire — As executive vice president, Bullock will lead Aerospace’s customer-facing organizations, research and laboratory capabilities, engineering backplane, and technology investment activities.

CNN — Artemis II will send a group of four astronauts — NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch as well as the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen — on a trip around the moon, possibly as early as February.

Ars Technica — “Sooner or later, we’re gonna see bad things happening here,” said Aerospace’s John Langer. The U.S. Space Force’s SpaceWerx organization, the FAA, and the Defense Innovation Unit are running challenges to support alternative technologies.

Aviation Week — United Launch Alliance (ULA) President and CEO Tory Bruno is joining Blue Origin as its new president of national security. Bruno will report to Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp in the new role.

Air and Space Forces Magazine — The Space Force’s work to establish a pool of at-the-ready commercial satellite capacity during a crisis is moving out of the pilot phase as the service prepares to award its next batch of contracts in 2026. Participating companies get access to threat intelligence and will be included in training events and wargames.

Air and Space Forces Magazine — A White House executive order, “Ensuring American Space Superiority,” calls for a 2028 deadline for NASA astronauts to return to the Moon; calls for U.S. space agencies to embrace technologies like nuclear propulsion; and pledges to attract at least $50 billion in additional investment to U.S. space markets over the next two years.