NBCNews — Artemis II will be the first mission where NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule carry people. On the 10-day mission, the crew is expected to circle the moon, traveling farther from Earth than any humans have before.
NASA spacecraft makes an uncontrolled plunge back to Earth
CNN — “There’s been a lot more awareness of the importance of spaceborne debris,” said Marlon Sorge, a space debris expert at The Aerospace Corporation.
In Southern California, Aerospace and Defense Are Once Again Taking Off
Commercial Observer In 2026, the South Bay is in a different league compared to where it was just 15 years ago. Dozens of startups have cropped up in coastal Silicon Beach cities. The aerospace and defense industries added 11,000 jobs to L.A. County between 2022 and 2024 alone
Space Force Rethinks Satellite Ground Station Strategy
SpaceNews — Under a new strategy, the U.S. Space Force is looking to leverage commercial phased-array technology and walk away from customized designs.
Space Force Modernization Push Runs Into Acquisition Workforce Shortfall
SpaceNews — The U.S. Space Force’s push to accelerate procurement of new systems is running up against a basic constraint: not enough contracting officers and financial managers to execute the work.
Space Force Hopes to Speed Satellites to Track Aircraft, Missiles
Breaking Defense — Gen. Chance Saltzman, U.S. Space Force chief, said the work already done to design a satellite system for tracking ground targets should also help speed Airborne Moving Target Indicators (AMTI) capabilities to orbit.
US Air Force Plans to Expand Use of Portfolio Acquisition Executives Over the Next Year
Aerospace America — The Air Force’s new acquisition approach will eventually result in about 18 portfolio acquisition executives, Secretary Troy Meink said. These PAEs will “have all the contracting, finance” personnel directly under their authority.
The Space Supply Chain is Getting Stretched. Here’s How it Could Impact the Pentagon’s Plans.
Breaking Defense — Companies involved in manufacturing satellites may shift their sights away from DoD to supplying commercial players simply due to the economies of scale. Another complicating factor is that DoD demand can be fickle as it is dependent on the annual budget and political winds.
Collision Avoidance for the Moon
Aerospace America — Based on the missions launched to date and those projected to by 2030, the number of orbit “conjunctions” where collisions or near misses are possible could increase 100-fold, according to a 2025 paper by the Aerospace Corporation.
NASA Aims for 2 Moon Landings in 2028 With New Artemis Schedule
The New York Times — NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said that Artemis III will launch in mid-2027 as a flight test to practice rendezvousing in low-earth orbit, so the agency can iterate more quickly between Artemis missions.