 | Top Stories
Airbus Defence and Space will reduce its workforce by 2,500 people in part because of losses in its space segment. The company said Wednesday it would cut those jobs by the middle of 2026 because of a "continued complex business environment, especially in the space systems segment." That business unit has struggled to break even despite a strong order book. Mike Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space, said the company needs to become "faster, leaner, and more competitive." Details of the restructuring are expected to be disclosed during the company's next earnings report, scheduled for Oct. 30. [SpaceNews]
NASA says its desire to maintain a "continuous human presence" in low Earth orbit after the retirement of the International Space Station may not mean having humans continually present. Speaking at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) Wednesday, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy said that discussions about transitions about the ISS transition have resulted in two options for maintaining a continuous human presence. One, "continuous heartbeat," would maintain humans in orbit continuously. However, a "continuous capability" alternative would allow for crew-tended missions to commercial stations, at least initially. That discussion is part of the development of a LEO microgravity strategy by NASA as well as planning for the next phase of its Commercial LEO Destinations program. [SpaceNews]
NASA has further delayed the first operational flight of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner. NASA said this week that it will fly the Crew-11 mission on a Crew Dragon in the summer of 2025, rather than Starliner-1 as previously planned. NASA had delayed Starliner-1 from early 2025 to mid-2025 in July because of work needed to correct problems found on Starliner during the Crew Flight Test mission. NASA officials say they are still reviewing data from that flight and have yet to decide if another test flight is needed. If that test flight is needed, there may be opportunities to fly it during 2025. [SpaceNews]
Argotec and Thales Alenia Space have signed contracts to build additional satellites for an Italian Earth observation constellation. Thales Alenia Space will contribute six radar satellites and Argotec will provide 15 optical satellites for the IRIDE constellation under contracts signed Wednesday at IAC. IRIDE, a project funded by Italy's National Recovery and Resilience Plan and managed by the European Space Agency and the Italian space agency ASI, is an ambitious campaign to launch Europe's largest Earth-observation constellation. [SpaceNews]
Spire Global and Canadian startup Mission Control will collaborate on a space-based AI experiment. The Persistence mission, housed in a six-unit Spire Lemur cubesat with an optical camera, will test the use of AI to enable spacecraft autonomy. Through Persistence, Mission Control plans to demonstrate its SpacefarerAI platform, which is designed to streamline the deployment and update of AI models for spaceflight applications. The Canadian Space Agency is providing 75% of the funding for the Persistence mission, with Mission Control contributing the remainder. [SpaceNews]
Countries who have signed the Artemis Accords are redoubling their efforts to encourage more to sign. While 45 countries have signed the Accords, which outline best practices for sustainable space exploration, over four years, some officials noted at IAC this week that other countries are either not familiar with the Accords or their benefits. They said they will be making more efforts to reach those countries to build up their expertise and show the benefits of the Accords. [SpaceNews]
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| Other News
AI and advanced robotics could take the place of spacewalks. In a presentation at IAC,a researcher noted that spacewalks are high-risk activities that require extensive training and preparation. Tasks currently done on ISS spacewalks could instead be done by robotics powered by AI systems that can carry out complex tasks. That greater use of advanced automation is likely to find other applications in space exploration. [SpaceNews]
Rocket Lab will conduct a launch this weekend for an undisclosed customer. The company said Wednesday it added a mission to its manifest for launch as soon as Saturday from New Zealand. The "Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes" mission is for an undisclosed commercial customer who signed up two months ago, the shortest time between contract signing and launch for Rocket Lab to date. [Rocket Lab]
SpaceX is proposing upgrades to Starlink to increase data rates by up to a factor of 10. The company filed a license modification with the FCC that would seek to lower the orbit of some of its future Gen2 satellites, among other changes while not altering the total size of the system, planned to be up to 30,000 satellites. Those changes, the company argues, would enable "gigabit-speed, truly low-latency broadband." Most Starlink customers today get service at speeds of at least 100 megabits per second. [Ars Technica]
One company is criticizing India's plan to allocate satellite spectrum to services like Starlink. Reliance Jio argued that Indian regulators should auction spectrum, as it does for terrestrial mobile services, rather than allocate it through an administrative process as the government currently proposes. Other companies, including SpaceX, Amazon and Eutelsat, back the use of an administrative process. Reliant Jio said it may go to court if the government doesn't change its stance. [Mint]
NASA has set up a panel to review alternative concepts for Mars Sample Return. NASA announced Wednesday the formation of a strategy review team led by former administrator Jim Bridenstine and that includes other former NASA officials as well as representatives from academia. They will examine 11 proposals for alternative approaches to MSR recently completed by companies, a group of NASA Centers, JPL and APL. The panel is expected to complete their work by the end of the year, recommending a specific approach or a combination of several of the alternatives. [NASA]
Sierra Space is developing a trash compactor for the ISS. The company announced Wednesday that it won a NASA contract to develop the Trash Compaction and Processing System (TCPS), which is intended to capture water from trash for reuse, compacting the remaining material into square tiles that can be easily stored or be used for additional radiation protection. TCPS will be tested on the ISS in late 2026. [Sierra Space]
| |  | Space Piracy Fun
"We want to be the responsible space rubbish, junk disposal business, not the space piracy business. It's all fun and games about putting on eye patches and getting parrots and going and grabbing junk."
– Patrick "Paddy" Neumann, founder and chief scientist of Neumann Space, speaking on a panel at IAC Thursday about how his company can turn space debris into propellant for spacecraft.
| | | A premier press release service designed to elevate your company's visibility and target our audience. Publish your company's press release with Stellar Dispatch today. Announcing DSI's 11th Annual Space Resiliency Summit
By Defense Strategies Institute | | | |
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