| | | A SpaceNews daily newsletter | | 02/24/2025 | | | | | The Space Force's Space Development Agency (SDA) is pressing ahead with satellite procurements despite internal turbulence and high-level scrutiny. SDA is advancing plans to acquire 54 additional satellites for a missile defense tracking system that the agency wants to deploy in low Earth orbit. The agency's procurement strategy, though, is under scrutiny as defense leaders determine whether SDA's acquisition approach aligns with long-term national security objectives. The turmoil includes an ongoing investigation by the Department of the Air Force that led to putting the SDA's director, Derek Tournear, on administrative leave last month. The agency is also recompeting a separate 10-satellite contract after a Department of the Air Force review determined that the initial award process had been improperly handled. The Office of the Secretary of Defense has ordered an independent assessment of SDA's operations, underscoring concerns about the agency's acquisition strategies and its ability to meet critical requirements. [SpaceNews]
NASA employees are among those in the federal government who have been asked to delay responses to a "what did you do" email despite the threat of being fired. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sent an email Saturday to employees across the federal government, asking them to provide five bullet points outlining their accomplishments last week by Monday night. The email came after a post from Elon Musk announcing the note with the warning that failure to respond "will be taken as a resignation." The email alarmed many federal employees, who questioned the authority of OPM to request the information and its ability to fire those who did not respond. At NASA, some employees were initially encouraged to respond, seeing it as an opportunity to highlight their accomplishments, while others were warned not to immediately respond. By Sunday, the agency said it would provide additional guidance on Monday about the request, asking employees to hold off on their replies to OPM. [SpaceNews]
Top Democrats on the House Science Committee are seeking more information from NASA about the work of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) there. In a letter Friday to NASA Acting Administrator Janet Petro, the ranking member of the House Science Committee and two of its subcommittees said NASA's response to an earlier letter about DOGE provided insufficient information about DOGE, whose de facto leader is Elon Musk. They called that lack of information about who from DOGE is at NASA and what information they are reviewing "ominous and unacceptable," seeking more details by March 7. [SpaceNews]
There are conflicting signals about the health of the space industry. Industry observers note that while venture funding remains active and satellite demand is rising, companies like Blue Origin and Boeing are laying off staff. Growth across the industry is not evenly spread, with satellite services continuing to show steady improvement that is projected to continue for the next decade. Satellite and launch vehicle manufacturing, though, is more volatile, and in many cases subject to changing government agendas. [SpaceNews]
BAE Systems won a $230.1 million contract to build space weather satellites. NASA, acting on behalf of NOAA, selected BAE Systems Friday for the Lagrange 1 Series, building two spacecraft, integrating instruments and handling mission operations. The spacecraft, scheduled for launch in 2029 and 2032, are designed to provide continuity of coronal imagery and upstream solar wind measurements from the Earth-sun L-1 Lagrange point. [SpaceNews]
KBR won a $176 million contract to support a U.S. Space Force space surveillance site. The contract, awarded last week, covers work at the Air Force Maui Optical and Supercomputing Site (AMOS), a high-altitude facility that serves as a key node in the U.S. military's space surveillance network. The contract includes operations, equipment maintenance, and upgrades to legacy space sensors there. [SpaceNews]
Startup Kapta Space revealed its plans to develop technologies for space-based radar. The Seattle-based company, operating in stealth for the last three years, secured $5 million in seed funding to support its space-based electronically-steered radar technology. The company envisions its metasurface arrays being used in synthetic aperture radar for geospatial imaging as well as military applications such as tracking ground-based targets. The company, which also won a SBIR award from DARPA to develop its technology, is looking for additional private funding or government contracts to get its technology into space as quickly as possible. [SpaceNews]
| | | | | China launched a GEO communications satellite Saturday. A Long March 3B lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 7:11 a.m. Eastern and placed the ChinaSat-10R (Zhongxing-10R) into a geostationary transfer orbit. ChinaSat-10R is designed to replace the aging ChinaSat-10 satellite at 110.5 degrees east in GEO, supporting Chinese civil users as well as countries that participate in China's Belt and Road Initiative. [SpaceNews]
SpaceX conducted two Falcon 9 launches of Starlink satellites. One Falcon 9 lifted off Friday at 10:19 a.m. Eastern from Cape Canaveral, Florida, placing 23 Starlink satellites into orbit. That launch was the 450th of a Falcon rocket by SpaceX. Another Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 8:38 p.m. Eastern Saturday, putting 22 Starlink satellites into orbit. With that mission, SpaceX has now launched more than 8,000 Starlink satellites to date, with a little more than 7,000 currently in orbit. [Spaceflight Now]
A propellant leak prevented a Falcon 9 upper stage from doing a deorbit burn. The upper stage was left in orbit after a launch Feb. 1 from Vandenberg, performing an uncontrolled reentry over Europe last week that resulted in debris falling in western Poland. In an update on its website, SpaceX said that a liquid oxygen leak caused "higher than expected vehicle body rates" that prevented the stage from doing its planned deorbit burn. The company said it has "implemented mitigations" to the stage to prevent it from happening again on future launches, but did not elaborate. This is the third incident involving a Falcon 9 upper stage since last July. [SpaceNews]
A NASA mission to look for near Earth objects will launch on a Falcon 9. NASA said Friday it awarded a task order to SpaceX for the launch of the NEO Surveyor mission, currently planned for as soon as September 2027, on a Falcon 9 from Florida. NEO Surveyor features an infrared space telescope designed to discover and track near Earth objects, including those that could pose a threat to the Earth. [SpaceNews]
Australian company Gilmour Space has set a mid-March date for its first launch. The company announced Monday its Eris small launch vehicle will launch from a site in northern Queensland no earlier than March 15 after getting airspace closure approvals for the launch from Australian aviation regulators. The company received a launch license for the mission from the Australian Space Agency in November. Gilmour Space seeks to be the first Australian company to conduct an orbital launch, but noted that the launch is a test flight and first launches of new vehicles often fail. [SpaceNews]
Spanish launch vehicle developer PLD Space plans to conduct launches from a spaceport in Oman. The company signed an agreement last week to launch its Miura 5 small launch vehicle from the Etlaq spaceport in Oman as soon as 2027. Etlaq will be the company's second launch site after Kourou in French Guiana, with plans to establish a third site in the next year. PLD Space is the first major orbital launch vehicle company to announce plans to launch from Etlaq, which to date has hosted a single sounding rocket launch. [SpaceNews]
The Trump administration's nominee to be NASA administrator was sued by casinos years ago for gambling debts. A profile of Jared Isaacman revealed that, in 2009, the Trump Taj Mahal casino — not owned at that time by Donald Trump — sued Isaacman for $930,000 after bouncing checks on a credit line extended by the casino. That suit was settled, along with a similar one by a Connecticut casino in 2010. [Wall Street Journal]
U.S. negotiators reportedly threatened to cut off Ukraine's access to Starlink. The threat came up in negotiations between American and Ukrainian officials about granting the U.S. rights to critical mineral resources in Ukraine as part of a deal to repay wartime aid. Starlink has been a critical asset to Ukraine's military as it defends against Russian forces invading the county, although access to Starlink has touched off controversies in the past. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on social media that the report was "false" but did not elaborate. [Reuters]
| | | | | | | | | Monday: Monday-Tuesday: Tuesday: Wednesday: Wednesday-Thursday: Thursday: -
Jiuquan, China: Projected launch of a Long March 2C carrying an undisclosed payload at 2:10 a.m. Eastern. -
Baikonur, Kazakhstan: Scheduled launch of a Soyuz-2.1a carrying the Progress MS-30 cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station at 4:24 p.m. Eastern. -
Online: Rocket Lab releases its 2024 financial results and holds an earnings call at 5 p.m. Eastern. -
Cape Canaveral, Fla.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying Starlink satellites at 9:52 p.m. Eastern. Friday: -
Boca Chica, Texas: Scheduled launch of SpaceX's Starship/Super Heavy on its 8th test flight at 6:30 p.m. Eastern. -
Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying NASA's SPHEREx and PUNCH space science missions at 10:09 p.m. Eastern.
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