02/14/2025

Welcome to our roundup of top SpaceNews stories, delivered every Friday! This week, NASA and SpaceX swap out the Crew-10 Crew Dragon, DOGE makes its way to NASA, turmoil at Blue Origin and Boeing, and more.

Our Top Story

NASA and SpaceX to swap Crew Dragon spacecraft to reduce Crew-10 delay

By Jeff Foust, Feb. 11, 2025

NASA and SpaceX have agreed to switch Crew Dragon capsules to avoid further delays in the launch of a new crew to the International Space Station.

NASA announced Feb. 11 that it would use the Crew Dragon spacecraft Endurance for the upcoming Crew-10 mission to the ISS rather than a new Crew Dragon spacecraft as originally planned. Endurance, previously used for the Crew-3, -5 and -7 missions, had been slated to fly the Ax-4 private astronaut mission to the ISS for Axiom Space.

Delays in completing the new Crew Dragon spacecraft led NASA to make the switch. "Human spaceflight is full of unexpected challenges," Steve Stich, NASA commercial crew program manager, said in a statement. "We greatly benefit from SpaceX's commercial efforts and their proactive approach in having another spacecraft ready for us to assess and use in support of Crew-10." Read More

Other News From the Week

CIVIL

DOGE to examine NASA payments

NASA's acting administrator says the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) organization will be examining payments at the agency but that safeguards are in place to prevent any conflicts of interest involving Elon Musk. Read More

Space Development Agency seeks industry input on integrating satellite network into 'Iron Dome'

The agency published a call to industry Feb. 11, seeking perspectives on integrating its Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) into a broader missile defense system dubbed "Iron Dome for America." This initiative, established by presidential executive order, aims to create a comprehensive shield against sophisticated threats including hypersonic and ballistic missiles. Read More

House Science Committee asks GAO to review FAA commercial launch licensing process

Reps. Brian Babin (R-Texas) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), chair and ranking member, respectively, of the House Science Committee, sent a letter to the GAO Feb. 12 formally requesting the agency to review regulations known as Part 450 intended to streamline the process for obtaining launch and reentry licenses. Read More

COMMERCIAL

Blue Origin to lay off 10% of its workforce

The layoffs and their scope, over 1,000 employees, took many by surprise. They come less than a month after the company successfully launched its New Glenn rocket on its inaugural flight. The company was gearing up production of that rocket while also performing New Shepard suborbital flights and working on other projects, including the Blue Moon lunar lander and Blue Ring orbital transfer vehicle. Read More

Boeing warns SLS employees of potential layoffs

Boeing SLS employees were informed Feb. 7 that the company was making preparations to cut up to 400 jobs from the program because of "revisions to the Artemis program and cost expectations." The specific positions being considered for elimination were not announced but would account for a significant fraction of the overall SLS workforce at the company. Read More

MDA Space to build satellites for Globalstar's Apple-backed next-gen constellation

MDA Space announced Feb. 10 it is building more than 50 satellites for Globalstar's Apple-backed next-generation low Earth orbit (LEO) constellation under a 1.1 billion Canadian dollar ($768 million) contract. The Canadian manufacturer said the constellation will be based on its new reprogrammable Aurora platform, which recently passed a preliminary design review for anchor customer Telesat's Lightspeed network. Read More

Spire Global sues Kpler to complete maritime business sale

OPINION

Hubble, bubble, toil, and trouble: stirring up an arms race in space

By Victoria Samson and Jessica West, Feb. 11, 2025

Like a cursed spell, space-based missile defense keeps getting resurrected — no matter how many times it's been banished.

President Trump's Executive Order, The Iron Dome for America, released Jan. 27, 2025, orders the Department of Defense to develop and deploy a "next-generation missile defense shield" — a system that would include space-based interceptors (SBI) to defend against ballistic missiles in their boost phase. Space-based missile defense was a key part of President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative and has resurfaced intermittently ever since.

Once again, the United States is dreaming that it can shield itself from nuclear-armed missiles with an impenetrable defense. But it didn't work then, and it won't work now—and pretending otherwise will only fuel an arms race, weaken strategic stability, and divert resources from more effective defenses. , Instead, the U.S. is likely to end up with little real protection — while facing a wave of new threats. Unless this idea is dispelled once and for all, we will be doomed to repeat this dangerous cycle—at great cost and even greater risk. Read More

The power dilemma: Energy access could make or break the space economy this year

By Kevin Hell

Increasing the efficiency of the U.S. national security space program

By Marc J. Berkowitz

GPS civil signals are vital for America's national security

By Lisa Dyer

The merger between satellite and cellular industries: not (yet) a marriage made in heaven?
By Enrico Ottolini

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