| Welcome to our roundup of top SpaceNews stories, delivered every Friday! This week, Lockheed Martin may offer Orion to commercial customers, industry officials warned against cuts to the ISS and more.
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| | | | | OUR TOP STORY
| | By Jeff Foust Lockheed Martin is examining options to offer the Orion spacecraft through commercial services, which could enable non-NASA uses of the crewed exploration spacecraft.
Kirk Shireman, the Lockheed Martin vice president who is program manager for Orion at the company, said during a session of the AIAA ASCEND conference July 23 that the company is looking at ways to offer Orion to NASA and others as a commercial service, a move prompted by the administration's fiscal year 2026 budget request for NASA.
| | | | | | | POLICY & POLITICS
| | Industry officials issued a stark warning that proposed NASA budget cuts to the International Space Station could jeopardize both the operation of the station and the transition to commercial space stations.
House appropriators want NASA to examine alternatives to a new upper stage for the Space Launch System despite an uncertain long-term future for the vehicle. A report accompanying the commerce, justice and science spending bill includes language calling on NASA to consider alternatives to the Exploration Upper Stage, a more powerful upper stage that NASA plans to introduce with the Block 1B version of the SLS on Artemis 4.
| | MILITARY
| | Just days after being confirmed by the Senate as Golden Dome program manager, Gen. Michael Guetlein said his top priority is to craft a concrete architectural blueprint for the integrated defense shield, saying that he's been given a 60-day deadline to do so.
Spire Global, a publicly-traded satellite data company, announced the launch of new artificial intelligence-enhanced radio frequency intelligence products targeting the defense and security sectors, including tools designed to process unencrypted, publicly broadcast voice transmissions in near real time, producing transcriptions, translations and summaries.
| | | | | | | COMMERCIAL
| | Innovative Rocket Technologies (iRocket) has agreed to merge with BPGC Acquisition Corp., a shell company backed by former U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross that has faced challenges landing a deal since going public, to help fund development of its reusable launch vehicle.
York Space Systems announced July 18 that its parent company is acquiring Atlas Space Operations, a move aimed at bolstering the vertically integrated capabilities of the satellite manufacturer and giving it direct access to a global communications ground network.
| | | |  | | | | Employer: European Space Agency Location: Noordwijk, South Holland, Netherlands/Hybrid Type: Full time In the framework of the ESA matrix organisation comprising programme directorates and support directorates, and under delegation from the Director General, you will be responsible for the definition, planning and execution of the Agency's Navigation programmes … READ MORE
Employer: European Space Agency Location: Darmstadt, Hesse, GermanyHybrid Type: Full time In the framework of the ESA matrix organisation comprising programme directorates and support directorates, and under delegation from the Director General, you will be responsible for both a programme component and a support component … READ MORE | | Jobs. Talent. Connection. Apply for these positions, see other available jobs, and upload your resume to get noticed by top space companies for FREE. Take your career to new heights! Visit the SpaceNews Job Exchange. | | | | | OPINION
| | By Brent Page As Vice President of the Western Region for the Space Force Association (SFA), I'm calling for urgent investment in policies and partnerships that will enable Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) to increase its launch cadence.
Vandenberg is the United States' critical gateway to polar and sun-synchronous orbits, supporting everything from national security reconnaissance to commercial Earth observation. But as demand for these missions grows, our launch infrastructure on the West Coast must evolve.
| | By Kylee Swenson Gordon
By Rick Tumlinson
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| | | | | | | FROM SPACENEWS |  | | Fact or fiction on the future of the space economy: Drawing from their new book Space to Grow, authors Matthew Weinzierl (Harvard Business School) and Brendan Rosseau (Blue Origin) discuss how market dynamics, shifting public-sector priorities, and defense investments are driving a new era of space activity. Whether you're a policymaker, investor, operator, or observer, this Space Minds episode captures the critical questions facing the future of space enterprise. | | | | Sign up for our other newsletters -
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