Astronomy Prints 🌌: Top stories: NASA's future in Earth science, confusion for the U.K. space industry

08/22/2025

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Welcome to our roundup of top SpaceNews stories, delivered every Friday! This week, confusion at the U.K. Space Agency, NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy talks about the agency's future with Earth science, SpaceX prepares for Starship launch 10 and more.

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A Long March 12 rocket lifts off from the Wenchang Commercial Launch Site in Hainan, China, on August 4, 2025 Credit: Ourspace

OUR TOP STORY

Duffy's comments seed doubts about the future of NASA Earth science

By Jeff Foust

Comments by NASA's acting administrator have created uncertainty about the future of Earth science programs at the space agency.

In an interview on the Fox Business network Aug. 14, NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy stated that the agency would move away from Earth science research in favor of exploration programs.

"All of the climate science and all of the other priorities that the last administration had at NASA, we're going to move aside," he said. "All of the science that we do is going to be directed towards exploration, which is the mission of NASA. That's why we have NASA, is to explore, not to do all of these Earth sciences."

Duffy did not elaborate on what his plans for Earth science programs at the agency were.

CIVIL

Industry wary of UK Space Agency shake-up

A day after the British government announced plans to fold the UK Space Agency into the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, industry leaders said the move could streamline Britain's space policy but also warned it risked undermining transparency and distracting from upcoming European talks about funding for space programs.

Smallsat missions proposed to study asteroid Apophis

TERP RAPTOR, short for Terrapin Engineered Rideshare Probe for Rapid-response Asteroid Apophis Profiling, Tracking, Observing, and Reconnaissance, would be a 12U cubesat that photographs the asteroid Apophis during the final moments of a head-on trajectory.

LAUNCH

Firefly signs agreement to study Alpha launches from Japan

Space Cotan, the Japanese company that operates Hokkaido Spaceport, said Aug. 18 it signed a memorandum of understanding with Firefly to explore the feasibility of Alpha rocket launches from the new spaceport.

New rocket plans continue to emerge to support China's growing space ambitions

China's state-owned and commercial rocket makers have plans for yet more new launch vehicles, despite an already competitive field and imminent test flights. China Rocket, nominally a commercial spin-off from CASC, announced Aug. 21 that a 5.0-meter-diameter rocket named the Long March 10B had been approved for development

SpaceX cleared for tenth Starship test flight

SpaceX will perform its tenth Starship/Super Heavy test flight Aug. 24 after completing an investigation into the failure of the previous mission and getting approval from the Federal Aviation Administration.

COMMERCIAL

Blue Origin offers Mars communications orbiter concept

Blue Origin is offering NASA a version of its Blue Ring spacecraft that it calls the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter to support Martian missions by linking spacecraft on or orbiting Mars with Earth.

SpinLaunch raises $30 million for work on Meridian Space constellation

SpinLaunch announced $30 million in new funding for the company to support its development of a broadband constellation, with money coming in from existing investors to supplement a $12 million strategic investment from Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace announced in April.

ULA making new efforts on Vulcan reusability

Tory Bruno, president and chief executive of ULA, said during a podcast episode published Aug. 19 that the company was working on a new initiative related to reuse of the Vulcan Centaur rocket beyond recovery of the engine section of the vehicle's first stage.

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