Plus: Project Kuiper's first airline customer
Welcome to our roundup of top SpaceNews stories, delivered every Friday! This week, Trump directed Space Command to relocate to Alabama and moved to axe unions at NASA, Project Kuiper secured an airline customer and more.
If someone forwarded you this edition, sign up to receive it directly in your inbox every Friday.
|
|
|
|
OUR TOP STORY
| | By Sandra Erwin President Donald Trump on Sept. 2 announced the long-anticipated relocation of U.S. Space Command headquarters from Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Huntsville, Alabama, reversing a 2023 decision by President Biden to keep the command in Colorado.
The announcement came at a White House event with Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and several Alabama lawmakers, reflecting the strong political backing for the move both inside the administration and in the state set to host the command.
Trump, during the event, said his opposition to Colorado's use of mail-in voting played into his decision to shift the headquarters to Huntsville's Redstone Arsenal, a U.S. Army base. He also praised Huntsville's status as a hub of space activity, calling it central to the development of the Golden Dome missile defense shield, a next-generation system of space-based sensors and interceptors.
| | |
|
|
|
CIVIL
| | In an Aug. 28 executive order, the White House said it was adding several agencies to a list that are exempted from federal collective bargaining rights under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. NASA was among the agencies included, along with the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
During a Sept. 3 hearing by the Senate Commerce Committee about the perceived space race between the United States and China, former administrator Jim Bridenstine said NASA's choice of SpaceX's Starship puts the agency at risk of falling behind China in lunar exploration.
On Aug. 29, the agency released a draft Announcement for Partnership Proposals, or AFPP, for its Fission Surface Power initiative to gather industry input for the final version. The AFPP is designed to implement a policy directive signed July 31 by Acting Administrator Sean Duffy that calls for a reactor capable of producing at least 100 kilowatts of power that would be ready for launch by the end of 2029.
| MILITARY
| | More than 80 U.S. Space Force officers last week became the first to graduate from the service's new year-long officer training course, a program that immerses new leaders in space operations, cyber warfare and intelligence — skills now seen as essential as China and Russia develop sophisticated capabilities to challenge American dominance in space.
Telesat Government Solutions president Chuck Cynamon told SpaceNews that the company's Golden Dome strategy centers on selling the Pentagon satellite capacity in bulk that it can tap on demand — a "capacity pool model" designed to give the military access to significant bandwidth without the cost of procuring or leasing satellites, while providing more flexible surge communications capabilities. | | |
|
|
|
COMMERCIAL
| | Amazon's Project Kuiper has clinched its first airline deal, partnering with JetBlue to bring low Earth orbit connectivity to about 75 aircraft from 2027 in another blow to legacy geostationary players.
Madrid-based Orbital Paradigm announced the first test flight of its reusable reentry capsule, scheduled for later this year on an undisclosed launch. The capsule will carry payloads from French space infrastructure startup Alatyr, Leibniz University Hannover and a confidential customer.
Orienspace secured funding of between $27 million and $124 million ("hundreds of millions of yuan," or between 200 million and 900 million yuan), the Chinese language Taibo Network reported Aug. 5. The capital will be used mainly for the follow-up development and mass production of the Gravity-2 medium-lift liquid launch vehicle.
|
|
|
|
| |  | Latest Press Releases
| | |
|
|
|
FROM SPACENEWS |  | Do you know an individual, company or breakthrough that's making waves in the space industry? Nominations for the 2025 SpaceNews Icon Awards are open through Sept. 12. Share who you think deserves to be recognized for innovation, leadership and impact in space. Categories include Lifetime Achievement, Emerging Space Company, Innovative Technology and more —view the full list and submit your picks. |
|
|
|
Sign up for our other newsletters First Up: The latest civil, commercial and military space news, curated by veteran journalist Jeff Foust. Delivered Monday to Friday mornings. Military Space: Veteran defense journalist Sandra Erwin delivers news and insights for the military space professional. Delivered Tuesday. China Report: Analysis of China's space activities and what it means as one of the United States' top competitors from correspondent Andrew Jones. Delivered every other Wednesday. SpaceNext AI: Exploring the intersection of space and artificial intelligence. Delivered Thursday. Video & Audio: Upcoming live programs, scheduled guests, and recent Space Minds podcast episodes, webinars and other events. Delivered Friday. Marketing Minute: Covering PR, marketing, and advertising trends, upcoming SpaceNews opportunities, and editorial insights for communications and marketing leaders. Delivered monthly. |
|
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment