By Jeff Foust
In today's edition: Space Command is headed (back) to Huntsville, a Starlink launch doubleheader, companies test SDA laser links and more.
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Top Stories
President Trump announced Tuesday he is moving the headquarters of U.S. Space Command to Huntsville, Alabama. In an Oval Office event, Trump, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and other officials announced the command would move from Colorado Springs to Huntsville. The organization was temporarily headquartered in Colorado when it was established in 2019 and Trump announced at the end of his first term that Huntsville would become the permanent headquarters. The Biden administration reversed that decision in 2023, electing to keep the command permanently in Colorado on the grounds of maintaining operational readiness. It was widely anticipated, though, that once Trump returned to office he would move the headquarters back to Huntsville. The plan is projected to relocate about 1,600 military and civilian jobs from Colorado to Alabama, although many civilian employees currently in Colorado may choose not to move. [SpaceNews]
Colorado officials said they are investigating ways to block the move of Space Command's headquarters. The state's attorney general, Phil Weiser, said after the announcement that he had been preparing to take legal action if the president "made such an unlawful decision." It was not clear on what legal grounds the state would contest the move, although some Colorado officials cited comments made by Trump that he made the decision in part because Colorado uses mail-in voting. The state's entire congressional delegation issued a joint statement criticizing the decision, stating that they are "united in fighting" to reverse it. [Colorado Newsline]
Two companies have successfully demonstrated a laser communications link between an aircraft and a satellite. In a demonstration announced Tuesday, an optical terminal made by General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems mounted on a Twin Otter aircraft communicated with a Kepler Communications satellite in low Earth orbit. The test was designed to prove that optical terminals built to the Space Development Agency's Optical Communications Terminal standard could communicate across vendors. Laser links offer very high data rates but interoperability has been a longstanding challenge. [SpaceNews]
True Anomaly has hired a former York Space Systems executive as its chief operating officer. True Anomaly announced Tuesday that it hired Sarah Walter for the role as the company, which develops satellites for defense applications, prepares for a critical series of missions. Those missions include Victus Haze, a U.S. Space Force mission planned for later this year that aims to demonstrate rapid deployment of satellites in response to unexpected events or adversary actions in orbit. Walter was previously vice president of engineering at York. [SpaceNews]
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Other News
Israel launched a reconnaissance satellite Tuesday. A Shavit rocket lifted off from Palmachim Airbase at 3:30 p.m. Eastern and placed the Ofek-19 satellites into orbit. Israeli officials said the satellite, designed to take high-resolution optical imagery, was operating as expected after launch. The unannounced launch alarmed some local residents who thought it was part of a missile attack. [Globes]
SpaceX carried out two Starlink launches just about eight hours apart. One Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 11:51 p.m. Eastern Tuesday night, carrying 24 Starlink satellites. The launch was a rare flight of a new booster, designated B1097. A second Falcon 9 lifted off at 7:56 a.m. Eastern this morning from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station with 28 Starlink satellites on board. [Space.com | Spaceflight Now]
The first launch by Gilmour Space may not have gone according to plan, but its first satellite is working well. The Australian company said Wednesday that its ElaraSat MMS-1 satellite, launched on the SpaceX Transporter-14 rideshare mission in June, is working well in orbit, with controllers completing commissioning of the satellite bus. The 100-kilogram satellite is intended to demonstrate the capabilities of the spacecraft and carries a hyperspectral sensor from the Australian science agency CSIRO. The company performed the first launch of its Eris rocket in July, which malfunctioned seconds after liftoff. [Gilmour Space]
India and Japan have formally confirmed plans to collaborate on a lunar lander mission. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during a visit to Japan last week, announced that ISRO and JAXA will work together on the Chandrayaan-5 mission. That mission will launch on a Japanese H3 rocket in 2027 or 2028, using an Indian lander carrying a Japanese rover. The two agencies had been planning to work together on the mission, also known as Lunar Polar Exploration or LUPEX, for some time before Modi's announcement. [India TV]
Correction: An article cited yesterday about a new budget for the Korean space agency KASA used the wrong currency conversion rate. The agency's new budget is 1.11 trillion won, or about $800 million.
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Until AI Takes the Space Jobs, Too
| "In 2035, that graduating college student, if they still go to college at all, could very well be leaving on a mission to explore the solar system on a spaceship in some completely new, exciting, super well-paid, super interesting job."
| – Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, discussing future job opportunities in a recent interview amid concerns that AI is robbing current graduates of entry-level jobs. [Fortune]
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