Plus: The Space Force's 15-year roadmap
By Jeff Foust
In today's edition: Space Force nears completion of a 15-year roadmap, Blue Origin announces New Glenn upgrades, Rocket Lab launches for a confidential customer on short notice and more.
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Top Stories
The Space Force is nearing completion of a 15-year strategic blueprint. Gen. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations, said at a CSIS event Thursday that the framework, known as the "objective force," is now in its final stages and expected to be approved early next year. The 15-year horizon is meant to go beyond fleet lists of satellites and launch vehicles but instead serve as a plan to build a force that can outpace adversaries and sustain space control. Saltzman said the Space Force, now almost six years old, needs to formally articulate long-term requirements to provide a "demand signal," especially to Congress and to companies investing in national security missions. [SpaceNews]
A week after the vehicle's second launch, Blue Origin outlined plans to upgrade its New Glenn rocket. The company said Thursday it will start implementing upgrades to the rocket starting with its next flight early next year. Those upgrades include increased thrust from its first- and second-stage engines as well as a reusable payload fairing and lower-cost tanks. The company did not disclose how the upgrades would improve the payload performance of New Glenn, currently listed as up to 45 metric tons to low Earth orbit. Blue Origin is also planning a larger version of New Glenn, called New Glenn 9x4, with additional engines and a larger payload fairing, capable of putting 70 metric tons into LEO. The company did not say when that version of the rocket would be ready. [SpaceNews]
Voyager Technologies is acquiring Estes Energetics, which makes solid rocket motors and energetic materials. Estes is the country's only producer of military grade black powder, a key ingredient used as an igniter in solid propellant systems. The acquisition continues Voyager's buying streak across propulsion, sensors and space infrastructure since the company went public this summer, as it works to position itself for future military programs, such as Golden Dome. [SpaceNews]
Starlab Space has secured funding from a financial firm. Janus Henderson Group, a London-based asset management company, said Thursday it was investing in the commercial space station company but did not disclose the size of its investment. Starlab Space, a joint venture that includes Voyager, Airbus, Mitsubishi and MDA Space among others, is working on the Starlab space station for use by NASA and other customers. A company executive said earlier this month that Starlab would soon go through a critical design review as part of development toward a planned 2029 launch. [SpaceNews]
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Other News
Rocket Lab launched a satellite for a confidential commercial customer Thursday with little advance public notice. An Electron rocket lifted off from New Zealand at 7:43 a.m. Eastern, with Rocket Lab declaring the launch a success one hour later. The rocket carried a single satellite for an undisclosed company, the third time this year Rocket Lab has launched a commercial payload without disclosing the customer. Rocket Lab announced plans for the launch less than five hours before liftoff. Rocket Lab has now performed 18 Electron launches this year, a record for the company. [SpaceNews]
A Starlink launch Thursday night was the 100th so far this year from Florida's Space Coast. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Kennedy Space Center at 10:38 p.m. Eastern, putting 29 Starlink satellites into orbit. The launch was the 100th this year from KSC and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, the first time there have been at least 100 orbital launches in a year from the area. SpaceX accounts for 93 of those 100, with United Launch Alliance performing five and Blue Origin two. [Orlando Sentinel]
UP Aerospace performed a suborbital launch this week from New Mexico's Spaceport America. The SpaceLoft-XL 18 rocket launched from the spaceport at 9 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday, carrying a payload from Los Alamos National Lab to a peak altitude of about 115 kilometers. This was the 23rd launch by UP Aerospace from Spaceport America over nearly two decades. [Spaceport America]
A Canadian spaceport under development hosted a sounding rocket launch Thursday. A rocket built by T-Minus Engineering, a Dutch company, lifted off from Spaceport Nova Scotia near Canso, Nova Scotia, at 10:54 a.m. Eastern. The rocket was intended to fly to an altitude of more than 100 kilometers but fell short by an unspecified amount. The spaceport considered the launch a success, though, testing procedures for future launches there. Maritime Launch Services, the company that is developing the spaceport, hopes to start hosting orbital launches there as soon as 2027. [The Globe and Mail]
U.S. military spacecraft may soon get designations like aircraft. A document developed by the Space Force outlines plans for "weapon system naming and designations" and involves a code of letters and numbers identifying the system's purpose and orbit. The system is patterned on that used for a century for military aircraft, such as the B-2 bomber and F-35 fighter. The designations would replace the current use of names and acronyms many find confusing. [Ars Technica]
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Neither Bored Nor Angry
| "I'm very delighted to be in this space of work. I had been working in the Ministry of Finance before and, if I talked to people in this area, they were either bored or angry. But, in the area of space, people are always very excited and, I must say, I love that."
| – Marcus Pleyer, state secretary in Germany's Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space, in a speech at Space Tech Expo Europe this week.
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