Astronomy Prints 🌌: Editor's Choice: Bezos' big month in space

12/03/2025

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By Mike Gruss

November was a big month for Jeff Bezos' space companies.

Yes, Blue Origin had a successful second flight of its New Glenn rocket. Perhaps more importantly, it landed the booster. As part of that success, the Space Force's acquisition arm, Space Systems Command, said it is continuing work to certify the rocket to launch national security satellites.

Here's what else happened:

✔ Amazon unveiled the final production version of Leo Ultra, the company's highest-performing enterprise terminal, one that looks to challenge SpaceX's in-service Starlink Performance Kit for download speeds.

✔ Project Kuiper shed its seven-year-old code name, emerging as Amazon Leo as the company nears the start of initial broadband services from low Earth orbit.

✔ Blue Origin said it has passed a key development milestone for its Blue Ring spacecraft, a maneuverable in-orbit transport vehicle designed for national security missions. Sandra Erwin covered more on this in this week's Military Space newsletter.

It's a lot. And sure, rockets always grab headlines, but going back to September when JetBlue picked what was then known as Project Kuiper for its LEO partner, Bezos' space businesses have taken a series of steps, or at least baby steps, forward. That progress has come in nearly every corner of space: the satellite communications sector, national security and launch.

I asked SpaceNews' Jason Rainbow for some help on what it all means. Specifically, how are people within the space industry thinking differently about Bezos' space companies from how they were say, a year ago?

"There's a growing sense that they're finally shifting from potential to tangible competitive pressure," Jason said.

"Amazon Leo still has a long road of satellite deployments ahead, relying heavily on rockets that haven't yet proven themselves at scale, but early performance has already helped it secure deals that might otherwise have gone to Starlink, OneWeb or legacy GEO players.

"On the launch side, Blue Origin's push toward more frequent missions and national security positioning comes as demand is only rising. Building a space company from scratch is brutal, even with Amazon-level resources, so the progress they're now showing carries a lot of weight. The ripple effects are also far-reaching. If all goes well, next year could see the LEO broadband market become a true two-player contest for the first time."

New Glenn's next flight is expected to come early next year.

SIGNIFICANT DIGIT

140

The number of payloads on the SpaceX's latest dedicated rideshare mission Nov. 28. The payloads ranged from European government spacecraft to a private astronomy satellite. The rideshare mission was on a Falcon 9 that lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The Nov. 27 launch of a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur's Site 31/6 damaged pad infrastructure that could keep it out of service for an extended time. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

WHAT'S THE DAMAGE?

On Nov. 27, Russia launched a Soyuz-2.1a rocket carrying the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome facility, known as Launch Pad 6 at Site 31 or Site 31/6. The launch was a success and the spacecraft arrived safely at the station a few hours later.

However, reports emerged afterward that the pad itself was damaged during the launch. A service platform in the base of the pad was apparently not properly secured and fell into the flame trench below, according to images from a Roscosmos video feed.

"The launch pad was inspected, as is done every time a rocket is launched. Damage to several launch pad components was identified," Roscosmos wrote in a translated statement for social media.

The statement did not elaborate on the nature of the damage, but Roscosmos claimed it could be quickly fixed. However, the damage has raised questions about the pad's ability to support upcoming missions to the station.

In other ISS news, NASA has selected Northrop Grumman to provide cargo delivery services to the International Space Station once a spacecraft designed to deorbit the station is installed.

Trending This Week

ESA budgets? Looking good. Member states of the European Space Agency are contributing more than 22 billion euros for the next three years, very close to its overall goal.

London-headquartered ACME Space has unveiled plans to begin hardware tests of its balloon-launched orbital manufacturing vehicle Hyperion next year and hopes to commence commercial operations in 2027.

It might take a minute but it's time to start thinking of Deloitte as a space company.

The number of orders for geostationary communications satellites this year is now up to six, matching the tally for all of 2024.

FROM SPACENEWS

Ever wanted to pick the brains of the reporters who power SpaceNews? Join us Friday, Dec. 5 at 12 PM ET for your chance to engage with our newsroom team during a subscriber-only live conversation. Chief content and strategy officer Mike Gruss will lead a discussion with senior staff writers Jeff Foust, Sandra Erwin and Jason Rainbow on their latest coverage and what's on the horizon as we look ahead to 2026. Subscribe now and submit your questions.

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