| By Jeff Foust
In today's edition: a second consecutive failure for the PSLV, SpaceX scores wins with the Space Force and FCC, China files plans for massive satellite megaconstellations and more.
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| | | | | | Top Stories
India's PSLV rocket failed in its return-to-flight mission late Sunday. The rocket lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center at 11:48 p.m. Eastern carrying a hyperspectral imaging satellite for the Indian government and 15 other payloads. The third stage of the rocket appeared to suffer a loss of attitude control near the end of its burn. The Indian space agency ISRO later confirmed that the vehicle and its payloads failed to reach orbit. The launch was the first for the PSLV since a failure in May 2025, also involving the rocket's third stage. ISRO did not disclose the cause of that failure or steps it took to resolve the problem. [SpaceNews]
SpaceX won $739 million in launch contracts from the U.S. Space Force for nine missions. The awards announced Friday are for five launches of the Space Development Agency's proliferated missile warning and tracking architecture, including Tranche 2 Tracking Layer satellites built by Lockheed Martin and L3Harris and Fire-control On Orbit-support-to-the-war Fighter (F2) satellites built by Millennium Space Systems. Four other launches are for National Reconnaissance Office missions. The launches will take place starting in the fourth quarter of this fiscal year and continuing into fiscal year 2028. The awards are part of the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 1 program and underscore SpaceX's growing dominance in the NSSL program. [SpaceNews]
The FCC give SpaceX approval to launch 7,500 more Starlink satellites. The FCC announced Friday it approved a second set of 7,500 satellites for the Starlink Gen2 constellation, a little more than three years after approving an initial 7,500 satellites. SpaceX applied for permission to launch nearly 30,000 satellites for the constellation, but the FCC said it would approve the system in waves rather than all at once. The new 7,500 satellites will operate in orbits between 340 and 485 kilometers. The order grants SpaceX a time-limited waiver from equivalent power flux density (EPFD) limits for the Gen2 system while the FCC continues a review of existing EPFD rules that SpaceX and other LEO satellite operators say are outdated. [SpaceNews]
China has filed plans to deploy nearly 200,000 satellites in new constellations. The filings recently made with the ITU are for two systems, CTC-1 and CTC-2, each featuring 96,714 satellites. Together, the pair represent one of the largest constellation filings ever, highlighting the growing competition over orbital and spectrum resources. China is already constructing its national Guowang and Shanghai-backed Qianfan (Thousand Sails) constellations, each planned to consist of more than 10,000 satellites. [SpaceNews]
Chinese launch startup Landspace has won contracts to launch satellites for the Guowang and Qianfan constellations. Documents filed as part of Landspace's prospectus for going public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange state that the company's Zhuque-3 reusable rocket had been selected as a supplier for the Guowang constellation and won a contract for a single launch of Qianfan satellites. So far only Long March rockets from the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) have been used to launch satellites for Guowang and Qianfan. While expected, the development is the clearest indication that China will utilize new launch vehicles being developed in the country's commercial space sector to help deploy the constellations. [SpaceNews]
NASA plans to roll out Artemis 2 to the pad this weekend. In a statement late Friday, NASA said the Space Launch System rocket will roll to the pad no earlier than Jan. 17 as preparations for Artemis 2 move into their final stages. Once at the pad, NASA will conduct a final series of tests, including a wet dress rehearsal scheduled for the end of January. NASA also disclosed launch periods for Artemis 2, with the first opportunities late in the evening Feb. 6, 7 and 8 and shortly after midnight Eastern Feb. 10 and 11. Additional launch periods are available in early March and early April. [SpaceNews]
| | | | | | Other News
SpaceX launched a trio of NASA astrophysics smallsats on a rideshare mission early Sunday. A Falcon 9 lifted off at 8:44 a.mm. Eastern Sunday from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on a rideshare mission dubbed "Twilight" by the company. The 40 spacecraft on the launch included Pandora, a NASA smallsat mission with a telescope to characterize exoplanet atmospheres. Also on board were two NASA cubesats, one to study solar storms on certain classes of stars that may have habitable exoplanets and another to monitor X-ray flares from active galaxies as well as gamma-ray bursts. The rideshare mission included communications, radio-frequency monitoring and radar imaging satellites from several companies. [SpaceNews]
The launch also included hosted payloads from a German wildfire-monitoring company. OroraTech flew four sensors as hosted payloads installed on satellites from Kepler Communications. The sensors will take advantage of optical data links on the Kepler satellites to enable data collected by the sensors to be delivered in minutes. OroraTech aims to have 100 thermal instruments in low Earth orbit by the end of 2027, forming a laser-linked, always-on network capable of delivering near-real-time thermal imaging of Earth. [SpaceNews]
SpaceX launched more Starlink satellites Friday. A Falcon 9 launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 4:41 p.m. Eastern, placing 29 Starlink satellites into orbit. The launch was the second this year from Florida after a record 109 orbital launches in 2025, all but eight of which were conducted by SpaceX. [Orlando Sentinel]
NASA's Crew-11 mission will make its early return from the International Space Station this week. NASA said Friday that the Crew Dragon spacecraft will undock from the station at about 5 p.m. Eastern Wednesday, splashing down off the California coast at 3:40 a.m. Eastern Thursday. NASA said last week it would bring back Crew-11 early because of a medical issue involving one of the four astronauts, emphasizing that the issue was not serious enough to require an immediate emergency evacuation. NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, one of the members of Crew-11, said in a social media post Sunday that the early return is "the right call, even if it's a bit bittersweet." [SpaceNews]
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth visited Rocket Lab on Friday. In a visit to the company's Long Beach, California, headquarters that was part of what the Pentagon calls its "Arsenal of Freedom" tour, Hegseth praised Rocket Lab as offering "the kind of rapid, scalable production the Pentagon wants to see more of." For a space industry audience, Hegseth's most pointed remarks focused on the role of space technology in future conflicts, including fielding "modern and more capable" constellations of American satellites, launched by American rockets. Hegseth is scheduled to visit SpaceX's Starbase facilities today as part of his Arsenal of Freedom tour. [SpaceNews]
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman says he is satisfied with the safety of the Orion heat shield for Artemis 2. Isaacman held a meeting Thursday lasting more than three hours where he invited two former astronauts, Charles Camarda and Danny Olivas, who both expressed skepticism about earlier NASA reviews that cleared the heat shield. NASA did not issue a statement about the meeting but allowed two journalists to attend it. Isaacman said after the meeting he had "full confidence" in Orion. One report about the briefing suggested that the concerns both Camarda and Olivas had about the heat shield had been addressed. However, Camarda said in a later social media post he continued to have doubts about the use of modeling tools he believed could not accurately predict cracking in the heat shield. [Ars Technica | LinkedIn]
| | | | | | | FROM SPACENEWS |  | | Join us in DC on Wednesday, Jan. 21: The U.S. Space Force of 2040 will operate in a far more contested, congested, and fast-moving domain than the Guardians of today — one where space control, speed and resiliency will define U.S. military advantage. The next installment in our series with Johns Hopkins University will examine what the Space Force must become to succeed against growing threats. SpaceNews' Sandra Erwin will sit down with Space Force Gen. Shawn Bratton following a panel discussion with leaders from Vantor, K2 Space and JHU APL. Register now. | | | | | | The Week Ahead
Monday: Monday-Tuesday: Monday-Friday: Tuesday: Tuesday-Wednesday: Wednesday: -
Online: ESA holds an industry event to discuss the outcome of the ministerial conference last November. -
Cape Canaveral, Fla.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying Starlink satellites at 1:01 p.m. Eastern. -
International Space Station: Scheduled undocking of the Crew-11 Crew Dragon spacecraft at 5 p.m. Eastern, with splashdown scheduled for 3:40 a.m. Eastern Thursday. Thursday: -
Xichang, China: Anticipated launch of a Long March 3B rocket with an unidentified payload at 11 a.m. Eastern. -
Chinese coastal waters: Projected launch of a Ceres 1S rocket with an undisclosed payload at 2:30 p.m. Eastern. Friday: -
Online: The National Academies' Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics holds a meeting at 2:15 p.m. Eastern. -
Jiuquan, China: Projected inaugural launch of a Ceres 2 rocket at 11:05 p.m. Eastern. -
Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.: Scheduled launch of the NROL-105 mission on a Falcon 9 at 11:18 p.m. Eastern. Saturday: -
Andøya, Norway: No-earlier-than launch of the second Spectrum rocket by Isar Aerospace. -
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.: Planned rollout of the Space Launch System rocket for the Artemis 2 mission to Launch Complex 39B. Sunday:
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