Plus: A new deputy director for the NRO
By Jeff Foust
In today's edition: Airbus and Aerospacelab win satellite orders, a new deputy director for the NRO, Portugal is the 60th Artemis Accords signatory and more.
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Top Stories
Eutelsat has ordered an additional 340 OneWeb replacement satellites from Airbus Defence and Space. The companies announced the order Monday, a little more than a year after Eutelsat ordered 100 OneWeb satellites from Airbus. Eutelsat did not disclose the value of the contract but had previously projected spending 2.2 billion euros ($2.6 billion) to update the OneWeb constellation. The satellites, set to be delivered starting late this year, will be used to replenish the existing OneWeb constellation as its first-generation satellites reach the end of their design lives in the next few years. The satellites feature some technology upgrades, such as digital payloads and onboard processing. Airbus will build the satellites on a new production line at a Toulouse, France factory. [SpaceNews]
Belgian satellite manufacturer Aerospacelab has won a contract to build eight spacecraft for California-based startup Xona Space Systems. The satellites will be part of Pulsar, a constellation Xona is developing to provide navigation services from low Earth orbit. The companies, in announcing the contract Tuesday, said that Aerospacelab will serve as Xona's transition manufacturing partner while Xona develops its own production capabilities in California. Aerospacelab previously built Xona's inaugural spacecraft, Pulsar-0, which launched in June 2025. Xona expects to launch four of the eight satellites later this year, with the remaining spacecraft projected to launch in 2027. [SpaceNews]
Satellite propulsion company Orbion has delivered thrusters for York Space Systems satellites. Orbion said it provided 33 of its Aurora Hall-effect electric propulsion systems, designed for small satellites, for York. Orbion did not specify the end customer for the satellites, but York's publicly disclosed production work is overwhelmingly tied to contracts with the Space Development Agency, making it likely the propulsion units support SDA missions. The announcement was the first time York has publicly identified Orbion as a propulsion supplier. [SpaceNews]
A longtime House staffer is the new principal deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office. The NRO said Monday that Bill Adkins had joined the NRO in that role, replacing Troy Meink, who became Secretary of the Air Force last year. The principal deputy director oversees the agency's day-to-day operations, including management of classified satellite programs, major acquisition efforts and partnerships with commercial space companies. Adkins served for years as a professional staff member on the defense subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, and earlier in his career worked on the House Science Committee. On the defense appropriations subcommittee, he focused on national security space, missile defense and advanced technology issues. [SpaceNews]
Portugal is the 60th country to sign the Artemis Accords. The Portuguese government announced the signing at an event Monday held during broader discussions with the U.S. government in Lisbon. The Accords outline best practices for responsible space exploration based on the Outer Space Treaty and other international agreements. Portugal became the 60th country to sign the Accords by jumping ahead of Latvia, which announced in October its intent to sign the document but has yet to do so. [SpaceNews]
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Other News
SpaceX launched more Starlink satellites Monday afternoon. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 4:08 p.m. Eastern, deploying 29 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. The launch is the fifth by SpaceX this year, including three of Starlink satellites. [Spaceflight Now]
SpaceX reportedly exposed some employees to toxic chemicals at a Starlink production site. The company converted an office space at a Redmond, Washington, facility into a lab for producing elements of Starshield satellites, a military version of Starlink. That work involved handling toxic chemicals, such as lead and solvents, but the converted workspace shared a ventilation system with a neighboring customer service office. Workers in that office started reporting ailments linked to exposure to those chemicals, and one suffered a miscarriage. After an investigation, a Washington state agency fined SpaceX $6,000 for violations of safety regulations, although the company is appealing. [InvestigateWest]
Japanese lunar lander company ispace is setting up a new business entity in Saudi Arabia. The company said it is creating ispace Saudi Arabia to take advantage of that country's interest in space exploration and planned investments by Saudi Arabia's Neo Space Group. An initial focus of the Saudi subsidiary will be on surface exploration technologies and operations, including in-situ resource utilization. Tokyo-based ispace currently has a European subsidiary based in Luxembourg and an American one in Colorado. [ispace]
A new Japanese astronaut has been assigned to an International Space Station mission. The Japanese space agency JAXA said last week that Suwa Makoto will go to the ISS on a mission some time next year, although no exact date has been set. He is one of two astronauts selected by JAXA in 2023 and who completed training in 2024. [NHK]
Two shuttle-era astronauts are joining the Astronaut Hall of Fame. The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation announced last week that Tom Akers and Joe Tanner will be the 112th and 113th members of the hall of fame. Each flew on four shuttle missions, with Akers performing four spacewalks on his flights, including the first three-person spacewalk in 1992 and the first servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope in 1993. Tanner performed seven spacewalks on his flights, including a Hubble servicing mission and two assembly missions for the ISS. The two will be formally inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame in a ceremony in May. [collectSPACE]
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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. | | |
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| First Order
| "Thank you, Mike. And I want to (issue) the first command: let's make a group hug!"
| – Russian cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov during a change-of-command ceremony on the ISS Monday as he took over command of the station from departing NASA astronaut Mike Fincke. [CBS]
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