| By Jeff Foust
In today's edition: L3Harris sells a controlling stake in its space propulsion business to AE Industrial Partners, Landspace prepares for a billion-dollar IPO, another record year for launches and more.
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| | | | | | Top Stories
Private equity firm AE Industrial Partners is buying a controlling stake in the space power and propulsion business of L3Harris. The companies announced a deal Monday where AE Industrial Partners will take a 60% stake in the business, with a total enterprise value of $845 million. The deal includes the RL10 upper stage engine, in-space propulsion systems and work on nuclear power and propulsion, but does not include the RS-25 engine used on the Space Launch System. AE Industrial Partners plans to rebrand the business as Rocketdyne, reviving that decades-old name after L3Harris acquired Aerojet Rocketdyne in 2023. L3Harris said the deal will allow it to focus on defense priorities, including work on missile defense systems. The deal is expected to close in the second half of the year, pending regulatory approvals. [SpaceNews]
Chinese launch startup Landspace is moving forward with an IPO that could raise $1 billion for the company. Landspace, which recently made China's first-ever attempt at recovering an orbital booster, is seeking to raise around $1 billion (7.5 billion yuan), according to its prospectus, to support its drive to develop and scale reusable launch services. Its IPO application was accepted by the Shanghai Stock Exchange last week. The firm's acceptance onto the tech-focused STAR Market follows an announcement last month that Chinese regulators had eased the rules for eligibility of commercial rocket firms. [SpaceNews]
SpaceX plans to lower the orbits of some of its Starlink satellites in a move the company says will improve space safety. SpaceX said last week that it will move about 4,400 satellites in orbits at about 550 kilometers down to 480 kilometers over the course of 2026. The lower altitude, the company said, would improve space safety by ensuring that any Starlink satellite unable to actively deorbit at the end of its life will naturally decay in a few months, rather than up to several years. The lower orbits, the company added, would also be less congested. Operating in lower orbits could improve the performance of the satellites themselves by reducing latency. The move comes after one Starlink satellite suffered an in-orbit anomaly last month, creating debris but remaining largely intact. That satellite is expected to deorbit in a matter of weeks. [SpaceNews]
The U.S. Space Force is moving to modernize the computer networks that underpin its operations with a new contract. Defense contractor CACI International announced last Wednesday it was awarded a five-year task order valued at up to $212 million to upgrade network infrastructure at U.S. Space Force bases. The award was made under the Base Infrastructure Modernization, or BIM, contract, a 10-year, $12.5 billion contract vehicle focused on upgrading base network infrastructure across Air Force and Space Force installations worldwide. [SpaceNews]
A Spanish communications satellite launched in October has suffered a "space particle" impact. Indra Group said Friday that the SpainSat Ng 2 satellite "suffered the impact of a space particle" while moving to its final geostationary orbit. The company did not disclose additional details about the incident other than it occurred when the spacecraft was at an altitude of 50,000 kilometers. The Airbus-built spacecraft launched into a supersynchronous transfer orbit in October and was maneuvering to GEO when it happened. The altitude suggests the spacecraft was not hit by orbital debris but instead may have been hit by a micrometeoroid or energetic particles from space weather activity. Indra said it was working to determine the extent of the damage and whether the spacecraft could be recovered. [SpaceNews]
Eartheye Space won a contract to provide satellite imagery for an undisclosed Asia-Pacific customer. The deal, terms of which the company did not release, covers imagery from hundreds of satellites at resolutions as sharp as 15 centimeters. Eartheye Space does not operate its own satellites but instead works with partners to provide tasking of Earth observation satellites. The company recently announced plans to offer self-service tasking of satellites looking into space in addition to sensors focused on Earth. [SpaceNews]
| | | | | | Other News
The first orbital launch of 2026 was a Falcon 9 flight of an Italian radar imaging satellite. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 9:09 p.m. Eastern time Friday, placing the COSMO-SkyMed CSG-FM3 satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit. The spacecraft is the third in the second generation of the COSMO-SkyMed program, providing radar imagery for the Italian space agency ASI and the Italian Ministry of Defense. The spacecraft features a new antenna to enable observations of multiple areas in a single pass as well as a laser retroreflector array to improve the accuracy of georeferencing that imagery. [SpaceNews]
Another Falcon 9 launched more Starlink satellites early Sunday. The rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 1:48 a.m. Eastern, placing 29 Starlink satellites into orbit. The launch was planned for last month but delayed, reportedly to investigate the in-orbit anomaly involving one Starlink satellite that created hundreds of small pieces of debris. [Spaceflight Now]
SpaceX and China continued to drive the surge in launches in 2025. There were 324 orbital launch attempts worldwide in 2025, a 25% increase from 2024, the previous record. SpaceX alone accounted for more than half, with 165 Falcon 9 launches, while the U.S. and China overall represented 88% of global launches. The surge in Falcon 9 launches, as well as the growth of China's launch industry, has caused the number of launches worldwide to triple since 2020. However, a SpaceX executive said last year that the company was approaching the peak of Falcon 9 launches, suggesting continued growth in launch will have to come from other vehicles, including SpaceX's Starship. [SpaceNews]
NASA has closed its largest library, with some of its holdings reportedly in danger of being thrown out. The library at the Goddard Space Flight Center closed on Friday as part of a broader consolidation of agency libraries. The books and journals in the library will be reviewed in the next 60 days, with some transferred to other libraries but others potentially disposed. In a social media statement Friday, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman pushed back against some of the criticism about the closure, noting it was part of a process that started in 2022 and that "at no point is NASA 'tossing out' important scientific or historical materials." [New York Times | X @NASAAdmin]
A long-running leak on the Russian segment of the International Space Station appears to have stopped. The leak, in a vestibule of the Zvezda service module known as PrK, was first detected in 2019 and continued at a low level for years. NASA said last week that pressure in PrK has stabilized after recent efforts by Russian cosmonauts to inspect and seal small cracks seen there. NASA had raised concerns about the leak in the last year or so as the leak rate appeared to increase, posing a risk of a catastrophic failure that could force the permanent closure of PrK, preventing use of a Progress docking port. [Ars Technica]
NASA Chief of Staff Brian Hughes has left the agency. Hughes announced on social media that he departed NASA at the end of 2025 to pursue work in the private sector. Hughes, who worked on the Trump campaign and transition team, came to NASA in May after working for then-National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. NASA has not announced a new chief of staff to replace Hughes. [Florida Politics]
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Monday-Thursday: Tuesday-Thursday: Thursday: -
International Space Station: Scheduled spacewalk by NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke to prepare for the future installation of new solar arrays. -
Cape Canaveral, Fla.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying Starlink satellites at 1:29 p.m. Eastern. -
Washington/Online: The Atlantic Council hosts "Cosmic coordination: Space diplomacy in an era of strategic competition" at 3 p.m. Eastern. Saturday: Sunday: -
Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying a set of Kepler Communications satellites and additional payloads at 8:09 a.m. Eastern. -
Sriharikota, India: Scheduled launch of a PSLV carrying the EOS-N1 imaging satellite and secondary payloads at 11:47 p.m. Eastern.
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