Astronomy Prints 🌌: February 2026

Monday, February 23, 2026

Space Minds: Creating new demand in the nascent orbital economy

02/23/2026

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In this episode of Space Minds, David Ariosto interviews Matt Kuta, president and co-founder of Voyager Technologies about how the company is pursuing a commercialized future in low Earth orbit. They discuss the possibilities of working with research and industry partners in a commercial space station, Voyager's rapidly growing military and missile defense division and how to responsibly deploy AI in space systems from weather mapping to future conflicts between two forces of robotic agents.

Creating new demand in the nascent orbital economy

FROM THE CONVERSATION

David Ariosto: It seems like there's this public awareness that's changing now in the sense that this is no longer sci-fi, this is no longer the purview of purely federal governments ... I'm wondering, when you start looking at the key drivers of how to make this viable, how to make this profitable. ...I'm wondering if you can pick apart more of that model.

Matt Kuta: We have been generating revenue and profit in LEO for over a decade, when you account for the heritage of Nanoracks and some of the other assets we've acquired. What's less known is how do you do that beyond just building a piece of hardware, charging a single margin for a singular thing and delivering it to the customer, but actually having more of a very frequently recurring business model.

Watch the full episode here

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NASA skips the March window for Artemis 2

02/23/2026

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Top Stories

NASA will roll back Artemis 2 to fix a problem with the Space Launch System upper stage, preventing a launch in March. NASA announced Saturday that technicians found a problem with the helium pressurization system in the upper stage that could not be fixed at the pad. The agency said Sunday it planned to roll back the rocket to the Vehicle Assembly Building as soon as Tuesday to make those repairs. That will rule out a launch in a window of March 6-11 but preserves the option to launch in early April, depending on how long the work takes. The announcement came just 24 hours after agency officials said at a briefing Friday that they were working toward a launch as soon as March 6 after a successful wet dress rehearsal last week. [SpaceNews]

Rocket Lab's plans to acquire Mynaric, a German manufacturer of optical communications terminals, is facing new competition. Rheinmetall, Germany's largest defense contractor, is weighing a potential acquisition of Mynaric, according to German media reports, citing a desire to keep critical aerospace and laser communications technology under German and European control. Rocket Lab announced nearly a year ago it planned to acquire Mynaric for roughly $150 million, subject to approval by German authorities under foreign direct investment rules, but has yet to secure approvals from German regulators. Mynaric develops optical terminals that transmit data between satellites using laser links, a technology viewed as essential for next-generation defense and commercial constellations. [SpaceNews]

An Israeli space startup says it has found a way to extract high-resolution imagery from very small satellites. Remondo plans to launch its first mission in 2027 to demonstrate what it calls a partial aperture imaging system, or PAIS. The technology is designed to allow satellites as small as 12U to 16U cubesats to collect imagery at resolutions sharper than 30 centimeters. Remondo intends to build its own constellation and offer imagery as a service. At the same time, it plans to sell the hardware directly to national governments seeking sovereign control over tasking and data. [SpaceNews]

Tory Bruno said he joined Blue Origin to be able to work on "urgent" national security projects. Bruno, the longtime CEO of United Launch Alliance, left that company in December to join Blue Origin as president of its new National Security Group. In a webinar last week, Bruno said he felt ULA was in a good place with the Vulcan rocket now in service, allowing him to "go back and do these other things I've been worrying about almost the entire time I was there," such as missile defense and dynamic space operations. Bruno said his portfolio at Blue Origin includes Blue Ring, a highly maneuverable spacecraft bus suitable for dynamic space operations. [SpaceNews]

Other News

SpaceX conducted two Starlink launches on Saturday. One Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 4:04 a.m. Eastern, placing 25 Starlink satellites into orbit. A second Falcon 9 launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 10:47 p.m. Eastern, putting 29 Starlink satellites into orbit. The Florida launch involved the 33rd flight of that Falcon 9 booster, a new reuse record for the company. [Space.com]

Aalto plans to operate high-altitude "pseudo-satellites" from Australia to provide services over Japan. Flying the Zephyr drone from Australia would cut the transit time to Japan by two-thirds from the 14 to 15 days from the company's original base in Kenya. Zephyr, designed to stay aloft for 90 days, will provide 4G and 5G coverage in Japan as well as restore communications after natural disasters wipe out terrestrial networks. The company believes the Zephyr drones can provide better service than satellites with direct-to-device capabilities. Aalto added that operating from Australia will allow it to better serve Indonesia and the Philippines, which have also shown an interest in those services. [SpaceNews]

The Texas Space Commission has completed dispersing $150 million in funding to companies and organizations. The commission awarded the remaining $14.1 million in its Space Exploration and Aeronautics Research Fund last week to Rice University to support the creation of a Center for Space Technologies at the Rice Space Institute. The Texas Legislature appropriated $150 million in 2023 for the fund, administered by the commission. There were 280 applications worth a combined $3.4 billion for the funding, which ultimately went to 24 projects in the state. The commission is is now planning a second round of applications for $300 million allocated by the legislature to the fund last year. [SpaceNews]

The White House's pick to lead the National Science Foundation has raised some concerns in the science community. The administration plans to nominate Jim O'Neill, a venture capitalist who most recently was acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to be director of NSF. Astronomers and other scientists, including members of the National Science Board, said they were surprised by those plans, noting O'Neill lacks an advanced science degree or any experience managing research programs. They are concerned he will shift the NSF away from its support of basic research to applied, near-term initiatives, like artificial intelligence and quantum computing. [Science]

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The Week Ahead

Monday-Wednesday:

London: The DGI 2026 conference covers geospatial intelligence topics for defense and security applications.
Aurora, Colo.: The Air and Space Forces Association holds its annual Warfare Symposium with sessions about the Space Force and military space activities.

Tuesday:

Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying Starlink satellites at 9 a.m. Eastern.
Wallops Island, Va.: Scheduled launch of a Rocket Lab HASTE suborbital rocket carrying a hypersonics research payload at 3 p.m. Eastern.
Online: The Connect Everyone Coalition hosts a webinar titled "Connecting Americans to the Benefits Of Space Innovation" at 3 p.m. Eastern.
Cape Canaveral, Fla.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying Starlink satellites at 3:56 p.m. Eastern.

Tuesday-Wednesday:

Washington: The Beyond Earth Symposium includes sessions on space exploration, policy and commercialization.

Wednesday-Thursday:

Houston: AIAA's ASCENDxTexas conference covers civil and commercial space topics with a special focus on the Texas space industry.
Long Beach, Calif.: The Space Beach Law Lab conference discusses legal and regulatory issues for space companies.

Thursday:

Luxembourg: The GOVSATCOM conference covers government satellite communications topics in Europe.
Online: Redwire holds an earnings call about its fourth quarter and full year 2025 financial results at 9 a.m. Eastern.
Online: Rocket Lab holds an earnings call about its fourth quarter and full year 2025 financial results at 5 p.m. Eastern.

Friday:

Tokyo/Online: The Japanese Cabinet Office's Space Development Strategy Promotion Secretariat holds the 11th National Space Policy Secretariat Symposium on Ensuring the Safe and Sustainable Use of Outer Space.
Cape Canaveral, Fla.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying Starlink satellites at 4:52 a.m. Eastern.
Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.: Rescheduled launch of a Firefly Aerospace Alpha rocket on its return-to-flight mission.

Saturday:

Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying Starlink satellites at 3 a.m. Eastern.

Sunday:

Cape Canaveral, Fla.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying Starlink satellites at 7:07 p.m. Eastern.