By Jeff Foust
In today's edition: Isaacman attends Soyuz ISS launch, a surge of investment in satellite companies, debris hazards in the GEO belt and more.
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Top Stories
Trump administration nominees for two influential U.S. national security space posts endorsed closer coordination between the Space Force and intelligence agencies as well as acquisition improvements. Erich Hernandez-Baquero, nominated to become the Air Force's top civilian space acquisition official, and Roger Mason, the president's choice to lead the National Reconnaissance Office, appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. The two nominees received only limited questions in the hearing as senators focused on other nominees, but Mason said the roles of the NRO and Space Force remained clear as the military shifts airborne and ground moving-target surveillance missions toward satellite-based systems. Hernandez-Baquero said his priorities would be acquisition reform, integration across missions and rebuilding the acquisition workforce, while calling for greater use of commercial technology and new business models. [SpaceNews]
A new crew traveled to the International Space Station on a Soyuz launch Tuesday attended by NASA's administrator. The Soyuz-2.1a rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 10:47 a.m. Eastern, placing the Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft into orbit. The spacecraft docked with the ISS three hours later, delivering Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina and NASA astronaut Anil Menon. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman attended the launch, the first agency administrator to be at a Soyuz ISS launch since 2018. He did not disclose any meetings he had with Russian officials, but the head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Bakanov, said he met with Isaacman and confirmed that Russia would continue ISS operations through the station's scheduled retirement in 2030. He added that NASA and Roscosmos also agreed to continue exchanging seats on Soyuz and commercial crew flights. [SpaceNews]
The Japanese government wants to sharply increase launches. At the Spacetide conference last week, officials said the government's space policy has a goal of hosting 30 launches per year by the early 2030s. Japan has conducted just two launches so far this year, including the failed launch of the Kairos small rocket. Space One, which operates Kairos, said the company was working on the next Kairos launch despite the failures of all three launches of that rocket to date. Reaching a goal of 30 launches per year could require Japan hosting launches of foreign vehicles. [SpaceNews]
Investment in satellite companies so far in 2026 has broken annual records. Investment in satellite companies reached $8.1 billion in the first half of 2026, according to a study by Space Capital, led by Iceye's $1.2 billion Series F round in June. That is more than the investment in satellite companies in any single year. Those companies that the report classifies as infrastructure - defined as the design, manufacture, launch and operation of space-based assets - collectively raised $20.7 billion, which is a quarterly record. That figure included a $12 billion investment in Prometheus, an industrial artificial intelligence venture backed by Jeff Bezos that Space Capital argues is space-adjacent since it will support the design and development of launch vehicles and space assets. Lines among industry sectors are blurring, Space Capital argues, and it expects standalone launch companies to atrophy over time as more follow moves such as Rocket Lab's planned acquisition of Iridium. [SpaceNews]
Space robotics startup Icarus Robotics has selected Kulr to provide batteries for a payload going to the ISS. Under the agreement announced Wednesday, KULR One Space (K1S) battery systems will power Icarus's Joy as it navigates, maneuvers and assists astronauts on the Joyride-1 mission scheduled for early 2027. KULR batteries, designed to comply with NASA crewed vehicle safety requirements, obtained flight heritage in a cubesat flown aboard NASA's Artemis 2 lunar mission. [SpaceNews]
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Other News
A new study has found evidence of hazardous debris in the GEO belt. The study used images taken by a large astronomical telescope to survey regions of the GEO belt, running those images through new processing techniques to find 25 small debris objects that missed earlier detection. The results suggest the amount of small debris, five centimeters across or smaller, may be much higher than previously thought, making it a threat to satellites there. [Space.com]
Discount airline Frontier is the latest to adopt SpaceX's Starlink for in-flight wifi. The airline, which does not currently offer wifi on its aircraft, said Tuesday it will start outfitting its planes with Starlink early next year. The airline has private equity firm Indigo Partners as an investor, and four other airlines Indigo owns stakes in across Asia, Europe and Latin America also announced they would adopt Starlink for in-flight wifi. [CNBC]
The airline deal didn't help SpaceX's stock, which is sinking near its IPO price. Shares in the company fell 2.2% Tuesday to close just above $136 a share, a little more than a dollar above its IPO price of $135. The shares soared in its debut just over a month ago, reaching more than $200 per share, but have since gradually fallen. Despite the decline, more than 80% of Wall Street analysts who are covering SpaceX give the company a "buy" rating and expect shares to rise significantly in the months ahead. [Bloomberg]
The Space Force is offering big bonuses for guardians willing to enlist for an extended tour of duty. The service announced this week its Initial Enlisted Bonus Pilot program, which will provide a $25,000 bonus to enlistees who commit to serving for eight years. Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force John Bentivegna said the longer contracts reflect the additional training needed for guardians to serve in highly technical fields. The Space Force had previously used four- and six-year enlistment terms. [Military Times]
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