Plus: Crew Dragon's long term future
By Jeff Foust
In today's edition: Hughes Network Services files for bankruptcy protection, Rocketdyne reemerges as a standalone company, Crew Dragon's unclear long-term future, and more.
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Top Stories
Hughes Network Services filed for bankruptcy protection Monday as its GEO connectivity business loses ground to Starlink. The company said its Chapter 11 filing will enable it to restructure debt as it refocuses on enterprise, government and defense customers following heavy losses in its legacy consumer internet market. The company had $1.5 billion in debt that came due Monday, prompting the bankruptcy filing. Hughes broadband subscribers have plummeted more than 20% over the past year to around 641,000 customers as users switched to alternatives such as Starlink. The company, though, said it has $1.5 billion in contracted enterprise backlog, alongside recent contract awards from commercial airlines and U.S. defense agencies. [SpaceNews]
Rocketdyne is once again a standalone company. AE Industrial said Tuesday that it now owns 60% of Rocketdyne, completing a deal announced in January to acquire a majority stake from L3Harris, which owns the other 40%. The new Rocketdyne includes the space propulsion, power and electronics units of L3Harris with 1,300 employees run by Kristin Houston, who led the businesses while they were part of L3Harris. Rocketdyne will concentrate on launch vehicle engines, spacecraft propulsion, space electronics and nuclear power systems, with products such as the RL10 engine used on the Atlas 5 and Vulcan upper stages. Missile propulsion, solid rocket motors and hypersonic technologies remain with L3Harris's Missile Solutions business, and L3Harris is also retaining the RS-25 engine used on the Space Launch System. [SpaceNews]
Xona Space Systems has secured FCC approval for spectrum needed for its low Earth orbit navigation satellite constellation. The FCC authorized Xona to transmit its Pulsar signals in the L-band portion of the radio spectrum used by the Global Positioning System and other satellite navigation networks. Pulsar won't transmit GPS signals or operate on the same channels but instead use adjacent spectrum and waveforms designed to avoid interfering with GPS, aviation systems and other services already operating in the closely regulated band. Xona has plans for a 258-satellite constellation to provide navigation services less susceptible to jamming than GPS signals broadcast from medium Earth orbit. The FCC authorization only covers the first 16 spacecraft, and the company must provide an updated orbital-debris assessment before launching the remainder. [SpaceNews]
While SpaceX's Crew Dragon has become a workhorse for NASA and commercial human spaceflight, its long-term future remains uncertain. The upcoming Crew-13 mission to the ISS, scheduled for launch next month, with be the 18th SpaceX crewed mission to the station. At a briefing Monday, SpaceX said there is a "significant" amount of life left in its fleet of five Crew Dragon spacecraft to support NASA and commercial missions to the ISS. However, the spacecraft's long-term future, including its availability for commercial stations that will succeed the station, is in question as SpaceX moves to shift to Starship. SpaceX declined to confirm if the company was continuing to sell Crew Dragon missions beyond those already under contract to NASA and others. [SpaceNews]
Spanish startup Kreios Space will fly a spacecraft in very low Earth orbit (VLEO) to test an air-breathing electric propulsion system. Kreios said Tuesday it signed an agreement with smallsat manufacturer Kongsberg NanoAvionics for a microsatellite bus for that mission, scheduled for 2027. The mission will test an electric thruster that uses the tenuous atmosphere in VLEO as propellant. A second mission is planned for 2028. [SpaceNews]
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Other News
The unintentional collision of a Falcon 9 upper stage with the moon is prompting SpaceX and others to study ways to avoid similar situations in the future. The upper stage, used for the January 2025 launch of two commercial lunar landers, will hit the moon at 2:35 a.m. Eastern Wednesday near the western limb. The impact itself may not be visible from the ground but the plume it creates may be seen in telescopes. SpaceX said Monday that "a mixture of solar activity and gravity forces" pushed the upper stage from its disposal orbit onto a lunar impact trajectory. The company said it is talking with NASA and others on the best disposal approaches for upper stages on similar missions in the future. [SpaceNews]
Satellite images have captured SpaceX's efforts to retrieve the Starship upper stage floating in the Indian Ocean after its latest test flight. Unlike previous flights, the Starship upper stage, designated Ship 40, remained intact after splashdown, floating in the ocean west of Australia. SpaceX said it would attempt to recover Ship 40 but has provided few updates on those efforts. Recent satellite images showed two vessels in the vicinity of Ship 40, working to tow the vessel to shore. [CNN]
Google has pulled back a tool that allowed for AI manipulation of satellite images after concerns they could be used to generate deepfakes. The update to Google Earth last week allowed people to manipulate satellite imagery in Google Earth with a simple prompt. Analysts warned that this could result in a flood of fake imagery, such as depictions of explosions and other catastrophes, with nothing in the product to prevent that. They warned it could also undermine trust in real satellite imagery. Google rolled back the AI tool after a day, saying it would work on "implementing stronger guardrails." [NPR]
NASA appears to be planning an air show at the Kennedy Space Center this fall. The agency announced Friday it would hold a briefing at KSC on Aug. 14 about an upcoming event at the center "showcasing American leadership in aviation, space exploration, and emerging technologies." NASA did not provide details about the event, but local officials said they have been told NASA is planning an air show at KSC and are starting preparations for aspects of it, like dealing with traffic. An updated schedule for the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds team includes appearances at KSC on Nov. 7 and 8. [Florida Today]
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New Life for an Old Watch
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"I'll be taking an old pocket watch, over 100 years old, because I need a watch to tell time."
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– Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk at a briefing Monday about the upcoming Crew-13 mission to the ISS when asked what personal items he would be taking to the station. The watch, he noted, is a family heirloom.
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