Plus: NASA to continue supporting Starliner
Welcome to our roundup of top SpaceNews stories, delivered every Friday! This week, a new crew reached the ISS in record time, NASA decided to continue supporting Starliner, analysts weighed in on the latest Starship flight and more.
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OUR TOP STORY
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By Jeff Foust SpaceX launched a new crew to the International Space Station on Oct. 1 on a mission delayed by repairs to the Crew Dragon spacecraft.
The Crew-13 mission is commanded by NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins, with fellow NASA astronaut Luke Delaney as pilot. Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov are mission specialists. This is the second spaceflight for Watkins and the first spaceflight for the other three.
Dragon is making an unusually rapid approach to the International Space Station, with docking expected about eight hours after launch. That is the fastest transit time to the ISS for a Crew Dragon mission to date, which NASA and SpaceX officials said at a Sept. 30 briefing was due to the fortunate alignment of the station’s orbit rather than a deliberate effort to shorten the time needed to reach the station.
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FROM SPACENEWS |
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Where do space investors see the biggest opportunities? SpaceNews has mapped the ranks of private space firms valued at $1 billion or more, capturing 37 companies working in launch and satellite broadband, Earth observation, space stations, orbital data centers and other promising markets. Drawing on public disclosures, original reporting and other sources, each profile tracks when and how a company achieved unicorn status and its latest known valuation, alongside funding-round breakdowns and total capital raised from BryceTech’s Startup Space database. Download the report. |
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CIVIL
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NASA is supporting Boeing as it completes revisions to the company’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft, ensuring it is available for crewed missions after the expected retirement of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon.
Sweden’s Esrange Space Center is preparing for a busy period of launch activity as political scrutiny grows over efforts to establish an orbital launch capability at the site.
The Federal Communications Commission voted Sept. 30 to formally exclude the space activities it regulates from reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act, while also making more than 1,000 megahertz of spectrum available for the industry.
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MILITARY
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The U.S. Space Force has retired its Defense Support Program missile-warning constellation, ending more than five decades of operations for a satellite family that provided some of the Pentagon’s earliest space-based warning of missile attacks.
European governments are preparing to invest up to 24 billion euros ($27 billion) in SPACE, a joint military space project spanning satellite communications, surveillance and missile warning. The initiative is part of a broader EU effort to expand its defense capabilities in orbit.
Space Force Lt. Gen. David Miller Jr. is expected to be nominated to become the next commander of U.S. Space Command, a command spokesperson confirmed Sept. 30.
Congressional budget analysts have finally been briefed on the Pentagon’s classified Golden Dome architecture, six months after producing a $1.2 trillion estimate that has become a flashpoint in the debate over the missile-defense program. |
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LAUNCH
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Both SpaceX and outside analysts appear largely satisfied with the first orbital flight of Starship despite some technical issues during the mission.
Rocket Lab announced Sept. 30 its largest commercial contract for the Electron rocket, a 20-launch deal with longtime Japanese customer Synspective. The launches will take place between 2028 and 2031.
As Blue Origin continues to recover from a New Glenn pad explosion in May, the company is seeking permission to significantly increase the vehicle’s launch rate. |
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Latest Press Releases
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