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The Space Force's top general says he is counting on continued bipartisan support amid a shift in control of Congress but warned of near-term budget issues. Gen. Douglas Schiess, chief of space operations, said lawmakers have supported the military's growing space requirements, even as questions remain about how much Congress will spend and which programs will receive funding. The administration requested $71 billion for the Space Force in fiscal year 2027, $12 billion of which would come through a reconciliation package whose future is in doubt. Schiess said that because the Space Force is funded through a continuing resolution (CR) that runs to Dec. 11, it cannot start new programs. The longer the CR remains in effect, he said, the harder it becomes to carry out the service's plans. [SpaceNews]
A new Congress could affect NASA's plans as well. With Democrats taking control of Congress, some observers note that new leadership could scrutinize agency budgets, schedules for Artemis and the agency's work with SpaceX. Others, though, note both space exploration and space science have strong, bipartisan public support, although there are budget uncertainties as a CR funding the agency is likely to be extended into next year. On Wednesday, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Science Committee, announced she will seek to become the chair of the committee in the next Congress. She said she would work to rebuild science programs across the federal government but did not explicitly discuss plans for NASA. [SpaceNews]
The Pentagon is backing a $150 million loan to LeoLabs to help that company expand its space-tracking radar network. The financing from the Office of Strategic Capital would be matched by private co-investment, resulting in a $300 million capital infusion if the transaction closes. The money would be used to increase production and deployment of LeoLabs' multi-mission phased-array radars, including its transportable Scout systems, and expand its global sensing infrastructure. [SpaceNews]
The ITU has limited the size of a constellation being developed by Open Cosmos after the company missed deployment deadlines. The company had Ka-band spectrum filings for up to 576 satellites, and planned to deploy a constellation of 192 satellites for broadband and narrowband services. The ITU agreed this week to extend the deadlines for one of the filings, covering 288 satellites, but reduced the number of satellites authorized to 52. It declined to extend a separate filing for another 288 satellites. Open Cosmos said the ruling still enables the company to press forward with deployment of its ConnectedCosmos constellation, but did not comment on how the filing cap would impact planned services. It said it has access to other spectrum filings that would allow it to expand the constellation to the 192 needed for global services. [SpaceNews]
Redwire won a $20 million contract from DARPA for another test of very low Earth orbit (VLEO) satellites. The new award will fund testing and experimentation involving a scaled-down version of Redwire's SabreSat spacecraft ahead of a full-scale mission intended to demonstrate an air-breathing electric propulsion system. The new contract adds a second flight mission to the program, bringing the value of two announced DARPA awards to $64 million. [SpaceNews]
A former NASA official is the new head of the Canadian Space Agency. The Canadian government announced late Wednesday it appointed Alex MacDonald as president of the agency. MacDonald worked for NASA for more than 15 years, including five as NASA's first chief economist, before leaving at the end of 2024. At a Canadian space conference earlier this year, MacDonald said NASA's plans to halt work on the lunar Gateway, for which Canada was to develop a robotic arm, provided an opportunity for Canada to pivot to lunar surface systems to support NASA's planned lunar base, which could open the door for Canadian astronauts to walk on the moon. [SpaceNews]
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