Why DARPA canceled its nuclear thermal propulsion project

Plus: New contract awards in NGA's Luno program

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READ THIS EMAIL IN YOUR BROWSER By Jeff Foust In this today's edition: NGA makes more commercial imagery awards, Open Cosmos acquires a Portuguese startup, DARPA explains why it's not so hot on nuclear thermal propulsion and more. SpaceNews is now offering digital subscriptions but First Up remains available to all readers. We appreciate your support. If someone forwarded you this edition, sign up to receive it directly in your inbox every weekday. Have thoughts or feedback? You can hit reply to let me know directly. Note: there will be no issue on Friday because of Independence Day. We will be back Monday. Top Stories The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has awarded more than $70 million in contracts to commercial satellite imagery and analytics firms. NGA said Wednesday the awards were part of its Luno program, a new initiative aimed at expanding the integration of artificial intelligence and commercial data into national security operations. Among the largest awards, BlackSky secured a $24.4 million Luno A contract for facility and object monitoring. Other companies receiving awards included Maxar Intelligence, Ursa Space Systems and Geospatial. [SpaceNews] Boeing has completed more O3b mPower satellites with fixes to their power systems that may no longer be needed. The ninth and tenth satellites for the SES next-generation medium Earth orbit constellation recently left manufacturing facilities in California and will launch later this summer on a Falcon 9 from Florida. Like the seventh and eighth satellites launched in December, the latest duo carries redesigned power modules to address electrical issues that hampered the first six O3b mPower spacecraft already in MEO. However, SES said earlier this year that severe solar storms last year helped clear a buildup of protons that had been triggering sporadic power module failures on the satellites. According to industry sources, the electric anomalies have not returned since the storms, although there is no guarantee the issue won't recur. [SpaceNews] DARPA said it canceled a nuclear thermal propulsion program because of changing technologies and requirements. DARPA had been working with NASA on the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) since early 2023, but NASA revealed in its budget request in May that DARPA had canceled the program. DARPA Deputy Director Rob McHenry said on a recent webinar that the agency concluded that decreasing launch costs reduced the efficiency gains that DRACO would have provided, while a recent study found that an alternative approach, nuclear electric propulsion, might be more effective. DARPA added that "infrastructure barriers" for testing DRACO also played a role in the cancellation decison. [SpaceNews] British smallsat maker Open Cosmos has acquired Connected, a Portuguese startup developing satellite connectivity technologies. Connected raised $2 million in pre-seed funding soon after being founded in 2023 with plans to use spare space on third-party satellites for a network connecting remote, off-the-grid Internet of Things (IoT) devices using 5G technologies. Connected was working on a new round when Open Cosmos approached them about an acquisition.  Connected will now be Open Cosmos' dedicated IoT connectivity unit, strengthening the British manufacturer's capabilities alongside its Earth observation and data services. [SpaceNews] Composite materials startup Atomic-6 won a Space Force agreement to advance its solar power array technology. The company said Wednesday it won a $2 million Tactical Funding Increase agreement to allow it to test and qualify its "Light Wing" solar array designed for energy-intensive operations in orbit. Of interest to the military is the solar array's "stow and redeploy" design which would allow satellites conducting close-proximity operations near other spacecraft to stow its arrays to reduce collision risk, then redeploy them once in a safer orbit. [SpaceNews] Other News Latitude is expanding its ability to produce a small launch vehicle. The French startup said Wednesday it reached a deal to convert a former AstaZeneca facility in the city of Reims into a factory for building its Zephyr rocket. Once fully built out, the new facility will be able to produce up to 50 rockets a year. Latitude is planning a first launch of Zephyr from French Guiana as soon as the third quarter of 2026 and recently announced several contracts and agreements with European customers. [SpaceNews] The first launch of an Australian rocket has slipped again. Gilmour Space said Wednesday that the first launch of its Eris rocket from a site in Queensland, previously planned for this week, has been pushed back to no earlier than July 16. The company didn't give a reason for the delay but said earlier this week it was watching weather conditions. The launch of Eris, a small launch vehicle, has suffered months of delays, including from an incident in May when a power surge triggered the rocket's payload fairing separation system while on the launch pad. [X @GilmourSpace] Exolaunch has signed an agreement with Orbex to use that company's small launch vehicle. Exolaunch, which arranges for launches of small satellites on a variety of vehicles, said this week it signed a five-year agreement with Orbex to use that company's Prime launch vehicle and its future Proxima medium-class launcher. Prime has also suffered a series of delays and Orbex said its first launch is now expected no earlier than next year. [Orbex] Astronomers have discovered an interstellar object passing through our solar system. The object, designated 3I/ATLAS, was discovered this week by the NASA-funded ATLAS telescope system in Hawaii. The object is on a hyperbolic trajectory passing through the solar system, and may be a comet from another solar system. The object is only the third from outside our solar system found to date, and first since 2019. [New York Times] The Colorado Rockies hope to get a boost from York Space Systems. The Denver-based satellite manufacturer has signed a deal with the Major League Baseball team, becoming the "jersey patch" sponsor. A patch with the York logo will be on the sleeves of Rockies' jerseys under the deal, which runs through 2030. York will be the "exclusive aerospace partner" of the Rockies with other sponsorship opportunities. York is the first space company to enter into a jersey sponsorship deal with any major professional sports team. The Rockies can use any help they can get: the team is currently on a pace for about 125 losses this season, a league record. [MLB.com] Where There's Smoke There's Rocket Fire "We thought we were listening to airplanes. We were like, 'Where are the airplanes?' but we saw smoke in the sky too. Didn't correlate it (to a launch) at all."  – Athena Padilla, a beachgoer at Florida's New Smyrna Beach, about being unaware of a Falcon 9 launch at nearby Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday. [Daytona Beach News-Journal] 🚀 🕑 🎧 Don't miss SpaceNews' FirstUp Audio The day's most important space headlines delivered in less than 10 minutes every Monday-Friday. Listen on our website, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast app. Sign up for our other newsletters Military Space: Veteran defense journalist Sandra Erwin delivers news and insights for the military space professional. Delivered Tuesday. China Report: Analysis of China's space activities and what it means as one of the United States' top competitors from correspondent Andrew Jones. Delivered every other Wednesday. SpaceNext AI: Exploring the intersection of space and artificial intelligence. Delivered Thursday. SpaceNews This Week: A round-up of the week's top stories, including our conference coverage. Delivered Friday. Video & Audio: Upcoming live programs, scheduled guests, and recent Space Minds podcast episodes, webinars and other events. Delivered Friday. Marketing Minute: Covering PR, marketing, and advertising trends, upcoming SpaceNews opportunities, and editorial insights for communications and marketing leaders. Delivered monthly.

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MethaneSAT declared lost after power failure

Plus: Planet's new contract with the German government

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READ THIS EMAIL IN YOUR BROWSER By Jeff Foust In today's edition: Planet's big German contract, Boeing's space and defense business gets a new CEO, Falcon 9 hits 500 launches, and more.  SpaceNews is now offering digital subscriptions but First Up remains available to all readers.  We appreciate your support. If someone forwarded you this edition, sign up to receive it in your inbox every weekday. Have thoughts or feedback? You can hit reply to let me know directly. Top Stories A privately funded methane-monitoring satellite has failed in orbit. The Environmental Defense Fund said Tuesday it lost contact with its MethaneSAT spacecraft on June 20, and concluded the satellite has lost power and cannot be revived. MethaneSAT launched in March 2024 to track emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. The spacecraft was privately developed, with funding primarily coming from the Bezos Earth Fund. MethaneSAT used a bus from Blue Canyon Technologies and instruments developed by BAE Systems. The MethaneSAT project said it would continue to analyze data collected by the spacecraft, originally intended to operate for five years, but did not commit to building a replacement. [SpaceNews] Planet Labs announced Tuesday a major contract to supply satellite imagery and geospatial intelligence to the German government. The multiyear contract valued at $280 million is the latest sign of surging international demand for commercial space-based surveillance capabilities. Planet executives noted that European governments, pressed to spend more on defense, are investing in geospatial intelligence capabilities, opening up new opportunities for the company. That increased European business comes as Planet faces potential cuts to spending on commercial imagery by the U.S. government. [SpaceNews] LeoLabs won $4 million to upgrade a mobile missile-tracking radar system. The funding was awarded through a Tactical Funding Increase (TACFI) agreement, a cost-sharing mechanism used by the U.S. Department of the Air Force's SpaceWERX program to accelerate the deployment of dual-use commercial technologies with national security applications. The funding, split evenly between the Air Force Research Lab and private sources, will go toward software upgrades of Scout, a mobile radar used to enhance detection and tracking of missile launches. [SpaceNews] The interim head of Boeing's defense and space unit will keep the job permanently. Boeing announced Tuesday that Stephen Parker will serve as CEO of Boeing Defense, Space and Security, or BDS. Parker had been leading the unit on an interim basis since last September, and Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg cited Parker's work to stabilize its defense business as a reason for keeping him in that position. BDS includes the company's space projects, many of which face uncertainty because of potential changes to the Artemis lunar exploration campaign or problems with the Starliner commercial crew vehicle. [Boeing] The Senate passed a budget reconciliation bill that includes billions for Golden Dome and Artemis. Vice President JD Vance cast a tiebreaking vote to secure the passage of the Senate's version of HR 1, the budget reconciliation bill, sending it back to the House for a final vote. The bill includes $25 billion for the Golden Dome missile defense program, part of $150 billion in additional defense spending. The Senate added nearly $10 billion for NASA exploration programs, including buying additional SLS and Orion vehicles and completing the Gateway. The Senate bill also has $85 million to direct the transfer of a "space vehicle" to a NASA center, a provision intended to move the shuttle Discovery from the National Air and Space Museum to Houston. [Washington Post] Other News A Falcon 9 launched a European weather satellite Tuesday afternoon. The Falcon 9 lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 5:03 p.m. Eastern, deploying the MTG-S1 satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit 35 minutes later. MTG-S1 features an infrared sounder to collect water and temperature profiles of the atmosphere to aid in weather forecasting. A second instrument, Sentinel-4, will monitor atmospheric pollutants. Eumetsat, which operates MTG-S1 and other European weather satellites, decided a year ago to shift the satellite's launch from Ariane 6 to Falcon 9 to ensure the spacecraft would launch on schedule. [SpaceNews]  Hours later, another Falcon 9 launched more Starlink satellites. The Falcon 9 launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 2:28 a.m. Eastern Thursday, putting 27 Starlink satellites into orbit. The launch was the 29th flight of this booster, a new record for SpaceX, and also marked the 500th launch of a Falcon 9 rocket since the vehicle's debut 15 years ago. [Spaceflight Now] A Progress cargo spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station Tuesday. The Progress MS-29 spacecraft undocked from the station at 2:43 p.m. Eastern and deorbited several hours later. The undocking frees up a port on the ISS for a new Progress spacecraft, Progress MS-31, scheduled to launch to the station on Thursday. [TASS] NASA assigned an astronaut to a space station mission next year. The agency said Tuesday that Anil Menon will go to the ISS next June on a Soyuz spacecraft with Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina for an eight-month stay. Menon, a doctor who was SpaceX's first flight surgeon, was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2021 and will be making his first spaceflight. His wife, Anna Menon, flew to space last year on a SpaceX Crew Dragon as part of the Polaris Dawn private astronaut mission. [NASA] NASA officials are telling missions to prepare termination plans even before Congress acts on its budget proposal. Missions that the administration fiscal year 2026 budget request proposes to cancel have been told to prepare closeout plans as soon as next week. Those plans could be implemented when the fiscal year begins Oct. 1. Congress is unlikely to have completed appropriations bills by then and will pass a continuing resolution to fund programs at 2025 levels, but there is concern the White House will unilaterally act to implement its budget proposal and shut down missions. [Ars Technica] A former chief technology officer of OneWeb is the new CEO of SpinLaunch. The company announced Tuesday it hired Massimiliano Ladovaz as its CEO, succeeding David Wrenn, who will remain at the company as chief innovation officer. Ladovaz was CTO of OneWeb as it developed and deployed its initial satellite constellation, and earlier this year was named interim CTO of SatOne, an Australian satellite connectivity company. SpinLaunch is best known for its plans to develop kinetic launch systems using a giant centrifuge, but the company announced plans earlier this year for its own satellite constellation, Meridian Space. [SpinLaunch] Death in the Satellite Family "We're going to take a pause. Obviously, we've suffered a loss. I have a large team of people who have put their heart and soul into what many people said was impossible." – Steven Hamburg, chief scientist of the Environmental Defense Fund, on the failure of the MethaneSAT mission. [Science] 🚀 🕑 🎧 Don't miss SpaceNews' FirstUp Audio The day's most important space headlines delivered in less than 10 minutes every Monday-Friday. Listen on our website, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast app. Sign up for our other newsletters Military Space: Veteran defense journalist Sandra Erwin delivers news and insights for the military space professional. Delivered Tuesday. China Report: Analysis of China's space activities and what it means as one of the United States' top competitors from correspondent Andrew Jones. Delivered every other Wednesday. SpaceNext AI: Exploring the intersection of space and artificial intelligence. Delivered Thursday. SpaceNews This Week: A round-up of the week's top stories, including our conference coverage. Delivered Friday. Video & Audio: Upcoming live programs, scheduled guests, and recent Space Minds podcast episodes, webinars and other events. Delivered Friday. Marketing Minute: Covering PR, marketing, and advertising trends, upcoming SpaceNews opportunities, and editorial insights for communications and marketing leaders. Delivered monthly.

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