- SpaceX sets a rapid launch pace: A Falcon 9 rocket launched 24 Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites into orbit on Sept. 17, marking SpaceX’s 83rd Starlink mission of 2025 spaceflightnow.com. The reusable booster landed successfully, underscoring SpaceX’s cadence of more than 80 launches so far this year.
- ISS cargo arrival delayed by engine glitch:Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL cargo freighter – launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 on Sept. 14 – was slated to reach the ISS on Sept. 17 but its rendezvous was postponed after two orbit-raising burns ended early. All other systems remain healthy as teams devise an alternate approach plan spaceflightnow.com spaceflightnow.com.
- China’s big moves in broadband constellations: On Sept. 16, China launched a test satellite for its planned broadband megaconstellation using a Long March‑2C rocket, successfully reaching orbit english.news.cn. In parallel, Chinese startup Space Pioneer completed a 35-second test firing of its Tianlong‑3 reusable rocket first stage, generating ~1,000 tonnes of thrust – a milestone toward deploying China’s 13,000-satellite Guowang and Qianfan networks business-standard.com scmp.com. “We aim to fly by the end of this year… with a target of more than 30 missions annually,” the company announced after the test scmp.com.
- New satellite tech promises same-day orbit delivery: California-based Impulse Space, founded by former SpaceX propulsion chief Tom Mueller, unveiled three major deals in one week to rapidly ferry satellites to high orbits. Plans include a 2026 demo with defense firm Anduril, a 2027 Astranis communications satellite delivery, and carrying Infinite Orbits’ servicing craft to GEO techcrunch.com. All will use Impulse’s new “Helios” methane-fueled kick stage – a space tug designed to move satellites from low Earth orbit to geostationary orbit within hours instead of months techcrunch.com. If successful, this “same-day delivery” service could let commercial operators and the U.S. military reposition spacecraft far faster than today.
- Sun awakens, startling scientists: NASA announced that solar activity is ramping up again after a decades-long lull cbsnews.com. A new study found the Sun’s output began rising around 2008, defying expectations of an extended quiet period. “All signs were pointing to the Sun going into a prolonged phase of low activity… So it was a surprise to see that trend reversed. The Sun is slowly waking up,” said lead author Jamie Jasinski cbsnews.com. A more active Sun means more solar flares and geomagnetic storms that can disrupt satellites, power grids and astronaut safety cbsnews.com. To monitor this space weather, NASA is poised to launch new probes like the IMAP and Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, along with NOAA’s SWFO-L1 solar observatory, as early as next week cbsnews.com.
- Artemis Moon mission gets European boost: In a transatlantic partnership milestone, ESA officially handed over the third European Service Module (ESM) to NASA for the Orion spacecraft. This power-and-propulsion module – built by Airbus in Germany – will propel NASA’s Artemis III mission, which aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time in over 50 years aeromorning.com. The handover ceremony on Sept. 10 at Kennedy Space Center marked NASA’s acceptance of the flight-ready module. Engineers will now attach Orion’s crew capsule and integrate four ESA-built solar wings aeromorning.com. As Artemis III moves forward (targeted for 2027), final preparations continue for Artemis II – a crewed lunar flyby planned by April 2026 – and Europe is already assembling the fourth ESM for Artemis IV aeromorning.com. International collaboration remains critical: “With the third ESM now in NASA’s hands, Europe continues to play a vital role in humankind’s return to deep space” ESA noted aeromorning.com.
- Space race heats up: NASA doubles down on beating China to the Moon: Tensions in the U.S.-China lunar rivalry were on display. Sean Duffy, NASA’s acting Administrator, forcefully rejected claims that China might outpace NASA in reaching the Moon’s south pole. “I’ll be damned if that is the story that we write,” Duffy told NASA employees, vowing “We are going to beat the Chinese to the Moon. We’re going to do it safely… fast… and right.” space.com His rallying cry came after U.S. Senate testimony warned China could land astronauts on the Moon before America’s Artemis program does space.com. The space race rhetoric reflects broader competition: just weeks earlier NASA quietly barred Chinese nationals (even U.S. visa holders) from its facilities and networks amid security concerns kcra.com, a move likened to a new Cold War-style stance. China, for its part, is pressing ahead with its own crewed lunar project for the mid-2020s, making the Moon a focal point of national pride and geopolitical influence.
- Business and industry updates: Space companies maneuvered to fund ambitious plans. Rocket Lab announced a new $750 million at-the-market stock offering program (replacing a prior $500 million shelf) to fuel its growth, including development of its medium-lift Neutron rocket. The news sent Rocket Lab’s stock down about 10% on Sept. 16 proactiveinvestors.com, even as the company’s year-to-date share price remained up nearly 90%. In India, ISRO signaled a push for public-private partnerships: Chairman Dr. V. Narayanan said ISRO will invite private companies with on-orbit servicing and refueling expertise to collaborate on extending satellite lifespans. Speaking on Sept. 17 at the opening of OrbitAID, a Bengaluru space tech startup, Narayanan emphasized the need for docking and refueling interfaces and noted that ISRO “has recently opened up to private players” for upcoming missions newsonair.gov.in. This reflects India’s broader space sector reforms to foster a commercial ecosystem.
Rapid-Fire Rocket Launches and Satellite Deployments
SpaceX’s Starlink blitz: SpaceX continued its high-frequency launch campaign, highlighting how routine orbital deployment has become. On Wednesday, Sept. 17, a Falcon 9 rocket lifted 24 Starlink V2 Mini satellites into a polar low-Earth orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California spaceflightnow.com. Liftoff occurred at 8:43 am PDT (15:43 UTC), and about eight minutes later the veteran booster (B1088 on its 10th flight) landed on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You spaceflightnow.com spaceflightnow.com. This “Starlink Group 17-12” mission was SpaceX’s 83rd Starlink launch of 2025, pushing the year’s Starlink satellite tally above 2,000 deployed so far spaceflightnow.com spaceflightnow.com. SpaceX has been averaging an orbital launch every 4–5 days, an unprecedented cadence largely driven by its Starlink megaconstellation. The company also hinted that even larger Starlink V3 satellites will start launching in 2026 once its next-generation Starship rocket is operational spaceflightnow.com.
ISS cargo launch & delay: Just days earlier, on Sept. 14, a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral successfully launched Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL cargo craft toward the International Space Station. The freighter – NG-23, named S.S. Willie McCool – carries over 11,000 pounds of supplies, food, and science experiments for Expedition 73 spaceflightnow.com. Notably, this is the debut flight of the extended Cygnus XL variant, boasting 33% greater cargo volume than previous Cygnus vehicles spaceflightnow.com. It was also an uncommon sight: Cygnus usually flies on Northrop’s Antares rocket, but with Antares being revamped (after retiring its Russian/Ukrainian engines), Northrop booked two Cygnus launches on SpaceX rockets spacepolicyonline.com. The mission proceeded flawlessly through launch: Falcon 9 delivered Cygnus to orbit right on target spaceflightnow.com, and the spacecraft deployed its cymbal-shaped solar arrays as expected spaceflightnow.com.
However, plans to berth this Cygnus at the ISS on Sept. 17 did not go as expected. On Sept. 16, NASA announced it postponed the Cygnus arrival due to a propulsion issue spaceflightnow.com. Two critical thruster burns, intended to raise Cygnus’s orbit for rendezvous, “stopped earlier than planned,” officials said spaceflightnow.com. The cause of the premature shutdowns wasn’t immediately known, and flight controllers stood down from the scheduled Wednesday capture attempt. Instead, mission teams are evaluating an alternate rendezvous profile once they are confident in the vehicle’s performance. The good news: “All other Cygnus XL systems are performing normally,” NASA reported spaceflightnow.com. This suggests the issue may lie with the main engine or guidance software rather than a wider spacecraft fault. Indeed, Cygnus XL remains stable in orbit with ample fuel, giving engineers time to troubleshoot. NASA astronaut Jonny Kim and crewmate Zena Cardman had been training to snare Cygnus with the robotic arm nasa.gov; they’ll now wait for a new delivery date, likely a few days later than planned.
Even with the hiccup, station logistics are under control. Just before Cygnus’s launch, a Russian Progress 93 freighter docked to the ISS on Sept. 13, bringing 3 tons of food, fuel and spare parts nasa.gov. And NASA pre-packed extra reserves on a recent SpaceX Dragon flight to bridge any supply gap spaceflightnow.com. The Cygnus delay is therefore minor for ISS operations, but it underscores the complexity of orbital rendezvous – and the value of backup vehicles in the international partnership’s fleet.
Chinese launch for satellite internet: In China, GalaxySpace (a commercial spinoff) and CASC (the state aerospace firm) made quiet progress on their own broadband constellation ambitions. On Sept. 16, China launched a test satellite for satellite-internet technology from the Jiuquan Space Center english.news.cn. A Long March‑2C rocket with a Yuanzheng-1S upper stage lifted off at 9:06 a.m. Beijing time and successfully delivered the prototype satellite to its planned orbit english.news.cn. Chinese media disclosed few payload details, but the mission is believed to support China’s envisioned low-Earth orbit broadband networks (sometimes referred to as “Guowang”). This marks the 595th flight of the Long March rocket family english.news.cn – a reminder of China’s high launch rate. It also demonstrates Beijing’s intent to field a mega-constellation rivaling Starlink. In fact, China has two proposed constellations (codenamed Guowang and Qianfan), each targeting 13,000+ satellites in orbit business-standard.com. So far, progress has been slow – fewer than 1% of those satellites are up – largely due to limited launch capacity business-standard.com. But China is now tackling that bottleneck by fast-tracking reusable rockets.
Satellite Megaconstellations Drive New Rocket Innovations
To deploy thousands of satellites cost-effectively, China’s space industry is racing to develop SpaceX-like reusable launchers. This week brought a major milestone: Beijing-based startup Space Pioneer reported a successful full-duration test of its Tianlong-3 rocket’s first stage scmp.com. On Monday, Sept. 15, engineers ignited nine methalox engines on a 72-meter Tianlong-3 booster, generating nearly 1,000 tonnes of thrust during a 35-second static fire scmp.com. Uniquely, the test took place on an offshore platform in Shandong province – a safety measure for high-thrust trials. Space Pioneer hailed it as the “most complex and challenging ground trial” in the program to date scmp.com. Having passed this “major exam,” Tianlong-3 is now entering a final sprint toward its first orbital launch, targeted by year’s end scmp.com. “We aim to fly by the end of this year. After that, we plan to quickly move into routine commercial operations, with a target of more than 30 missions annually,” the company announced on social media scmp.com. If achieved, that cadence would make Tianlong-3 one of the most frequently flown rockets in China.
Space Pioneer is just one player in China’s burgeoning private launch sector. Rival startup LandSpace is preparing the inaugural flight of its Zhuque-3 reusable methane-fueled rocket, possibly within weeks (after an earlier test firing in June) scmp.com business-standard.com. And the state-run CASC is developing a partially reusable Long March 12A, aiming for a 2025 demo flight business-standard.com. All three vehicles – Tianlong-3, Zhuque-3, and LM-12A – are roughly Falcon 9-class, capable of lofting ~15–20 tons to orbit and designed to have recoverable first stages business-standard.com. The stakes are high: as Chinese officials candidly acknowledge, a shortage of rockets has limited the rollout of their satellite internet constellations business-standard.com business-standard.com. Reusable launchers are seen as the solution to “carry larger constellations faster and at lower cost” business-standard.com. It’s essentially a SpaceX effect: inspired by Falcon 9’s success, China’s upstarts and state firms alike are embracing booster reusability to close the gap in the new space race.
Implications for Starlink and beyond: The flurry of Chinese activity comes as SpaceX’s Starlink network continues to grow unabated. With over 5,000 Starlink satellites now in orbit, SpaceX has proven it can deploy a constellation at scale – but even SpaceX faces bottlenecks in getting satellites to final orbits efficiently. Enter companies like Impulse Space, which are introducing in-space transport services to optimize constellation deployment. Impulse grabbed headlines on Sept. 16 with a series of partnership announcements, effectively launching a new category of “last-mile delivery” for satellites. Their core product is the Helios transfer vehicle, a propulsive kick stage powered by a “Deneb” engine burning liquid methane and oxygen techcrunch.com.
In the past week, Impulse unveiled three contracts aimed at demonstrating rapid orbital transfers using Helios techcrunch.com:
- A 2026 demo mission with Anduril Industries (a defense tech company) to jointly build a spacecraft capable of rendezvous and proximity operations – key for inspecting or servicing other satellites. The U.S. Space Force has flagged this capability as critical for space situational awareness and defense techcrunch.com. Impulse’s Helios stage will be the engine that can quickly reposition the Anduril-built satellite during the demo.
- A 2027 transportation deal with Astranis to carry one of Astranis’s small geostationary communications satellites from its initial drop-off in low orbit to geostationary orbit (GEO) about 35,700 km above Earth techcrunch.com. Today, that journey can take months of electric propulsion spiraling; Helios aims to haul the satellite to GEO within hours or days, drastically shortening the time to operational service.
- A multi-launch agreement with Infinite Orbits (a startup developing satellite servicing vehicles) to deliver a series of orbital servicing satellites to GEO beginning in 2027 techcrunch.com. This would support deployment of a “Geely Future Constellation” – an initiative by Chinese automaker Geely’s space subsidiary, which recently completed the fifth launch of its LEO navigation constellation bernama.com. Impulse will essentially provide the high-altitude taxi rides.
The common thread is that Helios could enable same-day or same-week delivery to high orbits, which is game-changing. Normally, small satellites going to GEO either have to include heavy onboard propulsion or hitch a ride on a large rocket’s transfer stage. An agile space tug like Helios offers a flexible alternative: a Falcon 9 or similar launcher can release dozens of satellites in low orbit, and Helios vehicles can then disperse them to various altitudes and planes very quickly. “Helios is meant to be the ‘same-day’ courier from LEO to higher orbits,” Impulse says, promising to compress multi-month transfers into a matter of hours techcrunch.com. That speed not only benefits commercial operators (who can start revenue service sooner), but also military users who want the option to relocate assets or deploy new satellites on short notice for tactical advantage techcrunch.com. If Impulse and similar ventures succeed, the logistical backbone of megaconstellations – from Starlink to China’s Guowang – could be profoundly strengthened.
Space Science Highlights: Solar Activity and New Missions
Sun’s surprise upswing: A significant scientific development over this 48-hour window came not from a rocket launch, but from our own star. NASA researchers revealed that the Sun has been growing more active over the past 15+ years, counter to earlier predictions of a long quiescent phase cbsnews.com. The study, published in Astrophysical Journal Letters, analyzed decades of solar wind data and found the Sun’s magnetic activity began rebounding after hitting a 100-year low around 2008 cbsnews.com. This reversal of the solar trend astonished space weather experts. “All signs were pointing to the Sun going into a prolonged phase of low activity,” recalled Dr. Jamie Jasinski of JPL, lead author of the study. “So it was a surprise to see that trend reversed. The Sun is slowly waking up.” cbsnews.com The phrase “slowly waking up” is an understatement – in the current Solar Cycle 25 (which started in 2020), sunspot counts and solar flare rates are already exceeding NOAA forecasts, suggesting a more intense solar max ahead.
Why does this matter? Because solar activity drives space weather, which can impact Earth’s technological infrastructure and space operations. An “awake” Sun throws off more solar flares, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and high-speed solar wind streams cbsnews.com. These phenomena can induce geomagnetic storms that disable satellites, scramble GPS and radio communications, disrupt power grids, and expose astronauts (or airline crews) to higher radiation doses cbsnews.com. In fact, NASA noted that just last year (May 2024) Earth experienced the strongest geomagnetic storm in 20 years, sparking auroras seen as far south as Texas cbsnews.com cbsnews.com. With the Sun expected to peak in activity around 2025–2026, both space agencies and private satellite operators are on alert for more such extreme events. SpaceX learned this the hard way in 2022, when a mild solar storm amplified atmospheric drag and de-orbited 40 newly launched Starlink satellites in one day.
To improve forecasting, NASA is beefing up its heliophysics fleet. During this news period, the agency confirmed that it will launch three new space weather missions in the coming days: the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP), a mission to sample solar wind and cosmic particles; the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory to study Earth’s outer atmosphere; and NOAA’s Space Weather Follow-On (SWFO-L1) satellite to monitor the Sun from the vital L1 Lagrange point cbsnews.com. These spacecraft – slated to launch together on a Falcon 9 rocket – will join NASA’s existing Solar Dynamics Observatory and Parker Solar Probe in watching the Sun’s every move. “Space weather predictions are critical for supporting the spacecraft and astronauts of NASA’s Artemis campaign,” the agency said, noting that better understanding the Sun-Earth environment is “vital to mitigating astronaut exposure to space radiation” as we venture back to the Moon and beyond cbsnews.com.
In other science news, NASA’s Lucy mission (on its journey to the Jupiter Trojan asteroids) received approval from the International Astronomical Union for naming 10 regions on the asteroid Dinkinesh that Lucy flew by in 2023 nasa.gov. And over at Mars, scientists are still buzzing about the possible biosignature found in a Perseverance rover rock sample (announced a week prior) – though they caution it will take a Mars Sample Return to prove if microbial life really left those clues reuters.com spacepolicyonline.com. During a Sept. 10 briefing, NASA’s science chief Dr. Nicky Fox stressed, “It’s not life itself… Astrobiological claims require extraordinary evidence” reuters.com spacepolicyonline.com – hence the push to eventually bring those Mars rocks to Earth labs.
Moon Mission Milestones: Collaboration and Competition
Europe’s critical contribution to Artemis: As NASA’s Artemis Moon program gathers momentum, international partners are delivering key hardware. ESA’s European Service Module 3 (ESM-3) is now safely in U.S. hands after a formal handover on Sept. 10 aeromorning.com. Top ESA and Airbus officials met their NASA counterparts at Kennedy Space Center to sign off the transfer of the component, which had arrived by ship over the summer. The ESM is essentially Orion’s powerhouse – containing the main engine, fuel tanks, solar arrays, and life-support commodities for the Orion crew capsule. This particular unit will propel Artemis III, the mission that will land astronauts on the Moon (near the south pole) for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972 aeromorning.com. Artemis III is targeting a 2027 launch, pending NASA’s development of a human-rated lunar lander (SpaceX’s Starship HLS) and the readiness of this Orion/ESM stack.
ESA’s program manager Philippe Deloo highlighted that each ESM involves contributions from 10 European nations and over 20 companies – truly a pan-European effort. ESM-3 was built by Airbus Germany, with major elements like the four fold-out solar array wings coming from the Netherlands aeromorning.com. After acceptance testing in Florida, technicians will attach those wings and mate the ESM to Orion’s crew module adapter, then to the crew capsule itself. Meanwhile, ESA has nearly completed ESM-4 in Bremen, slated to ship to NASA by late 2025 for Artemis IV, and production of ESM-5 has begun as well aeromorning.com. Europe has committed to provide at least six service modules (ESM-1 flew on Artemis I last year, ESM-2 is ready for Artemis II). In exchange, ESA gains seats for European astronauts on future Artemis missions to the Gateway space station and the lunar surface. As NASA’s Administrator Bill Nelson often says, “we go together” – Artemis is leveraging each partner’s strengths. With the ESM-3 handover, Europe reaffirms its role as NASA’s indispensable ally in deep space.
Intensifying U.S.-China space race: On the flip side of cooperation, the rivalry between the U.S. and China in space reached a rhetorical flashpoint. During an internal NASA town hall in mid-September, Acting Administrator Sean Duffy delivered an impassioned message to the agency’s workforce: don’t count NASA out of the Moon race. This came after a U.S. Senate hearing on Sept. 3 where former officials warned that at the current pace, “It is highly unlikely that we will land on the Moon before China” space.com space.com. China is aggressively pursuing its own crewed lunar landing by around 2030 and has demonstrated rapid progress (e.g. its Chang’e robotic lunar program). Such talk clearly struck a nerve. In response, Duffy told employees, “Wake up and ask yourself, is what I’m doing helping us get back to the Moon? … If it’s not, stop doing it.” space.com He then emphatically declared, “I’ll be damned if that is the story that we write. We are going to beat the Chinese to the Moon. We are going to do it safely. We’re going to do it fast. We’re going to do it right.” space.com These comments, leaked to the press and published on Sept. 12, underscore NASA’s resolve to stick to its Artemis schedule despite budget uncertainties and recent political transitions.
The U.S.-China competition extends beyond prestige – it’s about setting rules and norms on the Moon. Officials like Mike Gold (formerly of NASA) have cautioned that whoever establishes a sustained presence first could effectively shape the governance of lunar resources and territorial behavior space.com. The U.S. has promoted the Artemis Accords (now signed by 29 nations) for responsible exploration, while China (and Russia) plan their own lunar research base and have not joined the Accords. This strategic backdrop explains why, also in September, NASA imposed new restrictions internally: Chinese nationals were barred from NASA facilities, networks, and even virtual meetings – even if they hold valid U.S. work visas kcra.com san.com. The policy took effect quietly around Sept. 5 and was reported by multiple outlets as a sign of hardening U.S. stance theguardian.com. NASA cited security guidance, but some scientists condemned it as counterproductive decoupling of academic collaboration. Regardless, it shows how geopolitical rivalry is now intruding into day-to-day operations of space agencies.
China, for its part, is full steam ahead on human spaceflight: it completed its Tiangong space station in 2022 and is launching crewed Shenzhou missions every six months. Chinese officials have openly invited international partners to Tiangong (except NASA, which is legally barred from cooperating). And notably, on Sept. 17, Chinese state media announced that training has begun for Chinese astronauts to go to the Moon, with a new cadre of candidates including one civilian expert. It’s a stark reminder that Artemis is not happening in a vacuum. As NASA’s deputy administrator Pam Melroy put it recently, “We’re in a space renaissance – and a space race – all at once.” The next few years, leading up to the first woman and first person of color on the Moon (NASA’s goal for Artemis III) and China’s planned lunar landing, will be a dramatic chapter in space history.
Commercial Spaceflight and Industry News
Beyond government programs, the space industry saw notable commercial developments during this 48-hour window:
- Rocket Lab’s big funding move: Small launch provider Rocket Lab made a splash in the financial markets on Sept. 16 by filing for a $750 million “at-the-market” (ATM) equity offering proactiveinvestors.com. This setup allows the company to gradually sell up to $750M worth of new shares on the Nasdaq, providing a flexible way to raise capital for its projects. The new program replaces Rocket Lab’s prior $500M shelf offering (under which ~$397M had already been utilized) proactiveinvestors.com. Investors reacted nervously – Rocket Lab’s stock fell ~10% on the disclosure, dropping to around $48 (pre-reverse-split pricing) by mid-day Sept. 16 proactiveinvestors.com. While dilution concerns drove the selloff, Rocket Lab signaled that the funds would fuel long-term growth, including development of its Neutron rocket and potential strategic acquisitions. As of mid-2025, the company held $564M in cash but was burning nearly $200M annually to expand its launch and spacecraft manufacturing business proactiveinvestors.com. Notably, Rocket Lab’s share price had nearly doubled since January proactiveinvestors.com, reflecting strong market optimism after a string of successful Electron launches and contracts (e.g. a recent NASA award to launch the Aspera astrophysics mission) spaceanddefense.io. The new ATM offering indicates Rocket Lab’s intent to capitalize on that momentum and ensure it has the war chest to compete with larger players.
- Bolstering satellite servicing in India: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) used the occasion of a startup’s R&D center opening to announce a forward-looking initiative. On Sept. 17, ISRO Chairman S. Somanath (as reported by Dr. V. Narayanan in some sources newsonair.gov.in) stated that ISRO will invite private companies specializing in on-orbit satellite servicing and refueling to collaborate on upcoming missions newsonair.gov.in. Speaking in Bengaluru at the inauguration of OrbitAID’s new facility – India’s first space-tech startup focused on orbital sustainability – he highlighted the importance of developing docking technology, refueling interfaces, and life-extension services for satellites newsonair.gov.in. “In the future, providing life extension for satellites will shape India’s space ecosystem,” Narayanan noted, emphasizing that ISRO’s recent opening to private players will continue. This marks a significant shift for India’s space program, which historically built and launched its own satellites and let them retire when fuel ran out. Now, with a vibrant private sector emerging under India’s space reforms, ISRO aims to partner on cutting-edge capabilities like robotic refueling and orbital debris removal. Such public-private collaboration could accelerate India’s plan for an orbital Space Dock or fuel depot, and even a small Indian space station by 2035 (goals mentioned by Somanath in a separate forum ndtv.com). It also aligns with global trends – from Northrop Grumman’s MEV servicing vehicle already extending satellites’ lives to startups like Orbit Fab working on orbital “gas stations.”
- Blue Origin and others: While Blue Origin did not conduct a launch in this specific 2-day period, the company is in the news for preparing its New Glenn heavy rocket’s debut (expected in 2025). Earlier in the summer, Blue Origin completed a 7-engine static fire and received an FAA launch license spacepolicyonline.com spacepolicyonline.com. Industry chatter during Sept. 16–17 noted that New Glenn’s first mission will carry a NASA science probe (ESCAPE) to Mars – reflecting Blue Origin’s growing role in interplanetary launches youtube.com. Additionally, Blue Origin’s suborbital New Shepard flights quietly resumed in mid-2025 after a 2022 abort incident. On June 29, Blue flew its 13th crewed New Shepard mission (NS-23) with six space tourists, reaching the Kármán line and safely returning blueorigin.com. That vehicle is expected to fly again by late 2025, signifying Blue Origin’s re-entry into commercial human spaceflight. Finally, in the startup arena, Los Angeles-based Apex Space (satellite bus manufacturer) drew attention for its rapid growth – raising a $200M Series C round in April and expanding its factory to meet demand for dozens of smallsat “bus” platforms per month satellitetoday.com satellitetoday.com. By mid-September, Apex reported that it has more orders than it can fulfill, illustrating the surging demand for small satellites from both commercial constellations and government programs.
Sources: Primary information has been drawn from official press releases and reputable news outlets. Key references include NASA and ESA press statements, Spaceflight Now mission updates, Xinhua state media reports, and industry analyses by SpaceNews, Space.com, and Reuters. Notable sources: NASA Space Station Blog spaceflightnow.com spaceflightnow.com; Spaceflight Now spaceflightnow.com spaceflightnow.com; Xinhua News english.news.cn; Business Standard/SCMP business-standard.com scmp.com; TechCrunch techcrunch.com; CBS News (via NASA/JPL) cbsnews.com; AeroMorning/ESA aeromorning.com; Space.com space.com; and Proactive Investors proactiveinvestors.com, among others. This roundup captures a mere two days in space news – a reminder of how quickly the global space sector is advancing in late 2025, from rockets and satellites to science and governance. spaceflightnow.com space.com newsonair.gov.in
