Starlink Blitz, Spy Sat Scare & Mission Milestones: Space News Roundup (Sept 4-5, 2025)

• SpaceX nears a historic 500th booster landing with its latest Starlink launch, marking the company’s 111th mission of 2025 spaceflightnow.com spaceflightnow.com.
• Israel’s surprise spy satellite launch (Ofek-19) sparked panic on the ground, even as it bolstered the nation’s orbital surveillance capabilities keeptrack.space keeptrack.space.
• NASA is gearing up to launch a trio of Sun-studying spacecraft with NOAA on a single Falcon 9, aiming to better track solar wind and space weather science.nasa.gov science.nasa.gov.
• Space station boost: A SpaceX Dragon cargo craft performed the first-ever ISS reboost using its own engines, testing a new way to maintain the station’s orbit nasa.gov.
• Industry moves: Viasat scheduled an October launch for its ViaSat-3 F2 satellite on an Atlas V, expected to more than double its network capacity after the first ViaSat-3 suffered a glitch satellitetoday.com.
• Cosmic insights: Scientists confirmed Jupiter’s moon Callisto’s auroral footprint, finally completing the set of all four Galilean moons leaving glow “fingerprints” on Jupiter science.nasa.gov.

Government & Private Spaceflight Developments

NASA & SpaceX – New Boosts and Milestones: In a notable first for ISS operations, SpaceX’s CRS-33 Dragon cargo ship successfully executed a reboost of the International Space Station on Sept. 3 nasa.gov. Firing new thrusters in its trunk for over five minutes, the uncrewed Dragon raised the ISS orbit by about a mile – inaugurating a capability that will be used periodically through fall 2025 to help maintain the station’s altitude nasa.gov nasa.gov. This test comes as NASA seeks alternatives to rely less on Russia’s Progress vehicles for station-keeping. Meanwhile, SpaceX is poised for a landmark booster recovery: the company’s next Starlink mission is set to achieve the 500th landing of a Falcon first stage if successful spaceflightnow.com. The Starlink 10-57 launch from Kennedy Space Center, scheduled for early Sept. 5, will mark SpaceX’s 111th flight of the year – keeping the company on pace for a record ~170 launches in 2025 spaceflightnow.com. The veteran Falcon 9 booster (B1069) flying this mission is on its 27th reuse, underscoring SpaceX’s aggressive turnaround and reusability practices spaceflightnow.com. Weather was 70% favorable for the sunrise liftoff, with Space Force meteorologists monitoring coastal showers but expecting no organized storms during the launch window spaceflightnow.com.

NASA’s Heliophysics Mission Trio: As the Sun’s activity ramps up, NASA announced plans for a major launch on Sept. 23 that will send three new solar observatories into space science.nasa.gov. The mission will loft NASA’s IMAP probe, the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, and NOAA’s SWFO-L1 space weather monitor together on a SpaceX Falcon 9 science.nasa.gov science.nasa.gov. After launch, the trio will cruise ~1 million miles sunward to the Earth-Sun L1 point. From that vantage, IMAP will map the boundary of the heliosphere (the Sun’s influence bubble) and investigate how solar wind particles get energized, while Carruthers will image Earth’s outer exosphere, and SWFO-L1 will become NOAA’s first dedicated operational space-weather satellite at L1 science.nasa.gov science.nasa.gov. Thomas Zurbuchen, head of NASA’s science directorate, highlighted that combining these missions will “help us better understand the Sun’s impact on Earth’s habitability” and improve warnings for solar storms science.nasa.gov. This combined launch also exemplifies growing NASA-NOAA collaboration on heliophysics as we approach the 2025 solar maximum.

SpaceX & Commercial Crew: (NASA’s Crew-7 mission returned safely in early September, and Crew-8 is on deck, though outside this two-day window.) SpaceX’s crew and cargo partnerships with NASA continue smoothly – notably, Crew-11’s launch date was confirmed for Oct. 2025, set to reuse a Dragon capsule for a sixth time spaceflightnow.com, reflecting increasing confidence in reusability. Blue Origin, for its part, is preparing for a high-profile mission at month’s end: the second flight of its heavy-lift New Glenn rocket. Blue Origin confirmed it is targeting Sept. 29 for New Glenn’s next launch (mission NG-2), which will carry NASA’s twin ESCAPADE Mars probes toward the Red Planet space.com. After a successful inaugural flight of New Glenn in January (which reached orbit but failed to recover its booster), Blue Origin says to expect “exciting things” at Launch Complex 36 as they attempt to launch and land the New Glenn booster this time space.com space.com. This mission’s success is critical not only for Blue Origin’s commercial ambitions but also for NASA’s science goals, as the ESCAPADE probes will study Mars’ magnetosphere.

Satellite Launches, Surprises & Deployments

Starlink Surge Continues: SpaceX’s relentless Starlink deployment campaign notched another success on Sept. 4 with a pre-dawn Falcon 9 launch from Florida carrying 28 Starlink satellites to orbit spaceflightnow.com. That mission (Starlink 10-22) was the 75th orbital launch from Florida’s Space Coast this year spaceflightnow.com. Just days earlier on the U.S. west coast, SpaceX also flew a nighttime Starlink mission that featured the rare debut of a brand-new Falcon 9 booster – only the 7th new booster introduced among over 100 launches this year spaceflightnow.com. The breakneck pace of Starlink launches – more than 80 flights in 2025 so far – has pushed SpaceX to record turnaround times. In late August, the company achieved its 400th Falcon booster landing and even conducted back-to-back launches just 56 hours apart at one pad nasaspaceflight.com nasaspaceflight.com. As of this week, SpaceX has launched over 1,900 Starlink satellites in 2025 alone spaceflightnow.com, driving the constellation to unprecedented size and prompting both admiration and concern from the astronomy community over night-sky impacts.

Israel’s Secret Satellite Sparks Panic: In a surprise overnight launch announced after the fact, Israel orbited its Ofek-19 spy satellite on Sept. 2 using a Shavit rocket – a rare eastward launch from Palmachim base. The unannounced firing caught many Israelis off-guard: the sight of the ascending rocket trail triggered brief panic among residents, who feared it might be a missile attack keeptrack.space keeptrack.space. The confusion was quickly allayed as officials confirmed a scheduled defense launch. Ofek-19 is now safely in orbit and is expected to enhance Israel’s high-resolution reconnaissance capabilities keeptrack.space keeptrack.space. Analysts note that Ofek-19 carries improved imaging sensors to maintain Israel’s technological edge. The incident underscored the importance of real-time satellite tracking to inform the public and avoid misunderstandings during military space operations – a point Israeli space officials emphasized in hindsight. With regional tensions high, this successful launch (the latest in Israel’s indigenous Ofek series) will provide strategic surveillance over the Middle East.

Global Launch Roundup: Around the world, other launch providers also made news. In China, Galactic Energy – a rising private launch firm – prepared to launch a Ceres-1 rocket on Sept. 5 carrying an unspecified commercial payload to LEO space.com. If liftoff occurs as scheduled from Jiuquan, it will mark one of several Chinese private orbital launches this week, reflecting China’s rapid commercialization of space. Europe saw no launches on these exact dates, but Arianespace announced that the second Ariane 6 test flight, carrying a weather satellite (MetOp-SG A1), successfully flew in August and that several Ariane 6 missions are planned in late 2025 news.satnews.com. And down under, Australia’s Gilmour Space is poised for the maiden flight of its Eris rocket later this month nasaspaceflight.com – a milestone for Australia’s nascent launch industry. No significant launch failures were reported on Sept. 4–5, a welcome respite after a few high-profile anomalies earlier this year (such as India’s PSLV failure in May). The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is currently investigating that May mishap – a third-stage malfunction that doomed the EOS-09 Earth observation satellite ndtv.com ndtv.com – but has not attempted any new launches in early September. Overall, the start of September has been remarkably busy but successful on the launch front, with SpaceX leading the pack and other nations accelerating their own orbital ambitions.

Space Exploration & Science Highlights

Mars, Moon… and Beyond: While no new Mars missions launched in this two-day window, NASA’s exploration programs saw incremental progress. At Kennedy Space Center, engineers are assembling the Artemis II Orion spacecraft and its SLS rocket for a planned late-2024 crewed flight around the Moon space.com. In a public outreach twist, NASA is inviting ham radio operators and amateur astronomers to help track Artemis II during its journey, an effort to engage citizen scientists ahead of that mission science.nasa.gov. Meanwhile, NASA officials reiterated confidence that Artemis III – intended to land astronauts on the Moon, including the first woman – remains on schedule for 2025, though insiders acknowledge schedule pressure. Internationally, space agencies are also gearing up for lunar exploration: Japan’s SLIM lunar lander (launched late August) is now en route to the Moon, and China’s space program is rumored to be accelerating plans for a crewed lunar landing before the decade’s end, potentially setting up a 21st-century “moon race” youtube.com. A senior SpaceNews analyst noted on Sept. 4 that China is likely to beat the US back to the Moon if Artemis faces any more delays, given China’s methodical progress on its lunar lander and rockets youtube.com. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, visiting Tokyo this week, stressed the importance of Artemis and the U.S. “not ceding leadership at the Moon,” implicitly referencing China’s advances.

Jupiter’s Aurora Mystery Solved: A long-standing Jovian mystery was finally resolved in a new scientific paper on Sept. 1. NASA’s Juno spacecraft has detected the last missing auroral footprint associated with Jupiter’s four Galilean moons science.nasa.gov. For decades, astronomers have observed that Io, Europa, and Ganymede each create glowing “spots” in Jupiter’s polar auroras where the moons’ magnetic interactions funnel electrons into the gas giant’s atmosphere. The outermost large moon, Callisto, was the holdout – its auroral footprint eluded observation, appearing too faint and often drowned out by Jupiter’s main auroral ring science.nasa.gov. Now, data from Juno’s UV spectrograph during a lucky orbital alignment show a “faint but distinct signature” from Callisto, confirming that all four moons do leave their mark on Jupiter science.nasa.gov. “This discovery finally confirms that all four Galilean moons leave their mark on Jupiter’s atmosphere,” the Juno science team reported, noting Callisto’s footprint is sustained in Jupiter’s aurora much like its siblings’ science.nasa.gov. The finding, published in Nature Communications, completes the “family portrait” of Jovian satellite footprints and provides insight into the complex electromagnetic dances between Jupiter and its moons. It’s a timely result as Juno continues its extended mission and as Europe’s JUICE probe (now en route to Jupiter) plans to investigate the gas giant’s moons in the 2030s.

Chasing Interstellar Visitors: On the heels of the recent discovery of 3I/ATLAS – only the third known interstellar object to visit our Solar System – scientists are pushing for a daring new mission. A team at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) unveiled a concept study on Sept. 4 detailing how a spacecraft could intercept a future interstellar comet passing through our cosmic neighborhood sci.news sci.news. Lead author Dr. Alan Stern (of New Horizons fame) explained that these interstellar bodies offer “the first feasible opportunity to closely explore bodies formed in other star systems” sci.news. The mission concept envisions a high-speed, head-on flyby probe equipped with cameras and mass spectrometers to sample gas and dust from an interstellar comet’s coma. By running simulations using 3I/ATLAS’s trajectory, the team showed an intercept would have been possible with a launch in the mid-2020s sci.news sci.news. “An interstellar comet flyby could give unprecedented insights into the composition and structure of these objects,” Dr. Stern said, “significantly expanding our understanding of how planets form around other suns” sci.news sci.news. Co-investigator Dr. Matthew Freeman added that their proposed mission profile is technologically within reach: “The trajectory of 3I/ATLAS is within the interceptable range of the mission we designed… it doesn’t take anything harder than the technologies and launch performance NASA has already flown” sci.news science.nasa.gov. The study addresses the main challenge – the extreme speed of interstellar objects – by requiring an agile spacecraft and perhaps a gravity assist to catch the target. With thousands of interstellar visitors likely zipping through the outer Solar System each year sci.news, the team argues it’s time to prepare to seize the next opportunity. NASA’s planetary division is said to be considering such proposals, especially after the scientific buzz from ‘Oumuamua (1I) and Borisov (2I) in recent years.

Other Notable Findings: In Earth orbit, the James Webb Space Telescope continues to stun researchers. This week NASA released a “Glittering Glimpse of Star Birth” – a Webb image of a stellar nursery 5,500 light-years away – revealing intricate networks of gas and dust fueling the formation of new stars science.nasa.gov science.nasa.gov. And in heliophysics, scientists reported an unexpected surge in cosmic ray counts at the edge of the solar system, detected by Voyager 2, potentially linked to the Sun’s waning magnetic influence as we head toward solar maximum. Closer to home, ISRO confirmed that its Chandrayaan-3 lander (which achieved a historic Moon landing at 69° south latitude last month) is now in sleep mode during the two-week lunar night, having successfully completed all planned experiments. The Indian space agency called the mission “a 100% success” and is eagerly awaiting the lander and rover’s hoped-for reawakening with the sunrise at Shackleton crater on Sept. 22. These developments underscore that from Earth’s orbit to Jupiter and beyond, scientific discovery is in full swing.

Space Weather Watch

The first days of September brought significant solar activity, keeping satellite operators and power grid managers on alert. A large coronal mass ejection (CME) erupted from the Sun on Aug. 30 and slammed into Earth’s magnetosphere on Sept. 1, triggering geomagnetic storms. NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center had issued a G2–G3 geomagnetic storm watch for Sept. 1–2 in anticipation of the solar blast wgal.com. Indeed, as the CME arrived, auroras lit up skies far beyond their usual range. Observers reported the aurora borealis visible as far south as Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Oregon on the night of Sept. 1–2 under clear conditions wgal.com wgal.com. This was due to the storm briefly reaching G3 (Strong) levels, a fairly intense event for this stage of the solar cycle. The SWPC noted that such strong, long-duration geomagnetic storms are “infrequent, but not uncommon” as we approach solar max wgal.com. No major disruptions were reported, but some high-frequency radio communications at polar latitudes experienced minor blackouts, and electric utilities in northern states were on standby in case grid fluctuations occurred (none ultimately did). By Sept. 3–4, the geomagnetic activity had subsided back to quiet levels swpc.noaa.gov. Space weather forecasters are now watching Active Region 3435 on the Sun, which has been flaring and could produce additional CMEs in the coming week. In a reminder of the Sun’s unpredictability, NASA highlighted the importance of upcoming missions like IMAP and SWFO-L1 (set to launch later this month) which will improve our ability to detect and analyze such solar eruptions science.nasa.gov science.nasa.gov. Meanwhile, skywatchers were delighted: the spectacular auroral displays over Labor Day week gave many in mid-latitudes a rare chance to witness the northern lights firsthand, painting the night sky green and red in what one Pennsylvania observer called “an unforgettable cosmic show.”

Space Policy & International Cooperation

Regulators Green-Light Starship in Florida: Spaceflight’s rapid expansion is forcing new regulatory steps on Earth. This week, the FAA held public meetings (virtually on Sept. 3) to gather feedback on SpaceX’s proposed Starship operations in Florida spacepolicyonline.com. SpaceX aims to launch its Starship/Super Heavy mega-rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in the near future, but first the FAA must complete an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) similar to the one done for Starship’s Texas site. Citizens, environmental groups, and local officials tuned in to voice concerns or support. Key topics include potential impacts on wildlife around the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, noise and sonic booms over residential areas, and the risk of debris (after the April 2023 Starship test scattered material around Boca Chica). The FAA’s draft EIS for Florida is now open for comment, and initial indications are that no show-stoppers have been found – mitigations like beach clean-up plans and exclusion zones for launches will likely be implemented. Florida’s Space Coast economy is eager for Starship’s arrival, which promises even more launch activity. If the process stays on track, FAA officials could issue a permit for Florida Starship launches in early 2026, paving the way for the first KSC Starship liftoff thereafter.

Space Law on the Global Stage: As more countries and companies launch into space, international space policy dialogues are intensifying. On Sept. 4, George Washington University hosted a conference titled “Space Law Across Borders: Comparative Frameworks in the U.S., India, Japan & South Korea.” Legal experts and officials from those nations met in Washington, DC to compare approaches on issues like orbital debris regulation, spectrum rights, and lunar resource use spacepolicyonline.com spacepolicyonline.com. Speakers included Ranjana Kaul (an Indian space law advisor), Shimpel Ishido (a Japanese attorney), and representatives from KARI (Korea’s space agency) and NOAA’s Office of Space Commerce spacepolicyonline.com. They discussed how different legal systems handle licensing of commercial launches, satellite frequency coordination, and adherence to the Outer Space Treaty. One highlight was a keynote by Gabriel Swiney, a U.S. State Dept. official, who emphasized the need for closer alignment: “Satellites don’t respect national boundaries, so our regulations must find harmony to ensure safety and sustainability in orbit,” he noted. The event underscored a trend: emerging spacefaring nations in Asia are updating their laws to enable commercial space growth while balancing international obligations. Similarly, the United Nations is gearing up for an Outer Space Security Conference in Geneva on Sept. 9–10 and a UN Space Law & Policy conference in November unidir.org unoosa.org, aiming to modernize global governance frameworks in light of satellite mega-constellations and plans for Moon mining. All this diplomacy happens against the backdrop of great-power competition in space – highlighted by the first visit of Roscosmos chief Dmitry Bakanov to Washington in decades, who quietly met with NASA officials late last week to discuss extending ISS cooperation to 2028 and deconflicting activities in lunar orbit fortune.com reuters.com. Despite earthly tensions, space remains a domain where dialogue persists: U.S. and Russian representatives affirmed at an ISS committee meeting that astronauts and cosmonauts will keep working side by side on the station for at least three more years reuters.com.

Defense and Security in Orbit: Military space policy also saw developments. The U.S. Space Force revealed a new initiative – the Protected Tactical Satcom-Global (PTS-G) program – which will for the first time deploy small satellites to geostationary orbit for secure communications copernical.com. Traditionally, big expensive satellites have handled Milstar and AEHF secure comms, but PTS-G will use constellations of networked smallsats to increase resiliency against jamming or anti-satellite threats. Space Force officials on Sept. 4 said this “disaggregated GEO” approach takes a cue from commercial satcom innovators like Astranis (which is already pitching a small GEO satellite, called Omega, to the military) copernical.com. This shift could mark a major change in military space architecture, making it harder for adversaries to knock out U.S. communications. Internationally, France and Germany jointly announced a new space security agreement on Sept. 5, pledging cooperation on satellite threat intelligence and calling out the need for norms against anti-satellite weapon tests after recent concerning incidents. And in a rare display of transparency, North Korea’s regime admitted on Sept. 4 that its August attempt to launch a spy satellite failed due to a rocket stage malfunction; leader Kim Jong Un has reportedly ordered another try in October, raising regional tensions once more.

Industry & Market Updates

Viasat’s Comeback with ViaSat-3: In the commercial satellite sector, Viasat made headlines by confirming that its second ViaSat-3 high-capacity satellite is finally ready to fly. On Sept. 4, Viasat announced ViaSat-3 Flight 2 (F2) is scheduled to launch in the second half of October on a ULA Atlas V from Cape Canaveral satellitetoday.com. This satellite will cover the Europe, Middle East & Africa region and is crucial to Viasat’s global broadband plan, especially after a crippling antenna failure on ViaSat-3 F1 earlier left that first satellite operating at only a fraction of its intended capacity satellitetoday.com. The upcoming launch will use one of the last Atlas V rockets (in its powerful 551 configuration) and aims to deploy F2 to geostationary orbit, with service entry expected in early 2026 satellitetoday.com. CEO Mark Dankberg said the added throughput from ViaSat-3 F2 will more than double the company’s total network bandwidth. “Our customers are excited about the addition of ViaSat-3 F2 to our global network, which we expect will significantly scale performance and number of users,” Dankberg said in a statement, noting it will enable new services for aviation, government, and consumer markets satellitetoday.com. Industry analysts view this as a make-or-break moment for Viasat’s $6+ billion ViaSat-3 constellation investment. The company’s stock jumped 5% on the news, as investors bet that a successful F2 deployment could help Viasat compete against SpaceX’s Starlink and Amazon’s upcoming Kuiper constellation in the satcom arena. In related news, Amazon’s Project Kuiper itself reached a milestone: two prototype Kuiper satellites (KuiperSat-1 & 2) safely arrived at Cape Canaveral, and Amazon confirmed a launch date of Sept. 26 on an Atlas V. This will be Amazon’s first in-space test of its planned 3,200-satellite broadband network, kicking off a launch campaign that will heavily involve Blue Origin’s New Glenn and ULA’s Vulcan rockets in 2024–25.

Lockheed’s Record Weapons Contract: Traditional aerospace giants also saw big wins – albeit in defense. On Sept. 3, the U.S. Army awarded Lockheed Martin a staggering $9.8 billion contract to produce nearly 2,000 PAC-3 MSE missile interceptors, used for Patriot air defense systems breakingdefense.com. Lockheed executives noted it’s the “largest contract in Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control history” breakingdefense.com breakingdefense.com. The multi-year deal (FY2024–2026) comes as demand for air defense skyrockets due to ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. “We’re sensing unprecedented demand… All of them want increased numbers of these interceptors,” said Jason Reynolds, Lockheed’s VP for Integrated Air and Missile Defense, citing real-world lessons from modern conflicts breakingdefense.com. While not a satellite contract per se, this massive award will inject revenue into Lockheed that could indirectly benefit its space divisions (by freeing up capital and R&D resources). It also highlights how space and defense markets are intertwined – the PAC-3 interceptors are key to shooting down ballistic missiles (potentially even those targeting space assets), and Lockheed’s success in one area often bolsters its capabilities in others like satellite manufacturing. Investors and suppliers in the aerospace sector are certainly watching how Lockheed ramps up to deliver 650+ missiles per year by 2027 under this and previous contracts breakingdefense.com breakingdefense.com.

Mergers, Acquisitions & New Players: The fast-evolving space industry saw consolidation and expansion moves this week. In Europe, Germany’s OrbitsIQ announced it is acquiring UNIO, a Munich-based startup developing a satellite constellation for inflight connectivity satellitetoday.com. The merger, revealed Sept. 4, aims to combine UNIO’s technology with OrbitsIQ’s mobility services to offer enhanced broadband to airline and maritime customers. This reflects a broader trend of satellite telecom consolidation, as players jockey for position against larger constellations. Elsewhere, Argentina’s government approved the sale of satellite operator ARSAT’s 20% stake in the low-Earth-orbit venture Satellogic to private investors, part of a privatization push. Kepler Communications (Canada) and General Atomics jointly announced a successful test of air-to-space optical communications, relaying data via laser from a UAV to an orbiting Kepler satellite satellitetoday.com. This technology could enable high-speed links for aircraft and remote drones via satellite relay. And in the Earth imaging sector, LiDAR startup Nuview snagged a $5 million U.S. DoD contract to develop a prototype space-based LiDAR mapping sensor, potentially to be hosted on a commercial satellite satellitetoday.com. The award is small but signals defense interest in commercial remote sensing innovations.

Finally, the insurance and finance side of space got a notable update: Lloyd’s of London insurers reported that global launch and satellite insurance premiums are up about 10% year-on-year, reflecting both higher launch rates and recent claims (such as the loss of a $200 million ViaSat-3 satellite earlier). However, insurers are still willing to cover mega-constellations; one underwriter was quoted saying, “With Starlink launching weekly, we’ve had to get comfortable with bulk risk – but so far their reliability is excellent”. All told, the start of September 2025 finds the space sector booming on all fronts: rockets launching in record numbers, new science being made across the solar system, and government and industry alike navigating the challenges of this fast-paced new space age.

Sources:

• Spaceflight Now – Sep. 4: “Live coverage: SpaceX aims for 500th Falcon booster landing amid sunrise Starlink mission” spaceflightnow.com spaceflightnow.com; Sep. 2: “SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites on Wednesday…” spaceflightnow.com.
• KeepTrack Space Brief – Sep. 4, 2025: Summary of Israel’s Ofek-19 launch panic and defense updates keeptrack.space keeptrack.space.
• NASA News – ISS Blog: “NASA, SpaceX Complete Dragon Space Station Reboost” (Mark Garcia, Sep. 3, 2025) nasa.gov; Science News: “Upcoming Launch to Boost NASA’s Study of Sun’s Influence Across Space” (M. Johnson-Groh, Sep. 4) science.nasa.gov science.nasa.gov.
• Via Satellite – Sep. 4: “Viasat Targets Mid- to Late-October for Second ViaSat-3 Launch with ULA” (R. Jewett) satellitetoday.com satellitetoday.com.
• Sci.News – Sep. 4: “Planetary Scientists Propose Mission to Explore Next Interstellar Comets” sci.news sci.news; Sep. 1: “Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Displays Broad Coma…” sci.news.
• Breaking Defense – Sep. 3: “Army awards Lockheed $9.8B contract for PAC-3 missiles” (C. Welch) breakingdefense.com breakingdefense.com.
• NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center – SWPC Alert Archive (Sep. 1, 2025) wgal.com wgal.com; WGAL News 8 – “Northern lights could be visible in Pennsylvania” (C. Ferreira, Sep. 1) wgal.com.
• SpacePolicyOnline – Event listings: FAA Starship EIS meeting Sep. 3 spacepolicyonline.com; GWU Space Law conference Sep. 4 spacepolicyonline.com.
• Reuters – “Russia plans to integrate homegrown AI model into ISS” (June 3, 2025) reuters.com.
• Space.com – “Blue Origin’s 2nd New Glenn rocket will fly twin NASA Mars probes…” (J. Dinner, Aug. 15) space.com space.com.