The U.S. Space Force has tapped SpaceX for a $81.6 million National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 1 task order to loft the Weather System Follow-on–Microwave 2 (WSF-M2) satellite and a rideshare stack of small DoD spacecraft (the BLAZE-2 mission) in the first half of fiscal 2027. The award—designated mission USSF-178—marks SpaceX’s third…
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Summary of Recent Developments (Mid-2025) SpaceX’s Starship vehicle lifting off on its ninth test flight from Starbase, Texas in May 2025. Starship is the company’s next-generation, fully-reusable rocket system under development. In summary, by mid-2025 SpaceX is breaking launch records, advancing Starship’s development amid regulatory hurdles, expanding its Starlink network, and securing a growing share…
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A pre‑dawn launch from Kennedy Space Center on 25 June 2025 vaulted four astronauts from four nations into orbit aboard a brand‑new Dragon capsule they christened Grace. The two‑week private mission, arranged by Houston‑based Axiom Space and flown by SpaceX, is more than a spectacular rocket ride: it is a stress‑test of the business case for commercial research in…
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1. Why today’s flight matters At 02:31 EDT (08:31 CEST) a brand-new SpaceX Crew Dragon christened Grace roared off pad 39A, carrying four astronauts on Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4)—and with them the dreams of three nations returning to human space-flight after more than four decades. Among the passengers is Dr Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, who just became…
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Introduction: A New Era of Military Satcom is Here The U.S. Space Force has quietly teamed with SpaceX to create a secretive satellite Internet constellation for the military. Dubbed “MILNET,” this government-owned but SpaceX-operated network will comprise “480-plus” small satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) breakingdefense.com. Announced in June 2025, the MILNET contract marks a…
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Company History and Founding SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corp.) was founded by entrepreneur Elon Musk in 2002. Musk invested $100 million of his own money (from his PayPal sale) to start the company, driven by a vision of dramatically reducing space launch costs and enabling the colonization of Mars. The initial motivation came after Musk’s…
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SpaceX’s Starlink has rapidly built a mega-constellation of satellites that is reshaping how the world accesses the internet. Since launching the first batch of 60 satellites in 2019, Starlink has put thousands of satellites into low-Earth orbit to blanket the planet with broadband coverage blog.telegeography.com. By late 2024, nearly 7,000 Starlink satellites were in orbit…
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NASA’s acting administrator Janet Petro is planning a top-level reorganization of the agency, with a decision expected in weeks. The restructuring could shift functions from headquarters to field centers. With the administrator position vacant, Petro will continue to lead NASA, and a Senate-confirmed administrator may not be in place until next year.
Ghost Signals and Laser Shields: The Pentagon’s 500-Satellite Orbital Defense NetFrom Ghost Signals to Orbital Shields In June 2024, Australian astronomers detected a mysterious, intense burst of radio waves originating from near Earth. Initially, they thought they’d found a new pulsar or quasar. Instead, they traced the 30-nanosecond pulse to an unlikely source – NASA’s defu…
Quiet Goodbye, Bold Hello: Japan’s H3 Rocket Takes the Torch from H-2A to Slash Costs and Double CadenceFarewell to H-2A: A Final Flight and a New Beginning Japan’s workhorse H-2A rocket concluded nearly 25 years of service with its 50th and final launch on June 28, 2025, carrying the GOSAT-GW climate-monitoring satellite into orbit space.com space.com. Debuting in 2001, the H-2A achieved a 98% suc…
ForgeStar-1: Pioneering the UK’s Orbital Chip Foundry in SpaceForgeStar-1 is a groundbreaking in-space manufacturing satellite developed by Welsh startup Space Forge – a project aimed at creating the world’s first orbital semiconductor foundry. Launched in June 2025, ForgeStar-1 became the UK’s first in-space manufacturing mission, designed to produce advan…
