NASA CHIEF BLASTS BOEING, SPACE AGENCY FOR FAILED STARLINER ASTRONAUT MISSION - NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman is blaming Boeing and his own agency for botching a test flight of the Starliner spacecraft, designed to take astronauts to and from the International Space Station. A 311-page report details the issues that led to the failure of Starliner's first crewed test flight, which in June 2024 launched NASA astronauts Butch Willmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral Space Force station in Florida. More (Source: NPR - Feb 20)
TOO MANY SATELLITES? EARTH'S ORBIT IS ON TRACK FOR A CATASTROPHE—BUT WE CAN STOP IT - On January 30, 2026, SpaceX filed an application with the US Federal Communications Commission for a megaconstellation of up to 1 million satellites to power data centers in space. The proposal envisions satellites operating between 500 and 2,000 kilometers in low Earth orbit. Some of the orbits are designed for near-constant exposure to sunlight. The public can currently submit comments on this proposal. SpaceX's filing is just the latest among exponentially growing satellite megaconstellation proposals. Such satellites operate with a single purpose and have short replacement life cycles of about five years. More (Source: Phys.org - Feb 20)
DOD EYES COMMERCIAL SATELLITES THAT CAN SPY ON OTHER SATELLITES - The Pentagon is looking for cheap commercial satellites that can maintain surveillance on other satellites in orbit, including close-range inspections, according to a Defense Innovation Unit solicitation published Tuesday. The Geosynchronous High-Resolution Optical Space-Based Tactical Reconnaissance project — also referred to as “Ghost Recon” (as in the Tom Clancy novels and video games) — is intended to address a vulnerability in America’s space-monitoring capabilities. More (Source: Defense News - Feb 19)
THIS COMPANY JUST INKED 1ST NASA DEAL TO SEND ASTRONAUTS TO THE ISS - More non-government astronauts are due to spend some time at the International Space Station under NASA's latest commercial partnership. California-based Vast inked a deal that paves the way for the aerospace company to send four private astronauts not affiliated with space agencies like NASA to the orbital outpost for up to 14 days. While it'll be the debut private astronaut mission for Vast, ventures of this kind aren't exactly new territory for NASA. More (Source: USA Today - Feb 19)
NOAA’S NEXT JPSS WEATHER SATELLITE, JPSS-4, COMPLETES SOLAR ARRAY DEPLOYMENT TEST - In an accordion-like motion, five solar panels successfully unfolded from the JPSS-4 satellite during its solar array deployment test, marking a major milestone for the next satellite launch in NOAA’s Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). As one of the major testing milestones for the weather satellite, the solar array deployment test verified that the satellite’s solar panels can deploy once launched into orbit, where they will provide the satellite with necessary solar energy for mission operations. More (Source: NESDIS - NOAA - Feb 18)
'FULLY UNLOCKING THE ORBITAL ECONOMY': THIS CALIFORNIA COMPANY WILL FLY ASTRONAUTS TO THE SPACE STATION IN 2027 - A California startup will operate its first astronaut mission next year, if all goes according to plan. NASA announced on Thursday (Feb. 12) that it has picked Long Beach-based Vast to conduct the sixth private astronaut flight to the International Space Station (ISS), which will launch no earlier than summer 2027. The selection is a big deal for Vast and for NASA, which wants private companies to take the reins from the ISS when it's decommissioned in 2030. More (Source: Space.com - Feb 17)
DOUBLE DELIVERY: SPACEX SENDS STARLINK SATELLITES INTO ORBIT ON LAUNCHES FROM CALIFORNIA AND FLORIDA - paceX added a 53 satellites to its Starlink megaconstellation over the course of two launches in as many days. First up was a Valentine's Day (Saturday, Feb. 14) liftoff of 24 satellites (Group 17-13) from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.. The Falcon 9 rocket launched at 8:59 p.m. EST (0159 GMT on Feb. 15 or 5:59 p.m. PDT local time). Then early Monday morning (Feb. 16), another Falcon 9 with 29 Starlink units (Group 6-103) took off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. That liftoff occurred at 2:59 a.m. EST (0759 GMT). More (Source: Space.com - Feb 17)
REPLACEMENT CREW DOCKS AT SPACE STATION, BOOSTS CREW BACK TO SEVEN - A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule glided in for a Valentine’s Day docking at the International Space Station Saturday boosting the lab’s crew back to a full complement of seven one month after four other fliers came home early because of a medical issue. The Crew Dragon docked at the space-facing port of the lab’s forward Harmony module at 3:15 p.m. EST, 34 hours after launch Friday from the Kennedy Space Center atop a Falcon 9 rocket. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 16)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 600TH FALCON 9 ROCKET TO DATE WITH STARLINK FLIGHT FROM VANDENBERG - SpaceX continued its busy weekend with the launch of its 600th Falcon 9 rocket to date. The milestone mission comes hours after its Dragon spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station as part of its 20th human spaceflight mission. The Starlink 17-13 mission launched Saturday evening from Vandenberg Space Force Base. It sent 24 Starlink V2 Mini satellites into low Earth orbit. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 15)
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