Vol 45, Week 40

NASA & NEWSPACE

• NASA and Boeing announced they are targeting Dec 2026 or Jan 2027 for the uncrewed Starliner 1 validation flight to the International Space Station.
• SpaceX’s Starship Flight 14 reached orbit for the first time & deployed 26 Starlink satellites, but an engine problem cut the mission short before it ended in a fiery splashdown explosion.
• Varda Space announced it secured $251 million to expand its uncrewed orbital manufacturing fleet and expand space-based pharmaceutical processing. 

GLOBAL REPORTS

• Skyrora successfully completed a 45-second “hot fire” rocket test to validate systems ahead of its planned satellite launches from Scotland.
• Following the failure of the Hayabusa2’s final ion engine, JAXA is working to combine components from two previously broken engines to resume propulsion for the extended mission.
• Fifteen EU countries agreed to launch a €50 million defense initiative by 2029 to share orbital data and protect military satellites.

BEYOND EARTH

• Hubble revealed a giant, strengthening, 10-sided atmospheric wave (a decagon) encircling Saturn’s south pole.
• A new study shows that Mars’ north polar ice cap may contain only about 3% dust by mass compared to earlier models showing 25%.
• The ALMA radio telescope has captured the clearest image to date of twin exoplanets, WISPIT 2b and WISPIT 2c, actively forming 437 light-years away.