Space Commerce Week

The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation held a hearing Wednesday focused on the issue of what nation will be first to land the next humans on the Moon. The hearing, titled "There’s a Bad Moon on the Rise: Why Congress and NASA Must Thwart China in the Space Race”, included testimony from former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, as well as Allen Cutler, president and CEO...

The 10th Starship test flight , conducted Tuesday evening, met every major objective laid out for the flight. The flight test began with Super Heavy successfully lifting off by igniting all 33 Raptor engines and ascending over the Gulf of America. The successful ascent was followed by a hot-staging maneuver, with Starship’s upper stage igniting its six Raptor engines to separate from Super Heavy a...

U.S. Transportation Secretary and Acting NASA Administrator Sean P. Duffy recently marked the FAA’s 1,000th operation of a commercial space vehicle that the agency licensed or permitted. As the number of launches and reentries continues to grow, particularly with the signing last week of the “Enabling Competition in the Commercial Space Industry” Executive Order, the FAA is moving forward with act...

President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an Executive Order (EO) titled “Enabling Competition in the Commercial Space Industry” that will enable a competitive launch marketplace and substantially increase the commercial space launch cadence and novel space activities by 2030. According to the text of the EO, the commercial space industry drives economic growth, supports cutting-edge technology,...

NASA has awarded a CLPS contract valued at $176.7 million to Firefly Aerospace to deliver five NASA-sponsored payloads to the Moon’s south pole in 2029. The mission will utilize Firefly’s Elytra orbital vehicle and Blue Ghost lunar lander to enable payload operations that include evaluating the Moon’s south pole resources, such as hydrogen, water, and other minerals, and studying the radiation and...

The maiden test launch of Australia's first locally designed and built orbital rocket was conducted Wednesday by Gilmour Space Technologies , marking a major milestone toward offering low-cost, responsive launch services for small satellites. The 75-foot, 30-metric ton Eris rocket, powered by new hybrid propulsion technology, successfully lifted off from the Bowen Orbital Spaceport in North Queens...

As human access to space continues to surge, a new bipartisan Congressional Caucus dedicated to U.S. leadership in space exploration has officially been established. The Advancing Humanity in Space Congressional Caucus (AHSCC) was formed through the leadership and vision of its four bipartisan co-chairs: Republicans Don Bacon of Nebraska and Gabe Evans of Colorado, along with Democrats Glenn Ivey...

On April 30, 2024, SES and Intelsat announced an agreement for SES to acquire Intelsat for a cash consideration of $3.1 billion, or about €2.8 billion. The transaction was subject to receipt of relevant regulatory clearances and other relevant requirements which all have now been obtained. That merger closed earlier this week . The acquisition has been in the works since at least 2023, when the tw...

The FCC has approved a joint request from T-Mobile USA and SpaceX to waive several regulatory requirements, allowing more consumer smartphones to access satellite-based services under the Supplemental Coverage from Space (SCS) initiative. The waiver permits handsets certified before June 29, 2024—but not yet authorized under satellite-specific rules—to connect to the Starlink satellite network via...

The 68th Electron rocket was launched last weekend, deploying a single satellite to space for a confidential commercial customer. The mission was the second of two launches for Rocket Lab from the same launch site in less than 48 hours, a new launch record for the company. The ‘Symphony In The Stars’ mission lifted-off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand on June 28th to deploy a...

Monday was a very busy day for commercial space launch companies , and both coasts saw some launch action this week. In the early morning hours Monday, SpaceX lofted another 27 Starlink satellites into orbit just before 2:00 am. The launch marked a milestone for the booster that was used. It was the 25th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched CRS-24,...

You've heard of the "Big Beautiful Bill" ... also known as the Budget Reconciliation Act. One of the provisions in that bill is for space companies to pay a fee for launching rockets beginning next year. According to the text of the bill in both houses of Congress, starting in 2026, the Secretary of Transportation would impose fees on each space launch or reentry under a license or permit. The fee...

The 66th Electron rocket launched by Rocket Lab has deployed the latest satellite to orbit for Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space, Inc. (iQPS). The ‘The Mountain God Guards’ mission was Rocket Lab’s second launch in less than a month for iQPS and its fourth overall with 100% mission success. The deployment of the QPS-SAR-11 was relayed to the early-morning YouTube audience by Rocket Lab Mission...

ispace suffered another setback Thursday when the HAKUTO-R Lunar Lander was apparently lost during its landing attempt . Telemetry was lost from the lander about 65 seconds before the scheduled landing time. After a tense half hour, the ispace commentators on the company live YouTube stream said that the mission control team had been unable to establish communications with the lander. "We haven't...

SpaceX has a mantra: Fly, Learn, Repeat. And there will be a lot for SpaceX to learn from the ninth test flight of Starship, which ended with the loss of both the booster and 'Ship'. Starship’s ninth flight test lifted off at 6:36 p.m. CT on Tuesday from Starbase, Texas. The Super Heavy booster supporting the mission made the first ever reflight in the Starship program, having previously launched...

(Editor’s Note: After the production deadline for the audio version of our weekly review, the FAA approved Starship for its Return to Flight) The FAA has approved license modifications for the SpaceX Starship Flight 9 mission. The approval includes final action allowing SpaceX to increase Starship operations from five up to 25 per year at Boca Chica, Texas. However, SpaceX may not launch until the...

The FAA has released its Final Tiered Environmental Assessment authorizing SpaceX to conduct as many as 25 Starship launches per year from Starbase in Boca Chica. The Revised Final EA evaluates two alternatives in detail: the Proposed Action and the No Action Alternative. The Proposed Action alternative would modify SpaceX’s existing vehicle operator license. It would authorize the company's propo...

The first look at the NASA budget, and a self-assembling space architecture. Here are some of the top stories from The Journal of Space Commerce this week. The FY26 federal budget proposed by the Trump administration would accelerate NASA's human space exploration of the Moon and Mars with what the administration calls a fiscally responsible portfolio of missions. The Budget refocuses NASA funding...

Closing In on a NASA Administrator, and the Impact of the Space Economy. Here are some of the top stories from The Journal of Space Commerce this week. The Senate Commerce Committee voted 19-9 on Wednesday to advance the nomination of Jared Isaacman to be the next administrator of NASA. The nomination now moves to the full senate for a final vote. Isaacman, 42, has traveled to space on two occasio...

Obtaining Space Situational Awareness Data, and a Curriculum for the Final Frontier. Here are some of the top stories from The Journal of Space Commerce this week. The Office of Space Commerce (OSC) has released a Request for Information seeking input on a future multi-vendor contract structure for obtaining space situational awareness (SSA) data and services. Responses will help shape OSC’s acqui...

Space employment and space investment are both on the rise. Here are some of the top stories from The Journal of Space Commerce this week. The Space Report 2025 Q1, which shows space sector employment growth outpacing U.S. private sector growth, has been released by The Space Foundation. In the last decade, overall private sector employment increased 14.3%, while space sector employment increased...

NASA Administrator nominee Jared Isaacman meets with the U.S. Senate, and Political Change and Space Commerce. Here are some of the top stories from The Journal of Space Commerce this week. The U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation committee held a hearing Wednesday to consider the nomination of Entrepreneur Jared Isaacman to be the next NASA Administrator. While Isaacman by his own adm...

The impact of space commerce on the U.S. economy, and another all-civilian space flight. I'm Tom Patton, and here are some of the top stories from The Journal of Space Commerce this week. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has released new and updated U.S. space economy statistics for 2012–2023. These statistics provide estimates of the U.S. space economy's gross domestic product (GDP) and...

SpaceX looks to increase its launch cadence from Cape Canaveral. I'm Tom Patton, and here are some of the top stories from The Journal of Space Commerce this week. The FAA has posted for public review a Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) analyzing the SpaceX proposal to increase Falcon 9 operations from 50 to up to 120 per year from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Statio...

Lunar Success, and the return of Crew-9. I'm Tom Patton, and here are some of the stories we covered for you this week on The Journal of Space Commerce. After landing on the Moon with NASA science and technology demonstrations March 2, Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission 1 concluded its mission March 16. But analysis of data returned to Earth from the NASA instruments continues, benefitting fut...