Space Commerce Week

Entrepreneur Jarad Isaacman has been confirmed as the next Administrator of NASA. The U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted 67-30 in favor of the nomination. Isaacman was first nominated for the job by President Donald Trump in December, 2024, and he appeared to be headed for an easy confirmation. But that was derailed when the nomination was abruptly withdrawn in late May while the confirmation process...

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick has announced the appointment of Taylor Jordan as Director of the Office of Space Commerce (OSC), underscoring the Trump Administration’s commitment to strengthening U.S. leadership in space commerce. Mr. Jordan will continue to serve concurrently as assistant secretary of commerce for environmental observation and prediction at NOAA. Jordan brings more th...

It wasn’t exactly the hot seat, but Jarad Isaacman was back in front of the United States Senate Commerce Committee to answer questions about his qualifications to be the next administrator of NASA. Isaacman had been tapped by President Donald Trump in December, 2024 for the post during the transition period, and Isaacman appeared to be headed for easy confirmation with bipartisan support. But his...

Sidus Space reported a net loss of $6 million in the third quarter as it advances its strategic transition toward higher-value commercial operations. The aerospace company reported third-quarter revenue of $1.3 million, down 31 percent from $1.9 million in the same period last year. The decline reflects a strategic shift away from lower-margin legacy services toward higher-value commercial technol...

The Federal Communications Commission has launched what it calls a generational rulemaking to overhaul its satellite and earth-station licensing processes . This proceeding represents the centerpiece of the Commission’s Final Frontiers agenda to ensure that America’s space innovators build and win on the global stage. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would overhaul the agency’s decades-old regula...

Without much fanfare, President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social and X that he was renominating Jared Isaacman to be the next NASA Administrator. In the social media post, Trump said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has “done an incredible job as Interim Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). I am pleased to nominate Jared Isaacman, an accomplished busi...

The Photon spacecraft for Eta Space and NASA’s LOXSAT mission has been completed by Rocket Lab. The final piece to be cleared was the Systems Integration Review (SIR) which allows the spacecraft to proceed with payload integration. Rocket Lab will now move the mission into environmental testing – the next phase before its launch on Electron in early 2026. LOXSAT is an on-orbit technology demonstra...

A comprehensive security study has exposed significant vulnerabilities in geostationary satellite communications . The study found that sensitive data from corporations, governments and millions of consumers can be intercepted using equipment costing just a few hundred dollars. The University of California, San Diego and University of Maryland research team observed 411 transponders across 39 geos...

The 11th flight test of Starship went off without a hitch Monday, lifting off at 6:23 p.m. CT from Starbase in south Texas and ending with the booster landing in the Gulf of America and Ship splashing down in the Indian Ocean. This was the final flight of the second-generation Starship and first generation Super Heavy booster, as well as the final launch from the current configuration of Pad 1. Ev...

The commercial space industry attracted $5.8 billion across 115 companies in the third quarter of 2025, putting the year on track to rank among the top three funding years on record, according to Space Capital’s latest quarterly report . The report noted that NASA faces budget constraints, with the administration proposing cuts while Congress works to maintain funding near $25 billion. That is pus...

We saw a couple of strategic acquisitions in the Space Commerce world this week. Intuitive Machines has completed its previously announced acquisition of KinetX , which specializes in deep space navigation, systems engineering, and constellation mission design. Intuitive Machines says the acquisition enhances its ability to provide customers secure, reliable communications and precision navigation...

A technology that allows a single system to operate in both high-thrust chemical and high-efficiency electric modes has been acquired by Quantum Space. This strategic acquisition from Phase Four, which also includes an integration and test facility in Los Angeles, strengthens Quantum Space’s ability to deliver highly maneuverable, persistent, and cost-efficient platforms for its national security,...

Representatives from the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) joined U.S. government and European Union (E.U.) colleagues in Washington, D.C. recently for the 13th U.S.-E.U. Space Dialogue . DOC attendees included representatives from NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, the Office of Space Commerce, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Nation...

Federal regulators accepted applications that would enable satellites to provide cellular coverage directly to existing smartphones in partnership with major wireless carriers. The FCC announced last week that AST SpaceMobile and AT&T, Verizon, and FirstNet have filed joint applications for supplemental coverage from space authorization. The Space Bureau, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, and Pu...

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,...