Outer Space Today - News, Research, & Insights for the Space Economy

Institutional-grade space intelligence. Launches, defense contracts, venture rounds, and market coverage for the orbital economy.

• Google's First Orbital Data Center Prototype Comes Online and Writes a Haiku

  October 30, 2026

  Google's Suncatcher prototype space data center is online and communicating with the ground after launching earlier this month aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The satellite is intended to pave the way for future networks of close-flying satellites performing large inference workloads in orbit. The spacecraft launched alongside more than 100 other satellites and completed a commissioning process over roughly three weeks that tested its subsystems before it was ready to work. It carries a single

• NASA Seeks Industry Proposals to Boost or Service Aging Hubble Telescope

  October 30, 2026

  NASA issued a Request for Information on October 29 to gauge commercial industry capabilities for in-space servicing of the Hubble Space Telescope. The move opens the door to a potential mission to extend the life of the 35-year-old observatory, which is projected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere in the early 2030s. Hubble's altitude is slowly decreasing over time because of atmospheric drag, a condition common to all spacecraft in low Earth orbit. The telescope does not have a propulsion system

• Rocket Lab's Walking Robotic Arm to Debut on NASA Orbital Demo in 2027

  October 30, 2026

  Rocket Lab has developed a robotic arm that can move autonomously across the surface of a spacecraft, performing repairs, upgrades, and assembly in zero or partial gravity. Built with NASA, the arm will make its debut on the Fly Foundational Robots mission, a technology demonstration set to launch in low Earth orbit in late 2027. Unlike traditional robotic arms that remain fixed in place, this version is designed to relocate itself and operate across a spacecraft. Rocket Lab Robotics, formerly

• FCC Opens 482 MHz to Satellite Phone Service, Clearing Path for Starlink Mobile

  October 30, 2026

  The Federal Communications Commission voted Thursday to advance a proposal opening an additional 482 MHz of spectrum to satellite service beamed directly to ordinary phones. The step could widen the road for SpaceX's Starlink Mobile to compete with the country's largest wireless carriers. The commission adopted the notice of proposed rulemaking at its October open meeting in Washington. The proposal would raise the number of bands eligible for Supplemental Coverage from Space from five to 13, a

• Astronauts Install Seventh Upgraded Solar Array, Setting Up Final ISS Power Boost

  October 30, 2026

  NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk installed and unfurled the seventh of eight new roll-out solar arrays on the International Space Station during a spacewalk on October 29. The arrays are designed to power the orbiting lab through its planned retirement in 2030, and Thursday's outing was the first of two spacewalks scheduled a week apart to complete a multi-year power upgrade. The eight IROSA arrays will raise the station's available power from 160 kilo

• AFRL to Fund $30M Cislunar Prime Challenge With Awards Starting Next Spring

  October 29, 2026

  The Air Force Research Laboratory plans to launch a new technology challenge next month aimed at accelerating systems that can operate beyond geosynchronous orbit. The effort, known as Cislunar Prime, will put $30 million toward commercial capabilities that could move the Space Force onto a faster path toward cislunar operations. SpaceWERX is leading the program, soliciting commercial capabilities in three focus areas: space domain awareness, cislunar communications, and positioning, navigation

• Vulcan Centaur Set for November 13 Return to Flight, Carrying Amazon Satellites and a Military Verdict

  October 29, 2026

  United Launch Alliance will return its Vulcan Centaur rocket to flight on November 13, launching 40 Amazon Leo broadband satellites after a nine-month grounding. The flight, designated Leo 1, carries not only the opening payload of a years-long constellation campaign but also the informal scrutiny of the U.S. national security space program, whose clearance decision the Space Force says is directly linked to the mission's outcome. The grounding traces to the same component failing the same way

• SpaceX Signals Retreat From Government Spaceflight Contracts, Leaving NASA Exposed

  October 29, 2026

  SpaceX has told NASA it will stop flying Crew Dragon by or before 2030 and has halted sales of commercial Falcon 9 launches for missions after 2028. The moves mark a sharp reversal in a relationship that once made the US government SpaceX's indispensable customer, raising questions about how NASA and the Space Force will maintain reliable access to space. For nearly a quarter century, Elon Musk and SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell pursued US government contracts as the company's path to surviva

• LeoLabs Passes $100M in Bookings, Ramps Radar Production for 2027 Deliveries

  October 29, 2026

  LeoLabs announced more than $100 million in bookings across U.S. and Allied customers, doubling its bookings growth year over year as it scales radar manufacturing. The company said its Seeker and Scout radar systems are already moving through its U.S. production line for delivery in 2027, reflecting accelerating demand for space superiority and missile defense support. The company described the growth as building on its established intelligence business, with surging demand for its next-genera

• Pentagon to Space Startups: Bring Working Hardware, Not Just Ideas

  October 29, 2026

  Three Pentagon offices delivered the same blunt message to space startups at the MilSat Symposium during Silicon Valley Space Week on Wednesday: demonstrated, working hardware and a credible path to revenue win defense business, not concepts. Officials also described new government help with security clearances aimed at moving startups faster into classified programs. Space Development Agency Director GP Sandhoo opened by arguing that too many companies arrive with ideas rather than mature tech

• Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman Named JPL Deputy Director

  October 29, 2026

  Reid Wiseman, who commanded NASA's Artemis II lunar flyby, has been named Caltech associate vice president and deputy director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The retired U.S. Navy captain and emeritus astronaut begins the role on November 30, 2026, at the laboratory that serves as NASA's center for robotic and deep space exploration. The appointment places a recently flown human spaceflight commander in senior management at JPL, which Caltech manages for NASA. Wiseman joins as the laborat

• NASA Sets 2031 Launch for UVEX, First New UV Space Telescope in Two Decades

  October 29, 2026

  NASA has committed to launching UVEX, the UltraViolet EXplorer, in 2031, a mission that will conduct the first deep-sky all-sky survey in ultraviolet light. The telescope will be roughly 100 times more sensitive than GALEX, its predecessor, whose mission ended in 2013. UVEX will fill a long-standing gap in ultraviolet sky coverage and complement surveys by other major observatories. The mission, led by Caltech, is designed to work alongside the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, the Vera Rubin

• ULA Sets Nov. 13 Vulcan Return After Nine-Month Grounding

  October 29, 2026

  United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket is scheduled to return to flight on Nov. 13, ending a pause that began in February after a solid rocket booster nozzle failed during ascent. The mission will carry 40 Amazon Leo satellites to low-Earth orbit and will mark the first Vulcan flight to use a full complement of six solid rocket boosters. Vulcan has been sidelined for roughly nine months since the mid-flight nozzle failure. The grounding stalled national-security launches and slowed Amazon's con

• Space Force Plans $946 Million Sole-Source Award to Boeing for Satellite Sustainment

  October 28, 2026

  The U.S. Space Force intends to award Boeing a sole-source contract worth up to $945.9 million to maintain and modernize military communications satellites and their ground systems. The service cited Boeing's ownership of proprietary technical data and software required to perform the work as the basis for the single-source decision. The Space Force determined that Boeing holds the proprietary technical data and software needed to carry out the sustainment and modernization effort, which the se

• US Commander Warns Industry: Systems That Need Pristine Comms Won't Survive 48 Hours in Korea

  October 28, 2026

  US and allied electronic systems are jammed daily on the Korean Peninsula, making it one of the most violently contested electromagnetic environments on the planet, the commander of US Forces Korea told an industry audience. Gen. Xavier Brunson urged companies to deliver resilient, jam-resistant capabilities built for coalition operations from the outset. Brunson made the remarks Tuesday at AFCEA TechNet Indo-Pacific in Hawaii before an audience largely made up of industry members. He described