Space Voyaging

Intuitive Machines has been awarded two additional contracts for Direct-To-Earth communication services as part of NASA’s Near Space Network framework. The company will provide Geostationary to Cislunar DTE Services with data transmission capabilities and operations and xCislunar DTE Services for highly elliptical orbits and deep space operations. The firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts are part of the general agreement for NASA’s NSN signed in September 2024 and worth up to $4.82 billion. The contract has a five-year base period that may be extended until September 30, 2034. Read more: https://lnkd.in/dY_rcPmX #IntuitiveMachines #NSN #Moon #NASA

In a press release on December 17, 2025, Rocket Lab announced the delivery of the second Pioneer vehicle to Vandenberg Space Force Base, ready to launch the Varda Space Industries W-2 mission in the first quarter of 2025. At the same time, the Long Beach company declared the completion of the production and testing of the third vehicle for Varda. The two Pioneer spacecraft are part of a contract signed in 2021 by Varda and Rocket Lab to produce four vehicles hosting Varda’s Winnebago, an in-space manufacturing test platform equipped with an innovative hypersonic reentry capsule. The first spacecraft enabled Varda’s successful W-1 mission, which launched in June 2023 and landed in February 2024. Read more: https://lnkd.in/dBhenHVw #RocketLab #Varda #Winnebago #spacemanufacturing #spaceeconomy

On Friday, December 22, 2024 (in New Zealand), Rocket Lab launched the “Owl The Way Up” Mission for  Synspective Inc., the sixth out of a total of 16 booked missions on board the Electron rocket from the Japanese Earth observation company. Synspective's StriX SAR satellites are designed to provide advanced Earth imagery. They can detect millimeter-level changes to the elevation or shape of the surface from space. Read more: https://lnkd.in/dJ-nfURj #Synspective #OwlTheWayUp #RocketLab #Electron #StriX #launch

On December 19, 2024, cosmonauts Alexei Ovchinin and Ivan Wagner exited the Poisk module Airlock for an EVA called VKD #63. The EVA lasted 7 hours and 17 minutes, during which, in addition to other planned activities, the X-ray observatory SPIN-X-MVN was installed. This is an innovative and fundamental instrument for detecting the cosmic X-ray background (CXB) which consists of radiation from millions of distant objects that cannot yet be “seen” individually. Read more: https://lnkd.in/d6pKUPw4 #EVA #ISS #Roscosmos #Cosmonauts #Xray

Today, December 21, SpaceX launched the Bandwagon-2 rideshare mission in Low Earth Orbit. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 11:34 UTC from the Vandenberg Space Force Base SLC-4E in California. Today’s mission marks SpaceX’s second mission of this kind, aiming to provide a key launch service for customers looking to deploy payloads into low Earth orbits at a 45-degree inclination. Bandwagon-2 carried a total of 30 payloads. Two of the main customers on this flight were the South Korean government and Exolaunch, which provided deployment services for different customers. Read more: https://lnkd.in/dqVtpXtA #Bandwagon2 #SpaceX #Falcon9 #launch #Vandenberg

Firefly Aerospace has been awarded a $179.6 million contract by NASA to deliver six scientific instruments to the Gruithuisen Domes on the Moon’s near side. This mission, part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, is scheduled for 2028 and will employ Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander, Elytra Dark orbital transfer vehicle, and a rover supplied by an industry partner. The Gruithuisen Domes, a geologically unique region of the Moon, will be explored for the first time to uncover their composition and investigate potential signs of lunar water and hydrogen. Read more: https://lnkd.in/djc_Yvqb #Firefly #NASA #BlueGhost #Moon #Moonexploration #CLPS

Today, December 18, the Italian company AVIO and the European Space Agency - ESA signed multiple contracts to increase the launch operations of the Vega launchers family. The total value of the signed contracts amounts to approximately €350 million. As part of the accords, ESA will support Avio in upgrading Vega C ground systems at Kourou and developing the future Vega E rocket. Furthermore, the company has been selected to provide launch services for the FORUM mission in 2027. Read more: https://lnkd.in/d6JE9N6J #ESA #Avio #VegaC #VegaE #contracts #FORUM #launch

The global small satellite (smallsat) industry continues to exhibit resilience and robust growth, according to Novaspace (Merger of Euroconsult & SpaceTec Partners)’s recently published Prospects for the Small Satellite Market report. Forecasting a market value of approximately $113.3 billion over the next decade, the report underscores the significant expansion potential driven by constellation replenishments and increasingly complex government missions. Alexandre Najjar, lead analyst for the report, emphasized the critical role of constellations in shaping the smallsat market. These systems, which account for 70% of projected smallsat deployments, play a pivotal role in capability-building for emerging space actors and established operators alike. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eq37fZ2i #Smallsat #market #spaceeconomy #satellites #report #Novaspace

During the last NewSpace Europe Conference, Space Cargo Unlimited (SCU) and ATMOS Space Cargo announced their partnership to carry out seven commercial missions to Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) from late 2025 to 2027. Using a SpaceX rideshare mission, SCU will send to LEO the BENTOBOX, its fully autonomous research and factory platform capable of hosting over 100 kg of payload, which will return to Earth on PHEONIX, ATMOS’ inflatable re-entry capsule. Read more: https://lnkd.in/dRptU8kJ #ATMOS #SpaceCargoUnlimited #BENTOBOX #PHOENIX #SpaceX #capsule #space

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has officially started the works with its Aerospace Rulemaking Committee, to review and propose updates to the Part 450 commercial space launch and reentry licensing regulations, a set of rules that govern the licensing and safety requirements for commercial spaceflight operators. This announcement came on December 5, 2024, and the initiative hopes to mark a critical step in ensuring regulatory clarity, flexibility, and innovation in the rapidly evolving commercial space sector, without compromising public safety. Read more: https://lnkd.in/d-eJ-WuN #FAA #Regulations #spaceflight #space