Tag: United States
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Rubio Launches Space Catalyst Partnership to Direct U.S. Foreign Aid Toward Space Companies
Secretary of State Marco Rubio unveiled the State Department’s flagship space diplomacy initiative, the Space Catalyst Partnership, during an official visit to Lima on September 10, 2026. The initiative will direct foreign-assistance funding toward projects that use U.S. space goods and services, making space cooperation a tool for expanding overseas opportunities for American companies. Peru…
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U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman Says Military Must Prepare for Contested Cislunar Space
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on September 16, 2026, that U.S. forces must prepare to operate in contested environments extending to cislunar space. Speaking at the Air & Space Forces Association’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, he described the modern battlefield as spanning “from the…
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SpaceX Falcon 9 Landing Team Wins First Neil Armstrong Space Prize for Pioneering Reusable Booster Landings
Purdue University presented its first Neil Armstrong Space Prize to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Booster Landing Team on September 15, 2026, at the Cosmos Club in Washington, D.C. Announced in April, the award recognizes the team’s development of vertical booster landings, which made repeated first-stage reuse a routine part of orbital launches. Five SpaceX employees accepted…
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SpaceSail, China SatNet and Starlink: Why Satellite Internet Constellations Need So Many Satellites
On the morning of September 16, 2026, the Gravity-1 Y3 rocket lifted off from waters east of Shanghai and placed eight SpaceSail constellation satellites into orbit. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology subsequently announced that 256 SpaceSail satellites had now been launched.[1] The data centers, fiber-optic cables and base stations underpinning terrestrial internet services…
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Rocket Lab Raises $1.94 Billion to Fully Finance Iridium Acquisition
Rocket Lab has completed a $1.944 billion equity offering and secured lender consent to retain Iridium Communications’ existing term loan after its planned acquisition. Together with available cash, those steps provide sufficient funding for the transaction’s cash payments, specified debt repayments and closing costs. Rocket Lab has terminated a $3.6 billion bridge financing commitment, removing…
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SpaceX Sets Sept. 22 for Starship’s First Orbital Flight and Starlink V3 Deployment
SpaceX is targeting Sept. 22, 2026, for the first orbital flight of its Starship launch system, a roughly 10-hour mission that will deploy 26 Starlink V3 satellites and send the spacecraft around Earth six times before a planned Pacific Ocean splashdown. Flight 14 is scheduled to lift off from Starbase in South Texas during a…
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Victor Glover Takes Cal Poly Leadership Role After Artemis II Moon Mission
NASA astronaut Victor Glover has moved to emeritus status after piloting the Artemis II mission around the Moon in April 2026 and has begun a full-time role as executive advisor to California Polytechnic State University President Jeff Armstrong. Glover started the Cal Poly position on September 1 and plans to relocate from Houston to California…
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US Space Force Confirms Operation of On-Orbit Weapons, Emphasizes Deterrence
The U.S. Space Force operates weapons in orbit to defend American and allied forces against space-enabled attacks, Chief of Space Operations Gen. Douglas Schiess said during a September 15 address at the Air & Space Forces Association’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland. The unusually direct acknowledgment broadens the publicly confirmed scope…
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Blue Origin to Study Historic AFRL Rocket Engine Hardware Under Expanded CRADA
Blue Origin and the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Rocket and Space Propulsion Division have signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement giving the company access to advanced propulsion hardware, engineering data and technical artifacts developed under two historic U.S. Air Force rocket engine programs. The material from the Hydrocarbon Boost and Integrated Powerhead Demonstrator programs…
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US Space Force Operating On-Orbit Space Control Weapons, Air Force Secretary Says
The U.S. Space Force is operating on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending American and allied forces from hostile action, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said September 14 during the Air & Space Forces Association’s 2026 Air, Space & Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland. The disclosure is the Pentagon’s most explicit public acknowledgment that…