2025 12 News

31 Dec 2025

• China to debut reusable Long March 10-derived rocket in first half of 2026
• China caps record year for orbital launches with Tianhui-7 and Shijian-29 technology test missions
• Space Forge generates plasma for LEO semiconductor material production

30 Dec 2025

• ESA confirms data breach
• Isaacman opens door to alternatives to moving shuttle Discovery to Houston

29 Dec 2025

• Proposal to dismantle NCAR would have space science impacts
• China hits 90 launches as Guowang deployment continues, Fengyun-4C heads to GEO

28 Dec 2025

• Synspective tapped to provide satellite imagery for Japan’s new military constellation

27 Dec 2025

• ESA to hire 520 new staff as workforce expansion begins in 2026
• Live coverage: SpaceX to launch Italian Earth observation satellite on final Falcon 9 flight of 2025

26 Dec 2025

• Former ULA chief Bruno joins Blue Origin
• Perseverance continues science mission amid uncertainty about Mars Sample Return
• United Launch Alliance chief Tory Bruno resigns

24 Dec 2025

• Innospace plans second launch in 2026 after failure of first Hanbit-Nano rocket

23 Dec 2025

• ESA to hire 520 new staff as workforce expansion begins in 2026
• China just carried out its second reusable launch attempt in three weeks

22 Dec 2025

• CACI to buy space technology firm ARKA for $2.6 billion
• United Launch Alliance chief Tory Bruno resigns
• Japan’s H3 suffers second-stage anomaly, QZS-5 satellite lost
• H3 rocket suffers upper stage anomaly, fails to correctly deploy navigation satellite
• Tory Bruno steps down as President, CEO of ULA
• NASA rewraps Boeing Starliner Astrovan II for Artemis II ride to launch pad
• Safety panel says NASA should have taken Starliner incident more seriously

21 Dec 2025

• Isaacman emphasizes accelerating NASA programs as he takes agency’s reins
• Rocket Lab wraps up record launch year
• Astronauts, launch teams practice Artemis 2 countdown

20 Dec 2025

• Blue Origin flies first wheelchair user to space

19 Dec 2025

• Space Development Agency awards $3.5 billion in contracts for missile-tracking satellites
• Hungary’s 4iG commits to $100 million Axiom Space investment
• ESA weighing options to address exploration funding shortfall
• Astrobotic secures contracts for suborbital vehicle development
• Rocket Report: Russia pledges quick fix for Soyuz launch pad; Ariane 6 aims high
• Russia is about to do the most Russia thing ever with its next space station
• Two space startups prove you don’t need to break the bank to rendezvous in space

18 Dec 2025

• Germany awards $1.9 billion SAR satellite deal to Rheinmetall-Iceye venture
• HawkEye 360 expands defense footprint with acquisition of Innovative Signal Analysis
• Space community celebrates Isaacman confirmation
• Rocket Lab launches Space Force and NASA ‘DiskSat’ experiment
• Rocket Lab launches 4 novel DiskSat satellites for U.S. Space Force, NASA
• Senate confirms Jared Isaacman as 15th NASA Administrator
• NASA will soon find out if the Perseverance rover can really persevere on Mars
• The inside story of SpaceX’s historic rocket landing that changed launch forever

17 Dec 2025

• Senate confirms Isaacman as NASA administrator
• Lux Aeterna to land first reusable satellite in Australia
• Max Space unveils plans for commercial space station
• Ariane 6 launches Galileo navigation satellites
• OQ Technology links commercial IoT chipset to LEO satellite
• EraDrive raises $5.3 million for software-hardware kits to enhance satellite autonomy
• SpaceX flies Starlink mission using Falcon 9 booster flying for a 30th time

16 Dec 2025

• Vantor partners with Niantic Spatial on GPS-free navigation for defense market
• EraDrive raises $5.3 million for software-hardware kits to enhance satellite autonomy
• SpaceX claims close approach to Starlink satellite by payload from Chinese launch
• China launches experimental cargo spacecraft, opaque tech demo mission and remote sensing satellite
• MAVEN telemetry shows changes to spacecraft orbit and rotation
• The $4.3 billion space telescope Trump tried to cancel is now complete

15 Dec 2025

• Space Force uses AI challenge to push everyday use of artificial intelligence
• NASA to test SpaceX’s Starshield in pilot program
• GomSpace to provide RF subsystem for Apolink LEO relay demonstrator
• Starfish Space and Impulse Space demonstrate autonomous spacecraft proximity operations
• MetaSeismic material mitigates vibration and shock in NASA Marshall testing
• Live coverage: ULA Atlas 5 launch will put Amazon’s 180th broadband satellite in low Earth orbit
• Rocket Lab to launch second of three planned Electron rockets this week
• Oh look, yet another Starship clone has popped up in China

14 Dec 2025

• Rocket Lab launches JAXA tech demo satellite
• Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 29 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral
• Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 29 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center

13 Dec 2025

• SpaceX executive confirms interest in an IPO
• Live coverage: SpaceX aims for 550th booster landing amid Saturday night flight

12 Dec 2025

• Intuitive Machines and Telespazio to collaborate on lunar satellite networks
• China plans 2026 debut of new rocket for crewed lunar and LEO missions
• Space Force Association unveils virtual ‘National Spacepower Center’ for education and wargaming
• NASA advances heliophysics mission into next phase
• China launches new Guowang satellites, Long March 12A launch and landing attempt date set
• SpaceX IPO plan sets stage for a surge of other space listings
• Study: Current, future megaconstellations risk space-based astronomy
• Investors commit quarter-billion dollars to startup designing “Giga” satellites
• Rocket Report: Neutron’s Hungry Hippo is deemed ready, whither Orbex?

11 Dec 2025

• SpaceX IPO plan sets stage for a surge of other space listings
• K2 Space raises $250 million to scale high-power satellite line
• BAE Systems wins $16 million DARPA award to advance autonomous satellite tasking
• Report identifies science objectives of human Mars exploration
• GEO satellite refueling a priority for national security, commercial markets, new analysis finds
• Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 29 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral

10 Dec 2025

• Voyager wins $21 million Air Force contract for AI-driven signals processing
• Multiple space companies join NATO’s DIANA defense accelerator
• Helsing and Kongsberg plot multi-mission European defense space network
• China launches new TJS satellite, commercial Kinetica-1 lofts 9 spacecraft
• Colliding space debris produces radio bursts, raising prospect of ‘debris weather’ alerts
• Odin Space raises $3 million in seed funding
• Benchmark demonstrates high-throughput ASCENT thruster in hotfire testing at Edwards Air Force Base
• NASA loses contact with MAVEN Mars orbiter
• Overview Energy demonstrates technologies for space solar power
• SpaceX launches 160th Falcon 9 rocket of 2025
• After key Russian launch site is damaged, NASA accelerates Dragon supply missions

09 Dec 2025

• Chinese astronauts inspect debris-damaged Shenzhou-20 spacecraft during spacewalk
• Canada picks Telesat and MDA to study Arctic military communications constellation
• TrustPoint sets 2027 target for initial rollout of LEO-based navigation services
• LeoLabs lands interagency contract to feed TraCSS and track adversarial spacecraft
• Muon Space to develop sensor payload for missile defense satellites
• Space-based solar power startup Aetherflux enters orbital data center race
• China launches 4 times in 4 days, boosting megaconstellation and surveillance assets
• Senate committee advances Isaacman nomination a second time
• Soyuz safely lands in Kazakhstan
• SpaceX launches classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office
• Asked why we need Golden Dome, the man in charge points to a Hollywood film
• In a major new report, scientists build rationale for sending astronauts to Mars
• NASA astronauts will have their own droid when they go back to the Moon

08 Dec 2025

• Pentagon weighs consolidation of DIU tech portfolio
• How Spain and Poland pushed Europe’s new priorities with record contributions
• Study quantifies costs of EU Space Act to European and U.S. companies
• NASA extends agreement with CASIS for ISS national lab
• Guetlein defends Golden Dome secrecy, says industry is ‘well informed’ despite criticism
• China hearing focuses on U.S. policy shortfalls

07 Dec 2025

• Guetlein defends Golden Dome secrecy, says industry is ‘well informed’ despite criticism
• China hearing focuses on U.S. policy shortfalls
• SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB

06 Dec 2025

• SpaceX gets approval to build Starship launch complex at Cape Canaveral

05 Dec 2025

• Castelion raises $350 million to scale hypersonic missile production
• Northrop Grumman continues solid rocket motor development and test program
• Orbex trails other European Launcher Challenge companies as U.K. delays funding decision
• China faces temporary emergency launch gap after space station lifeboat crisis
• International Space Station prepares for new commander, heads into final five years of planned operations
• Rocket Report: Blunder at Baikonur; do launchers really need rocket engines?

04 Dec 2025

• Final proposals leave SpaceX and Amazon with 4% of $20 billion rural broadband subsidies
• Washington Harbour deepens space portfolio with investment in Trusted Space
• How Starlink’s explosive growth is reshaping connectivity in an increasingly connected world
• Roscosmos replaces cosmonaut on next Crew Dragon mission to ISS
• Missile Defense Agency clarifies ‘SHIELD’ vendor selection is not a Golden Dome preview
• Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 28 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandengerg SFB
• Orion hatch ‘blemish’ delays launch day rehearsal for Artemis 2 astronauts
• Lego announces NASA Artemis SLS rocket set to lift off (literally) in 2026

03 Dec 2025

• Isaacman, senators emphasize urgency in returning humans to the moon
• Missile Defense Agency clarifies ‘SHIELD’ vendor selection is not a Golden Dome preview
• SLI bets on satellite leasing with $200 million commitment to AscendArc
• Space Force top buyer says rapid commercial innovation is reshaping military space strategy
• Shield AI partners with Sedaro to demonstrate autonomous satellite operations
• Antares raises $96 million for nuclear reactors on Earth and in space
• Zhuque-3 reaches orbit on test flight, first stage lost during landing attempt
• Honoring a career opening doors for the commercial space sector
• Defending NASA science in the face of sweeping budget cuts
• Jared Isaacman makes second appeal for NASA administrator position
• A spectacular explosion shows China is close to obtaining reusable rockets
• NASA nominee appears before Congress, defends plans to revamp space agency
• Planned satellite constellations may swamp future orbiting telescopes

02 Dec 2025

• BAE Systems, GlobalFoundries team up to modernize chipmaking for space
• Isar Aerospace wins launch contract for European tech demo satellite
• Vega C launches South Korean satellite
• Reditus Space joins reusable satellite wave with $7 million seed round
• Arianespace launches South Korean Earth observation satellite on Vega-C flight
• Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 29 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral
• NASA seeks a “warm backup” option as key decision on lunar rover nears

01 Dec 2025

• Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 60th Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB in 2025
• Space CEO explains why he believes private space stations are a viable business