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SpaceX · Varda · Cape Canaveral
Starfall was one of 32 payloads on the Bandwagon-5 rideshare, launched October 20, alongside Varda's seventh W-Series capsule. The disk-shaped capsule can bring about 1,000 kg back to Earth.
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Planet · SES · Cape Canaveral
Planet's Pelican-12 flew on Bandwagon-5 on October 20, its 25th satellite launched this year. It carries an NVIDIA Jetson module for onboard image analysis and a package to relay imagery through SES's O3b mPOWER satellites.
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NASA · Viasat · SES · Cleveland
Viasat, using the Rocket Lab-built Maxwell spacecraft, and SES Space and Defense will test high- and low-rate data relay for NASA science missions over the coming weeks. The work, managed by NASA Glenn, supports the planned retirement of NASA's TDRS fleet.
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Rocket Lab · HawkEye 360 · New Zealand
Rocket Lab's 98th launch, on October 23, carried three Hawk satellites to a 520 km orbit, two days after three others flew on Bandwagon-5. HawkEye 360 has now launched nearly 50 satellites.
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Firefly · NASA JPL · Cedar Park, Texas
Firefly's Elytra spacecraft will carry JPL-built drones to lunar orbit and release them over the south pole to map landing sites. MoonFall is targeted to be ready for launch by late 2028.
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SpaceX · Congress · Washington
Four Democratic senators asked SpaceX on October 19 to explain speed limits placed on Ukrainian terminals from October 12 to 14, and nine senators asked the Pentagon's inspector general to investigate. Musk said Starshield changes were US government decisions.
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Astrolab · HPE · Hawthorne
HPE's Spaceborne Computer-4 will run the first GPU and AI tests on the lunar surface aboard FLIP, which launches to the south pole on Griffin-1 later this year.
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Solstar · Momentus · NASA · Earth orbit
Solstar's Deke communicator on Momentus's Vigoride-7 collected more than 2,300 files from a NASA cubesat over Wi-Fi during a 30-minute proximity test and relayed them to Earth through Iridium.
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Space Development Agency · Washington
The October 20 request seeks payloads that can follow hypersonic glide vehicles and cruise missiles through their full flight. Responses are due December 4.
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NASA Goddard · Greenbelt, Maryland
Atmospheric drag had pulled Swift below 275 km, and it made its last observation on October 20. It saw more than 2,000 gamma-ray bursts and will re-enter in the coming weeks.
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Globalstar · FCC · Covington, Louisiana
The FCC authorized Globalstar's C-3 system on October 19: 48 low-orbit satellites, six spares and 90 ground antennas for direct-to-phone service. MDA Space is building the satellites, and Amazon, which is acquiring Globalstar, plans to run C-3 alongside its own constellation of up to 5,105 direct-to-device satellites.
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Starfish Space · Space Development Agency · Tukwila, Washington
The contract covers building, launching and operating an Otter spacecraft that disposes of satellites in the SDA's low-orbit constellation at the end of their lives. Separately, Starfish's Otter Pup 2 demonstrator now routinely flies on its own about 200 meters from Gilmour Space's ElaraSat.
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NASA · SpaceX · United States
At the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel's quarterly meeting, member Charlie Precourt said the latest estimate for the fuelings Artemis IV needs is around 22 flights. He did not name Starship, but Ars Technica notes only SpaceX's vehicle fits, and that NASA has long declined to give the number.
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U.S. Space Force · Los Angeles
Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy said the service will soon seek commercial cislunar technology and software for autonomous operation between Earth and the Moon, with capabilities fielded by the end of fiscal 2029. He pointed to China's launch of 30 cubesats near an Earth-Moon Lagrange point as a reason for the urgency.
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NASA · Astrolab · Lunar Outpost · Lunar south pole
Astrolab and Lunar Outpost are building crew-carrying lunar terrain vehicles due to NASA as flight-ready hardware at the end of 2027. Lunar Outpost's preliminary design review is set for October and Astrolab's for the end of December. Blue Origin holds the task order to land them near the south pole by 2028.