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• Debra Werner
The Exploration Company won an ESA contract worth up to €760 million for a 2028 Nyx demonstration mission to the ISS, while Eutelsat advanced GEO life extension and IRIS² manufacturing plans. NewOrbit also secured a Q3 2028 launch slot for commercial payloads in very low Earth orbit.
Human Spaceflight & Space Stations
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The first day of World Space Business Week 2026 highlighted a widening gap between abundant investment and maturing commercial models. ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher is taking a crew-transport decision to Rome, while China accounts for 19 of the 40 operational launchers worldwide.
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Elon Musk and SpaceX face a strategic choice between deploying cash-generating satellites and funding human missions to deep space. The tension highlights the scale of resources required for Mars ambitions—and the uncertainty surrounding their commercial and strategic payoff.
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The European Space Agency has signed an agreement with U.S. commercial space company Vast to implement an astronaut mission to the International Space Station for Greece. The agreement advances European participation in commercial human spaceflight as France calls for greater strategic autonomy in space.
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The Exploration Company won an ESA contract worth up to €760 million for a 2028 Nyx demonstration mission to the ISS, while Eutelsat advanced GEO life extension and IRIS² manufacturing plans. NewOrbit also secured a Q3 2028 launch slot for commercial payloads in very low Earth orbit.
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Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman and pilot Victor Glover are expected to move to NASA’s emeritus astronaut status after the April 2026 lunar mission, ending their status as active flight candidates. Mission specialist Jeremy Hansen is also planning new journeys after the mission.
The inaugural International Space Summit in Paris produced 51 announcements, including the first detailed look at the IRIS² low-Earth-orbit architecture. Former ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet was also named commander of Vast’s PAM-6 commercial mission to the International Space Station.
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Following the landmark Artemis II lunar mission, NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman are leaving the agency’s active astronaut corps and transitioning to emeritus status in September. The crew recently received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
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NASA teams at Kennedy Space Center have stacked another pair of Artemis III Space Launch System solid-rocket-booster segments, while continuing Core Stage-3 engine work and early Artemis IV processing. Orion test results also confirmed a trajectory correction, providing additional progress across the Artemis hardware pipeline.
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