Low Earth Orbit News

Payload • Pam Melroy

Ex-Shuttle Commander Warns NASA’s CLD Pivot Could Cede LEO and Mars Leadership to China

In an op-ed, a former space shuttle commander criticizes NASA’s shift to a Commercial LEO Destination (CLD) strategy, arguing it undermines US leadership in orbit and jeopardizes Mars exploration. He warns that China stands to fill any resulting gap in orbital and deep-space capabilities.

2025-08-08T08:08:24.454446-07:00

Space.com

SpaceX Executes Historic Polar-Orbiting Private Space Mission

2025-03-31T19:16:09.617975-07:00

Reuters

Amazon to Launch Initial Kuiper Satellites on April 9

2025-04-02T11:51:07.237734-07:00

Space.com

Amazon Launches First Kuiper Internet Satellites, Competes with SpaceX's Starlink

2025-04-28T16:16:02.129632-07:00

Low Earth Orbit News Timeline

Payload

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Ex-Shuttle Commander Warns NASA’s CLD Pivot Could Cede LEO and Mars Leadership to China In an op-ed, a former space shuttle commander criticizes NASA’s shift to a Commercial LEO Destination (CLD) strategy, arguing it undermines US leadership in orbit and jeopardizes Mars exploration. He warns that China stands to fill any resulting gap in orbital and deep-space capabilities.

2025-08-08T08:08:24.454446-07:00

Ex-Shuttle Commander Warns NASA’s CLD Pivot Could Cede LEO and Mars Leadership to China

Space.com

SpaceX launches 26 Starlink V2 Mini satellites on Falcon 9 from Vandenberg, booster lands at sea At 7:05 p.m. PDT on July 15, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 lifted 26 Starlink V2 Mini satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base into low Earth orbit, marking the 15-2 mission in its broadband constellation. The rocket’s first stage successfully touched down on the Just Read the Instructions droneship about 20 minutes later.

2025-07-15T19:25:25.823912-07:00

SpaceX launches 26 Starlink V2 Mini satellites on Falcon 9 from Vandenberg, booster lands at sea

satnews

Rocket Lab to Test 'Jake 4' Hypersonic Re-entry Vehicle on Electron HASTE at Wallops Rocket Lab will launch its modified Electron rocket, the Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE), code-named “Jake 4”, on July 13 from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The mission, Rocket Lab’s 69th overall and 11th of 2025, is designed to validate hypersonic re-entry capabilities with air-breathing propulsion for defense clients.

2025-07-13T20:41:07.461049-07:00

Rocket Lab to Test 'Jake 4' Hypersonic Re-entry Vehicle on Electron HASTE at Wallops

Aerospace America

GPS Pioneer Sounds Alarm on Satellite Vulnerabilities, Proposes Constellation Proliferation Bradford Parkinson, widely regarded as the architect of GPS, warned that GPS satellites remain physically vulnerable to anti-satellite attacks and urged a proliferation of low-cost constellations to complicate targeting. He stressed that fusing inertial measurement units with GPS is vital but insufficient to counter emerging threats.

2025-06-30T14:11:37.462354-07:00

GPS Pioneer Sounds Alarm on Satellite Vulnerabilities, Proposes Constellation Proliferation

Space.com

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SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9, surpassing 9,000-strong constellation At 1:55 a.m. EDT June 17, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 booster B1090 lifted 28 Starlink Group 10-18 satellites from Cape Canaveral’s SLC-40 into low Earth orbit, landing on drone ship Just Read the Instructions and raising SpaceX’s Starlink count to 9,003 satellites (around 7,800 currently in operation).

2025-06-17T23:13:52.971303-07:00

SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9, surpassing 9,000-strong constellation

SpaceNews.com

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BlackSky Plans 2027 Deployment of AROS Multispectral, Broad-Area Imaging Satellites BlackSky Technology will expand its Earth observation constellation in 2027 with AROS, a new generation of multispectral, wide-area imaging satellites designed to deliver high-cadence monitoring over large regions and complement its high-resolution Gen-3 revisit capabilities.

2025-06-16T05:32:28.485385-07:00

BlackSky Plans 2027 Deployment of AROS Multispectral, Broad-Area Imaging Satellites

thelogic.co

Quebec scraps Starlink subsidies to back fibre-optic broadband Quebec’s government announced it will end provincial subsidies for Starlink and comparable low-Earth orbit internet services, opting instead to accelerate investment in terrestrial fibre-optic networks. The shift underscores a preference for fixed, high-capacity infrastructure over satellite connectivity in rural and underserved areas.

2025-06-13T09:34:47.181406-07:00

Quebec scraps Starlink subsidies to back fibre-optic broadband

Space.com

SpaceX deploys 26 Starlink V2 Mini satellites from Vandenberg, eyes Direct-to-Cell follow-on On June 12 at 6:54 p.m. PDT, a Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base’s SLC-4E carrying 26 Starlink Group 15-6 V2 Mini satellites into low Earth orbit, confirmed an hour later. SpaceX is set to launch 23 more Starlink spacecraft—including 13 Direct-to-Cell payloads—from Cape Canaveral on June 13.

2025-06-12T19:11:08.281518-07:00

SpaceX deploys 26 Starlink V2 Mini satellites from Vandenberg, eyes Direct-to-Cell follow-on

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