Low Earth Orbit News

SpaceNews.com • Sandra Erwin

DARPA awards Redwire $44M Phase‑2 contract to advance Otter air‑breathing VLEO demonstrator

DARPA has awarded Redwire a $44 million Phase 2 contract to mature Otter mission technologies for a very-low Earth orbit (VLEO) “air‑breathing” spacecraft demonstrator. The program aims to validate atmospheric‑breathing propulsion and drag‑mitigation systems to extend on‑orbit lifetime and responsiveness for VLEO satellites.

2025-11-19T06:28:07.165881-08:00

NASA Spaceflight

Launch roundup: Shenzhou-21 crew heads to Tiangong; India to launch CMS-03 as SpaceX sustains LEO tempo

2025-10-27T16:06:01.900943-07:00

Space.com

SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg as Italy reevaluates reliance after California breakup

2025-09-25T23:02:46.663040-07:00

Spaceflight Now

SpaceX Dragon docks at ISS with 5,000+ lb of supplies and boost trunk for 2025 reboosts

2025-08-25T06:47:19.533007-07:00

Low Earth Orbit News Timeline

European Spaceflight

ESA backs two ISS cargo-return demos and signs on as anchor customer for commercial LEO return service The European Space Agency will fund two demonstration missions to return cargo from the International Space Station and has agreed to be an anchor customer for a future commercial low‑Earth‑orbit cargo‑return service, providing institutional demand to validate commercial payload‑return capabilities from LEO.

2025-11-28T06:23:59.224213-08:00

ESA backs two ISS cargo-return demos and signs on as anchor customer for commercial LEO return service

NASA

The Overview Effect: Astronaut Perspectives After 25 Years in Low Earth Orbit To see Earth from space is to be forever changed by the view. From Alan Shepard to contemporary crews, astronauts reflecting on 25 years in low Earth orbit describe the "overview effect" and its influence on scientific priorities, international cooperation and arguments for sustaining continuous human presence in orbit.

2025-11-23T15:07:01.198848-08:00

The Overview Effect: Astronaut Perspectives After 25 Years in Low Earth Orbit

Universe Today

Mega-constellations: paper proposes on‑satellite control to offload ground‑station networks As satellite constellations scale into the tens of thousands, ground stations are struggling to keep up with the communications and command load. A new paper from Yuhe Mao and co‑authors proposes shifting control and network decision‑making onboard satellites, offloading ground‑station traffic and enabling more scalable operations.

2025-11-21T07:06:53.707083-08:00

Mega-constellations: paper proposes on‑satellite control to offload ground‑station networks

SpaceNews.com

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DARPA awards Redwire $44M Phase‑2 contract to advance Otter air‑breathing VLEO demonstrator DARPA has awarded Redwire a $44 million Phase 2 contract to mature Otter mission technologies for a very-low Earth orbit (VLEO) “air‑breathing” spacecraft demonstrator. The program aims to validate atmospheric‑breathing propulsion and drag‑mitigation systems to extend on‑orbit lifetime and responsiveness for VLEO satellites.

2025-11-19T06:28:07.165881-08:00

DARPA awards Redwire $44M Phase‑2 contract to advance Otter air‑breathing VLEO demonstrator

SpaceNews.com

Dcubed to demonstrate in-orbit manufacturing of large solar arrays German startup Dcubed will fly a series of missions to demonstrate in-orbit manufacturing and deployment of large solar arrays, validating production workflows and assembly techniques in LEO. The campaign aims to prove scalable on‑orbit fabrication of photovoltaic structures for satellites and orbital infrastructure.

2025-11-18T02:13:03.086230-08:00

Dcubed to demonstrate in-orbit manufacturing of large solar arrays

South China Morning Post

Race for first commercial space station intensifies as NASA eyes up to $1.5B award ahead of 2030 ISS retirement NASA plans to award up to US$1.5 billion in April 2026 to support commercial space-station development, sharpening a competition among Vast, Axiom, Blue Origin and others to deliver private habitats capable of replacing the International Space Station before its planned 2030 retirement.

2025-11-13T21:52:22.026330-08:00

Race for first commercial space station intensifies as NASA eyes up to $1.5B award ahead of 2030 ISS retirement

Payload

ATMOS and Space Cargo Unlimited set 2026 demo for Phoenix to return SCU’s BentoBox in first of seven missions ATMOS Space Cargo and Space Cargo Unlimited plan a 2026 demonstration in which ATMOS’s Phoenix reusable reentry vehicle will carry SCU’s BentoBox payload to orbit and back. It will be the first of seven planned Phoenix missions to validate capsule return and on‑orbit logistics.

2025-11-12T05:58:07.284236-08:00

ATMOS and Space Cargo Unlimited set 2026 demo for Phoenix to return SCU’s BentoBox in first of seven missions

SpaceNews.com

China breaks its annual orbital-launch record with weekend test-flight surge China conducted multiple launches over the weekend, surpassing its previous annual record for orbital launch attempts after Lijian‑1 Y9 placed two technical experiment satellites and a Long March‑11H sea launch delivered three optical test satellites — including VLEO Chutian and Shiyan demonstrators — into planned low Earth orbits.

2025-11-09T04:27:35.439787-08:00

China breaks its annual orbital-launch record with weekend test-flight surge

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