Ars Technica
• Stephen Clark
LandSpace successfully recovered the first stage of its ZhuQue-3 orbital rocket after deploying the Honghu-03 satellite, marking the first landing of an orbital-class booster by a Chinese commercial company. The milestone brings China closer to SpaceX-style reusability, with implications for commercial launch economics and U.S. space-access advantages.
Space Defense & Militarization
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LandSpace successfully recovered the first stage of its ZhuQue-3 orbital rocket after deploying the Honghu-03 satellite, marking the first landing of an orbital-class booster by a Chinese commercial company. The milestone brings China closer to SpaceX-style reusability, with implications for commercial launch economics and U.S. space-access advantages.
Gen. Chance Saltzman, chief of the U.S. Space Force, says more missiles have been launched globally in the past three years than in all previous years combined. The assessment underscores the growing role of space-based systems in detecting and tracking missile activity, including launches from Iran.
PlanetiQ completed a milestone with a $2.73 million NOAA award to provide commercial GNSS radio occultation and total electron content data. Separately, Viasat selected Rocket Lab to build a geostationary satellite supporting the Protected Tactical Satcom-Global program, underscoring demand for commercial space capabilities across civil and defense missions.
The Space Force’s fiscal 2027 budget request drew attention earlier this year after reaching a record $71.3 billion. The proposed funding level underscores the expanding scale of U.S. investment in military space capabilities and provides an important baseline for congressional consideration and future program priorities.
The Defense Department is expanding research intended to remove obsolete satellites from orbit, while acknowledging that the same capabilities could disable, reposition or destroy functioning spacecraft. The effort highlights the close technical relationship between space sustainability missions and counterspace applications.
The U.S. Space Force is expanding its role in modern warfare as military demand drives larger, sovereign satellite constellations. It will operate aging weather satellites until at least 2028 while pursuing replacement architectures, with Air Force Association leaders urging Congress to fully fund its $71.1 billion budget request.
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Globalstar deployed all eight replacement satellites built by Rocket Lab and MDA Space, while Eutelsat completed the first rendez-vous for Europe’s IRIS² programme. Separately, Viasat selected Rocket Lab for a U.S. Space Force GEO satellite, and Finland’s ReOrbit launched a €4.6 million connectivity R&D programme.
SPRIND and SWE 2040 present competing visions for Europe’s orbital future: one prioritizes technological sovereignty and independent capabilities, while the other emphasizes interoperability with military partners. The divide highlights a strategic choice that could shape Europe’s space policy, industrial priorities and approach to security cooperation.
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