Space Policy & International Cooperation News

Wall Street Journal

Senate Democrats seek records on SpaceX’s Starlink and Starshield restrictions in Ukraine

Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have asked Elon Musk to preserve documents and communications related to SpaceX’s Starlink and Starshield services in Ukraine, including restrictions on Ukrainian access. The request cites concerns that outages or limits could expose vulnerabilities in systems relied on by Ukraine and the U.S. government.

SpaceNews.com

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Office of Space Commerce selects four companies for mission authorization pilot

The Office of Space Commerce has selected four companies to participate in a pilot program intended to lead to a mission authorization system. The selection marks a step toward developing the system, though the available reporting does not identify the companies or provide further details about the program’s scope or schedule.

SpaceWatch Global

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Analysis: Could greater congressional oversight weaken NASA’s effort to compete with China for the Moon?

Christophe Bosquillon examines NASA’s new congressional oversight environment and its implications for Artemis, SpaceX and the U.S. lunar effort as China’s Moon ambitions sharpen the competitive context. The analysis frames a central question for the program: whether added scrutiny supports or complicates NASA’s ability to advance its lunar plans.

SpaceNews.com

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Open Cosmos seeks to deepen India ties as European space firms pursue strategic autonomy

Open Cosmos founder and CEO Rafel Jordà Siquier is visiting India to strengthen the satellite company’s relationships there, with a focus on Earth-observation sensing systems. Separately, Kongsberg NanoAvionics’ leadership discussed industry’s role in Europe’s push for space sovereignty, underscoring the strategic and commercial dimensions of building European space capabilities.

Space.com

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Pakistan pilot set to become first international astronaut aboard China’s Tiangong station

China plans to fly a Pakistani pilot on the Shenzhou 24 mission, making the astronaut the first from another country to visit the Tiangong space station. The crew member is expected to spend roughly a week aboard the orbital outpost, marking an international dimension for China’s human spaceflight program.

SpaceNews.com

Militaries relying on Starlink face a control trade-off, making end-use agreements critical

Military forces that depend on a foreign commercial provider for satellite communications may surrender some control over their operations, the article argues. End-use agreements can help define how the service is provided and used, making those terms a strategic consideration alongside the connectivity itself.

SpaceWatch Global

High activity

NextSpace speakers say Sweden’s space bottleneck is government procurement, not technology or talent

At NextSpace in Gothenburg, speakers from the Nordics, Germany, Japan and the United States argued that Sweden’s space sector is constrained less by technical capability or workforce than by how the state buys. Their assessment puts public procurement practice at the center of the debate over how Sweden can translate existing expertise into space activity.

Bloomberg

Incoming Democrats signal scrutiny of Golden Dome and SpaceX

Newly elected Democrats are expected to challenge President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed Golden Dome missile shield and Elon Musk’s SpaceX, according to the article. The focus puts both a major defense initiative and a prominent commercial space company on the incoming Congress’s political agenda, though the article gives no details on specific actions.