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Ars Technica • Eric Berger

NASA seeks industry proposals for private space stations, pledging to maintain a presence in low Earth orbit

NASA has issued a long-awaited call to industry for private space stations, saying it will not give up its presence in low Earth orbit. The move invites companies to develop commercial platforms that could support NASA’s continued orbital operations.

2026-10-09T15:05:24.960981-07:00
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Space Intel Report • Peter B. de Selding

ESA governments to meet in December to assess cost of launching their own astronauts; no financing expected

By Space Intel Report: LA PLATA, Maryland — The European Space Agency (ESA)’s success in persuading its member governments’ to attend a one-day meeting Rome on Dec. 15 to discuss investment in a program to carry European astronauts to orbit and back using European hardware is by itself a success for ESA Director-General Josef Aschbacher.

Also: ESA
2026-10-09T13:04:24.168505-07:00
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Via Satellite • Rachel Jewett

Astrogate Labs Teams with Spacebeam on Optical Links and Ground Service

By Via Satellite: Under the MoU, they plan to bring together the companies’ respective tech in optical communications. Astrogate has developed AstroLink, an optical communication terminals (OCTs) for satellites and Spacebeam has developed the Osong optical ground station (OGS) infrastructure.

2026-10-09T11:05:29.005718-07:00
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NASA Spaceflight • Ryan Weber

Ship 40 Returns Home as Ship 42 gets more Cryo Proof Testing

By NASA Spaceflight: Ship 42 for Flight 15 has headed back out to Massey’s for more cryo-proof testing as SpaceX speeds up overall vehicle production. And after 75 days at sea, Ship 40 from Flight 13 has returned home to Texas and is slated to return to the production site.

2026-10-09T07:50:39.361053-07:00