A new solid rocket production facility is expected to be operational by early 2028, though Avio has not yet disclosed its location.

November 10, 2025 – Washington, D.C.—The Commercial Space Federation (CSF) is pleased to welcome Seagate Space, Michael Baker International, and Lanteris Space Systems as new Associate Members. These new members represent established NASA contractors, new commercial offshore launch services, and a satellite manufacturer with a long pedigree in space. Seagate Space: Without investment in launch facilities, the space economy will stall, failing to deliver on its immense potential.

Spain’s Sateliot announced plans Nov. 10 to develop upgraded satellites from newly expanded facilities in Barcelona, aiming to move beyond connecting sensors and machines to provide voice, video and data links directly to smartphones.

Recent reports suggest that NASA is looking to accelerate its lunar landing timeline — partly to ensure that America returns to the moon before China does. The echoes of the 1960s Space Race are unmistakable. Once again, the focus seems to be on being first — planting a flag, capturing headlines and proving technological superiority. But this approach carries the same risks as before.

Washington, D.C. — November 10, 2025 — SpaceNews, the leading source of global space industry reporting and analysis, partnered with the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center to launch a new chapter of the Discovery Series, convening more than 280 members of the space community for an evening of insight, dialogue, and exploration into the technologies shaping the future of space.

The focus of direct-to-device (D2D) services so far has been mainly on extending the coverage of terrestrial cellular networks for cell phones and remote IoT devices. Although this presents a great business opportunity for both D2D satellite and terrestrial Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), the satellite industry needs to be conscious about another fast-developing opportunity in the terrestrial cellular industry: Mobile Private Networks, which can probably also be addressed with D2D services.

China conducted a pair launches late Sunday, adding to the national Guowang megaconstellation, but also suffering the failure of a Ceres-1 commercial solid rocket.

Blue Origin called off its first attempt at the second launch of its New Glenn rocket Nov. 9, citing weather and other issues.

Portal Space Systems says it will develop a highly maneuverable satellite bus, with a first flight planned for late 2026.

China conducted a pair of solid rocket launches late Saturday, seeing the country surpass its previous record for orbital launch attempts in a calendar year.

Intuitive Machines says its acquisition of satellite manufacturer Lanteris Space Systems will open new opportunities for the company, from participation in Golden Dome to developing a crewed lunar lander.

AST SpaceMobile has registered plans with international regulators via Germany for a sovereign, space-based network that would provide broadband directly to devices across Europe, the U.S.-based satellite operator said Nov. 7.

Shift toward 'commercial first' buying could benefit fast-moving space and tech firms

For half a century, satellites have chased the same prize: ever sharper pictures of Earth. Each advance brought more pixels and greater clarity, but only in terms of how things looked. Now, a different kind of technology is emerging, one that reveals the biochemical composition of man-made and natural objects: hyperspectral imaging. By capturing hundreds of spectral bands tied to chemical and biological signals, it can detect crop stress before the eye can see it, trace pollutants as they spread or expose a camouflaged vessel by its unique spectral fingerprint.

The Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) is borrowing playbooks from the commercial tech world.

SAN FRANCISCO – GHGSat announced plans Nov. 7 to send two additional satellites into its greenhouse-gas-monitoring constellation. Ahead of the 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Brazil, the Montreal-based GHGSat is preparing to expand its methane-monitoring constellation from 12 to 14 satellites. “With a constellation of this size, we're able to monitor industrial sites at an unmatched daily cadence and alert operators about emissions at their sites within hours,” Stephane Germain said during a Nov.

The Federal Aviation Administration will temporarily limit the hours that commercial space launches can take place, citing strains on the air traffic control system during the government shutdown.

Imagine trying to spot an object just 30 centimeters wide from hundreds of kilometers above Earth. Years ago, I remember when “satellite view” meant blurry green blobs on a screen. Now, we can see individual trees, cars and even shadows cast by buildings. We finally have the power to witness our planet as it truly is: scarred, altering and astonishingly interconnected.

An investment by a venture fund affiliated with the U.S. national security community in commercial space station developer Vast is not necessarily a sign of military interest in human spaceflight.

A member of the Federal Communications Commission warned that declining American influence could make it harder to secure support for key satellite industry priorities at international conferences.

Despite the domestic headwinds, BlackSky is seeing a sharp uptick in overseas business.

A company developing stratospheric platforms for telecommunications and related applications has won a NASA award to use that platform for environmental monitoring.

Geostationary satellite operator EchoStar is selling another batch of radio frequencies to help improve SpaceX’s direct-to-cell services in the United States, in return for $2.6 billion worth of the company’s stock.

SAN FRANCISCO – Italian space logistics company D-Orbit announced the conclusion Nov. 6 of CTRL+Space, Europe’s first in-orbit Capture-the-Flag (CTF) cybersecurity competition and the first live CTF contest involving multiple satellites. Italian CFT team mhackeroni worked with D-Orbit to organize the CTRL+Space competition. The European Space Agency Security Cyber Centre of Excellence and the ESA Security Office supported the event, which was held at the Security for Space Systems Conference.

In this episode of Space Minds, host David Ariosto speaks with Max Haot, CEO of Vast, the ambitious aerospace company based in Long Beach, California, that’s one of a very companies few working diligently towards the first commercial space station.