Top Stories
NASA Awards Contract for Orbital Safety Analysis Support
NASA has chosen a contractor for its Orbital Safety Analysis Support Services program. This contract aims to enhance conjunction assessment, debris tracking, and collision avoidance for NASA missions, including the ISS and various science missions in increasingly crowded orbits.
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Raytheon Lands $20.7 Billion AMRAAM Production Contract
The Pentagon has awarded a contract worth up to $20.7 billion to Raytheon for the production of the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM). This five-year deal will increase production nearly twofold to 1,900 units annually for the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and 16 allied nations.
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Defense Satcom Market Forecast to Hit $22.6 Billion by 2035
A Novaspace report forecasts that revenues from commercial defense satellite communications will exceed $22.6 billion by 2035, largely driven by non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) constellations. The U.S. and China will together account for roughly 80% of global demand in this sector.
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Crew-13 Falcon 9 and Dragon Vertical at Launch Pad
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 rocket and Dragon spacecraft have been positioned vertically at the launch pad ahead of their mission to the International Space Station, which will see a fresh crew sent to the station and return the Crew-12 astronauts.
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Terran Orbital Appoints New COO to Scale Satellite Production
Terran Orbital, a Lockheed Martin subsidiary, has appointed Jamin Brown as Chief Operating Officer to enhance satellite production capacity at its California headquarters amidst rising demand in the aerospace and defense sectors.
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House Intelligence Committee Eyes Probe Into Defense Contractor Donations to White House
Rep. Jim Himes is looking into whether defense contractors made donations to President Trump’s White House projects in exchange for contracts or access. The committee may pursue documentation and testimonies related to the matter.
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AI Industry Leaders Sign White House “Superintelligence” Accord
CEOs from major tech firms joined President Trump at the White House to sign a voluntary accord aimed at AI safety. The initiative calls for internal controls and audits of advanced AI systems, and Trump announced the soon-to-be-named AI czar.
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Satellite of the Day
COSMOS 644 – Launched in 1974, this 60 kg Soviet Strela-1M relay satellite remains in orbit at 1,336 x 1,490 km, tracked as debris after 52 years.
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By the Numbers
- Active satellites tracked: 16,056
- Cataloged debris objects: 14,965
- Orbital launches this year: 235 (228 successful)
- Next launch: Falcon 9 Block 5 | Crew-13 in about 30 hours (Oct 1, 15:10 UTC)
Catalog Watch
Space-Track cataloged 0 new objects in its latest update (2026-09-29).
Reentry Watch
- STARLINK-4446 – predicted decay Sep 30, 17:14 UTC
- STARLINK-1453 – predicted decay Oct 1, 05:07 UTC
- STARLINK-4387 – predicted decay Oct 1, 14:55 UTC
- STARLINK-1448 – predicted decay Oct 1, 23:52 UTC
- STARLINK-2273 – predicted decay Oct 2, 01:51 UTC
Upcoming Space Launches
Schedule Changes
- New: Long March 12 | Unknown Payload on Oct 9, 19:25 UTC.
- Slipped: GSLV Mk II | IRNSS-1L on Oct 13, 17:00 UTC.
Next 48 Hours
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SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5: Crew-13 from Cape Canaveral, FL, USA (Oct 1, 15:10 UTC)
Watch Live -
SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5: Transporter 18 from Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA (Oct 1, 18:18 UTC)
Watch Live -
SpaceX Falcon Heavy: NROL-97 from Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA (Oct 2, 03:53 UTC)
Watch Live
Note: Launch dates and times are subject to change due to technical or weather considerations.
