Space Business News
January 30, 2026
SPACE TRAVEL
NASA Heat Shield Technology Enables Space Industry Growth



Moffett Field Ca (SPX) Jan 30, 2026
Using cutting-edge material licensed from NASA, a protective heat shield manufactured in-house by Varda Space Industries for the first time enabled one of its capsules to blaze through Earth's atmosphere on Thursday, marking a significant milestone for the agency and America's space industry. The material, known as C-PICA (Conformal Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator), provides a stronger, less expensive, and more efficient thermal protection coating to capsules, allowing them - and their valuable cont ... read more

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ROCKET SCIENCE
Rocket Lab conducts second Electron mission in eight days to orbit Korean imaging satellite
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Jan 30, 2026
Rocket Lab Corporation has completed its 81st Electron mission, successfully deploying an Earth observation satellite for the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and marking i ... more
ROCKET SCIENCE
China sea launch boosts private rocket activity in 2026
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Jan 30, 2026
Galactic Energy has opened Chinas 2026 commercial launch campaign with a pre dawn sea based mission of its Ceres 1 carrier rocket on January 17, extending the companys record of frequent small satel ... more
GPS NEWS
Lockheed Martin launches ninth GPS III satellite to boost secure navigation
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 30, 2026
Lockheed Martin's ninth Global Positioning System III satellite has reached orbit, adding new resilience and security to the GPS constellation that underpins both military operations and critical ci ... more
GPS NEWS
SES to extend EGNOS GEO 1 payload service for precise navigation over Europe through 2030
Berlin, Germany (SPX) Jan 30, 2026
SES and the European Union Agency for the Space Programme have extended the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service GEO 1 satellite service agreement through 2030, with an option to prolon ... more
ROCKET SCIENCE
SpaceX eyes IPO timed to planet alignment and Musk birthday: report
San Francisco, United States (AFP) Jan 28, 2026
SpaceX is targeting a mid-June initial public offering that would coincide with a rare planetary alignment and founder Elon Musk's birthday, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, as the billionaire entrepreneur seeks to raise a record $50 billion. ... more
SPACE TRAVEL
Earliest launch window to ISS set for February 11: NASA
Washington, United States (AFP) Jan 28, 2026
The next NASA crew rotation to the International Space Station could launch as early as the morning of February 11, the US space agency said Wednesday. ... more
ROCKET SCIENCE
Autophage rocket concept wins EU prize for debris free launch technology
Paris, France (SPX) Jan 29, 2026
Alpha Impulsion, a space startup based in Toulouse and Naples, has received a 950000 euro award from the European Union for a major innovation in space propulsion aimed at more economical, efficient ... more
ROCKET SCIENCE
NASA Testing Advances Space Nuclear Propulsion Capabilities
Washington DC (SPX) Jan 27, 2026
Nuclear propulsion and power technologies could unlock new frontiers in missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. NASA has reached an important milestone advancing nuclear propulsion that could benefi ... more

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MICROSAT BLITZ
In-space manufacturing, quantum projects part of all-Boilermaker suborbital spaceflight
West Lafayette IN (SPX) Jan 28, 2026
Purdue University is expanding the scientific footprint of 2027's all-Boilermaker suborbital flight mission with the addition of onboard autonomous experiments in quantum technology and in-space chi ... more
MICROSAT BLITZ
Sidus Space advances LizzieSat-4 payload integration with Maris-Tech edge computing system
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 29, 2026
Sidus Space Inc has reached a key integration milestone with Maris-Tech Ltd as the companies prepare to fly Maris-Tech's advanced payload aboard the LizzieSat-4 mission planned for launch later in 2 ... more
SPACE MEDICINE
AI digital twins aim to protect astronaut mobility on deep space missions
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 29, 2026
West Virginia University researchers are developing artificial intelligence tools to help astronauts maintain movement control and overall physical health during long missions in microgravity enviro ... more
SPACE MEDICINE
Space Station study maps hurdles for microbial manufacturing in orbit
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 29, 2026
Scientists at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory have completed a spaceflight biology experiment on the International Space Station that shows how microgravity reshapes microbial metabolism and cons ... more
ROCKET SCIENCE
NASA and GE run hybrid jet engine test toward commercial flight
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 28, 2026
To an untrained eye, the aircraft engine sitting outside a Cincinnati area facility in December looked like standard hardware. For NASA and GE Aerospace researchers watching the unit fire up for a d ... more
AEROSPACE
Stratoship alliance charts staged path for smallsat payloads
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Jan 21, 2026
Stratoship has signed a memorandum of understanding with Queensland based companies Orbit2Orbit and Sunburnt Space Co to build a staged lab to space pathway for small satellite payloads. The a ... more
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MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS
Aalyria spacetime platform tapped for AFRL space data network trials
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 26, 2026
Aalyria has been selected by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory's Rapid Architecture Prototyping and Integration Development program to advance software solutions for managing complex military space communications networks ... more
ENERGY TECH
Low frequency lasers modeled to greatly boost nuclear fusion rates
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Jan 26, 2026
A new theoretical study shows that intense laser fields could greatly enhance nuclear fusion reactions by reshaping the collision energies of interacting nuclei before they tunnel through the Coulom ... more
ENERGY TECH
Oak Ridge team plans powerful test facility for next generation fusion components
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 26, 2026
The Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory is joining with Type One Energy and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville to develop a world class high heat flux facility to test fusion en ... more
DRAGON SPACE
Retired EVA workhorse to guide China's next-gen spacesuit and lunar gear
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Jan 21, 2026
Chinese engineers are turning a long-serving spacewalk suit into a real-world testbed to extend the life and performance of China's next-generation EVA and lunar spacesuits. The retired "extra ... more
SPACE TRAVEL
NASA astronaut stuck in space for nine months retires
Washington, United States (AFP) Jan 21, 2026
A NASA astronaut who was stuck in space for nine months because of problems with her spacecraft has retired after 27 years of service, the space agency said Tuesday. ... more
MISSILE DEFENSE
AST SpaceMobile secures role on MDA SHIELD defense architecture
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 19, 2026
AST SpaceMobile has been selected for a prime contract position on the U.S. Missile Defense Agency Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense, or SHIELD, program, placing its space-base ... more
MICROSAT BLITZ
Teledyne detector arrays power NASAs BlackCAT CubeSat X-ray mission
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Jan 21, 2026
Teledyne Technologies has confirmed that its Space Imaging division has successfully deployed Speedster HyViSI Hybrid Visible Silicon Imager focal plane arrays ... more
UAV NEWS
Energy learning algorithm boosts complex UAV swarm tasking
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Jan 19, 2026
With unmanned aerial vehicles now common across modern military and security operations, planners face increasing pressure to assign heterogeneous drone swarms to complex mission sets without wastin ... more
TRADE WARS
Trump says 'very dangerous' for UK to deal with China
Washington, United States (AFP) Jan 30, 2026
US President Donald Trump said Thursday it was "very dangerous" for close ally Britain to deal with China, as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer visits Beijing for talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. ... more
MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS
Balerion backs Northwood to tackle ground bottlenecks in expanding space economy
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 28, 2026
Balerion Space Ventures has made a strategic investment in Northwood Space's 100 million dollar Series B funding round, targeting what it sees as a critical bottleneck in the emerging space economy: ... more
MISSILE DEFENSE
Leonardo DRS infrared payloads selected for SDA Tracking Layer Tranche 3
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 29, 2026
Leonardo DRS has been awarded a subcontract to deliver advanced infrared mission payloads for the Space Development Agency's Tracking Layer Tranche 3, expanding space-based support for the U.S. miss ... more
DRAGON SPACE
China prepares offshore test base for reusable liquid rocket launches
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Jan 26, 2026
China is preparing to bring into operation its first offshore platform purpose built for testing, launching and recovering reusable liquid propellant rockets, with the goal of lowering access costs ... more
TECHNOLOGY NEWS


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AEROSPACE
Indonesia receives first batch of French-made Rafale jets
Jakarta (AFP) Jan 26, 2026
Indonesia has received its first three French-made Rafale fighter jets as part of a multibillion-dollar deal between the two countries, a defence ministry spokesman said Monday. ... more
MISSILE NEWS
Russian strikes kill 4, wound two dozen in Ukraine
Odesa, Ukraine (AFP) Jan 27, 2026
Russian forces killed four people and wounded nearly two dozen others - including two children and a pregnant woman - in separate attacks, Ukrainian officials said Tuesday. ... more
ROCKET SCIENCE
Starfighters completes key wind tunnel campaign for STARLAUNCH 1 air launch vehicle
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 26, 2026
Starfighters Space Inc has completed a dedicated wind tunnel campaign for its STARLAUNCH 1 air launched rocket, marking a key technical milestone in the development of the sub orbital vehicle. The p ... more
ROCKET SCIENCE
China tests Long March 12B reusable first stage at Jiuquan
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Jan 19, 2026
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp has carried out a static firing test of the first stage of its new Long March 12B reusable carrier rocket at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northw ... more
GPS NEWS
Bats use sound flow to steer through cluttered habitats
London, UK (SPX) Jan 21, 2026
A new study has resolved how wild bats navigate complex environments in complete darkness by showing they regulate their flight using a form of acoustic flow, offering fresh insight into biosonar an ... more
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