GoKawiil
Tech News
The Space Force has retired its last two satellites used for monitoring global conflicts, moving them to a designated orbital disposal zone. This marks the conclusion of the satellite program dedicated to early warning and surveillance. The satellites had been operational for several years before their decommissioning.
Symphony Space, founded by Merry Walker and Nicolas Maubert, has announced Project Rhapsody, a service that sends products into orbit to be filmed and photographed without astronauts aboard. The studio will operate on Adagio-Mini, an autonomous space station planned to launch in the second half of 2028 and capable of holding up to 12 works at once.
NASA's Swift observatory, in orbit for over two decades, is losing altitude and expected to drop below 185 miles by early to mid-October, a point at which operations and science observations will likely stop. A robotic spacecraft built by contractor Katalyst Space Technologies, launched in July to boost Swift's orbit, instead began spinning uncontrollably and burned up reentering Earth's atmosphere. NASA has since reactivated Swift's Burst Alert Telescope and resumed automatic pointing at gamma ray bursts, actions it says have accelerated the satellite's orbital decay.
Satlyt, a startup co-founded by former Google and SpaceX engineer Rama Afullo, has raised an $8 million seed round to develop software that lets multiple satellites share AI computing workloads in orbit. Unlike rivals such as SpaceX, Google and Starcloud, Satlyt does not build its own spacecraft; instead it aims to supply software that runs across other companies' satellites. The company's software is scheduled to launch on a SpaceX rocket alongside Google's first Project Suncatcher prototype.
SpaceX's Starship rocket completed a test flight reaching orbital velocity, marking the first time the vehicle has achieved this milestone after multiple prior attempts ended in failure. The flight demonstrated key systems needed for the spacecraft's eventual role in deep-space missions, though the company still faces significant engineering hurdles before Starship can be used commercially.
SpaceX launched its Starship rocket on a mission that reached orbit for the first time, successfully deploying an advanced batch of Starlink satellites. During ascent, one of the vehicle's engines shut down earlier than planned, and SpaceX cut the flight short as a precaution.
Florida startup Star Catcher is launching a prototype system on a SpaceX rocket to beam concentrated solar energy via laser to a separate orbiting satellite. CEO Andrew Rush says the system, called power nodes, gathers and refines sunlight into concentrated wavelengths that can then be directed as a laser beam toward satellites needing power.
SpaceX's Starship rocket achieved orbital insertion during its 14th full-scale test flight from South Texas, with the company confirming the spacecraft reached orbit at over 171 miles altitude and 16,000 mph. Despite the milestone, the company's stock reportedly dipped about one percentage point rather than rallying after markets opened.
SpaceX plans to launch its Starship rocket from Starbase, Texas on Monday morning within a 75-minute window opening at 8:15 a.m. EDT. Flight 14 will attempt to send the vehicle's upper stage into Earth orbit for the first time, where it is meant to deploy 26 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites before splashing down in the Pacific near Chile after roughly 10 hours and six orbits.
SpaceX confirmed it has finished a full launch rehearsal for Starship ahead of its 14th test flight, targeted for September 28 with an 8:15AM Eastern launch window. The rehearsal involved fueling the rocket, running through countdown procedures and simulating a scrub before draining propellant, all without liftoff.
Google will launch its first Project Suncatcher test satellite, called MVP, on October 1 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 as part of the Transporter-18 rideshare mission. The refrigerator-sized craft carries four of Google's custom TPU AI chips and roughly one kilowatt of solar power, and it uses a spacecraft body built by satellite imagery firm Planet Labs rather than a custom-built Google design. The test mission will run for only a few months.
A new European report examines the growing risk of orbital collisions as active satellites have surged from roughly 1,000 in 2013 to about 17,000 today, according to CelesTrak. SpaceX's Starlink constellation accounts for most of this growth with around 11,000 satellites, while Amazon, Chinese internet constellations, and planned orbital data centers are set to add many more.