Top Stories

MDA Space Acquires Blue Canyon Technologies for $620 Million

Canada’s MDA Space is buying Colorado-based Blue Canyon Technologies for $620 million. BCT manufactures smallsat buses used across U.S. government and commercial programs, and the deal gives MDA a direct foothold in U.S. defense contracting that it previously lacked.

BCT satellites appear regularly in tracking catalogs. The acquisition doesn’t change current orbital assets, but it signals MDA’s intent to compete for future U.S. government constellation contracts where BCT buses are likely candidates.

Read the full story: SpaceNews

NASA’s 2028 Mars Orbiter Goes to a California Startup, Not SpaceX

NASA awarded its Aeolus Mars orbiter contract to a California-based company — not SpaceX. The mission targets a 2028 launch and will be the first spacecraft to deliver daily global environmental measurements of Mars. The company will handle design, build, and launch under a single contract.

The fully commercial delivery model mirrors how NASA has structured recent lunar contracts. Aeolus would join a small catalog of active Mars orbiters; once operational, its orbital parameters will be trackable through deep space catalogs.

Read the full story: Space.com

India’s Jio Plans Sovereign LEO Broadband Constellation

Jio Platforms, parent of India’s largest telecom operator, is laying the groundwork for a domestic LEO broadband constellation. The initial plan is to lease capacity from existing constellations while building toward sovereign infrastructure — timed around Jio’s upcoming IPO.

A sovereign Indian LEO constellation would add dozens to eventually hundreds of new objects to low Earth orbit. Jio hasn’t published orbital parameters or satellite counts yet, but this is one to watch as India pushes to reduce dependence on foreign satellite capacity.

Read the full story: SpaceNews

Northrop Grumman: Solid Rocket Motor Industry Can Scale, But Needs Longer Contracts

Northrop Grumman’s solid rocket motor division says private investment has created capacity for production growth, but the supply chain requires multi-year contract commitments to actually use it. Short-term procurement cycles leave manufacturers unable to staff and tool up reliably.

This matters for military launch and missile programs that depend on domestic solid rocket motor supply. Unpredictable demand is the constraint, not raw industrial capacity.

Read the full story: SpaceNews

Tsinghua University Building Spacecraft to Intercept Asteroid Apophis in 2029

A Tsinghua University team is developing a mission to study asteroid Apophis during its close Earth approach in April 2029. Apophis will pass within roughly 32,000 kilometers — closer than geostationary orbit — making it accessible to spacecraft without a long cruise phase.

China’s entry adds to a growing list of missions targeting the flyby, alongside ESA’s Ramses and potentially others. Apophis’s trajectory is well-characterized; KeepTrack users tracking glossary terms in the near-Earth object catalog will find Apophis among the most-watched small bodies.

Read the full story: SpaceNews

NASA Selects New Mission to Study Space Weather and Atmospheric Interaction

NASA has greenlit a new science mission focused on how space weather events interact with Earth’s upper atmosphere. No launch date or vehicle has been announced yet, but the mission has cleared the selection phase and is moving toward development.

Space weather monitoring has direct relevance to satellite operations — geomagnetic storms affect atmospheric drag on LEO objects and can shift orbital decay rates. KeepTrack’s propagation models account for solar flux inputs, which missions like this help improve.

Read the full story: SpaceNews

MEO Radiation Environment Is a Threat to Hardware Built for LEO

A SpaceNews analysis makes the case that the push to operate satellites in medium Earth orbit — driven by navigation, communications, and sensing use cases — is running into a hardware durability problem. Components rated for LEO radiation environments degrade faster in MEO’s Van Allen belt exposure.

For tracking purposes, MEO is already populated by GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, and BeiDou constellations. As commercial operators look at MEO slots for coverage or latency advantages, the radiation shielding gap between LEO-spec and MEO-qualified hardware becomes an operational risk, not just an engineering footnote.

Read the full story: SpaceNews

Satellite of the Day

TIANXING-1 02

TIANXING-1 02 is a compact technology satellite developed and operated by CASIOM (China Academy of Space Technology Innovation and Management). Launched on January 11, 2024, from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center aboard a Kuaizhou-1A rocket, this 200-kilogram spacecraft carried the Chuangxin-15 02 payload in support of advanced technology demonstration and development. The satellite’s compact design—measuring just 1 meter in length with a 3-meter solar panel span—made it an efficient candidate for the rapid-turnaround Kuaizhou-1A launch vehicle, which is known for its quick-reaction launch capability.

Operating in a sun-synchronous orbit at approximately 95.1° inclination, TIANXING-1 02 was positioned for polar coverage useful for Earth observation and technology validation missions. Though the satellite has since decayed from orbit, its brief operational lifetime contributed to China’s growing constellation of experimental and technology-focused spacecraft. Missions like this are essential for testing new subsystems, sensors, and operational concepts that inform the design of larger, longer-duration satellite programs.

Learn more about this satellite: View TIANXING-1 02

Upcoming Space Launches

June 21

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5:
  • Starlink Group 17-28 from Vandenberg Space Force Base Space Launch Complex 4E (14:00 UTC) A batch of 24 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites launching to low Earth orbit. Booster B1063 will fly for its 33rd time, landing on drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. Watch Live Launch Preview

June 23

• China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Long March 7A:

  • Unknown Payload from Wenchang Space Launch Site, People’s Republic of China (02:02 UTC) Details to be determined.

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5:

  • Project Starfall Demonstration Mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Space Launch Complex 40 (10:43 UTC) A demonstration mission for SpaceX’s new Starfall re-entry vehicle — a cylindrical capsule approximately 3.1 meters in diameter, weighing around 2,100 kg with capacity for 1,000 kg of payload. SpaceX has requested two Starfall re-entries in the Pacific Ocean as part of this test campaign. The Falcon 9 Block 5 is a reusable two-stage rocket capable of delivering up to 22,800 kg to low Earth orbit. Watch Live Launch Preview

June 25

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5:
  • Starlink Group 17-45 from Vandenberg Space Force Base Space Launch Complex 4E (02:48 UTC) A batch of 24 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites launching to low Earth orbit. Booster B1063 will target a landing on drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. Watch Live

June 27

• Northrop Grumman Space Systems Pegasus XL:
  • Swift Boost Mission from Kwajalein Atoll (Air Launch to Orbit) (09:00 UTC) Contracted by NASA under the Small Business Innovation Research Phase 3 contract, Katalyst Space Technologies’ LINK servicing spacecraft will rendezvous and attach to NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory to re-boost its orbit. The mission aims to demonstrate on-orbit servicing capabilities and extend Swift’s science lifetime in gamma-ray astronomy. The Pegasus XL is an air-launched solid-fueled rocket capable of delivering up to 443 kg to low Earth orbit, released from a carrier aircraft at approximately 12,000 meters altitude.

June 28

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5:
  • Starlink Group 17-40 from Vandenberg Space Force Base Space Launch Complex 4E (14:00 UTC) A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation, SpaceX’s space-based internet communication system. Watch Live

June 30

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5:

  • Globalstar 2-R Mission 1 (x 9) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Space Launch Complex 40 (TBD) The first of two launches replenishing Globalstar’s HIBLEO-4 satellite fleet, carrying nine satellites to low Earth orbit. Booster B1090, flying for its 12th time, will target a landing on drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. Watch Live Launch Preview

• Rocket Lab Electron:

  • Ten Owl Of Ten (StriX Launch 10) from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand (TBD) An Earth observation mission for Synspective, continuing the StriX synthetic aperture radar satellite series. The Electron is a small-lift launch vehicle powered by nine Rutherford electric-pump-fed engines, capable of delivering up to 300 kg to low Earth orbit. Launch Preview

• Rocket Lab Electron:

  • The Grain Goddess Provides (iQPS Launch 7) from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand (TBD) A synthetic aperture radar Earth observation satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company iQPS.

• China Rocket Co. Ltd. Smart Dragon 3:

  • Unknown Payload from Haiyang Oriental Spaceport, Haiyang Offshore Launch Location (TBD) Details to be determined. Smart Dragon-3 is a solid-fueled commercial orbital rocket developed by a CASC subsidiary, with a launch mass of 140 tonnes.

Schedule Changes

• New launch added: SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 17-40 has been added to the manifest, scheduled for June 28, 2026 at 14:00 UTC from Vandenberg Space Force Base Space Launch Complex 4E.

Note: Launch dates and times are subject to change due to technical or weather considerations.