Top Stories

Three Chinese Rocket Body Explosions Generating Long-Duration LEO Debris

Three Chinese rocket bodies have exploded over the past four years, according to a LeoLabs study. LeoLabs analyst Darren McKnight told Breaking Defense the resulting debris “will linger for decades to centuries, potentially colliding with other space objects.”

This isn’t a theoretical risk. Fragmentation events in LEO produce clouds of trackable and sub-trackable objects that persist far longer than intact satellites. The debris populates shared orbital regimes used by commercial, civil, and military operators. You can monitor catalogued objects from these breakups directly in KeepTrack using the Breakup tool to filter by parent object.

Read the full story: Breaking Defense

House Appropriations Approves $55.5B for Space Force in FY2027 Bill

The House Appropriations Committee approved $55.5 billion for the U.S. Space Force as part of the fiscal 2027 defense spending bill. The committee also pushed for more competition in satellite communications contracting and criticized the administration’s reliance on budget reconciliation to fund the Golden Dome missile defense initiative.

The SATCOM competition language is worth watching. If it translates into acquisition policy, it could affect how future wideband and narrowband contracts — including follow-on MUOS work — are structured and awarded.

Read the full story: SpaceNews

Space Force’s Next MUOS Satellites Will Fly on Boeing 702MP Bus

The Space Force has confirmed that its next generation of Mobile User Objective System satellites will use Boeing’s 702MP spacecraft platform. The 702MP has an established flight heritage across commercial and wideband military missions, including the original MUOS constellation.

MUOS provides narrowband UHF communications to U.S. and allied forces using handheld and mobile terminals. The existing five-satellite constellation operates in geosynchronous orbit. Adding 702MP-based successors continues the same bus lineage rather than introducing a new architecture.

Read the full story: SpaceNews

House Passes $1 Trillion FY2027 Defense Bill, Renames Defense Department

The House Appropriations Committee approved a $1 trillion fiscal 2027 defense spending bill. The markup included adoption of language renaming the Department of Defense to the “War Department.” No Democratic amendments survived the session.

The bill now moves to the full House. The $55.5 billion Space Force allocation sits within this broader package.

Read the full story: Breaking Defense

Pentagon Review Requests $5B Over 5 Years to Repair Research Labs

A Pentagon review has asked Congress to fence off $5 billion over five years to rebuild military research laboratories. The study found the armed services routinely redirect lab funding toward urgent needs like barracks repairs, leaving researchers in facilities that “pose documented safety risks.”

For space and space-adjacent research programs — propulsion, sensors, electronic warfare — degraded lab infrastructure directly constrains the development pipeline feeding future satellite and launch programs.

Read the full story: Breaking Defense

Army Brigade Exercise Finds Large Language Models Unfit for Tactical Planning

An Army Air Assault brigade evaluated AI tools for tactical planning and concluded large language models aren’t suited for the task. Col. Ryan Bell was direct: “Large language models don’t really understand three-dimensional space. And so they’re not good for developing course of action.”

The finding is relevant to space operations planning as well. SSA fusion, conjunction assessment, and maneuver decision support all involve three-dimensional orbital geometry — exactly the domain Bell identified as an LLM weakness.

Read the full story: Breaking Defense

Satellite of the Day

COSMOS 1818

COSMOS 1818 represents a fascinating chapter in Soviet space technology—a nuclear-powered satellite launched on February 1, 1987, from Tyuratam using a Tsiklon-2 rocket. This spacecraft was equipped with a Topaz-1 nuclear reactor, making it part of an ambitious Soviet program to demonstrate advanced power systems for long-duration space missions. At 3,550 kg and measuring 9.3 meters in length, COSMOS 1818 was a substantial platform designed to test reactor-based propulsion and power generation in the harsh environment of low Earth orbit. The satellite carried six SPT-70 Stationary Plasma Thrusters, which could be powered by the reactor to enable station-keeping and orbital maneuvers—a significant technological achievement for its era.

Nuclear-powered satellites represented the cutting edge of Soviet space ambitions during the Cold War, allowing missions to operate independently from solar power constraints and enabling higher power outputs for advanced payloads. COSMOS 1818 was manufactured by ARSL/KOMET for the Soviet Navy (VMF) and served as a crucial testbed for the Plazma-A program. Today, decades after its launch, this satellite remains a notable artifact of space technology history and a reminder of the Soviet Union’s pioneering work in nuclear space propulsion systems.

Track this satellite in real-time: Track COSMOS 1818

Upcoming Space Launches

June 26

• Rocket Lab Electron:
  • Ten Owl Of Ten (StriX Launch 10) from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand (16:45 UTC) Earth observation satellite for Japanese remote sensing company Synspective, launched to sun-synchronous orbit aboard Rocket Lab’s small-lift Electron rocket. Electron is the first orbital-class rocket to use electric-pump-fed engines, powered by nine Rutherford engines on the first stage. Watch Live Launch Preview

June 27

• Northrop Grumman Space Systems Pegasus XL:
  • Swift Boost Mission from Air Launch to Orbit, Kwajalein Atoll (09:00–14:28 UTC) Northrop Grumman’s Stargazer carrier aircraft will release the Pegasus XL rocket at approximately 40,000 feet, carrying the Link spacecraft built by Katalyst Space Systems. Link will rendezvous with NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and boost it to a safe operating orbit, extending the mission’s operational life. Launch Preview

June 28

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5:
  • Starlink Group 17-40 from Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA (14:00 UTC) A batch of 24 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites to low Earth orbit. Booster B1088, flying for its 17th time, will land on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. Watch Live Launch Preview

June 29

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5:

  • Sirius SXM-11 from Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA (02:25 UTC) A geostationary communications satellite for SiriusXM satellite radio. The SXM-11 spacecraft was built by Lanteris Space Systems (formerly Maxar Space Systems), a subsidiary of Intuitive Machines, on its 1300-class platform. Booster B1085, flying for its 17th time, will land on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. Watch Live Launch Preview

• Agency for Defense Development South Korean ADD Solid-Fuel SLV:

  • Demo Flight from Sea Launch (05:00 UTC) Demonstration test flight of South Korea’s Agency for Defense Development solid-fuel small launch vehicle, launching from an offshore platform. Launch Preview

June 30

• Rocket Lab Electron:

  • The Grain Goddess Provides (iQPS Launch 7) from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand (00:00 UTC) A synthetic aperture radar Earth observation satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company iQPS, delivered to low Earth orbit aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron small-lift rocket.

• China Rocket Co. Ltd. Smart Dragon 3:

  • Unknown Payload from Haiyang Oriental Spaceport (00:00 UTC) Details to be determined. Smart Dragon-3 is a solid-fuel orbital rocket developed by a subsidiary of the state-owned CASC group for the commercial launch market.

• European Space Agency Themis Demonstrator:

  • T1H-1 from Esrange Space Center (00:00 UTC) First low-altitude hop test of the European Space Agency’s Themis reusable rocket demonstrator, targeting an altitude of up to 100 metres. Themis is powered by the reusable, methane-fuelled Prometheus engine and is designed to demonstrate vertical landing and reuse technologies for future European launch vehicles.

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5:

  • Globalstar 2-R Mission 1 (x9) from Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA (00:00 UTC) Nine Globalstar HIBLEO-4 replenishment satellites launched to low Earth orbit. This is the first of two planned launches to refresh the HIBLEO-4 fleet. Booster B1090, flying for its 12th time, will target a landing on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. Watch Live Launch Preview

• Deep Blue Aerospace Nebula-1:

  • Demo Flight from Haiyang Oriental Spaceport (00:00 UTC) First test launch of Deep Blue Aerospace’s Nebula-1 reusable rocket on a suborbital flight profile. Launch Preview

July 2

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5:

  • Starlink Group 17-46 from Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA (02:00 UTC) A batch of 24 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. Watch Live

• United Launch Alliance Atlas V 551:

  • Amazon Leo (LA-08) from Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA (04:24 UTC) The Atlas V 551 will launch 29 satellites for Amazon’s Leo broadband internet constellation, formerly known as Project Kuiper. The constellation is planned to comprise 3,276 satellites across 98 orbital planes at altitudes of 590–630 km, providing high-speed, low-latency broadband to underserved and remote areas globally. This marks a continued build-out of the Amazon Leo mega-constellation.

July 3

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5:
  • Starlink Group 10-50 from Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA (11:20 UTC) A batch of 29 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. Watch Live

July 6

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5:
  • Starlink Group 17-48 from Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA (14:00 UTC) A batch of 24 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. Watch Live

Schedule Changes

• New Launches Added: Four missions were added to the manifest: SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 carrying Starlink Group 17-46 (July 2, 02:00 UTC from Vandenberg SFB), United Launch Alliance Atlas V 551 carrying Amazon Leo LA-08 (July 2, 04:24 UTC from Cape Canaveral SFS), SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 carrying Starlink Group 10-50 (July 3, 11:20 UTC from Cape Canaveral SFS), and SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 carrying Starlink Group 17-48 (July 6, 14:00 UTC from Vandenberg SFB).
• Status Update: Rocket Lab’s Electron mission Ten Owl Of Ten (StriX Launch 10) has been upgraded from To Be Determined to Go for Launch, confirming a window of June 26 at 16:45 UTC from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand.

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