We are cutting through the orbital debris for you. In other words, we’re keeping an eye on space news on the web so you don’t have to.
Here is our round-up of the most important, and interesting, space news stories of November (space orders can be found in another post):
Anomalies and failures
NASA and Roscosmos are at odds over a persistent air leak on the ISS, with NASA fretting about potential “catastrophic failure” while Roscosmos seems more laid-back about the whole affair.
Separately, the ISS crew got an ‘unexpected odor’ from a newly arrived Russian Progress cargo ship
JAXA had to pull the plug on an Epsilon S rocket engine test when an unexpected fire broke out, marking yet another hiccup in Japan’s quest for space glory
Human space
After a six-month stint in orbit, China’s Shenzhou 18 crew touched down safely, likely craving some proper earthly grub.
The Crew-8 astronauts on Crew Dragon are keeping tight-lipped about a splashdown medical hiccup, leaving us all guessing.
NASA’s figured out why Orion’s heat shield had a rough time but isn’t spilling the beans just yet.
Vast and the Czech government have teamed up, possibly sending a Czech astronaut on a future mission—talk about Czech-ing into space
China readies new cargo mini-shuttle freighter called Haolong for its space station
Space Technology
ESA is gearing up to use nuclear electric propulsion to power its spacecraft by 2035
Lockheed Martin has revealed a new solar power array designed to juice up NASA’s Artemis missions, ensuring lunar explorers won’t be left in the dark
Several startups are in a cosmic sprint to beam solar power from space back to Earth, turning sci-fi dreams into renewable energy reality.
China tested the inflation of an inflatable test module on its Shi Jian 19 flight.
International Space
Denmark’s hopped on the lunar bandwagon as the 48th nation to sign the Artemis Accords, aiming for some cosmic hygge.
Military Space
Britain’s oldest satellite, Skynet-1A, has shifted its orbit without leaving a forwarding address, leaving experts scratching their heads
The Pentagon’s betting big on space-age couriers, aiming to drop supplies anywhere on Earth within an hour—talk about express delivery!
Japan and Poland are joining the US military’s satellite club
Experts suggest the next US president should keep China’s phone number handy to prevent any space squabbles—because, even in orbit, it’s good to talk.
Companies/Money:
SpaceX Starship design is copied by China for its planned heavy lift Long March 9 rocket as China also copies Chopsticks
SpaceX gets a provisional go-ahead for its Direct-to-Cell Starlink service
SpaceX wants to put a constellation around Mars…called Marslink
Gwynne Shotwell notes planned ramp up of Starship launches
Kepler is planning to downsize on the number of satellites in its data relay constellation and it’s swapping radio waves for lasers
Intuitive Machines is gearing up for a February lunar encore, hoping its second moon landing sticks the touchdown without a hitch this time
Feeling the heat from Starlink, Viasat wants to link up with Telesat for some LEO bandwidth
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is set to lay off about 325 employees—roughly 5% of its workforce—due to budget constraints, marking the second significant reduction this year.
Fundraising:
Inversion Space has secured US$44 million in Series A funding to develop its ‘Arc’ reentry vehicle aiming to provide on-demand cargo delivery from space to Earth’s most challenging locations.
The Exploration Company has raised US$160 million in Series B funding to advance its reusable and refillable ‘Nyx’ spacecraft
Virgin Galactic is looking for more funding to expedite the expansion of its spaceplane fleet
Market positivity towards Globalstar after Apple investment
M&A
DirecTV has pulled the plug on its Dish merger plans after Dish’s bondholders balked at the deal, leaving the satellite TV giants to navigate the streaming era solo
BlackSky has taken full control of LeoStella by acquiring Thales Alenia’s stake, aiming to streamline satellite production for its next-gen constellation.
Spire Global is selling its maritime division to Kepler for US$241 million, planning to wipe out its debt and refocus on core markets like weather and aviation
