US company Reflect Orbital plans to use giant space mirrors to direct reflected sunlight onto selected ground locations, and has booked two Indian rocket launches to test the service. A modelled study suggests the light could scatter through the atmosphere and brighten the sky far beyond the target area. The US Federal Communications Commission licensed the first test satellite but only for radio matters, declining to address optical effects. Regulation of such light remains unclear, as the company, launch site and possible target areas may fall under different jurisdictions.
SpaceX has declined to sign three US Space Force launch contracts, and no other rocket company offered to take the missions. Japan launched its MMX mission on Monday, aiming to land on Phobos and return samples to Earth. Reaction Dynamics, a Canadian launch startup, is seeking $350 million to grow its staff and aims to reach orbit in 2028. A NASA safety panel estimated that a Starship lunar landing may need up to 22 refuelings, though Elon Musk said the figure is far lower, around 6 to 8.
The University of Tasmania will help Australia track satellites, space debris and other hazards. It is one of three university partners in a new five-year ARC Training Centre worth $5 million. The centre will bring PhD candidates and a postdoctoral researcher to Tasmania and help build mission-control capability for space-monitoring operations.
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SpaceX has applied to the US Federal Communications Commission to launch and operate up to one million satellites as orbiting data centres. The filing has been accepted for public comment but is not approval to deploy. Astronomers warn the satellites could fill the night sky with moving lights and disrupt telescope observations. The American Astronomical Society has asked regulators to deny the application. Western Australian photographer John Goldsmith is among those opposing the plan, arguing that communities worldwide should have a say in changes to the sky.
Rama Afullo, a Kenyan American engineer, founded Satlyt after Google and SpaceX rejected his proposal for orbital data centers. Satlyt's software, set to launch on a SpaceX rocket, will enable satellites to share large computing jobs. The company has raised $8 million and aims to operate AI models on satellites, potentially saving costs by reducing data transmission to Earth. Satlyt's software will be tested on a spacecraft built by Indian startup TakeMe2Space, with NASA and other customers involved in the mission.
United Launch Alliance says its Vulcan rocket is weeks away from launching, with a no-earlier-than date of October 29 for an Amazon Leo flight. South Korea's Nuri rocket deployed five satellites on its fifth flight, its fourth consecutive success. A SpaceX Falcon 9 launch planned for early Monday was scrubbed in the final minute of the count, with no reason given. The company is now aiming for no earlier than October 10. Germany's HyImpulse has pushed the second flight of its SR75 suborbital rocket into spring 2027.
SpaceX executive Michael Nicolls has called on all satellite operators to share information about where their satellites are and where they are heading. Speaking at the International Astronautical Congress in Turkey, he described several near-misses between other operators' satellites and Starlink craft, with separations of tens to hundreds of metres. Starlink now has more than 11,000 satellites in orbit. Nicolls said some operators have not shared data, and that Chinese satellite operators are the most difficult to coordinate with. Amazon Leo's head, Rajeev Badyal, said his company already shares this data with SpaceX.
