
September 4, 2026 — Isaacman vs. McAlister: How Much of NASA Should Be Commercial?
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman publicly clashes with former commercial-space chief Phil McAlister over how far NASA should push commercialization as Falcon 9's retirement looms and Starliner stays ...
4 Sep 11min

September 3, 2026 — Blue Origin's $700 Million Mars Bet
NASA hands Blue Origin a $700 million fixed-price contract to build the Mars Telecommunications Network — but the rocket that will presumably launch it, New Glenn, exploded on the pad in May. Plus: Ch...
3 Sep 11min

September 2, 2026 — The Funding Keeps Growing, The Rocket Still Hasn't Flown
PLD Space piles another €108 million onto its already-growing Series C round as it races toward Miura 5's first flight, plus a new Chinese liquid-fueled rocket, a German launch startup's fresh raise, ...
2 Sep 12min

September 1, 2026 — Inside the FAA's Power to Ground a Rocket Company
Today's episode is an Orbit 101 on the Federal Aviation Administration's role as the safety gatekeeper for commercial launch and reentry — what its licensing power actually covers, why a suspended lic...
1 Sep 11min

August 31, 2026 — Europe Bets Big on Beating Starlink — Can It Ship in Time?
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched successfully Sunday and drew an unusual phone-in from President Trump, SLS hardware is now moving through production on four vehicles at once, Rocket ...
31 Aug 11min

August 30, 2026 — Roman Telescope Launches: Did Congress Just Prove It Runs NASA's Science
Roman Space Telescope enters its launch countdown after surviving a White House push to cancel it, ESA reveals the actual euro figures behind its European Launcher Challenge contracts, and NASA's Isaa...
30 Aug 10min

August 29, 2026 — The Week Space Ambition Met the Launch Bottleneck
The weekly recap: NASA's Roman telescope clears its last review for a Sunday launch, LandSpace's Zhuque-3 lands a booster that then topples, the White House sets a bold new national launch-cadence tar...
29 Aug 12min

August 28, 2026 — $72 Million: The Price of Skipping the Bid on SpaceX
The Space Force hands SpaceX a fleet-wide, sole-source Starshield contract for military aircraft — with the award value redacted. Plus: ESA's European Launcher Challenge money breaks down company by c...
28 Aug 12min



















