Caleb Henry

Happy Winter Solstice!

#Planet acquired Bedrock Research, deepening its #geospatial #AI capabilities and integrating proven workflows across its constellation for global monitoring and security.

🔗 https://spacewatch.global/2025/12/planet-acquires-bedrock-research-to-expand-its-ai-driven-solutions/

#SpaceWatchNews

The Bâtiment Assembleur Lanceur (BIL) at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana, 2022.

News from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana 🗞️

The Bâtiment Assembleur Lanceur (BIL) building will now be refurbished by Avio to assemble the Vega-C and future Vega-E launchers, allowing more Vega rockets to be launched a year.

The building will be rebranded as the Vega Assembly Building (VAB).

According to Amazon Leo, the stages for the first Ariane 64 rocket are en route to French Guiana aboard the transport ship Canopée. The rocket is expected to be launched in early 2026 for the first of 18 planned missions for Amazon LEO. Image credit: Amazon LEO

Sentinel-6B launched on 17 November 2025.

This NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope’s mid-infrared image shows four coiled shells of dust around a pair of Wolf-Rayet stars known as Apep for the first time. Previous observations by other telescopes showed only one.

Galileo ‘fit check’

This NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope’s image reveals CANUCS-LRD-z8.6, it is part of a class of small, very distant and strikingly red galaxies called Little Red Dots (LRDs), which have been spotted in increasing numbers by Webb’s surveys of the early Universe.

📷 This was our #WeekInImages 17-21 November 2025 👇

www.esa.int/About_Us/Wee...

Blue and Gold are now more than a million kilometers from Earth on their way to Mars 🛰️🛰️

France announces almost $5B in new military space funding Increased focus on defense is one of five pillars in a new French national space strategy announced by President Emmanuel Macron today.

France announces almost $5B in new military space funding
https://breakingdefense.com/2025/11/france-announces-almost-5b-in-new-military-space-funding/

And they confirmed the Dream Chaser Tow Test video is coming

Source: Sierra Space on the other site.

@seo:article_title @seo:teaser

The official release of the German Space Security Strategy is scheduled for November 19.

From what I am hearing, they will not be beating around the bush as in other similar documents. Expect some interesting points!

table.media/berlin/talk-...

French Satellite Manufacturer U-Space Raises €24M in Series A Funding French satellite manufacturer U-Space has raised €24 million in funding to support its industrial ramp-up and its expansion into new markets.

Another European satellite manufacturer joins the recent funding wave. This time, France’s U-Space has secured €24 million to ramp up production and expand into international markets.
europeanspaceflight.com/french-satel...

Hit the wrong button. Meant to retweet this, not reply. Second try. Here's a link to the Space News story about the FAA restricting launches and reentries to certain times of the day because of the shutdown, with the relevant paragraph of the FAA order attached.

Tonight's ViaSat-3 F2 launch attempt has been scrubbed.

Launch is now planned for Thursday, November 6 at 10:16 p.m. EST at the opening of a 44-minute window.

Learn more: www.viasat.com/news/latest-...

#VS3 #VS3F2 #ViaSat3 #ViaSat3F2

ESA’s ESOC facility with multiple large screens displaying data and status information. Several workstations with computers and keyboards are arranged in rows, and personnel in white shirts with ESA logos are monitoring spacecraft operations. The environment is filled with technical equipment, cables, and mission-related materials.

The Copernicus Sentinel-1D ‘Network Countdown’ has begun. Launch, communication and control facilities around the world have begun a synchronised sequence of activities to prepare for liftoff at 22:02 CET tonight and the crucial hours that follow. 🚀Watch live at esawebtv.esa.int
📷ESA - J. Mai

Intuitive Machines to acquire Lanteris Space Systems Intuitive Machines, a lunar lander company, announced Nov. 4 it is buying Lanteris Space Systems, a satellite builder formerly known as Maxar.

Intuitive Machines to acquire Lanteris Space Systems

Intuitive Machines, a lunar lander company, announced Nov. 4 it is buying Lanteris Space Systems, a satellite builder formerly known as Maxar.

At the Kennedy Space Center this morning, SpaceX is rolling out the Orbital Launch Mount for its first Florida Starship launch pad. Watch live: youtube.com/live/pRs0gDL...

Reflex Aerospace Raises €50M Series A Reflex Aerospace closed a €50M Series A to expand its production capacity and meet the rising demand for European-made sats.

German start-up Reflex Aerospace closed a €50M Series A to expand its production capacity. Reflex will use the capital to expand the manufacturing capacity at its facility in Bavaria, which "will be able to churn out 60 to 70 highly complex satellites per year."

This is some incredible cover art.

I don't always agree with Gottlieb's takes, but I've had innumerable conversations over the past five years that feel like this. Simply put: many satellite companies have no idea how to win against Starlink.

Mars isn’t easy. Orbit gaps could leave explorers out of contact. Power’s always a challenge. And reliable communication is in demand.

Rocket Lab’s Mars Telecommunications Orbiter will change that. 🌎➡️🔴 bit.ly/41NH6lV

Sounding the alarm: ESA introduces space environment ‘health index’ The congestion and pollution of Earth orbit is quickly getting worse. We need to be able to quantify how our behaviour impacts the orbital environment in the future. To this end, the European Space Ag...

ESA released a new metric - the space environment health index. For space to be "sustainable," it should be at a 1; apparently it's at a 4. I have questions about this

www.esa.int/Space_Safety...

JPL Workforce Update A message from JPL Director Dave Gallagher

A message from JPL Director Dave Gallagher announces a JPL layoff of 500 people has been announced that is "not related to the current government shutdown". www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/jpl-wor...

🚀It’s almost time to shape the next chapter of Europe’s journey in space.

The European Space Agency’s Council Meeting at Ministerial Level, known as #CM25, will take place in Bremen, Germany, on 26 and 27 November 2025.

Journalists register here 👉
www.esa.int/Newsroom/Pre...

It’s LVOS day! 🛰️🚀 The ViaSat-3 F2 campaign is officially underway for ULA as stacking of the Atlas V commences at CCSFS.

The 172 foot rocket is getting prepared for vertical integration of the ViaSat-3 F2 payload.

🔗 VS-3 F2 launch updates: https://t.co/9nKuWuVkx1 https://t.co/u2DFdeQS2F

Sunrise viewed from space over the Earth's horizon.

We’re boosting 23 international projects with £6.5m! 🚀

These collaborations with global partners span cutting-edge areas from lunar agriculture to orbital threat detection - demonstrating the UK's commitment to global partnerships and innovation. 🤝🌍

Read more 👉 gov.uk/government/n...

Astroscale and HEO Expand SDA Partnership

A 3-year MoU extends #Astroscale & #HEO’s monitoring and servicing collaboration into GEO, reinforcing allied space security.

🔗https://spacewatch.global/2025/09/astroscale-and-heo-advance-space-monitoring-capabilities-for-allied-nations/

#SpaceWatchNews

German military to invest $41B in space capabilities - Breaking Defense "Satellite networks today are an Achilles' heel of modern societies. Whoever attacks them paralyzes entire nations,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said.

This is a big deal for Germany. I remember when no German politician would be willing to mention the words space and military in the same paragraph, much less the same sentence. breakingdefense.com/2025/09/germ...

Liftoff of a Jielong-3 solid rocket from a barge in the past few minutes, expected to carry new Geesatcom satellites into orbit. live.bilibili.com/23118988

SWFO-L1 Launch SWFO-L1 will keep a watchful eye on the sun and near-Earth environment for space weather activity, using a solar telescope to monitor the Sun's activity and a suite of instruments to make real-time me...

AND... WE HAVE LIFTOFF of NOAA’s #SWFOL1 satellite, riding along with
NASA.gov's Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (#IMAP) and Carruthers Geocorona Observatory!

More about SWFO-L1:
noaa.gov/SWFOL1

#LetsGoSWFO!

Pretty cool we have a bunch of high tech space robots that can observe, measure, and track our interstellar visitor

#ESA picks #WIVERN as its 11th Earth Explorer. The radar satellite will track winds in clouds & improve storm forecasts.

🔗 https://spacewatch.global/2025/09/esa-selects-wivern-science-mission-as-11th-earth-explorer-mission/

#SpaceWatchNews #ESA #EarthObservation #Satellite