Space News: Failed Indian Launch, Moon Hotel Plans, and Blue Origin Shake-up

2025 Year-End and 2026 Launch Recap

• 🚀 SpaceX continued its dominance with Starlink launches, while India, China, and Russia also had multiple launches in late 2025.
• 🛰️ Notable launches included India's LVM3 carrying a direct-to-cell satellite, China's meteorological and experimental satellites, and Russia's Soyuz with Earth observation payloads.
• 🛰️ Early 2026 saw SpaceX launch the Italian Cosmo Skymed SAR satellite and a rideshare mission featuring the Pandora telescope, a flight spare for JWST's NICAM.

Indian PSLV Launch Failure and Re-entry Capsule Data

• 💥 India's PSLV-DL experienced a failure on its final stage during a ride-share mission carrying 19 satellites, marking a second consecutive third-stage failure for the rocket.
• 📈 Despite the launch failure, a re-entry capsule named 'The Kid' from Orbital Paradigm survived and transmitted re-entry data, though customer data was not retrieved.
• 📉 Analysis suggests the rocket reached approximately 18 degrees south before descending and burning up over the ocean.

Major Personnel and Funding News

• 💼 Tory Bruno, former ULA CEO, has moved to Blue Origin to lead national security efforts, a significant shift impacting ULA's government launch contracts.
• 💰 NASA's 2026 budget is set to be around $24 billion, rejecting proposed cuts and restoring funding for programs like Artemis, though the Mars Sample Return mission faces uncertainty.
• 🏢 NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center demolished historic test stands, built in the 1950s-60s, due to age and safety concerns, to be replaced by modern facilities.

SpaceX and Starlink Updates

• 🚢 SpaceX is utilizing a specialized barge to transport Starship and its boosters from Boca Chica to Florida, with boosters to be transported horizontally.
• 🛰️ SpaceX plans to lower the orbits of 4,500 Starlink satellites by 70 km in 2026 to adjust for current solar activity and ensure faster decay of damaged satellites.
• 🚀 The US Space Force is retooling a launch facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base to accommodate super heavy-lift rockets like Starship or New Glenn.
• 💰 SpaceX secured $739 million in new contracts from the Department of Defense for national security space launches.

Astronomy and Future Ventures

• 🔭 Eric and Wendy Schmidt's foundation announced significant private investment in astronomy, including ground-based arrays and the Lazuli Space Observatory, a space telescope larger than Hubble.
• 🏨 GRU Space, a startup from the latest Y Combinator class, aims to build a hotel on the Moon, representing a bold vision for lunar tourism.
• ⚠️ A blogger raised concerns about the company TGV Space's business model and address, suggesting potential government fraud, though initial assessments indicate this is unlikely.

International Space Station and NASA Administrator Activities

• 🧑‍🚀 The ISS crew is preparing for a medical evacuation, with undocking and re-entry scheduled for Wednesday.
• ✈️ NASA Administrator Jared is touring NASA facilities to address bureaucracy and innovation, and recently flew his F5s to Kennedy Space Center.
• 🌕 Artemis 2 is preparing for its rollout, with potential launch dates set for night windows, aiming for a record distance from Earth when on the far side of the Moon.