Washington Updates: Competing For The Academy

Written by: Jeff Gardner

What You Need to Know: 

• States are vying to host the proposed U.S. Space Academy.
• The U.K. Royal Air Force launches its first space squadron.
• SpaceX is preparing for its first Starship orbital launch.

United States Space Policy Updates

• Multiple states, including Texas, Florida, and Alabama, are competing to host the planned U.S. Space Academy. NASA revealed initial details about the Academy in a Sept. 10 RFI. The plan is to break ground in 2027 with a finished campus by 2031.  (Payload, Sept. 18). Read more about the Academy in a recent opinion piece from Space Foundation CEO Heather Pringle.
• The FCC will vote on Sept. 30 on whether to overhaul its National Environmental Policy Act rules. (FCC, Sept. 22)
• NASA contracts SpaceX to provide launch services for its StarBurst mission, which will investigate star mergers and gamma-ray bursts. (NASA, Sept. 17)
• The Space Force is considering a fleet of standby satellites that can be launched on short notice. (SpaceNews, Sept. 21)
• The Space Force awards Impulse Space a $28 million contract to deliver a Mira spacecraft to LEO for space domain awareness. (GlobalNewswire, Sept. 22)

International Space Policy Updates

• The U.K. Royal Air Force launches its first space squadron focused on defense. The unit is dedicated to countering hostile threats to U.K. satellites. While other RAF space units are able to watch and warn about space threats, the new squadron will be able to “disrupt, degrade and deny hostile actions.” (RAF, Sept. 23)
• Djibouti and Albania become the 72nd and 73rd Artemis Accords signatories. (NASA, Sept. 18)
• ESA and AI company Mistral sign a letter of intent to deepen their collaboration on artificial intelligence. (ESA, Sept. 23)
• ESA acknowledges delays to the Ariane 6 launch schedule due to an engine turbopump anomaly. (European Spaceflight, Sept. 21)
• Canada and France plan to share launch capabilities and satellite data. (CBC, Sept. 20)

Space Industry Updates

• SpaceX prepares for Starship’s first orbital flight, planned for Monday, Sept. 28. Starship is the company’s largest and most powerful rocket to date. While the Starship program has already launched more than a dozen missions, this will be the first to go into orbit. (Space.com, Sept. 21)
• Vast establishes a Lunar Programs division to support NASA’s planned Moon Base. (Vast Space, Sept. 23)
• Planet Labs opens a satellite-manufacturing facility in Berlin. (Planet Labs, Sept. 21)
• Firefly Aerospace opens a new clean room facility in Texas to scale production of lunar landers and orbital vehicles. (Firefly, Sept. 22)
• Astra plans to launch its new Rocket 4.0 in early 2027. (SpaceNews, Sept. 18)

---

Related Articles