International Affairs
Washington Updates – Boosting Starship Cadence
Written by: Jeff Gardner
What You Need to Know:
- SpaceX looks to increase its Starship launch cadence by nearly 20 times.
- JAXA launches a sample-return mission to the Martian moon Phobos.
- Blue Origin is building two new launchpads at Cape Canaveral.
United States Space Policy Updates
- FAA regulators are reviewing a proposal to greatly increase the number of Starship launches from SpaceX’s Starbase in southern Texas. The plan calls for as many as 456 launches and 912 landings a year, nearly 20 times the number of launches currently authorized. Comments on the FAA’s Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement are due by Nov. 30. (Yahoo, Oct. 15)
- NASA names Stephen Cash as director of Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. (NASA, Oct. 16)
- The Government Accountability Office warns of a potential gap in geostationary satellite weather coverage. (GAO, Oct. 16)
- The Space Force selects Raytheon to modernize global early warning radars.
(RTX, Oct. 15) - NASA’s Perseverance sets the record for total distance driven off world, more than 28 miles. (NASA, Oct. 12)
- The Space Force may increase its presence in the Middle East by five times. (SpaceNews, Oct. 19)
International Space Policy Updates
- JAXA launches the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission, intended to capture a sample from Phobos. Launched aboard a Mitsubishi H3 rocket, the spacecraft is expected to arrive in the Martian system in August 2027. The spacecraft will then capture a sample from the moon Phobos in late 2028 or early 2029 before returning it to the Earth in 2031. NASA provided multiple scientific instruments for the mission. (Space.com, Oct. 19)
- Uzbekistan becomes the 77th Artemis Accords signatory. (NASA, Oct. 20)
- Spaceport Cornwall signs an agreement with Dawn Aerospace for possible suborbital launch. (BBC, Oct. 19)
- The Saudi Space Agency and JAXA sign an agreement for space cooperation. (JAXA, Oct. 10)
Space Industry Updates
- Blue Origin releases a plan to increase New Glenn rocket launches in Florida. The plan includes a $330 million expansion to its facilities on Cape Canaveral, resulting in two more launch- and landing pads. The expansion is expected to be completed in mid-2027 and will be able to produce 150 New Glenn upper stages annually. New Glenn rockets have not launched since the vehicle exploded during a hot-fire test at Cape Canaveral in May 2026. (CNBC, Oct. 16)
- Rocket Lab pushes the launch of its next-gen Neutron rocket to 2027.
(Space.com, Oct. 16) - European cellular operators are seeking to enter the direct-to-device industry. (SpaceNews, Oct. 19)
- SpaceX launches its second Starfall return capsule. (Space.com, Oct. 20)
- Relativity Space finishes a hot-fire test of the Terran R rocket’s second stage. (Relativity, Oct. 16)
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