Short Takes – 8-27-25 – Space Geek Edition

SpaceX’s Starship goes the distance in 10th test flight. CosmicLog.com article. Pull quote: ““There are thousands of engineering challenges that remain for both the Ship and the booster, but maybe the single biggest one is the reusable orbital heat shield,” Musk said during a pre-launch chat on SpaceX’s webcast. “We are confident in making a fully reusable orbital heat shield, but it will require many flights, many iterations, to figure out where the weak points are.””

Starship completes tenth test flight, breaking string of failures. SpaceNews.com article. Pull quote: “The vehicle then fired several Raptor engines for a final landing burn, performing a “soft” splashdown within sight of a buoy placed by SpaceX to observe the landing. The vehicle, upon splashdown, tipped over and exploded, as expected, more than 66 minutes after liftoff.”

Alpha FLT006 Message in a Booster. FireflySpace.com press release. Return to flight notice. Pull quote: “Fortunately, the corrective actions are straight forward: increase thermal protection system thickness on Stage 1 and reduce angle of attack during key phases of the flight. Corrective actions have already been implemented.”

Expediting Initial Processing of Satellite and Earth Station Applications; Space Innovation. Federal Register, FCC final rule. Summary: “In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission or we) adopts a Second Report and Order with variety measures to expedite space and earth station approvals, including by eliminating the requirement to file certain license modification applications and eliminating outdated rules. In particular, the Second Report and Order provides regulatory certainty for, and eliminates burdens on, the nascent Ground-Station-as-a-Service industry, where a neutral host establishes connectivity to multiple satellite systems in space. As licensing activity before the Commission increases in complexity and number, concrete measures to expedite earth and space station applications will support U.S. leadership in the growing space economy. Accordingly, adoption of these concrete measures to expedite the processing of applications for authority to operate space and earth stations under part 25 of the Commission's rules would be vital to supporting U.S. leadership in the growing space economy.” Effective date: September 26^th, 2025.

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