Posted: Sat, Feb 22 11:22 AM ET (1622 GMT)
Elon Musk said Thursday that the International Space Station should be deorbited years earlier than current plans. Musk, in posts on social media, said that the ISS offers "very little incremental utility" now and should be deorbited in about two years. NASA's current plans project operating the ISS to 2030, by which time the agency hopes to have one or more commercial stations in operation to take over research and related work currently done on the ISS. It's not clear if it is technically feasible to deorbit the station as soon as 2027, and doing so would disrupt plans of both companies and international partners. Key members of Congress have also recently called for keeping the ISS in orbit until commercial successors are ready. Musk didn't explain why he was now calling for the demise of the ISS, but his comments came hours after he got into a spat with an ESA astronaut regarding Musk's claims that Starliner astronauts were kept on the ISS for political reasons.

Related Links:

•  SpaceNews article
•  Ars Technica article
•  Bloomberg News article
•  Politico article
•  Florida Today article

Posted: Sat, Feb 22 11:19 AM ET (1619 GMT)
Airbus took another 300 million euros ($314 million) in charges on its space business as it continues discussions about joining forces with other European space companies. Airbus said Thursday that charge came after a review of a final program in its space portfolio, which it did not identify, and brings the total charges on its space business to 1.3 billion euros in 2024. Airbus said last year it had not properly evaluated technology risks on satellite programs when bidding on them, leading to the charges. Airbus executives said they do not anticipate any additional losses on its space business in 2025. Airbus is in "preliminary and nonbinding" discussions with Leonardo and Thales Alenia Space about combining their space business, with Airbus officials said was necessary to more effectively compete against American companies. They offered no timeline for completing those talks.

Related Links:

•  SpaceNews article
•  Reuters article
•  Airbus press release

SDA revokes Terran Orbital satellite contract
Posted: Sat, Feb 22 11:16 AM ET (1616 GMT)
The Space Development Agency (SDA) has revoked a contract for 10 satellites it awarded to Terran Orbital after a lawsuit by Viasat. The SDA said...

SES reassures investors after Moody's downgrade
Posted: Sat, Feb 22 11:15 AM ET (1615 GMT)
Satellite operator SES moved to reassured investors after receiving a downgrade from a major ratings agency. Moody's downgraded the Luxembourg-based satellite operator's...

Rocket Lab, SpaceX conduct launches
Posted: Sat, Feb 22 11:12 AM ET (1612 GMT)
Rocket Lab and SpaceX conducted launched minutes apart Tuesday. A Rocket Lab Electron lifted off from the company's New Zealand launch site at 6:...