Posted: Sat, Dec 6 9:49 AM ET (1449 GMT)
Leaders of the Senate Commerce Committee said they hope to confirm Jared Isaacman as NASA administrator this month. At a confirmation hearing Wednesday, both committee chair Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and ranking member Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) said they supported Isaacman’s second bid to be NASA administrator and would work to get him confirmed before the end of the month. At the hearing, Isaacman emphasized the urgency of returning NASA astronauts to the moon before China lands its first astronauts there by the end of the decade. He expressed his support for provisions of the budget reconciliation act that funded elements of Artemis like SLS and Gateway despite efforts by the administration to cancel those programs in its 2026 budget proposal. Isaacman dodged other questions about that budget proposal and continued to state that his relationship with SpaceX founder Elon Musk is solely one as a customer of his earlier private astronaut missions.

Related Links:

•  SpaceNews article
•  New York Times article
•  NASASpaceFlight.com article
•  Orlando Sentinel article
•  SpacePolicyOnline.com article

Posted: Sat, Dec 6 9:47 AM ET (1447 GMT)
SpaceX launched more Starlink satellites Thursday. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 3:42 pm EST (2042 GMT) and placed 28 Starlink satellites into orbit. The launch was the fourth Falcon 9 mission in as many days, all carrying Starlink satellites.

Related Links:

•  Spaceflight Now article
•  Space.com article
•  Noozhawk article

Roscosmos replaces cosmonaut on next Crew Dragon mission to ISS
Posted: Sat, Dec 6 9:45 AM ET (1445 GMT)
Roscosmos has replaced the cosmonaut assigned to the next commercial crew mission to the International Space Station. Roscosmos said this week that Andrey Fedyaev would...

Satellite megaconstellations could disrupt space-based astronomy
Posted: Sat, Dec 6 9:43 AM ET (1443 GMT)
The growth of satellite constellations could impact space-based as well as ground-based astronomy. A study this week simulated the effects of proposed megaconstellations...

First Zhuque-3 reaches orbit, but booster landing fails
Posted: Sat, Dec 6 9:40 AM ET (1440 GMT)
China’s Zhuque-3 rocket achieved orbit in its first launch late Tuesday but the booster failed to make a landing. The first Zhuque-3...