Posted: Sun, Nov 3 10:02 AM ET (1502 GMT)
The European Commission has approved a long-delayed plan to develop a satellite broadband constellation. The commission announced Thursday it accepted a best-and-final offer submitted by the SpaceRISE consortium, led by satellite operators SES, Eutelsat and Hispasat, for the Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite (IRIS2) constellation. A contract for designing and operating more than 290 satellites by 2030 to support government communications remains subject to final negotiations, which are slated to conclude before the end of this year. The total cost of IRIS2 remains uncertain, but may significantly exceed original projections of six billion euros ($6.5 billion).

Related Links:

•  SpaceNews article
•  Luxembourg Times article
•  European Commission press release

Posted: Sun, Nov 3 9:59 AM ET (1459 GMT)
Russia launched a military satellite Thursday. A Soyuz-2.1a rocket lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 3:51 am EDT (0751 GMT) and placed the unidentified satellite into orbit successfully, Russia's Defense Ministry stated. The government did not disclose details about the satellite but its orbit is the same as those used by Bars-M imaging satellites.

Related Links:

•  TASS article
•  RussianSpaceWeb.com article

Lockheed Martin completes acquisition of Terran Orbital
Posted: Sun, Nov 3 9:57 AM ET (1457 GMT)
Lockheed Martin has completed its acquisition of smallsat manufacturer Terran Orbital. Lockheed said Wednesday it closed the deal, announced in mid-August and valued at...

Shenzhou-19 launched to Tiangong
Posted: Sun, Nov 3 9:56 AM ET (1456 GMT)
A new Chinese crew has arrived at the Tiangong space station. A Long March 2F rocket lifted off at 4:27 pm EDT (2027 GMT)...

NASA identifies root cause of Orion heat shield issue
Posted: Sun, Nov 3 9:54 AM ET (1454 GMT)
NASA says it now understands why the heat shield on the Orion spacecraft eroded more than expected on the Artemis 1 mission, but won't...