Steve Creech is the program manager for the Human Landing System Program at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.

The Artemis III dual-docking campaign will be the first time NASA actively integrates hardware and software interfaces from both Human Landing System providers simultaneously during a single mission.

The Artemis III crew will return to Earth using an upgraded ablative heat shield block designed for high-energy atmospheric reentry.

The Artemis III test flight will perform docking maneuvers and vehicle control handovers in orbit.

The uncrewed or prototype Human Landing System vehicles for Artemis III will launch on commercial rockets.

After the docking exercises, the Artemis III crew will return to Earth using an upgraded ablative heat shield block designed for high-energy atmospheric reentry.

NASA published new operational parameters for its Artemis III demonstration mission on July 15, 2026.

Artemis III will be the first NASA mission to integrate hardware and software interfaces from both Human Landing System providers simultaneously.

Erich Hernandez-Baquero was considered for the role of Air Force assistant secretary for space acquisition and integration after Frank Calvelli left the Defense Department at the end of January 2025.

Erich Hernandez-Baquero is currently vice president of Space ISR at Raytheon.

The National Reconnaissance Office is acquiring many of the satellites for the ground moving target indication mission on the Space Force’s behalf.

The Space Force is reorganizing acquisition around nine mission-focused Portfolio Acquisition Executives, shifting authority from individual programs to operational missions.

The Space Force awarded SpaceX a $4.16 billion SB-AMTI contract in May to procure air-moving target indication capabilities directly.

Pangea Propulsion's new plant in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat covers 1,000 square metres.

Pangea Propulsion's L'Hospitalet complex will integrate Nereus with one private customer's reentry capsule.

Pangea Propulsion's workforce grew by 30% over the previous year.

The L'Hospitalet plant is intended for the manufacture, assembly, integration, and functional validation of space propulsion systems.

Arcos is Pangea Propulsion's full-scale methane-and-liquid-oxygen aerospike engine and is described as the first of its kind in the world.

Adrià Argemí is the CEO and cofounder of Pangea Propulsion.

Pangea Propulsion, formerly known as Pangea Aerospace, has opened a new industrial plant in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain.

Pangea Propulsion plans to invest a total of 7 million euros in the L'Hospitalet plant project by 2029 and has already spent 1 million euros.

Pangea Propulsion's production center includes additive manufacturing, precision machining, metrology, advanced welding, controlled-environment assembly, and systems integration capabilities.

The blue structure on the deck is a possible catch deck-stage mobile securing platform for the CZ-10A/B stage.

One new booster in Tianjin has its engines mounted, and the other is awaiting engine installation.

China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology teams will prepare the Long March 10B booster for a second launch toward the end of the year.

Thicker cables in the lower half of Linghangzhe’s catch structure were deployed to stop the booster from swinging on its catch hooks in high waves.

The new boosters will be shared between the Long March 10A and Long March 10B launch vehicles.

The Long March 10A first-stage booster is expected to attempt recovery on its debut flight.

Linghangzhe arrived at its home port in Sanya on July 15 with the recovered booster aboard.

The recovered Long March 10B booster was caught minutes later on the drone ship Linghangzhe in the South China Sea using tensioned steel wires.

The first-stage Long March 10B booster was passivated after capture to remove remaining energetic propellants.

China recovered its first rocket booster with the debut flight of the Long March 10B.

SpaceX uses a similar system called Octagrabber when Falcon 9 is transported back to shore.

The Long March 10A is expected to make its debut flight with the Mengzhou-1 mission.

The Long March 10B lifted off from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site.

Two new boosters are in production at China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology facilities in Tianjin.

The Long March 10B booster will be removed from Linghangzhe and sent to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology’s Tianjin facilities for inspections.

Only the key exchange in the EAGLE-1 system uses the quantum channel, while the communications it secures travel over conventional networks.

The Eagle-1 optical telescope will track the Eagle-1 satellite to maintain the precise laser link required by the system.

The Eagle-1 launch is now expected at the end of 2027 or in early 2028.

SITAEL is leading construction of the EAGLE-1 satellite.

SES and Airbus secured a site at the NL Space Campus in Noordwijk for the Eagle-1 optical ground station.

The European Quantum Communication Infrastructure will form part of the IRIS2 secure communications network.

The European Quantum Communication Infrastructure will form part of Europe’s IRIS2 secure communications network.

At that time, Eagle-1 was expected to launch in 2024.

ESA’s contract for the EAGLE-1 system, including the satellite and ground systems, was valued at approximately €130 million.

SES selected Arianespace in November 2022 to launch Eagle-1 aboard a Vega C rocket.

The EAGLE-1 satellite was originally expected to launch in 2024.

SES awarded TNO and Airbus Netherlands the contract to build the system’s optical ground station in November 2023.

SES and Airbus have secured a site at the NL Space Campus in Noordwijk for the Eagle-1 optical ground station.