Blue Origin begins rebuilding New Glenn pad

spacenews.com Jun 19, 2026

Blue Origin begins rebuilding New Glenn pad

Curated by Shubham · TechCapsules · Jun 19, 2026

AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication

Blue Origin has begun rebuilding its launch pad at Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 36, which was severely damaged in a New Glenn explosion on May 28. The company aims to resume launches by the end of the year. Despite the damage, Blue Origin has been able to preserve some long-lead items, including a propellant tank farm and a New Glenn booster. The company is working to return to flight, with a focus on making changes to the vehicle and pad infrastructure to prevent similar incidents.

💡 Why It Matters

· A swift return to flight for Blue Origin's New Glenn launch vehicle would ease pressure on the launch market, where demand outstrips supply.
· The company's backlog of missions, including those for NASA's Artemis lunar exploration campaign, could be impacted if New Glenn is out of service for an extended time.

Capsules Space

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Quantum Space wins Pentagon contract to develop orbital refueling spacecraft

Quantum Space, a Rockville, Maryland-based company, has won a Pentagon contract to develop an orbital refueling spacecraft using its Ranger platform. The contract, funded by the Department of Defense's Operational Energy Capability Improvement Fund, aims to establish a broader in-space logistics infrastructure to support long-duration military operations. The spacecraft, expected to be delivered by 2028, will be compatible with military client spacecraft and feature a multimode propulsion system combining chemical and electric propulsion. Quantum Space has repositioned itself as a national security space company focused on orbital logistics and satellite servicing.

💡 The Pentagon's investment in in-space refueling signals a shift in the military's approach to satellite operations, recognizing fuel as a replenishable resource rather than a finite commodity. This move has significant implications for the long-term sustainability of military satellite operations and the development of a robust in-space logistics infrastructure.

spacenews.com · Jun 19

Space Force’s rapid acquisition office director moves to Air Force Nuclear Weapons…

Kelly Hammett, the former head of the Space Rapid Capabilities Office, has been appointed executive director of the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center. This move comes as the Space Rapid Capabilities Office is set to be eliminated as a standalone organization under the Space Force's acquisition overhaul. Hammett led the Space RCO since 2022 and departs as the Space Force implements a new acquisition structure centered on Portfolio Acquisition Executives. The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center oversees nuclear weapons-related acquisition and sustainment programs supporting Air Force Global Strike Command.

💡 The reorganization of the Space Force's acquisition enterprise could extend the rapid-acquisition culture associated with the Space Development Agency and Space RCO across the broader Space Force, potentially streamlining contracting and speeding delivery of new capabilities.

invezz.com · Jun 19

Cursor deal positions SpaceX to be a $3T behemoth, analyst says

SpaceX's recent deal with Cursor is expected to significantly boost the company's market capitalization, potentially reaching over $3 trillion, according to an analyst. The deal adds a fast-growing AI software layer and a large user base, creating a "data flywheel" that is difficult to replicate. The acquisition is projected to increase SpaceX's annual recurring revenue, lifting AI revenue and margins. The market is treating SpaceX as an AI infrastructure play, and the integration benefits are expected to show up in future results. The deal's impact on SpaceX's stock is considered highly bullish, despite recent sessions seeing the shares tumble.

💡 SpaceX's acquisition of Cursor gives it a distribution and compute advantage, making it harder for competitors to acquire customers and maintain pricing power. This advantage is expected to drive investor rotation away from standalone coding platforms towards SpaceX.

spacenews.com · Jun 19

EQT to acquire Exolaunch

Private equity firm EQT is acquiring Exolaunch, a company that handles rideshare launches of satellites, to meet growing launch demand. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026. Exolaunch has arranged launches of over 790 satellites on 47 missions, including those with SpaceX. The company will use EQT's backing to acquire additional launch capacity, addressing the industry's launch-constrained moment. Exolaunch's management team and staff will remain unchanged. The company plans to actively pull launch capacity from different providers to meet customer needs. EQT's investment marks its first in the space sector, with Exolaunch seeking resources to scale and grow.

💡 EQT's acquisition enables Exolaunch to address the launch capacity gap, particularly for smallsat constellations. Exolaunch's expansion will help satelllite operators access orbit amidst growing demand and uncertainty about SpaceX's rideshare program.

spacenews.com · Jun 18

Swift reboost mission ready for launch

NASA's Link spacecraft, developed by Katalyst Space Technologies, is set to launch on June 27 to raise the orbit of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, a gamma-ray observatory in low Earth orbit. The mission, which has been developed in under a year, aims to prevent the Swift Observatory from reentering Earth's atmosphere by late 2024. NASA selected Katalyst in September 2023 to develop Link under a $30 million contract, with the agency emphasizing the need for a swift development timeline to meet the mission requirements.

💡 The success of this mission highlights the agency's ability to rapidly develop and execute complex space missions, showcasing its capacity for bureaucratic agility in the face of pressing deadlines.

space.com · Jun 18

‘It’s quite a bit more than we expected’: Satellite reveals immense scale…

An experimental satellite, Pulsar-0, has mapped the scale of GPS jamming across Europe and the Middle East from space for the first time. The data revealed that satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) suffer from GPS signal disruption, contradicting previous assumptions that they were immune to jamming. The findings indicate that LEO satellites may not always be able to rely on GPS signals for navigation and timing, posing a challenge for their operations. The data was collected by Pulsar-0, the first satellite of the Pulsar navigation constellation developed by Xona Space Systems.

💡 The widespread GPS jamming in Europe and the Middle East raises concerns about the reliability of navigation and timing signals for satellites in low Earth orbit, which could compromise the safety and effectiveness of various operations, including imaging and finance operations.