SpaceX suffers its second postponement in a week after aborting a Starlink flight

deultimominuto.net Jul 21, 2026

SpaceX suffers its second postponement in a week after aborting a Starlink flight

Curated by Shubham · TechCapsules · Jul 21, 2026

AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication

SpaceX experienced its second launch postponement within a week, aborting a Falcon 9 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base just seconds before liftoff. The scrubbed flight was intended to deploy 24 Starlink satellites into orbit. This incident follows the aborted thirteenth test of the Starship spacecraft last Thursday at Starbase in Texas, where engine failures triggered an automatic abort. Elon Musk confirmed that two Raptor engines will be replaced for the next Starship attempt scheduled for Thursday. SpaceX stated that both the vehicle and payload remain healthy. These consecutive delays have intensified scrutiny from NASA, which relies on SpaceX for lunar transportation. The space agency has warned that continued failure to meet deadlines could result in reopening the competition for the contract, emphasizing that the agreement is not a blank check for the company.

💡 Why It Matters

· NASA’s explicit threat to reopen the lunar contract competition transforms routine technical glitches into a high-stakes business risk for SpaceX.
· This pressure forces the company to prioritize reliability over rapid iteration to secure its exclusive role in the Artemis program.

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James Webb Space Telescope discovers the secrets of cosmic ‘factories’ that filled…

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have probed the dwarf galaxy Sextans A, 4.6 million light‑years away, as a stand‑in for the metal‑poor galaxies that populated the early universe. Because direct observations of those primordial systems remain challenging, the team led by Claudio Gavetti (INAF) employed JWST’s NIRCam and MIRI instruments to map Sextans A’s entire asymptotic red‑giant‑branch (AGB) stellar population. They found that roughly 90 % of the AGB stars lack surrounding dust, while about 20 exhibit thick dust shells, indicating “dust factories” that formed 2–3 billion years ago from stars with initial masses near 1.5 solar masses. The study clarifies which early‑generation stars produced the heavy‑element dust that later enriched subsequent stellar generations, offering a clearer picture of how the cosmos acquired the material needed for star and galaxy growth.

💡 By pinpointing the specific stellar sources of early cosmic dust, the research bridges a gap in our understanding of how the first generations of stars seeded the universe with the elements essential for planet formation and life.

spacenews.com · Jul 21

Zenno Astronautics to relocate to the United States

Zenno Astronautics, a New Zealand startup that develops superconducting magnetic actuators for spacecraft attitude control, announced it will relocate its headquarters to Los Angeles. The move follows a June in‑orbit test of the company’s Z01 Supertorquer aboard Impulse Space’s Mira satellite, which the CEO Max Arshavsky described as the world’s first commercially ready magnetic stabilization system for satellites. Zenno plans to lease space in Los Angeles, relocate some New Zealand staff and hire locally, aiming to open a production facility by September‑October that can scale output beyond New Zealand’s capacity. The company, founded in 2017, has raised NZ$10.5 million in a 2022 seed round and received additional capital from Mitsubishi Electric’s Innovation Fund in 2024. It intends to leverage the dense Southern California aerospace ecosystem to expand its product line and support lunar‑infrastructure projects.

💡 By embedding itself in the U.S. aerospace hub, Zenno can accelerate commercialization of superconducting tech that promises lighter, more efficient satellite control and a new class of lunar infrastructure.

space.com · Jul 21

SpaceX will launch a satellite repair drone with robot arms to Earth…

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral carrying the Mission Robotic Vehicle‑Mission Extension Vehicle (MRV‑MEV) to geostationary orbit. The MRV, equipped with two 10‑foot robotic arms, will attach three Mission Extension Pods (MEPs) to separate satellites, extending their operational life by up to eight years. Optus and Intelsat secured two MEPs, while the third remains available. The MRV also carries a refueling module, enabling in‑orbit servicing and potential future upgrades. This marks the first deployment of MEPs and a new satellite‑repair capability.

💡 The mission introduces a reusable, robotic platform that can extend, repair, and refuel GEO satellites, reducing the need for costly replacements and enhancing space asset resilience.

space.com · Jul 21

Scientists may have found the 1st twin star system where both stars…

A team led by Stanford postdoctoral fellow Miltiadis Michailidis reports the first evidence of a binary star system where both massive stars exploded as supernovae. The study focuses on the IC 443 “Jellyfish Nebula” and its dimmer neighbor G189.6+3.3, located roughly 6,000 light‑years away in Gemini. Analysis of 16 years of Fermi gamma‑ray data and earlier X‑ray, optical, and radio observations shows the remnants overlap, with centers 30–50 light‑years apart—a probability of one in 1,000 for unrelated pairs. The older remnant dates to 20,000–110,000 years ago, while IC 443 is 8,000–9,000 years old. The findings, published July 21 in Nature Communications, provide the first observational confirmation of a dual‑supernova binary system and offer new insights into massive binary evolution and explosion dynamics.

💡 Detecting two supernovae from a single binary system confirms theoretical predictions about massive star pairings and their explosive ends, reshaping our understanding of stellar death rates and the chemical enrichment of galaxies.

spacenews.com · Jul 21

Italian startup ORiS raises funding for laser power-beaming technology

Italian startup ORiS announced a €5 million pre‑seed round, €4.5 million led by Earlybird and Pitchdrive and a €500,000 regional grant, to advance its laser‑based wireless power‑beaming system for satellites. The Turin‑based team has demonstrated ground‑level power transfer to drones hovering 100 m away and plans two orbital tests in 2027, the first with partner Dcubed to beam energy over 10 m. CEO Andrea Villa says the technology can retrofit existing satellites and work with any solar array, aiming for a commercial service after a third demonstration with an undisclosed client. ORiS also markets a terrestrial version called LOONA, backed by NATO’s DIANA program, and envisions lunar applications. The funding will support a 15‑person staff and space‑flight milestones by late 2028 to scale operations.

💡 Demonstrating laser power beaming in orbit could unlock a new, retrofit‑friendly method for powering the growing fleet of small satellites, accelerating deployment of more capable constellations.

spacenews.com · Jul 21

Agile Space Industries Appoints new CTO and Board member.

Agile Space Industries announced two senior appointments as it expands its in‑space propulsion business. Jake Mills, a veteran with over 20 years at Florida Turbine Technologies and Blue Origin, was named chief technology officer. He will direct all engineering functions and set the long‑term technical roadmap, emphasizing customer‑driven product strategies. Former Blue Origin turbomachinery leader and New Shepard capsule communicator, Mills brings both design expertise and operational experience to the role. Concurrently, Mark Pasquale joined the board as an independent director. Pasquale adds more than four decades of aerospace leadership, including senior program management at Lockheed Martin overseeing billion‑dollar initiatives. The hires aim to strengthen Agile’s engineering depth and governance as it scales across multiple states to meet rising demand for high‑performance propulsion systems.

💡 The new CTO and board member give Agile the seasoned leadership needed to accelerate product development and capture a larger share of the fast‑growing space‑propulsion market.