The first satellite for a Chinese company planning a global system of geostationary satellites, launched July 9 on a Long March 3B rocket.  SpaceNews

As the head of NASA emphasized what he saw as bipartisan support for the agency in Congress, several Republican members of the House criticized colleagues for a fiscal year 2021 spending bill they believe inadequately funds the agency. SpaceNews

Collins Aerospace, Raytheon and Technology Advancement Group were awarded contracts to develop military GPS handheld devices. SpaceNews

The Air Force will use Descartes Labs' platform to draw intelligence from imagery collected by satellites and by autonomous aerial vehicles. SpaceNews

NASA announced July 7 that it has completed two major reviews that stemmed from Boeing’s flawed commercial crew test flight last December as the agency and company prepare for a second test flight later this year. SpaceNews

Maj. Gen. Chance Saltzman wil serve as acting staff director of the Office of the Chief of Space Operations. SpaceNews

A House appropriations bill released July 7 rejected the administration’s proposed major budget increase for NASA, instead offering the agency a flat budget for 2021 that takes particular aim at the agency’s efforts to develop lunar landers. SpaceNews

On June 10, NASA IV&V participated in the Mars 2020 Safety and Mission Success Review (SMSR) where final mission assurance conclusions were provided, culminating in an affirmative “Go” from NASA IV&V, providing concurrence for the project to move forward to the Flight Readiness Review (FRR) in July. This milestone is the culmination of years of hard work by JPL and NASA IV&V to confirm Mars 2020 mission readiness for launch currently set for July 30. SpaceNews

A potential return to operations of satellite megaconstellation company OneWeb is a new source of worry for astronomers who previously had been focused on the effect SpaceX’s Starlink satellites will have on their observations. SpaceNews

NOAA forecasters predicting an active 2020 hurricane season are refining storm track and intensity forecasts thanks to data from multiple satellites, including the second Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC-2). SpaceNews

Thales Alenia Space of France and Italy won the largest share of prime contracts the European Space Agency awarded July 1 for further development of six new Copernicus satellite missions. SpaceNews

L3Harris has launched the first satellite of a remote sensing constellation. SpaceNews

Israel launched the latest in a series of reconnaissance satellites July 5 on the country’s Shavit rocket. SpaceNews

As Congress and the Trump Administration seek to improve space weather coordination, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research is eager to help. SpaceNews

The Air Force plans to announce the preferred location in January 2021. SpaceNews

How a 2005 call for ‘skin in the game’ started a 15-year countdown to the first human orbital spaceflight from U.S. soil since 2011 SpaceNews

Satellite experts should be asking: why is the space industry, the original ‘remote’ industry, behind the curve when it comes to truly remote operations? SpaceNews

China launched the classified Shiyan-6 (02) satellite on Saturday, following launch of a Gaofen ‘multi mode’ Earth observation satellite two days earlier. SpaceNews

A Rocket Lab Electron rocket failed to reach orbit during a July 4 launch after a problem during the rocket’s second-stage burn. SpaceNews

Three months after the coronavirus pandemic upended American society, there are signs of recovery. NASA is also taking the first initial steps back to normal operations. SpaceNews