Virgin Orbit performed the first captive carry flight of its LauncherOne air-launch system Nov. 18, a key testing milestone as the company moves closer to a first flight. SpaceNews.com

Steve Nixon: “I think there’s some bureaucratic inertia. Also there’s a space industrial complex that might not want to see a shift to much cheaper assets.” SpaceNews.com

Two months after he unveiled a revised design for SpaceX’s next-generation launch system, Elon Musk suggested that the company is making more changes to the design. SpaceNews.com

Northrop Grumman successfully launched a Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station Nov. 17 after two days of weather delays. SpaceNews.com

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission pressed forward with plans to firm up its rules about space safety and orbital debris Nov. 15 while at the same time questioning whether it is the right agency to do so. SpaceNews.com

NASA’s plans to return humans to the surface of the moon within 10 years got a chilly reception from an advisory group Nov. 15, who called on the agency to accelerate that timeframe and reconsider development of the Gateway facility in lunar orbit. SpaceNews.com

The round brings NorthStar E&S’s total funding to 83 million Canadian dollars and ends a funding drought from when the company announced its plans three years ago. SpaceNews.com

Spacety is one of China’s first commercial and private satellite companies in China, established in January 2016, following new government policies introduced in 2014 and 2015 to deregulate the nation’s space sector. SpaceNews.com

AST&Science announced plans Nov. 15 to begin building extremely satellites in 2019 at its new North American manufacturing plant in Midland, Texas. SpaceNews.com

SpaceX matched its personal best with its 18th launch this year, delivering the Es’hail-2 communications satellite to geostationary transfer orbit for Qatari operator Es’hailSat. SpaceNews.com

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said Nov. 15 that the reelection defeat of a key appropriator, and the potential for budget cuts next year, is a cause for concern for him as he tries to balance the agency’s priorities. SpaceNews.com

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission voted Nov. 15 to approve four proposed satellite constellations, authorizing nearly 8,000 small telecom satellites to serve U.S. entities from low Earth orbit. SpaceNews.com

NASA’s top official came to Canada to make his pitch for the country to become involved in a U.S.-lead lunar space mission but that direct appeal didn’t budge Canadian government officials, at least for now. SpaceNews.com

Shanahan on the Space Force legislation: “What I feel confident about is that the proposal that we are going to carry forward makes sense.” SpaceNews.com

Solstar Space, the New Mexico startup planning to offer WiFi to people and machines in orbit, is looking for a strategic investor. SpaceNews.com

Rocket Lab, the small launch vehicle developer that recently performed its first commercial launch, has raised an additional $140 million to fund expansion of its launch activities and research projects. SpaceNews.com

Leaps in capabilities of commercial constellations of small Earth-observation satellites and the decreasing cost of their services were at the center of a debate about the future of publicly funded Earth-observation missions after Spire CEO Peter Platzer introduced the company’s ambition to become “the Amazon” of space. SpaceNews.com

While everybody is rightly celebrating recent successes in commercial space, some long-term trends are just beginning. It is still early days, and significant growth and new opportunities are just around the corner. SpaceNews.com

It’s no secret the megaconstellations will have a dramatic impact on space traffic. Experts now are turning their attention to ensuring they don’t also create a dangerous spike in orbital debris. SpaceNews.com

Space Tango, a Kentucky startup that develops microgravity research platforms, announced plans Nov. 15 to launch in the mid-2020s an autonomous in-orbit manufacturing facility. SpaceNews.com