The final report into the launch failure that forced the abort of a crewed Soyuz spacecraft is scheduled for completion by the end of the month, the Russian state space corporation Roscosmos announced Oct. 20. SpaceNews.com

A big unknown is how Congress might react to the administration’s proposal. The legislative branch has the final say on whether plans for a new military service can move forward. SpaceNews.com

A Mercury-bound science mission from the European and Japanese space agencies began a seven-year journey to the Solar System’s smallest planet Oct. 19 aboard and Ariane 5 rocket. SpaceNews.com

Vector, one of dozens of ventures developing small launch vehicles to serve perceived high demand for small satellite launches, announced Oct. 19 that it closed a $70 million Series B round to move into full operations. SpaceNews.com

Three regional satellite operators with C-band coverage over the United States have complained to U.S. telecom regulators about being left out of a group led by four of the world’s largest satellite operators to arrange a proposed spectrum transfer to the wireless industry. SpaceNews.com

Thornberry's letter to DoD: "It is important for us to understand the benefits and challenges of a full range of options.” SpaceNews.com

François Lombard, who took the helm at Airbus Intelligence in early 2017, is encouraging this type of innovation and partnerships like the ones formed recently with Earth observation constellation operator Planet and Orbital Insight, a geospatial analytics company. SpaceNews.com

As NASA evaluates proposals for commercially developed small lunar landers, the agency is now seeking payloads that could fly on those spacecraft despite concerns from some scientists that they don’t know if their experiments are compatible with those landers. SpaceNews.com

The last mission needed to complete Iridium Communications’ second-generation satellite constellation is scheduled for Dec. 30, Iridium CEO Matt Desch said today. SpaceNews.com

SMM Hamburg, the biennial international maritime conference in Germany Sept. 4-7, attracted not only shipbuilders but also satellite operators eager to offer global communications for autonomous vessels. SpaceNews.com

Between now and when the the Air Force starts buying launch services from new competitors, ULA and SpaceX will be competing “one mission at a time.” SpaceNews.com

To connect the masses, megaconstellations will need mega antennas mega cheap. Antenna makers need mega orders to make that happen. SpaceNews.com

Intelsat invested in Africa Mobile Networks (AMN), a U.K.-headquartered group of companies with telecom infrastructure in Africa, to reach "ultra-rural" parts of the sub-Saharan side of the continent. SpaceNews.com

As the Pentagon moves to stand up a U.S. Space Command and Congress debates whether it makes sense to create a Space Force, a central focus is to defend satellites from orbital weapons that would seek to damage or destroy U.S. assets in space. SpaceNews.com

Small launch vehicle company Rocket Lab announced Oct. 17 that it will build its second launch pad, and first in the United States, at Wallops Island in Virginia. SpaceNews.com

This was ULA’s eighth launch this year, the 131st since the company was formed in 2006, and will be its 50th launch for the U.S. Air Force. SpaceNews.com

A Swedish company with plans for a geostationary communications satellite announced Oct. 16 a contract with SpaceX for a Falcon Heavy launch no earlier than the fourth quarter of 2020. SpaceNews.com

The NASA astronaut who was on the aborted Soyuz mission to the International Space Station says he has “complete confidence” in the Russians despite this launch failure and other problems and looks forward to flying again on the spacecraft. SpaceNews.com

For all the enthusiasm about lunar exploration, and announcements made during the conference, there were far fewer specific details about just how to achieve those goals. SpaceNews.com

ThinKom’s recent collaborations with satellite operators Telesat and SES have the antenna builder jockeying to compete with Viasat, IsoTropic Systems and others in the race to build affordable high-tech antennas that can link with satellite constellations in non-geosynchronous orbits. SpaceNews.com