Top Stories

Raytheon’s Nuclear Comms Terminal Contract Grows by $2 Billion

The U.S. government has increased Raytheon’s contract for protected satellite communications terminals by $2 billion. These terminals are part of the nuclear command-and-control architecture — the communications backbone that links U.S. strategic forces. Contract growth at this scale reflects continued investment in hardened, survivable comms infrastructure.

For KeepTrack users tracking MILSTAR or the Advanced EHF constellation, these terminals are the ground-side endpoints for those protected links.

Read the full story: SpaceNews

Starcloud Files FCC Plans for 88,000-Satellite Constellation

Starcloud, an orbital data center startup, has filed with the FCC for a constellation of up to 88,000 satellites. The filing puts it in the same numerical tier as the largest proposed Starlink and Amazon Kuiper expansions. The company’s concept positions computing infrastructure in orbit rather than on the ground.

If approved and built anywhere near full scale, a constellation this size would have substantial conjunction risk implications across low Earth orbit. KeepTrack’s sensor and catalog tools already handle dense constellation tracking — but 88,000 active objects would push current space traffic management frameworks hard.

Read the full story: SpaceNews

Strait of Hormuz Crisis Is Pulling Commercial Geospatial Intelligence into Active Use

Analysts monitoring the Strait of Hormuz are fusing commercial satellite imagery, AIS ship-tracking data, and open-source reporting to build real-time operational pictures. The demand spike reflects how commercial remote sensing has moved from a supplemental tool to a primary intelligence layer in active crisis zones.

Companies with SAR and optical constellations in LEO are seeing direct operational demand from this. It also reinforces the case for persistent revisit rates — single-pass imagery isn’t enough when ship movements are the intelligence target.

Read the full story: SpaceNews

OSTP Steps Into Space Policy Coordination Role as National Space Council Goes Dormant

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has assumed the lead role in coordinating national space policy. The National Space Council, which previously held that function, is currently inactive. OSTP doesn’t have the same interagency convening authority the Space Council held under its executive order structure.

This shift matters for how spectrum, licensing, and orbital debris policy get coordinated across agencies like the FCC, FAA, and DoD. Without a dedicated council, those decisions route through a science advisory office with a broader mandate and less dedicated bandwidth for space-specific issues.

Read the full story: SpaceNews

Blue Origin Proposes NEO Hunter Hybrid Planetary Defense Mission

Blue Origin has unveiled NEO Hunter, a mission concept aimed at detecting and potentially deflecting near-Earth objects. The design is described as hybrid, combining detection and response capabilities rather than separating them into distinct mission phases. No launch date or contract vehicle has been announced.

Planetary defense spacecraft occupy a unique tracking category — dedicated to cataloging the same kind of objects that DART was sent to intercept. NEO Hunter, if it reaches flight, would add an active asset to a field currently dominated by ground-based survey telescopes.

Read the full story: NASASpaceFlight

Underground Telescope in Japan May Detect Neutrinos from Pre-Solar Stars

The Hyper-Kamiokande detector in Japan is being prepared to detect relic supernova neutrinos — ghost particles emitted by stars that died before Earth formed. These are called the diffuse supernova neutrino background, and no instrument has directly detected them yet. Hyper-K’s sensitivity may be sufficient to change that.

This is outside the satellite tracking domain but directly relevant to KeepTrack’s academic user base working in observational astrophysics and space science instrumentation.

Read the full story: Space.com

Astrophotographer Captures Blue Reflection Nebula in Orion After 70-Hour Exposure

Emil Andronic spent nearly 70 hours of integrated exposure time imaging a blue reflection nebula embedded in the red emission clouds of Orion’s Head. The final image resolves the nebula’s structure against the surrounding hydrogen-alpha emission region.

Long-exposure narrowband and broadband imaging at this integration depth requires careful coordination with satellite passes to avoid streaking. KeepTrack’s satellite pass prediction tools are used by astrophotographers for exactly this — planning acquisition windows around LEO traffic.

Read the full story: Space.com

Satellite of the Day

SHIJIAN-6 02A

The SHIJIAN-6 02A (SJ-6 02A), also known as Shi Jian 6/2B, is a Chinese technology and signals intelligence (SIGINT) satellite operated by CASC (China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation). Launched on October 23, 2006, from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center using a Chang Zheng 4B rocket, this 1,000 kg spacecraft was built by SAST and represents part of China’s Shijian (“Practice”) series—a family of experimental and operational satellites designed to test new technologies and gather intelligence. The satellite features a compact box-shaped body with two deployable solar arrays and operates from a sun-synchronous polar orbit.

Originally designed for a 2-year operational lifetime, SHIJIAN-6 02A has proven its durability and continues to be tracked by space surveillance networks. Its SIGINT payload makes it strategically significant for space domain awareness monitoring, and its nearly 18-year operational history (as of 2024) demonstrates the effectiveness of its design. The satellite’s sun-synchronous inclination of 97.6° allows it to maintain consistent lighting conditions for its sensors, a key requirement for reconnaissance missions.

Track this satellite in real-time: Track SHIJIAN-6 02A

Upcoming Space Launches

March 17

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5:

  • Starlink Group 17-24 from Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, CA, USA (02:37 UTC) A batch of 29 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites launching to low Earth orbit. Watch Live

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5:

  • Starlink Group 10-46 from Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, FL, USA (10:26 UTC) A batch of 29 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites launching to low Earth orbit. Watch Live

March 19

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5:

  • Starlink Group 10-33 from Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, FL, USA (10:35 UTC) A batch of 29 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites launching to low Earth orbit. Watch Live

• Rocket Lab Electron:

  • Eight Days A Week (StriX Launch 8) from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand (17:45 UTC) The eighth Strix synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite for Japanese Earth-observation company Synspective. Part of a 27-launch dedicated Electron manifest, the StriX satellites are in the 100 kg class with roughly five-year operational lifespans, building out Synspective’s commercial SAR constellation in sun-synchronous orbit.

• Isar Aerospace Spectrum:

  • Onward and Upward from Orbital Launch Pad, Andøya Spaceport, Norway (20:00 UTC) Spectrum’s second test flight, carrying five CubeSats: CyBEEsat (TU Berlin), TriSat-S (University of Maribor), Platform 6 (EnduroSat), FramSat-1 (NTNU), and SpaceTeamSat1 (TU Wien Space Team), plus a Dcubed experiment called “Let it Go.” Exolaunch is managing payload integration and deployment. Delayed from January 21 due to a pressurization valve issue. Watch Live

March 20

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5:
  • Starlink Group 17-15 from Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, CA, USA (21:48 UTC) A batch of 29 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites launching to low Earth orbit. Watch Live

March 22

• Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) Soyuz 2.1a:

  • Progress MS-33 (94P) from Site 31/6, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan (11:59 UTC) An uncrewed Progress cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station.

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5:

  • Starlink Group 10-62 from Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, FL, USA (14:43 UTC) A batch of 29 Starlink satellites launching to low Earth orbit as part of SpaceX’s space-based internet communication mega-constellation. Watch Live

March 24

• Rocket Lab Electron:
  • Daughter Of The Stars (LEO-PNT Pathfinder A) from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand (TBD) The European Space Agency’s LEO-PNT (Low Earth Orbit Positioning, Navigation and Timing) demonstration mission will lift two Pathfinder A satellites — built by Thales Alenia Space and GMV — to a 510 km orbit. The pathfinders are the first step toward a 10-satellite constellation demonstration designed to assess how a low Earth orbit fleet can complement Europe’s Galileo and EGNOS navigation systems in higher orbits.

Schedule Changes

• New launch added: SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 10-62 has been added to the manifest, scheduled for March 22 at 14:43 UTC from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
• Launch successful — removed from calendar: Long March 6A | Yaogan 50-02 has been marked as Launch Successful and removed from the upcoming schedule.
• Launch successful — removed from calendar: Kuaizhou 11 | 8 satellites has been marked as Launch Successful and removed from the upcoming schedule.

Note: Launch dates and times are subject to change due to technical or weather considerations.