Space News for Friday, July 31, 2026

In this episode, we aggregate and summarize today's top space news stories. Enjoy!(00:10) Podcast Introduction(00:22) Rules of the road needed for orbital data center constellations(01:08) K2 Space raises $500 million for commercial, defense satellite expansion(01:56) Roman Space Telescope on track for late August launch(02:36) Jim Bridenstine on his new role at Quantum Space(03:01) NASA and ISISPACE Deploy GRITSS CubeSat to Advance Orbital Reference Frame Precision(03:40) Silicon Valley Space Week Speaker Focus: Col. Timothy Trimailo, Space Systems Command(04:15) Momentus Vigoride 7 Completes Orbital Altitude Adjustments as Hosted Payload Testing Progresses(04:56) AccelerComm Powers Eclipse Space 5G Physical Layer Architecture for Sovereign Satellite Constellations(05:17) Farnborough International Airshow Pivot Driven by Soaring Global Defense Spending(05:54) Destructive Fires Char Western Europe(06:37) Students Take on Airborne Field Research with NASA(07:12) NASA Assigns Astronaut Deniz Burnham to First Space Station Mission(07:53) Starburst Galaxy Centaurus A(08:25) Payload Field Guide: European Launchers(09:22) Hop Aero Wants to Deliver Cargo via Rocket(10:10) Payload Pioneers: Where Are They Now?(10:45) The US government wants to bypass environmental laws for commercial launches and spacecraft reentries(11:27) On this day in space! July 30, 1610: Galileo sees Saturn's rings for the 1st time(12:05) A SpaceX rocket will crash into the moon next week, and scientists aren't sure what to expect