Space News for Sunday, August 02, 2026

In this episode, we aggregate and summarize today's top space news stories. Enjoy!(00:10) Podcast Introduction(00:21) Space Force awards K2 Space $22.9 million for laser communications demonstration(01:05) China launches secretive TJS-27 pair, orbits next-gen Tianlian relay sat(01:40) SpaceX Demonstrates Starfall Capsule as Liquidity Event Accelerates In-Space Manufacturing Ventures(02:14) GNSS Systems Retain Strategic Role in Modern Warfare Across Contested Battlefields(02:53) Dinosaur-killing asteroid may have caused firestorms 17 times hotter than the thermal limit lethal to humans(03:37) On this day in space! Aug. 1, 1968: NASA ends production of Saturn V moon rocket(04:16) SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites to orbit from California (photos)(04:58) Here's how engineers plan to save the satellite sent to save NASA's Swift mission