L3Harris to Carve Out Rocket Division; Redmond Site to Wear the Rocketdyne Name Again
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Arianespace plans the first Ariane 64 flight in February and has sold multiple flights to Amazon, while other industry events — a major Indian PSLV failure, Firefly’s announced reliability upgrade, and a $1B Pentagon-backed investment in L3Harris’ motor business — are forcing operators and governments to rethink risk and supply chains. These developments accelerate commercialization and consolidation pressures across launch and defense supply, with short-term setbacks and long-term strategic shifts for providers and customers alike.
NASA Advances Nuclear Thermal Rocket Development with Full‑Scale Cold‑Flow Campaign
NASA completed a full‑scale cold-flow test campaign of a non‑nuclear reactor prototype, validating hydrogen flow control and instrumentation ahead of flight‑intent reactor development. The work, led under the DRACO effort with industry partner BWX, reduces technical uncertainty for nuclear thermal propulsion but leaves materials, fuels and flight demonstrations as the next critical hurdles.
Pentagon Commits $68M to Hypersonic Testing; Commercial Providers Move Up the Stack
The Defense Department awarded $68 million across six vendors to accelerate hypersonic research and shorten test cycles, boosting demand for commercial, instrumented flight services. Broader procurement and budget priorities — including milestone‑driven buys and large test‑bed contracts — are tilting acquisition toward vertically integrated providers that can deliver high‑cadence, data‑rich flights and domestic sustainment.
Artemis 2’s SLS Rolls to the Pad, Kicking Off a High‑stakes Countdown to a Lunar Return
NASA’s heavy‑lift rocket completed a slow crawl to Launch Complex 39B, beginning months of integrated checks and rehearsals ahead of a potential early‑February launch date. The rollout turns abstract timelines into near‑term operational gates while commercial launch market shifts and recent programmatic tradeoffs elsewhere underscore how supplier readiness and procurement choices could influence Artemis schedules.
MDA Space launches 49North to deliver Canadian multi‑domain C4ISR and mission‑critical systems
MDA Space has created 49North, a wholly owned Ottawa‑based subsidiary led by Joe Armstrong to bid for and deliver multi‑domain C4ISR and mission‑critical systems for Canada while separating terrestrial defence work from its space business. The launch ties an expanded defence pipeline to an active supplier‑readiness and hiring strategy — including international engineering hires and regional partner engagement — to accelerate delivery but will require close management of certification, security‑vetting and SME supply‑chain readiness.
House committee opens NASA to broader commercial bids for lunar and deep‑space missions
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Tesla Halts Model S and X Production to Reallocate Capacity Toward Robotics
Tesla will discontinue the Model S and Model X and repurpose their assembly capacity to accelerate humanoid-robot production and AI development, while committing material capital to its AI arm. The company’s $2bn planned equity support for xAI — part of a larger financing round — and emerging legal and regulatory scrutiny of xAI’s Grok service add new execution and deployment risks for in-vehicle AI features.
Anthropic adds Chris Liddell to board to strengthen political and regulatory positioning
Anthropic appointed veteran executive Chris Liddell to its board as part of a broader push to consolidate political and investor relations amid a very large financing and secondary activity. The move accompanies reports of major backers (including Sequoia and Blackstone), an employee tender at a roughly $350B price reference and a $20M contribution to a pro‑AI advocacy group, underscoring a coordinated capital‑and‑policy strategy.