Welcome to this edition of The Intelligence Brief… This week, a new milestone has been reached in space technology, with the launch of the world’s first satellite equipped with a commercial betavoltaic nuclear power system. The satellite was carried to orbit on a a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Tuesday, and in our analysis, we’ll be looking at 1) how the next generation of compact nuclear power systems are now being tested aboard the first City Labs BOHR satellite, 2) how the satellite converts radioactive decay into electricity, and why this technology could eventually help to facilitate long-term space missions to the Moon and other locales, 3) the advantages and hurdles this novel tritium-based power system faces, and 4) what this all could mean for the future of nuclear powered spacecraft used in deep-space missions.

Quote of the Week

“This is a historic step for commercial nuclear power in space.”

— Peter Cabauy, CEO of City Labs

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The First Nuclear-Powered Satellite is Now in Orbit

Tuesday marked a new chapter in the quest for novel power systems for spacecraft, with the launch of the world’s first satellite equipped with a commercial betavoltaic nuclear power system.

The City Labs Betavoltaic Orbital High-Reliability (BOHR) satellite was carried to space on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, and in the coming weeks will begin tests to determine whether miniature nuclear batteries can reliably generate electricity in space.

Designed primarily as a proof of concept, the first BOHR satellite will rely on conventional solar panels for its primary power system. However, the first-of-its-kind spacecraft also carries the company’s proprietary “NanoTritium” betavoltaic power source, which, according to the company, uses beta particles emitted during the radioactive decay of tritium that are converted into electricity.

In a statement, Peter Cabauy, CEO of City Labs, called this week’s launch “a historic step for commercial nuclear power in space,” adding that the BOHER satellite “demonstrates that safe, compact, and regulatory-approved nuclear power systems are ready for routine commercial deployment.”

“This capability enables persistent, always-on payload operations that are not constrained by sunlight or battery life,” Cabauy added.

Harnessing the Power of Beta Radiation

The innovative satellite was carried to space earlier this week as part of the recent SpaceX Transporter-17 mission.

“On Tuesday, July 7 at 12:12 a.m. PT, Falcon 9 launched the Transporter-17 mission to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California,” read an update that appeared at the SpaceX website announcing the successful launch that carried the City Labs BOHR satellite to space.

“Transporter-17 was a dedicated smallsat rideshare mission,” SpaceX’s update earlier this week added. “There were 81 payloads on this flight, including cubesats, microsats, hosted payloads, and orbital transfer vehicles carrying eight of those payloads to be deployed at a later time.”

Following the satellite’s successful delivery to orbit, its power systems will begin testing the feasibility of beta radiation as a primary driver to produce electricity. In the past, radioisotope thermoelectric generators have been used to propel landmark space missions, such as Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. By contrast, BOHR’s beta radiation system does not rely on heat generated by radioactive decay, which allows for a compact power source that, if all goes according to plan, could one day be deployed in future missions to support spacecraft operating in environments where sunlight is limited. Such applications include the permanently shadowed craters on the Moon and future missions into the outer solar system.

Primarily, City Labs says a tritium-based system is also more beneficial than traditional nuclear fuels like plutonium since it emits relatively low-energy radiation. This, the company says, makes it easier to shield and safer to handle during spacecraft assembly and launch.

Challenges Ahead

The technology does face significant hurdles, however. One involves the fact that tritium is presently still one of the world’s rarest—and most expensive—radioactive materials. Right now, with only around 20 kilograms produced annually throughout the world, the limited quantity and exorbitant costs (current prices reach tens of thousands of dollars per gram) make large-scale adoption anytime in the near term a significant challenge.

There are also regulatory considerations, as noted in a news article released this week by the American Nuclear Society (ANS) following the launch. “In 2019, National Security Presidential Memorandum – 20 (NSPM-20) laid out updates to the process for launching spacecraft containing nuclear systems,” the article states.

“Now the Department of Transportation, which includes the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), directs the coordination of various agencies to review the safety analysis for missions with nuclear components,” the ANS news brief added, noting that the FAA updated its launch regulations in 2020.

Despite the existence of a few hurdles and other considerations, the mission nonetheless marks an important milestone in the development of next-generation spacecraft power systems. If successful, BOHR could demonstrate that compact betavoltaic power sources are a viable complement to solar energy, opening new possibilities for long-duration missions in some of the darkest and most remote regions of the solar system.

That concludes this week’s installment of The Intelligence Brief. You can read past editions of our newsletter at our website, or if you found this installment online, don’t forget to subscribe and get future email editions from us here. Also, if you have a tip or other information you’d like to send along directly to me, you can email me at micah [@] thedebrief [dot] org, or reach me on X: @MicahHanks.

Here are the top stories we’re covering right now…

The proliferation of nuclear power in space got a little more real Tuesday with the launch of a small satellite developed by a Florida-based company specializing in nuclear micro-power technology.

It's a long way from launching a bona fide nuclear reactor, a breakthrough that could help power a permanent Moon base and efficiently drive rockets throughout the Solar System. But you have to start somewhere.

The satellite from Miami-based City Labs is named BOHR, short for Betavoltaic Orbital High-Reliability, and it launched on a SpaceX rideshare mission Tuesday alongside 80 other payloads. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket released the BOHR satellite into an orbit between 350 and 400 miles (nearly 600 km) in altitude.

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© City Labs

The proliferation of nuclear power in space got a little more real Tuesday with the launch of a small satellite developed by a Florida-based company specializing in nuclear micro-power technology.

It's a long way from launching a bona fide nuclear reactor, a breakthrough that could help power a permanent Moon base and efficiently drive rockets throughout the Solar System. But you have to start somewhere.

The satellite from Miami-based City Labs is named BOHR, short for Betavoltaic Orbital High-Reliability, and it launched on a SpaceX rideshare mission Tuesday alongside 80 other payloads. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket released the BOHR satellite into an orbit between 350 and 400 miles (nearly 600 km) in altitude.

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© City Labs

Welcome to Edition 9.01 of the Rocket Report! Back in January, I wrote about the 20 launches and landings we were most excited about in 2026. The list included things that were, at the time, officially scheduled to occur this year. I also gave my own view of the probability of each of these events actually happening before December 31. Halfway through the year, we can only count one of the events as completed, and that was NASA's Artemis II mission in April. Many are now scheduled for next year, proving again that delays are a constant in the space industry. A couple of them—such as the launch of NASA's Roman Space Telescope—do appear to be on track to happen soon.

As always, we welcome reader submissions. If you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets, as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

Swift Boost Mission reaches orbit. A pioneering commercial mission to reboost the orbit of NASA's Swift astronomy satellite launched early Friday after attempts earlier in the week were thwarted by bad weather and a technical issue. The Link servicing satellite developed by Katalyst Space Technologies soared to orbit on the tip of a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket that dropped from the belly of a modified L-1011 jetliner over the remote Pacific Ocean. Mission managers called off two launch attempts Tuesday and Wednesday due to poor weather around the L-1011's staging base on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. On Thursday, "a launch vehicle issue temporarily prevented teams from deploying the rocket" after takeoff of the L-1011.

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© SpaceX

SpaceX launched the first test flight of its Starfall reentry capsule June 23, but the mission remained as secretive as the program itself.

The post SpaceX launches secretive Starfall reentry demo mission appeared first on SpaceNews.

Avec sa forme inhabituelle et sa vocation tournée vers la manufacture spatiale, Starfall marque une nouvelle étape dans les ambitions de SpaceX. La capsule a effectué son premier vol d’essai ce mardi depuis la Floride.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off on Tuesday to test a new reentry vehicle designed to deliver cargo anywhere in the world from low-Earth orbit.

The company developed the new saucer-shaped reentry pod, called Starfall, under a veil of secrecy. Its purpose is to support the "transport and delivery of goods through space," according to an environmental assessment published by the Federal Aviation Administration last month.

The first demonstration of the Starfall vehicle began at 6:53 am EDT (10:53 UTC) with liftoff aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. At least one Starfall reentry pod rode to orbit on the Falcon 9, perhaps alongside another undisclosed payload. After circling the planet two times, the Falcon 9's upper stage was expected to release Starfall for atmospheric reentry, targeting a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean around 800 miles west of California.

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© SpaceX

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off on Tuesday to test a new reentry vehicle designed to deliver cargo anywhere in the world from low-Earth orbit.

The company developed the new saucer-shaped reentry pod, called Starfall, under a veil of secrecy. Its purpose is to support the "transport and delivery of goods through space," according to an environmental assessment published by the Federal Aviation Administration last month.

The first demonstration of the Starfall vehicle began at 6:53 am EDT (10:53 UTC) with liftoff aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. At least one Starfall reentry pod rode to orbit on the Falcon 9, perhaps alongside another undisclosed payload. After circling the planet two times, the Falcon 9's upper stage was expected to release Starfall for atmospheric reentry, targeting a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean around 800 miles west of California.

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© SpaceX

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off on Tuesday to test a new reentry vehicle designed to deliver cargo anywhere in the world from low-Earth orbit.

The company developed the new saucer-shaped reentry pod, called Starfall, under a veil of secrecy. Its purpose is to support the "transport and delivery of goods through space," according to an environmental assessment published by the Federal Aviation Administration last month.

The first demonstration of the Starfall vehicle began at 6:53 am EDT (10:53 UTC) with liftoff aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. At least one Starfall reentry pod rode to orbit on the Falcon 9, perhaps alongside another undisclosed payload. After circling the planet two times, the Falcon 9's upper stage was expected to release Starfall for atmospheric reentry, targeting a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean around 800 miles west of California.

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© SpaceX

Welcome to Edition 8.46 of the Rocket Report! We don't mention Starship in the body of this week's report, so I'll give a brief update here. The next test flight of SpaceX's mega-rocket—Flight 13—could happen as soon as next month, according to Gwynne Shotwell, the company's president and chief operating officer, in a recent interview with CNBC. There's still a fair bit of work to do before Flight 13, so don't count on a launch next month just yet. What we do know, based on Shotwell's comments to CNBC, is the next Starship test flight will look a lot like the previous one last month, with a suborbital flight path and a splashdown of the ship in the Indian Ocean. SpaceX is holding off on an orbital flight until at least the following launch, Flight 14, after the ship was unable to complete a critical engine restart in space on the last flight.

As always, we welcome reader submissions. If you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets, as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

Isar test flight scrubbed again. Isar Aerospace still commands top position among a new generation of European rocket startups, but the company’s efforts to launch a critical test flight of its Spectrum rocket continue to encounter roadblocks, Ars reports. The latest delay came Monday, when Isar scrubbed a launch attempt after "detecting off nominal behavior in the vehicle’s fluid systems," according to a social media post. "The teams are analyzing the new data to isolate the root cause." Isar is flush with cash, having raised nearly $1 billion to date, but is still lacking in the critical currency of flight experience. The Spectrum rocket has flown just once to date, on a failed launch last year that lasted less than 30 seconds.

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© Relativity Space

Welcome to Edition 8.46 of the Rocket Report! We don't mention Starship in the body of this week's report, so I'll give a brief update here. The next test flight of SpaceX's mega-rocket—Flight 13—could happen as soon as next month, according to Gwynne Shotwell, the company's president and chief operating officer, in a recent interview with CNBC. There's still a fair bit of work to go before Flight 13, so don't count on a launch next month just yet. What we do know, based on Shotwell's comments to CNBC, is the next Starship test flight will look a like like the previous one last month, with a suborbital flight path and a splashdown of the ship in the Indian Ocean. SpaceX is holding off on an orbital flight until at least the following launch, Flight 14, after the ship was unable to complete a critical engine restart in space on the last flight.

As always, we welcome reader submissions. If you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets, as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

Isar test flight scrubbed again. Isar Aerospace still commands top position among a new generation of European rocket startups, but the company’s efforts to launch a critical test flight of its Spectrum rocket continue to encounter roadblocks, Ars reports. The latest delay came Monday, when Isar scrubbed a launch attempt after "detecting off nominal behavior in the vehicle’s fluid systems," according to a social media post. "The teams are analyzing the new data to isolate the root cause." Isar is flush with cash, having raised nearly $1 billion to date, but is still lacking in the critical currently of flight experience. The Spectrum rocket has flown just once to date, on a failed launch last year that lasted less than 30 seconds.

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© Relativity Space

Welcome to Edition 8.46 of the Rocket Report! We don't mention Starship in the body of this week's report, so I'll give a brief update here. The next test flight of SpaceX's mega-rocket—Flight 13—could happen as soon as next month, according to Gwynne Shotwell, the company's president and chief operating officer, in a recent interview with CNBC. There's still a fair bit of work to do before Flight 13, so don't count on a launch next month just yet. What we do know, based on Shotwell's comments to CNBC, is the next Starship test flight will look a lot like the previous one last month, with a suborbital flight path and a splashdown of the ship in the Indian Ocean. SpaceX is holding off on an orbital flight until at least the following launch, Flight 14, after the ship was unable to complete a critical engine restart in space on the last flight.

As always, we welcome reader submissions. If you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets, as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

Isar test flight scrubbed again. Isar Aerospace still commands top position among a new generation of European rocket startups, but the company’s efforts to launch a critical test flight of its Spectrum rocket continue to encounter roadblocks, Ars reports. The latest delay came Monday, when Isar scrubbed a launch attempt after "detecting off nominal behavior in the vehicle’s fluid systems," according to a social media post. "The teams are analyzing the new data to isolate the root cause." Isar is flush with cash, having raised nearly $1 billion to date, but is still lacking in the critical currency of flight experience. The Spectrum rocket has flown just once to date, on a failed launch last year that lasted less than 30 seconds.

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© Relativity Space

One of the United States' most storied space launch sites has been cleared of its decades-old support towers, making way for modern rockets to use the pad. Space Launch Complex-6 (SLC-6) at Vandenberg Space Force Station is arguably better known for what did not lift off from there than for what did.

A series of demolition charges on Tuesday (June 16) brought down the access tower, mobile service tower, and what remained of the assembly building at SLC-6—pronounced "slick-six"—in Southern California. Once the location for the US Air Force's first effort to put humans into space and later, the West Coast launch site for the space shuttle, SLC-6 will next be used by SpaceX in support of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy missions.

Vandenberg Space Force Base personnel watch as the assembly building at Space Launch Complex-6 (SLC-6) is toppled on June 16, 2026, to make way for SpaceX's use of the site. Credit: Space Launch Delta 30/Tech. Sgt. Draeke Layman

"Space Launch Complex-6 represents six decades of American innovation and our unwavering commitment to securing space superiority," Col. James T. Horne III, commander of Space Launch Delta 30 at Vandenberg, said in a statement. "By modernizing this historic footprint in partnership with our defense industrial base, we are building directly upon the foundation of our pioneers."

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© Space Launch Delta 30/Staff Sgt. Daekwon Stith

One of the United States' most storied space launch sites has been cleared of its decades-old support towers, making way for modern rockets to use the pad. Space Launch Complex-6 (SLC-6) at Vandenberg Space Force Station is arguably better known for what did not lift off from there than for what did.

A series of demolition charges on Tuesday (June 16) brought down the access tower, mobile service tower, and what remained of the assembly building at SLC-6—pronounced "slick-six"—in Southern California. Once the location for the US Air Force's first effort to put humans into space and later, the West Coast launch site for the space shuttle, SLC-6 will next be used by SpaceX in support of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy missions.

Vandenberg Space Force Base personnel watch as the assembly building at Space Launch Complex-6 (SLC-6) is toppled on June 16, 2026, to make way for SpaceX's use of the site. Credit: Space Launch Delta 30/Tech. Sgt. Draeke Layman

"Space Launch Complex-6 represents six decades of American innovation and our unwavering commitment to securing space superiority," Col. James T. Horne III, commander of Space Launch Delta 30 at Vandenberg, said in a statement. "By modernizing this historic footprint in partnership with our defense industrial base, we are building directly upon the foundation of our pioneers."

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© Space Launch Delta 30/Staff Sgt. Daekwon Stith

SpaceX n'a pas toujours été l'empire industriel dirigé par un militant d'extrême-droite mégalo que l'on connaît aujourd'hui. Avant d'atteindre les sommets dans le domaine de l'aérospatial, l'entreprise avait commencé comme beaucoup d'autres. 

A little more than five years ago, a shiny white Falcon 9 rocket made its debut flight, boosting a Cargo Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station. Over the next year, it would launch a pair of astronaut missions and a handful of commercial spacecraft.

But since then, this first stage booster, designated B 1067, has mostly flown Starlink missions. It has launched them one after another, always returning safely to a drone ship before undergoing refurbishment and flying again. Sometimes it has flown twice in a single month.

On Monday morning, B 1067 once again took to the skies, launching 29 Starlink Internet satellites into low-Earth orbit from Florida. Upon landing on the A Shortfall of Gravitas drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean, the vehicle completed its 35th mission overall, retaining its title as fleet leader for SpaceX.

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A former NASA engineer named John Muratore sat on console as launch director in early September 2016 as propellant flowed onto a Falcon 9 rocket in Florida. Ahead of a planned launch two days later, SpaceX was preparing for a static fire test of the vehicle.

Then, all of a sudden, the rocket exploded. "It came out of nowhere, and it was really violent," Muratore said. This fireball resulted in the destruction of the rocket, much of its launch site, and the AMOS-6 satellite already attached to the vehicle.

Nearly a decade later, on May 28, Blue Origin conducted a static fire test of a new rocket, with its larger New Glenn vehicle a few miles down the Florida coast. The company had gotten further into its test, reaching engine ignition, before its rocket also exploded.

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© USLaunchReport

Welcome to Edition 8.43 of the Rocket Report! A disclaimer: No one yet fully appreciates the ramifications of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket explosion Thursday night on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. What we know as of this writing is that much of Blue's sole orbital-class launch pad has been destroyed, and the New Glenn rocket will be grounded for an extended period of time. It is too soon for any hot takes, at least until the Sun rises at the Cape on Friday morning. One thing I am sure of is that we will be writing about this event for weeks, months, and years to come.

As always, we welcome reader submissions. If you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets, as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

Charting China's contribution to space junk. There's a problem with the drastic uptick in Chinese space launches over the last decade. China appears to be ignoring long-established norms about disposing of the upper stages of rockets, Ars reports. These are the parts of the vehicle that separate from the first stage of a rocket and push a satellite or spacecraft into orbit. In the early decades of spaceflight, launch operators routinely left upper stages in orbit after they released their payloads. But most launch companies today reserve enough propellant in their rockets to remove them from orbit to avoid the risk of spent upper stages becoming a source of space debris. But China is not following this trend. There has been striking growth in China’s rocket body mass. In the past five years, the mass of Chinese rocket bodies in long-lived orbits has risen from less than 100 metric tons to 252, according to a new analysis by Space Domain Awareness expert Jim Shell.

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