February 10, 2025

NASA HQ Lease Ends in 2028. 'Florida's Got a Great Shot' at Moving HQ to Space Coast (Source: Florida Today)
U.S. Rep. Mike Haridopolos wants to move NASA headquarters out of its underutilized, leased building in Washington, D.C. — and he hopes to help convince President Donald Trump to bring it to Florida's Kennedy Space Center instead of potential contending states like Alabama and Texas. The week after Trump won the November election, NASA issued a press release saying it seeks options for a future headquarters building. The lease at Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters expires in August 2028.

This building in the nation's capital has 545,731 usable square feet — but that space was only about 15% occupied during 2023 amid the post-pandemic work environment, according to a Public Buildings Reform Board interim report to Congress. "You’re talking about at least a half-a-billion-dollar building where NASA operates out of. The smart thing to do is to ask the people who are actually the boots on the ground — or in this case, the rockets taking off — of their opinion. And I'm optimistic that Florida's got a great shot to get that headquarters," Haridopolos said.

In its Nov. 14 press release, NASA officials said they were searching for a new headquarters with about 375,000 to 525,000 square feet of office space in Washington or the immediate surrounding area. "It’s a two-phased fight. First phase is, we need to make sure that the NASA headquarters is taken out of Washington, D.C. There is no need to have those headquarters in Washington, D.C. The action is taking place primarily here in Florida," Haridopolos said. (2/10)

NASA HQ Move Could Limit Broad Congressional Support (Source: Florida Today)
"I think that a key for any government agency is the ability to interact with their funding source, and that's Congress. And I'm not sure that being located in Florida would really enable that key element of NASA's requirements," Florida Tech's Don Platt said. "I'm sure that Florida would offer some impressive incentives for headquarters to come here. But I think overall, for the vision and mission of NASA, I'm not sure that it's really the best fit for them," he said.

"Congress holds the purse strings. And so, it's much easier to just run up to Capitol Hill when you need to try to lobby for more NASA funding, for instance, than being here in Florida and having to fly up there all the time," he said. He questioned the nationwide impact across the agency. "I'm not sure that being isolated in one state is really the best for the ability for NASA to make sure that other important states — related states such as Alabama, Virginia, Texas, California — are supporting the mission as well. And so, I think there are some concerns there," Platt said. (2/10)

NASA KSC to Continue Use of Canoo Electric Vans After Company's Bankruptcy (Source: Space News)
NASA says it will continue using electric vans it bought to serve as astronaut transports even though the manufacturer has gone bankrupt. NASA acquired the vans from Canoo Technologies in 2022 to serve as Artemis Crew Transportation Vehicles, taking astronauts to the launch pad for Artemis missions. Canoo, though, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation in January after failing to secure new investment. NASA says it plans to continue using the vans, having worked with Canoo earlier to train workers to maintain the vans. (2/10)

SLS: 1980s Rocket at 2050 Prices (Source: LinkedIn)
Boeing has informed its employees that NASA may terminate the SLS program by the end of this quarter. (Boeing is the prime contractor for the SLS and supplies its core hardware.) The meeting was 100% scripted and barely lasted six minutes. The employees weren’t allowed to ask any questions. It seems that the sole purpose of the meeting was to inform the employees that mass layoffs are inevitable.

If Congress pushes NASA to continue then the SLA will survive. But the odds are against it as Republicans are holding majority control of the US Congress. To be honest, we all knew this was coming. SLS is late, outdated, and incredibly expensive. Even the world’s best lawyer will struggle to defend it. People are calling it a symbol of bureaucratic inefficiency. The rocket isn’t sustainable and it will never be.

It is estimated that the SLS costs at least $2.5 billion per launch, excluding development costs. With that money, we could have nearly 20 Starship launches. Boeing failed to build the rocket on schedule within cost. This is a typical case in which a captive contract fails to incentivize the supplier and results in overspending while underdelivered. Congress is partially to blame; they mandated the SLS to be built using specific designs and certain contractors from every US state. (2/9)

Amazon Kuiper Wins UK MoD Contract Amid Concern Over Musk Satellite Dominance (Source: The Telegraph)
Jeff Bezos has won what is thought to be his first military contract in Britain as Amazon seeks to forge closer ties with defense organizations. Amazon’s satellite venture Project Kuiper secured a deal worth hundreds of thousands of pounds to undertake a study on advanced space-based communications systems for the Ministry of Defense (MoD), which was later presented to UK Space Command. (2/9)

Rocket Lab Electron Launches French Satellites From New Zealand (Source: Space News)
An Electron launched a fourth set of satellites for a French company Saturday. The rocket lifted off from Rocket Lab's New Zealand launch site at 3:43 p.m. Eastern and deployed its payload of five satellites into low Earth orbit about an hour later. The event was the fourth of five launches Rocket Lab is performing for Kinéis, a French company developing a smallsat constellation to provide Internet of Things and tracking services. The launch was the first this year by Rocket Lab, which has previously stated it expects to exceed last year's mark of 16 Electron launches but has not disclosed a specific target. (2/10)

White House Signals Support for Artemis (Source: Space News)
The White House appeared to back the continuation of Artemis. A joint U.S.-Japan statement tied to the visit of the Japanese prime minister to Washington mentioned that the two countries "intend to continue their strong partnership in civil space" including "lunar surface exploration on future Artemis missions." Japan is contributing to the lunar Gateway and also developing a pressurized lunar rover in exchange for seats on future Artemis landing missions. Any changes to Artemis could upend those partnerships. (2/10)

Bill Would Provide ~$20 Billion for US Iron Dome (Source: Space News)
Two senators introduced a bill to provide nearly $20 billion for the White House's missile defense plan that would have a major space component. Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND) introduced the "Iron Dome Act" last week, proposing $19.5 billion in funding for fiscal year 2026 to implement Trump's recent executive order dubbed "Iron Dome for America." The legislation includes $960 million for space-based technologies. The proposed missile defense system would integrate space technologies being developed under different programs by the Missile Defense Agency and Space Development Agency, and include space-based interceptors. (2/10)

Lockheed and Boeing Vie for MUOS Extension Contract (Source: Space News)
Lockheed Martin and Boeing are advancing competing designs for next-generation military communications satellites. The companies recently completed early design reviews for the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) Service Life Extension program, an estimated $2.5 billion initiative by the U.S. Space Force to modernize its ultra-high frequency narrowband satellite network. The progress comes as some argue that the Space Force should turn to commercial systems to provide those services, taking advantage of work on direct-to-device satellite technologies. (2/10)

FCC Pits Terrestrial and Space Providers in C-Band Spectrum Battle (Source: Space News)
The FCC is setting up a battle between SpaceX and terrestrial wireless providers for a slice of C-band spectrum. The FCC plans to start a "notice of inquiry" this month on opening up spectrum from 3.98 to 4.2 gigahertz for "more intensive use" than its current assignment for satellite services. Wireless providers see this as an opportunity to access more spectrum for 5G services, but SpaceX has instead proposed that the FCC "modernize" the use of the spectrum to support multiple operators. (2/10)

Spire to Develop Canadian Wildfire Constellation (Source: Space News)
Spire won a Canadian Space Agency contract to develop a constellation of satellites for wildfire monitoring. Under the $72 million Canadian ($50.4 million) WildFireSat contract, Spire will develop 10 cubesats with payloads provided by German company OroraTech. The spacecraft will track wildfires, filling a gap in current satellite monitoring. Spire said the satellites will be built at a facility operated by its Canadian subsidiary, with launch scheduled for 2029. (2/10)

Bill Would Authorize Commerce Dept.'s Space Traffic System (Source: Space News)
A bipartisan group of senators has introduced a bill to formally authorize the Office of Space Commerce's space traffic coordination system. The Situational Awareness of Flying Elements in Orbit Act, or SAFE Orbit Act, would formally direct the office to develop the system, known as Traffic Coordination System for Space, or TraCSS. That system is in beta testing and is expected to go into full service late this year. The bill would also elevate the Office of Space Commerce, currently within NOAA, into a bureau reporting directly to the secretary of commerce. A version of the bill passed the Senate late last year but was not taken up by the House. (2/10)

Musk Will Find Billions in Pentagon Waste, Trump Says (Source: Reuters)
President Trump said he expects Elon Musk to find hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud and abuse at the Pentagon during an audit that the billionaire will lead. "We're going to find billions, hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud and abuse," Trump said of the largest federal department.
The Pentagon's budget is approaching $1 trillion per year. In December, then-President Joe Biden signed a bill authorizing $895 billion in defense spending for the fiscal year ending Sep. 30. (2/9)

Will Virgin Galactic Abandon the Space Tourism Business? (Source: Motley Fool)
Virgin Galactic may have found a better way to make money in space. In June 2024, space tourism pioneer Virgin Galactic launched its Unity spaceplane with a planeload of space tourists for the last time. In the months since, the company has continued working on its new spaceplane, dubbed the Delta class. By my calculations, flying just one Delta-class spaceplane at full capacity, and as frequently as promised, could generate monthly revenues in excess of $22 million for Virgin Galactic -- versus just $1 million in revenue from early Unity flights.

But Virgin Galactic could potentially make even more money than that by limiting the number of passengers carried on its planes... or even exiting the tourism business entirely. How might that happen? When Virgin Galactic announced that it is partnering with space infrastructure specialist Redwire, hiring it to manufacture "research payload lockers" for its Delta spaceplanes. Virgin says the lockers will be used to carry microgravity research experiments aboard Delta, useful for conducting "research in preparation for orbital, lunar, or Martian missions" by other companies.

Now, these lockers aren't tiny. Flying without passengers, says Virgin, "each spaceship will be capable of holding five payload racks, for up to 20 lockers total." So each rack can accommodate four lockers. Alternatively, Virgin might mix and match its seating arrangement, flying missions with some tourists and some payload racks -- basically swapping out one passenger per four-locker rack. (2/9)

SATIM and ICEYE Partner on Joint Development for AI-Powered SAR Imagery Analysis (Source: SATIM)
SATIM and ICEYE announced the signing of partnership agreement for joint product development. The companies will combine ICEYE’s industry-leading satellite imagery with SATIM’s cutting-edge AI-powered imagery analytics solutions into new products enabling prompt, high-confidence detection and classification of vessels, aircraft, and land vehicles. After an initial pilot phase, the partners plan to release a series of generally-available products in 2025. (2/10)

Who is Janet Petro, Trump's Pick for Acting NASA Administrator? (Source: Space.com)
Petro was born in Michigan in 1960. Her interest in space and the U.S. space program was sparked at an early age, influenced by her father's work with Chrysler on NASA projects, which saw the family relocate to Florida. That allowed her and her siblings to watch from the beach as the historic Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions lifted off.

During high school, inspired by the opening of military academies to women, she applied and was accepted to leadership training at the United States Military Academy at West Point. There, she learned valuable lessons in time management, motivation and collaboration, which have been instrumental throughout her career. (2/10)

Man Who Claims to Have Anti-Gravity Device Now in Deep Trouble (Source: Futurism)
One of the 1990s' brightest tech stars may be headed to prison amid a shocking fall from grace that includes everything from alleged anti-gravity tech to elder abuse allegations to claims of a massive Ponzi scheme. As Bloomberg reports, tech pioneer Joseph Firmage is being sued by people who invested in his anti-gravity quest, which coasted for way too long as his wealth and success dwindled in the face of the former digital guru's obsession with UFOs and aliens. (2/10)

Lunar Rocks Help Scientists Pinpoint When the Moon Crystallized (Source: Space Daily)
Scientists study samples from Apollo missions, reveal new details about lunar history Even though humans have pondered the moon since the first of us looked skyward, there is still much we still don't know about it. One of these unsolved questions is its origin story. We think the moon formed after a colossal collision between Earth and another huge object created two balls of molten magma. But we don't know exactly when or how. Now, scientists have made new measurements on moon rocks from the Apollo missions to set a date for the time the moon solidified: 4.43 billion years ago. (2/6)

Efforts to Detect Alien Life Advanced by Simple Microbe Mobility Test (Source: Space Daily)
The search for extraterrestrial life remains one of humanity's most ambitious scientific pursuits. A promising approach to identifying life is through detecting motile microorganisms, which demonstrate independent movement-a strong indicator of biological activity. When such movement is triggered by a chemical stimulus, it is termed chemotaxis. A team of German researchers has now developed a streamlined method for inducing chemotactic motility in microbes, potentially aiding space missions in detecting life beyond Earth. Their findings were recently published in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences. (2/6)

Reusable Rocket Development Advances in China (Source: Space Daily)
China's commercial reusable rocket industry is making significant strides, driven by increasing demand from major satellite internet constellations such as Guowang and Spacesail, which plan to deploy tens of thousands of satellites into low Earth orbit. This demand is pushing forward advancements in rocket technology, materials, and testing processes.

Meng Xianbo, chief strategy officer at Beijing-based Galactic Energy, emphasized that these market forces are catalyzing continuous innovation in reusable launch systems. Galactic Energy is actively developing two reusable rockets: the PALLAS-1 and PALLAS-2. The PALLAS-1, a two-stage rocket fueled by liquid oxygen and kerosene, weighs approximately 290 metric tons at launch and can carry up to 8 tons into low Earth orbit. Its maiden flight is scheduled for the first half of this year, with two commercial missions planned.

Building on the PALLAS-1 platform, the PALLAS-2 will offer an increased payload capacity of 30 tons to low Earth orbit and is expected to complete its assembly and testing within the year. (2/10)