For those of us who have closely followed the story of Wilmore and Williams over the last nine months, the final weeks before the landing have seen it take a disturbing turn. One of the common refrains about spaceflight for decades and decades is that it is nonpartisan.
That is, the Apollo Program brought America together in the turbulent 1960s and helped make everyone feel good about the country. Pretty much ever since then, Republicans, Democrats, and independents have generally supported NASA and civil spaceflight. If you watch committee meetings in the House and Senate, the members always say this, and the discussions are nearly always cordial.
As for the Trump-declared "incompetent" Biden administration, they didn't really play politics with the space program. They liked the "Artemis Program" created by the Trump administration well enough that they simply kept it. But if we're going to start lying about basic truths like the fate of Wilmore and Williams—and let's be real, the only purpose of this lie is to paint the Trump administration as saviors in comparison to the Biden administration—then space is not going to remain apolitical for all that long. And in the long run, that would be bad for NASA. (3/18)
Diplomatic Row Erupts After French Researcher Expelled from US for Expressing 'a Personal Opinion' on Trump (Source: CNN)
A diplomatic row has erupted between France and the US after a French researcher was expelled from the country for expressing "a personal opinion" on Trump. The academic was detained by officers and later deported after landing in Houston ahead of a conference on March 9.
Reports suggest the space researcher was selected at random for a search, which saw him taken into a side room. There, his personal mobile phone and work computer were confiscated and searched by authorities, with messages discussing Trump's treatment of scientists found on his device. Following his detainment, it's reported that his professional and personal equipment was reportedly confiscated, and the researcher was sent back to Europe the next day.
"Freedom of opinion, free research, and academic freedom are values that we will continue to proudly uphold," the French minister said following the incident. "I will defend the right of all French researchers to be faithful to them, while respecting the law," the Minister of Higher Education and Research added. (3/19)
NASA Terminating $420 Million in Contracts (Source: Space News)
NASA is terminating $420 million in "unneeded" contracts the agency says are redundant or “misaligned” with its core priorities, but has provided few details about what is being cut. NASA did not answer questions about specific contracts selected for termination or details about how it determined those contracts were redundant or misaligned.
DOGE currently lists 17 NASA contract terminations, whose total value is $44.5 million. However, the actual savings is significantly less: $26.1 million, with only four of the contracts offering any savings. The rest, with savings of $0 listed, suggest they are contracts whose total value has already been paid.
Both the total value and savings of the terminated NASA contracts is dominated by a single entry, a contract worth nearly $30 million for the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC), which examines the “human dimensions of global change needed for Earth science research.” According to DOGE, canceling that contract saved $19.4 million. (3/25)
Space Force to Launch 100+ Sats in 2025 (Source: Payload)
The Space Force is expecting to launch at least 100 satellites in 2025—nearly doubling its number of unclassified operational spacecraft, a top officer said last week. The increase is intended to boost resiliency in everything from PNT to missile warning to SATCOM. The goal is to maintain an edge over Russia and China’s ever increasing military space capabilities.
Whether or not the Space Force can succeed in deploying 100 sats in the next nine months is yet to be seen. The launch of SDA’s Tranche 1 satellites has already been delayed to the summer, while delays in certifying ULA’s Vulcan launcher for national security launches have put the military’s launch plans on hold for well over a year. (3/24)
Firefly Aerospace Selects Blue Origin’s Honeybee Robotics to Provide Rover for Lunar Mission to Gruithuisen Domes (Source: Firefly)
Firefly Aerospace and Honeybee Robotics, a Blue Origin company, announced Honeybee was contracted by Firefly to provide the lunar rover for the company’s recently awarded NASA task order to explore the Gruithuisen Domes on the Moon’s near side in 2028. Once deployed on the Moon by Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander, Honeybee’s rover will carry NASA instruments to investigate the unique composition of the Gruithuisen Domes – a part of the Moon that has never been explored. (3/24)
Bill Would Permit SpaceX to Control Beach Closures in South Texas (Source: Houston Chronicle)
Visitors hoping for some beach time in parts of South Texas may soon be denied by SpaceX the opportunity to catch some rays. A bill currently making its way through the state Legislature would, if passed, make it possible for the space technology company to close a beach or beach access so that it could blast off its rockets.
Senate Bill 2188, introduced by state Sen. Adam Hinojosa (R-Corpus Christi), specifically would allow "cities containing a spaceport located within certain counties" in Texas the option to restrict beach access on weekdays, but not on Friday afternoons. Those counties are those that border "the Gulf of Mexico or its tidewater limits" and has a launch site approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. In other words, we're talking about SpaceX. (3/24)
Japan's Synspective Picks SpaceX to Launch Two Rideshare SAR Satellites (Source: Synspective)
Japanese synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging company Synspective has selected SpaceX to launch some of its satellites. Synspective said Monday it signed a contract with SpaceX to fly two SAR satellites on a SpaceX rideshare mission in 2027. Synspective, which has plans for a constellation of 30 SAR spacecraft, has been using Rocket Lab's Electron for launching its satellites, including a contract last June for 10 launches. (3/25)
Rover Finds Long-Chain Organic Molecules on Mars (Source: Science)
A NASA Mars rover has discovered complex organic molecules. In a paper published Monday, scientists reported the detection of long-chain organic molecules by an instrument on the Curiosity rover. Those molecules, scientists said, may be "breakdown products" of fatty acids that could have existed on Mars early in the planet's history. The finding is not itself evidence of past Martian life, since such acids could have formed by other means, but scientists said it is another sign that Mars might have supported life when it was warmer and wetter. (3/25)
Barbie: Space History is Hard (Source: CollectSpace)
Barbie says space history is hard. Mattel has released a replica of "Barbie Miss Astronaut," a doll first issued in 1965 that features Barbie in a spacesuit. The packaging for the replica notes that "Miss Astronaut first went galactic in 1965, before any human in space." Humans, of course, first went to space in 1961. Mattel didn't comment on the historical error, but its website now notes that the doll was first released "well before men had landed on the moon." (3/25)
DoD Needs More Hypersonics Investment (Source: Space News)
A former Defense Department official and hypersonics expert said the U.S. needs to invest more in hypersonics programs. Mark Lewis, president and CEO of the nonprofit Purdue Applied Research Institute, said the U.S. needs to increase funding and support for advanced hypersonic weapons development to counter similar programs in China and Russia.
He said there is strong support within the Pentagon for investments in hypersonic weapons technology, partly because of opportunities to leverage private investments in commercial test vehicles that could accelerate next-generation missile development. Defending against hypersonic missiles, a key goal of the proposed Golden Dome system, is "technically challenging, but not impossible," he said. (3/25)
NRO Expands Satellite Network (Source: Space News)
Back-to-back Falcon 9 launches have allowed the National Reconnaissance Office to expand a satellite network. The NRO said in a statement after Monday's launch that the agency has launched more than 150 satellites in the last two years, "creating the largest and most capable government constellation on orbit in our nation's history." (3/25)
ESA Kicks Off Launcher Competition (Source: Space News)
The European Space Agency has officially kicked off a launcher competition. ESA released Monday a call for proposals for the European Launcher Challenge, seeking bids from emerging launch companies to provide launch services as well as to develop larger vehicles. ESA will provide up to 169 million euros ($183 million) to each winner, with funding to be allocated at ESA's ministerial conference in November. The release came the same day as one European launch startup, Isar Aerospace, scrubbed its first attempt to launch its Spectrum rocket from northern Norway, citing poor weather. Isar has not announced a date for the next attempt. (3/25)
A Final Twist in the Starliner Saga (Source: Space Review)
A Crew Dragon returned from the International Space Station last week with four people on board, including two who arrived at the station last June on Starliner. Jeff Foust reports that political controversies over the astronauts’ return overshadowed the future of the spacecraft that took them to the station. Click here. (3/25)
Boeing’s Early Lunar Base Concept of 1959 (Source: Space Review)
At the beginning of the Space Age, Boeing received an Air Force contract to study a design for a lunar base. Hans Dolfing examines what is known about the study, including how Boeing addressed the challenges of keeping a crew alive and well on the Moon. Click here. (3/25)
3D Printing Will Help Space Pioneers make Homes, Tools, and Other Stuff They Need to Colonize the Moon and Mars (Source: Space Review)
It is impractical for a long-term mission to the Moon or Mars to take every tool and spare part they will need for their expedition. Sven Bilén describes how 3D printing can help solve that problem and address other challenges, including building habitats on other worlds. Click here. (3/25)
Balancing National Security and International Cooperation in the Competitive Era of Commercial Space (Source: Space News)
Roosevelt understood that sometimes the greatest human achievements require bold leadership, diplomacy and cooperation. He demonstrated this through his approach to the Panama Canal, which had a lasting impact on U.S.-Latin American relations and served as a vital link to transform global trade and usher in an era of unprecedented economic growth. In the same way that the engineering prowess of the U.S. connected the Atlantic and Pacific, less than a century later, the U.S. utilized that same spirit of ingenuity and led the world in harnessing the power of the internet, revolutionizing industries and driving global prosperity.
As we enter a new presidential term in the U.S. (an era economists are calling the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”), we can further U.S. interests through leadership in low Earth orbit (LEO) while simultaneously fostering a spirit of international cooperation and commercialization in space. Just as the Panama Canal became a symbol of American leadership and a vital artery for global trade, LEO will become the pathway to scientific discovery, economic growth and peaceful coexistence — if the U.S. maintains thoughtful leadership and fosters international cooperation and new technological development. (3/24)
Using Starlink Wi-Fi in the White House Is a Slippery Slope for US Federal IT (Source: WIRED)
The White House is adding Musk-owned SpaceX’s Starlink Wi-Fi “to improve Wi-Fi connectivity on the complex,” according to a statement from White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. The White House's Starlink internet service is reportedly being donated by the company. Former intelligence analysts with years of experience in US federal government security all tell WIRED that adding Starlink Wi-Fi in a seemingly rushed and haphazard way is an inefficient and counterproductive approach to solving connectivity issues.
And they emphasized that it could set problematic precedents across the US government: that new pieces of technology can simply be layered into an environment at will without adequate oversight and monitoring. “This is shadow IT, creating a network to bypass existing controls,” alleges Nicholas Weaver. He adds that while secret and top secret information is typically (but not always) processed only on special, separate federal networks that have no wireless access, the security and uniformity of White House Wi-Fi is still extremely important to national security. (3/24)
Army Space Training Strategy – An All of Army Approach (Source: US Army)
The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, in close collaboration with U.S. Army Forces Command and U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, released the latest iteration of the Army Space Training Strategy, or ASTS, in late 2024. The updated ASTS provides a framework that focuses on how Army space will help build the Army of 2030 and beyond through space education and training.
First published in 2013, the new ASTS accounts not only for the vast technological improvements and quantity of modern friendly and adversary space capabilities, but also for new space-based formations outside USASMDC such as the multidomain task force and theater strike effects group. It also looks forward to the proposed Army space branch and recently announced enlisted space military occupational specialty 40D (space operations specialist).
(3/24)
‘Targeted’ and ‘Cruel’: NASA Staff React to Layoffs. Growing Distrust in Petro (Source: CNN)
One senior NASA official who was among those given a layoff notice on March 10 — but who will remain an employee through April 10 — said they will not be paid for some accrued time-off awards. Two sources said the agency’s leadership would not allow at least some of the affected employees to collect bonuses they were expecting to receive this spring, nor will they be able to seek roles elsewhere in the agency.
“I think we were targeted,” one source told CNN, saying that denying bonus packages “is extremely cruel and callous and needless.” The laid-off employees were given only 30 days’ notice — rather than the 60 days spelled out in the OPM’s workforce reduction guidance unless granted a waiver from the federal office. It’s unclear why the space agency did not wait to include those layoffs in its broader RIF plan. According to guidance from DOGE, agencies had to seek a waiver to implement a 30-day timeline.
Several employees not affected by the layoffs told CNN the cuts have sown new distrust in Petro’s leadership. She is expected to run the agency until Trump’s pick for NASA administrator, Shift4 Payments CEO Jared Isaacman, is confirmed for the role. “Everybody’s lost confidence,” said one NASA employee who was not among those laid off. “What was the urgency? It just seems cruel.” (3/24)
Slapdash DOGE Cuts Will Drive Away Next Generation of Federal Talent (Source: SPACErePORT)
The government's IT and aerospace workforce, in particular, skews toward retirement-age personnel, many not adequately trained in emerging technologies. Over the past two decades, the government has put an emphasis on bringing younger skilled workers into the civil service. Now many of those workers are being dismissed. Worse, the approach taken by OPM included official statements that these workers were being fired based on their performance.
Technically, this constitutes firing for "cause", creating a serious blemish on their work history that could have grave consequences in their search for future employment. Ongoing litigation has caused some probationary firings to be reversed, and OPM has since revised its guidance to agencies, advising that only they can make performance-based firing determinations. Many firings have been reversed, but the damage is done.
Needless to say, federal jobs are less likely to be viewed as stable employment, and fewer workers with talent and training in key technologies will be seeking careers in the civil service. We all lose. (3/25)
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