March 30, 2025

Isar Aerospace’s First Spectrum Launch Fails (Source: Space News)
The first launch of Isar Aerospace’ Spectrum rocket failed March 30 when the vehicle lost attitude control seconds after liftoff and plummeted back to Earth. The Spectrum rocket lifted off from Andøya Spaceport in northern Norway at 6:30 a.m. Eastern. Weather conditions had postponed the launch by more than a week. (3/30)

RIDE! Signs Major Launch Contract with Argotec for Hawk Microsatellites Constellation (Source: RIDE)
RIDE! confirms a launch contract with Argotec, an Italian aerospace engineering company including the development of microsatellites and nanosatellites. RIDE! is entrusted with providing to Argotec: Constellation Planning Analysis; Assessment of Launch Ground Facilities; and Full Launch Brokering Services. (3/26)

Could Mushrooms Be a Perfect Space Food? (Source: Business Insider)
Flávia Fayet-Moore is a nutrition scientist studying how oyster mushrooms grow in space. She partnered with NASA and SpaceX to send the first fungi into orbit on a 3-day flight. Fayet-Moore says fungi, due to their nutritional benefits and fast growth cycle, may help us get to Mars.

The end-to-end crop cycle for mushrooms is about 45 days. That's not very long, so we're not waiting 190 days to harvest something like other plants. They also require minimal resources, like water. They don't need sunlight to synthesize because they're not plants, and they can thrive in really small spaces. Not to mention, they're very resilient, and they're really good at surviving different changes in their environment.

Ukraine's MoD Unveils Plans for Space Forces (Source: RBC Ukraine)
Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense for Digital Development, Digital Transformations, and Digitization, Kateryna Chernogorenko, announced during the international forum "Space For Ukraine" that the Defense Ministry has established the Space Policy Directorate. The directorate will collaborate with developers of military space technologies, including satellites and missiles, handle procurement, and shape state policy in this field. (3/29)

Senator Questions Canceling Planned Military Satellites in Favor of SpaceX (Source: UPI)
A North Dakota senator has raised questions about the U.S. Space Force potentially canceling planned military satellite development contracts in favor of SpaceX-produced satellites called Starshield. "Do you think cutting opportunities like this could hurt the innovators in the industrial base?" asked U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND). (3/29)

UK Firm to Land Europe’s First Rover on Mars (Source: Gov.UK)
The new contract, awarded by the European Space Agency and funded by the government through the UK Space Agency, will support a cutting-edge system that will land the Rosalind Franklin rover on the surface of Mars and support its deployment onto the planet.  It will also sustain around 200 high-skilled jobs in the UK space sector and attract international investment. The rover, entirely built in Stevenage by engineers from Airbus UK, is due to launch in 2028 with the support of NASA and land on Mars in 2030. (3/29)

SES and SpeQtral Sign MoU to Advance Global Quantum-Secure Communications (Source: SES)
SES and SpeQtral signed a agreement to develop an interoperable Optical Ground Station (OGS) to establish long-distance satellite-based Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) between Asia and Europe. (3/28)

Gloucestershire Company Wins Prize for Inventing Way to Produce Clean Water on Moon (Source: The Guardian)
A £150,000 prize for a device that can produce clean water from icy lunar soil has been won by a pair of inventors whose solution involves a microwave oven, a motorized device for feeding woodchips into a barbecue and sound waves.

The £1.2m Aqualunar Challenge, funded by the UK Space Agency’s international bilateral fund and split between Canadian-led and UK-led teams, is designed to encourage innovative solutions to the problem of producing drinking water from ice-rich regolith – rocks and dust – around the moon’s south pole. (3/27)

Geopolitical Shifts Boost Lightspeed as Starlink Eats Into Telesat’s GEO Business (Source: Space News)
Geopolitical shifts are driving government interest in Telesat’s low Earth orbit plans, according to the Canadian operator, validating its move beyond geostationary satellites as LEO frontrunner Starlink erodes its legacy broadband business. Rising global defense priorities and a push for sovereign-controlled communications are making customer demand for Lightspeed “much more concrete” and urgent, Telesat CEO Dan Goldberg said during a March 27 earnings call.

Telesat has disclosed a revenue backlog of 600 million Canadian dollars ($419 million) for Lightspeed, comprising mostly a commitment from Canada’s federal government in 2020 to provide subsidized broadband services to rural communities. (3/28)

NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for SpaceX Starship (Source: NASA)
NASA has awarded SpaceX of Starbase, Texas, a modification under the NASA Launch Services (NLS) II contract to add Starship to their existing Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch service offerings. The NLS II contracts provide a broad range of commercial launch services for NASA’s planetary, Earth-observing, exploration, and scientific satellites.

These high-priority, low and medium risk tolerant missions have full NASA technical oversight and mission assurance, resulting in the highest probability of launch success. The NLS II contracts are multiple award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, with an ordering period through June 2030 and an overall period of performance through December 2032. (3/28)

War in Space — the China Challenge (Source: The Hill)
Today’s U.S. Space Force was initially designed and resourced to “protect and defend” these critical space capabilities. In the five years since activation, America’s Space Force has delivered resilient satellite constellations that are hardened against attack, employed cutting edge technology from our defense industrial base like the X-37 spaceplane, and made prudent investments to avoid surprise from our adversaries. Those investments are paying off, but the Chinese Communist Party is already adapting. The threat they pose is real.

I watch outer space for a living. My job with the U.S. Space Force is to ensure we avoid surprise, and that work is only getting harder as space becomes more crowded and adversarial. Today, space is a war fighting domain because our adversaries have made it so. China’s leader, General Secretary Xi Jinping has made space a priority and his Chinese PLA aerospace force is actively conducting “confrontational training” that sends an unmistakable signal. (3/28)

NASA Disgusted by Elon Musk's Disrespect (Source: Futurism)
Under president Donald Trump and his number one henchman Elon Musk' orders, swathes of NASA are being laid to waste — and staffers are fuming. Workers affected by the layoffs were only given 30 days' notice — instead of 60, as spelled out in federal government guidance — and have even been denied time-off awards. Sources told CNN that some affected employees won't receive bonuses, and won't even be able to reapply to other roles in the agency.

That kind of disregard for federal workers — a key characteristic of Musk's systematic dismantling of the government — left them speechless. "Despite what Trump says, NASA is using a hatchet and not a scalpel" to cut jobs, said one employee. A source also warned of a "significant brain drain that will affect not only current missions but engineering and science for generations to come."

Despite seemingly treating its employees with active disdain, NASA's interim administrator Janet Petro argued that their efforts were still valued. "I want to assure you — the NASA workforce — and your skills, expertise, and commitment are at the heart of [reduction in force] discussions," she wrote to employees. In short, NASA has lost a tremendous amount of goodwill among its staff, meaning that Jared Isaacman will ultimately be tasked with picking up the pieces. (3/28)

Starlink Rival AST SpaceMobile Tips New Satellite Prototype (Source: PC Magazine)
Although AST is requesting FCC clearance to launch the satellite under an experimental authority, the company is signaling it'll try to use FM-1 for commercial activities, pending regulatory approval. The company's request to the FCC notes it's going to formally apply for FM-1 to become the sixth satellite of its emerging constellation, which would give it the capability to beam data over AT&T's and Verizon's licensed radio bands. FM1 is a second-generation BlueBird satellite. (3/24)

Bezos-Musk Space Rivalry Dispute Goes to Delaware Supreme Court (Source: Bloomberg)
A lawsuit blaming the feud between the world’s two richest men for costly delays plaguing Amazon.com Inc.'s space satellite project is headed to Delaware’s top court. The pension fund leading the shareholder case launched its appeal Wednesday, asking the state supreme court to revive claims that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos hamstrung its Project Kuiper by relying on his own rocket startup, Blue Origin, rather than Musk’s SpaceX.

A judge tossed the suit from Delaware’s Chancery Court last month, saying Amazon’s board was free from conflicts of interest when it made that choice. Under its Federal Communications Commission license, Amazon has until 2026 to send up the first of roughly 1,600 satellites and three more years to launch the next batch, according to the 2023 court complaint. The lawsuit focuses on animosity between Musk and Bezos.

Cook’s brief ruling last month rejected the idea that Bezos’ status as a “superstar CEO” with outsized influence at Amazon should make it easier prove other corporate directors were beholden to him. The Cleveland Bakers and Teamsters Pension Fund acknowledged it belatedly raised that argument “after limited recent case law suggested it might have some ‘traction,’” according to the decision throwing out the case. “I question the premise,” Cook said. “This case ultimately concerns an independent board’s exercise of its business judgment.” The fund’s opening appellate brief is due May 13. (3/28)

Cameron County Judge Disagrees with Plan to Hand SpaceX Control of Beach (Source: San Antonio Express-News)
Despite a lawmaker’s suggestion to the contrary, the top official in Cameron County doesn’t support a legislative effort to give SpaceX more control over public beach and highway closures around Starbase. "If it's not broken, then there's no need to fix it," Judge Eddie Treviño Jr. said. The Legislature could take weekday control of Boca Chica Beach away from the county. (3/28)

SpaceX Plans Sharp Hike In Falcon Flights From Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Aviation Week)
SpaceX plans to more than double its Falcon 9 flight rate at Cape Canaveral SFS (CCSFS) Space Launch Complex (SLC) 40, from 50 to as many as 120 missions per year, a draft FAA Environmental Assessment (EA) shows. The draft EA, released March 28, also studied the impacts of a new Falcon 9 landing pad. (3/28)

Yuma Looks to Build Arizona's First Spaceport (Source: ABC15)
Yuma calls itself the “Gateway of the Great Southwest," but now the city hopes to become the gateway to outer space. The city hopes a parcel of land in the desert, just east of San Luis, near the border, could become the location of the first spaceport in Arizona. “What we’re talking about is a spaceport which would launch small rockets which would carry communications satellites. We’re not launching people or launching Teslas; we’re launching small rockets," Yuma Mayor Doug Nicholls said. (3/28)