April 12, 2025

SpaceX Launches 9th Batch of 'Proliferated Architecture' Spy Satellites for US Government (Source: Space.com)
SpaceX lofted another batch of next-gen reconnaissance satellites for the U.S. government on April 12 aboard a Falcon 9 at Vandenberg Space Force Base on California's central coast. The launch kicked off the NROL-192 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which builds and operates the United States' fleet of spy satellites. (4/12)

Musk Calls Trump’s Looming NASA Cuts ‘Troubling’ (Source: Politico)
Elon Musk said reports that President Donald Trump’s budget proposal would drastically cut NASA’s science funding were “troubling,” the latest public break between the president and his close adviser. Musk’s Friday morning comments mark his second major public split with Trump in areas that impact the entrepreneur’s companies, amid reports that Musk will soon step back from his role at the Department of Government Efficiency. (4/11)

ESA - Ariane 6: a European Cooperation (Source: ESA)
ESA’s main roles in the Ariane 6 program is as contracting authority – managing the budget from Member States participating in the Ariane 6 development program; and as launch system architect – ensuring that the rocket and launch pad infrastructure work together. ESA also provided the launch system requirements for institutional missions and is responsible for executing the main system tests leading up to the inaugural flight. The Agency is also the operator during Ariane 6's first flight. Click here. (4/11)

ALTEC Receives €61M Contract to Support ESA Space Station Activities (Source: European Spaceflight)
The European Space Agency has awarded Italy’s ALTEC a €61 million contract to provide training, logistics, and operations support services for the International Space Station over a five-year period.

ALTEC has been responsible for providing training, logistics, and operations support services for the International Space Station (ISS) Columbus program since 2015. Columbus is the European Space Agency’s primary research module aboard the ISS. It was built by Airbus Defense and Space and launched aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis on 7 February 2008. The module enables European astronauts to conduct a wide range of scientific experiments in microgravity aboard the orbiting laboratory. (4/11)

Winning the Satellite Industry’s Most Disruptive Decade Yet (Source: Space News)
While Starlink is the main focus at the moment, research firm Analysys Mason recently published a white paper titled “Meet the Challenge of Starlink and the Mega-Constellations with Software Ground” that highlights other initiatives on the horizon, such as Blue Origin’s Project Kuiper as well as similar projects in China. There are others, but what the big three have in common is, well, “bigness.” They can play at a scale — operationally, financially and with marketing muscle — that outstrips anything traditional, pure-play satellite companies can bring to bear.

And their ambitions seem larger: not to conquer the satellite world, but to leverage satellite capacity more broadly in global communications. For years, research has consistently set the satellite industry’s share at about 1% of the communications sector, and satellite players have consistently looked for ways to expand it. The good news is that Starlink is creating that opportunity for all by baking a bigger pie. Click here. (4/11)

Senior Advisor Appointed to Effect Integration and Interoperability Across Military Space Enterprise (Source: USSF)
Integrating the space enterprise enhances lethality and resilience with an open technical architecture that enables and strengthens innovation pipelines to ensure U.S. space superiority. To carry out this priority, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration (ASAF(SA&I), Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, has appointed a new senior advisor to effect integration and interoperability across the military space enterprise.
 
Brig. Gen. (ret) James E. “Woody” Haywood has joined Space Systems Command as the Senior Advisor to the Service Acquisition Executive (SASAE) and the Senior Advisor for Space Command, Control, and Integration (SASC2I). This includes directing Space Systems Command’s Space Systems Integration Office (SSIO) for the U.S. Space Force. (4/11)

Hidden Galaxies Could “Break All of our Current Models” of Galactic Evolution (Source: The Debrief)
New research suggests that hidden galaxies offering a glimpse into the past could reveal previously unknown secrets of the universe, potentially forcing scientists to reconsider current models of galactic evolution.

These galaxies may also account for the production of infrared light, helping to balance the universe’s energy budget to match the maximum observed levels. A team of researchers from STFC RAL Space and Imperial College London has found possible evidence of concealed galaxies in long far-infrared wavelengths, as observed in the deepest image of the universe ever created. (4/11)

Rocket Lab Announces Expanded Radio Products (Source: SatNews)
Rocket Lab USA has expanded the company’s suite of space-grade radio frequency (RF) communications systems, the Frontier radios—they are flight-proven, software-defined and designed for reliable telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C). Adapted from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory’s Frontier Lite radio, Rocket Lab’s high-performance Frontier radios have over 13 years of flight heritage and are now available in L-, S-, C-, X-, and Ka-band models. (4/7)

NASA Shamed Into Firing Top DEI Executive After Trying to 'Hide' Her From Trump Administration (Source: Daily Mail)
The chief DEI officer at NASA's jet propulsion lab was fired after her title was changed to hide her from Donald Trump's war on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Trump and 'First Buddy' Elon Musk have been happy warriors against DEI, working to rid the federal government of what they call unfair practices.

However, amid a series of 900 job cuts due to budgeting issues made in 2024, the diversity office was cut but Rajendra was mysteriously kept on. She'd had all references to DEI washed from her title but reportedly kept many of the same job duties as 'head of employee success.' Janet Petro, who is the first woman to lead NASA as its acting administrator, had urged staff to report colleagues who have attempted to disguise DEI programs with coded language.

However, earlier this week in response to reports she was being protected from Trump administration DEI cuts, the lab parted ways with Rajendra. 'Neela Rajendra is no longer working at [the Jet Propulsion Laboratory]. We are incredibly grateful for the lasting impact she made to our organization. We wish her the very best,' lab director Laurie Leshin wrote. (4/11)

Isaacman’s “Golden Age of Science & Discovery” on Shaky Ground, Goddard in the Crosshairs (Source: Space Policy Online)
Just two days ago, NASA Administrator-nominee Jared Isaacman spoke glowingly about Trump Administration plans for a “Golden Age of Science & Discovery” at the agency. Yesterday, however, the Office of Management and Budget sent NASA details on what the White House plans to request for FY2026 reportedly showing a 50 percent cut to the science budget as part of an overall 20 percent cut to the agency’s top-line.

Among the casualties would be the Mars Sample Return mission, the DAVINCI mission to Venus, and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, the next in NASA’s series of great observatories, although operation of the existing James Webb Space Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope would continue. Ars Technica added that “the cuts appear intended to force the closure of Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland,” just outside Washington, D.C. The Roman Space Telescope is being built and managed there. It’s proceeding on pace for launch two years from now in May 2027. (4/11)

ESA Concludes Key Testing Phase for Space Rider Service Module (Source: European Spaceflight)
The development of the European Space Agency’s reusable Space Rider vehicle has reached an important milestone, with a key component successfully completing a series of mechanical tests to ensure it can withstand the rigors of a rocket launch.

Space Rider consists of two main components: the reusable Re-entry Module and the expandable Service Module. The Service Module, which is being developed by Avio, is essentially a modified Vega C AVUM+ upper stage, with the AVUM Life Extension Kit (ALEK) bolted on top. The ALEK element will generate power for the vehicle, and features deployable solar wings developed by Leonardo. (4/11)

Trump White House Budget Proposal Eviscerates Science Funding at NASA (Source: Ars Technica)
The Trump White House shared the draft version of its budget request for NASA with the space agency. This initial version of the administration's budget request calls for an approximately 20 percent overall cut to the agency's budget across the board, effectively $5 billion from an overall topline of about $25 billion. However, the majority of the cuts are concentrated within the agency's Science Mission Directorate, which oversees all planetary science, Earth science, astrophysics research, and more.

Science policy experts are alarmed, characterizing such cuts as an "extinction level" event for what is seen as the crown jewel of the space agency. Nearly all of NASA's most significant achievements over the last 25 years have been delivered by the science programs, including feats such as Ingenuity flying on Mars, New Horizons swooping by Pluto, and Cassini's discovery of water plumes on Enceladus. (4/11)

RFA and SaxaVord Target UK’s First Vertical Orbital Launch (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) is determined to debut its RFA One rocket by the end of this year. Applying industrialization techniques to building low-cost, high-performance rockets, the flight could become the first vertical orbital launch from UK soil.

Progress on two further pads is underway at the SaxaVord spaceport, as the two organizations count down together to a historic maiden launch. NSF caught up with RFA’s chief operating officer, Stefan Brieschenk, and SaxaVord’s COO, Debbie Strang, to discuss how the collaboration will help to drive Europe’s future in space. (4/11)

Trump Wants to Kill Science at NOAA and NASA (Source: Splinter)
The most anti-science administration in American history — edging out the first Trump term through sheer audacity — continues apace. Two reports on Friday regarding Trump’s budgeting plans indicate what amounts to an outright attempt to murder the scientific enterprise at NOAA and NASA. These agencies have offered conclusions the people in charge don’t like — the climate is changing, it is dangerous, and we should stop burning fossil fuels, primarily — and as such they want them to stop asking the questions entirely.

At NOAA, a budget document seen by Science would lop $485 million off of the office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, known as OAR or just NOAA Research. That would leave it with $171 million; “At this funding level, OAR is eliminated as a line office,” the budget doc says. It would mean death for all of NOAA’s critical climate research, along with work on weather forecasting, oceans, and more. (4/11)

Space Force Looks to Go Big on Commercial: ‘Everything’s on the Table’ (Source: Air & Space Forces)
Space Force acquisition leaders were already looking to see if they could shift some of their biggest programs to use commercial services or technology, but one of President Donald Trump’s executive orders, signed April 9, that could super-charge that effort. Now, the service’s vision for going beyond conventional Pentagon-industry partnerships has an even greater sense of urgency, those leaders said.

“Every major program at SSC, all the traditional programs, have taken an excursion. They’re not stopping the program of record, but they’ve taken a side excursion,” Garrant said. “And the ask was, ‘if I, Gen. Purdy, were to cancel your program, how would you meet your requirements purely commercial?’ (4/10)